Month: January 2024

Cambodia, France Boost Relations in Hun Manet’s First Western Visit 

Posted on by SeeEU

Phnom Penh, Cambodia — France and Cambodia have signed a $235 million aid agreement for drinking water and energy infrastructure development, as well as vocational training.

The deal is part of a move to boost bilateral relations between the two countries, which have maintained a postcolonial dialogue since Cambodia became independent in 1953.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet met with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace and announced the pact last week. It was the West Point graduate’s first official visit to a Western power since succeeding his father, Hun Sen, in August.  

“Cambodia will always remember France’s role in contributing to national economic recovery and development through the French Development Agency,” Hun Manet said at a press conference alongside Macron. 

“I hope that my visit to France, especially with the president, will enable us to discuss the work that needs to further strengthen Cambodia-France relations,” Hun Manet said Thursday. 

The meeting with Macron came just months after France joined other European Union countries in expressing concern about July’s election, in which Cambodia’s main opposition party was barred from participating.

After July’s elections, in which the ruling Cambodian People’s Party won all but five seats in parliament, France called for the release of jailed opposition politicians and respect for Cambodia’s democratic obligations under international pacts and domestic law.  

Former Prime Minister Hun Sen was the ruling party’s prime minister candidate in the election but quickly stepped down to make way for his son in a long-planned succession. Hun Sen remains the president of the ruling party and is expected to be the president of the Senate after elections in late February. 

Hun Manet’s first trip after succeeding his father in August was to Beijing, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People. Cambodia has long supported China in return for receiving significant investments, loans and grants to build infrastructure, according to analysts.

Cambodia’s democratic donors have largely set aside differences over political freedom and human rights to focus on areas of cooperation with the new government in Phnom Penh.  

During the visit, Macron reiterated France’s appreciation of Cambodia’s position at the United Nations regarding Russia’s war against Ukraine, according to the joint statement. 

Cambodia has repeatedly voted with Ukraine’s supporters in condemning Russia’s invasion, in a rare break with China on the world stage.  

Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who is in exile in France, criticized Macron in a post on Facebook and an opinion article in The Geopolitics for legitimizing Hun Manet’s rule.

“Macron has clearly made the calculation that it is better to engage with dictators rather than deny them legitimacy,” he wrote.  

“There is no sign that Macron, along with some other Western leaders, fully understands the unseen impacts of affording high-profile acceptance and credibility to dictators such as Hun Manet,” Sam Rainsy added.  “An official visit to a venue such as the Elysee is a major propaganda coup for any such regime. It gives an unequivocal message to the Cambodian regime and the Cambodian people that arrests of and violence against opposition supporters can continue.” 

Sok Eysan, a spokesman for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, told VOA Khmer on Friday that the visit showed that the Cambodian government and its new prime minister were recognized by the world’s leaders and other officials. 

Before traveling to France, Manet also attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. While there, he met with Samantha Power, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development. 

In a post on X, Power said they discussed “opportunities to build a more productive relationship.” 

Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch in Asia, criticized Power’s approach:

“How about talking about human rights, Samantha? #Cambodia has descended into a single party dictatorship under the Hun family and you want a ‘more productive’ relationship? Aiya! How about some sanctions instead?” 
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US Supreme Court Lets Border Patrol Cut Razor Wire Installed in Texas

Posted on by SeeUS

washington — A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed Border Patrol agents to cut razor wire that Texas installed on the U.S.-Mexico border, while a lawsuit over the wire continues.

The justices, by a 5-4 vote, granted an emergency appeal from the Biden administration, which has been in an escalating standoff at the border with Texas and had objected to an appellate ruling in favor of the state.

The concertina wire along roughly 30 miles (48 kilometers) of the Rio Grande near the border city of Eagle Pass is part of Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s broader fight with the administration over immigration enforcement.

Abbott also has authorized installing floating barriers in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass and allowed troopers to arrest and jail thousands of migrants on trespassing charges. The administration also is challenging those actions in federal court.

A federal appeals court last month forced federal agents to stop cutting the concertina wire. Large numbers of migrants have crossed the border at Eagle Pass in recent months.

In court papers, the administration said the wire impedes Border Patrol agents from reaching migrants as they cross the river and that, in any case, federal immigration law trumps Texas’ own efforts to stem the flow of migrants into the country.

Texas officials have argued that federal agents cut the wire to help groups crossing illegally through the river before taking them in for processing.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor sided with the administration. Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas voted with Texas.

No one provided any explanation for their vote.
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Iran ‘Directly Involved’ in Yemen Houthi Rebel Ship Attacks, US Navy Official Says

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Jerusalem — Iran is “very directly involved” in ship attacks that Yemen’s Houthi rebels have carried out during Israel’s war against Hamas, the U.S. Navy’s top Mideast commander told The Associated Press on Monday. 

Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of the Navy’s 5th Fleet, stopped short of saying Tehran directed individual attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. 

However, Cooper acknowledged that attacks associated with Iran have expanded from previously threatening just the Persian Gulf and its Strait of Hormuz into waters across the wider Middle East. 

“Clearly, the Houthi actions, probably in terms of their attacks on merchant shipping, are the most significant that we’ve seen in two generations,” he told the AP in a telephone interview. “The facts simply are that they’re attacking the international community; thus, the international response I think you’ve seen.” 

Iran’s mission to the United Nations and the Houthi leadership in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, did not respond to a request for comment. However, the Houthis later claimed to have attacked a U.S.-flagged vessel, something that the 5th Fleet dismissed as “patently false.” 

Since November, the Iranian-backed Houthis have launched at least 34 attacks on shipping through the waterways leading up to Egypt’s Suez Canal, a vital route for energy and cargo coming from Asia and the Middle East onward to Europe. 

The Houthis, a Shiite rebel group that’s held Sanaa since 2014 and been at war with a Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s exiled government since 2015, link their attacks to the Israel-Hamas war. However, the ships they’ve targeted increasingly have tenuous links to Israel — or none at all. 

In recent days, the U.S. has launched seven rounds of airstrikes on Houthi military sites, targeting air bases under the rebels’ control and suspected missile launch sites. 

However, risks for the global economy remain as many ships continue to bypass that route for a longer trip around Africa’s southern tip. That means lower revenue for Egypt through the Suez Canal, a vital source of hard currency for the country’s troubled economy, as well as higher costs for shipping that could push up global inflation. 

As Cooper took command of the 5th Fleet in 2021, the threat to shipping focused primarily around the Persian Gulf and its narrow mouth, the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all oil traded passes. A series of attacks blamed on Iran and ship seizures by Tehran followed the collapse of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers. 

In his interview with the AP, the Navy commander acknowledged the threat from Iran’s proxies and that its distribution of weapons extended from the Red Sea out to the far reaches of the Indian Ocean. The U.S. has blamed Iran for recent drone attacks on shipping, and a U.S.-owned cargo vessel came under attack from the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden last week. 

So far, Iran hasn’t become directly involved in fighting either Israel or the U.S. since the war in Gaza began on October 7. However, Cooper maintained Iran had been directly fueling the Houthi attacks on shipping. 

“What I’ll say is Iran is clearly funding, they’re resourcing, they are supplying and they’re providing training,” Cooper said. “They’re obviously very directly involved. There’s no secret there.” 

Cooper described the ship attacks striking the Mideast as the worst since the so-called Tanker War of the 1980s. It culminated in a one-day naval battle between Washington and Tehran, and also saw the U.S. Navy accidentally shoot down an Iranian passenger jet, killing 290 people in 1988. 

Back then, American naval ships escorted reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers through the Persian Gulf and the strait after Iranian mines damaged vessels in the region. Cooper said authorities had no current plans to reflag ships and escort them past Yemen. 

Instead, the U.S. and its allies employ a “zone defense, and every once and a while we shift to a one-on-one,” he said. 

Cooper’s reference to the tensions from more than three decades ago underlines just how precarious the situation in the wider Mideast has become as worries of a regional conflict over the Israel-Hamas war grow. 

Monday night, Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree, in a recorded address, claimed an attack in the Gulf of Aden on the Ocean Jazz, a U.S.-flagged ship managed by Seabulk, a company in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The firm declined to comment when reached by the AP. The Ocean Jazz had been in the Red Sea heading south four days ago, according to tracking data. 

The 5th Fleet issued an online statement dismissing the Houthi claim. 

“The Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists’ report of an alleged successful attack on M/V Ocean Jazz is patently false,” it said. The 5th Fleet “has maintained constant communications with M/V Ocean Jazz throughout its safe transit.” 

Cooper spoke to the AP from the sidelines of a drone conference in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Under his command of the 5th Fleet, the naval force has created Task Force 59, a drone fleet to bolster its patrol of waterways in the region. 

Today, a variety of drones provide the 5th Fleet coverage across about 10,000 square miles (25,900 square kilometers) of Mideast waters that the Navy otherwise wouldn’t have eyes on, Cooper said. That helps its efforts to interdict suspected drug and weapons shipments. 

U.S. forces seized Iranian-made missile parts and other weaponry this month from a ship bound for the Houthis in a raid that saw two Navy SEALs go missing. The U.S. military’s Central Command said Sunday it now believes the SEALs are dead. 

While not directly saying his fleet’s drones played a part in the seizure, Cooper hinted at it. 

“They are specifically designed to conduct interdiction operations,” he said. He added: “There’s no squeaking anything by it.” 

Cooper’s command is set to end in February with the upcoming arrival of Rear Adm. George Wikoff in Bahrain. He noted that the Navy and merchant shippers still face a serious threat from the Houthis as he prepares to leave. 

“What we need is a Houthi decision to stop attacking international merchant ships. Period,” Cooper said.
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Western Balkans Pledge Support for EU Growth While Seeking Bloc Membership

Posted on by SeeEU

SKOPJE, North Macedonia — The leaders of Western Balkan countries pledged Monday to make full use of the European Union’s financial support plan of 6 billion euros ($6.5 billion) as they continue to seek membership in the bloc. 

Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania are at different stages of the accession process. Their leaders gathered in North Macedonia’s capital, Skopje, and said in a joint statement they were committed “to the development of their countries to follow European standards.”

In November, the European Commission presented a Growth Plan for the Western Balkans to enhance economic integration with the EU’s single market, boost regional economic integration, accelerate fundamental reforms, and increase financial assistance. 

The plan includes a proposed 6-billion-euro reform and growth scheme to be given out over three years, 2024-2027, contingent on agreed reforms. Its main aim is to help double the Western Balkans’ economy throughout the next decade. The funding hopes to address frustration among residents of candidate countries with the slow pace of the membership process, as well as maintain the countries’ alignment with the West as Russia’s war against Ukraine continues. 

Present at Monday’s meeting were Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Kosovo’s Albin Kurti, Montenegro Prime Minister Milojko Spajic and the North Macedonian premier, Dimitar Kovacevski.

The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien, and the director general for neighborhood and enlargement negotiations at the European Commission, Gert Jan Koopmann, were also present.

“Each country is responsible for its own reforms and for working with as many of its neighbors as it can,” O’Brien said. “So now, the countries that seize the initiative will get the benefits sooner and they will not have to wait until some unrelated dispute is resolved.” 
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US Supreme Court to Hear Oklahoma Man’s Death Row Appeal

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Washington — The US Supreme Court Monday agreed to hear the case of an Oklahoma man convicted of murder, whose story has sparked appeals for clemency from Pope Francis and Hollywood stars.

Richard Glossip, 60, had been scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection on May 18, but the nation’s highest court put his execution on hold.

The stay came after the Oklahoma attorney general, a Republican, asked the court, in an unusual move, to halt the execution, citing questions about the fairness of his trial.

Following the Supreme Court’s Monday announcement that it would hear Glossip’s appeal, his lawyer John Mills said his team was “grateful” and emphasized that Glossip had “maintained his innocence throughout a quarter century.”

“Mr. Glossip has faced execution nine times, even though the state knew full well that the evidence used to convict him and sentence him to death was false,” Mills said.

Glossip was convicted of the 1997 fatal beating of an Oklahoma City motel owner, but has steadfastly maintained his innocence.

Glossip, who worked at the motel, was found guilty of hiring another motel employee, maintenance man Justin Sneed, who was 19 at the time, to carry out the actual murder.

Glossip was convicted based on the testimony of Sneed, who pleaded guilty and was able to negotiate a life sentence, claiming that his co-worker had masterminded the plot.

Actors Mark Ruffalo and Susan Sarandon and British billionaire Richard Branson have been among the celebrities advocating for Glossip’s life to be spared.

In 2015, when Glossip’s execution also appeared imminent, the representative of Pope Francis in the United States sent a letter on behalf of the pontiff to the then governor of Oklahoma asking that the execution be called off.

His case has also been the subject of a four-episode documentary series titled “Killing Richard Glossip.”
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Boakai Vows to Tackle Graft as He Takes Oath as Liberia President

Posted on by SeeAF

Monrovia — Liberia’s new president Joseph Boakai pledged to fight corruption in the West African country as he was sworn into office on Monday following his election victory over former football star George Weah.

The 79-year-old narrowly beat former Ballon d’Or winner Weah in November’s run-off poll, with 50.64 percent of the vote to 49.36 percent.

“We see hard times, we see dysfunctioning… we see corruption in high and low places. And (it’s) in these and similar conditions that we have come to the rescue,” Boakai declared at his swearing-in ceremony.

Boakai, whose age and health are the source of much discussion in the country, had to pause and sit down to finish his address in testing heat.

He stressed the need to rebuild poor infrastructure, improve basic services for everyone and ensure all Liberians are given the same chance of succeeding.

The investiture in parliament was attended by Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

Boakai, who will be steering Africa’s oldest republic for six years, has 40 years of political experience behind him.

He was vice-president from 2006 to 2018 under Africa’s first elected female head of state Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, before being soundly beaten by Weah in the 2017 election.

The November poll was peaceful in a region that has seen a succession of military coups in recent years in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Niger.

But the small nation of five million has been plagued with corruption, high levels of poverty and a weak justice system, after years of back-to-back civil wars and an Ebola outbreak. 

 

Impunity related to crimes committed during those civil wars is another unresolved issue. 

 

Boakai aligned himself with local barons during his election campaign, including former warlord Prince Johnson. 

 

Johnson, who enjoys strong support in northeastern Nimba County, backed Weah in 2017. 

 

Johnson was also seen drinking a beer in a video while his men tortured to death former president Samuel Doe. 

 

He has nominated one of his associates, Jeremiah Koung, as Boakai’s vice-president. Johnson himself is under U.S. sanctions. 

 

Liberians expect Boakai to create jobs, improve the economy, strengthen institutions and fight corruption — which was one of his key campaign pledges. 

 

“Expectations of Boakai’s presidency are high,” Larry Nyanquoi, a former local official in Nimba County, told AFP. 

 

Boakai is “seen as somebody who has not engaged in corruption and one who has tried to live the simplest possible life.” 

 

Liberians also expect Boakai to ensure a stable supply of electricity and water, and to improve the road infrastructure to attract investment, Nyanquoi said. 

 

The outgoing government did not live up to its commitment to ensure the rule of law was upheld, to establish a war and economic crimes court, and to end impunity in the country. 

 

The mysterious deaths of four government auditors also raised suspicions. 

 

“Every leader has promised to crack down on corruption and they have failed, so he has to say something different,” Abdulla Kiatamba, an analyst at Geo Baraka Group of Strategists, said of Boakai. 

 

“They have promised improved economic conditions and they have also failed so he has to say and do something that will be different.” 

 

After his win, Boakai called for unity to rebuild Liberia and promised to “extend development to the whole country”, in particular by building roads in the southeast. 

 

He also said that fighting corruption would be a priority and promised a “smooth and peaceful” transition. 

 

Weah won plaudits for swiftly conceding defeat. 

 

Boakai now faces the tricky challenge of accommodating all those who supported his election campaign when he starts distributing jobs, analysts say. 

 

He is also believed to have several people in his inner circle with presidential ambitions of their own. 

 

John Kollie, the executive director of Liberia Media for Democratic Initiatives, told AFP that Boakai was expected to drop the prices of basic commodities such as gasoline and rice. 
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Kenya Says ‘Not at War,’ Amid Diplomatic Tensions With Neighbors

Posted on by SeeAF

Nairobi, Kenya — Kenya says it wants to promote peace in East Africa and has no problems with neighboring countries. At the same time, there are undeniable signs of diplomatic strains with at least four neighbors, including two that recently recalled their ambassadors from Nairobi.

Kenya’s effort to assert itself as a regional political force and economic hub in eastern Africa is not going over well with some of its neighbors.  

The Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan recalled their ambassadors after their governments accused Kenya of hosting and dealing with their countries’ opposition groups in Nairobi.

Uganda, meanwhile, recently took Kenya to an East African court in Tanzania over an oil distribution dispute. The case is about Kenya not allowing Ugandan government oil marketers to operate within its borders. This comes after Uganda discontinued the previous open tender system for purchasing petroleum products from Kenya.

Also, Tanzania banned Kenya Airways flights from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam last week because Kenya allegedly denied permission for Tanzania’s national carrier to operate cargo flights to Nairobi. The ban was lifted after discussions between the foreign affairs ministers of the two countries.

Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi said Sunday that his country is “not at war” with its neighbors and wants to bring peace to the region.

“Some states are vulnerable, others are in conflict, and our president, William Samoei Ruto, is on the front line, making sure peace returns in these countries,” said Mudavadi. “He says the wars in those countries will affect our country too.”

Kenya has come under criticism from some Africans and its own citizens on how the government is handling engagement with other states.

International relations expert Kizito Sabala says the diplomatic spats are growing out of countries trying to counter Kenya’s influence.  

“There is always going to be a tug-of-war with what Kenya tries to do from the neighbors,” Sabala said. “But from my point of view, I don’t think there is really something very serious to worry about. These are things that will continue to come as Kenya tries to assert itself as a regional power. And the other countries will try to find any leverage to use it in order to bring that down.”

Kenyan President Ruto, who came to power more than a year ago, has met several heads of state in Africa, including his neighbors, promising to help solve Africa’s chronic problems of conflict and hunger, and to bring economic development.

Sabala says such assertiveness from a new leader will get pushback. 

“They are reacting the way they are reacting because I think in Nairobi we have a new president who is very assertive and who seems to be projecting this to the region and therefore I think that in itself seems to be telling them, ‘no, no, no, no, let’s stop here,’” Sabala said. “But I think with the time they’ll just get used to the way our president is doing things and that’s fine. I don’t think it’s a big, big issue to worry about.”

Experts urge Kenya to handle the conflict in the Congo cautiously, especially regarding rebel groups that have contributed to the country’s instability. They also want Kenya to refrain from taking sides in the Sudan conflict, which has pitted the country’s armed forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces against each other.
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New Hampshire Voters May Surprise in Tuesday’s Primary

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The small northeastern U.S. state of New Hampshire holds its presidential primary Tuesday. The state, which prides itself on independence and creating havoc, takes on added interest with Sunday’s news that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ended his campaign, making it a two-person Republican contest. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti is there and explains how the Granite State could turn politics upside-down on Tuesday. VOA footage and video editing by Adam Greenbaum.
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Stanford’s Tara Vanderveer Now Winningest Coach in Major College Basketball

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STANFORD, Calif. — Tara VanDerveer’s face shined in every corner of Maples Pavilion with that very message. Yes, the Stanford Hall of Famer now stands atop major college basketball as the winningest coach of all time.

“Today was just so wonderful,” VanDerveer said. Even though she had to text her 96-year-old mother, Rita, they’d need to cancel a scheduled bridge game because of all the postgame festivities to celebrate her. “It is a big number and I’m very appreciative of the great players I’ve coached and the great places I’ve been and the attention it’s brought to women’s basketball.”

Just as those who love her so hoped it would turn out, VanDerveer passed former Duke and Army coach Mike Krzyzewski with her 1,203rd career victory at home in Maples when No. 8 Stanford beat Oregon State, 65-56.

And it never fails that VanDerveer always takes a minute to thank everybody for coming to the game, and that includes offering her immense gratitude to the Stanford band. On Sunday, moments after her latest remarkable milestone in a career filled with them, she politely asked the band to stop playing. VanDerveer took the microphone and began with her words of appreciation once more.

“I’m overwhelmed,” she told the crowd. “I’m not usually lost for words but it’s pretty impressive, all these people here, all the former players coming back.”

A head coach since age 24, VanDerveer celebrated with thousands of supporters and a couple dozen former players on hand to cheer her on for yet another triumph in a decorated 45-year career featuring so many memorable accomplishments.

And for a nearly full arena, this was also a chance for fans to show their love to the Hall of Fame coach who has been shining her light on women’s basketball for 4 1/2 decades.

“Tara! Tara!” they yelled in the closing seconds before the celebration began.

“This is a tremendous accomplishment for Tara VanDerveer, who is already one of the most accomplished coaches in the history of basketball,” Krzyzewski said in a statement. “This is yet another milestone to add to an amazing legacy. More important than all the astounding numbers and career accomplishments, she’s positively impacted countless lives as a coach and a mentor. Tara remains a true guardian of our sport.”

A video tribute with messages from everyone from Billie Jean King to Steve Kerr, Dawn Staley and Coach K himself showed on the big screen.

It was tense at times, with VanDerveer standing with arms crossed and pacing the sideline as Kiki Iriafen and her supporting cast made the big plays when it mattered most — including Iriafen’s first 3-pointers. Stanford was missing All-American Cameron Brink because of a lower left leg injury suffered in Friday’s win over Oregon.

“I want to bring attention to the beauty of women’s basketball and the wonderfulness of these players that work so hard,” VanDerveer said. “I’m so jealous because I never got to do what they get to do and I’m able to watch a little girl’s dream play out through them.”

Iriafen contributed a career-high 36 points on 16-for-26 shooting and 11 rebounds and Talana Lepolo 14 points and six assists for the Cardinal (17-2, 6-1 Pac-12). The game drew a near-capacity crowd of 7,022 at Maples Pavilion, which holds 7,233.

VanDerveer improved to 1,203-267 overall and 1,051-216 over 38 seasons at Stanford. A 17-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year with five national Coach of the Year honors, VanDerveer has captured three NCAA titles with Stanford — 1990, ’92 and 2021 — and coached the 1996 U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal at the Atlanta Games during a year away from Stanford.

Stanford led 28-22 at the break having shot just 12 of 34 but was willed in the second half as former star players such as Jennifer Azzi, Chiney Ogwumike, Ros Gold-Onwude and Jayne Appel-Marinelli were among those in attendance along with former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice supporting the beloved coach.

“What does it mean to me? It means everything. It’s like your family member getting married or someone had a baby, Coach is making history, we all come back and we celebrate,” Ogwumike said. “It’s just a part of our life now. Showing up for Tara is the same way you show up for a sister, an aunt, a brother. She’s family to all of us.”

VanDerveer received warm ovations at every chance, from the moment she walked out onto the court during pregame warmups and again for introductions. She credited the Beavers for their grace in offering congratulations in the hand-shake line after the final buzzer.

Oregon State coach Scott Rueck credits VanDerveer for elevating the entire conference over the decades.

“The most remarkable thing about her is she’s done it for so long and she’s remained at such a high level of excellence,” Rueck said. “And that’s her preparation, her attention to detail is the separator.”

Azzi offered a sentiment that hundreds of other former VanDerveer players would certainly share: “I got to play for the greatest coach of all-time.”
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EPA Assessment Shows Almost No Gains in Nitrogen Pollution

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St. LOUIS — The nation’s rivers and streams remain stubbornly polluted with nutrients that contaminate drinking water and fuel a gigantic dead zone for aquatic life in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a recently released Environmental Protection Agency assessment.

It’s a difficult problem that’s concentrated in agricultural regions that drain into the Mississippi River. More than half of the basin’s miles of rivers and streams were in poor condition for nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizer that drains into waterways, the agency found. For decades, federal and state officials have struggled to control farm runoff, the biggest source of nutrient pollution that is not typically federally regulated.

It’s a problem only expected to get harder to control as climate change produces more intense storms that dump rain on the Midwest and South. Those heavy rains flood farm fields, pick up commercial fertilizers and carry them into nearby rivers.

“It’s really worrying that we are clearly not meeting the goals that we’ve set for ourselves,” said Olivia Dorothy, director of river restoration with the conservation group American Rivers.

The assessment is based on samples collected in 2018 and 2019 and it allows experts to compare river conditions from previous rounds of sampling, although different sampling sites were used. It takes years for the agency to compile the results and release the report, which is the most comprehensive assessment of the nation’s river and stream health. Phosphorus levels dipped slightly while nitrogen levels remained almost exactly the same.

About half of all river miles were found to be in poor condition for snails, worms, beetles and other bottom-dwelling species that are an important indicator of biological health of the river. About a third were also rated as having poor conditions for fish based on species diversity.

“Controlling pollution is a big job. It is hard work,” said Tom Wall, director of watershed restoration, assessment and protection division at EPA. “Things are not getting worse, despite the tremendous pressures on our waterways. And we would like to see more progress.”

Water pollution from factories and industry is typically federally regulated. The Biden administration recently proposed toughening regulations on meat and poultry processing plants to reduce pollution, Wall said.

When nutrient pollution flows into the Gulf of Mexico, it spurs growth of bacteria that consume oxygen. That creates a so-called “dead zone,” a vast area where it’s difficult or impossible for marine animals to survive, fluctuating from about the size of Rhode Island to the size of New Jersey, according to Nancy Rabalais, professor of oceanography and wetland studies at Louisiana State University.

That affects the productivity of commercial fisheries and marine life in general, but nutrient pollution is also damaging upstream. Too much nitrate in drinking water can affect how blood carries oxygen, causing human health problems like headaches, nausea and abdominal cramps. It can especially affect infants, sometimes inducing “blue baby syndrome,” which causes the skin to take on a bluish hue.

The EPA established the hypoxia task force in the late 1990s to reduce nutrient pollution and shrink the dead zone, but it relies on voluntary efforts to reduce farm runoff and hasn’t significantly reduced the dead zone.

Anne Schechinger, Midwest director with the Environmental Working Group, said new regulations are needed, not voluntary efforts. She said the Biden administration has done a lot to improve drinking water, but not enough to reduce agricultural runoff.

Methods to prevent runoff include building buffers between farmland and waterways, creating new wetlands to filter pollutants and applying less fertilizer.

It’s a politically fraught issue, especially in major Midwest farming states that significantly contribute to the problem. Many of those states cite their voluntary conservation programs as evidence they’re taking on the problem, yet the new EPA data shows little progress.

Minnesota is one of the few states that has a so-called “buffer law” that requires vegetation to be planted along rivers, streams and public drainage ditches. But because groundwater and surface water are closely connected in much of the Upper Midwest, nutrient pollution can end up leaching underground through farm fields and eventually bypass those buffers, ending up in streams anyway, said Gregory Klinger, who works for the Olmsted County, Minnesota soil and water conservation district.

There should also be a focus on preventing over-fertilizing – about 30% of farmers are still using more than the recommended amounts of fertilizer on their fields, said Brad Carlson, an extension educator with the University of Minnesota who communicates with farmers about nutrient pollution issues.

Martin Larsen, a farmer and conservation technician in southeast Minnesota, said he and other farmers are interested in practices that reduce their nutrient pollution. He’s broken up his typical corn and soybean rotation with oats and medium red clover, the latter a kind of plant that can increase nitrogen levels in the soil naturally. He’s been able to get by with about half as much fertilizer for a corn crop that follows a clover planting as compared to a corn-corn rotation.

Growing oats and red clover as cover crops improves soil, too. But Larsen said it’s difficult for many farmers to plant them when they often rely on an immediate payback for anything they grow. Cover crops are planted on just 5.1% of harvested farmland, according to 2017 data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Larsen said since regulations are so unpopular, more should be done to incentivize better practices. For example, he said that could include companies shifting the makeup of feed they use for animals, giving farmers an opening to plant some crops that use less fertilizer. Or government programs that do more to subsidize things like cover crops.

He said that many farmers in his community acknowledge the need to do things differently. “But we also feel very trapped in the system,” he said.
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Congo’s Mbemba Subjected to Racist Abuse After Morocco Game

Posted on by SeeAF

Mbemba’s Instagram account was targeted by many users who replied to his latest posts with monkey or gorilla emojis, or wrote racist comments.
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Israel OKs Plan for Norway to Hold Gaza Tax Funds

Posted on by SeeEU

Jerusalem — Israel’s cabinet approved a plan for frozen tax funds earmarked for the Hamas-run Gaza Strip to be held by Norway instead of transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA), officials said Sunday.

Under interim peace accords reached in the 1990s, Israel’s finance ministry collects tax on behalf of the Palestinians and makes monthly transfers to the Western-backed PA, which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

But there have been constant wrangles over the arrangement, including Israel’s demand that the funds do not reach Hamas, which it and most of the West deem a terrorist group.

Hamas seized control of Gaza from the Western-backed PA in 2007 after a brief civil war, and two years after Israel withdrew settlers and military forces. Despite the Hamas takeover, many PA public sector employees in Gaza kept their jobs and continued to be paid with transferred tax revenues.

Israel is now at war in Gaza to wipe out Hamas after a cross-border terror attack by militants of the Palestinian Islamist movement on Oct. 7.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the cabinet decision on the tax funds was supported by Norway and the United States, which will be a guarantor that the framework holds.

Netanyahu’s offices said the money, or any equivalent, will not be transferred “in any situation, except with the approval of the Israeli finance minister, and also not through a third party.”

The Palestine Liberation Organization said Sunday it wanted the money in full and would not accept conditions that prevent it from paying its staff, including in Gaza.

“Any deductions from our financial rights or any conditions imposed by Israel that prevent the PA from paying our people in the Gaza Strip are rejected by us,” Hussein Al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the executive committee of the PLO, said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

A spokesperson for Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who heads a far-right, pro-settlement party, confirmed that Norway would hold the funds under the arrangement.

“Not one shekel will go to Gaza,” said Smotrich, who has long been opposed to transferring funds to the PA. 
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‘Mean Girls’ Fetches $11.7M in Second Weekend to Stay No. 1 at US Box Office

Posted on by SeeUS

New York — On a quiet weekend in movie theaters, “Mean Girls” repeated atop the box office with $11.7 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, while a handful of awards contenders sought to make an impact ahead of Oscar nominations Tuesday.

With a dearth of new releases in cinemas, Paramount Pictures’ Tina Fey-scripted musical “Mean Girls” pushed its two-week total past $50 million, along with $16.2 million internationally. So far, it’s outpacing the tally for the 2004 original “Mean Girls.”

Only one new film debuted in wide release: “I.S.S.,” a modestly budgeted sci-fi thriller starring Ariana DeBose. The film, which speculates what would happen aboard the International Space Station if war broke out between the U.S. and Russia, debuted with $3 million on 2,518 screens for Bleecker Street.

Expectations weren’t high for “I.S.S.,” which drew only so-so reviews and was lightly marketed. Audiences also didn’t like it, giving the film a “C-” CinemaScore.

But even for January, historically a low ebb for moviegoing, it was a sparsely attended weekend, with paltry options on the big screen. The top 10 films collectively accounted for just $51.3 million in box office, according to Comscore.

With a similarly thin release schedule on deck for next weekend, it could be the start of a chastening trend for Hollywood in 2024. Due to production delays caused by last year’s strikes, there are significant holes throughout this year’s movie calendar.

The Jason Statham thriller “The Beekeeper,” from Amazon MGM Studios, remained in second place, grossing $8.5 million in its second weekend to bring its total to $31.1 million. Warner Bros. “Wonka,” six weeks into its smash run in theaters, was third, with $6.4 million in ticket sales. It’s taken in $187.2 million domestically.

Also continuing to leg out was Sony Pictures’ “Anyone But You.” The rom-com starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, crossed $100 million globally in its fifth week of release. It’s the highest grossing R-rated romantic comedy — a genre that has largely migrated to streaming platforms — since 2016’s “Bridget Jones’s Baby.” Domestically, it came in fourth with $5.4 million.

Much of the weekend’s action was in expanding awards contenders.

After a qualifying release in December, Ava DuVernay’s “Origin,” starring Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as the “Caste” author Isabel Wilkerson, launched in 125 theaters and pulled in $875,000 — a strong start for the acclaimed film.

Yorgos Lanthimos’ dark fantasy “Poor Things,” starring Emma Stone, added 820 theaters and grossed $2 million from 1,400 locations. The Searchlight Pictures release, which won the Golden Globe for best comedy-musical, has earned $33.7 million globally in seven weeks of slowly expanding release.

Cord Jefferson’s “American Fiction,” starring Jeffrey Wright as a frustrated novelist, expanded to 850 screens and pulled in $1.8 million. “American Fiction,” up to $8 million in six weeks, will look for a boost in Tuesday’s Oscar nominations.

Jonathan Glazer’s Auschwitz film “The Zone of Interest” expanded to 82 screens, grossing $447,684 for A24.

But after a strong launch, another awards contender, “The Color Purple,” has quickly fallen off the radar of moviegoers. Though widely acclaimed and with the backing of producers Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, the Warner Bros. musical has dropped fast in recent weeks. In its fourth week of release, the Blitz Bazawule-directed film starring Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson and Danielle Brooks, grossed just $720,000. Its domestic total is $59.3 million, below hopes for the $100-million budgeted film.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

  1. “Mean Girls,” $11.7 million.

  2. “The Beekeeper,” $8.5 million.

  3. “Wonka,” $6.4 million.

  4. “Anyone But You,” $5.4 million.

  5. “Migration,” $5.3 million.

  6. “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” $3.7 million.

  7. “I.S.S.,” $3 million.

  8. “Night Swim,” $2.7 million.

  9. “The Boys in the Boat,” $2.5 million.

  10. “Poor Things,” $2 million.
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Dozens Dead, Injured After Shelling in Donetsk; Russia Blames Ukraine

Posted on by SeeEU

Russia says at least two dozen people are dead after a neighborhood of a Russia-annexed city came under shelling by Ukrainian forces. In a separate attack, a Russian chemical transport terminal also came under fire. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has the story.
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Analysts: Assassination Plot Shows Extremes Iran Employs to Target Critics

Posted on by SeeEU

Washington — A thwarted Iranian plot to assassinate two journalists working for a Persian TV network in London has renewed focus on the ways hostile governments try to target critics outside their jurisdiction.

Details of the plot, uncovered by the British news outlet ITV News late last year, included a plan to kill the journalists Sima Sabet and Fardad Farahzad.

The details “are a shocking reminder of the sinister lengths that the Iranian regime is willing to go to silence critical reporting from abroad,” said Jessica White, who researches transnational repression at Freedom House.

“Reporters covering human rights violations by the Iranian authorities should not have to live and work in fear for themselves and their family members,” White told VOA from London. “Nor should the Iranian regime evade accountability for its actions.”

White is the author of a December report that found at least 26 governments had targeted reporters abroad in the past decade in a process known as transnational repression.

The Iranian government is among the worst perpetrators of transnational repression, the report found.

Among the cases Freedom House featured is that of Behrang Tajdin, a BBC Persian journalist who for years dealt with threats and harassment. Tajdin told the research group that the attacks “have become so unbearable in the past few years and especially in the past year that we have no choice but to talk about it, to call it out.”

He added that he worries for relatives still in Iran, who can come under pressure over his reporting.

In the more recent London case, Sabet, a former presenter at the Persian language news channel Iran International, and her colleague Farahzad, were first made aware of the plot against them by ITV News.

The British broadcaster determined that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is the main branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, was behind the plot.

During the fall of 2022, Iranian spies planned to strike Iran International’s London studio with a car bomb. They initially wanted to kill five or six employees but later decided to target only Sabet and Farahzad in a knife attack.

The spies codenamed Sabet “the bride,” and Farahzad was referred to as “the groom.” The assassination was codenamed “the wedding.”

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately reply to VOA’s email requesting comment. But a spokesperson for the Iranian Embassy in London, Seyed Mehdi Hosseini Matin, rejected the report as “unfounded” in a post on the X platform, formerly Twitter.

“If I hadn’t been influential, I wouldn’t have been targeted. I already knew that we are standing against a regime that does not recognize neutrality,” Sabet told VOA Persian.

The plan was ultimately thwarted by the people-smuggler-turned-double-agent whom the spies offered $200,000 to carry out the killings.

When British intelligence learned about the plot, they alerted Iran International, which prompted the outlet to begin broadcasting from the United States.

Sabet said she’s concerned that Iranian operatives were able to work on British soil in the first place.

“As a tax-paying British citizen who lives and works here, I am surprised that an outfit like the IRGC can operate freely and threaten the life of a British citizen for committing what seems to be the sin of journalism,” she said.

Freedom House has recommended that governments better support at-risk journalists and media outlets operating in exile by imposing coordinated sanctions on countries that use transnational repression, and to adopt safeguards against invasive surveillance technologies.

The research group says making it easier for exiled journalists to have permanent legal status in host countries could also improve safety.

This isn’t the first time Tehran has been accused of trying to kill its critics abroad.

VOA Persian host Masih Alinejad was the target of a 2021 kidnapping attempt in New York, which the FBI says was part of a Tehran plot to bring her to Iran. The Justice Department last year indicted three people in a separate case who allegedly plotted to kill Alinejad.

“Transnational repression is not just a threat for us, for dissidents. It’s a threat to democracy,” Alinejad told VOA in December.

The threat facing Iranian critics around the world underscores the ever-present crackdown on independent media inside Iran.

This month, the Committee to Protect Journalists ranked Iran as the sixth-worst jailer of reporters in the world, with 17 journalists behind bars.

But for Sabet, the threat has not dampened her resolve.

“We have to stand against them [Tehran] and talk about what is happening,” she said.

“I am a professional journalist, and my duty is to spread information,” Sabet said. “I am committed to my people, committed to the truth — even at the cost of my life. This is what I want to do, and I stand by my commitment.”

VOA’s Persian Service contributed to this report.
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White House Taking Iran-Backed Attacks on Its Iraq-Based Forces ‘Extremely Seriously’

Posted on by SeeUS

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Two Senegal Opposition Leaders Excluded From Final List of Presidential Candidates

Posted on by SeeAF

Dakar — Senegal’s highest election authority has excluded two top opposition leaders from the final list of candidates for the West African nation’s presidential election next month. The party of the main challenger called the move a “dangerous precedent” on Sunday. 

The list published Saturday by Senegal’s Constitutional Council named 20 candidates, including Prime Minister Amadou Ba, who has the backing of outgoing President Macky Sall and is seen as a major contender. 

Opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who finished third in the country’s 2019 presidential election, was disqualified from the ballot because he faces a six-month suspended sentence following his conviction for defamation, the Constitutional Council said. 

“This conviction renders him ineligible for a period of five years,” the council said. 

Sonko, who currently is imprisoned on a different charge, was widely seen as the politician with the best chance of defeating Sall’s ruling party. His PASTEF party, which authorities dissolved last year, called Sonko’s disqualification “the most dangerous precedent in the political history of Senegal.” 

The council also deemed Karim Wade, another opposition leader and the son of former Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, as ineligible for the ballot. It said Wade had dual citizenship at the time he formally declared his presidential candidacy, although he had renounced his French nationality three days earlier. 

“The recent decision of the Constitutional Council is scandalous, it is a blatant attack on democracy [and] violates my fundamental right to participate in the presidential election,” Wade wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

The Constitutional Council’s decision could further complicate preparations for the Feb. 25 election. Opposition supporters accused Sall’s government last year of clamping down on their activities, and some protests in support of Sonko turned deadly. 
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