Month: May 2024

Jury chosen for US Senator Menendez’s corruption trial

Posted on by SeeUS

NEW YORK — A jury was chosen on Wednesday to determine whether U.S. Senator Robert Menendez broke the law in what federal prosecutors have called a yearslong bribery scheme to benefit the governments of Egypt and Qatar, as well as himself. 

Opening statements in the trial of New Jersey’s senior senator are expected to begin later in the day before U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein in Manhattan. The trial could last into early July. 

Twelve jurors and six alternates were chosen, including an investment banker, a commercial litigator, a retired economist, a doctor and multiple therapists. Jury selection took about 2½, and more than 130 prospective jurors were excused. 

Menendez, 70, faces 16 criminal charges including bribery, fraud, acting as a foreign agent and obstruction. 

He is being tried alongside New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes. The senator’s wife, Nadine Menendez, 57, is scheduled to be tried on July 8, with the delay resulting from what her lawyers called a serious medical condition. 

All the defendants have pleaded not guilty. The bribery trial is the senator’s second. His first ended in 2017 in a mistrial after jurors deadlocked. 

Prosecutors are expected to detail what they consider a complex and sordid array of corruption that lasted from 2018 to 2023. 

The Menendezes are accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from Hana, Daibes and insurance broker Jose Uribe, in exchange for the senator’s providing political favors and aid to Egypt and Qatar.  

Prosecutors have said the senator promised to help Egypt obtain arms sales and other aid, helped Hana obtain a lucrative monopoly on certifying that meat exports to Egypt conformed to Islamic law, and tried to help Daibes secure millions of dollars from a Qatari investment fund. 

Menendez, a Democrat, also was accused of trying to interfere in a federal criminal case against Daibes in New Jersey and in state criminal cases involving two of Uribe’s associates. 

Prosecutors have said FBI agents found more than $480,000 of cash in the Menendezes’ home, much stashed in clothing, closets and a safe. 

Bribes also included more than $100,000 in gold bars and a $60,000 Mercedes-Benz convertible, according to prosecutors. 

Uribe pleaded guilty in March to bribery and fraud, and he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. 

While Nadine Menendez is not yet on trial, her husband’s lawyers have suggested his defense might include an effort to blame her for withholding information and making him believe his activities were lawful. 

Robert Menendez became a senator in 2006. Before being indicted, he would have been favored in his Democratic-leaning state to win a fourth full Senate term in November. 

But any reelection bid now would be a long shot, reflecting recent polls of voters that show overwhelming disapproval of Menendez’s job performance. 

Menendez has suggested that he would try if acquitted to run as an independent. Only 9% of voters polled in March by Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill said they would prefer him to another Democrat or a Republican. 

The senator has resisted calls to resign made from across the political spectrum but gave up leadership of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee after his indictment last September. 

Stein admonished jurors to ignore media coverage of the trial. “If something comes up,” the judge said, “switch off.” 
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US will send an unofficial delegation as Taiwan’s president is sworn in

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WASHINGTON — The White House will send an unofficial delegation to Taiwan this weekend for the inauguration of the island’s democratically elected president, the Biden administration announced Wednesday, in a move that is certain to upset China but unlikely to draw excessive responses from Beijing as the two countries try to stabilize relations.

A senior White House official said the move is in line with longstanding U.S. practice to send the delegation — which includes two former senior officials and a scholar — to the inauguration ceremony Monday. Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party will take office, succeeding Tsai Ing-wen of the same party.

Beijing, which sees Taiwan as part of Chinese territory and vows to seize the island by force if necessary to achieve unification, sees Lai as a supporter of Taiwan’s independence and has long opposed any official contact between Washington and Taipei.

“In what ways the U.S. deals with the new Taiwan authorities on May 20 and afterwards will affect (the) cross-Strait situation and also the China-U.S. relations in the future,” Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said Tuesday before the announcement, referring to the Taiwan Strait.

“So we urge the U.S. side to act on President Biden’s commitment of not supporting Taiwan independence,” he said.

The U.S. delegation will be in Taipei “to represent the American people,” the White House official told reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the trip before it was announced. The official called Taiwan “a model for democracy not only in the region but also globally.”

Despite an absence of formal relations with Taiwan, the U.S. is the island’s strongest ally and is obligated under a 1979 law to help Taiwan protect itself from invasion.

It’s unclear how Beijing would respond to an unofficial U.S. delegation at the Taiwanese inauguration, but “Beijing will be the provocateur should it choose to respond with additional military pressure or coercion,” the U.S. official said, adding that the administration is not predicting how China would respond.

Beijing has repeatedly warned Washington not to meddle with Taiwan’s affairs, which it says are a core interest for China because it is a matter of sovereignty and territorial integrity. Beijing sees Washington’s support for Taiwan as provocative.

The U.S. insists any differences be resolved peacefully and opposes any unilateral changes by either side to the status quo. “We do not support Taiwan independence,” the administration official said. “We support cross-Strait dialogue.”

Taiwan has topped the agenda in U.S.-China relations, which have soured over issues ranging from trade, cybersecurity and human rights to spying. The Biden administration, in its competition with China, has engaged in “intense diplomacy” aimed at preventing tensions from spiraling out of control.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have recently visited China in the administration’s latest effort to keep communications open and minimize misunderstanding.

Shortly after Lai was elected in January, President Joe Biden sent an unofficial delegation to Taipei to meet Lai, drawing protests from Beijing. Members of Congress also have traveled to Taiwan to meet the president-elect. Plans are underway for a congressional delegation to visit Taiwan shortly after the inauguration.

Beijing reiterated its claim over Taiwan immediately after Lai was elected and said “the basic fact that Taiwan is part of China will not change.” Days later, Nauru, a tiny Pacific nation, severed its diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which now is recognized by 12 governments, including the Vatican.

Since then, Beijing has criticized a U.S. destroyer’s passage through the Taiwan Strait. The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said the USS Halsey “conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit on May 8 through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.”

Navy Senior Capt. Li Xi, speaking for China’s Eastern Theater Command, accused the U.S. of having “publicly hyped” the passage of the ship and said the command “organized naval and air forces to monitor” the ship’s transit.

Meanwhile, in a push to avoid Taiwan’s global recognition, Beijing said this week that it would not agree to Taiwan’s participation in this year’s World Health Assembly, an annual meeting by the World Health Organization that could boost Taiwan’s visibility on the world stage.

“China’s Taiwan region, unless given approval by the central government, has no basis, reason or right to participate in the World Health Assembly,” said Wang Wenbin, speaking for the Chinese foreign ministry.

Wang also said Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party, which came into power in 2016, has been “hellbent on the separatist stance” of Taiwan’s independence and that Beijing has “sufficient reason and a solid legal basis” to bar Taiwan from the global organization.

Here’s the bipartisan delegation that the White House is sending to Taiwan this weekend:

— Laura Rosenberger, chair of the American Institute in Taiwan, a nonprofit, private corporation established under a 1979 law to manage America’s unofficial relations with Taiwan.

— Brian Deese, a former director of the National Economic Council in the Biden administration.

— Richard Armitage, a former deputy secretary of state under President George W. Bush.

— Richard Bush, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who previously served as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan.
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Old Hollywood glamour sizzles at National Portrait Gallery exhibit

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He captured the most famous faces in 1930s and early ’40s cinema — Garbo, Crawford, Bogart and Gable. Now the work of George Hurrell, one of Hollywood’s greatest portrait photographers, is on display at Washington’s National Portrait Gallery. For VOA News, Cristina Caicedo Smit has the story. Videographer: Hakim Shammo; Video editor: Cristina Caicedo Smit
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Nigerian lawmakers, activists divided over drug abuse penalties

Posted on by SeeAF

Abuja — Human rights activists in Nigeria are criticizing a new bid put forward by Nigerian lawmakers to punish drug trafficking with the death penalty. 

The proposed measure is part of authorities’ efforts to escalate a crackdown on drug abuse and trafficking.

The law, if passed, would allow judges to issue the death sentence to people convicted of producing, supplying or selling narcotics.  Currently, the maximum sentence is life in prison.

The Nigerian Senate adopted the bill on Thursday, despite opposition by some lawmakers who raised concerns about the possibility of wrongly sentencing and executing an innocent person.

Human rights group Amnesty International also criticized the new measure. Aminu Hayatu is a researcher for the human rights group.

“It’s a regressive legislative attempt by the Nigerian lawmakers. Once someone’s life has ended, they have lost the opportunity to live to tell the truth. We also need to look at the history of our prosecutions over time. There have been quite a number of mistakes. In Nigeria, Amnesty International has had a persistent call against [the] death penalty. And apart from that, the worldwide campaign against that is actually in line with the promotion of human rights,” said Hayatu.

But not every voice is against the bill. Supporters say the law could prove to be a more effective deterrent compared to a life sentence.  

Ibrahim Abdullahi is the founder of Muslim Media Watch Group, one of the organizations supporting the bill.

“It seems as if the punishment as contained in the law that we have presently [has] not served as deterrent enough. Luckily, over 20 countries across the whole world made [the] death penalty as the punishment for drug trafficking. So, if Nigeria follows suit, it’s not too much. So, I see it as a very good step to serve as [a] deterrent to peddlers of drugs,” he said.

The Nigerian Senate and House of Representatives must approve the amendment before it can be sent to the president to sign into law.  

The country is seeing an increasing trend of drug abuse and has in recent years gone from being a transit country to a hub of the drug trade.

Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency says over 14 million Nigerians use illegal drugs.  The majority use locally-grown cannabis, but many others use cocaine, heroin, or amphetamine-type stimulants.  

The drug trade is often fueled by lack of legitimate economic opportunities.

Abdullahi said besides adding the death penalty, corruption should also be addressed.

“You can’t fight drug addiction without fighting corruption. Now that this law is about to be promulgated, more stringent laws should be made to fight corruption in Nigeria so that officers who are guilty of taking bribes to conceal crimes or not to prosecute diligently will also be dealt with seriously. So, as we fight drug trafficking, we should fight the attendant corruption,” he said.

More than 3,000 Nigerians are on death row for various offenses — the highest number in the world. Rights activists have been campaigning to change that and compel authorities to abolish the death penalty.

But they say proposing the death penalty for more offenses only makes matters worse. 
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French police hunt killers behind prison van ambush 

Posted on by SeeEU

Caen, France — French police Wednesday were hunting for a group of gunmen who killed two prison officers in an attack at a motorway toll booth that freed a convict linked to gangland drug killings.

The killings and dramatic getaway by the perpetrators have shocked France, with authorities under pressure to catch those responsible, who all remain at large.

“We have put a lot of resources into finding not only the person who escaped”, but also “the gang that released him under such despicable circumstances,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told the RTL broadcaster.

“We are putting in considerable resources, we are making a lot of progress,” he added.

On Tuesday, more than 450 police officers and gendarmes were mobilized just for the search in the northern department of Eure where the attack took place, he said.

‘We will be uncompromising’

Two prison officers were killed in the attack and three others wounded, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said late on Tuesday.

One of the injured men was fighting for his life in hospital and two more were receiving critical care, she said.

The incident took place late on Tuesday morning at a road toll in Incarville in the Eure region of northern France.

The inmate was being transported back to his prison in the town of Evreux after he was questioned by a judge in the regional center of Rouen in Normandy.

The prosecutor said the prison van was rammed head-on by a stolen Peugeot vehicle as it went through the toll crossing.

But the van and another vehicle in the prison convoy were also followed by an Audi.

Gunman emerged from the two cars and shot at both prison vehicles.

“We will be uncompromising,” President Emmanuel Macron said on X, describing the attack as a “shock.”

French television channels broadcast footage of the attack taken by surveillance cameras at the toll, showing the Peugeot colliding head on with the prison van.

In the video, several gunmen dressed in black emerge from both attack vehicles. A firefight ensues and one individual appears to be guided away from the van by the gunmen.

A vehicle believed to have been used by the attackers was later found as a burned-out wreck at a different location.

‘Never have imagined ‘

The prison officers who died, both men, were the first to be killed in the line of duty since 1992, according to Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti.

One of them was married and had twin children while the other “left a wife who is five months pregnant,” he said.

Prison officer unions announced a day of minimum service on Wednesday and asked for urgent measures to improve the safety of staff.

Dupond-Moretti said he would meet union representatives on Wednesday.

“We are in mourning,” Vanessa Lefaivre, of the FO union at the Fleury-Merogis prison outside Paris told AFP.

“We would never have imagined that prison staff would be killed like this.”

‘Kills more than terrorism’

Prosecutor Beccuau named the inmate as Mohamed Amra, born in 1994, saying that last week he had been convicted of aggravated robbery and charged in a case of abduction leading to death.

But a source close to the case said that Amra was suspected of involvement in drug trafficking and of ordering gangland killings.

Another source said he is suspected of being at the head of a criminal network. Some media said he had the nickname “La Mouche” (the fly).

His lawyer Hugues Vigier said Amra had already made an escape attempt at the weekend by sawing the bars of his cell and said he was shocked by the “inexcusable” and “insane” violence.

“This does not correspond to the impression that I had of him,” the lawyer told BFMTV.

The incident came on the same day as the French Senate published a damning report warning that government measures had been unable to prevent the flourishing of the narcotics industry in France.

“Narco-banditry kills many people, much more than terrorism,” said Darmanin, also pointing to the responsibility of drug users.

“One cannot at the same time cry for the widows and orphans of the Eure toll booth attack and then smoke a joint… this is called schizophrenia.”

Law and order is a major issue in French politics ahead of next month’s European elections and the prison van ambush sparked fierce reactions from politicians, especially the far right.

“It is real savagery that hits France every day,” said Jordan Bardella, the top candidate for the far-right National Rally (RN), which is leading opinion polls for the elections.
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New Zealand researchers say artificial intelligence could enhance surgery

Posted on by SeeEA

SYDNEY — Researchers in New Zealand say that artificial intelligence, or AI, can help solve problems for patients and doctors.  

A new study from the University of Auckland says that an emerging area is the use of AI during operations using so-called “computer vision.”

The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, says that artificial intelligence has the potential to identify abnormalities during operations and to unburden overloaded hospitals by enhancing the monitoring of patients to help them recover after surgery at home.

The New Zealand research details how AI “tools are rapidly maturing for medical applications.”  It asserts that “medicine is entering an exciting phase of digital innovation.”

The New Zealand team is investigating computer vision, which describes a machine’s understanding of videos and images. 

 

Dr. Chris Varghese, a doctoral researcher in the Department of Surgery at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland, led the AI research team.

He told VOA the technology has great potential.

“The use of AI in surgery is a really emerging field. We are seeing a lot of exciting research looking at what we call computer vision, where AI is trying to learn what surgeons see, what the surgical instruments look like, what the different organs look like, and the potential there is to identify abnormal anatomy or what the safest approach to an operation might be using virtual reality and augmented reality to plan ahead of surgeries, which could be really useful in cutting out cancers and things like that.”

Varghese said doctors in New Zealand are already using AI to help sort through patient backlogs.

 

“We are using automated algorithms to triage really long waiting lists,” he said. “So, getting people prioritized and into clinics ahead of time, based on need, so the right patients are seen at the right time.”

The researchers said there are limitations to the use of artificial intelligence because of concerns about data privacy and ethics.

The report concludes that “numerous apprehensions remain with regard to the integration of AI into surgical practice, with many clinicians perceiving limited scope in a field dominated by experiential” technology.

The study also says that “autonomous robotic surgeons…. is the most distant of the realizable goals of surgical AI systems.”
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Administration sending $1 billion more in weapons to Israel, sources say

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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has told key lawmakers it is sending a new package of more than $1 billion in arms and ammunition to Israel, three congressional aides said Tuesday.

It’s the first arms shipment to Israel to be announced by the administration since it put another arms transfer — consisting of 3,500 bombs — on hold this month. The administration has said it paused that earlier transfer to keep Israel from using the bombs in its growing offensive in the crowded southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The White House has come under criticism from both sides of the political spectrum in the U.S. over its military support for Israel’s now seven-month war against Hamas in Gaza. Some of President Joe Biden’s fellow Democrats have pushed him to limit transfers of offensive weapons to Israel to pressure the U.S. ally to do more to protect Palestinian civilians. Many Republicans condemn any lessening of military backing to Israel.

The package being sent includes about $700 million for tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds, the congressional aides said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an arms transfer that has not yet been made public.

There was no immediate indication when the arms would be sent. It’s not clear if this shipment is part of the long-delayed foreign aid package that Congress passed and Biden signed last month, a tranche from existing arms sale or a new sale.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the plans to move the package.

House Republicans were planning this week to advance a bill to mandate the delivery of offensive weaponry for Israel. Following Biden’s move to put a pause on bomb shipments last week, Republicans have been swift in their condemnation, arguing it represents the abandonment of the closest U.S. ally in the Middle East.

The White House said Tuesday that Biden would veto the bill if it were to pass Congress. The bill also has practically no chance in the Democratic-controlled Senate. But House Democrats are somewhat divided on the issue, and roughly two dozen have signed onto a letter to the Biden administration saying they were “deeply concerned about the message” sent by pausing the bomb shipment.

In addition to the written veto threat, the White House has been in touch with various lawmakers and congressional aides about the legislation, according to an administration official.

“We strongly, strongly oppose attempts to constrain the President’s ability to deploy U.S. security assistance consistent with U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said this week, adding that the administration plans to spend “every last cent” appropriated by Congress in the national security supplemental package that was signed into law by Biden last month.
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Republicans advance Senate candidates in West Virginia, Maryland

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. — West Virginia Governor Jim Justice and former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan won Republican Senate nominations on Tuesday as voters across neighboring states with antithetical politics decided contests with big implications for the Senate majority fight this fall.

At the same time, Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican rival Donald Trump tried to project strength in low-stakes presidential primaries. Further down the ballot, two congressional candidates on opposite sides of the 2021 Capitol attack serve as a stark reminder that the nation remains deeply divided over the deadly insurrection.

Three states hosted statewide primary elections on Tuesday — Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia — as Republicans and Democrats pick their nominees for a slate of fall elections. None were more consequential than Senate primaries in deep-blue Maryland and deep-red West Virginia, where Republicans are eying opportunities that could flip control of Congress’ upper chamber for at least two years.

Maryland

In Maryland, Hogan claimed the Republican Senate nomination, giving Republicans a legitimate chance at picking up a Senate seat in the deep-blue state for the first time in more than four decades.

Hogan overcame his years-long criticism of Trump, a position that put him at odds with many Republican primary voters but will undoubtedly help him in the general election this fall. Maryland voters gave Biden a 33-point victory over Trump four years ago.

On the Democratic side, Representative David Trone has been locked in a contentious — and expensive — battle with Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.

Trone, the co-founder of the Total Wine & More national liquor store chain, has put more than $61 million of his own money into the race. That’s just shy of the national record for self-funding a Senate campaign, with much of it going to a months-long TV ad blitz. The three-term congressman says he’s better positioned to beat Hogan in November as a progressive Democrat not beholden to special interests.

Alsobrooks has been endorsed by many of the state’s top officials, including Governor Wes Moore, Senator Chris Van Hollen, Representative Steny Hoyer and a long list of state lawmakers. She has campaigned on growing economic opportunity, investing in education and protecting abortion rights.

West Virginia

Justice won his primary against U.S. Representative Alex Mooney in the race to replace Senator Joe Manchin. With Manchin gone, the seat is almost guaranteed to turn red come November.

Justice, a former billionaire with a folksy personality, is wildly popular in the state. He also earned Trump’s endorsement. A former Democrat, Justice switched to the Republican Party in 2017, announcing the change at a Trump rally.

Mooney had tried to win over conservatives by labeling Justice as someone who would support Democratic policies. Justice did support Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law, saying West Virginia couldn’t afford to turn away the money offered in the bill.

West Virginia is also deciding its candidates for governor. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, the Republican nominee in the 2018 Senate race against Manchin, is running for the Republican nomination. He’s up against former state Representative Moore Capito, whose mother is Senator Shelley Moore Capito.

Presidential primary

Biden and Trump have already amassed enough delegates to claim the presidential nominations at their respective national conventions this summer. Yet voters on both sides hope to register a significant protest vote Tuesday that will demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the Biden-Trump rematch.

Both Biden and Trump won their primaries in West Virginia and Maryland.

Still, Maryland progressives especially unhappy with the Biden administration’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas had encouraged voters to select “uncommitted to any presidential candidate” instead of Biden. There was no uncommitted option in West Virginia or Nebraska.

Everett Bellamy, a Democrat who voted early in Annapolis, said he voted “uncommitted” instead of Biden as a protest against the killing of women and children and noncombatants in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Trump’s Republican critics cannot choose “uncommitted,” but they can choose his former Republican rival Nikki Haley, who will appear on the ballot in Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia despite formally suspending her campaign more than two months ago.

Derek Faux, an independent voter from Charleston, West Virginia, said he supported Haley, and in other Republican races, he said he voted for the candidates he believed were least like Trump.

Other key races

In Nebraska, Republican Senators Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts both face nominal opposition in their primaries, one of the rare occasions when both senators in a state are on the ballot at the same time. And in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, Republican U.S. Representative Don Bacon faces a challenge from his right flank.

In North Carolina, voters finalized their pick of the Trump-endorsed Brad Knott in what had become a one-person Republican primary in the state’s 13th Congressional District.
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Blinken reassures Ukrainians help is on the way

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has taken an unannounced trip to Ukraine to deliver what he called a strong message of reassurance, as Ukrainian forces face fierce attacks by Russia’s military in the east and await new weapons shipments from allies. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
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Seoul’s decision to attend Putin inauguration leaves door open for diplomatic relations

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Washington —  In a move that contrasts with the United States, South Korea had its ambassador in Moscow attend Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration, seemingly leaving its options open for maintaining diplomatic relations with Russia amid Moscow’s deepening ties with Pyongyang.

Seoul said it based its decision for Ambassador Lee Do-hoon to attend Putin’s inauguration “after considering all circumstances surrounding South Korean-Russian bilateral relations.” 

A South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson made the remark to VOA’s Korean Service on Friday.

The U.S. and most European Union countries boycotted Putin’s inauguration held May 7 at the Grand Kremlin Palace.

He was reelected in March for his fifth term in office as Russia’s war in Ukraine raged on for more than two years since its invasion in 2022. Moscow has turned to Pyongyang to replenish its stockpile of arms to fight Ukraine.

“The U.S. directed our embassy not to attend the inauguration in protest of Russia’s war against Ukraine,” a State Department spokesperson said Thursday in an email sent to VOA’s Korean Service.

Japan also did not send a representative to the ceremony. Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kobayashi Maki said during a news briefing held in Tokyo the day after the inauguration that its decision was “based upon comprehensive consideration of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.”

VOA contacted the Russian Embassy in Seoul for comment on Lee’s attendance. Its spokesperson, Mira Dzhamalidinova, emailed that it has “no comments for VOA.”

 

Robert Rapson, who served as charge d’affaires and deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul from 2018 to 2021, said, “Ambassador Lee’s attendance at Putin’s inauguration was a small but symbolically significant step by Seoul to signal to Moscow its interest in improving, or at least more effectively managing, deteriorating bilateral relations.”

He continued, “It put [South] Korea clearly out of a public messaging step with the U.S. and its like-minded partners,” and demonstrated “adjustments to its ‘signature value-based’ foreign policy.”

Relations between South Korea and Russia have declined as military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang deepened since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Russia in September.

In April, South Korea sanctioned two Russian vessels involved in delivering military supplies from North Korea to Russia. In response, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called Seoul’s move “an unfriendly step” that “will affect South Korea-Russia relations in a negative way.”  [[ https://www.voanews.com/a/us-pushes-back-at-russia-s-protest-over-south-korean-sanctions/7563881.html ]] 

 

“Washington was likely displeased with South Korea’s decision to send a representative to Putin’s inauguration,” said Dan DePetris, a fellow at Defense Priorities, a Washington-based think tank.

“This is a subtle, low-cost way for the Yoon government [of South Korea] to signal to Moscow that differences over Ukraine and North Korea notwithstanding, it’s not going to mimic the U.S. policy of diplomatic isolation” toward Russia, he continued.

DePetris added that Seoul likely allowed its representative to attend Putin’s inauguration “precisely because North Korea-Russia bilateral ties have strengthened over the last two years” and wants to “keep all options on the table.”

Pyongyang-Moscow ties have expanded to include several visits to Russia by North Korean delegations recently. On Tuesday, North Korea sent a science and technology delegation to Russia to attend a meeting on trade, economy and science to be held in Moscow, according to North Korea’s state-run KCNA.

Also, passenger train services between the two countries resumed since they were suspended after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap, citing Oleg Kozhemyako, the governor of Russia’s northeastern region of Primorsky Krai, bordering North Korea.

Robert Manning, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center’s Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy Project, said, “Moscow’s new partnership with North Korea may have been a factor” that prompted Seoul to make its representation at Putin’s inauguration.

He continued, however, “I doubt Seoul has illusions about its ability to restrain Russia’s ties with Pyongyang” but is “perhaps focused on maintaining economic ties” with Moscow.

South Korea’s exports to Russia totaled $6.33 billion in 2022, while its imports from Russia amounted to $12.8 billion in the same year, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, an online platform for data collection and distribution. South Korea’s investment in Russia reached $4.16 billion in the same year, according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry.  
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Defiance, grief after detained Thai royal reform protester dies on hunger strike

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Bangkok — Defiance and grief poured out Tuesday after a 28-year-old democracy activist in pretrial detention for allegedly defaming Thailand’s powerful monarchy died from heart failure after a two-month hunger strike.

Netiporn Sanesangkhom, better known by her nickname “Bung,” was a prominent youth leader of pro-democracy group Thaluwang, which emerged during anti-government protests in 2020-22 and was strident in its calls for reform of the monarchy, an institution seen as untouchable before those rallies rocked the country.

She was detained and denied bail in January on charges including royal defamation after she was accused of conducting two public polls on the monarchy as protests raged across Thailand, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.

She spent nearly four months in detention awaiting trial, entering a hunger strike for the last two months of that period, her lawyers said.

The Corrections Department released a statement saying she went into cardiac arrest Tuesday morning and “wasn’t responsive to the treatment, which led her to die peacefully at 11:22 a.m.” It promised a thorough autopsy.

Candlelit memorials were held in Bangkok and the northern cities of Chiang Mai and Lampang on Tuesday night as a stunned democracy movement digested the news of the young woman’s death.

Outside the Criminal Court in Bangkok several dozen mourners gathered around a large candle memorial in the shape of Bung’s name.

“Nobody should die because of the unjust Thai justice system,” 19-year-old Noppasin Treelayapewat told VOA, noting he was a minor some two and a half years ago when he was charged with violating Section 112, or royal defamation.

“Today, I believe many can see that someone has died because of Section 112 of the criminal code,” said Noppasin, who faces up to 15 years if convicted.

U.S. Ambassador to Thailand Robert F. Godec was among several Western envoys to swiftly express their condolences over the activist’s passing, saying in a post on X he was “saddened by the tragic death of Bung,” highlighting the diplomatic questions likely to face the government in Bangkok over coming days.

Irene Khan, U.N. Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Opinion and Expression, added her voice to the mounting outcry.

“Saddened & distressed at death of detained political activist Bung Thaluwang,” Khan said in a post on X. She also urged Thailand to “abolish lese majeste & detention/prosecution for exercising” freedom of expression.

Royal defamation carries up to 15 years in jail for each conviction.

It has been used against 270 mainly young pro-democracy activists who rocked Thailand with massive rallies calling for systemic reforms of the country’s economy, politics and — most controversially — the role of the monarchy in one of Asia’s least equal countries.

Many of them have been denied bail automatically by the courts, as the establishment ties up key protest leaders in legal cases.

There are believed to be at least two other women activists on hunger strikes while in detention for charges including royal defamation.

“Her [Bung’s] death is a shocking reminder that Thai authorities are denying activists their right to temporary release on bail and using detention to silence the peaceful expression of dissent,” Amnesty International Thailand said in a statement.

Reform and division

Reform of the royal defamation law is now a clear dividing line between many young Thais who voted in the millions for the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) and older conservatives, many of whom revere the monarchy and the status quo.

The monarchy is backed up by business tycoons, politicians and Thailand’s army, which has carried out 13 coups in under a century.

MFP stunned the establishment by winning an election a year ago with a radical reform agenda, including reform of the 112 law.

But MFP was blocked from forming a government by the conservative Senate.

Now, over the coming weeks the MFP faces a court ruling that may see it dissolved for its campaign pledge to reform the law.

In its place, and leading the government, is a coalition of conservatives patched together by the poll runners-up Pheu Thai party, founded by billionaire ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

The ruling coalition vowed not to touch the royal defamation law. Experts say that was part of a pact with the royalist establishment to help it elbow aside the MFP in exchange for a royal pardon for Thaksin, who returned to Thailand last year after a 15-year self-exile to serve a reduced sentence for corruption convictions but did not sleep one night in jail before being released on parole.

Pheu Thai’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, a real estate mogul and Shinawatra ally, last September told the United Nations General Assembly in New York that Thailand was ready to join the Human Rights Council as Southeast Asia’s candidate for 2025-2027, reaffirming his government’s “sincere commitment to the advancement of human rights at home and abroad.”

But free speech advocates say Bung’s death while in pretrial detention is an example of why Thailand is not ready to join the global rights forum.

“We will continue campaigning for our demands to be met and one of them is that Thailand should not be allowed to stand for election to the U.N. Human Rights Council,” a tearful Kittitach Sriamrung, a friend of Bung’s, told reporters.

The issue is likely to be awkward for Srettha’s government, as the 112 law comes back under scrutiny just as he seeks to drive through his government’s economic plans and put distance between his administration and the political troubles caused by last year’s divisive election.

New rounds of protests may also be possible in Thailand’s messy politics.

“Bung died, but her quest to see the change hasn’t. … we will continue our work to see it through for her,” pro-democracy leader Panusaya ‘Rung’ Sithijirawattanakul, who gave the first monarchy reform speech in 2020 and also faces royal defamation charges, said in a video post on social media.

Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse.
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US charity helps Kenyan communities build resilience to climate change

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The U.N. environmental agency says Africa is the lowest contributor of global greenhouse emissions yet remains the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. A U.S. charity called GiveDirectly is helping some African communities build resilience. Juma Majanga reports from Baringo, Kenya.
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Iran accuses France of ‘interfering’ over detained nationals

Posted on by SeeEU

tehran, iran — Iran Tuesday condemned as “interfering” a French Foreign Ministry statement accusing it of “state hostage-taking” and “blackmail” in the detention of four French nationals.

“We strongly condemn such unprofessional, interfering and inappropriate positions while resorting to false references,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani told state news agency IRNA.

“The people mentioned in the statement of the French Foreign Ministry were arrested based on solid evidence and witnesses, and the French government is well aware of their crimes.”

Teacher Cecile Kohler and her partner, Jacques Paris, were detained in Iran in May 2022. They are accused of seeking to stir up labor unrest, accusations their families vehemently deny.

“France condemns this policy of state hostage-taking and this constant blackmail by the Iranian authorities,” the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement on May 7, calling for the couple’s release.

Kanani called on the French “to avoid resorting to such statements and using words outside of diplomatic decency, which have negative consequences on relations between the two countries.”

Kohler and Paris both made televised confessions after their arrests that France described as “forced.”

Two other French citizens are held by Iran: a man identified only by his first name, Olivier, and Louis Arnaud, a banking consultant who was sentenced to five years in jail on national security charges last year.

The four are among at least a dozen European passport holders in Iranian custody, some of them dual nationals.
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New TB vaccine being tested in South Africa holds hope for millions

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A groundbreaking clinical trial is underway in South Africa, marking a pivotal moment in the fight against tuberculosis. The new vaccine could become the first to help prevent pulmonary TB, the most common form of the disease, in adolescents and adults. It would be the first new TB vaccine in more than a century. Zaheer Cassim has the story.
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International court reassures Uganda LRA victims on reparations

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Kampala — An official of the International Criminal Court has promised victims of Uganda’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army that the court will provide reparations that were promised after the conviction of a top LRA leader. However, the Tribunal Trust Fund does not have enough money to make the payments, and now some victims worry other world conflicts are drawing down donor funds.

ICC Registrar Osvaldo Zavala Giler, speaking to the media Tuesday in Uganda, assured victims of the violent, long-running LRA rebellion that the court would do as much as possible to ensure victims get their reparations.

In February, ICC judges ordered $56 million in reparations to recognize the harm suffered by 50,000 victims of war crimes for which Dominic Ongwen has been convicted. Those include murder, rape, forced marriage, and the recruitment of child soldiers.

Giler’s commitment comes despite Ongwen’s appeal of his conviction.  Giler said while the appeal is still pending, the ICC will continue efforts to raise funds to pay the reparations and comply with the court order. He also indicated not all victims would receive payments at the same time.

“And that will depend on the fundraising efforts of the trust fund to do this. I am confident that there is enough interest in the international donor-based community to support the effort of the trust fund in trying to achieve its goals,” said Giler.

Speaking to VOA before meeting the ICC registrar, Bishop Nelson Onono-Onweng, a community leader from Gulu district, said what he is hearing from the ICC is worrying.

Bishop Onono said the promised $795 per person allocation for the 50,000 victims is too little, yet the ICC has no money.

“So, if it comes now it will be great. But, we are told they are still raising the money. Fundraising today as you know with the war in the world. I don’t know. But, personally I am worried. Because the international community is now overwhelmed with the needs in the world to support the suffering people,” he said.

Peter Labeja, a journalist from Gulu district, lost his father during the 20-year rebellion. He was also abducted but was lucky to escape.   

Labeja told VOA victims still have questions on how the money will be shared.

“Who is going to take the money? Is it the head of the family taking the money or the entire group in the household taking the money? And, we were quick to calculate. We said this is about three-million shillings in Uganda. What can three-million shillings do? It can’t even send a child to the university for two semesters,” he said.

The community remains hopeful that the communal reparation will be used to build schools and health facilities and improve roads.

Victims will have to wait until September, not for the money, but for the ICC to prepare the implementation plan now being developed.

Dominic Ongwen is serving his 25-year prison sentence in Norway. The LRA fought the Ugandan government for 20 years resulting in the deaths of about 100,000 people.

Meanwhile, 19 years after an arrest warrant was issued for LRA leader Joseph Kony, the ICC pre-trial chamber has set October 15 to hold a hearing confirming charges against him. But according to ICC Mofficials, Kony qualifies as a person who cannot be found so no confirmation hearing can be held.
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New NATO member Sweden hosts alliance military exercise

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The NATO Swift Response exercise began earlier this month in Sweden, where around 800 paratroopers from the United States, Spain, Hungary, and Italy are training together to deter any potential aggression. It is the first such exercise on Swedish soil since the country joined NATO in March. VOA’s Eastern Europe Chief Myroslava Gongadze reports from the training ground in Sweden. Video editor: Daniil Batushchak
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Judge rejects Hunter Biden’s bid to delay his June trial on federal gun charges

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WILMINGTON, Delaware — Hunter Biden’s federal gun case will go to trial next month, a judge said Tuesday, denying a bid by lawyers for the president’s son to delay the prosecution. 

U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika rejected Hunter Biden’s request to push the trial until September, which the defense said was necessary to give the defense time to line up witnesses and go through evidence handed over by prosecutors. 

President Joe Biden’s son is accused of lying about his drug use in October 2018 on a form to buy a gun that he kept for about 11 days. 

Hunter Biden, who has pleaded not guilty, has acknowledged struggling with an addiction to crack cocaine during that period in 2018, but his lawyers have said he didn’t break the law. 

His attorneys have argued that prosecutors bowed to pressure by Republicans, who claimed the Democratic president’s son was initially given a sweetheart deal, and that he was indicted because of political pressure. 

But the judge overseeing the case last month rejected his claim that the prosecution is politically motivated along with other efforts to dismiss the case. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week said the case could move forward to trial. 

Hunter Biden was supposed to plead guilty last year to misdemeanor tax charges and would have avoided prosecution on the gun charges had he stayed out of trouble for two years. It was the culmination of a yearslong investigation by federal prosecutors into the business dealings of the president’s son, and the agreement would have dispensed with criminal proceedings and spared the Bidens weeks of headlines as the 2024 election loomed. 

But the deal broke down after the judge who was supposed to sign off on the agreement instead raised a series of questions about it. 

Hunter Biden was indicted on three gun firearms charges in Delaware and was charged separately in California, where he lives, with tax crimes. 

He’s charged in the Delaware case with two counts of making false statements, first for checking a box falsely saying he was not addicted to drugs and second for giving it to the shop for their federally required records. A third count alleges he possessed the gun for about 11 days despite knowing he was a drug user. 

In California, Hunter Biden is charged with three felonies and six misdemeanors over at least $1.4 million in taxes he owed between 2016 and 2019. Prosecutors have accused him of spending millions of dollars on an “extravagant lifestyle” instead of paying his taxes. The back taxes have since been paid.
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A growing number of Chinese Indonesians are winning political offices  

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Jakarta   — This October, 45-year-old Kevin Wu will serve in the Jakarta House of Regional Representatives for the first time, becoming part of a minority of ethnic Chinese elected officials in the Indonesian legislative body. Wu has been a staunch advocate for Chinese-Indonesian rights since 2008 and helped to establish a Buddhist house of worship in the predominantly Muslim country. Now, he is an entrepreneur who advocates for small businesses.

“If we witness injustice, we have two choices — to accept our fate or to strive and hope for change. I chose to do the latter,” he said.

Wu said he was inspired to fight for Chinese-Indonesian rights by late President Abdurrahman Wahid, who was known for his support for ethnic and religious tolerance.

In February, nearly 205 million Indonesians were eligible to cast their votes in the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections. According to the last census in 2010, 1.2% of Indonesia’s total population is of Chinese ethnicity, at over 2.8 million people.

Johanes Herlijanto, chairman of the Indonesian Sinology Forum, a group that seeks to promote Indonesia-China relations, said that in this election he saw more names of Chinese-Indonesian politicians vying for the 500 seats in the national Parliament as well as in the District Representative Council, Provincial Council and Local Council than there were during the parliamentary elections in 2019.

Herlijanto said that political activism among the Chinese-Indonesian community strengthened in the last 26 years, since the Jakarta riots in May 1998 that saw many Chinese Indonesians being persecuted. He said he has seen more Chinese Indonesians serving in public offices ranging from regent, mayoral and legislative.

Herlijanto explained that there have been organizations that provided political education to Chinese Indonesians since the late 1990s.

“This allowed Chinese Indonesians who previously were uncomfortable, to be involved in politics, to now being elected and actively improving public welfare as politicians,” he said.

For decades, under President Suharto, many Chinese Indonesians faced discrimination, persecution and social restrictions, such as being banned from using their Chinese names, practicing their traditional beliefs, showcasing Chinese culture and having their full citizenship recognized.

It was only after former President Wahid came into power in October 1999 that government discrimination against Chinese Indonesians was abolished with the issuance of Presidential Decree No. 6, which protected minority rights. Wahid – commonly known as “Gus Dur” – was the former head of Indonesia’s largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, and had Chinese, Arab and Javanese ancestry.

Wu joined the Indonesian Solidarity Party, or PSI, in 2024, founded by a Chinese Indonesian TV news anchor-turned-politician, and said he was attracted to the party’s dynamic “start-up”-like work environment and idealistic approach to politics. Wu is also a member of the Young Entrepreneurs Association and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“I am keen to support industries that open up more job opportunities, offer quality human resources development programs and ease the application process for business permits and industries,” he told VOA.

Daniel Johan, 52, a Buddhist, has been a legislator for the past decade and will serve his third five-year term for the Indonesian Renaissance Party, PKB, in October 2024. He said Gus Dur, and another PKB leader, Muhaimin Iskandar, both inspired him.

Johan is active in the Chinese Clans Association of Indonesia and shared with VOA that it took months of working in the community for his constituents, who are mostly Muslims in West Kalimantan, to trust and vote for a Chinese Indonesian politician.

“This term, I will be working on issues regarding food security, food independence and how to improve the management of natural resources and better monitor the implementation of the Mineral and Coal Production Law,” he said.

Although political activism and involvement is on the rise in the Chinese Indonesian community, politicians and leaders of Chinese associations in Indonesia are still aware that stereotypes remain, especially in rural areas.

Herlijanto said that the campaign teams for all three presidential candidates in the recent elections had Chinese Indonesian supporters, “so taking on divisive identity politics is not a prudent political strategy.”

However, the tides could turn against ethnic and religious minorities if divisive identity politics were to be used again in future elections. Herlijanto noted the case of former Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, a Chinese-Christian governor known as “Ahok,” who was sentenced to two years in prison in 2017 under Indonesia’s blasphemy law, based on claims he insulted the Quran during his campaign for reelection. Ahok denied wrongdoing.

“Although radicalism based on religious beliefs, or a narrowed interpretation of nationalism, has faded in recent years, its re-emergence is possible and is an issue Chinese Indonesians are cautious about. That’s why it’s important for Chinese Indonesians to be inclusive, strive for equality and welfare and show that we stand for all Indonesians,” said Herlijanto.

I Wayan Suparmin, head of the Indonesian Chinese Association in Jakarta, said Chinese Indonesians must strive to be more inclusive in their surroundings and better understand that in a community everyone’s lives are truly intertwined. A notion that Johan agrees with, “Moving forward, Chinese-Indonesian politicians need to be more sincere, humble and avoid being deceitful or scandalous. The majority of people can sense politicians’ sincerity and intentions.”
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Harvard students end protest as school agrees to discuss Gaza conflict

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CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts — Protesters against the war between Israel and Hamas were voluntarily taking down their tents in Harvard Yard on Tuesday after university officials agreed to discuss their questions about the endowment, bringing a peaceful end to the kinds of demonstrations that were broken up by police on other campuses. 

The student protest group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine said in a statement that the encampment “outlasted its utility with respect to our demands.” Meanwhile, Harvard University interim President Alan Garber agreed to pursue a meeting between protesters and university officials regarding the students’ questions. 

Students at many college campuses this spring set up similar encampments, calling for their schools to cut ties with Israel and businesses that support it. 

The Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages. Palestinian militants still hold about 100 captives, and Israel’s military has killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. 

Harvard said its president and the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Hopi Hoekstra, will meet with the protesters to discuss the conflict in the Middle East. 

The protesters said they worked out an agreement to meet with university officials, including the Harvard Management Company, which oversees the world’s largest academic endowment, valued at about $50 billion. 

The protesters’ statement said the students will set an agenda that includes discussions on disclosure, divestment, reinvestment and the creation of a Center for Palestine Studies. The students also said that Harvard has offered to retract suspensions of more than 20 students and student workers and back down on disciplinary measures faced by 60 more. 

“Since its establishment three weeks ago, the encampment has both broadened and deepened Palestine solidarity organizing on campus,” a spokesperson for the protesters said. “It has moved the needle on disclosure and divestment at Harvard.” 
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