The U.S. has a strong First Amendment foundation, but its limits were tested in 2023. The year saw raids, searches and subpoenas — often directed at local media — that some advocates have flagged as troublesome. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has the story, for Liam Scott. VOA footage by Saqib Ul Islam and Afshean Hessam.
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Month: December 2023
Colorado’s Boebert Switches Congressional Districts
DENVER — Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert announced Wednesday she is switching congressional districts, avoiding a likely rematch against a Democrat who has far outraised her and following an embarrassing moment of groping and vaping that shook even loyal supporters.
In a Facebook video Wednesday evening, Boebert announced she would enter the crowded Republican primary in retiring Rep. Ken Buck’s seat in the eastern side of the state, leaving the more competitive 3rd District seat she barely won last year — and which she was in peril of losing next year as some in her party have soured on her controversial style.
Boebert implied in the video that her departure from the district would help Republicans retain the seat, saying, “I will not allow dark money that is directed at destroying me personally to steal this seat. It’s not fair to the 3rd District and the conservatives there who have fought so hard for our victories.”
“The Aspen donors, George Soros and Hollywood actors that are trying to buy this seat, well they can go pound sand,” she said.
Boebert called it “a fresh start,” acknowledging the rough year following a divorce with her husband and video of her misbehaving with a date at a performance of the musical Beetlejuice in Denver. The scandal in September rocked some of her faithful supporters, who saw it as a transgression of conservative, Christian values and for which Boebert apologized at events throughout her district.
She already faced a primary challenge in her district, as well as a general election face-off with Democrat Adam Frisch, a former Aspen city council member who came within a few hundred votes of beating her in 2022. A rematch was expected, with Frisch raising at least $7.7 million to Boebert’s $2.4 million.
Instead, if Boebert wins the primary to succeed Buck she will run in the state’s most conservative district, which former President Donald Trump won by about 20 percentage points in 2020, in contrast to his margin of about 8 percentage points in her district. While it’s not required that a representative live in the congressional district they represent, only the state the district is in, Boebert said she would be moving — a shift from Colorado’s western Rocky Mountain peaks and high desert mesas to its eastern expanse of prairie grass and ranching enclaves.
In 2022, Frisch’s campaign found support in the conservative district from unaffiliated voters and Republicans who’d defected over Boebert’s brash, Trumpian style. In this election, Frisch’s campaign had revived the slogan “stop the circus” and framed Frisch as the “pro-normal” alternative to Boebert’s more partisan politics.
In a statement after Boebert’s announcement, Frisch said he’s prepared for whoever will be the Republican candidate.
“From Day 1 of this race, I have been squarely focused on defending rural Colorado’s way of life, and offering common sense solutions to the problems facing the families of Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.” he said. “My focus will remain the same.”
The Republican primary candidate who has raised the second most behind Boebert in the 3rd District, Jeff Hurd, is a more traditional Republican candidate. Hurd has already garnered support from prominent Republicans in the district, first reported by VailDaily.
Boebert rocked the political world by notching a surprise primary win against the incumbent Republican congressman in the 3rd District in 2020 when she ran a gun-themed restaurant in the town of Rifle, Colorado. She then tried to enter the U.S. Capitol carrying a pistol and began to feud with prominent liberal Democrats like Rep. Ilhan Omar and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
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Remittances from Nicaraguan Migrants Mark New Record, Passing $4 Billion
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Nicaraguan migrants sent relatives back home record remittances this year through November, data from the country’s central bank showed on Wednesday, fueled by massive waves of migration leaving the Central American nation in recent years.
In a statement, the bank noted a record haul of about $4.24 billion in remittances for the 11-month period, 47% more than the amount sent home during the same period last year.
The money sent home by Nicaraguan migrants represent a key lifeline for the economy during the latest year of President Daniel Ortega’s government, which has been marked by growing unemployment and poverty.
Propelled in large part by outflows of migrants seeking better economic prospects, primarily in the United States, as well as those who have fled since deadly anti-government protests broke out in 2018, Nicaragua has seen especially large displacements in recent years along with record remittances so far this year.
U.S.-bound Nicaraguan migration hit a record last year with 164,600 migrant encounters counted by the U.S. government, but during this year’s fiscal year, which ended in September, migrant encounters dipped to about 139,000.
Last year, Nicaraguan migration to all countries surpassed 300,000, while overall 1.5 million Nicaraguans now live outside their home country, or about 22% of the country’s population, according to U.N. data analyzed by Dialogo Interamericano researcher Manuel Orozco.
The 2023 remittances tallied by Nicaragua’s central bank showed that nearly 60% came from the senders in the United States and almost 20% from neighboring Costa Rica.
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Liberian Fuel Tanker Blast Kills at Least 40
Monrovia, Liberia — More than 40 people were feared dead when a tanker truck exploded after crashing in central Liberia, the country’s chief medical officer told local media Wednesday.
The tanker carrying gasoline crashed and tipped into a ditch along a road in Totota, about 130 kilometers from the capital, Monrovia.
Dr. Francis Kateh told local broadcaster Super Bongese TV it was difficult to determine the number of victims because some had been reduced to ashes, but he estimated that more than 40 people were killed in the incident.
“We have our team going from home to home to check those that are missing,” he told AFP.
Police earlier put the death toll at 15 and said at least 30 people were injured as locals gathered at the scene.
“There were lots of people that got burned,” said Prince B. Mulbah, deputy inspector general for the Liberia National Police.
Another police officer, Malvin Sackor, said that after the crash, some locals had begun to take the leaking gas when the tanker exploded, killing some and wounding others.
He said that the police were still gathering the total number of injured and killed.
An eyewitness from Totota, Aaron Massaquoi, told AFP that “people climbed all on top of the truck taking the gas, while some of them had irons hitting the tanker for it to burst for them to get gas.”
“People were all around the truck and the driver of the truck told them that the gas that was spilling they could take that,” Massaquoi said.
“He told them not to climb on top of the tanker and that they should stop hitting the tanker…. but some people were even using screwdrivers to put holes on the tank.”
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Russian Stars’ Semi-Naked Party Sparks Wartime Backlash
MOSCOW — A rapper who attended a celebrity party with only a sock to hide his modesty has been jailed for 15 days, the sponsors of some of Russia’s best-known entertainers have torn up their contracts, and President Vladimir Putin is reported to be unamused.
An “almost naked” party at a Moscow nightclub held at a time when Russia is engaged in a war with Ukraine and the authorities are pushing an increasingly conservative social agenda, has provoked an unusually swift and powerful backlash.
A video clip of Putin’s spokesperson listening to an explanation from one of the stars who attended has been circulating online, and Baza, a news outlet known for its contacts with the security services, has reported that troops fighting in Ukraine were among the first to complain after seeing the footage and that photographs of the event reached an unimpressed Putin.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesperson, on Wednesday asked reporters to forgive him for not publicly commenting on the burgeoning scandal, saying: “Let you and I be the only ones in the country who aren’t discussing this topic.”
Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that the event had “stained” those who took part, but that they now had a chance to work on themselves, according to the Ura.ru news outlet.
The fierce backlash from the authorities, pro-Kremlin lawmakers and bloggers, state media, and Orthodox Church groups has been dominating the headlines for days, displacing stories about rising egg prices and inflation.
The party, in Moscow’s Mutabor nightclub on December 21, was organized by blogger Anastasia (Nastya) Ivleeva and was attended by well-known singers in various states of undress who have been staples on state TV entertainment programs for years.
Ivleeva, who has since become one of Russia’s most recognized names and who attended wearing jewelry worth $251,000 at a time when some Russians are struggling to get by, has issued two public apology videos.
In the second tearful one, released on December 27, she said she regretted her actions and deserved everything she got but hoped she could be given “a second chance.”
Her name has since disappeared as one of the public faces of major Russian mobile phone operator MTS, the tax authorities have opened an investigation that carries a potential five-year jail term, and a Moscow court has accepted a lawsuit from a group of individuals demanding she pay out $10.9 million for “moral suffering.”
If successful, they want the money to go to a state fund that supports Ukraine war veterans.
‘Cynical’
“To hold such events at a time when our guys are dying in the (Ukrainian) special military operation and many children are losing their fathers is cynical,” said Yekaterina Mizulina, director of Russia’s League for a Safe Internet, a body founded with the authorities’ support.
“Our soldiers on the front line are definitely not fighting for this.”
Many of the party’s famous participants have recorded apologies, including journalist Ksenia Sobchak, whose late father, Anatoly, used to be Putin’s friend and boss.
The scandal comes at a time when Putin, who is expected to comfortably win another six-year term at a March election, has doubled down on social conservatism, urging families to have eight or more children, and after Russia’s Supreme Court ruled that LGBT activists should be designated as “extremists.”
Nikolai Vasilyev, a rapper known as Vacio who attended wearing only a sock to cover his penis, was jailed by a Moscow court for 15 days and fined 200,000 rubles ($2,182) for propaganda of “non-traditional sexual relations.”
Other more famous names have had concerts and lucrative state TV airtime cancelled, contracts with sponsors revoked, and, in at least one case, are reportedly being cut out of a new film.
The scandal has angered those who support Russia’s war in Ukraine.
One woman who said her nephew had lost both legs in combat wrote in a post to the League for a Safe Internet that the stars should pay for prosthetic legs for her relative and others to make amends.
“That would be a better apology,” the unidentified woman wrote.
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US, Mexican Officials Meet for Talks on Migrant Surge at Border
MEXICO CITY — A top U.S. delegation is meeting with Mexico’s president Wednesday in what many see as an attempt to have Mexico do more to limit a surge of migrants reaching the U.S. southwestern border.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said he’s willing to help, but he wants to see progress in U.S. relations with Cuba and Venezuela, two of the top sources of migrants, along with more development aid for the region.
“We have always talked about addressing the causes [of migration]. The ideal thing is to help poor countries,” Lopez Obrador said before the meeting.
Both sides in the talks face pressure to reach an agreement after past steps like limiting direct travel into Mexico or deporting some migrants failed to stop the influx. This month, as many as 10,000 migrants were arrested daily at the southwest U.S. border.
The U.S. has struggled to process thousands of migrants at the border, and house them once they reach northern cities. Mexican industries were stung last week when the U.S. briefly closed two vital Texas railway crossings, arguing that border patrol agents had to be reassigned to deal with the surge. Another non-rail border crossing remained closed in Lukeville, Arizona, and operations were partially suspended in San Diego and Nogales, Arizona.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken left open the possibility that those crossings could be reopened if Mexico provides more help.
“Secretary Blinken will discuss unprecedented irregular migration in the Western Hemisphere and identify ways Mexico and the United States will address border security challenges, including actions to enable the reopening of key ports of entry across our shared border,” his office said.
Mexico says it detected 680,000 migrants moving through the country in the first 11 months of 2023.
Mexico has assigned over 32,000 military troops and National Guard officers — about 11% of its total forces — to enforce immigration laws, and the National Guard now detains far more migrants than criminals.
But the shortcomings of that approach were on display Tuesday, when National Guard officers made no attempt to stop a caravan of about 6,000 migrants, many from Central America and Venezuela, from walking through Mexico’s main inland immigration inspection point in southern Chiapas state near the Guatemala border.
In the past, Mexico has let such caravans go through, trusting that they would tire themselves out walking along the highway.
By Wednesday, Lazara Padron Molina, 46, from Cuba was sick and exhausted. The caravan set out December 24 from the city of Tapachula and had walked about 45 miles (75 kilometers) through the heat to Escuintla in southern Chiapas state.
“The route is too long to continue walking. Why don’t they just give us documents so that we could get a bus or a taxi?” Padron Molina said. “Look at my feet,” she said, showing blisters. “I can’t go on anymore.”
But wearing the migrants out — by obliging Venezuelans and others to hike through the jungle-clad Darien Gap, or corralling migrants off passenger buses in Mexico — no longer appears to work.
So many migrants have been hopping freight trains through Mexico that one of the country’s two major railroad companies suspended trains in September because of safety concerns. Police raids to pull migrants off railway cars — the kind of action Mexico took a decade ago — might be one thing the American delegation would like to see.
A few blocks from Mexico City’s main plaza — where Blinken will meet with Lopez Obrador at the National Palace — migrants stayed at an improvised shelter at a church, gathering strength before continuing north.
David Pena, his two daughters and his pregnant wife, Maryeris Zerpa, hoped to reach the United States before the child is born in about a month.
“The goal is to cross over so the baby will be born there,” Pena said. But with no asylum appointment, he had no idea how the family will enter.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall also are attending the meeting.
The U.S. has shown that one country’s problems on the border quickly become both countries’ problems. The Texas railway closures put a chokehold on freight moving from Mexico to the U.S., as well as grain needed to feed Mexican livestock moving south.
Lopez Obrador confirmed last week that U.S. officials want Mexico to do more to block migrants at its southern border with Guatemala, or make it more difficult to move across Mexico by train or in trucks or buses, a policy known as “contention.”
But the president said that in exchange he wanted the United States to send more development aid to migrants’ home countries, and to reduce or eliminate sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela.
“We are going to help, as we always do,” Lopez Obrador said. “Mexico is helping reach agreements with other countries, in this case Venezuela.” He said Mexico has proposed to President Joe Biden that a U.S.-Cuba bilateral dialogue be opened.
In May, Mexico agreed to take in migrants from countries such as Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba who had been turned away by the U.S. for not following rules that provided new legal pathways to asylum and other forms of migration.
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Poland Close to Being Able to End Ukraine Border Blockade, Says Prime Minister
WARSAW — Poland’s government is getting close to ending a blockade by truckers of several border crossings with Ukraine, the prime minister said on Wednesday.
Polish drivers have been blocking several crossings with Ukraine since November 6, demanding the European Union reinstate a system whereby Ukrainian companies need permits to operate in the bloc and the same for European truckers to enter Ukraine.
Farmers suspended a protest at one border crossing on Sunday, but truckers have continued to block three others.
“We are close to the belief that our actions can bring results, both the talks in Kyiv and Brussels,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told a news conference. “I do not think that we will achieve the maximum that the truckers want, but it seems that what can be achieved will allow us to relieve emotions and relieve blockades on the border.”
The permit system for Ukrainian drivers was lifted after the EU and Kyiv signed an agreement on June 29, 2022, four months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Tusk said that the current regulations concerning permits would be in force until June and that it was unlikely that they could be changed before then. However, he said other solutions could be found at the “operational level.”
He said that he would discuss the issue with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during an upcoming visit to Kyiv.
“I will do everything possible to make the life and fate of Polish truckers easier,” Tusk said.
Poland’s deputy infrastructure minister said on Friday after a meeting in Kyiv that he hoped truckers’ protests on the border with Ukraine could be resolved before the end of the year.
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Report: Ukraine May Have to Delay Salaries, Pensions Without Foreign Aid
kyiv, ukraine — Ukraine’s government faces the prospect of delaying pensions and salaries for public servants if crucial Western financial aid is not approved soon, Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko told the Financial Times on Wednesday.
Kyiv has poured all its revenue into defense since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, relying on foreign support to cover everything from pensions to social payments.
But key funding packages, including $55.54 billion from the European Union, have been blocked in Brussels and Washington.
“The support of partners is extremely critical,” Svyrydenko told the newspaper. “We need it urgently.”
She said 500,000 civil servants, 1.4 million teachers and 10 million pensioners could experience payment delays.
Svyrydenko told the Financial Times that she hoped the EU funding would be approved in February and delivered in March.
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At Least 40 More People Die in Floods, Landslides in DR Congo
Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo — At least 40 more people have died in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local authorities said, after heavy downpours overnight Tuesday unleashed floods and landslides that left residents digging through the mud to find bodies.
In the city of Bukavu, onlookers gathered to watch on Wednesday as a group of men hauled a car out of the mud to recover a woman’s body from underneath, a Reuters witness said.
At least 20 people died in Bukavu and at least 20 more were killed in the village of Burinyi, 50 kilometers from Bukavu, according to officials in the two places.
Bukavu resident Yvonne Mukupi, who was able to stay clear of the deluge, said her neighbor was swept away by the flood waters.
“We have managed to recover three bodies under the trees, but others have not been found yet,” she said.
Poor urban planning and weak infrastructure make communities like Mukupi’s more vulnerable to extreme rainfall, which is becoming more intense and frequent in Africa because of warming temperatures, according to United Nations climate experts.
“When rain falls, the main waterway gets clogged sometimes because of the waste, so it gets flooded and it affects the houses,” Bukavu official Emmanuel Majivuno Kalimba told Reuters at the scene, as residents worked to salvage belongings from their damaged homes.
The overnight devastation follows the deaths of at least 22 people in Kasai-Central province on Tuesday when a landslide swallowed houses, churches and roads, killing entire families and leaving people homeless.
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Death Toll Rises to 150 Following Christmas Eve Attack in Nigeria
ABUJA, NIGERIA — The death toll in Nigeria’s Christmas Eve attacked by armed gangs has risen to 150, Plateau state officials said Wednesday, while survivors and observers expressed outrage at the government’s reaction.
Plateau authorities say the unknown gunmen overran more than 17 local villages across Bokkos and two other districts, burning down houses in the attack.
A local district head in Bokkos said search teams were still combing nearby bushes for missing people. Thousands have been displaced from their homes.
Shelong Gabriel said she last spoke to two of her male cousins on Christmas Eve.
She said that the two brothers — ages 45 and 58 — told her they had joined a local vigilante group because of a warning of a possible attack. Later that night, she said, assailants attacked the village, killing the men and their mother.
“These people came on motorbikes, and they had so much machineries” Gabriel said. “I lost three of my family.”
No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack, but locals blame herders. Plateau state is embroiled in a decades-old ethno-religious conflict between predominantly Muslim herders and Christian farmers.
The attack has sparked outrage and criticism of the government.
Isa Sanusi, Amnesty International’s country director for Nigeria, called on authorities to investigate.
“It is really sad and unfortunate that these kinds of things continue to happen, and the authorities cannot do anything apart from sympathizing with the victims, which shows helplessness on their side,” Sanusi said. “Rural communities have been allowed to live in the last 10 years or so at the mercy of gunmen.”
Plateau resident Mangai Luka said people have been afraid since the attack.
“People are at home; nobody is going anywhere,” Luka said. “With the situation … you can’t go far from the house because you can’t tell what will happen next. Even [last] night we heard gunshots; we couldn’t sleep.”
Nigerian authorities have condemned the attack and promised to hold the perpetrators accountable.
Insecurity is a big problem for the government of President Bola Tinubu, who came to power promising to address the problem.
Vice President Kashim Shettima visited the affected villages Wednesday.
Some observers, including security analyst Chukwudi Victor Odoeme, remain critical of the government’s efforts.
“I think the government is not doing enough,” he said. ”There’s still the absence of political will. It’s an indictment on our government and security forces.”
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New York City’s Times Square Prepares for New Year’s Eve
Every December 31, New Yorkers and tourists alike flock to the Big Apple’s Times Square for the New Year’s Eve celebration. Elena Wolf had a look at how the city prepares for the big event in this story narrated by Anna Rice. VOA footage by Max Avloshenko and Elena Matusovsky.
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Thousands in Migrant Caravan Traveling Through Mexico to US Border
As U.S. and Mexican officials were set to meet Wednesday to discuss immigration and other issues, thousands of migrants from Central and South America are making their way through Mexico in a caravan heading to the United States. Veronica Villafañe narrates this report by Javier Hegar in Mexico City. Camera: Juan Gallegos
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Strike Closes Eiffel Tower on 100th Anniversary of Creator Death
PARIS — The Eiffel Tower was closed on Wednesday, the 100th anniversary of its creator’s death, due to a strike, the company that oversees the tower, Societe d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE), said on the website of Paris’ most famous landmark.
“A symbolic action on a symbolic date,” said the CGT union in a statement, adding that staff members wanted to call out the current financial management of SETE.
They said they feared poor decisions could lead to a cash shortage, due in part to a lack of visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to expensive repairs needed on the historical building.
The statement added that if the city did not revise its management, the tower could be closed during Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The wrought-iron 324-meter high tower, built by Gustave Eiffel in the late 19th century, is among the most visited tourist sites in the world, welcoming about six million visitors each year.
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Michigan Supreme Court Will Keep Trump on 2024 Ballot
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan’s Supreme Court is keeping former President Donald Trump on the state’s primary election ballot.
The court said Wednesday it will not hear an appeal of a lower court’s ruling from groups seeking to keep Trump from appearing on the ballot.
The state’s high court said in an order that the application by parties to appeal a Dec. 14 Michigan appeals court judgment was considered, but denied “because we are not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this court.”
The ruling followed a Dec. 19 decision by a divided Colorado Supreme Court which found Trump ineligible to be president because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. That ruling was the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate.
The Michigan and Colorado cases are among dozens hoping to keep Trump’s name off state ballots. They all point to the so-called insurrection clause that prevents anyone from holding office who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the Constitution.
Trump pressed two election officials in Michigan’s Wayne County not to certify 2020 vote totals, according to a recording of a post-election phone call disclosed in a Dec. 22 report by The Detroit News. The former president ‘s 2024 campaign has neither confirmed nor denied the recording’s legitimacy.
Attorneys for Free Speech for People, a liberal nonprofit group also involved in efforts to keep Trump’s name off the primary ballot in Minnesota, had asked Michigan’s Supreme Court to render its decision by Christmas Day.
The group argued that time was “of the essence” due to “the pressing need to finalize and print the ballots for the presidential primary election.”
Earlier this month, Michigan’s high court refused to immediately hear an appeal, saying the case should remain before the appeals court.
Free Speech for People had sued to force Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to bar Trump from Michigan’s ballot. But a Michigan Court of Claims judge rejected their arguments, saying in November that it was the proper role of Congress to decide the question.
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COVID-19 Effects Linger Among International Students in US
The COVID-19 pandemic affected students around the world, disrupting their studies and weakening their social skills. But the pandemic did generate some positive outcomes, say college counselors and international students who are back to in-person learning in the United States. VOA’s Laurel Bowman explores. Camera: Adam Greenbaum and Saqib Ul Islam.
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Chad’s President Pledges Respect of Referendum that Paves Way to Civilian Rule
Yaounde, Cameroon — Chad’s Supreme Court will on Thursday declare definitive results of the country’s constitutional referendum that paves the way for a return to civilian rule.
Chad’s military leader said he will respect the verdict, which is likely not going to be different from provisional results published on Sunday indicating the central African state’s new constitution was approved by 86% of voters.
Some opposition leaders challenge the figures, saying the constitution approved in a referendum does not guarantee that the military leaders are ready to hand power to civilians.
Chad’s transitional military government said the large turnout of voters in the central African state’s constitutional referendum indicates that civilians overwhelmingly adhere to General Mahamat Idriss Deby’s plans to hand power to civilian rule by December 2024.
Deby spoke on Chad’s National Television this week after provisional results of the constitutional referendum were announced.
He congratulated civilians, political actors and civil society activists who helped Chad’s constitutional referendum to unfold peacefully from Nov. 25, when the campaign was launched, through Dec. 17, when the referendum took place, up to Dec. 24, when the National Commission Charged with the Organization of the Constitutional Referendum, CONOREC, announced provisional results.
According to the provisional results, the new constitution was approved by 86% of voters.
CONOREC reports that more than 63% of the more than 8.3 million voters took part in the Dec. 17 referendum.
But Chad’s opposition leaders and civil society groups say a majority of voters did not turn out to vote.
Opposition parties, including the Union of Democrats for Development and Progress, report that several million voters did not even collect their voter cards.
Before the referendum, CONOREC reported that it had launched a campaign for several million voters to collect their voter cards to be eligible to vote in the referendum.
Many opposition leaders and civil society groups described the referendum as a sham to prepare for an eventual election of Deby, a 39-year-old military general.
Deby assumed power in April 2021 following the death of his father, General Idriss Deby Itno, who took power in a 1990 coup.
Chad’s opposition and civil society say the younger Deby started showing his intention to hold onto power after he failed to organize elections within 18 months from April 2021 as he had promised. He instead extended his rule until November 2024.
Saleh Kebzabo is Chad’s civilian transitional prime minister, appointed by Deby,
He said opposition parties and civil society groups that claim that Deby is doing everything possible to illegally continue his family’s 31-year autocratic rule are ill-intentioned.
He said it would be better for political parties and civil society groups to prepare for elections that will hand power to civilians by December 2024 instead of wasting their time in unnecessary political quarrels.
Kebzabo said the referendum is key for a return to civilian rule by 2024. The opposition argued it does not bar Deby from running for president.
Chad’s military rulers said voters in the referendum also decided that Chad would continue as a decentralized system of government, with the country’s 23 regions to have greater financial autonomy with elected regional officials.
Chad’s Supreme Court has until Thursday to examine provisional results and declare definitive results of the Dec. 17 referendum.
The opposition, CONOREC, military government and civil society groups said they do not expect any changes from the provisional results declared on Sunday.
your ad hereColorado, FBI Investigate ‘Incidents’ Directed at Justices in Trump Ballot Ruling
DENVER — Police said Tuesday they are investigating incidents directed at Colorado Supreme Court justices and providing extra patrols around their homes in Denver following the court’s decision to remove former President Donald Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot.
The Denver Police Department declined in an email to provide details about its investigations, citing safety and privacy considerations and because they are ongoing.
The department “is currently investigating incidents directed at Colorado Supreme Court justices and will continue working with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners to thoroughly investigate any reports of threats or harassment,” the email said.
Officers responded to the home of one justice on Thursday evening, but police said it appeared to be a hoax report. That case is also being investigated, police said.
The FBI said it is working with local law enforcement on the matter.
“We will vigorously pursue investigations of any threat or use of violence committed by someone who uses extremist views to justify their actions regardless of motivation,” a spokesperson for the Denver’s FBI office, Vikki Migoya, said in a statement.
In a 4-3 decision last week, Colorado’s highest court overturned a ruling from a district court judge who found that Trump incited an insurrection in his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, but had said he could not be barred from the ballot because it was unclear that U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause was intended to cover the presidency.
The state’s highest court didn’t agree, siding with attorneys for six Colorado Republican and unaffiliated voters who argued that it was nonsensical to imagine that the framers of the amendment, fearful of former confederates returning to power, would bar them from low-level offices but not the highest one in the land.
The court stayed its decision until Jan. 4, or until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the case. Colorado officials say the issue must be settled by Jan. 5, the deadline for the state to print its presidential primary ballots.
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Ukrainian-born New York Doctor Trains Colleagues From War-torn Motherland
Since the start of Russia’s invasion, the Ukrainian health care system has been under tremendous duress – thousands of people filled the hospitals with battlefield-type injuries. A Ukrainian-born doctor in New York City has stepped up to help his medical peers in the country he once called home. VOA’s Johny Fernandez has the story.
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Central Congo Floods Kill at Least 22 People, Local Official Says
Kinshasa, Congo — Flooding triggered by heavy rains in central Congo killed at least 22 people, including 10 from the same family, a local official said Tuesday.
The hourslong rainfall in the district of Kananga in Kasai Central province destroyed many houses and structures, the province’s governor, John Kabeya, said as rescue efforts intensified in search of survivors. Five more deaths were confirmed later on Tuesday in addition to the initially reported death toll of 17, he said.
“The collapse of a wall caused 10 deaths, all members of the same family in Bikuku,” Kabeya said.
There was significant material damage caused by the floods, according to Nathalie Kambala, country director of The Hand in Hand for Integral Development nongovernmental organization.
Flooding caused by heavy rainfall is frequent in parts of Congo, especially in remote areas. In May, more than 400 people died in floods and landslides brought on by torrential overnight rains in eastern Congo’s South Kivu province.
Among the structures damaged in the latest flooding was the Higher Institute of Technology of Kananga, as well as a church and a major road that was cut off, said Kabeya, who added that urgent action would be requested from the national government.
Heavy rains triggered a landslide in eastern Congo late Sunday, killing at least four people and leaving at least 20 missing.
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