Month: February 2024

Pastries, Biscuits as Argentina’s Milei Makes Up With Pope Francis 

Posted on by SeeEU

VATICAN CITY — Argentina’s President Javier Milei visited his compatriot Pope Francis in the Vatican on Monday, bearing pastries and gifts as he seeks to make up with the pontiff he had long dismissed and derided.

Milei, a maverick right-wing libertarian, had heaped insults on Francis during his vote campaign, calling him an “imbecile who defends social justice.” But he has shifted tone in office as he tries to shore up support at home amid mounting challenges.

He hailed the pope as “the most important Argentine in history” in an interview at the weekend. On Monday, he brought alfajores de dulce de leche pastries and a brand of lemon biscuits the pope likes, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said.

Francis and Milei met as Argentina faces its worst economic crisis in decades, with inflation at more than 200% and the newly installed Milei in difficulty following parliamentary rejection of a major reform package. 

They spoke for about one hour, the Vatican said.

Francis, a former archbishop of Buenos Aires who has angered some of his compatriots by not visiting his homeland since becoming pope in 2013, has said he may finally visit “suffering” Argentina in the second half of this year.

Securing such a visit could help Milei shore up support from his conservative Catholic base, and help the president push ahead with his reforms.

On the weekend, Milei stressed Francis’ moral leadership role for a majority-Catholic country like Argentina.

Francis has previously said he did not want to be politically exploited by Argentinian politicians. On Friday, he said “radical individualism” permeates society like a “virus,” in words that may jar with Milei’s radical free-market instincts.

Francis and Milei exchanged warm words on Sunday, at the end of a canonization Mass in St Peter’s Basilica for the first female Argentine saint, Maria Antonia de Paz y Figueroa, an 18th century consecrated lay woman better known as “Mama Antula.”

Francis, who is 87 and has difficulty walking, was in a wheelchair as he went to greet Milei after the service. He smiled at him, extended his hand and told him, “You cut your hair!”

Milei, who still wears his hair unconventionally long for a politician, joked about having cleaned up his act and asked if he could hug and kiss the pope. A smiling Francis replied: “Yes, son, yes.”
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Closer Turkey-EU Relations Must Come Through Us, Says Cyprus 

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NICOSIA — Closer relations between Turkey and the European Union are contingent on Turkish engagement in solving the decades-old partition of Cyprus, the EU country’s president said on Monday.

Turkey has been an official candidate to join the EU for decades, but accession talks have stalled in recent years over EU concerns about Ankara’s record on human rights and respect for the rule of law.

Cyprus, an eastern Mediterranean island that was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 prompted by a brief Greek-inspired coup, has veto rights over Turkey’s EU ambitions, like all other members of the bloc.

The Republic of Cyprus joined the EU in 2004, while the northern half of the island is a self-declared state recognized only by Turkey.

“Cyprus is a strong supporter of closer relations between the EU and Ankara; [such] closer relations pass through developments and a solution to the Cyprus problem,” Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides told reporters after meeting Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s president in Nicosia.

Steinmeier, on an official visit to the island, said Turkish actions on Cyprus should be taken into account in assessing its overall relations with the EU.

“Member states should send this message to Turkey,” he said, speaking through an interpreter.

Peace talks to resolve the longstanding conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots collapsed in 2017. Nicosia wants the EU to appoint an emissary to oversee attempts to revive talks, though says it would be supportive of any role of the United Nations, which takes the lead in Cyprus peacemaking.

Violence between the two Cypriot communities broke out in 1963, prompting the deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping force that still patrols a 180-km (116-mile) long cease-fire line.

Germany’s cabinet last week approved the dispatch of police officers who will join the civilian police contingent of the U.N. force, Steinmeier said.
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Biden Welcomes King of Jordan to Discuss Hostage Deal

Posted on by SeeUS

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is hosting Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Washington Monday and the two leaders are expected to discuss the ongoing effort to free hostages held in Gaza, and growing concern over an Israeli military operation in the port city of Rafah.

It is the first meeting between the allies since three American troops were killed last month in a drone strike against a U.S. base in Jordan. Biden blamed Iran-backed militias for the fatalities, the first for the U.S. after months of strikes by such groups against American forces across the Middle East since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

The meeting with King Abdullah II comes as Biden and his aides are working to broker another pause in Israel’s war against Hamas in order to send humanitarian aid and supplies into the region and get hostages out. The White House faces growing criticism from Arab-Americans over the administration’s continued support for Israel in the face of growing casualties in Gaza.

It appeared a deal for another pause in the fighting was getting close. A senior U.S. administration official said Sunday that after weeks of shuttle diplomacy and phone conversations, a framework was essentially in place for a deal that could see the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for a halt to fighting.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations, acknowledged that gaps remained but declined to specify what they are. The official said Israeli military pressure on Hamas in Khan Younis over the last several weeks has helped bring the militant group closer to accepting an agreement. The potential for an agreement took up the majority of Biden’s call Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The official said the two leaders also had a significant back and forth about the potential expansion of Israeli military operations into Rafah and that Biden reiterated U.S. opposition to the idea under the “current conditions” while more than 1.3 million people are sheltering there.

It was the most forceful language yet from the president on the possible operation. Biden, who last week called Israel’s military response in Gaza “over the top,” also sought “urgent and specific” steps to strengthen humanitarian aid. Israel’s Channel 13 television said the conversation lasted 45 minutes.

The official said the Israelis “made clear they would not contemplate an operation” in Rafah without safeguarding the civilian population. The official said the U.S. is not sure there is a feasible or implementable plan to relocate civilians out of Rafah to allow military operations to take place.

Jordan and other Arab states have been highly critical of Israel’s actions and have eschewed public support for long-term planning over what happens next, arguing that the fighting must end before such discussions can begin. They have been demanding a cease-fire since mid-October as civilian casualties began to skyrocket.

Biden had planned to visit Jordan during his trip to Israel in October shortly after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, but the trip was scrapped. On his way home from Israel, Biden announced he’d helped broker the first deal to pause fighting temporarily and to open the crossing in Rafah to humanitarian aid.

In the months since, members of his administration have made repeated trips to the region to engage with leaders there.
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Ivory Coast Beats Nigeria 2-1, Wins Africa Cup of Nations

Posted on by SeeAF

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Let the party begin.

Sébastien Haller scored late to lead host nation Ivory Coast to a remarkable Africa Cup of Nations title with a 2-1 victory over Nigeria in the final Sunday.

Haller fired in from close range in the 81st minute to complete the turnaround after Franck Kessié drew the Elephants level in the 62nd.

It was Ivory Coast’s third title after wins in 1992 and 2015, both won on penalties.

Haller’s second goal in as many games after recovering from an ankle injury that kept him out of the group stage completed a personal triumph for the player, just over a year since he returned from cancer treatment.

Nigeria captain William Troost-Ekong had scored in the 38th against the run of play with a header to a corner. The Super Eagles were outplayed in the first half and only threatened again in a desperate attempt to equalize after Haller’s goal.

Troost-Ekong also scored when the teams last met in the group stage for Nigeria’s 1-0 win. That match had been just the start of the Elephants’ troubles as Ivory Coast was almost eliminated in its next game. It fired its coach but recorded late comeback wins over defending champion Senegal and Mali in the knockout stage, before Haller fired the team into the final with the winning goal against Congo in the semifinals.

Ivory Coast’s unlikely progression through the knockout stage as it overcame setback after setback convinced many devout Ivorians that God was on the team’s side.

“It was an extraordinary tournament,” said interim coach Emerse Faé, the previous assistant who took over on his 40th birthday.

Nigeria conceded as many goals in the final as it had in all its previous games in the tournament. Coach José Peseiro had banked on a mean defense to earn what would have been the Super Eagles’ fourth title.

“We played a fantastic tournament, but today Côte d’Ivoire was better,” Peseiro said. The Portuguese coach said the pressure got to his players and commended the home team for showing none.

In the final, Ivory Coast’s pressure finally paid off when Kessié’s header to Adingra’s corner set off a tumult of joy in the 60,000-capacity Alassane Ouattara Stadium. Kessié ran to the corner and raised his hand to his forehead in salute as the sea of orange-clad fans rippled in delight.

A small pocket of green-and-white clad Nigeria fans behind one of the goals had struggled to make an impact.

Haller’s winner set off celebrations that will last long through the night in Abidjan and in the rest of the country of 27.5 million people.

Excitement had been building for days with streets turned into viewing areas with plastic tables and chairs set in front of TV screens in the district of Adjamé, and fan zones around the city also showed the game.

Traffic was brought to a crawl for miles around the stadium hours before kickoff, providing street vendors with a captive customer base to sell chilled bottles of water, fruit, snacks, Ivory Coast flags, hats, wigs and towels, replica jerseys for both teams, and more.

But it caused problems for the Nigeria team bus getting to the game. Armed soldiers frantically urged motorists stuck in gridlock outside the stadium to pull over for the bus and security detail to make it through.

Fans had to abandon stationary commuter buses to walk to the match.
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Protesters Opposed to Same-Sex Marriage Bill Rally in Greek Capital

Posted on by SeeEU

ATHENS, Greece — More than 1,500 protesters gathered in central Athens on Sunday to oppose legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage in Greece. The bill is set for a vote in parliament in the coming days.

Greece’s conservative government is sponsoring the bill, but it will require votes from center and left opposition parties to be approved. However, even some center-left lawmakers have gone on record as opposing the bill.

Organizers of Sunday’s rally — religious groups — described the bill as a threat to the traditional family. Many of the protesters chanted “hands off our children.”

“Unfortunately, the woke agenda has also reached Greece and that agenda includes the marriage of homosexuals,” Dimitris Natsios, leader of the far-right and strongly religious Niki party told The Associated Press.

“Greece is a Christian Orthodox country, and our tradition does not allow this. … We know and respect one type of marriage: The Orthodox Christian wedding. Our Constitution also does not provide for this, so this bill is unconstitutional and runs counter to our faith in Christ,” Natsios said.

The Niki party, founded in 2019, entered Parliament in 2023. In the most recent election, in June, it came in sixth, with 3.70% of the vote and elected 10 lawmakers to the 300-member assembly.

Many same-sex couples in Greece seeking to start a family currently get married in countries where same-sex weddings are legal.

Greece has legalized “cohabitation contracts” for same-sex couples since December 2015. It also allowed sex identity change by simple declaration without mandating psychiatric evaluation and sex reassignment surgery in October 2017.

If the bill is approved, Greece would become the first majority Orthodox country to legalize same-sex marriage.
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NYC Imposing Curfew at More Migrant Shelters Following Recent Violent Incidents

Posted on by SeeUS

New York — New York is expanding a curfew to additional migrant shelters after violent incidents attributed to migrant shelter residents gained national attention in recent weeks.

Mayor Eric Adams’ administration will impose an 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew at 20 migrant shelters starting Monday, after initially placing the restrictions at four other locations, spokesperson Kayla Mamelak said Sunday.

The curfew impacts about 3,600 migrants, with the largest of the emergency centers housing nearly 1,000 migrants in Long Island City, Queens, according to a listing provided by the mayor’s office.

City officials initially placed a curfew on four shelters last month in response to neighborhood complaints.

Mamelak said the curfews are in line with restrictions already in place at NYC’s traditional homeless shelters and allow for “more efficient capacity management” of migrants in the city’s care.

“New York City continues to lead the nation in managing this national humanitarian crisis, and that includes prioritizing the health and safety of both asylum seekers in our care and New Yorkers who live in the communities surrounding the emergency shelters we manage,” she said in an emailed statement.

The additional curfews come after a spate of migrant-related violence and crime has prompted increasingly dire rhetoric from city and police officials.

A 15-year-old teen from Venezuela was arrested Friday for opening fire in Times Square while fleeing from police after being stopped by security for suspected shoplifting. The shooting injured a tourist from Brazil.

A video showing a group of migrants brawling with police in Times Square last month also went viral and led to several arrests.

The total of 24 migrant shelters now subject to the restrictions represents a fraction of the more than 200 such facilities the city operates to house some 66,000 newly arrived asylum seekers.
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Stalled Legislation, Mixed Messages Spotlight Immigration as Key Election Issue

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The vibrant streets and towering skyscrapers of New York City are an imposing, yet promising allure for migrants around the globe. Nevertheless, conflicting messages from officials and stalled legislation in the U.S. Congress are helping to create a controversial election issue. Aron Ranen brings us the story from Manhattan.
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Greece to Increase ‘Golden Visa’ Amount to $862,000

Posted on by SeeEU

ATHENS, Greece — Greece has announced new measures to protect locals from a deluge of mainly Chinese nationals purchasing homes and property in exchange for residency rights in the West — what is commonly known as a “Golden Visa” scheme.

For many of China’s newly well-off citizens, the incentive to emigrate has been rising, feeding what is being dubbed worldwide as “investment migration” businesses.

In recent years, there has been a massive rush of Chinese nationals to Greece, and that has created a serious housing crisis.

On Friday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he would increase the threshold of real estate investment from $269,491 to $862,372 in certain pockets of the country to ease the crisis.

“It is a major investment boost for the country but also a serious measure we are considering to shield the local market,” he told lawmakers in the Greek parliament.

In a rare show of bipartisan support, opposition leaders sided with the plan.

Because of a lingering housing shortage, they are now urging the government to block foreign homebuyers, like the Chinese, from making a fortune off their investments, leasing them for short-term rentals rather than occupying them for residential purposes alone.

A local near the foot of the Acropolis, Greece’s star attraction and the hub of Chinese and other tourists — says finding an affordable apartment to lease in the area has become difficult.

“All you see are tourists staying in these flats. The prices for locals have become excessively high,” he said.

Since launching the Golden Visa program in 2014, Greece has been granting five-year renewable residence permits to foreigners in exchange for a minimum property investment of nearly $270,000.

In the last year alone, the number of permits issued has quadrupled, with Chinese nationals topping the list at 80 percent. Turks fleeing the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are second, with Lebanese nationals and Israelis both taking third position, according to data released from the Bank of Greece.

Government sources tell VOA the highest charges for Greece’s Golden Visas will apply for the country’s most coveted property — in central Athens and glitzy Greek islands like Mykonos and Santorini — a favorite among Chinese nationals.

 

 
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Marathon World Record-Holder Kelvin Kiptum Killed in Kenya Car Crash

Posted on by SeeAF

Nairobi, Kenya — Marathon world record-holder Kelvin Kiptum died in a car crash in Kenya late Sunday, a fellow athlete who went to the hospital and saw the body said. He was 24.

Kiptum’s coach was also killed in the crash, Kenyan runner Milcah Chemos said. The crash happened on a road between the towns of Eldoret and Kaptagat in western Kenya, she said, in the heart of the high-altitude region that’s renowned as a training base for long-distance runners.

Chemos said she was among a group of athletes who had gone to the hospital in Eldoret after hearing the news of the crash. Family members of Kiptum were also with them to identify his body, Chemos said.

Kiptum was the first man to run the marathon in under 2 hours, 1 minute. He set the new world record of 2:00.35 at the Chicago Marathon in October, beating the mark of fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge.

Kiptum’s record was ratified by the international track federation World Athletics last week.
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Antifascists in Hungary Oppose Annual Far-Right Event, Italian Activist Still Jailed

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Budapest, Hungary — Antifascist activists gathered in Hungary’s capital Saturday to oppose an annual commemoration held by far-right groups, underscoring diplomatic tensions between Budapest and Rome over the detention of an Italian citizen in a Hungarian jail.

Hundreds of activists marched through central Budapest alongside a heavy police presence and called for “freedom for every antifascist.” They said they sought to prevent the far-right from observing the “Day of Honor,” an annual event marking the failed attempt by Nazi and allied Hungarian soldiers to break out of Budapest during the Red Army’s siege of the city in 1945.

The demonstration came as an Italian antifascist activist is being held in a Hungarian jail for allegedly being involved in assaults against suspected participants in the Day of Honor commemoration in Budapest last year.

Images of the activist, Ilaria Salis, chained and shackled at a Budapest court hearing sparked official protests by the Italian government. Prosecutors are seeking an 11-year sentence for the woman.

Luca Kruczynski, 35, a participant at the antifascist march Saturday, said he had  

traveled from Berlin with friends “to protest against the neo-fascist groups that are  

having their events here now every year.”

He said he had concerns that Salis’ prosecution would be a “political trial.”

“We see that Nazis are going to group up on different occasions and in different cities all over Europe,” he said. “There are people who say no to this, and who have a close eye on this and tell them, ‘Here and no further.’”

A separate group of activists gathered in Milan on Saturday to call attention to Salis’ case. Hungary’s government has denied that Salis is being held in inappropriate conditions.

Italy’s government has called on Hungary to observe European and international law, which calls for the need to respect the dignity of prisoners, “including the way in which defendants are transferred to court and the guarantees of a fair trial.”

Last week, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni spoke about Salis’ detention with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The case is delicate for the far-right-led government of Meloni, who has forged friendly ties with the nationalist Orban.

Italy’s foreign and justice ministers have refused a request to seek pre-trial detention at home in Italy or in the Italian embassy in Budapest for Salis, citing the sovereignty of Hungary’s court system.

Salis’ father met with Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Justice Minister Carlo Nordio on Monday in a bid to persuade them to intervene on his daughter’s behalf but walked away disappointed. 

In a joint statement Monday, Nordio said he suggested to the father that Salis’ Hungarian lawyer make the case in court to change the conditions of her confinement, while Tajani said that he has twice personally intervened with the Hungarian government on her behalf.

The leader of the Italian opposition, Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein, noted Monday that Premier Giorgia Meloni’s far-right-led government only moved on behalf of Salis after seeing “the chains and shackles.”

“It is difficult not to think that Meloni is embarrassed” in front of her European ally, Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, Schlein said. 
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US Military Strikes More Missiles in Yemen

Posted on by SeeUS

Washington — The U.S. military said Sunday it had struck more devices and missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen that were prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea.

The strikes occurred Saturday between 4-5 p.m. (1300-1400 GMT) north of the city of Hodeida, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on social media. 

American “forces successfully conducted self-defense strikes against two unmanned surface vessels (USV) and three mobile anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM)… that were prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea,” the statement said.

The Houthi-run Al-Masirah television on Saturday night reported three strikes on the Salif port area, while an AFP correspondent in the area heard loud blasts.

The strikes are part of a series of actions taken by the United States and its allies against the Houthis, aimed at halting the Iran-backed rebels’ repeated attacks on vital Red Sea shipping lanes.

On Saturday, the Houthis confirmed that 17 of their fighters had been killed in recent strikes, following a previous announcement Thursday by the United States that it had struck missile launchers.

The Houthis, who control much of war-torn Yemen including the port of Hodeida, began their attacks in November, saying they were hitting Israel-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza, which has been ravaged by the Israel-Hamas war. 

U.S. and British forces have responded with strikes against the Houthis, who have since declared the two countries’ interests to be legitimate targets as well.

On Tuesday the Houthi rebels said they had struck U.S. and British ships in two attacks in the Red Sea, causing minor damage but no casualties.

The Red Sea attacks have raised insurance premiums for shipping companies, forcing many to avoid the Red Sea, a vital route that normally carries about 12 percent of global maritime trade.
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Nigerian Start-Up Hopes to Teach AI Africa’s History

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in Nigeria, one nonprofit is on a mission to digitize the country’s history. Its members are doing so by uploading copies of newspapers from 1960, the year Nigeria gained independence, until today. Timothy Obiezu has more from Lagos.
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Al-Shabab Claims Attack in Somali Capital That Kills 4 UAE Troops, Bahraini Officer

Posted on by SeeAF

Dubai, UAE — The al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab claimed an attack that killed four Emirati troops and a Bahraini military officer on a training mission at a military base in the Somali capital, authorities said Sunday.

The attack Saturday targeted the troops at the General Gordon Military Base in Mogadishu. Details about the attack and whether it killed others remained scarce Sunday, although Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud offered his condolences to the UAE for the loss of its troops.

Early Sunday, the UAE’s state-run WAM news agency reported the killing of three of its troops and the Bahraini officer in a “terrorist act.” A fourth later died en route to the Emirates, WAM reported.

WAM released footage of three flag-draped caskets coming off an Emirati Boeing C-17A Globemaster III at Al Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi with an honor guard present.

WAM identified the dead as a colonel, two warrant officers and a corporal.

Anwar Gargash, a senior Emirati diplomat, offered condolences to those killed and a quick recovery for the wounded.

“No treacherous act will prevent us from continuing the message of security and safety and combating extremism and terrorism in all its forms,” Gargash wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The military of Bahrain, an island nation in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Saudi Arabia, later acknowledged the death of a major in a statement carried by the state-run Bahrain News Agency.

Al-Shabab claimed the attack in a statement online, alleging it killed multiple people involved in the Emirati military effort. It described the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula, as an “enemy” of Islamic (Shariah) law for backing the Somali government in its efforts to battle al-Shabab.

Al-Shabab, or “the youth” in Arabic, is a Sunni Islamic extremist group in Somalia born out of that country’s years of anarchy following its 1991 civil war. The affiliate of al-Qaida once held Mogadishu. Over time, an African Union-led force, with the backing of the U.S. and other countries, pushed the militants out of Mogadishu. In the years since, al-Shabab has remained a threat as it seeks to overthrow the Western-backed Somali government.

Al-Shabab has carried out attacks in neighboring Kenya as well, since Nairobi provides troops and materiel to the African Union force in Somalia. The United States under every president since George W. Bush has launched airstrikes against militants in Somalia, with the number of strikes now exceeding 300, according to New America, a Washington-based security research group. The majority of those strikes took place under then-President Donald Trump.

The U.S. Embassy in Somalia on Sunday condemned what it called a “cowardly attack” against the training mission.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones of those who lost their lives in yesterday’s deplorable terrorist attack against UAE military trainers and Somali soldiers valiantly working to advance the nation’s stability,” the embassy said.

Somalia has also been an intense interest for Gulf states, particularly during the Qatar diplomatic crisis that gripped the region for several years and saw four nations including the UAE boycott Doha in a political dispute. Somali troops once seized millions of dollars of Emirati cash from a jet at gunpoint, sparking a diplomatic incident between Mogadishu and the UAE that halted its troop training program there.

The UAE in recent years has increasingly invested in ports in East Africa, including in Somalia’s breakaway Somaliland region. Securing Somalia fits into the Emirates’ wider concerns about security in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, particularly as Somali piracy has resumed after years amid attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on shipping in the region over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

In 2019, al-Shabab claimed an attack that killed a man working for Dubai’s P&O Ports.
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Russian Drones Attack Ukraine as US Aid for War Faces Hurdles

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Russia attacked Ukraine with another barrage of drones. This comes as additional U.S. funding for Kyiv’s efforts to defend itself faces hurdles in a divided U.S. Congress. As VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports, the two U.S. presidential front-runners have diametrically opposed views on Ukraine and NATO.
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Biden’s Legal Team Went to DOJ Over What They Viewed as ‘Cherry Picked’ Digs at His Memory 

Posted on by SeeUS

WILMINGTON, Del. — President Joe Biden’s personal attorney said Sunday he went to both the special counsel and the attorney general to register concerns over what he viewed to be pejorative and unnecessary digs at the president’s memory. 

“This is a report that went off the rails,” Bob Bauer said on CBS’ Face the Nation Sunday. “It’s a shabby work product.” 

The special counsel was investigating whether the president mishandled classified documents during his previous positions as vice president and senator, and found this week that no criminal charges were warranted. 

But in building his argument for why no charges were necessary, Special Counsel Robert Hur, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, detailed in part that Biden’s defense of any potential charges could possibly be that: “Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” 

And then he went on to cite examples where investigators said the president’s memory lapsed, including over when his older son Beau had died. In particular, the comments about Beau Biden enraged the president, who has been very open about his grief over his son’s death, speaking often of him. 

“How the hell dare he raise that,” Biden questioned angrily following the report’s release. “Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself, was it any of their damn business?” 

Biden’s age has already been a concern for voters. Democrats are now answering the widespread questions about the 81-year-old president’s age and readiness by affirming that Biden is capable of being commander in chief and trying to discredit people who portray him feeble. First lady Jill Biden wrote a letter to donors Saturday questioning whether those comments were politically motivated; it fetched the most money in donations of any email since Biden launched his campaign. 

Bauer, who is married to Biden’s top White House aide Anita Dunn, said he raised concerns over the inclusion of these details to both Hur and Garland, which he viewed to be a violation of the Justice Department norms that essentially work to avoid prejudicing the public against people who are not charged with a crime. But the appeal failed. 

“It’s evident that he had committed to make the report public the way that the special counsel had written it,” said Bauer. 

The president sat down with investigators over several hours just as the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas happened. He said he answered the questions truthfully and to the best of his knowledge. 

Bauer argued that what didn’t make it into the report were moments when the president deconstructed questions by investigators and when the special counsel notes that he’d be taking Biden through “events that are many years ago,” and notes that he should just give his best recollection. 

He said the special counsel made a decision “to cherry pick in a very misleading way” what references made it in and what didn’t. 

Bauer, too, suggested there was political pressure on the Justice Department, which is prosecuting former President Donald Trump for refusing to turn over a trove of classified documents as well as his role in the Jan. 6 violence at the U.S. Capitol and has been excoriated by Trump and others as biased and that his prosecution represents a “two-tiered system of justice.” 

Hur is a Republican, and a former U.S. attorney under Trump. 

“So you have to wonder with those pressures impinging on the investigation from the outside knowing the attacks that Republicans have levied on the law enforcement process, did he decide we would have to ask that we reach the only legal conclusion possible and then toss in the rest of it to placate a certain political constituency?” Bauer asked. 

The Justice Department has not commented on the criticism. 

 
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Three Dead in Senegal Protests Over Delayed Presidential Election 

Posted on by SeeAF

Dakar — The death toll amid protests in Senegal over the postponement of the presidential election until December has climbed to three, as concerns grow that one of the remaining democracies in coup-hit West Africa is under threat. 

The announcement of the delay just three weeks ahead of the planned Feb. 25 vote triggered violent clashes on Friday between protesters and police in Dakar and several other cities, in a wave of unrest that many fear will spill over into protracted instability. 

President Macky Sall has said the delay is necessary because electoral disputes threatened the credibility of the poll, but some opposition lawmakers have denounced the move as an “institutional coup.” 

As the public outcry mounts, the West African regional bloc ECOWAS and foreign powers have urged Sall to put the country back on a regular electoral footing. 

The death of one young man amid reported protests in the southern city of Zinguinchor on Saturday evening took the number of those killed since Friday to three, according to Cartogra Free Senegal (CFS), a civil society platform tracking casualties. 

“We tried to save him when he arrived at hospital and unfortunately he died in intensive care,” Ndiame Diop, the manager of Ziguinchor hospital, told Reuters, saying it was not possible to determine the exact cause of death without an autopsy. 

A spokesperson for the interior ministry did not respond to a request for comment. The ministry has so far confirmed only one death, a student in the northern city of Saint-Louis on Friday. Reuters has not been able to independently confirm a reported second death: a 23-year-old merchant on the outskirts of Dakar, according to CFS. 

The U.S. Bureau of African Affairs said in an online post on Saturday that it was saddened to learn of the first two deaths. 

“We urge all parties to act in a peaceful and measured manner, and we continue to call on President Sall to restore the electoral calendar, restore confidence, and bring calm to the situation,” it said. 

What happens next is not clear.  

Opposition lawmakers and presidential candidates who reject the postponement have filed legal challenges and said they will refuse to recognize Sall as president after his original mandate expires in early April.  

The postponement bill backed by parliament included the extension of his tenure until his successor is installed after the election now reset for Dec. 15. 

“If President Macky Sall does not restore power to us on April 3, we will set up a parallel government of national unity,” opposition lawmaker Guy Marius Sagna said on the radio on Sunday. 

 
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UK’s King Charles III Attends Church for First Time Since Revealing He Has cancer

Posted on by SeeEU

London — King Charles III attended Sunday services for the first time since his cancer diagnosis, offering a cheerful wave as he walked out of the parish church that has regularly served as a place of worship for the royal family. 

Charles and Queen Camilla went to St. Mary Magdalene Church, close to Sandringham House in eastern England where the king retreated to recuperate following his first treatment for an unspecified form of cancer. The estate, some 110 miles (180 kilometers) north of London, offers the monarch a place of shelter where he can isolate from the risk of infection. 

The appearance came a day after he expressed thanks for the messages of support he has received from the public. In a statement issued late Saturday, the monarch said that such thoughts are “the greatest comfort and encouragement.” 

“It is equally heartening to hear how sharing my own diagnosis has helped promote public understanding and shine a light on the work of all those organizations which support cancer patients and their families across the U.K. and wider world,” he said in a statement. 

“My lifelong admiration for their tireless care and dedication is all the greater as a result of my own personal experience.” 

Buckingham Palace announced the diagnosis on Monday. Charles was last seen on Tuesday as he left his home at Clarence House in London after starting his treatment. 

Sandringham, the private home of the past six British monarchs, sits amid parkland, gardens and working farms. It has been owned by the royal family since 1862. 
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In Bid to Curb Immigration, France to Scrap Birthright Citizenship in Mayotte 

Posted on by SeeEU

Paris — Children of immigrants born in Mayotte, the French overseas territory situated between Madagascar and the African mainland, will no longer automatically become French citizens, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said late on Sunday.   

“It will no longer be possible to become French if one is not the child of French parents,” Darmanin told journalists upon his arrival on the island, announcing the scrapping of birthright citizenship there — a first in recent French history.   

Located close to the impoverished Comoro islands off the East African coast, the former French colony has become the center of fierce social unrest, with many residents blaming undocumented immigration for the deteriorating conditions.   

Much poorer than mainland France, Mayotte has been shaken by gang violence and social unrest for decades. The situation has recently worsened amid a water shortage.   

Since January, island residents have been staging strikes and erecting roadblocks to protest against what they say are unacceptable living conditions, paralyzing large parts of local infrastructure.   

The reform, which Darmanin said was the idea of French President Emmanuel Macron, will require a change of the constitution.   

It comes less than three weeks after France’s highest court scrapped large parts of a new immigration law designed to toughen access to welfare benefits for foreigners and curb the number of new arrivals into the country.   

Immigration is a hot-button issue in France, one of Europe’s strongholds for far right anti-immigration parties.   

Darmanin said, however, that “there is no question of doing this for other territories of the Republic.” 

 
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Trump: I Told NATO, Pay Bills or Russia Can ‘Do Whatever The Hell They Want’

Posted on by SeeEU

NEW YORK — Republican front-runner Donald Trump said Saturday that, as president, he warned NATO allies that he “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that are “delinquent” as he ramped up his attacks on foreign aid and longstanding international alliances.

Speaking at a rally in Conway, South Carolina, Trump recounted a story he has told before about an unidentified NATO member who confronted him over his threat not to defend members who fail to meet the trans-Atlantic alliance’s defense spending targets.

But this time, Trump went further, saying had told the member that he would, in fact, “encourage” Russia to do as it wishes in that case.

“‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?'” Trump recounted saying. “‘No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills.'”

NATO allies agreed in 2014, after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, to halt the spending cuts they had made after the Cold War and move toward spending 2% of their GDPs on defense by 2024.

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates responded, saying that: “Encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged – and it endangers American national security, global stability, and our economy at home.”

Trump’s comments come as Ukraine remains mired in its efforts to stave off Russia’s 2022 invasion and as Republicans in Congress have become increasingly skeptical of providing additional aid money to the country as it struggles with stalled counteroffensives and weapons shortfalls.

They also come as Trump and his team are increasingly confident he will lock up the nomination in the coming weeks following commanding victories in the first votes of the 2024 Republican nominating calendar.

Earlier Saturday, Trump called for the end of foreign aid “WITHOUT “STRINGS” ATTACHED,” arguing that the U.S. should dramatically curtail the way it provides money.

“FROM THIS POINT FORWARD, ARE YOU LISTENING U.S. SENATE(?), NO MONEY IN THE FORM OF FOREIGN AID SHOULD BE GIVEN TO ANY COUNTRY UNLESS IT IS DONE AS A LOAN, NOT JUST A GIVEAWAY,” Trump wrote on his social media network in all-caps letters.

Trump went on to say the money could be loaned “ON EXTRAORDINARILY GOOD TERMS,” with no interest and no date for repayment. But he said that, “IF THE COUNTRY WE ARE HELPING EVER TURNS AGAINST US, OR STRIKES IT RICH SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE, THE LOAN WILL BE PAID OFF AND THE MONEY RETURNED TO THE UNITED STATES.”

During his 2016 campaign, Trump alarmed Western allies by warning that the United States, under his leadership, might abandon its NATO treaty commitments and only come to the defense of countries that meet the alliance’s guidelines by committing 2 percent of their gross domestic products to military spending.

Trump, as president, eventually endorsed NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense clause, which states that an armed attack against one or more of its members shall be considered an attack against all members. But he often depicted NATO allies as leeches on the U.S. military and openly questioned the value of the military alliance that has defined American foreign policy for decades.

As of 2022, NATO reported that seven of what are now 31 NATO member countries were meeting that obligation — up from three in 2014. Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has spurred additional military spending by some NATO members.

Trump has often tried to take credit for that increase, and bragged again Saturday that, as a results of his threats, “hundreds of billions of dollars came into NATO”— even though countries do not pay NATO directly.
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