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Month: January 2024
IGAD Gives Sudan’s Warring Factions 2 Weeks to Meet
ENTEBBE, UGANDA — East Africa’s Intergovernmental Authority on Development has given Sudan’s warring factions two weeks to meet face-to-face to de-escalate the situation. The meeting, which also discussed the tension between Ethiopia and Somalia, made it clear that Somalia’s integrity must be respected.
The IGAD meeting in Kampala described the conflict and political tension in the Horn of Africa and Sudan as a disturbing, senseless and devastating development.
Djibouti President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, also the IGAD chairperson, said the group’s heads of state met with a sense of urgency as the region grapples with challenging times.
The conflict in Sudan broke out in April between the national army, led by General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo of the Rapid Support Forces. Since then, 7 million people have been displaced and 12,000 have been killed.
Sudan suspended its participation in the Kampala IGAD summit, accusing the regional body of violating its sovereignty and setting a dangerous precedent.
In a communique, read by Djibouti’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, the heads of states, including Presidents William Ruto of Kenya and Salva Kiir of South Sudan, along with representatives of the European Union, African Union and the United Nations, outlined their demands to the warring factions.
According to the communique, the conflict must be resolved by the Sudanese without any external interference.
The IGAD leaders condemned the ongoing conflict that has caused suffering, with people losing hope and the state about to collapse.
The Rapid Support Forces has specifically been accused of mass killings and use of rape as a weapon of war, especially in Darfur. Both parties have been accused of war crimes.
Meanwhile IGAD expressed concern about relations between Ethiopia and Somalia.
Early this month, Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia, giving Ethiopia access to the sea. In return, Ethiopia would consider recognizing Somaliland as an independent country.
IGAD reaffirmed that any such agreement should be with Somalia.
Mike Hammer, the U.S. special envoy for the Horn of Africa, said the U.S. is particularly concerned that the agreement could disrupt the fight that Somalis, Africa and regional partners are waging against the terrorist group al-Shabab.
“We have already seen troubling indications that al-Shabab is using the MOU to generate new recruits,” he said. “We urge both sides to avoid precipitous actions including related to existing Ethiopian force deployment to Somalia that could create opportunities for al-Shabab to expand its reach within Somalia and into Ethiopia.”
The African Union Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat urged both Somalia and Ethiopia to engage without delay, saying the tension compounds an already difficult time for the region.
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US Launches Disaster Relief Reforms as Climate-Driven Events Rise
washington — U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration said Friday it was launching the most major reforms to disaster management relief in two decades as climate change-driven extreme weather events, such as floods and fires, increase.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reforms of its federal assistance policies and expanded benefits for disaster survivors aim to cut red tape that victims have said makes it difficult for them to access resources after a disaster.
“We are on the verge of making the most significant update to survivor assistance in the last 20 years to reach more survivors and deliver assistance faster,” said FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell in a statement.
FEMA said the reforms follow feedback from disaster survivors. They are designed to make the agency better able to respond to the threats caused by climate change, which last year caused more “billion-dollar” floods, fires and other disasters than ever before.
In 2023, the U.S. experienced a wildfire on Maui, the nation’s deadliest in more than a century, severe floods in California, two tornado outbreaks in the central states, a winter storm in the northeast and Hurricane Idalia.
Among the new measures FEMA announced are a change to its cash relief program that will provide a payment of $750 to households for all disasters for shelter and evacuation to supplement other disaster aid. Previously, the payment was assessed on a disaster-to-disaster basis.
It also created a new “displacement assistance” benefit to give eligible survivors — who cannot return to their homes — up-front funds to help until they are able to secure housing.
FEMA will also make changes to help survivors who are under-insured by removing a requirement that they apply for a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) loan before being considered for certain types of financial assistance and make it easier to access repair loans for homes that were previously ineligible due to pre-existing leaks and damage.
FEMA said the changes will take effect for new disasters declared on or after March 22, 2024.
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2023: Highest Number of Humanitarian Emergencies in a Decade
new york — The 2020s have not been kind. The decade began with the COVID-19 pandemic and has since seen climate disasters and conflicts impact millions around the world; but last year was particularly difficult.
The U.N. Refugee Agency, UNHCR, said Friday in a new report that it responded to the highest number of emergencies in a decade last year. The Emergency Preparedness and Response in 2023 report recorded 43 emergency declarations in 29 countries.
Driven by the deadly February earthquakes in Turkey and Syria and Cyclone Mocha that tore through Myanmar and Bangladesh in May, and the eruption of internal armed conflict in Sudan in mid-April, UNHCR said new crises, plus the deterioration in old unresolved situations, have stretched its capacity to respond.
“Whether sparked by conflict, human rights violations, natural disasters or extreme weather events, these emergencies have resulted in a surge of displacement, leaving countless individuals and families in desperate need of humanitarian assistance and protection,” said Dominique Hyde, UNHCR Director of External Relations. “The scale of human suffering is unmeasurable and a stark reminder of the imperative for collective action and solidarity.”
Globally, there were a record 114 million refugees and displaced people in 2023. The number is expected to grow to 130 million this year. UNHCR says despite raising more than $5 billion last year, including $4.6 billion for emergencies and protracted crises, a $400 million shortfall by year-end prevented it reaching everyone targeted for assistance.
The sheer scale of the emergencies is daunting.
In Turkey and Syria, UNHCR figures show nearly 24 million people were affected by last February’s earthquakes. In Libya, 900,000 people across five provinces were directly affected by flash floods. In Bangladesh and Myanmar, more than 10 million were impacted by Cyclone Mocha in May while Sudan has become the world’s largest displacement crisis, with more than 7 million people forced to flee the fighting that erupted in April.
Afghans also faced new challenges in 2023. More than 100,000 were left in need of humanitarian assistance after two powerful earthquakes struck the Herat Province in October.
That same month, Pakistan’s government announced it would deport all undocumented Afghans living in the country. Some had been there for decades. UNHCR says nearly 479,000 returned to Afghanistan between mid-September and the end of December — over 29,000 of them were deported by the Pakistani authorities.
In Central and South America, more than a half million refugees and migrants cross the dangerous Darien passage headed for North America.
Old unresolved disputes also resulted in emergencies last year.
More than 100,000 Armenians left the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan, when fighting erupted between the two countries over the disputed territory.
In the eastern Congo, more than 7 million people were affected by fighting between the military and armed groups.
The U.N. Refugee Agency said it launched a rapid response to these and other crises, reaching nearly 17 million vulnerable and needy people with essential shelter supplies and other relief items last year.
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US Ambassador to Moscow Granted Visit to See Jailed Journalist
WASHINGTON — The U.S. ambassador to Russia on Thursday visited American journalist Evan Gershkovich at Lefortovo Prison in Moscow.
Following Ambassador Lynne Tracy’s visit, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said that Gershkovich “remains resilient and is grateful for the support of friends, family and supporters.”
“We continue to call for Evan’s immediate release,” the embassy said in a statement on its Telegram channel.
Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, has been detained for nearly 10 months on espionage charges that he denies.
He is one of two American journalists detained by Russia in 2023. The other, Alsu Kurmasheva, works with VOA’s sister network Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Prague and was detained while in Russia to see family.
While the U.S. State Department declared Gershkovich wrongfully detained shortly after his arrest, it has still not made that designation for Kurmasheva, who has spent more than 90 days in custody.
The Journal welcomed the latest consular visit as “important for Evan and his family.”
“We appreciate the U.S. government’s ongoing support for his well being,” the newspaper said in a statement.
In the nearly 10 months since Gershkovich was jailed, the Russian government has not publicly provided evidence to back up the spying allegations against the reporter. He is being held in pretrial detention and will remain in custody until at least the end of January.
At a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Gershkovich’s mother, Ella Milman, told Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker that her son was “doing the best that he can under the circumstances, and the circumstances are very hard.”
Russia’s Washington embassy did not immediately reply to VOA’s email requesting comment.
While Gershkovich approaches 10 months in jail, fellow American journalist Kurmasheva this week passed the three-month mark.
The dual U.S.-Russian citizen wrote a letter to her friends and colleagues, part of which her husband posted on the social media platform X.
“You admire my courage in coming [to Russia] at ‘such a time.’ But we live in the present, and we won’t have any ‘other’ time. ‘Time’ will, of course, exist, but someone close to you, someone who needs your help, may no longer be there,” Kurmasheva wrote.
“No one will give me back the three months of my life that I’ve now spent where I shouldn’t be. I am responsible for my family. For my young children, for my elderly mother,” Kurmasheva said.
“Today, I’m looking at your postcards with images of open doors and windows. You are strong and confident. You will definitely find the right answers to your questions. Open doors for yourself and others; don’t be afraid of it. I am very grateful to you,” Kurmasheva said.
An editor at RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir service, Kurmasheva traveled to Russia in May 2023 for a family emergency. Her passports were confiscated when she tried to leave the country in June, and she was waiting for her passports to be returned when authorities detained her in October.
Kurmasheva was initially charged with failing to register as a “foreign agent,” but Russian authorities in December added an additional charge of spreading false information about Russia’s military.
Kurmasheva and her outlet reject the charges, which carry a combined sentence of up to 15 years in prison. She will be held in pretrial detention until at least February.
Her husband, Pavel Butorin, called for her release in a post on X.
“The Russian government must drop its absurd charges against Alsu, release her from detention, and allow her to leave Russia and return to her family,” he wrote.
Butorin is the director of Current Time TV, a Russian-language TV and digital network led by RFE/RL in partnership with VOA.
Since Kurmasheva’s jailing, her employer and press freedom groups have urged the U.S. State Department to declare Kurmasheva wrongfully detained, which would open additional resources to help secure her release.
When asked about why Kurmasheva has not been declared wrongfully detained, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Thursday told reporters, “I would say that it is a case that we continue to focus an enormous amount of attention on. It’s something we continue to look into.
“And as I have said a number of times, that just because we have not made a wrongful detention determination at any point does not indicate anything about the work that we are doing or about what our future posture may be,” Miller said.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday ranked Russia as the fourth-worst jailer of journalists in the world for 2023, with 22 reporters behind bars. Of those, 12 are foreign nationals.
In addition to Kurmasheva and Gershkovich, the other 10 foreign reporters are Ukrainian.
Paul Beckett, a Washington-based assistant editor at the Journal who is leading the newspaper’s campaign to secure Gershkovich’s release, told VOA that the disproportionate number of foreign journalists held by Moscow “shows the antipathy that they have toward independent reporting.”
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Is Europe Ready for Possible Return of President Trump?
America’s allies in Europe are preparing for a possible second presidential term for Donald Trump after he won the Iowa Republican caucus earlier this month, cementing his place as the current front-runner to take on President Joe Biden in November’s election. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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Kenyan Journalist Runs Publication Focused on Women
A Kenyan journalist is running a publication which exclusively reports on issues affecting women. Her publication, Woman Kenya Network, is aimed to helping women to tell their stories in a society that they say downplays their issues. Victoria Amunga reports from Nairobi. Camera: Jimmy Makhulo
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US Citizens Named in Jimmy Lai Trial Deny Allegations: ‘Just Journalism’
LONDON — The names of two U.S. citizens came up in the trial of Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong this week as the prosecution brought forward its first witness in the landmark national security case.
Lai has been charged with “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces” under the Hong Kong National Security Law, among other crimes.
Lai has pleaded not guilty. Following this week’s testimony from a former colleague at the newspaper, the two Americans named, Mark Simon and Mark Clifford, said the allegations that came up in testimony were just normal journalistic work.
In court on Wednesday, Cheung Kim-hung, the former publisher of Apple Daily, appeared as an “accomplice witness.” In his testimony, Cheung said that Lai sought out writers for the popular, now-defunct tabloid through introductions from Simon, his personal assistant, and Clifford, a former director of the newspaper’s parent company, Next Digital.
Simon told VOA Cantonese that he has written English columns for publications owned by Next Digital for more than 10 years and has also invited others to write opinion pieces for Apple Daily, including two Nobel Prize winners in economics, Vernon L. Smith and “father of the euro” Robert Mundell.
“It wasn’t uncommon. it’s basically journalism. I mean, that’s what it is, it’s basically journalism management,” he told VOA Cantonese. “I don’t really know where they [the prosecution] are going with this. It seems to me like, the issue is a newspaper being a newspaper.”
Simon said he first met Cheung in 2001 and considered him a friend.
“The human tragedy here of a man being turned against his friend and his boss, it’s horrific to see,” Simon said. “I mean this is very painful for a lot of people to watch. And so, it’s a tragedy to watch. With the system, you know, he cut a deal, and I guess he’s saying what he’s going to say.”
When the prosecution made its opening statement for the trial, it said Lai had a broad international network and named many foreign political and business figures who had contact or links with him. Simon was one of those named as a “co-conspirator.”
The prosecution also mentioned Clifford, saying that he attended Lai’s online talk show in October 2020 that discussed Washington’s sale of weapons to Taiwan.
Clifford, who is currently the president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, issued a statement acknowledging that he helped find writers for Apple Daily.
“Yes, I, too, plead guilty of practicing journalism. However, it was Kim-hung and his colleagues, working with Jimmy, who deserve the accolades for everything they did to advance the cause of freedom and democracy in Hong Kong in the 26 years they ran the city’s most important newspaper,” wrote Clifford.
Clifford said that there was nothing in Cheung’s testimony that suggested Lai broke the law. He added that Lai was only advocating for freedom and democracy, which was promised by China under the Basic Law, the de facto constitution that governs the territory.
Clifford said he did not feel anger but “immense sorrow” at Cheung’s testimony. He said Lai and other defendants should be released immediately.
“Kim-hung and five colleagues have been held as hostages almost three years, since authorities forced Apple Daily to shut in mid-2021. They have pled guilty but remain behind bars, denied bail, so that they can be used as bit players in the ongoing show trial against Jimmy Lai,” he wrote. “None of us know how we would react if put under the sort of strain that Kim-hung and others have endured.
“We all like to think we would be as brave and honorable in sticking to our principles as Jimmy Lai has been. Thankfully, most of us will never be tested like this.”
Britain and the United States have called for Lai’s release and said the case is politically motivated. Hong Kong officials say Lai will receive a fair trial.
Following massive public protests in 2019, authorities in China set up a National Security Law for Hong Kong in a bid to restore stability. The law punishes acts of subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life imprisonment, a penalty Lai could face if found guilty.
Lai’s trial began on December 18 and is being overseen by three judges: Esther Toh, Susana Maria D’Almada Remedios and Alex Lee. There is no jury.
Cheung has also been charged with “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces.” He pled guilty with five other defendants in November 2022. Mitigation and sentencing for the six will be conducted after Lai’s trial.
When the six pled guilty, the International Federation of Journalists issued a statement condemning the “arbitrary legal persecution” of Apple Daily staff and urged Hong Kong authorities to drop all charges against the media workers immediately.
Aleksandra Bielakowska, Asia-Pacific Bureau Advocacy Officer for Reporters Without Borders, told VOA Cantonese that the latest developments in the case against Lai are deeply worrying and further demonstrate the spurious nature of charges against the Apple Daily founder.
“Targeting human rights defenders in other parts of the world as ‘co-conspirators’ for simply doing their jobs, and now having on stand witnesses who have been held hostage in jail for more than three years, is showing the true extent of the arbitrariness of proceedings Lai is facing,” she said.
“Cheung Kim-hung has been held in custody together with his Apple Daily colleagues simply as the hostages that are being used against Jimmy Lai. Cheung and other detained media staff have been put through an ordeal which is hard to imagine and that none should ever endure.”
Bielakowska said that recent developments in the trial show how China will do anything in its power to crush press freedom in Hong Kong.
“It is not Jimmy Lai as an individual on the trial, it is his media, journalists and press freedom, a principle that shouldn’t be crushed but protected as enshrined in the Basic Law,” she said.
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NATO Holding Its Biggest Exercises in Decades Next Week
BRUSSELS — NATO will launch its biggest military exercises in decades next week with around 90,000 personnel set to take part in months of drills aimed at showing the alliance can defend all of its territory up to its border with Russia, top officers said Thursday.
The exercises come as Russia’s war on Ukraine bogs down. NATO as an organization is not directly involved in the conflict, except to supply Kyiv with nonlethal support, although many member countries send weapons and ammunition individually or in groups and provide military training.
In the months before President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine in February 2022, NATO began beefing up security on its eastern flank with Russia and Ukraine. It’s the alliance’s biggest buildup since the Cold War. The war games are meant to deter Russia from targeting a member country.
The exercises – dubbed Steadfast Defender 24 – “will show that NATO can conduct and sustain complex multi-domain operations over several months, across thousands of kilometers, from the High North to Central and Eastern Europe, and in any condition,” the 31-nation organization said.
Troops will be moving to and through Europe until the end of May in what NATO describes as “a simulated emerging conflict scenario with a near-peer adversary.” Under NATO’s new defense plans, its chief adversaries are Russia and terrorist organizations.
“The alliance will demonstrate its ability to reinforce the Euro-Atlantic area via transatlantic movement of forces from North America,” NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, U.S. General Christopher Cavoli, told reporters.
Cavoli said it will demonstrate “our unity, our strength, and our determination to protect each other.”
The chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, said that it’s “a record number of troops that we can bring to bear and have an exercise within that size, across the alliance, across the ocean from the U.S. to Europe.”
Bauer described it as “a big change” compared to troop numbers exercising just a year ago. Sweden, which is expected to join NATO this year, will also take part.
U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps has said that the government in London would send 20,000 troops backed by advanced fighter jets, surveillance planes, warships and submarines, with many being deployed in eastern Europe from February to June.
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EU, AU, US Say Sudan War, Somalia’s Tension With Ethiopia Threaten Horn of Africa’s Stability
NAIROBI, Kenya — The African Union, European Union, and United States called Thursday for an immediate cease-fire and constructive dialogue between warring factions in Sudan.
The groups also called for an end to tension between Somalia and Ethiopia over an agreement signed between Ethiopia and Somalia’s breakaway region Somaliland.
Representatives of the groups, who spoke in Kampala, Uganda, after the meeting of an East African regional bloc, said that the two crises are threatening regional stability in the Horn of Africa.
Sudan’s armed forces and the rival Rapid Support Forces have been fighting for control of Sudan since April. Long-standing tensions erupted into street battles in the capital and other areas including the western Darfur region.
The AU, EU and U.S. and U.N. noted that the fighting has displaced 7 million people and kept 19 million children out of school.
Michael Hammer, U.S. special envoy for the Horn of Africa, called on Sudan’s factions to adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law and to fulfill recent commitments to stop fighting.
“It’s time for them to take action consistent with their stated claims that they want to stop the fighting and meet the needs of the people,” Hammer said.
He spoke after the regional bloc Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD, held an emergency meeting of heads of states in Kampala to discuss the Sudan war and rising tension between Somalia and Ethiopia.
Hammer said the leader of Sudan’s army, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who is known as Hemedti, must follow through on their promise at a December 9 IGAD summit to reach an unconditional cease-fire.
“They will be responsible for the break up of Sudan if this conflict continues,” Hammer said.
The first step is an enforceable cease-fire that can be closely monitored, said Ramtane Lamamra, the U.N. envoy for Sudan.
“Guns must be silenced,” he said, adding that the war endangers “stability of the entire region and beyond.”
On Tuesday, the Sudanese government suspended ties with the east African regional bloc, accusing it of violating Sudan’s sovereignty by inviting the paramilitary leader to a summit. Hemedti attended Thursday’s summit in Kampala but did not speak.
Amid the renewed calls for a ceasefire, the United Nations announced Thursday that the U.N. Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan, which is charged with investigating violations of human rights and international humanitarian law since April 15, began its work this week.
Mohamed Chande Othman, the fact-finding mission’s chair, said investigations of alleged violations by the Sudanese Armed Forces, Rapid Support Forces and other warring parties are under way, and particular attention will be paid to sexual violence and other violations against women and children, according to U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
The Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council established the fact-finding mission in October 2023 with the aim of ensuring that those responsible for violations of human rights and international humanitarian law are brought to justice. Dujarric said the mission will present an oral report on its initial findings at the council’s session that starts in June.
Regarding Somalia, the AU, EU and U.S. said they recognize the country’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, including the breakaway region of Somaliland.
Tension has been rising after land-locked Ethiopia signed an agreement on January 1 with Somaliland to give it access to the sea. Somaliland in return expects Ethiopia soon to recognize the region as an independent state, which angers Somalia.
Hammer said the U.S. is particularly concerned that the tensions could undermine international-backed efforts to combat al-Qaida-linked militants in Somalia.
Annette Weber, the EU special envoy for the Horn of Africa, said the two crises have a common link with Red Sea, which she called a critical waterway carrying 10 percent of global cargo.
Weber also said there needs to be a collective response among Horn of Africa countries against attacks on ships by Yemen-based Houthi rebels.
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US Global Standing Affected by Support of Israel’s Actions in Gaza
Pressure is mounting on Israel and its main ally, the US, as humanitarian officials say Gaza’s health system is collapsing under the weight of tens of thousands of casualties and the European Union parliament passes a cease-fire resolution. As leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement prepare to meet for a summit, VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Washington on how this conflict is affecting America’s reputation, and what that means.
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US, Israel Differ Over Future of Gaza
Israel and the US appear to be on a collision course on how to deal with the Gaza Strip after the war ends. One-third of Israelis want Israel to maintain control over Gaza, and one-quarter want to rebuild Jewish settlements there. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Jerusalem. Camera: Ricki Rosen
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Russian Foreign Minister Rejects US Proposal to Resume Nuclear Talks
moscow — Russia’s top diplomat on Thursday dismissed a U.S. proposal to resume a dialogue on nuclear arms control, saying it’s impossible while Washington offers military support to Ukraine.
Speaking at his annual news conference, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the West of fueling global security risks by encouraging Ukraine to ramp up strikes on Russian territory and warned that Moscow would achieve its goals in the conflict despite Western assistance for Kyiv.
Commenting on a U.S. proposal to resume contacts in the sphere of nuclear arms control, Lavrov described it as “unacceptable,” saying that Moscow had put forward its stance in a diplomatic letter last month. He argued that for such talks to be held, Washington first needed to revise its current policy toward Russia.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in June that the Biden administration was ready to talk to Russia without conditions about nuclear arms control even as Russia-U.S. ties were at their lowest point since the Cold War, noting “it is in neither of our countries’ interest to embark on opening the competition in the strategic nuclear forces.”
But Lavrov charged that Washington’s push for the revival of nuclear talks has been driven by a desire to resume inspections of Russia’s nuclear weapons sites. He described such U.S. demands as “indecent” and cynical in view of Ukraine’s attacks on Russian nuclear-capable bomber bases during the conflict.
He mocked the U.S. offer to resume nuclear arms dialogue, arguing that Washington’s position amounts to saying, “We have declared you an enemy, but we’re ready to talk about how we could look at your strategic nuclear arsenal again.”
Extensive mutual inspections of nuclear weapons sites were envisaged by the New START treaty, which then-Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev signed in 2010. The inspections were halted in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and never resumed.
Moscow participation suspended
In February 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended Moscow’s participation in the treaty, saying Russia could not allow U.S. inspections of its nuclear sites at a time when Washington and its NATO allies have openly declared Moscow’s defeat in Ukraine as their goal. Moscow emphasized, however, that it wasn’t withdrawing from the pact altogether and would continue to respect the caps on nuclear weapons the treaty set.
The New START, the last remaining nuclear arms control pact between Russia and the United States, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. It’s set to expire in 2026, and the lack of dialogue on anchoring a successor deal has worried arms control advocates.
“Amid a ‘hybrid war’ waged by Washington against Russia, we aren’t seeing any basis, not only for any additional joint measures in the sphere of arms control and reduction of strategic risks, but for any discussion of strategic stability issues with the U.S.,” he said. “We firmly link such possibility to the West fully renouncing its malicious course aimed at undermining Russia’s security and interests.”
The minister said Washington’s push for restarting nuclear arms talks was rooted in a desire to “try to establish control over our nuclear arsenal and minimize nuclear risks for itself,” but added that “those risks are emerging as a result of forceful pressure on our country.”
He accused the West of blocking any talks on ending the conflict and inciting the ramping up of attacks on Russia.
“Such encouragement and the transfer of relevant weapons shows that the West doesn’t want any constructive solution,” Lavrov said. “The West is pushing toward the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis, and that raises new strategic risks.”
Asked if tensions with the West over Ukraine could spiral into a showdown resembling the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis — when the U.S. and the Soviet Union found themselves on the edge of nuclear war — Lavrov sternly warned against encouraging Ukraine to strike targets in Russia.
He specifically accused Britain of inciting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to order such attacks, although he didn’t offer any proof to back the claim.
“London is literally egging on Zelenskyy to bomb any facilities anywhere in Russia,” Lavrov said.
‘We will achieve’ goals in Ukraine
He reaffirmed that Russia would pursue what it calls the “special military operation” regardless of Western pressure.
“We will consistently and persistently press the goals of the special military operation and we will achieve them,” he said. “They should have no hope that Russia could be defeated in any way. Those in the West who fantasize about it have failed to learn history lessons.”
On other foreign policy issues, Lavrov talked at length about growing influence of the Global South and argued that Western sway in international affairs was waning.
He hailed Russia-China ties, saying they were going through their “best period in history” and were stronger than a conventional military union.
Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow’s call for the creation of an independent Palestinian state, describing it as the only way to ensure security for both Palestinians and Israel. He also criticized the U.S.-led attacks on Yemen, saying that “the more the Americans and the British bomb, the less desire to talk the Houthis have.”
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9/11 Victim’s Remains Identified More Than 2 Decades After Attack
new york — The remains of a man killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11 have been identified more than two decades after the 2001 attacks, the New York City medical examiner’s office announced Thursday.
John Ballantine Niven of Oyster Bay, New York, was a 44-year-old executive at Aon Risk Services, an insurance firm on the 105th floor of Tower 2 of the trade center complex, according to obituaries at the time. He left a wife and a son who was 18 months old at the time.
Niven is the 1,650th victim identified from the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil, when hijackers crashed airplanes into the Twin Towers, killing 2,753 people.
“While the pain from the enormous losses on September 11th never leaves us, the possibility of new identifications can offer solace to the families of victims,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. “I’m grateful for the ongoing work from the Office of Chief Medical Examiner that honors the memory of John Ballantine Niven and all those we lost.”
The medical examiner’s office has been using advanced DNA analysis to identify victim remains in recent years.
Ahead of the anniversary of the attacks last September, the office said it had identified remains of a man and a woman, though their names were not made public at the request of their families.
“We will forever remember our heroes who perished on 9/11, and we appreciate the continuous efforts of forensic experts to help identify victims,” Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino said in a separate statement. “We’re hopeful that this amazing advance in technology helps bring peace to Mr. Niven’s family and allows him to eternally rest in peace.”
Roughly 40% of victims of the World Trade Center attack have yet to have their remains identified, as few full bodies were recovered when the giant towers collapsed.
But as DNA testing has evolved, so has the costly, painstaking effort to connect more than 21,900 bits of remains to individual victims. In some cases, scientists have gone back to the same bone fragment 10 or more times, hoping new technology will provide answers.
The 9/11 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, at the Pentagon, and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
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US Congress Averts Shutdown, Funds Government Into March
WASHINGTON — U.S. Congress sent President Joe Biden a short-term spending bill on Thursday that would avert a looming partial government shutdown and fund federal agencies into March.
The House approved the measure by a vote of 314-108, with opposition coming mostly from the more conservative members of the Republican conference. Shortly before the vote, the House Freedom Caucus announced it ‘strongly opposes’ the measure because it would facilitate more spending than they support.
Nevertheless, about half of Republicans joined with Democrats in passing the third stopgap funding measure in recent months. The action came a few hours after the Senate had voted overwhelmingly to pass the bill by a vote of 77-18.
The measure extends current spending levels and buys time for the two chambers to work out their differences over full-year spending bills for the fiscal year that began in October.
The temporary measure will run to March 1 for some federal agencies. Their funds were set to run out Friday. It extends the remainder of government operations to March 8.
Right wing pressures Johnson
Speaker Mike Johnson has been under pressure from his right flank to scrap a $1.66 trillion budget deal he reached with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer earlier this month. Republican Representative Chip Roy said the continuing resolution passed Thursday will facilitate that agreement.
“It’s Groundhog Day in the House chamber all the time, every day, yet again spending money we don’t have,” Roy said.
Johnson has insisted he will stick with the deal, and moderates in the party have stood behind him. They say that changing course now would be going back on his word and would weaken the speaker in future negotiations.
Representative Rosa DeLauro, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Americans expect Congress to govern and work in a bipartisan fashion.
“Some of my colleagues would see that this government would shut down and don’t care how hurtful that would be,” DeLauro said.
House Republicans have fought bitterly over budget levels and policy since taking the majority at the start of 2023. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted by his caucus in October after striking an agreement with Democrats to extend current spending the first time. Johnson also has come under criticism as he has wrestled with how to appease his members and avoid a government shutdown in an election year.
“We just needed a little more time on the calendar to do it and now that’s where we are,” Johnson said Tuesday about the decision to extend federal funding yet again. “We’re not going to get everything we want.”
Most House Republicans have refrained so far from saying that Johnson’s job is in danger. But a revolt of even a handful of Republicans could endanger his position in the narrowly divided House.
Representative Bob Good, one of eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy, has been pushing Johnson to reconsider the deal with Schumer.
“If your opponent in negotiation knows that you fear the consequence of not reaching an agreement more than they fear the consequence of not reaching an agreement, you will lose every time,” Good said this week.
Other Republicans acknowledge Johnson is in a tough spot. “The speaker was dealt with the hand he was dealt,” said Representative Andy Barr, noting the constraints imposed by the party’s slim majority.
The short-term measure comes amid negotiations on a separate spending package that would provide wartime dollars to Ukraine and Israel and strengthen security at the U.S.-Mexico border. Johnson is also under pressure from the right not to accept a deal that is any weaker than a House-passed border measure that has no Democratic support.
Johnson, Schumer and other congressional leaders and committee heads visited the White House on Wednesday to discuss spending legislation. Johnson used the meeting to push for stronger border security measures while Biden and Democrats detailed Ukraine’s security needs as it continues to fight Russia.
Biden has requested a $110 billion package for the wartime spending and border security.
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Blinken Heading to Africa Next Week on Four-Nation Tour
State Department — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Angola next week, the State Department announced, his fourth trip to the African continent.
The trip comes after 17 Cabinet-level official visits last year as a follow-up to the 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington.
President Joe Biden has also expressed his desire to visit Africa this year, but no definite plans have been announced.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Blinken’s six-day trip will highlight how the United States has accelerated the U.S.-Africa partnership since the summit, including in areas such as climate, food and health security.
“He will also emphasize our future-focused economic partnership and how the United States is investing in infrastructure in Africa to boost two-way trade, create jobs at home and on the continent, and help Africa compete in the global marketplace,” Miller said.
Asked if countering China’s influence on the continent would be a major theme, Molly Phee, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said this is more of a preoccupation of the media.
“If China didn’t exist, we would be fully engaged in Africa,” she said. “Africa is important for its own sake, and it’s important for American interests.”
Phee mentioned major U.S. infrastructure projects partnering with Angola and Cape Verde. She said a lot of the news coming out of Africa is negative, and Blinken’s trip would highlight the positive.
“I think it can highlight the great capacity of African people, particularly the youth. It can show really forward-looking types of engagements, for example, our partnership with Angola in outer space,” she said.
Phee said the Africa Cup of Nations football [soccer] tournament will be going on, and Blinken hopes to be able to attend a match in person while in the Ivory Coast.
Phee acknowledged that it is never possible for U.S. officials to get away from security issues, saying that Blinken would talk about the situation in the Sahel and coastal West Africa when he visits the Ivory Coast.
She said Nigeria is dealing with several internal security challenges, and Angola has played an important role in trying to address and reduce tensions in the eastern Congo.
In response to a question from VOA about Blinken’s visit to Cape Verde, Phee said the country is literally the port on Africa’s doorstep.
“It is also a terrific democracy. It’s a good model for the region,” she said.
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Turkey Joins Mine-Clearing Deal But Resists NATO Calls for Warships in Black Sea
Turkey has joined with Bulgaria and Romania to clear mines from the Black Sea, facilitating Ukrainian efforts to export grain to world markets. But as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, Turkey is also resisting calls to allow NATO mine-clearing ships.
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Ukrainian Volunteers Turn Old SUVs Into Lifesaving Vehicles
The need to move wounded soldiers from remote front lines to safety with limited resources has forced Ukrainian volunteers to innovate a way to turn used SUVs into casualty evacuation vehicles, or CASEVACS for short. Lesia Bakalets visited a workshop in Kyiv where old cars are repurposed into lifesaving vehicles. VOA footage by Evgenii Shynkar.
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Zambia Grapples With Child Marriages as Some Girls Defy the Practice
According to the U.N., about 1.7 million Zambian girls under the age of 18 are married, and more than 400,000 were 15 or younger when they got married. Kathy Short in Lusaka reports on efforts to end child marriage. Camera and video editing by Elias Chulu.
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