Month: October 2023

Albinism Pageant Winner Says Event Gave her Sense of Purpose

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A glittering crown on her head and a bouquet of flowers in her hands, Andreia Solange Sicato Muhitu beamed at being named the co-winner of the inaugural Mr. and Miss Albinism Southern Africa pageant. 

The 28-year-old Angolan model has competed in beauty pageants in her home country since her teens and won some of them. But none made her feel more beautiful or purposeful as the pageant for people with albinism that was held this month in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. 

“I can be that inspiration for young girls, especially those with albinism, to feel comfortable and beautiful in their own skin,” Muhitu said. “That is the strong message we are hoping to send out there.” 

Misunderstood condition

Albinism, an inherited genetic condition that reduces melanin pigment production, is “still profoundly misunderstood,” according to the United Nations human rights agency. People with the condition have pale-colored skin, hair and eyes, are vulnerable to sun exposure and bright light, often have eyesight problems, and are prone to developing skin cancer. 

Although traditional beauty pageants have come under criticism for objectifying women’s bodies, Muhitu thinks the October 14 event where she was crowned could bring about positive change in parts of Africa where people with albinism are treated with disdain, ridicule and even violence driven by dangerously misguided superstitions. 

“This crown gives me the opportunity to change the lives of people living with albinism in ways I never imagined, not just in my country, but in the entire region. I don’t feel shamed, I feel empowered,” she said, shaking hands with people eager to congratulate her. 

The superstitions include the belief that having sex with a person with albinism can cure HIV or that their skin, hair, feet, hands, eyes, genitals or breasts have supernatural powers to bring good luck or boost the effectiveness of witchcraft potions, according to the U.N. and rights activists. In Malawi and Tanzania, people with the condition are sometimes killed for their body parts. 

They typically face daily prejudice despite anti-discrimination laws. She and other pageant participants talked about rejection by families and fathers who denied paternity once they realized a child had albinism. 

The contestants also highlighted how they need affordable skincare services and cancer treatment but more often receive hate, mocking or insults. 

Muhitu, who works as head of the tourism department in southeastern Angola’s Cuando Cubango province, said ridicule at school almost derailed her dreams, but celebrating her skin color is helping her and others push back against stereotypes and stigma. 

“The progressive laws on paper and the ugly reality on the ground are miles apart,” Muhitu said, adding: “It is time for soft power. We can change mindsets through modeling contests, storytelling, music and any outlets that are interesting. Art forms can be a powerful tool to change mindsets.” 

Albinism is more common in sub-Saharan Africa, where it affects about 1 in 5,000 people. The prevalence can reach 1 in 1,000 in some populations in Zimbabwe and in other ethnic groups in southern Africa, compared to 1 in every 17,000 to 20,000 in North America and Europe, according to the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 

‘We are no different’

The 18 contestants who participated in the regional pageant in Zimbabwe came from countries that also included South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, Angola and Tanzania. They included fashion designers, health workers and professional models. 

Waving their national flags, they entertained a small audience with poetry, song and dance performances. They elegantly cat-walked in professional wear, evening gowns and African animal skin outfits before answering questions from a panel of judges on a variety of social and economic topics. 

Held under the theme, “Into the light,” the pageant was aimed at shining a spotlight on the “boundless talents” of people with albinism in a region where they often face harsh treatment and stigma, event organizer Brenda Mudzimu, who also has albinism, said. 

“We are mentally and physically tortured, yet we are no different from any other person except skin color,” said Mudzimu, whose Miss Albinism Trust founded the event as a local Zimbabwean contest in 2018. 

The contestants were judged for their charisma, confidence, poise, quality of walk and intellect. The Mr. Albinism Southern Africa title was claimed by Zimbabwean Ntandoyenkosi Mnkandla, 26, a trainee paralegal. 

Winners also received cash prizes, trophies, medals and flowers for categories such as Miss Personality and the People’s Choice awards. 

Muhitu, who received $250 for winning the Miss Albinism prize, commended the growing number of events that celebrate people with albinism in Africa. 

“Pageants are a powerful way of showcasing our limitless potential. I love them and I want to keep on inspiring young girls to follow their dreams,” she said. “People living with albinism have dreams, they have talent, and they are amazing people. But they will stay in the background if they are not given a chance to sparkle.” 
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Ugandan Soldiers Among Dead in IS-Backed Attack in DR Congo

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Rebels backed by the Islamic State group have killed two Ugandan soldiers in an attack that also left two civilians and a suspected assailant dead in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said Saturday. 

Two truck drivers, a Kenyan, and a Congolese, were shot dead Friday night by IS-affiliated Allied Democratic Forces at a car park in Kasindi, Beni territory, said Barthelemy Kambale, a North Kivu provincial civil servant. 

A fifth body was assumed to be an assailant, he told AFP. 

The Islamic State group claimed the attack in a statement posted to the messaging app Telegram on Saturday evening. 

Kasindi was the scene of a Pentecostal church bombing blamed on the ADF that killed about 15 people in January, and for which IS claimed responsibility. 

Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo launched a joint offensive in 2021 against the ADF to drive the militants out of their Congolese strongholds, but attacks have continued. 

Originally fielding mainly Muslim Ugandan rebels, the ADF gained a foothold in the region in the 1990s and are accused of killing thousands of civilians. 

“The ADF enemy arrived about 22:30 (2030 GMT), our forces blocked the road against the rebels,” said Kambale, adding that “two Ugandan soldiers died during the operation.”  

Three vehicles were burned out, he said. 

“People are angry, they burned the body of a dead ADF,” said a local civil society representative, asking not to be named. 

Twenty-six civilians died overnight Monday into Tuesday in a massacre attributed to the ADF near Oicha town, also in Beni territory, which has been the epicenter of the years-long rampage by the ADF, called Islamic State Central Africa Province by IS. 

In Uganda, police said the ADF were behind the killing of a couple on their honeymoon and their safari guide in the nation’s Queen Elizabeth National Park on October 17. IS claimed responsibility for the attack. 

Numerous militia groups and rebels hold sway in eastern DRC despite the presence of peacekeepers. 
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Matthew Perry, Emmy-Nominated ‘Friends’ Star, Dead at 54

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Matthew Perry, who starred as sarcastic-but-sweet Chandler Bing in the hit series “Friends,” has died. He was 54. 

The Emmy-nominated actor was found dead of an apparent drowning at his home in Los Angeles, California, on Saturday, according to the Los Angeles Times and celebrity website TMZ, which was the first to report the news. Both outlets cited unnamed sources confirming Perry’s death. 

Perry’s publicists and other representatives did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press seeking comment. Asked to confirm police response to what was listed as Perry’s home address, LAPD Officer Drake Madison told AP that officers had gone to that block “for a death investigation of a male in his 50s.”   

Perry’s 10 seasons on “Friends” made him one of Hollywood’s most recognizable actors, starring opposite Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer as a friend group in New York. 

As Chandler, he played the quick-witted, insecure and neurotic roommate of LeBlanc’s Joey and a close friend of Schwimmer’s Ross. By the series’ end, Chandler is married to Cox’s Monica and they have a family, reflecting the journey of the core cast from single New Yorkers to married and starting families. 

The series was one of television’s biggest hits and has taken on a new life — and found surprising popularity with younger fans — in recent years on streaming services.

“Friends” ran from 1994 until 2004, and the cast notably banded together for later seasons to obtain a salary of $1 million per episode for each. 

Unknown at the time was the struggle Perry had with addiction and an intense desire to please audiences.   

“‘Friends’ was huge. I couldn’t jeopardize that,” he wrote in his memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.” “… I loved my co-actors. I loved the scripts. I loved everything about the show but I was struggling with my addictions which only added to my sense of shame. I had a secret and no one could know.” 

“I felt like I was gonna die if the live audience didn’t laugh, and that’s not healthy for sure. But I could sometimes say a line and the audience wouldn’t laugh and I would sweat and sometimes go into convulsions,” Perry wrote. “If I didn’t get the laugh I was supposed to get I would freak out. I felt that every single night. This pressure left me in a bad place. I also knew of the six people making that show, only one of them was sick.” 

An HBO Max reunion special in 2021 was hosted by James Corden and fed into huge interest in seeing the cast together again, although the program consisted of the actors discussing the show and was not a continuation of their characters’ storylines. 

Perry received one Emmy nomination for his “Friends” role and two more for appearances as an associate White House counsel on “The West Wing.” 

Perry also had several notable film roles, starring opposite Salma Hayek in the romantic comedy “Fools Rush In” and Bruce Willis in the the crime comedy “The Whole Nine Yards.” 
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Hepatitis Outbreak Closes Schools, Hospitalizes Scores in Ukraine

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Schools will move to an online regime starting Monday in Ukraine’s central city of Vinnytsia after a hepatitis A outbreak sent scores of children and adults to the hospital, the country’s chief sanitary official said over the weekend.  

“The main thing now is to establish the center of the outbreak and the causes in order to stop the spread of the viral hepatitis A among the population as soon as possible,” Chief Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine Ihor Kuzin wrote on Facebook on Saturday. 

Kuzin, who also serves as Ukraine’s deputy health minister, said 141 people in the city and the region were in a hospital. Vinnytsia, which had a pre-war population of around 370,000, is the administrative center of the Vinnytsia region in central Ukraine. 

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hepatitis A is a highly contagious, short-term liver infection that can be spread through close personal contact or eating contaminated food or drink. 

People who get hepatitis A may feel sick for a few weeks to several months but usually recover fully, unless they are in a higher risk group or have pre-existing health conditions.  

“So far, there is no single cause of the outbreak,” Kuzin said. “We are analyzing the centers of spread and are working with the population, in particular to establish a circle of contact persons.” 
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Malta Hosts Fresh Round of Ukraine-Backed Peace Talks

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A third round of Ukrainian-backed peace talks opened in Malta on Saturday with representatives from more than 60 countries but without Moscow, which condemned it as a “blatantly anti-Russian event.” 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the first of two days of closed-door talks among national security and policy advisers, which he hopes will drum up support for his 10-point plan to end the war. 

In a statement on social media, he said 66 countries had taken part in the talks, proof that his plan “has gradually become global.” 

It follows similar meetings in Jeddah and Copenhagen this summer, with the Ukrainians hoping to eventually hold a summit at the level of heads of state. 

“The meeting confirmed the broad interest and increasing support for the key elements of Ukraine’s Peace Formula,” an EU official said Saturday. 

Against the backdrop of the Hamas-Israel war, it also showed “that restoration of just peace is important beyond Ukraine, it is about a global plea for respect of international law,” the official said. 

Russian spokesperson calls event ‘anti-Russian’

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, however, has dismissed the Malta talks as a “blatantly anti-Russian event.”  

They had “nothing to do with the search for a peaceful resolution,” she said on Thursday. 

Participants in Malta included the United States, the EU and Britain, staunch supporters of Kyiv following Russia’s February 2022 invasion. 

Turkey, which has offered itself as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia, was also represented, according to a list seen by AFP before the talks opened. 

So too were South Africa, Brazil and India, all members of the influential BRICS bloc, which also includes Russia. 

South Africa and India have not condemned Russia’s invasion, while Brazil has refused to join Western nations in sending arms to Ukraine or imposing sanctions on Moscow. 

China, which insists it is neutral and refuses to criticize the invasion, did not attend, despite being present in Jeddah in August, according to the EU official. 

Organizers were hoping for a joint statement from the Malta summit, after both previous meetings ended without a final declaration. 

Talks address territorial integrity

Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said on Telegram that the discussions on Saturday were lively and focused on five key areas, notably the issue of Ukraine’s territorial integrity. 

Zelensky’s peace plan calls for Russia to withdraw all its troops from Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders, including from the territory of Crimea, which it annexed in 2014. 

Russia, which claimed last year to have annexed the four Ukrainian regions of Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, has rejected any settlement that would involve giving up land. 

The Malta talks are also looking at nuclear security, notably the need to ensure the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and how to protect Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as winter approaches. 

The issue of food security was also on the agenda, as Russia blocks grain exports from Ukraine, as well as humanitarian issues, including the release of prisoners and the return of Ukrainian children taken to Russia. 
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UAW, Stellantis Reach Tentative Contract; Union Adds Strike at GM Factory

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Jeep maker Stellantis reached a tentative contract agreement with the United Auto Workers union on Saturday. 

The Stellantis deal, which still must be ratified by members, leaves only General Motors without an agreement with the union.  

Later Saturday night, the union walked out at a GM factory in Spring Hill, Tennessee, in an effort to increase pressure on the company to reach a deal. 

The Stellantis deal mirrors one reached earlier this week with Ford. The union says the contract also saves jobs at a factory in Belvidere, Illinois, that Stellantis had planned to close. 

GM said it was disappointed with the additional strike at the Spring Hill assembly and propulsion systems plant “in light of the progress we have made.” The company said in a statement that it has bargained in good faith with the union and wants to reach a deal as soon as possible. 

Spring Hill is GM’s largest manufacturing facility in North America with about 1 million square meters of building space and almost 4,000 employees. It makes the electric Cadillac Lyriq as well as the GMC Acadia and Cadillac XT5 and XT6 crossover SUVs. 

A message was left Saturday night seeking comment from the union. 

‘We have moved mountains’

UAW President Shawn Fain confirmed the Stellantis agreement in a video appearance Saturday evening and said that 43,000 members at the company still have to vote on the deal. 

About 14,000 UAW workers who were on strike at two Stellantis assembly plants in Michigan and Ohio, and several parts distribution centers across the country, were told to drop their picket signs and return to work. The agreement will end a six-week strike at the maker of Jeep and Ram vehicles. 

The pact includes 25% in general wage increases over the next 4½ years for top assembly plant workers, with 11% coming once the deal is ratified. Workers also will get cost-of-living pay that would bring the raises to a compounded 33%, with top assembly plant workers making more than $42 per hour. At Stellantis, top-scale workers now make around $31 per hour. 

Like the Ford contract, the Stellantis deal would run through April 30, 2028. 

Under the deal, the union said it saved jobs in Belvidere as well as at an engine plant in Trenton, Michigan, and a machining factory in Toledo, Ohio. 

“We’ve done the impossible. We have moved mountains. We have reopened an assembly plant that was closed,” Fain said. 

The deal includes a commitment by Stellantis to build a new midsize truck at its factory in Belvidere, Illinois, that was slated to be closed. About 1,200 workers will be hired back, plus another 1,000 workers will be added for a new electric vehicle battery plant, the union said. 

“We’re bringing back both combustion vehicles and electric vehicle jobs to Belvidere,” Fain said. 

Vice President Rich Boyer, who led the Stellantis talks, said the workforce will be doubled at the Toledo, Ohio, machining plant. The union, he said, won $19 billion worth of investment across the U.S. 

Fain said Stellantis had proposed cutting 5,000 U.S. jobs, but the union’s strike changed that to adding 5,000 jobs by the end of the contract. 

In a statement, the UAW said the Stellantis agreement has gains worth more than four times the improvements in the 2019 contract with the UAW. Through April of 2028, a top-scale assembly plant worker’s base wage will increase more than all the increases in the past 22 years. 

Starting wages for new hires will rise 67% including cost-of-living adjustments to more than $30 per hour, the union said. Temporary workers will get raises of more than 165%, while workers at parts centers will get an immediate 76% increase if the contract is ratified. 

Like the Ford agreement, it will take just three years for new workers to get to the top of the assembly pay scale, the union said. 

The union also won the right to strike over plant closures at Stellantis, and it can strike if the company doesn’t meet product and investment commitments, Fain said. 

Workers expected to OK deal

Bruce Baumhower, president of the local union at a large Stellantis Jeep factory in Toledo, Ohio, that has been on strike since September, said he expects workers will vote to approve the deal because of the pay raises above 30% and a large raise immediately. 

The union began targeted strikes against all three automakers on Sept. 15 after its contracts with the companies expired. At the peak, about 46,000 workers were on strike against all three companies, about one-third of the union’s 146,000 members at the Detroit three. 

With the Ford deal, which established the pattern for the other two companies, workers with pensions will see small increases when they retire, and those hired after 2007 with 401(k) plans will get large increases. For the first time, the union will have the right to go on strike over company plans to close factories. Temporary workers also will get large raises, and Ford agreed to shorten to three years the time it takes for new hires to reach the top of the pay scale. 

Other union leaders who followed more aggressive bargaining strategies in recent months have also secured pay hikes and other benefits for their members. Last month, the union representing Hollywood writers called off a nearly five-month strike after scoring some wins in compensation, length of employment, and other areas. 

Outside the Sterling Heights plant, some workers said they looked forward to a ratification vote and going back to work. 

“The tentative agreement is excellent,” said Anthony Collier, 54, of Sterling Heights, Michigan. “We hear that it’s going to be parity, at least, with Ford, so we believe a lot of people are looking forward to signing. Most of us had to dip into savings, get loans. Everybody knows the economy went up on all of us, so it’s a little tight to be out on strike pay.” 
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King Charles to Visit Kenya; Colonial Past, Climate Will Lead Agenda

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Britain’s King Charles III begins a four-day tour of Kenya on Tuesday, his first trip to Africa since becoming king following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, last year. His objectives include addressing what Buckingham Palace officials describe as “painful aspects” of Britain’s colonial past with the East African nation. He’ll also discuss issues related to the climate crisis and the importance of national security. VOA Nairobi Bureau Chief Mariama Diallo reports.
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Pence Quits Presidential Race After Struggling to Gain Traction

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Former Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday dropped his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, ending his campaign for the White House after struggling to raise money and gain traction in the polls. 

“It’s become clear to me: This is not my time,” Pence said at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual gathering in Las Vegas. “So, after much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today.” 

“We always knew this would be an uphill battle, but I have no regrets,” Pence went on to tell the friendly audience, which reacted with audible surprise to the announcement and gave him multiple standing ovations. 

Race dominated by Trump

Pence is the first major candidate to leave a race that has been dominated by his former boss-turned-rival, Donald Trump, and his struggles underscore just how much Trump has transformed the party. A former vice president would typically be seen as a formidable challenger in any primary, but Pence has struggled to find a base of support. 

Pence did not immediately endorse any of his rivals but continued to echo language he has used to criticize Trump. 

“I urge all my fellow Republicans here, give our country a Republican standard-bearer that will, as Lincoln said, appeal to the better angels of our nature, and not only lead us to victory, but lead our nation with civility,” he said. 

Pence’s decision, more than two months before the Iowa caucuses that he had staked his campaign on, saves him from accumulating additional debt, as well as the embarrassment of potentially failing to qualify for the third Republican primary debate, on Nov. 8 in Miami. 

Traitor or enabler

But his withdrawal is a huge blow for a politician who spent years biding his time as Trump’s most loyal lieutenant, only to be scapegoated during their final days in office when Trump became convinced that Pence somehow had the power to overturn the results of the 2020 election and keep both men in office — a power Pence did not possess. 

While Pence averted a constitutional crisis by rejecting the scheme, he drew Trump’s fury, as well as the wrath of many of Trump’s supporters, who still believe his lies about the election and see Pence as a traitor. 

Among Trump critics, meanwhile, Pence was seen as an enabler who defended the former president at every turn and refused to criticize even Trump’s most indefensible actions time and again. 

As a result, an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research from August found that the majority of U.S. adults, 57%, viewed Pence negatively, with only 28% having a positive view. 

 

Betting on Iowa

Throughout his campaign, the former Indiana governor and congressman had insisted that while he was well-known by voters, he was not “known well” and set out to change that with an aggressive schedule that included numerous stops at diners and Pizza Ranch restaurants. 

Pence had been betting on Iowa, a state with a large white Evangelical population that has a long history of elevating religious and socially conservative candidates such as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Rick Santorum.  

Pence often campaigned with his wife, Karen, a Christian school teacher, and emphasized his hardline views on issues such as abortion, which he opposes even in cases when a pregnancy is unviable. He repeatedly called on his fellow candidates to support a minimum 15-week national ban, and he pushed to ban drugs used as alternatives to surgical procedures. 

He tried to confront head-on his actions on January 6, 2021, explaining to voters over and over that he had done his constitutional duty that day, knowing full well the political consequences. It was a strategy that aides believed would help defuse the issue and earn Pence the respect of a majority of Republicans, whom they were convinced did not agree with Trump’s actions. 

But even in Iowa, Pence struggled to gain traction. 

Fundraising trouble

He had an equally uphill climb raising money, despite yearslong relationships with donors. Pence ended September with just $1.18 million in the bank and $621,000 in debt, according to his most recent campaign filing. That debt had grown in the weeks since and adding to it would have taken Pence, who is not independently wealthy, years pay off. 

The Associated Press first reported earlier this month that people close to Pence had begun to feel that remaining a candidate risked diminishing his long-term standing in the party, given Trump’s dominating lead in the race for the 2024 nomination. While they said Pence could stick it out until the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses if he wanted — campaigning on a shoestring budget and accumulating debt — he would have to consider how that might affect his ability to remain a leading voice in the conservative movement, as he hopes. 

Some said that Hamas’ attack on Israel in October, which pushed foreign policy to the forefront of the campaign, had given Pence a renewed sense of purpose given his warnings throughout the campaign against the growing tide of isolationism in the Republican Party. Pence had argued he was the race’s most experienced candidate and decried “voices of appeasement” among Republican, arguing they had emboldened groups such as Hamas. 

But ultimately, Pence concluded he could continue to speak out on the issue without continuing the campaign. He chose the Las Vegas event to announce his decision, in part, so he could address the topic one last time before formally leaving the race. 

He is expected to remain engaged, in part through Advancing American Freedom, the conservative think tank he founded after leaving the vice presidency and that he envisions it as an alternative to the The Heritage Foundation. 

Pence’s group is expected to continue to advocate for policies that he supported in his run, including pushing for more U.S. support for Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion and proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare to rein in the debt. Such ideas were once the bread-and-butter of Republican establishment orthodoxy but have fallen out of a favor as the party has embraced Trump’s isolationist and populist views. 
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Auto Workers, Stellantis Reach Tentative Deal

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Jeep maker Stellantis has reached a tentative contract agreement with the United Auto Workers union that follows a template set earlier this week by Ford, two people with knowledge of the negotiations said Saturday. 

The deal, which still must be ratified by members, leaves only General Motors without a contract with the union. The agreement could end a six-week strike by more than 14,000 workers at Stellantis assembly plants in Michigan and Ohio, and at parts warehouses across the nation. 

Like workers at Ford, the strikers at Stellantis are expected to take down their picket lines and start returning to work in the coming days, before 43,000 union members vote. 

The people, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the talks, said most of the main points of the deal at Ford will carry over to Stellantis. 

Ford deal details

The Ford pact includes 25% in general wage increases over the next 41/2 years for top assembly plant workers, with 11% coming once the deal is ratified. Workers also will get cost-of-living pay that would bring the raises to more than 30%, with top assembly plant workers making more than $40 per hour. At Stellantis, top-scale workers now make about $31 per hour. 

Like the Ford contract, the Stellantis deal would run through April 30, 2028. 

The deal includes a new vehicle for a now-idled factory in Belvidere, Illinois, which the company had planned to close. 

Bruce Baumhower, president of the local union at a large Stellantis Jeep factory in Toledo, Ohio, that has been on strike since September, said he expects workers will vote to approve the deal because of the pay raises above 30% and a large raise immediately. 

“Eleven percent is right on the hood,” he said. “It’s a historic agreement as far as I’m concerned.” 

Some union members have been complaining that UAW President Shawn Fain promised 40% raises to match what he said was given to company CEOs, but Baumhower said that was Fain’s opening bid. 

“Anybody who knows anything about negotiations, you always start out much higher than you think is realistic to get,” he said. 

‘It’s a good thing’

Jermaine Antwine and other Stellantis workers picketing outside the automaker’s Sterling Heights, Michigan, were excited Saturday after hearing news of a tentative deal. 

“Anytime you reach a tentative agreement, it’s a good thing,” said Antwine, 48, of Pontiac, Michigan. “It shows both sides have come to a mutual agreement somewhere within the numbers they started with.” 

“Ultimately, the numbers they did come to agree with is what the UAW wanted,” said Antwine, who has spent 24 years with the automaker and is a team leader in materials at the Sterling Heights plant. 

Talks were under way with General Motors on Saturday in an effort to reach a similar agreement. More than 14,000 workers at GM remain on strike at factories in Texas, Michigan and Missouri. 

The union began targeted strikes against all three automakers on September 15 after its contracts with the companies expired. 

Intense negotiations, targeted strikes

The union and Stellantis went into intense negotiations on Thursday, the day after the Ford deal was announced, and finalized the agreement on Saturday. 

UAW workers began their targeted strikes with one assembly plant from each company. The strikes were expanded on September 22, adding 38 GM and Stellantis parts warehouses. Assembly plants from Ford and GM were added the week after that, and then the union hit Ford hard, taking down the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, the company’s largest and most profitable factory. 

At the peak, about 46,000 workers were on strike against all three companies, about one-third of the union’s 146,000 members at the Detroit three. Automakers laid off several thousand more as parts shortages cascaded through their manufacturing systems. 

Under the Ford deal, workers with pensions also will see small increases when they retire, and those hired after 2007 with 401(k) plans will get large increases. For the first time, the union will have the right to go on strike over company plans to close factories. Temporary workers also will get large raises, and Ford agreed to shorten to three years the time it takes for new hires to reach the top of the pay scale. 

Union success stories

Other union leaders who followed more aggressive bargaining strategies in recent months have also secured pay hikes and other benefits for their members. Last month, the union representing Hollywood writers called off a nearly five-month strike after scoring some wins in compensation, length of employment and other areas. This summer, the Teamsters also secured new pay hikes and benefits for unionized UPS workers after threatening a nationwide strike at the delivery company. 
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Hundreds of Thousands Rally in Global Cities to Support Palestinians

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Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators rallied in cities in Europe, the Middle East and Asia on Saturday to show support for the Palestinians as Israel’s military widened its air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip.

In one of the biggest marches, in London, aerial footage showed large crowds marching through the center of the capital to demand the government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak call for a cease-fire.

“The superpowers at play are not doing enough at the moment. This is why we’re here: We’re calling for a cease-fire, calling for Palestinian rights, the right to exist, to live, human rights, all our rights,” protester Camille Revuelta said.

“This is not about Hamas. This is about protecting Palestinian lives,” she said.

Echoing Washington’s stance, Sunak’s government has stopped short of calling for a cease-fire, instead advocating humanitarian pauses to allow aid to reach people in Gaza.

Britain has supported Israel’s right to defend itself after the October 7 attack by militant group Hamas that killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians.

The death toll in Gaza has climbed to 7,650, also mostly civilians, since Israel’s bombardment began three weeks ago, according to a daily report released on Saturday from the Hamas-controlled Palestinian health ministry.

There has been strong support and sympathy for Israel from Western governments and many citizens over the Hamas attacks, but the Israeli response has also prompted anger, particularly in Arab and Muslim countries.

In Malaysia, a large crowd of demonstrators chanted slogans outside the U.S. embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

Addressing hundreds of thousands of supporters at a huge rally in Istanbul, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Israel was an occupier and repeated his stance about Hamas not being a terrorist organization. The U.S. designated Hamas a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997.

Erdogan drew a sharp rebuke from Israel this week for calling the militant group “freedom fighters.”

Iraqis took part in a rally in Baghdad, and in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian protesters in Hebron called on Saturday for a global boycott of Israeli products.

“Don’t contribute to the killing of the children of Palestine,” they chanted.

Elsewhere in Europe, people took to the streets of Copenhagen, Rome and Stockholm.

Some cities in France have banned rallies since the war began, fearing they could fuel social tensions, but despite the ban, a small rally took place on Saturday in Paris. Several hundred people also marched in the southern city of Marseille.

In New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, thousands of people holding Palestinian flags and placards reading “Free Palestine” marched to Parliament House.

In London, special restrictions were in place on protests around the Israeli Embassy.

Saturday’s march was peaceful, but police said they had made two arrests, one along the march route after a police officer was assaulted and another on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offense after a man was heard shouting racist remarks.

Police estimated the turnout at 50,000 to 70,000 people.

London police have faced criticism in recent days for not being tougher over slogans shouted by some protesters during another pro-Palestinian march in the capital last week, which drew about 100,000 people.
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Musk Says Starlink to Provide Connectivity in Gaza

Posted on by SeeUS

Elon Musk said on Saturday that SpaceX’s Starlink will support communication links in Gaza with “internationally recognized aid organizations.”

A telephone and internet blackout isolated people in the Gaza Strip from the world and from each other on Saturday, with calls to loved ones, ambulances or colleagues elsewhere all but impossible as Israel widened its air and ground assault.

International humanitarian organizations said the blackout, which began on Friday evening, was worsening an already desperate situation by impeding lifesaving operations and preventing them from contacting their staff on the ground.

Following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Starlink satellites were reported to have been critical to maintaining internet connectivity in some areas despite attempted Russian jamming.

Since then, Musk has said he declined to extend coverage over Russian-occupied Crimea, refusing to allow his satellites to be used for Ukrainian attacks on Russian forces there.
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VOA Immigration Weekly Recap, Oct. 22-28

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

Is There a Path to Refugee Resettlement for Palestinians?

Palestinians are the largest stateless community worldwide, according to the United Nations, and when they become refugees, the way to resettlement in the United States or other countries is not a straightforward journey. Immigration reporter Aline Barros reports.

Canada Admits Nearly 40,000 Afghans, Willing to Take More

Canada is on the brink of fulfilling its commitment to accept 40,000 Afghans before the end of this year. The pledge, made by Ottawa in August 2021 when the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, was driven by concerns for the safety of Afghans who had collaborated with Canadian programs and the former Afghan government. Story by Akmal Dawi.

Venezuelans Now Largest Group of Illegal US Border Crossers

Venezuelans became the largest nationality arrested for illegally crossing the U.S. border, replacing Mexicans for the first time on record, according to figures released Saturday that show September was the second-highest month for arrests of all nationalities. The Associated Press reports.

US Denies Hamas Eyeing US Southern Border

Fears that Hamas’ deadly terror attack on Israel could help spark a wider conflict or even terror attacks in the United States have yet to materialize into actual threats, according to U.S. officials. But that has not stopped concerns that terror-linked operatives may try to enter the U.S. southern border. VOA National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin has more.

VOA Day In Photos: Little Amal, a 12-foot-tall puppet depicting a 10-year-old Syrian refugee, plays with Fabian, a Venezuelan migrant boy, during her journey along the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, Oct. 25, 2023.

Immigration around the world

Latin American Leaders Hold Summit on Migration

A dozen Latin leaders gathered on October 22 in Mexico to discuss how to confront complicated and huge illegal migration flows, mostly to the United States. Mexico wants to “combine efforts, will and resources to tackle the causes of the migratory phenomenon,” President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on X, formerly Twitter, as the summit got underway. Agence France-Presse reports.

Scores of African Migrants Arrive on Spain’s Canary Islands

Authorities say more than 1,300 sub-Saharan African migrants reached Spain’s Canary Islands, a seven-island Atlantic archipelago, October 21-22. One vessel carried a record 321 people. Another record was set earlier this month when 8,561 migrants arrived on the islands in the first two weeks of October. VOANews has the story.

Cyprus Busts Refugee Trafficking Ring as More Arrive from Mideast

Police in Cyprus on Monday arrested 10 individuals suspected of running a criminal gang trafficking migrants, as the island saw a fresh spike in arrivals over the weekend. Cyprus, which lies at the crossroads of three continents, has seen irregular migration rise since 2017. Cypriot officials have in recent days repeatedly expressed concern that the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the Middle East could lead to a surge in people fleeing the region. Reuters has the story.

Pakistan Moves to Create Deportation Centers as Afghan Migrant Deadline Nears

The Pakistani government approved the creation of several deportation centers for hundreds of thousands of illegally residing Afghan nationals whom they plan to arrest and repatriate to Afghanistan starting next month, Ayaz Gul reports from Islamabad.

News brief

— U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has provided additional guidance on its interpretation of changes to the EB-5 program in the Immigration and Nationality Act.
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Investigation: 400,000 May Have Suffered Sexual Abuse from Spain’s Clergy, Lay People

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As many as 400,000 people are estimated to have suffered sexual abuse from Spain’s Catholic clergy and lay people, according to an independent commission.

At least half of the victims may have been children, said the nearly 800-page report released to the speaker of the Spanish parliament’s lower house Friday and then to reporters.

Conducted by Spain’s ombudsman, Angel Gabilondo, who said the Church had often minimized or denied people’s reports of abuse, Spain’s first official probe of sex abuse by clergy members or others connected to the Catholic Church in the country was drawn from a survey based on 8,000 valid phone and online responses.

According to The Associated Press, the poll said 1.13% of the Spanish adults questioned said they were abused as children by either priests or lay members of the church, including teachers at religious schools. Of those, 0.6% identified their abusers as clergy members.

By those estimates, more than 1 in 200 Spaniards may have been sexually abused by Catholic Church priests, the survey suggested.

“What has happened has been possible because of that silence,” the ombudsman said.

Gabilondo has suggested the creation of a state fund to compensate victims.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the probe’s findings represent a “milestone” for Spain’s democracy.

“Today we are a little better as a country,” Sánchez said Friday from Brussels, “because a reality has been made known that everyone has known for many years, but which no one spoke of.”

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
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‘Art of War’ and Amy Schumer’s Memoir Are Among Many Books Banned in US Prisons

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Tens of thousands of books are being banned or restricted by U.S. prisons, according to a new report from PEN America. The list includes titles ranging from self-help books to an Elmore Leonard novel.

“The common concept underpinning the censorship we’re seeing is that certain ideas and information are a threat,” said the report’s lead author, Moira Marquis, senior manager in the prison and justice writing department at PEN, the literary and free expression organization.

Timed to the start Wednesday of Prison Banned Books Week, “Reading Between the Bars” draws upon public record requests, calls from PEN to prison mailrooms, dozens of accounts from inmates and PEN’s struggles to distribute its guide for prison writing, “The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting A Writer’s Life in Prison,” which came out last year.

Marquis said that the most common official reasons for bans are security and sexual content, terms that can apply to a very wide range of titles. Michigan’s “restricted” list includes Leonard’s thriller “Cuba Libre,” set right before the 1898 Spanish-American War, and Frederick Forsyth’s “The Day of the Jackal,” about a professional assassin’s attempt to murder French President Charles de Gaulle in the 1960s. Both novels were cited as a “threat to the order/security of institution.”

“One of the books [‘Day of the Jackal’] deals with the planned assassination of a political leader/methods for engaging in such activities and the second [‘Cuba Libre’] deals with an individual engaged in various criminal enterprises,” a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections told The Associated Press in an email. “As part of the updated restricted publication process, a new Literary Review Committee has been formed to review items that were previously placed on the restricted publication list, to determine if they should remain or be removed.”

Amy Schumer’s memoir “The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo” was flagged by Florida officials for graphic sexual content and for being “a threat to the security, order or rehabilitative objectives of the correctional system or the safety of any person.”

Other books to appear on banned lists: Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War,” the compilation “Prison Ramen: Recipes and Stories from Behind Bars,” Barrington Barber’s “Anyone Can Draw: Create Sensational Artwork in Easy Steps” and Robert Greene’s self-help best-seller “48 Laws of Power.”

“It’s a form of control. It’s the ultimate form of power of manipulation,” Greene said in a statement issued through PEN.

In its report, PEN found parallels between the frequency of prison bans and book bannings in schools and libraries. In Florida, PEN has estimated that more than 40% of all library bans took place in the state in 2022. Meanwhile, the organization found that more than 22,000 books are banned from Florida prisons — the highest of any state — as of early this year, with some entries dating back to the 1990s. Texas, another frequent site of library bannings, had more than 10,000 prison book bans, second only to Florida.

Incidents of banning are likely much higher than what PEN has compiled, according to “Reading Between the Bars,” because record-keeping by many prisons is erratic or nonexistent. Kentucky and New Mexico are among more than 20 states that do not keep centralized records.

“Prison book programs have mostly tried to raise awareness locally when prisons implement new censorship restrictions for communities they serve,” the report reads. “But these programs are largely run by volunteers and struggle to keep up with the demand for books even absent censorship. The upshot is that there have been few nationwide efforts to analyze trends in carceral censorship.”

Marquis says that PEN places bans into two categories: content-specific, in which books are banned because of what they say or allegedly say, and content-neutral, in which books are restricted because they are not sent through accepted channels. In Maine, Michigan and other states, prisoners may only receive books through a select number of vendors, whether Amazon.com, a local bookstore or an approved publisher. In Idaho, Amazon and Barnes & Noble are not among the nine approved sellers, which include Books a Million and the Women’s Prison Book Project.

Content-neutral restrictions may also apply to the packaging (some federal facilities only permit white wrapping, Marquis says), and against free or used literature “because the intended recipient did not receive permission from a warden — or similar administrator — for each specific title mailed to them before the literature arrived,” according to Marquis.

A spokesman for the Idaho Department of Correction told the AP in an email that restrictions on packaging had become necessary because of “an increase in the amount of drug-soaked mail being sent to our residents.” He added that inmates can receive books and periodicals free of charge from authorized vendors and publishers.

“We believe our guidelines are a reasonable response to a growing problem that puts the health and safety of the people who live and work in Idaho’s correctional facilities at risk,” he said.

“Reading Between the Bars” follows a report released late in 2022 by the nonprofit Marshall Project, which found some 50,000 banned prison titles, based on lists made available by 19 states.
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Serbian Police Detain 6 People After Deadly Shooting Near Hungary Border

Posted on by SeeEU

Serbian police have arrested six people and seized automatic weapons after a shooting between migrants near the country’s tense border with Hungary killed three people and injured one.

Police said late Friday they detained four Afghan and two Turkish nationals suspected of unlawful possession of guns and explosives. It was not immediately clear whether they would be charged with the shooting as well.

The suspected clash between groups of migrants happened early Friday in abandoned farming warehouses near the village of Horgos. Police raided the area and seized two automatic rifles and ammunition. They also found 79 migrants and transferred them to reception centers, the statement said.

Reports of violence and gunbattles have become common near the border between Serbia and European Union member nation Hungary. Thousands of migrants have been camping in the area, looking for ways to cross with the help of people smugglers.

Serbian police have raided the border zone on several occasions over the past several months, arresting suspected people smugglers and confiscating weapons. President Aleksandar Vucic said on Friday that Serbia could bring in the military “to fix this,” state RTS television reported.

The Serbia-Hungary border area lies on the so-called Balkan land route of migration toward Western Europe, which leads from Turkey to Greece and Bulgaria, and then on to North Macedonia, Serbia or Bosnia.

Hungary’s staunchly anti-immigrant government has put up razor-wire fence on the border with Serbia to stop the influx. People smuggling gangs, however, have multiplied in the border area, often clashing for control.
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Good Samaritans Rescue Fisherman Stranded for Weeks

Posted on by SeeUS

Good Samaritans came across the life raft on Oct. 26, 2023. A second individual who started the journey with the survivor remains missing. The incident remains under investigation.
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US to Attend Chinese Military Forum, Easing Chill

Posted on by SeeUS

An international military forum beginning on Sunday in Beijing is expected to provide an opportunity for direct military-to-military contact between the United States and China, the latest sign of an easing of tensions between the two superpowers. 

A Pentagon spokesperson confirmed to VOA that the United States will be represented at the 10th Xiangshan Forum by Xanthi Carras, the Defense Department’s principal director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia.   

A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense announced this week that Russia, Britain and Saudi Arabia also will be among the more than 90 countries, regions and international organizations attending the three-day forum. More than 30 of the delegations will be led by a defense minister or military chief of staff.   

Signs of thaw

The fact that the United States was invited suggests an easing of Beijing’s freeze in high-level military-to-military communications that was imposed after then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August last year. 

Other recent contacts have included talks in early August between Ely Ratner, U.S. assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, and Yang Tao, director of the department of North American and Oceanian affairs at China’s Foreign Ministry.

Defense officials of the two countries also held a hybrid in-person and virtual meeting in late September to discuss the contents of a recent Pentagon strategy document, including a range of cyber-related topics. 

“In terms of hopefully, kind of kick-starting some of the military-to-military engagements, yes, I’m hopeful that we’ll have an opportunity to do that in the coming months,” said Michael Chase, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, at a public event this week. 

The signs of a military-to-military thaw accompany other indications of a desire on the part of both countries to ease tensions and avoid misunderstandings over incidents like Thursday’s near-miss between a Chinese fighter jet and an American bomber over the South China Sea.   

“China and the United States need to have dialogue,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Friday. “Not only should we resume dialogue, the dialogue should be in-depth and comprehensive, so that with dialogue we can increase mutual understanding, reduce misunderstanding and misjudgment.” 

‘A small step’

Some U.S. analysts cautiously welcomed the apparent breakthrough on military contacts.   

“I think the fact that the Department of Defense was willing to send a delegation, and indeed that the Chinese invited that delegation, is a small step forward in military-to-military relations. But it is only a small step,” said Dennis Wilder, senior fellow for the Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues at Georgetown University. 

Wilder told VOA there are many levels of exchange between the U.S. and Chinese militaries “that are quite crucial for keeping stability in East Asia that have not been restored and need to be restored.” 

But Richard Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, told VOA that the American delegation at the forum will likely be treated with suspicion and used for propaganda.   

“The Chinese Communist Party propaganda apparatus will try to convey this as a symbol of American acceptance of Chinese positions,” he said.   

The prospects for a significant change in military-to-military communications are complicated by the vacancy at the top of China’s defense establishment following the official removal this week of Defense Minister Li Shangfu. 

The United States “has to wait for the key person to be in the key position to be able to decide who to talk to and how to progress … in repairing these ties that have been cut since August 2022,” said Lionel Fatton, assistant professor of international relations and outreach coordinator to the U.N. and NGOs at Webster University Geneva. 
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2 Dead in Protests Over Mozambique Election Results, Says Watchdog

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Protests in Mozambique over disputed local election results resulted in the deaths of a police officer and a civilian Friday, a corruption watchdog group said. Police reported a total of 70 arrests in four cities but not any fatalities. 

The unrest followed Thursday’s official validation of the election results, which gave the ruling Frelimo party victory in 64 out of 65 municipalities. A consortium of election observers had reported widespread ballot stuffing, voter intimidation and falsification of results in favor of Frelimo in the October 11 elections. 

Demonstrators barricaded streets during the protests, which were concentrated in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, and the northern cities of Nampula and Nacala. 

In Maputo, the main opposition party, Renamo, led its supporters in a march. Other groups of protesters blocked main avenues with piles of burning tires and trash. Riot police and plainclothes officers dispersed crowds with tear gas and bursts of AK-47 gunfire into the air. 

The police officer was killed in Nampula and the civilian in Nacala, according to the Center for Public Integrity, a Mozambican anti-corruption organization. At least two other people in Nampula were seriously injured by tear gas grenades, including a 6-year-old child, local television channel TV Sucesso reported. 

Police spokesperson Orlando Mudomane said 60 people were arrested in Nampula, four in Maputo, and the remainder in Nacala and the central city of Quelimane. Police were seen arresting several people inside the headquarters of Renamo’s Maputo branch. 

Mudomane said 10 people were injured during Friday’s protests, but he did not confirm any deaths. 

Peaceful Renamo-led demonstrations have taken place across the southern African nation of 32 million since the elections. The election results reduced the number of municipalities under Renamo control from eight to zero. 

A parallel count of the vote by the consortium of election observers concluded that Renamo beat Frelimo in the major cities of Quelimane, Nampula, Matola and Maputo. This would have put an opposition party in control of the capital for the first time since Mozambique’s independence from Portugal in 1975. 

Frelimo and Renamo fought a bloody civil war between 1977 and 1992 in which over 1 million people are estimated to have died. Following a peace settlement, Mozambique held its first democratic elections in 1994. 

A dispute over the results of the 2014 general election resulted in more hostility between the parties, and a new peace agreement was signed in 2019. 
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Suspect in Maine Mass Shooting Died From Self-Inflicted Wound

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Robert Card, who officials believe to be responsible for the mass shooting in the northern U.S. state of Maine, has been found dead, state officials said Friday. 

Michael Sauschuk, the Maine commissioner of public safety, told a news conference that Card died from an “apparent, self-inflicted gunshot wound.” 

Governor Janet Mills said Card’s body was found in Lisbon Falls, Maine. 

Authorities had been searching for Card in connection with a mass shooting Wednesday at two locations — a bowling alley and a bar and grill — in Lewiston, Maine. He is suspected of having killed 18 people and wounded 13. 

“Robert Card is not a threat to anyone,” Mills said Friday. “Now is a time to heal.” 

Card’s body was found at 7:45 p.m. near the Androscoggin River at a recycling facility, officials said. 

Authorities lifted their shelter in place order for the areas near the shootings Friday evening. 

Card, 40, a U.S. Army reservist, underwent a mental health evaluation in mid-July after he began acting erratically during training, a U.S. official told The Associated Press. 

The names and pictures of the 16 males and 2 females who died were released as State Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck asked for a moment of silence at the news conference. Their ages ranged from 14 to 76. 

The attacks stunned a state of only 1.3 million people that has one of the country’s lowest homicide rates: 29 killings in all of 2022. The governor said Friday that many Maine residents will know someone who died. 

A motive for the shootings has not been determined.   

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.  
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Trump to Testify in his Civil Fraud Trial; Daughter Also to Testify

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Former U.S. President Donald Trump is set to testify November 6 at his New York civil fraud trial, following his three eldest children to the witness stand in a case that threatens to disrupt their family’s real estate empire, state lawyers said Friday. 

It was already expected that the former president and sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump would testify. The timing became clear Friday, after Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that daughter Ivanka Trump also must appear, rejecting her bid to avoid testifying. 

The schedule sets up a blockbuster stretch in the trial of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit. She alleges that the former president, now the front-runner to be the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, overstated his wealth for years on financial statements that were given to banks, insurers and others to help secure loans and deals. 

Trump denies any wrongdoing and has called the trial a politically motivated sham. The case could strip Trump of some of his corporate holdings and marquee properties such as Trump Tower. James and Engoron are Democrats. 

Donald Trump and the two sons are defendants in the lawsuit, but the state is initially calling them to the stand before the defense begins its case. The defense can then call them again. 

In a surprise preview, Donald Trump ended up briefly testifying Wednesday to answer Engoron’s questions about whether an out-of-court comment was aimed at his law clerk. The judge had earlier barred participants in the trial from talking publicly about court staffers. 

Trump said his remark wasn’t about the clerk; Engoron called that testimony “not credible” and fined Trump $10,000, on top of a $5,000 fine imposed days earlier over an online post about the clerk. Trump’s lawyers paid both fines on his behalf but still might appeal them, according to a court filing Friday. 

Donald Trump Jr. is now set to testify next Wednesday, brother Eric Trump on Thursday, and sister Ivanka Trump on November 3, though her lawyers may appeal to try to block her testimony. 

An appeals court dismissed her as a defendant in the lawsuit in June, saying the claims against her were too old. Ivanka Trump announced in January 2017, ahead of her father’s inauguration, that she was stepping away from her job as an executive vice president at the family company, the Trump Organization. She soon became an unpaid senior adviser in the Trump White House. After her father’s term ended, she moved to Florida. 

Her lawyer, Bennet Moskowitz, told the judge Friday that state lawyers “just don’t have jurisdiction over her.” One of Donald Trump’s attorneys, Christopher Kise, maintained that state lawyers “just want another free-for-all on another of President Trump’s children.” 

“The idea that somehow Ms. Trump is under the control of the Trump Organization or any of the defendants, her father — anyone who has raised a daughter past the age of 13 knows that they’re not under their control,” Kise said. 

However, lawyers with the state of New York argued that Ivanka Trump was a key participant in some events discussed in the case and remains financially and professionally intertwined with the family business and its leaders. 

Engoron sided with the state, citing documents showing that Ivanka Trump continued to have ties to some businesses in New York and still owns Manhattan apartments. 

“Ms. Trump has clearly availed herself of the privilege of doing business in New York,” Engoron said. 

During her years at the Trump Organization, Ivanka Trump was involved in negotiating and securing financing for various properties, including a lease and loan for a Washington hotel and loans for Trump’s Doral golf resort near Miami and a Trump-owned hotel and condo skyscraper in Chicago, according to court filings. 

According to the New York attorney general’s office, Ivanka Trump retained a financial interest in the Trump Organization’s operations even after leaving for the White House, including through an interest in the now-sold Washington hotel. 

In court papers that included emails and other documents, the state lawyers said the Trump Organization and its staff also have bought insurance for Ivanka Trump and her businesses, managed her household staff and credit card bills, rented her apartment and paid her legal fees. 

In 2021 federal disclosures, she reported $2.6 million in income from Trump entities, including revenue from a vehicle known as TTT Consulting LLC. A company bookkeeper testified that TTT was set up for her and her brothers to reap a share of fees from some licensing agreements. 
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Ukrainian Pro-Russian Entrepreneur Latest Victim in String of Attacks

Posted on by SeeEU

Ukrainian pro-Russian entrepreneur Oleg Tsaryov was shot twice and seriously wounded late Thursday in Russian-annexed Crimea where he lives, his family and Russian officials said Friday.

Russia’s top investigative body said it had opened a criminal inquiry into the attempt on his life, the latest incident in a series of attacks since the start of the war on several prominent pro-Moscow figures.

Tsaryov was found unconscious and bleeding. A Russian-installed official in southern Ukraine, Vladimir Rogov, said he is in intensive care. The former Ukrainian lawmaker was lined up to lead a puppet administration in Kyiv if Russia succeeded in occupying Kyiv, Reuters reported, citing sources in Moscow.

The shooting of Tsaryov was a special operation conducted by the Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, a source in the Ukrainian intelligence agency said Friday.

Tsaryov, a wealthy hotel businessman in Crimea, was previously a member of the Ukrainian parliament and then speaker of the parliament of “Novorossiya” — an entity formed after Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine broke away in 2014 and began fighting Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine, the United States and several other Western countries have imposed sanctions on him. He is listed as a “traitor to the motherland” by Myrotvorets, “Peacemaker” in Ukrainian, a vast unofficial database of people considered to be enemies of the country. The website lists personal information about Tsaryov, including an email address, a passport number and an address in Yalta.

Several pro-war Russian figures in the Myrotvorets database have been assassinated since the start of the war, including journalist Darya Dugina, war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky and former submarine commander Stanislav Rzhitsky.

Dugina and Tatarsky died in bombings, while Rzhitsky was shot while out on an early morning run.

No comment was immediately available from Ukrainian intelligence.

War commitment

Ukrainians remain deeply committed to keeping up their country’s defensive fight against Russia, despite some weariness with their country’s 20-month struggle against Russia’s invasion.

According to a recent Gallup survey, Ukrainians remain steadfast in their desire to win the war that Russia started in February 2022, but less so than a year ago.

Three in five (60%) Ukrainians interviewed in July and August said they want Ukraine to keep fighting until it wins, twice as many as those who want Ukraine to negotiate to end the war as soon as possible (31%). Ukrainians’ commitment is slightly muted from what it was in September 2022, when 70% of Ukrainians said they wanted their country to keep fighting, but the majority still staunchly support the war, the survey shows.

The fighting is expected to drag on into the winter as both sides remain deadlocked in fierce battles.

War-weary mothers, wives and children gathered on the streets of Ukrainian cities Friday, demanding an 18-month limit on mandatory military service.

Chanting “Demobilize the soldiers,” about 100 wives, mothers, children and relatives of Ukrainian soldiers attended a demonstration in the capital, Kyiv.

“I live in constant fear for his life,” Valeriia Koliada, 35, said of her husband, who volunteered for the military.

“It’s nerve-wracking for me. He is tired as well,” she said. “We are a young family. I also want to have a child and sleep calm at night.”

Protesters gathered in at least six other Ukrainian cities.

Ukraine ordered a general mobilization of the male population between the ages of 25 and 60 when Russia launched its invasion on February 24, 2022. The vast majority joined as volunteers.

In Russia meanwhile, forces are experiencing morale problems as another winter campaign looms, the White House said.

“We have information that the Russian military has been actually executing soldiers who refuse to follow orders,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told a press conference on Thursday.

“We also have information that Russian commanders are threatening to execute entire units if they seek to retreat from Ukrainian artillery fire,” Kirby said, calling the practice “barbaric.”

“Russia’s mobilized forces remain undertrained, underequipped and unprepared for combat, as was the case during their failed winter offensive last year,” Kirby said, adding that Russia appears to be employing “human wave” tactics.

“No proper equipment, no leadership, no resourcing, no support. It is unsurprising that Russian forces are suffering from poor morale,” Kirby said.

Russia’s Washington Embassy did not immediately reply to VOA’s email requesting comment.

Some of the recent casualties of Russian soldiers near the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka were on the orders of their own leaders, the White House said.

Ukrainian and Russian troops have been fighting for Avdiivka, a frontline town in the Donetsk region, since mid-October. The town had essentially been reduced to rubble because of Russian bombing, the Ukrainian military said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that Russian forces have lost at least a brigade worth of troops trying to advance on Ukraine’s eastern town.

“The invaders made several attempts to surround Avdiivka, but each time our soldiers stopped them and threw them back, causing painful losses. In these cases, the enemy lost at least a brigade,” Zelenskyy told British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in a phone call, the president’s office said in a statement.

Ukraine aid

Meanwhile, the United States said Thursday it will be providing Ukraine with $150 million in additional military assistance. The package will include artillery and small-arms ammunition, as well as anti-tank weapons.

To date, Washington has provided Kyiv with $43.9 billion in security aid since Russia invaded, meaning the United States is Ukraine’s biggest security donor. However, future U.S. aid for Ukraine may be in jeopardy due to rising Republican opposition.

President Joe Biden met with new House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries at the White House on Thursday to discuss his request for nearly $106 billion lumping together funding for Israel and Ukraine, as well as for bolstering security at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Johnson, a staunch conservative allied with Donald Trump, said Congress is “not going to abandon” Ukraine. He said House Republicans would first bring a separate bill to provide $14.5 billion in aid to Israel, adding that they need more information about the Biden administration’s Ukraine strategy.

“We can’t allow Vladimir Putin to prevail in Ukraine because I don’t believe it would stop there,” Johnson said on Fox News’ “Hannity,” referring to the Russian president. But he added, “We must stand with our important ally in the Middle East, and that’s Israel.”

Germany has stepped up efforts to supply air defense systems to Ukraine ahead of the impending winter to help protect critical infrastructure there from Russian attacks. The defense ministry in Berlin said Friday it delivered a third IRIS-T SLM air defense system to Kyiv.

Some information in this report came from Reuters, Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press.
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Nigerian Presidency Welcomes Verdict Affirming Tinubu’s Victory 

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Nigeria’s presidency and the ruling All Progressives Congress party have welcomed this week’s decision by the Supreme Court upholding the election victory of President Bola Tinubu.

A seven-man panel of justices upheld Tinubu’s victory in the controversial February presidential polls, ending months of legal challenges by his two main rivals, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi.

In a statement issued late Thursday, Tinubu said that the court decision bolstered his commitment to serve as president and that the judgment would strengthen Nigeria’s electoral jurisprudence and democracy.  

But opposition parties were disappointed with the verdict, saying it could erode trust in Nigeria’s judiciary and democracy.

The court rejected an effort by Abubakar to introduce new evidence to support his allegations that Tinubu had forged the diploma he presented to the electoral commission. The court held that it was too late to make that case.

The court also rejected a challenge to the manual transmission of votes, which opposition parties said gave rise to concerns about the manipulation of vote counts. February’s election was rife with allegations of irregularities, which Nigeria’s electoral commission rejected.

Phrank Shuaibu, Abubakar’s spokesperson, said the court ruling “was high on technicalities, with so little of substantial justice. Nigerians know – you’ll notice the gloom, the tears, the pain on the faces of Nigerians since yesterday. What I know for sure is that we have not heard the last of the February 25 election. The issues around it will continue to haunt those who did all they could to avert justice.”

Tinubu said it was now time to focus on government and called for general support.

Nigeria has been grappling for months with high inflation, insecurity, crude oil theft, dwindling foreign reserves and currency devaluation. Critics blame Tinubu’s new economic policies for making matters worse.

Opposition attorney Kenneth Okonkwo said, “The decision of the Supreme Court is final, but I respectfully disagree with some of the portions of the judgment. But if you disagree with the judgment, the only appeal you have is to God.”

As Nigerian president, Tinubu also doubles as chair of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The bloc has been seeking to restore constitutional order in Niger after a recent coup. Analysts say coups have become rampant across Africa because of failures of democratically elected governments.

This week, ECOWAS and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance held a summit in Abuja to look for a solution.

Abdel Fatau Musa, ECOWAS’s political affairs, peace and security commissioner, said, winner-take-all politics “has been the source of many state captures and also disenchantment of large groups of populations in our continent.”

Nigeria’s former president, Goodluck Jonathan, also spoke at the summit. “There is a strong connection between democracy and development,” he said, “hence the need to deepen democracy, make it more inclusive and strengthen the institutions of governance towards building a stable and prosperous society.”

For now, Nigerians hope Tinubu can deliver on promises he made to boost the economy and fight corruption and insecurity.
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EU Calls for ‘Pauses’ in Gaza Fighting Amid Doubts Over Bloc’s Influence

Posted on by SeeEU

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would help to build a “humanitarian coalition” to offer support to Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, following a two-day summit of European Union leaders in Brussels that wrapped up Friday.

“We are going to build a humanitarian coalition with several European countries, particularly Cyprus, which will serve as a base for the humanitarian sea corridor,” Macron told reporters.

Helicopter carrier

France announced on Thursday it was deploying a helicopter carrier to support hospitals in Gaza.

Macron reiterated calls for Israel to protect civilian lives as it targets Hamas fighters in Gaza after the militant group staged a cross-border attack October 7, killing more than 1,400 Israeli soldiers and civilians.

Palestinian health officials said more than 7,000 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since the latest fighting began, including thousands of children. More than 600,000 people have been made homeless.

“We consider that in the case of a total blockade or indiscriminate shelling — or worse, a massive ground operation — it is not possible to offer the required protection to the civilian population,” Macron said. “We think that a humanitarian pause would now be useful in order to protect people on the ground who have been victims of shelling.”

Macron earlier suggested that the international coalition of nations that came together to fight the Islamic State terror group in Iraq and Syria could help Israel tackle Hamas militants.

EU statement

In a statement issued following the summit, EU leaders called for humanitarian “corridors and pauses” to help bring in relief for the population of Gaza.

“Hamas has provoked a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. For the Commission, it is very important that we continue to intensify our efforts to deal with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The aid needs to reach Gaza unhindered and quickly,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference Thursday.

EU divisions

Europe has backed Israel’s right to defend itself in line with international law, but analysts say the conflict has exposed internal divisions in the bloc.

“We’ve got some sort of agreement. It does paper over the cracks,” said Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Center for European Reform.

“It took them some time to agree on the eventual formula. They seem to have spent a long time arguing about whether there should be a ‘pause’ for humanitarian purposes, or ‘pauses.’ A lot of people apparently thought that the former sounded a bit too close to a ceasefire, which they didn’t want to call for,” Bond said.

Peace conference

The EU called for renewed focus on a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict. The bloc also proposed that an international peace conference should take place as soon as possible.

Israel shows little willingness to pause its bombardment of Hamas targets, and the EU’s statement is unlikely to have a big impact, Bond said.

“The reality in any case is that the EU’s influence over Israel in particular has been quite limited for quite a long time, particularly under the [Israeli] Netanyahu government. He is clearly not a fan of the EU, and so I’m not sure that he will have been all that interested in whether they called for ‘a pause’ or ‘pauses,’ ” Bond said.

Ukraine aid

The European Union also discussed a further four-year, $53 billion support package for Ukraine as it fights Russia’s invasion, although final agreement on the details is not expected until December.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a longtime critic of Western assistance to Ukraine, said he was seeking stronger justification for the aid proposal before he could agree to it. Orban met Russian President Vladimir Putin last week in Moscow, prompting widespread criticism from Western allies. Meanwhile, the newly elected Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico cited corruption concerns in Ukraine.

Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar criticized both their positions. “If we don’t stop Putin in Ukraine, he won’t stop there. So, it is a threat to all of us,” he said.

Most EU states strongly support the continuation of military and financial assistance to Kyiv, Bond said. “I wouldn’t exaggerate the divisions in the EU. Orban says a lot publicly, but he tends not to block consensus in the European Council on assistance to Ukraine.

“Most member states are still firmly behind Ukraine, firmly behind aid for Ukraine and supportive of Ukraine’s ambitions to become a member of the European Union and to start accession negotiations, probably in the new year,” Bond told VOA.

Gaza distraction

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the EU would not be distracted in its support for Ukraine by the conflict in the Middle East.

“In my last contact with [Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy], a telephone conversation I had with him, I assured that our support for Ukraine will not diminish and will not be affected by the fact that we now have this bitter new problem created by the terrible, brutal attack by Hamas on Israel and many citizens there,” Scholz said at a press conference Friday.
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Ugandan Economists Say Country Still Investment Destination Despite US Advisory

Posted on by SeeUS

Ugandan economists and officials expressed confidence in the country’s economy and urged investors to ignore a U.S. government advisory about risks they may face if they conduct business there.

The advisory, in the U.S. 2023 Investment Climate Statements, warned of the financial and reputational risks posed by endemic corruption in Uganda.

The statement also noted Uganda’s enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality Act in May, a move condemned by LGBTQ+ advocates worldwide.

Morrison Rwakakamba, chairperson of the Uganda Investment Authority, a government arm mandated with promoting investment in the country, told VOA that organizations such as the Oxford University Center of African Economies have ranked Uganda as one of the least risky economies on the continent.

The African Development Bank’s 2023 report also ranked Uganda among the top investment destinations in East Africa.

According to the African Development Bank, Uganda’s gross domestic product is projected to grow 6.5% in 2023 and 6.7% in 2024, assuming any global growth slowdown will be short lived.

Rwakakamba said current investors are rational and know they will continue to make money in Uganda.

“Investors follow money. Investors don’t follow geopolitics,” he said. “They don’t follow cultural wars that seem to be what is embedded in that advisory. … We even also continue to encourage our American investors that there is money to be made in Africa. There’s money to be made in Uganda because of the market, because of the return on investment. We are not worried about these advisories.”

The Uganda Investment Authority said the country has seen exponential growth in direct foreign investment over the past four years from investors in United Arab Emirates, China, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands, among others.

However, Corti Paul Lakuma, a senior research fellow and head of the macroeconomics department at the Economic Policy Research Centre in Kampala, said the advisory is a disadvantage for Uganda because the country still wants to attract investors.

Despite investments from China, India and Europe, Lakuma said, Uganda cannot disregard the fact that the United States is still the biggest social and public investor in the sectors of health and education.

“Those other countries, yes, they are good and dependable, but their kind of investments are different from the investments America makes,” Lakuma said. “America makes investments with long-term repayment period and return period. Not many countries are willing to take that risk.”

Rwakakamba argued that even though there is corruption in Uganda, the East African country has set up online mechanisms that enable direct contact between potential investors and Ugandan officials, in an effort to cut out middlemen who demand bribes.

Regarding the Anti-Homosexuality Act, Uganda has experienced a political backlash for what has been described as the harshest law against the LGBTQ+ community in the world.

Lakuma said Uganda may need to reconsider the law.

“The world is becoming very sensitive [to] issues of diversity, inclusivity,” he said. “I think it demanded for some sensitivity from our lawmakers. We don’t live in a vacuum, even though we want to keep our cultures and morals. But also, you must observe what is the changing world order.”

In August, the World Bank said the Anti-Homosexuality Act contradicted its values. The bank said it would halt new loans to Uganda until it could test measures to prevent discrimination in the Ugandan projects it finances.
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