Month: March 2024

VP Harris Tours Bloodstained Building Where 2018 Parkland Massacre Happened

Posted on by SeeUS

Parkland, Florida — PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris toured on Saturday the bloodstained classroom building where the 2018 Parkland high school massacre happened, then announced a program to assist states that have laws allowing police to temporarily seize guns from people judges have found to be dangerous.

Harris saw bullet-pocked walls and floors still covered in dried blood and broken glass left behind from the Feb. 14, 2018, attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 14 students and three staff members and wounded 17.

The halls and classrooms inside the three-story structure remain strewn with shoes left behind by fleeing students and wilted Valentine’s Day flowers and balloons. Textbooks, laptop computers, snacks and papers remain on desks. She was told about each victim who died.

“Frozen in time,” Harris said repeatedly about what she saw. She was accompanied on the tour by victims’ family members, some of them pushing for more spending on school safety and others for stronger gun laws.

Harris, who leads the new White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, said there are lessons to be learned from Parkland, both for stopping school shootings before they happen and mitigating them with measures such as making sure classroom doors don’t lock from the outside as they did at Stoneman Douglas. She pointed out that shootings are a leading cause of death for children and teenagers.

“We must be willing to have the courage to say that on every level, whether you talk about changing laws or changing practices and protocols, that we must do better,” Harris said.

At Stoneman Douglas, former student Nikolas Cruz, then 19, fired about 140 shots from his AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle during his six-minute attack, moving methodically from the first floor, through the second and onto the third.

He pleaded guilty in 2021. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2022 after his jury couldn’t unanimously agree he deserved a death sentence, angering the victims’ families.

The building was preserved so his jury could tour it. It has loomed over the 3,600-student school from behind a temporary fence since the school reopened two weeks after the shooting. It is scheduled to be demolished this summer. No replacement plan has been announced.

Following Harris’ tour, she announced a $750 million grant program to provide technical assistance and training to Florida and the other 20 states that have similar “red flag laws.”

Florida’s law allows police officers, with a judge’s permission, to temporarily seize guns belonging to anyone shown to be a danger to others or themselves. The statute has been used more than 12,000 times since it was enacted six years ago in response to the Parkland shooting.

Harris also called on both Congress and states without red flag laws to adopt them. The Biden administration has called for a national red flag law.

Cruz had a long history of troubling and bizarre behavior before the shooting, including animal torture. In the weeks before the shooting, he had been reported to local law enforcement and the FBI by people fearing he was planning a mass shooting, but no action was taken. He legally purchased 10 guns in the 17 months between his 18th birthday and the massacre.

“Red flag laws are simply designed to give communities a vehicle through which they can share … information about the concern of potential danger or the crying out for help,” Harris said.

Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican who signed Florida’s red flag law as governor, issued a statement Saturday calling the Biden administration’s proposed national red flag law “radical,” saying it would be modeled on California’s statute and strip gun owners of their rights. California’s law is broader than Florida’s as it allows family members, employers and others to initiate the process, but the removal also has to be approved by a judge.

California’s law “abandons due process to more quickly and easily take constitutional rights away from law-abiding Americans. That is unacceptable,” Scott said.

Harris’ tour was the latest by elected officials and law enforcement and education leaders in recent months. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona toured it in January, and several members of Congress, mostly Democrats, have gone through since law enforcement returned custody of the building to the school district last summer. FBI Director Christopher Wray and Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle visited the building in recent days.

“It is important to bring these people through the building so they can see not only the horror that still exists there, but so that we can point to the exact things that failed,” said Tony Montalto, president of Stand With Parkland, the group that represents most of the victims’ families. His 14-year-old daughter Gina died in the shooting.

Some Stoneman Douglas families who participate in the tours, along with Harris and President Joe Biden, want the sale of AR-15s and similar guns banned, as they were from 1994 to 2004, but there isn’t sufficient support in Congress. Opponents, which include other victims’ families, argue that such a ban would violate the Second Amendment and do little to stem gun violence.

Linda Beigel Schulman said the tour showed Harris the carnage a mass shooting creates — it no longer will be an abstract concept for her. Beigel Schulman’s 35-year-old son, geography teacher Scott Beigel, was killed as he ushered students to safety in his classroom. The papers he was grading when the shooting began remain on his desk.

“She understands how important gun violence prevention is for us,” Beigel Schulman said of the vice president. “But when you go into the actual building and see what actually happened, it doesn’t matter that it is six years later. It really does something to you.”

Max Schachter, whose son Alex died in the shooting, uses the tours to persuade officials to enact school safety measures such as making doors and windows bullet-resistant. Alex, 14, died from shots fired through the window of his classroom’s door.

Schachter said while there is disagreement over gun laws, school safety brings the sides together. He pointed particularly to a fall visit by Utah officials, leading to that state enacting a $100 million plan to harden its schools.

“I couldn’t save Alex. But every time I have officials come through that building, lives are saved,” Schachter said.
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In US, Micro-Apartments Back as Need for Affordable Housing Soars

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SEATTLE — Every part of Barbara Peraza-Garcia and her family’s single-room apartment in Seattle has a double or even triple purpose.

The 17-square-meter room is filled with an air mattress where she, her partner and their children, ages 2 and 4, sleep. It’s also where they play or watch TV. At mealtimes, it becomes their dining room.

It’s a tight squeeze for the family of asylum seekers from Venezuela. But at $900 a month —more than $550 less than the average studio in Seattle — the micro-apartment with a bare-bones bathroom and shared kitchen was just within their budget and gave them a quick exit from their previous arrangement sleeping on the floor of a church.

“It’s warm. We can cook ourselves. We have a private bathroom. It’s quiet,” said Peraza-Garcia, whose family came to the U.S. to escape crime in Venezuela and so she could access vital medication to combat cysts on her kidney. “We can be here as a family now.”

Boarding houses that rented single rooms to low-income, blue-collar or temporary workers were prevalent across the U.S. in the early 1900s. Known as single room occupancy units, or SROs, they started to disappear in the postwar years amid urban renewal efforts and a focus on suburban single-family housing.

Now the concept is reappearing — with the trendy name of “micro-apartment” and aimed at a much broader array of residents — as cities buffeted by surging homelessness struggle to make housing more affordable.

“If you’re a single person and you want a low-cost place to live, that’s as cheap as you’re going to get without trying to find a subsidized apartment,” said Dan Bertolet, senior director of housing and urbanism for the non-profit research center Sightline Institute.

The Pacific Northwest is a leader in the resurgence of this form of affordable housing. Oregon last year passed a bill opening the door for micro-apartments and Washington state lawmakers this year did the same, starting to clear red tape that for years has limited construction of the tiny units, which are about a third the size of an average studio apartment.

The Washington bill, which was signed this week by Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee after receiving nearly unanimous support in the Legislature, would require most cities to allow micro-apartments in residential buildings with at least six units, according to the Department of Commerce. It takes effect in late 2025.

The legislation is an effort to counteract skyrocketing housing prices and, in the Seattle area, one of the nation’s highest rates of homelessness, as well as a critical housing shortage.

Extremely low-income renters — those below federal poverty guidelines or earning 30% of the area median income — face a shortage of 7.3 million affordable rental homes, according to a National Low Income Housing Coalition report published last week. Such households account for 11 million — or nearly one-quarter — of renters nationwide, the report said.

Rep. Mia Gregerson, who sponsored Washington’s bill, said she predicts the measure will lead to thousands of units being built in her state, providing unsubsidized affordable housing to everyone from young people getting their first apartment and elderly people downsizing to those coming out of physical or mental health treatment.

“Government can’t close that gap all by itself, it has to have for-profit, market-rate housing built all at the same time,” said Gregerson, a Democrat.

The U.S. lost hundreds of thousands of SROs in the last half of the 20th century as associations with poverty and substandard accommodation sparked restrictive zoning laws. Some cities outlawed their construction altogether — a loss some housing experts say helped contribute to the homelessness crisis.

Facing that crisis and a critical housing shortage, cities and states across the nation are now shifting their stance.

In December, as her state grappled with a massive influx of migrants, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a $50 million program aimed at repairing and renovating 500 SROs across the state. New York City lost at least 70,000 such units between the early 20th century and 2014, according to a report from New York University’s Furman Center.

But there is concern that this type of affordable housing is not an ideal fit for an especially vulnerable group — families.

There are more than 3,800 unhoused families with children in the Seattle area, among the highest in the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 2023 one-night count.

Cities need to focus on building affordable housing that also includes larger units, such as studios and one-bedroom apartments, said Marisa Zapata, a land-use planning professor at Portland State University.

“My biggest concern is that we will see them as the solution and not do right by our community members by building the housing that people want,” she said of micro-apartments.

The bill passed by Oregon lawmakers last year requires local governments to allow single room occupancy units in areas zoned for residential use. The provision took effect January 1.

Central City Concern, a Portland-based homeless services nonprofit, leases more than 1,000 SRO units — both subsidized and not — to people who are considered extremely low income. It helps people struggling to access housing due to things like eviction histories and poor credit scores.

The units have a median rent of $550 a month, making them a “vital option” for people exiting homelessness or living on fixed incomes, such as those with disabilities, said Sarah Holland, senior director of supportive housing and employment. Over 80% of tenants were formerly homeless, she said, and some have been living in their units for 30 years.

“As costs continue to escalate in Portland, it gives them the chance to stay in their home,” she said.

Cheyenne Welbourne moved into one of the nonprofit’s micro-apartments in downtown Portland last March after years of living on the streets. The room, which has a curtained-off toilet and sink, is just big enough to fit a single bed, a chair and a TV. But to him, it’s a treasured home that he’s decorated with colorful lights, potted plants and action figures. He uses the small kitchenette, which features an induction cooktop, for making the tea he loves to drink.

“All I had was just me and my backpack, and that’s it,” he said. “I was just happy to be in here and that I didn’t have to spend another winter out there.”

“I just want a home, you know? A nice home, a decent home.”

Some experts hope the Pacific Northwest will inspire more states to take similar steps.

“The alternatives are … people being in shelters, people being on the street, people being doubled, tripled, quadrupled up,” said Vicki Been, faculty director at New York University’s Furman Center and a law professor.

For Peraza-Garcia’s family in Seattle, the tight squeeze is worth it to be in the same complex as their cousins and within walking distance of grocery stores, a park and preschools. They plan to spend the next year in the micro-apartment and then move to a bigger place if they can get good-paying jobs.

“We’re happy because we’re here in a quiet place where we can be together as a family,” she said.
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Moldovan Parliament Backs Bid to Join EU, But Divisions Remain

Posted on by SeeEU

CHISINAU, MOLDOVA — Moldova’s Parliament on Thursday endorsed an appeal to press on with a drive to join the European Union, but the opposition walked out of the vote and separatists in the Transnistria region urged authorities to drop their claim to the enclave.

President Maia Sandu, who says Russia is the biggest threat to Moldova’s security, has made EU membership the cornerstone of her administration in the ex-Soviet state, which lies between Ukraine and Romania.

A vocal opponent of Russia’s war in Ukraine, she has called for a referendum on EU membership to be held this year.

After a debate coinciding with an EU summit in Brussels, Parliament adopted by a vote of 54-0 a declaration saying, “Only joining Europe can ensure the future of the country as a sovereign, neutral and full-fledged democratic state.”

It identified EU integration as “Moldova’s top priority national project.” Moldova is one of Europe’s poorest countries.

The opposition Bloc of Communists and Socialists, sympathetic to Moscow, walked out of the chamber.

In Transnistria, a sliver of land that broke away from Moldova as the Soviet Union was collapsing, self-styled President Vadim Krasnoselsky called on Moldovan authorities to recognize his territory and renounce all claims to it.

“There is no other way out,” he said on the enclave’s television. “There can be no more talk of autonomy. You must walk away from these territories.”

His region, he said, was “not separatist,” but “a normal neighbor” seeking peace and stability.

Transnistria, heavily dependent on Russia for financial support, has no international recognition, not even from Moscow.

It has remained on Moldova’s eastern border for 30 years with little turmoil, but tension has risen since Moldovan authorities imposed customs duties in January on all goods entering and leaving the region.

Elected officials last month appealed to Moscow for diplomatic measures to protect the region.

An EU summit last year gave the green light for membership talks with both Ukraine and Moldova, but no date for the start of talks has been made public, and there was no announcement on the matter at Thursday’s meeting in Brussels.

Moldova has been engaged in an escalating feud with Russia, with the Ukraine war and Transnistria as the focal points.

Moldova faces disputes with a second region in the south, Gagauzia, whose leader met Russian President Vladimir Putin this month and is linked to a fugitive pro-Russian businessman sentenced to 15 years in absentia for mass fraud.
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Experts See Central Asia Emboldened by Russia’s Struggles in Ukraine

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washington — Two years ago, as Russia invaded Ukraine’s heartland, Central Asian countries feared they would be next to feel the impact of President Vladimir Putin’s revanchist obsession.  

But as Russia has struggled on the battlefield and suffered massive losses against a determined Ukrainian foe, experts and current and former policymakers in Washington see a more confident and assertive Central Asia that is striving for unity and enjoying greater bargaining power, including with Russia, China and the United States.

Some longtime observers warn that the region may yet fall prey to the Kremlin’s ambitions. They argue that the West must understand its challenges and help expand its opportunities.

In their view, the best outcome for Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan would be to emerge from the Ukraine-Russia conflict as a more independent and consolidated region.

 

Russian threat in decline

Frederick Starr, chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute in Washington, advocates for greater political and economic integration in the region. He observes that the region’s governments have been using “China to balance Russia … and America, to balance them.”

In an interview with VOA, Starr noted that Russian chauvinists have even called for the annexation of Central Asia. “It’s as if they’re announcing to the world that whatever happens in Ukraine, we aren’t done.”

He urges the region to recognize that Putin’s savage attack on Ukraine “has demonstrated, above all, Russia’s weakness.”

“This stripped bare the mask that all those fancy parades in Red Square created, and now we realize that Russia’s military is a farce,” he said. “All it has is numbers and brutal leaders who are willing to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of Russian lives for an objective that is unattainable.”

Starr argued that countries in Central Asia should demonstrate to Russia that they live in a big world, “have friends east, west, north and south. Russia can no longer be treated as a single player on a chessboard.”

This sentiment is echoed by many in the region, who note that the things that make Central Asia dependent on Russia, such as energy, trade and labor migration, make Russia dependent on it as well.

Starr also believes younger Central Asians have a broader worldview and don’t care about Russia as much as the older elite, for whom Russia is “a kind of hangover from Soviet times.”

Better Western ties

The Atlantic Council’s John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Uzbekistan and Ukraine, says Central Asians are interested in a closer relationship with the West “because they are pretty good at geopolitics. Their neighborhood demands nothing less.”

“Given [the region’s] adjacency to China and Russia, the West needs to be far more active in Central Asia than it is,” he said in an address to foreign diplomats, U.S. officials and scholars at George Washington University in Washington. “Russia’s revisionist agenda extends to Central Asia.”

According to Herbst, the most important development in the region is that Central Asia has maintained its independence and stability since the breakup of the Soviet Union, despite internal tensions and the threat of terrorism.

“You need to find ways to make our role in Central Asia more inviting,” Herbst said, appealing to the region. “You will have friends here, who will be making the case publicly along with you and privately.”

Sanctions vs. geopolitical interests

Russian scholar Vladislav Inozemtsev, speaking at the same conference, argued that transport corridors bypassing Russia will increase the strategic importance of Central Asia at a time when the West is seeking ways to minimize Moscow’s economic options.

But Inozemtsev warned that Western sanctions on Russia can have a negative spillover effect on its Central Asia neighbors. “Russians will still find ways to evade them,” he said. “This issue disturbs Central Asian governments and prevents much more fruitful cooperation with the Europeans and Americans.”

His suggestion: “Maybe it’s better not to focus on sanctions and, sorry to say, even on the human rights issues, but fostering just geopolitical goals in the region when we are in times of war.”

 

Diminished Russian threat?

Allan Mustard, Washington’s former ambassador to Turkmenistan, emphasizes the “discreditation” of Russia as a military threat to its neighbors.

“A few years ago, I talked to some friends in Kazakhstan and asked them what the position was of Kazakh people writ large towards Russia as a security guarantor for Central Asia,” he said at the GWU forum.

“And they said, ‘We’ve never viewed Russia as a security guarantor. We have always viewed Russia as a security threat to Central Asia.’ But that threat is diminishing because we can see what even the Ukrainians can do in terms of destroying the Russian military machine,” he said.

The region has a collective capacity to expand trade, Mustard said. He foresees a bolder Central Asia in the near term, especially with the expansion of a Middle Corridor trade route via the Caspian Sea, which would reduce Russia’s leverage over the region.

Jamestown Foundation’s Margarita Assenova agrees, saying “the primary challenge” for Central Asia and its Western partners is to improve connectivity through the region. But she is optimistic about the prospects for greater collaboration among Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Russia’s war on Ukraine has strengthened Central Asia, Assenova said, “accelerating the original integration and seeking greater Western engagement.” 
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US Bolstering Philippines Amid Increasing Assertiveness by China

Posted on by SeeEA

washington — The U.S. and Philippines will for the first time venture outside Manila’s territorial waters when they begin joint annual combat drills in April, a Philippines government spokesman said Thursday.

Colonel Michael Logico said elements of the Balikatan 2024 drills would be conducted about 22 kilometers (more than 12 nautical miles) off the west coast of Palawan, an island in the archipelago nation that faces a troubled region of the South China Sea.

Chinese ships this month blocked Philippine ships near the Second Thomas Shoal, a reef about 200 kilometers (120 miles) off Palawan that both sides claim.

“The message that we want to send is that we are serious about defending our territory and we have allies,” Logico said at a news conference, according to Philippine media.

Beijing claims most of the South China Sea as its own, putting it in conflict with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, all of which border the sea. An international tribunal at The Hague has rejected China’s claim.

Blinken visit

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the Philippines this week to bolster relations between the two countries and underscore Washington’s commitment to Manila in the face of an increasingly assertive China.

Blinken on Tuesday cited China’s “repeated violations of international law and the rights of the Philippines: water cannons, blocking maneuvers, close shadowing, [and] other dangerous operations.”

China has been building up its military presence in the South China Sea by building on reefs, including the disputed Scarborough Shoal, which it effectively seized from the Philippines in 2012.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s government has defiantly sought to assert sovereignty over disputed areas by supplying troops and escorting fishing boats. He told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday that he was not trying to start a conflict but “since the threat has grown, we must do more to defend our territory.”

The Philippines announced last week that it would build a new port with U.S. funding on its northern Batanes Islands, 200 kilometers (about 124 miles) from Taiwan.

While the port is expected to be for civilian use, analysts say it could also be used for military purposes and play an important role in defense — and not only for the Philippines.

Carl Thayer, an emeritus professor of politics at Australia’s University of New South Wales School of Humanities and Social Sciences, emailed VOA: “U.S. and Filipino forces in the northern Philippines would be able to monitor and strike Chinese forces in the event a conflict over Taiwan broke out.”

Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province that must one day reunite with mainland China, by force if necessary, while the U.S. has vowed to defend Taiwan’s right to self-rule.

But the U.S. mainland is separated from the Taiwan Strait by about 11,000 kilometers (6,000 nautical miles), while mainland China is roughly 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the democratic island.

‘Positive impact’ for Taiwan

Although the U.S. has military bases that are closer to Taiwan in Hawaii, about 8,150 kilometers (4,400 nautical miles); Guam, about 2,780 kilometers (1,500 nautical miles); and Okinawa, about 740 kilometers (400 nautical miles), analysts say the closer its military assets are to Taiwan, the faster they can respond and resupply in the event of a Chinese attack.

“While the Philippines may not change the situation in the Taiwan Strait, the greater interest in the Philippines by Washington and Tokyo will have a positive impact on Taiwan’s security,” said Thomas J. Shattuck, the senior program manager at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House, in an email to VOA.

“It will increase U.S. assets in Taiwan’s south,” Shattuck said. “It will make it harder for China to dominate in the ‘southern theater’ of a possible Taiwan conflict. But again, there is more work to be done in this regard.”

Marcos last year said the U.S. military would be allowed to use four new military bases in the Philippines, in addition to five where they are already allowed, for training, building infrastructure and pre-positioning supplies, though the access would not be permanent.

Although many countries in the Indo-Pacific region receive U.S. military assistance, the Philippines receives the most.  From 2015 to 2022, Manila received more than $1.14 billion worth of aircraft, armored vehicles, small arms, equipment and training, $475 million of it in aid.

Blinken’s trip to the Philippines marks the second time a senior U.S. Cabinet official has visited the nation this month. On March 11, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced fresh investments from U.S. firms of more than $1 billion in the archipelago nation.

Despite China’s more assertive moves in the South China Sea, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Gregory Poling argues Beijing has lost momentum. Poling, who is senior fellow and director of CSIS’s Southeast Asia Program and Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, notes that since 2022, Southeast Asian nations such as the Philippines have stopped giving ground to China.

At the same time, he writes in Eurasia Review, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam have resumed development of infrastructure and oil and gas fields in the disputed region, despite China’s objections.

China’s provocative moves are one of the main topics expected to be on the agenda in April when President Joe Biden hosts a historic summit with Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
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World Food Program: Zimbabwe’s Food Insecurity Is Worsening

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The World Food Program says Zimbabwe is at the peak of its lean season with 2.7 million people across the country facing food insecurity even before effects of an ongoing drought kick in. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Mangwe, one of the most affected districts.
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US Regulators Urge Congress to Look Into Grocery Profits

Posted on by SeeUS

New York — The U.S. Federal Trade Commission recommended Thursday that policymakers look further into profits at grocery stores that remain elevated since the pandemic and promotions that consumer products makers offer retailers.

The FTC also is suing to block Kroger’s acquisition of smaller grocery store rival Albertsons, citing concerns the deal would hike prices for millions of Americans.

The FTC launched the study in 2021 when it ordered Walmart, Kroger, Procter & Gamble, grocery wholesalers and others to turn over detailed information relating to the supply chain crisis during the pandemic, which contributed to double-digit price increases on household necessities.

Big box and chain stores secured limited resources, leaving small independent grocers at a disadvantage, FTC Chairperson Lina Khan said on a public call to discuss the report. This harmed communities reliant on these smaller retailers and could have also strengthened market dominance of larger corporations, she added.

“If we end up finding that these types of practices violated any of the antitrust laws including the [Robinson-] Patman act, I’ll be very interested in making sure we take swift action,” she said without providing details.

The Robinson-Patman Act of 1936 is a U.S. antitrust law preventing large franchises and chains from engaging in price discrimination against small businesses.

Several representatives of smaller grocery operators spoke on the call saying that during the pandemic, they faced shortages of toilet paper, cleaning products and pet supplies as manufacturers prioritized their biggest clients.

“It was a true test of survival for a lot of our customers,” said Brian Patterson, head buyer at Piggly Wiggly Alabama Distributing Co.

Walmart and Kroger are among chains that have touted gaining U.S. grocery market share. Kroger’s most recent quarterly statements said it improved volume share consistently for the past five quarters. Walmart said it gained market share in “virtually every category,” citing its lower prices.

Walmart and Kroger did grow share from 2018 to 2022, but only modestly, according to Coresight Research data.

The FTC said it will pass the report onto lawmakers, “where there has been broad interest” from members of both parties.

U.S. President Joe Biden has taken aim at grocery chains this year.

“Today’s FTC report shows grocery retailers increased profits during the pandemic and have maintained or increased those margins even as their own costs have come down,” the White House said in an email to Reuters on Thursday.

In Thursday’s report, the FTC found that a measure of annual profits for food and beverage retailers “rose substantially and remains quite elevated.” The commission said revenues for grocery retailers were 6% over total costs in 2021, and 7% in the first nine months of 2023, higher than a peak of 5.6% in 2015.

“This casts doubt on assertions that rising prices at the grocery store are simply moving in lockstep with retailers’ own rising costs,” the FTC said, adding that elevated profit levels “warrant further inquiry” by both policymakers and the commission, which is tasked with protecting the public from unfair business practices.

The FTC also said trade promotions, payments by consumer goods companies to retailers for favorable product placement in stores and on e-commerce websites, “may warrant further study.”

The reduction in spending harmed traditional grocers that use a “high-low” pricing strategy with more frequent promotions, the FTC found.

Retailers that offer “everyday low pricing” with fewer promotions, like Walmart, benefited, according to the study.

Walmart did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The FTC added that the report does not make claims of illegality.

“We’re shedding light on what we’re seeing in the market, which has broader relevance to policymakers beyond law enforcement.”
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FAFSA Delays Prompt California to Extend Deadline for Financial Aid Applications

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Sacramento, California — The California Legislature on Thursday voted to give prospective college students more time to apply for two of the state’s largest financial aid programs after a glitch in the federal government’s application system threatened to block up to 100,000 people from getting help.

California had already extended the deadline for its financial aid programs from March 2 to April 2. On Thursday, the state Senate gave final approval to a bill that would extend it again until May 2. The bill now heads to Governor Gavin Newsom.

“Clearly, our students need our help,” Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes, a Democrat from Riverside who authored the bill, told lawmakers during a public hearing earlier this week.

California has multiple programs to help people pay for college. The biggest is the Cal Grant program, which gives money to people who meet certain income requirements. The state also has a Middle Class Scholarship for people with slightly higher incomes.

Students can apply for these state aid programs only if they first complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly known as FAFSA.

This year, a computer glitch prevented parents from filling out the form if they did not have a Social Security number. That meant many students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents but whose parents are not were blocked from completing the form and thus could not apply for California’s aid programs.

California has a large population of adults who are living in the country without legal permission. The California Student Aid Commission, the state agency in charge of California’s financial aid programs, estimates as many as 100,000 students could be affected by this glitch.

The U.S. Department of Education says it fixed the problem last week, but those families are now a step behind. Democrats in Congress raised alarms last month, noting that the delay could particularly hurt students in states where financial aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, including Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Oregon and Texas.

Advocates fear that the chaos of this year’s process could deter students from going to college at all, especially those for whom finances are a key part of the decision.

The computer glitch is just one part of larger problems affecting FAFSA.

The notoriously time-consuming form was overhauled in 2020 through a bipartisan bill in Congress. It promised to simplify the form, going from 100 questions to fewer than 40, and it also changed the underlying formula for student aid, promising to expand it to more low-income students.

But the update has been marred by delays, leaving families across the country in limbo as they figure out how much college will cost.

The form is typically available to fill out in October, but the Education Department didn’t have it ready until late December. Even then, the agency wasn’t ready to begin processing the forms and sending them to states and colleges, which only started to happen this month.

The problems appear to have already reduced California’s application numbers. Through March 8, the number of California students who had completed FAFSA was 43% lower than it was at the same time last year.

“The data most concerning me seems to suggest that these drops are more acute at the schools that serve low-income students or large populations of students of color,” Jake Brymner, deputy chief of policy and public affairs for the California Student Aid Commission, told lawmakers in a public hearing earlier this week.

The issue has caused problems for colleges and universities, too. The University of California and California State University systems both delayed their admissions deadlines because so many prospective students were having trouble with FAFSA.
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Oxfam Accuses Rich Corporations of ‘Grabbing’ Water From Global South

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LONDON — As the United Nations observes World Water Day on Friday, there is a growing risk of conflict over water resources as climate change takes hold, the international body said.

Meanwhile, nongovernmental aid agency Oxfam accused global corporations of “grabbing” water from poorer countries to boost profits.

Declaring this year’s theme Water for Peace, the U.N. warned that “when water is scarce or polluted, or when people have unequal or no access, tensions can rise between communities and countries.”

“More than 3 billion people worldwide depend on water that crosses national borders. Yet only 24 countries have cooperation agreements for all their shared water,” the U.N. said. “As climate change impacts increase and populations grow, there is an urgent need within and between countries to unite around protecting and conserving our most precious resource.”

In South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg, the taps have been running dry for several weeks, affecting millions of people.

On the outskirts of the city in Soweto, thousands of people have been lining up to collect water in bottles and buckets from tankers that bring in water from outside the city.

“It has been a serious challenge, a very challenging time for my age that I have to be here carrying these 20-liter buckets,” Thabisile Mchunu, an older Soweto resident, told The Associated Press on Monday. “And the sad thing is that we don’t know when our taps are going to be wet again.”

Crumbling infrastructure is partly to blame for the water shortages in Johannesburg. But scientists say worsening climate change is causing reservoirs to dry up in South Africa and many other parts of the world.

The United Nations estimates that 2.2 billion people live without safely managed drinking water.

Scientists from the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change say roughly half of the world’s population experiences severe water scarcity for at least part of the year, with poorer nations in the Global South the worst affected.

 

Water “grabbing”

In a report published Thursday, Oxfam accused major global corporations of “grabbing” vital water resources.

“The private sector is grabbing and polluting this resource at the expense of local populations in order to make profits, further increasing inequalities. Droughts exacerbated by climate change affect agriculture and therefore the economies of the countries that depend on it, contributing to increased poverty, food insecurity and health problems for the inhabitants, particularly in the Global South,” the report said.

Oxfam accuses richer countries and multinational corporations of shifting water shortages to poorer regions by importing water-intensive products such as fruit, vegetables, meat, flowers and bottled water from overseas.

The report says agriculture accounts for 70% of water withdrawals, including through irrigation systems, to support the meat industry and biofuels.

“It is part of a neocolonial logic aimed at satisfying the consumption needs of the countries of the North at the expense of the countries of the South,” Oxfam said.

Its analysis suggests the private sector is failing to reduce its impact on water resources.

Of the “350 corporations that have been analyzed through the database — which account for half of the world’s agricultural revenue — only one in four of them are declaring they are reducing water use and pollution,” Quentin Ghesquiere, an agriculture and food safety adviser at Oxfam France, told VOA.

Government regulation

Oxfam also noted that large corporations are permitted to withdraw water, even when local populations face restrictions. It highlighted the activities of the French-owned multinational food products company Danone.

“Danone, in May 2023, continued to extract water from aquifers [in France] despite the restrictions that applied to local populations, in full legality. In the same year, the company made profits of almost 900 million euros and paid out 1.2 billion euros in dividends to its shareholders,” the Oxfam report said.

In a statement to VOA, Danone said that managing water sustainably is a priority, adding that “we have accelerated our innovations and investments to reduce, on a voluntary basis, water withdrawals from our bottling site.”

“Since 2017, we have invested 30 million euros to modernize our production lines, which allowed us to reduce our withdrawals by 17% over the period 2017-2023, maintaining volumes sold,” the Danone statement said.

The Oxfam report recommends stronger regulation and calls for “ambitious funding for adaptation in developing countries and universal access to water.”
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Nations Pledge to Boost Nuclear Power to Fight Climate Change

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Paris — Representatives of 30 nations meeting in Brussels vowed to beef up nuclear energy Thursday as one solution to meet climate-fighting targets and guarantee reliable energy supplies. But the issue of nuclear power is divisive, and critics say it shouldn’t be part of the world’s approach to energy challenges.

The summit was the first of its kind, drawing leaders and delegates from the United States, Brazil, China and France, among others. The International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, co-hosted the meeting and is promoting nuclear energy as a key way to reduce skyrocketing climate emissions.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said, “The heads of government, presidents, they believe that in the current context energywise, securitywise, nuclear has a very important contribution to make.”

Over 400 nuclear plants operate in about 30 countries, with another 500 planned or under construction. But overall, nuclear represents 10% of global electricity generation. In a statement, countries attending the meeting committed to increasing nuclear power’s potential, including by building new plants.

White House climate advisor John Podesta said, “I think what this summit will do, will put a marker down … that expansion of nuclear power is critical for tackling the climate crisis that is really beginning to disturb everyone across the globe.”

European Union countries such as France, which gets about 70% of its electricity from nuclear power, believe it can help meet ambitious European climate goals.

But the EU itself is divided. Some member states, including Germany, Austria and Spain, have safety and environmental concerns about nuclear energy, including the waste it generates.

So do groups such as Greenpeace, whose activists protested the Brussels summit.

Lorelei Limousin, the climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace EU in Brussels, said, “Nuclear power is too slow to tackle the climate emergency. Nuclear energy is also very expensive, and much more expensive than renewables today. Finally nuclear power remains dangerous today — with risks to health, environment, safety.”

Supporters say those risks can be managed — and they say that for now, increasing nuclear’s share of the power mix is essential if the world is to turn around a dangerous climate trajectory.
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Partner of Russian Businessman Accused of Violating Sanctions May Also Be In Violation

Posted on by SeeUS

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Observers Concerned Over Purported Vietnamese Directive

Posted on by SeeEA

HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM — Experts and activists are voicing concern over a purported internal Vietnamese Politburo directive, which they say could worsen already deteriorating human rights and the toll on the economy caused by increased scrutiny of foreign companies. 

The 88 Project, a U.S.-based nonprofit focusing on human rights in Vietnam, disclosed the document, entitled Directive 24, which it said orders government agencies to increase media censorship, crack down on civil society, increase surveillance of Vietnamese citizens, and quell the influence of outside powers and foreign businesses operating in the country. 

The rights group published its analysis along with the English translation of the directive on March 1.

Vietnam’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, in a March 19 response to a query from VOA’s Vietnamese service, did not address the document specifically, but expressed its opposition to “false information” aimed maliciously at Vietnam, which it called interference in internal Vietnamese affairs.

The document is dated July 13, 2023, and its stated goal is to ensure “national security in the context of comprehensive and deep international integration.” 

It orders government ministries to closely monitor Vietnamese who travel and study abroad, and to stop the formation of independent political movements, labor organizations, and protests. It also states the need for heightened surveillance and awareness to prevent national security threats, including ideological shifts and cultural erosion that it asserts could be caused by closer ties with outside nations.  

Tran Anh Quan, a Ho Chi Minh City-based social activist, told VOA March 13 that he believes the directive will further degrade the rights of Vietnamese citizens.  

“Directive 24 is a springboard for the police force to use force to suppress people more strongly,” he wrote in Vietnamese via the messaging app Telegram. “The Communist Party is determined to eliminate human rights in Vietnam.”  

Zachary Abuza, Southeast Asia expert and professor at the National War College in Washington, told VOA the same day that the crackdown on civil society is not novel for the regime. But, he said, portraying foreign enterprises and the tens of thousands of Vietnamese studying abroad as a threat is a turn for Hanoi. 

While the government’s ability to closely monitor Vietnamese traveling and living abroad is limited, Abuza said he worries the increased surveillance of foreign businesses could hinder the economy. 

“Vietnam’s security and economic growth is completely dependent on internationalization,” he said. “They really, really need to be doing whatever they can to make foreign investments. … Yet they’re sending completely the wrong signal.” 

Moving toward Beijing’s treatment of enterprises 

Abuza said he sees the message in the directive as moving closer to Beijing’s treatment of foreign enterprises, which could be a hindrance to the flow of capital into Vietnam as corporations look to “de-risk” from China. 

“For them to put into writing and say these firms need to be carefully watched and managed, so that they do not foment any color revolution – to me that is something that clearly shows China’s influence. I’ve never seen that in a Vietnamese document,” he said. 

The directive orders government entities to be wary of foreign investors that “’hide in the shadows,’ take over domestic markets and businesses and occupy vital economic sectors, while holding influential positions in defense and security that adversely affects our independence, economic autonomy and political stability.” 

Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, a Vietnamese activist known by her pen name Mother Mushroom, told VOA March 14 that it is not a coincidence that Hanoi issued Directive 24 in July, roughly three months before it upgraded ties with Washington to the highest level in its diplomatic hierarchy. 

She said Hanoi sees closer ties with the United States and other countries as the best means to improve the economy but also as the potential downfall of the Communist Party.  

“Directive 24 is just to protect the communists,” she said from Texas, where she has been living since she was allowed to travel to the United States in 2018 after being jailed in Vietnam on anti-state charges. “The government is very afraid of civil society, especially when the connection between Vietnam and the U.S. changed.” 

Human rights 

Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division, told VOA in a March 13 email that implementation of the directive is well underway and is the clearest evidence to date that the Communist Party sees human rights as a threat to its hold on power.  

“The human rights and democracy activist movement has been essentially wiped out, leaving only the relatives of those imprisoned to commiserate and organize solidarity for one another, and even those actions are coming under hostile scrutiny by the state,” Robertson wrote. 

He added that individuals with no history of political activism are being arrested for complaining online about local government. 

Quynh, the activist, also stated that people in Vietnam are fearful and the government is going after people she knows who were involved in early civil society movements approximately a decade ago but have not been open critics of the government. 

“People now are more scared,” she said. “It looks like we are back to zero on the steps to democracy.”  

Despite the clampdown, Ho Chi Minh City-based Quan said the worsening environment for human rights may lead to future political movements. 

“When people are oppressed to the extreme, there will inevitably be resistance,” he said. “People may not talk about politics in the short term, but in the long term there will be many protests that the authorities cannot predict.” 

‘False and fabricated information’ 

In its statement to VOA, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson said the ministry opposes “false and fabricated information with malicious intentions aimed at Viet Nam,” which it called “an interference in Viet Nam’s internal affairs, plotting to sabotage Viet Nam’s socio-economic development and separating Viet Nam from the international community.” 

The consistent line of Vietnam and its Communist Party, the statement said, is that Vietnam “continues to proactively engage in a comprehensive and extensive international integration as a responsible member of the international community” and is committed to its international commitments, including those in trade and human rights.” 

“Taking account of the complicated developments of the world and the region, Viet Nam has issued various documents and conducted different measures to strengthen its national security, including close coordination with other countries with a view to safeguarding national security, human security, and to ensuring the peaceful and happy life of the people,” the statement said. 

VOA’s Vietnamese Service contributed to this report.
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Chinese-Built Airport in Nepal Raises Worries of Debt Trap

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A China-funded international airport in Nepal opened more than a year ago but still hasn’t received international flights. With loan repayments for the Pokhara airport due to start soon, many worry Nepal has fallen into a debt trap. Henry Wilkins reports.
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Hiroshima Statue That Survived Nuclear Explosion Stands in Manhattan 

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Following the Hollywood success of Christopher Nolan’s biopic of Robert Oppenheimer, a more obscure but no less interesting memory from the atomic age can be found in Manhattan, not too far from one of Oppenheimer’s boyhood homes. Evgeny Maslov has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Videographer: Max Avloshenko
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UN: Belarus Runs Campaign of Violence, Repression to Crush Dissent

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GENEVA — A report by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights accuses the government of Belarus of running a campaign of violence and repression to crush political dissent and maintain its grip on power.

“Considering the range of human rights violations committed against the population of real or perceived political opponents in discriminatory fashion, the office’s report describes reasonable grounds to believe that the crime against humanity of persecution may have been committed,” said Christian Salazar Volkmann, director of the field operations and technical cooperation division at the OHCHR.

The report Volkmann presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council Wednesday examines all alleged human rights violations committed in Belarus related to the run-up to the 2020 presidential elections and its aftermath.

The report is based on information and evidence from first-hand interviews with 657 people supported by more than 5,400 items, as well as 229 written submissions from victims, witnesses and nongovernmental organizations.

Volkmann said information gathered last year “substantiates the scale and patterns of the violations” identified in previous reports and finds that since May 1, 2020, Belarus has “effectively deprived people in Belarus of their ability to exercise” their civic rights.

The 2020 election of incumbent Alexander Lukashenko to a sixth term in office was decried by international monitors as “neither free nor fair.” Lukashenko denied this.

In his presentation to the council, Volkmann said that opposition parties had been barred from participating in last month’s parliamentary elections, putting into question their ability to participate in next year’s presidential elections.

He said laws adopted or amended by Belarus since 2021 have been used “to oppress and punish real or perceived opponents.”

“In the course of 2023, several prominent human rights defenders, journalists and trade unionists were sentenced to long prison terms,” he said, noting that thousands of people continue to be arbitrarily arrested and detained for “having exercised their freedom of expression and/or assembly.”

“Since 2020, thousands of Belarusians have been subjected to cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment in detention facilities across Belarus,” he said.

The report documents cases in which torture has resulted in severe injuries and instances of sexual and gender-based violence, adding that “death and rape threats were widespread.”

It describes the horrific, punitive treatment and conditions under which political prisoners are subjected in state-run penal colonies.

Authors of the report say, “Information gathered regarding the lack of adequate medical care in the penal colonies is particularly alarming,” adding that at least two people died “in the custody of Belarusian authorities in 2023 due to medical negligence” and two additional prisoners have died this year.

The U.N. human rights office found widespread arbitrary arrests of children took place in 2020 and 2021, resulting in more than 50 politically motivated criminal trials in which the children lacked protections guaranteed under international law.

“OHCHR also found instances of ill-treatment and possibly torture of children,” it said.

Volkmann told the U.N. council that Belarusian authorities have removed children in supposedly “dangerous situations” from their parents in ways that seemed more focused on “pressuring and punishing parents than safeguarding the best interest of the child.”

He said children sometimes were left without care, taken to orphanages, or “parents were forced under duress to transfer the custody of their children to a relative or friend.”

He said the campaign of violence and repression has driven an estimated 300,000 Belarusians into exile since May 2020.

“It is currently not safe for those in exile to return to Belarus,” Volkmann said. “I therefore recommend that other member states continue to facilitate access to international refugee protection.”

He called on the government of Belarus “to immediately release all individuals arbitrarily detained and sentenced on politically motivated grounds.”

To that, Belarus Ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva Larysa Belskaya indignantly responded that “there are no political prisoners in Belarus.”

“Persons serving sentences have been convicted of specific crimes, including against national security,” she said. “The Belarus lawbreakers are treated equally regardless of whether they are favorites of foreign politicians or act in their interests.”

The ambassador accused Western governments of supporting activists who “fled the country, who failed to undermine the Belarusian state through an attempt at a covert revolution and participated in illegal anti-government actions and clashes with law enforcement officers in 2020.”

“Now, they broadcast extremist calls and plans to overthrow the legitimate authorities in an armed conflict in Belarus,” she said.

“The real situation in Belarus is radically different from the false picture painted by the report of the so-called group of OHCHR experts,” she said. “The focus of the state policy of Belarus will always be the strengthening of the well-being of the people and the protection of the interest of the Belarus state.”

Volkmann ended his presentation by calling for “prompt, effective, transparent and independent investigations into all past violations of international law occurring since May 2020” and for an end to impunity and accountability for perpetrators of crimes in Belarus.
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Kenya Pauses Police Deployment to Haiti but Will Lead Multinational Force

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While some Kenyans support President William Ruto’s insistence on sending a police mission in Haiti, many others still wonder why their country wants to lead a multinational force aimed at helping quell violence and restore security given that other nations that are more powerful and better equipped have not stepped forward. For more, let’s go to VOA Nairobi Bureau Chief Mariama Diallo. (Camera and Produced by: Amos Wangua)
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US Congress Releases $1.1 Trillion Spending Package to Avert Shutdown 

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Washington — After days of delay, U.S. congressional leaders unveiled a $1.1 trillion bipartisan spending measure for defense, homeland security and other programs early on Thursday, giving lawmakers less than two days to avert a partial government shutdown.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives will vote on the sprawling package on Friday, leaving the Democratic-majority Senate only hours to pass the package of six bills that covers about two-thirds of the $1.66 trillion in discretionary government spending for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1.

“These final six bills represent a bipartisan and bicameral compromise,” the two top Senate negotiators – Patty Murray, a Democrat, and Susan Collins, a Republican – said in a statement.

“They will invest in the American people, build a stronger economy, help keep our communities safe, and strengthen our national security and global leadership.”

The Congressional Budget Office warned that U.S. deficits and debt will grow considerably over the next 30 years, forecasting that the nation’s $34.5 trillion national debt, which currently represents about 99% of GDP, could grow and rise to 166% of GDP by 2054.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he is “hopeful” Congress can avert a shutdown if Democrats and Republicans in his chamber work together.

The compressed schedule raised the risk of at least a brief partial shutdown after a Friday midnight deadline, unless Schumer can reach agreement with Senate Republicans to expedite the bill.

House Speaker Mike Johnson touted what he called a series of wins for Republicans, from higher spending for U.S. defense and border security to a cutoff of U.S. funding for the main United Nations relief agency that provides humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza.

“This FY24 appropriations legislation is a serious commitment to strengthening our national defense by moving the Pentagon toward a focus on its core mission,” Johnson said in a statement released along with the text of the legislation.

Democrats said they blocked some Republican cuts and policy measures and touted funds aimed at lowering childcare costs, supporting small businesses and fighting the flow of the opioid fentanyl.

“We defeated outlandish cuts that would have been a gut punch for American families and our economy – and we fought off scores of extreme policies that would have restricted Americans’ fundamental freedoms, hurt consumers while giving giant corporations an unfair advantage, and turned back the clock on historic climate action,” said Murray, the Democratic chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Two weeks ago, Congress narrowly avoided a shutdown that would have affected agricultural, transportation and environmental programs.

The text unveiled on Thursday fills in the details of an agreement in principle between Johnson and Schumer, which Democratic President Joe Biden has pledged to sign into law.

With a slim 219-213 House Republican majority, Johnson will have to rely on Democratic votes to get the spending bill to the Senate.

Many House Republicans are still expected to oppose the legislation, including hardliners who want steeper spending cuts.

Besides the departments of Homeland Security and Defense, the bill would fund agencies including the State Department and the Internal Revenue Service as it girds for its April 15 taxpayer filing deadline.
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Australia Signs Security Accord with Britain  

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Sydney — Australia and the United Kingdom signed a new defense and security cooperation agreement Thursday that deepens the strategic relationship between the two nations, makes it easier for their defense forces to operate together in each other’s countries, and boosts a fledgling nuclear-powered submarine program with the United States.

Australia has said the new security and defense treaty updates its longstanding relationship with Britain “to meet contemporary challenges.”

Australia Defense Minister Richard Marles said in a statement that as “the world becomes more complex and uncertain, we must modernize our most important relationships.”

The new accord signed Thursday builds on the 2021 AUKUS alliance, which is designed to allow Australia to build a new multibillion-dollar fleet of nuclear-powered submarines with help from the United States and Britain.

Marles later told reporters in Canberra that a far-reaching pact with Britain was fundamental to Australia’s national security.

“It does reflect a relationship that has become much more strategic, a relationship which has a much bigger national security dimension,” he said. “To that end, the U.K. has a much greater presence in the Indo-Pacific than we have seen in a very long time. We also spoke today about AUKUS, which is, perhaps, at the heart of the contemporary strategic relationship between our two countries.”

Britain’s defense minister, Grant Shapps, is in Australia for the annual Australia-U.K. Ministerial (AUKMIN) meetings, which were first held in 2006. Officials said bilateral talks would also include support for Ukraine, peace in the Middle East, gender-based violence in the Pacific, climate change and trade.

The defense treaty signed Thursday includes provisions to make it easier for Australian and British forces to work together in each other’s countries, much like the joint training of Ukrainian troops in Britain. There will also be closer collaboration on undersea warfare, intelligence and military exercises.

Shapps told a news conference in Canberra that the treaty would enhance global efforts to maintain peace.

“We stand shoulder-to-shoulder in all of these many, many different ways, and the thing which has struck me most in my first few hours with you here today is the extent to which distance is absolutely no object to us at all because we stand united in our view of the world and what needs to be done and we are proactive nations that are prepared to stand up and make sure that we do maintain the world order,” he said.

The announcement of the new defense accord between Canberra and London comes a day after Australia hosted a visit by China’s most senior diplomat, the foreign minister Wang Yi.

Analysts have said that China’s increasing assertiveness is a key motivation behind the trilateral AUKUS agreement, but China has accused Australia, Britain and the United States of a “Cold War mentality,” saying the alliance was embarking on a “path of error and danger.”

Thursday, the Canberra government has also announced a new multi-million-dollar deal to send army vehicles to Germany. In one of the biggest defense export deals in Australian history, 100 Boxer armored vehicles will be sent to the German army.
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Wildlife Conservation, Traditional Medicine Collide in Eswatini

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Manzini, Eswatini — Traditional medicine, or “muti,” is an important part of Eswatini’s culture. However, an increasing demand for muti has placed some of the southern African kingdom’s animal species at risk of extinction. That’s something conservationists and molecular biologists want to change.

Molecular biologist Zamekile Bhembe, who works for the USAID-funded EWild Laboratory at the University of Eswatini, is fighting poachers and trying to get them convicted for their crimes.

She said poaching for traditional medicinal purposes is a leading cause of biodiversity decline, and she wants stronger regulations to protect wildlife.

“Every time you see biodiversity declines, there will be some sort of poaching involved,” she said. “As a country, we cannot deny that we are using these resources as our traditional medicine. It’s just that we need a way of regulating.”

For generations, the people of Eswatini have held traditional beliefs and values close to their hearts. This is reflected in the fact that more than 80% of the population still consults traditional healers, or “witchdoctors,” for advice and healing.

These healers use a wide range of plant and animal species to create traditional medicine, drawing on knowledge passed down through generations. However, excessive hunting has endangered the local populations of pangolins, crocodiles, vultures and owls, leading to calls for more sustainable practices.

Makhanya Makhanya, president of the Witchdoctors Association, is a widely renowned traditional healing practitioner in his own right. He said the role of traditional healers needs to be protected.

Such healers, he said, have served Eswatini for generations, providing healing and support to those in need. But he said current laws do not reflect the reality of their work. He wants to see regulations that recognize the traditional healers’ role in society and allow them to continue their work.

Patrick Maduna, a South African citizen, said he travels from neighboring South Africa to Eswatini to seek traditional medicinal solutions. His preference for traditional healing shows the complex relationship between modern and traditional medicine in Eswatini.

“I came all the way from South Africa to Swaziland for traditional attention,” he said. “I have been using the same traditional doctor since 2006, I have been coming to the same place. For me to come and get traditional attention, for me, it’s like therapy. I have never, ever gone to the hospital.”

Maduna said if there were laws in Eswatini to limit the poaching of animals for traditional medicine, he believes the so-called witchdoctors would comply with the rules.
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South Africa’s ANC Pushes to Keep Zuma’s Party Out of Elections

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Johannesburg — South Africa’s governing party has gone to court to try stop a newly created rival party from contesting May elections.

National elections on May 29 are widely expected to be the most fiercely contested ever, with surveys suggesting the African National Congress party will win less than 50 percent of the vote for the first time since the advent of democracy in 1994.

Now, a new opposition party named uMkhonto weSizwe, or MK for short, has infuriated the ANC by naming itself after the ANC’s disbanded armed wing, which was formed by Nelson Mandela and fought against apartheid.

The fact that former president Jacob Zuma, an ANC stalwart, has thrown his weight behind the rival party has only added insult to injury, and the ANC has suspended him.

On Monday, the ANC went to the electoral court arguing the MK party did not meet the necessary criteria when it registered with the electoral commission late last year.

ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula addressed media outside court on Monday, saying the ANC is also taking legal action to try and prevent Zuma from using the storied uMkhonto weSizwe name.

“We are challenging him in two levels in terms of this formation. You must understand this is the beginning,” Mbalula said. “Here today at the electoral court we are challenging him in terms of deregistration of this party.”

Mbalula said the ANC was also pursuing a copyright infringement case against the MK party over the name.

While Zuma was forced to resign as president in 2018 amid corruption scandals, and is currently mired in several court cases, he remains very popular with his fellow ethnic Zulus in KwaZulu-Natal province.

When in July 2021 he was briefly jailed for contempt of court, South Africa saw the worst violence in its post-apartheid history, with more than 300 killed in looting and rioting.

A poll this month by a local research group, the Brenthurst Foundation, showed the ANC getting below 40 percent and the MK party winning 13 percent of the vote.

“Does this mean that South Africa’s going to experience a violent election because it’s more contested? Well that remains to be seen,” Brenthurst Foundation Director Greg Mills said. “It’s undoubtedly going to be very heated. Especially in KwaZulu-Natal province where the MK party…has around one quarter of the vote.”

Some members of the MK party, like the party’s youth leader and Visvin Reddy, a Zuma ally, have threatened violence if they are barred from competing in elections.

“This country will be turned into civil war, the day that MK is not allowed to campaign, and be on the ballot paper. No one will vote, we will make sure of it,” Reddy said at an MK rally earlier this month.

After Monday’s arguments from MK and ANC lawyers, the Electoral Court reserved judgment until a later date. 

An MK spokesman did not reply to multiple requests for comment from VOA.
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South Korea Will Take Final Steps to Suspend Striking Doctors’ Licenses

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SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s government will take final steps to suspend the licenses of striking junior doctors next week as they refuse to end their weekslong walkouts that have burdened the country’s medical services, officials said Thursday.

More than 90% of the country’s 13,000 medical interns and residents have been on strike for about a month to protest the government’s plan to sharply increase medical school admissions. Their strikes have caused hundreds of canceled surgeries and other treatments at hospitals.

Officials say it is urgent to have more doctors because South Korea has a rapidly aging population, and its doctor-to-population ratio is one of the lowest in the developed world. But doctors say schools can’t handle an abrupt, steep increase in students, and that it would ultimately undermine the country’s medical services.

The government has been taking a series of administrative steps required to suspend their licenses after they missed a government-set, February 29 deadline to return to work.

The steps include sending officials to formally confirm the absences of strikers, informing them of possible license suspensions and giving them chances to respond.

Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo told a briefing Thursday that the government is expected to complete those steps for some of the striking doctors next week and will send them notices about its final decision to suspend their licenses.

Park earlier said that under South Korea’s medical law, the striking doctors could face at a minimum three-month suspensions and even indictments by prosecutors for refusing the government’s back-to-work order.

He urged the striking doctors to return to work immediately, suggesting those who end their strikes could receive softer punishments.

“They should return as soon as possible not only for patients but also for their future careers. This kind of exhaustive walkout from hospitals must not continue any longer,” Park said. “As we’ve said many times, we won’t treat those who return swiftly as equally as those who return late.”

It’s unclear whether and how many striking doctors would return to their hospitals at the last minute. According to Park, none of the strikers who were informed of their possible license suspension has responded.

Senior doctors at major university hospitals recently decided to submit resignations next week in support of the junior doctors. Still, most of them will likely continue to report to work. If they walk off the job, that would hurt South Korea’s medical services severely.

Two senior doctors, who lead an emergency doctors’ committee for the walkouts, were recently given government notices that their licenses would be suspended for three months for allegedly inciting the junior doctors’ walkouts.

The striking junior doctors account for less than 10% of South Korea’s 140,000 doctors. But in some major hospitals, they represent about 30%-40% of the doctors, assisting senior doctors during surgeries and dealing with inpatients while training.

The government aims to increase the country’s medical school enrollment cap by 2,000 starting next year, from the current cap of 3,058 that has been unchanged since 2006.

Wednesday, the government announced detailed plans on how to allocate those additional 2,000 admission seats to universities, a sign that it won’t back down its plan.

Officials say more doctors are required to address a long-standing shortage of physicians in rural areas and in essential but low-paying specialties. But doctors say newly recruited students would also try to work in the capital region and in high-paying fields like plastic surgery and dermatology. They say the government plan would also result in doctors performing unnecessary treatments due to increased competition.

Surveys show that a majority of South Koreans support the government’s push to create more doctors, with critics suspecting that doctors, one of the highest-paid professions in South Korea, worry about lower incomes due to the supply of more doctors.
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