As Egyptians struggle with record-high annual inflation, President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi appears poised to be declared the winner of a third, six-year term in an electoral race against three low-profile candidates. Cairo-based photojournalist Hamada Elrasam followed voters over the course of the three-day voting period that ended on December 12. Results are expected on December 18. Written in collaboration with Elle Kurancid.
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Month: December 2023
ECOWAS Tries Negotiations With Niger’s Coup Leaders but Analysts Skeptical
Abuja, Nigeria — The West African bloc ECOWAS is seeking to hold talks with Niger’s military government and chart a course forward following the country’s July coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum. The bloc is pushing for Bazoum’s release and a shorter path back to democratic rule, but analysts worry they may not succeed.
Niger is one of several African countries that have experienced coups or attempted coups in recent years.
At a recent summit in Abuja, Nigeria, West African leaders from regional bloc ECOWAS agreed to negotiate with Niger for a “short transition” period to democratic rule – promising to progressively ease economic and political bans upon successful dialogue.
Niger’s military has proposed a three-year transition period. ECOWAS wants a shorter transition and has set up a three-person committee, composed of the presidents of Togo, Sierra Leone and Benin, to negotiate with Niger’s military government.
During this week’s summit, the fourth in six months, West African leaders also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of ousted Nigerien President Mohammed Bazoum.
Kop’ep Dabugat, the general secretary of the West African Civil Society Forum, questions ECOWAS’ approach.
“When you’re having a negotiation, the difficult issues are the ones that come in last,” Dabugat said. “The insistence on the release of the ousted president first, we think it is not very prudent. We’re calling on ECOWAS to first of all ease economic sanctions as an act of faith which will perhaps convince the junta to come back to the table.”
This week’s summit marked the first time the regional bloc has recognized the coup administration in Niger – dashing hopes of an immediate reinstatement of Bazoum.
Senior military men in Niger in July overthrew Bazoum and have detained him for alleged treason. In response, ECOWAS imposed heavy sanctions on Niger. ECOWAS ordered border closures, freezing of assets, trade restrictions and threatened a military invasion of Niger.
ECOWAS said it would ease sanctions against Niger if the junta agreed to the bloc’s demands.
West and Central Africa have recorded eight coups d’etat since 2020.
Political analyst Chukwudi Odoeme said bad governance is the reason coups are receiving popular support in the region.
“From the steps the military administration in Niger has taken, I don’t see them backing down,” Odoeme said. “Then again, ECOWAS has lost its beauty in the sense that the heads of state that populate them have questionable hold onto power. Where the issue of legitimacy is lacking in the people who compose an organization, it becomes a difficult thing to hold onto any resolution that they have made, so I don’t see change coming from whatever ECOWAS is doing.”
This week, Niger’s transitional leader, Abdourahamane Tiani, said his government is forging a security and economic bloc known as the Alliance of the Sahel States, with Mali and Burkina Faso – countries also ruled by their respective militaries.
Dabugat said ECOWAS was too slow to begin dialogue and that the new alliance would make negotiations more difficult.
“Sometimes when you do not negotiate within the window available, things move further down the line and it continues to get difficult,” Dabugat said.
Odoeme said if this alliance of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso becomes successful, it could encourage more coups in the region.
“If you have a good relationship with your immediate neighbor, you can survive any sanctions,” Odoeme said. “I am seeing a situation where other countries will toe the line of Niger.”
It’s not clear when the ECOWAS team will meet with Niger’s junta.
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US Lawmakers Pass Sweeping $886 Billion Defense Spending Bill
Washington — U.S. lawmakers passed the massive annual defense spending bill Thursday, approving the $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by a vote of 310-118 to be signed into law by President Joe Biden. The bill setting policy and spending priorities for the Department of Defense for 2024 is $28 billion larger than last year’s spending bill, an increase of around three percent.
“The NDAA is one of the most consequential bills Congress considers,” said Rep. Mike Rogers, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. “Passage of this bill each year sends an important signal to the men and women defending our freedom that Congress can function and will prioritize their needs. Above all else, enacting the NDAA has never been more vital than today. America and our allies face unprecedented and rapidly evolving threats from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and terrorist organizations throughout the world.”
The bill authorizes a 5.2 percent pay raise for US service members, extends the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative through 2027 and provides funding for security cooperation among the US, United Kingdom and Australia.
The U.S. Senate passed the NDAA late Wednesday by a vote of 87-13.
“We’ll strengthen our resources in the Indo-Pacific, to deter aggression by the Chinese government, and give resources for the military in Taiwan. We’ll give DOD more resources to deploy and develop AI, protect against foreign cyber threats, increase the transparency of Unidentified Areal Phenomena,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday night after passage.
Earlier Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also praised the NDAA on the Senate floor, saying the legislation, “recognizes the need to strengthen America’s position in strategic competition with China through targeted improvements to critical capabilities – from long-range fires and anti-ship weapons to modernizing our nuclear triad. It’ll authorize further investments in the defense industrial base and expand efficiency and accountability of the lethal assistance degrading Russia’s military in Ukraine. It’ll turbo-charge cooperation with Israel on future missile defense technologies and ensure our closest ally in the Middle East can access the U.S. capabilities it needs, when it needs them.”
Earlier this year, the Republican-majority U.S. House passed a more conservative version of the NDAA that would have eliminated many progressive policies providing access to abortion and transgender care. Those amendments were not in the final version of the legislation that passed Thursday.
A joint Senate-House Conference committee worked out the compromise legislation that was passed by both chambers this week.
Rogers described the bill passed Thursday as a good compromise, saying on the House floor Thursday, “It goes a long way toward ending woke policies being forced on our service members by left wing bureaucrats. It includes provisions that ban critical race theory and require promotions based on merit. It includes several provisions that require accountability from the administration like in its Special Inspector General for Ukraine, Ukraine aid and the deadline for the DOD to finally pass an audit.”
Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee said Thursday the NDAA “solidifies our alliances with our European allies, with our allies in Asia and with Israel and our allies in the Middle East to meet the threats that we face. You cannot oppose this bill and claim that you support the national security of this country.”
Forty-five Democrats and seventy-three Republicans voted against the NDAA Thursday, with many conservative Republicans objecting to the extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The controversial intelligence program allows the US government to collect the communications of foreign nationals without a warrant. Conservatives allege the program has been misused to violate the privacy of Americans.
“What’s being stated is it is impossible to oppose the National Defense Authorization Act because we put a pay raise in it or because we put something in there that is seemingly so important that we have to ignore the critical destruction of our civil liberties by adding FISA extension – without doing the reforms necessary to protect the American people,” Republican Rep. Chip Roy said Thursday.
Smith acknowledged that FISA authorizations are in need of reform.
“There’s no question about that. Nobody I know of, however, says that it should completely go away. If we don’t do it on this bill, it completely goes away on January 1, which is a huge national security threat to this country – universally agree.”
U.S. lawmakers are still negotiating the White House’s $106 billion national security supplemental request that includes $60 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine as well as nearly $14 billion to assist Israel in the conflict with Hamas.
your ad hereDanish Police Arrest Several Suspected of Planning Terror Attacks
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Danish police made several arrests Thursday, saying they carried out the operation “on suspicion of preparation for a terrorist attack.”
The arrests were made in “a coordinated action” in several locations in Denmark early Thursday.
No other details were given. The Copenhagen police and Denmark’s domestic intelligence service were to give a press conference later.
“This is extremely serious,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at a European Union summit in Brussels. “It shows the situation we are in in Denmark. Unfortunately.”
“It is absolutely true when both (Denmark’s intelligence agencies) say that there is a high risk in Denmark,” Frederiksen said. “It is of course completely unacceptable in relation to Israel and Gaza, that there is someone who takes a conflict somewhere else in the world into Danish society.”
The terror threat level in Denmark current is at level four, the second highest.
Earlier this month, the European Union’s home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson, warned that Europe faces a “huge risk of terrorist attacks” over the Christmas holiday period due to the fallout from the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
In July 2022, a gunman at a shopping mall in Copenhagen killed three people and injured seven. The man, who believed the victims were zombies, was sentenced in July to detention in a secure medical facility. He had been charged with murder and attempted murder in the rampage at the huge Field’s shopping center on the outskirts of Copenhagen.
In 2015, a 22-year-old Danish Muslim gunman killed two people and wounded five others at a free speech event and a synagogue in Copenhagen.
Earlier this month, the Danish parliament passed a law making it illegal to desecrate any holy text, after a handful of anti-Islam activists carried out public desecrations of the Quran, sparking angry demonstrations in Muslim countries.
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Russian Court Upholds Detention of US Reporter Gershkovich
MOSCOW — A Moscow court on Thursday upheld a ruling to hold in detention until January 30 U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich, arrested in Russia earlier this year on espionage charges.
The 32-year-old Wall Street Journal correspondent in Moscow, his employer and the U.S. government have all rejected the spying allegations.
“Evan Gershkovich will remain in custody until January 30, 2024,” the Moscow city court said in a statement on social media, turning down an appeal lodged late last month.
A video released by the court showed Gershkovich, who previously worked for Agence France-Presse, standing in a cage for defendants during Thursday’s hearing, smiling and wearing a dark-colored sweater.
Gershkovich was arrested during a reporting trip at the end of March in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, becoming the first Western reporter to be held on spying charges in Russia since the Soviet era.
He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Russia this month also brought fresh charges against U.S.-Russian dual citizen Alsu Kurmasheva, arrested in the central city of Kazan in October and charged with failing to register as a “foreign agent.”
Her employer, Radio Free Europe/Liberty (RFE/RL), this week denounced the fresh charges filed against her after reports she has also been accused of violating rules against Ukraine war criticism.
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US, Taiwan Discuss Broadening Taiwan’s International Participation
State Department — The United States and Taiwan are exploring ways to expand Taiwan’s participation in the United Nations system and other international forums, as well as addressing a range of global challenges, including public health, aviation safety and climate change.
The most recent routine consultation between the U.S. and Taiwan took place Wednesday, days after the Chinese delegation at COP28 opposed calls to include Taiwan in the United Nations climate talks in Dubai.
All participants in the latest U.S.-Taiwan talks “recognized the importance of working closely with likeminded partners who share our concerns regarding attempts to exclude Taiwan from the international community,” according to the U.S. State Department in a statement.
Taiwan Relations Act
Senior American officials have said Washington’s “One China” policy is “distinct” from Beijing’s “One China” principle. The U.S. policy is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Joint Communiques and the Six Assurances. China has objected to the Taiwan Relations Act and deemed it as invalid.
The Taiwan Relations Act has stated that “nothing in this Act may be construed as a basis for supporting the exclusion or expulsion of Taiwan from continued membership in any international financial institution or any other international organization.”
The Chinese Communist Party has never ruled Taiwan but claims sovereignty over the island, which became home to the Chinese Nationalist government after its defeat in 1949. During the U.N. climate talks held in the United Arab Emirates, Chinese officials lodged a protest after calls to include Taiwan’s participation in the climate summit by other countries.
“China has noted that during the meeting a handful of countries ignore the fact that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China and make noises about the participation by the Taiwan authorities in the COP,” a member of the Chinese delegation said via a translator in the plenary hall in Dubai.
Wednesday, officials from the State Department and Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs discussed near-term opportunities to support Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA) and other global public health bodies, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), as well as Taiwan’s meaningful participation in other multilateral organizations.
World Health Organization and International Civil Aviation Organization
The Beijing government has been blocking Taiwan’s representation at WHA meetings after the self-ruled democracy elected Tsai Ing-wen, a China skeptic, as president in 2016.
China has also blocked Taiwan’s participation in ICAO assemblies since 2013.
Since the U.S. switched its diplomatic recognition from the government of Taipei to Beijing in 1979, Washington has insisted that the two sides should resolve their political disputes peacefully.
Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said “fundamental differences” over Taiwan persist in Washington’s relationship with Beijing.
The top U.S. diplomat on China said the United States will continue to implement the Taiwan Relations Act and help Taiwan with its defense needs, renewing the U.S. commitment to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
In recent months, China has been increasing its military activities near the strait. The United States has voiced concerns about any Chinese interference through military coercion, as Taiwan prepares for a presidential election in January 2024.
“I think what we can do is to insist that the people in Taiwan have an opportunity to vote freely on January 13,” Burns told an audience during a seminar hosted by the U.S.-based Council on Foreign Relations.
In Beijing, Chinese officials said the election in Taiwan “is purely China’s internal affair.”
“Taiwan independence” means war and “Taiwan independence” is a dead end, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said during a recent briefing.
In a recent interview with VOA, U.S. Senior Official for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Matt Murray said, “We certainly want to make sure there are opportunities for engagement” between the U.S. and Taiwan in international economic forums, as Taiwan is one of the top trading partners and investors in the United States.
Morris Chang, founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, represented Taiwan during the APEC summit in San Francisco in mid-November, where he held talks with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.
The two discussed the U.S.-Taiwan “relationship on the economy and technology,” Harris said in a social media post on X, formerly Twitter. Chang also had a pull-aside meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the APEC meetings, according to Murray.
The last U.S.-Taiwan working group meeting on international organizations took place in April.
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Republican-majority US House of Representatives Narrowly Advances Biden Impeachment Inquiry
The Republican-majority U.S. House of Representatives narrowly voted Wednesday to authorize a formal impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Joe Biden, a step forward in the investigation into any involvement by the president in his son’s business dealings. As VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, the White House denies any wrongdoing.
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US Upbeat About Ukraine’s Membership Talks at EU Summit
STATE DEPARTMENT — The top diplomat on European and Eurasian affairs at the U.S. State Department expressed optimism regarding Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, despite Hungary’s looming threat to veto the bid at a two-day summit starting Thursday.
The senior official also predicted that Russian President Vladimir Putin will “wait through” the results of European elections in 2024 and the U.S. presidential election next November before making peace in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, James O’Brien, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, spoke to VOA State Department bureau chief Nike Ching on issues facing Eurasia countries.
Putin “thinks that the way he wins is that Ukraine support drops,” said O’Brien. While not commenting on U.S. domestic politics, O’Brien said, “It’s clear if President Biden is [reelected] that President Putin’s hopes will not come to bear.”
EU heads of state are set to decide this week whether to launch formal membership talks with Ukraine. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Russia’s closest ally in the EU, is threatening to veto the move.
“What’s clear is the 27 members stand strong in favor of the union growing, including Ukraine once it’s ready, and continuing financial support, as well. He’s [Orban] one voice, and we’ll see how the discussion goes among the leaders once they’re made,” O’Brien told VOA.
O’Brien also welcomed a prisoner swap between Azerbaijan and Armenia at their border on Wednesday as a significant step toward “building a normal bilateral relationship” between the two countries after decades of conflict.
But he played down the likelihood of the U.S. hosting the next round of Azerbaijan-Armenia peace talks in Washington before the end of this year.
“We’re running out of time this year. We’ll do our best,” O’Brien told VOA.
The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
VOA: Today, Azerbaijan and Armenia exchanged prisoners at their border. How significant is this?
James O’Brien, assistant secretary of state: I think what’s really significant is that the two countries are talking with each other and reaching practical agreements. So, they announced this prisoner release last week, and now just this week, the prisoners are now home. And they issued a joint statement that indicated support for one another in many ways, including their international aspirations for Azerbaijan to host the COP, which they’ve now been awarded, and hopefully both countries will benefit, and for Armenia’s international aspirations, as well. And that kind of demonstration of support is a key part of building a normal bilateral relationship.
VOA: After your meeting in Baku, would you describe business as usual in the U.S.’s relationship with Azerbaijan? Would the State Department host foreign ministers from Azerbaijan and Armenia by the end of this year?
O’Brien: What we’ve said to both countries is that we’re very happy to facilitate them concluding a peace agreement. We’ve already hosted several rounds of peace talks between the two foreign ministers, and we would do that again if the sides determined that that will help them conclude a successful peace.
VOA: By the end of this year?
O’Brien: Well, we’re running out of time this year. We’ll do our best.
VOA: Kyiv was struck by Russian missiles overnight. Ukraine’s top mobile operator was hit by the biggest cyberattack. Can you talk about the latest developments, and how does the U.S. target Russian military procurement networks?
O’Brien: I think it was very helpful for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to come here. What we see is that Ukraine has taken back more than half the territory that Russia seized since February of 2022. It’s continuing to advance on the battlefield. It has opened up its own Black Sea trading routes, and that’s the key to its economy recovering. With the assistance that our European partners are going to provide, and then we would provide, we think Ukraine can build on this success and emerge victorious in this war. That will produce a Ukraine that’s very well-prepared to become wealthy and has a population anxious to join the European Union and the transatlantic organizations like NATO, all of which is a good thing for the security and prosperity of the United States.
VOA: A senior U.S. official has said that Russian President Putin will not make peace in Ukraine before he sees the results of the November 2024 U.S. election. Do you agree with that assessment?
O’BRIEN: So, I think yes. I mean, President Putin is on his own diplomatic offensive, visiting several countries, being filmed talking openly about the prospect of the war. And throughout, he’s trying to persuade people that he believes time is on his side, and he thinks if they continue to fight, that ultimately Russia will win. I think this is simply a bluff.
I think the long-term trends are not in favor of Russia, and his one hope is to attack civilian infrastructure, like the bank, or the places civilians live in Kyiv and elsewhere, in order to inflict pain in the hope that that will make Ukraine sue for peace. Or he has to hope that there’ll be some dramatic change in international support for Ukraine. That’s why he’ll wait through our election, and I think other European elections, over the next year.
VOA: Just to clarify, do you mean that Putin will not make peace in Ukraine until he sees President Biden being reelected, or he sees the Republican candidate being elected?
O’Brien: Well, I think he wants to see the result of elections across Europe and the United States. [The] European Union has elections next year. He thinks that the way he wins is that Ukraine’s support drops. Now, on [the] U.S. election, I’m not going to talk domestic politics. I will say, President Biden just said yesterday, ‘I will not walk away from Ukraine. I want to see Ukraine win, and Ukraine will win.’ So, it’s clear if President Biden is elected, that President Putin’s hopes will not come to bear.
VOA: Can you comment on the upcoming EU summit and potential veto from Hungary over Ukraine’s membership talks?
O’Brien: These are historic moments. The members of the European Union, all the leaders, are going to meet over the next days, and they will decide on budgetary support for Ukraine for the next four years, on a package of financial support for the states of the Western Balkans to encourage reform among those six countries, and a broader package. And they will decide whether they want the union to commit itself to enlarging — to adding up to nine new countries. That’s a 33% increase in the size of the European Union. Prime Minister Orban has been very outspoken and let his views be understood elsewhere. I think what’s clear is the 26 members stand strong in favor of the union growing, including Ukraine once it’s ready, and continuing financial support, as well. He’s one voice, and we’ll see how the discussion goes among the leaders once they’re made.
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Biden Warns Netanyahu Israel Losing Support in War Against Hamas
The Biden administration’s support of Israel in the war against Hamas has drawn sharp criticism both from Americans protesting Palestinian civilian deaths and from State Department staff calling for a cease-fire. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has been signaling to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he needs to change course or risk international standing. VOA Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
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In Nigeria, a Mixed Reception for COP28 Deal to ‘Transition Away’ From Fossil Fuels
ABUJA, NIGERIA — A deal struck at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to “transition away” from fossil fuels received a less-than-hearty welcome Wednesday in Nigeria, which depends on crude oil sales for most of its budget.
Nigerian leaders said that their nation needs funding if the world wants it to move away from the production and use of fossil fuels.
The United Nations’ COP28 summit closed Wednesday with the signing of a deal to transition away from oil, gas and coal in what the text called a “just, orderly and equitable manner” in hopes of reducing carbon emissions and ease global warming.
It is the first such agreement to move away from fossil fuels since the annual conferences began nearly three decades ago.
The deal also seeks to triple renewable energy capacity globally by 2030 and promote carbon capture technologies that can clean up hard-to-decarbonize industries.
The president of the COP28, the UAE’s Sultan al-Jaber, praised the deal but said its success would be measured by how well it is implemented.
Peter Tarfa, former climate change director at Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Environment, agreed, saying, “This is not the first time that decisions have been taken in climate change discussions … that they have not been fully implemented. It is actually in the best interest of the climate that all hands should be on deck.”
Others are not so pleased with the deal. Members of the OPEC oil-producing countries, including Nigeria, initially resisted calls by more than 100 nations for stronger measures, such as a complete “phase out” of fossil fuels.
Salisu Dahiru, director of Nigeria’s National Council on Climate Change, attended a plenary session in Dubai on Wednesday.
“There’s no fairness, justice, equity” in asking developing countries to “start ditching fossil fuels,” Dahiru said.
“These fossil fuels are necessary for developing countries to taste the goodness of development,” he said. “What we’ve always stood for is decarbonizing the oil and gas so that we get cleaner fuels.”
Critics argue that decarbonizing technology is expensive and a diversionary tactic by countries so that they can continue to produce fossil fuels.
Oil accounts for 95% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings. Tarfa said authorities must begin to look elsewhere to grow Nigeria’s economy.
“There’s a lot of investment now going on toward the green economy pathway,” he said. “For Nigeria, we cannot act in isolation. … The phaseout or phase down of fuel consumption will definitely impact the economy, but now the time has come for the government to start diversifying to other sources.”
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, writing a column for CNN published Wednesday, said that Nigeria had initiated programs to transition from fossil fuels but that the country needs $10 billion every year until 2060 to achieve its transition plan.
Tinubu also criticized developed nations for failing to honor a pledge to give $100 billion to poorer countries to mitigate the effects of climate change.
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Spanish Newspapers Fight Meta in Unfair Competition Case
Madrid — More than 80 Spanish media organizations are filing a $600 million lawsuit against Meta over what they say is unfair competition in a case that could be repeated across the European Union.
The lawsuit is the latest front in a battle by legacy media against the dominance of tech giants at a time when the traditional media industry is in economic decline.
Losing revenue to Silicon Valley companies means less money to invest in investigative journalism or fewer resources to fight back against disinformation.
The case is the latest example of media globally seeking compensation from internet and social media platforms for use of their content.
The Association of Media of Information (AMI), a consortium of Spanish media companies, claimed in the lawsuit that Meta allegedly violated EU data protection rules between 2018 and 2023, Reuters reported.
The newspapers argue that Meta’s “massive” and “systematic” use of its Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platform gives it an unfair advantage of designing and offering personalized advertisements, which they say constitutes unfair competition.
Irene Lanzaco, director general of AMI, told VOA it estimated the actions of Meta had cost Spanish newspapers and magazines $539.2 million in lost income between 2018 and 2023.
“This loss of income has meant it is more difficult for the media to practice journalism, to pay its journalists, to mount investigations and to hold politicians to account for corruption,” she said.
“It means that society becomes more polarized, and people become less involved with their communities if they do not know what is going on.”
Analysts say this is an “innovative” strategy by legacy media against tech giants that is more designed to engage people outside the news business.
Until now, traditional media cases against Silicon Valley centered on the theft of intellectual property from the news business, but the Spanish suit made a claim related to alleged theft of personal data.
“Previously, all the cases that legacy media has brought have been about the piracy of intellectual property — ‘We report the news, and these people are putting it on their websites without paying for it,’” Kathy Kiely, the Lee Hills chair in Free Press Studies at the Missouri School of Journalism, told VOA.
“But what this case is about is that these social media platforms have access to a lot of information about the audience to gain unfair advantage in advertising,” she said.
The lawsuit was filed with a commercial court in Madrid, reported Reuters, which saw the court papers.
Matt Pollard, a spokesman for Meta Platforms, told VOA, “We have not received the legal papers on this case, so we cannot comment. All we know about it is what we have read in the media.”
The complainants include Prisa, which publishes Spain’s left-wing daily El País; Vocento, owner of ABC, a right-wing daily; and the Barcelona-based conservative daily La Vanguardia.
They claim that Meta used personal data obtained without the express consent from clients in violation of the EU General Data Protection Regulation in force since May 2018, which demands that any website requests authorization to keep and use personal data.
“Of course in any other EU country, the same legal procedure could be initiated,” as it concerns an alleged violation of European regulations,” Nicolas González Cuellar, a lawyer representing AMI, told Reuters.
Kiely said the Spanish case may engage the broader public and policymakers, in Europe and beyond.
“[This legal case] introduces a new strategy. It is not just about the survival of the local news organization. It is about privacy,” she said. “This engages people outside the news business in a way that piracy of the intellectual property does not.”
The lawsuit is the latest attempt by media organizations who have struggled to make tech giants pay fair fees for using and sharing their content.
The legal battle comes as the Reuters Institute’s 2023 Digital News Report found that tech platforms like Meta and Google had become a “running sore” for news publishers over the past decade.
“Google and Facebook [now Meta] at their height accounted for just under half of online traffic to news sites,” the report said. “Although the so-called ‘duopoly’ remains hugely consequential, our report shows how this platform position is becoming a little less concentrated in many markets, with more providers competing.”
It added, “Digital audio and video are bringing new platforms into play, while some consumers have adopted less toxic and more private messaging networks for communications.”
Spanish media scored a victory against Alphabet’s Google News service, which the government shut down in 2014 before its reopening in 2022 under new legislation allowing media outlets to negotiate fees directly with the tech giant.
Last month, Google and the Canadian government reached an agreement in their dispute over the Online News Act, which would see Google continue to use Canadian news online in return for the company making annual payments to news companies of about $100 million.
Radio Canada and CBC News reported last month that the Canadian federal government estimated earlier this year that Google’s compensation should amount to about $172 million, while Google estimated this value at $100 million.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the agreement was “very good news.”
“After months of holding strong, of demonstrating our commitment to local journalism, to strong independent journalists getting paid for their work … Google has agreed to properly support journalists, including local journalism,” he said.
Google said it would not have a mandatory negotiation model imposed on it for talks with the media in Canada. Instead, it preferred to deal with a single media group that would represent all media, allowing the group to limit its arbitration risk.
Google had threatened to block Canadian news content on its platforms because of the legislation but did not.
In contrast, Meta ended its talks with the Canadian government last summer and stopped distributing Canadian news on Facebook and Instagram.
Last month, the Reuters Institute’s 2023 report said that 29% of Canadians used Facebook for news. Around 11% used Facebook Messenger, and 10% used Instagram for the same purpose.
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EU’s Eastward Drive Threatens Further Delays for Turkey’s Bid to Join
Turkey is looking for key concessions at the European Union Summit in its longtime bid to join the bloc. EU leaders are focused on Ukraine at this meeting, but as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, analysts say Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has some powerful leverage.
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Cameroon Says Bedbugs Imported From Europe Infest Towns and Villages
Yaounde — Sanitation and health workers in Cameroon are disinfecting homes to kill bedbugs that have infested the central African state’s capital, Yaounde, and several towns and villages. Government officials say the bloodsucking bugs are imported by travelers from Europe, where some countries are also experiencing infestation.
Cameroon residents say they are expecting teams from the central African state’s hygiene and sanitation service to come to their homes to help get rid of the bugs.
Fruit seller Kuffo Marilyne lives in Madagascar, a neighborhood in Yaounde. She said she first used insecticides to get rid of the bugs in her home, thinking they were little cockroaches. She said she was surprised when three of her children developed insomnia and experienced irritation after they were bitten by the insects.
Bedbug bites leave blisters or large rashes on the skin, health workers say.
Kuffo said she took her children to the hospital for treatment, but that a majority of her neighbors who also reported bedbugs in their homes are poor and unable to get their children medical care.
Cameroon’s government reported that huge numbers of bedbugs have infested homes in several poor Yaounde neighborhoods.
Cameron’s health ministry said the bugs come out at night to feed on human blood and often cause psychological distress, sleeping issues, anxiety and depression.
The government said it has dispatched several hundred sanitary and health workers to disinfect homes and kill the bugs.
Mariline Longue a medical staff member at the Cite Verte District Hospital in Yaounde, said more than 70% of people in some of Yaounde’s congested neighborhoods have reported bedbugs in their homes and shops. Longue said 24 of the 30 houses they visited in Cameroon’s capital on Wednesday morning had huge numbers of bedbugs hidden in mattresses, cracks of bed frames, chairs and couches.
The government said besides Yaounde and the economic hub Douala, there are fears several other towns and villages have been infested.
Maritial Ayissi, a sanitation officer with the Yaounde City Council, said the bugs are coming from European countries.
Ayissi said it is unfortunate government officials did not take measures to protect borders when the Cameroon National Hygiene and Sanitation Association raised an alarm in September that people were coming in from Europe with bedbugs in their luggage. He said many secondhand goods including mattresses, blankets and dresses that are imported by merchants from France in particular and sold in Cameroon have huge numbers of bedbugs hidden in them.
Ayissi said the bugs have become increasingly resistant to chemical treatments after they disappeared from daily life more than 20 years ago.
Rights groups and civil society activists have expressed fears that the insects may turn up in neighboring states, including landlocked Chad and Central African Republic, that rely on Cameroon for most of their goods. More than 80% of goods imported to Chad and CAR from Europe pass through Cameroon’s Douala seaport.
Cameroon officials said they will disinfect airports and goods imported from Europe if reports about bedbugs being found in them are investigated and found true.
In September, France announced that travelers were posting photos and videos purportedly showing bedbugs in Paris’ local transport system, high-speed trains and at Charles de Gaulle airport, provoking a wave of panic.
The French government in October said there was no evidence of any resurgence of the biting irritants on public transport, but it did not dismiss reports the insects were found in some homes.
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Pakistan’s Ex-Leader Indicted Over Revealing US-Tied State Secrets
ISLAMABAD — A special Pakistani court Wednesday indicted former Prime Minister Imran Khan on unprecedented and disputed charges of disclosing classified information involving the United States while in office.
The indictment has dealt a fresh blow to the incarcerated popular leader’s chances of contesting national elections in February and returning to power.
Co-defendant Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Khan’s deputy and a former foreign minister, was also indicted for his alleged role in the case. Foreign media representatives were not allowed to cover the legal proceedings, while only a handful of local journalists were given access as usual.
“The charges were read out loudly in the courtroom,” government prosecutor Shah Khawar told Reuters, saying Khan and Qureshi both pleaded not guilty.
Khan’s lawyer, barrister Gohar Khan, disputed the indictment. He told reporters after the hearing that “no charge was framed before us nor signed by the accused.” The trial was being conducted “hastily without ensuring transparency and fairness,” the lawyer alleged.
“Again, justice is being rushed, and whenever it is rushed, it is always crushed,” he added. The defense attorney lamented the trial could not be conducted openly and said most foreign and local media reporters were barred from covering the proceedings in violation of a judicial order.
“The criminal justice system of Pakistan is being used as a tool for political victimization. We have had enough of it. This must stop,” he said.
The court initially indicted Khan and Qureshi in October on the same charges in closed-door proceedings, but a higher court scrapped the process and ordered authorities to ensure an open trial and allow family members and journalists to attend it.
The judicial proceedings are underway inside a prison facility near the capital, Islamabad, for security reasons, the government says.
Legal experts say that a guilty verdict could result in a maximum sentence of 14 years imprisonment or a death sentence.
The lawsuit stems from a classified cable, internally known as a cipher, sent to Islamabad by Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington in March 2022.
Khan alleged the cipher documented the United States’ role in the toppling of his government a month later with the help of his country’s powerful military to punish him for visiting Moscow a day before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Both Washington and the Pakistan military deny the charges.
On Monday, the State Department spokesman again refuted allegations the U.S. had anything to do with Pakistan’s internal affairs.
“The United States does not play any role in choosing the leaders of Pakistan. We engage with the leadership shown by — or the leadership decided by the Pakistani people — and we will continue to engage with the government of Pakistan on all these issues,” Matthew Miller told a news conference in Washington.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, party won the last general elections in 2018, making him the prime minister for the first time.
The charismatic cricketer-turned-politician discussed details of the cipher at party rallies and during media interviews in the run-up to the controversial vote and continued doing so after his ouster.
Khan maintains he was doing so lawfully because he was duty-bound to inform Pakistanis about “the foreign conspiracy” against the government they had elected.
Since his removal from power, the ousted prime minister has faced dozens of lawsuits filed by authorities, which he claims to be a ploy by the military to prevent his comeback to power because of his advocacy for an independent foreign policy for Pakistan, one free from the influence of the United States.
Last August, Khan was convicted in a graft case and sentenced to three years in jail. A superior court later suspended his sentence and ordered the government to release him on bail, but authorities refused, citing the cipher and other lawsuits against him.
Unless his conviction is overturned, the former prime minister remains disqualified from running in the upcoming elections or leading the PTI under election laws.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed controversial military tribunals to resume trials of more than 100 Imran Khan supporters on charges of attacking army properties during anti-government protests last May.
The judicial order came less than two months after a five-judge panel of the top court ruled against trying civilians in military courts. Khan and his party maintain the military trials of political activists are a violation of the constitution and are meant to scare their candidates away from the upcoming polls.
The military has staged three coups against elected prime ministers since Pakistan gained independence from Britain in 1947, and it ruled the country for more than three decades.
Pakistani politicians, including former prime ministers, say the unconstitutional military interventions have encouraged generals to influence policymaking significantly, even when not in power.
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