Month: May 2024

US defense secretary meeting with Pacific allies in Hawaii 

Posted on by SeeEA

pentagon — U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was in Hawaii on Thursday to meet with leaders from Australia, Japan and the Philippines amid increasing concerns about Chinese military aggression in the Pacific.

Defense officials said the talks would continue the allies’ “historic progress” on cooperation in their defense industries and military activities, including air and missile defense.

Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, called the quadrilateral group an “anti-aggression coalition” whose efforts protect “many countries around the world who depend on the ability for commercial vessels to sail freely and unimpeded through the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.”

“The single biggest reason for what we’re witnessing in Hawaii this week is the increasingly aggressive behavior of the People’s Republic of China,” Bowman told VOA.

 “I think Japan, Australia and the Philippines understand that investments in deterrence are far less costly than dealing with a war that could have been prevented, and they understand that deterrence will be much stronger and more effective if they work with the United States and they work with each other,” he said.

Austin was to meet with Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles on Thursday following Australia’s commitment last month to increase defense spending by 20% over the next decade.

Austin also planned to meet with Japanese Minister of Defense Minoru Kihara. During an April state visit in Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced deepening military cooperation, including creation of a trilateral air defense architecture with Australia and trilateral exercises with the United Kingdom.

Trilateral session

The U.S., Japan and Australia were to convene a trilateral meeting following the bilateral talks, where a senior defense official said they were expected to sign a new trilateral agreement on strategic research and development.

Austin then planned to host a quadrilateral meeting with Filipino Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro and their Japanese and Australian counterparts.  It will be the second such meeting of the four countries’ defense ministers.

A senior defense official, speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, said talks would  focus on deterring actors from activities that could “undermine peace and stability in the region, whether it’s in East Asia, the East China Sea, South China Sea or the Pacific Islands.”

Tensions have risen between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, with China’s coast guard using water cannons last month to threaten Filipino fishing ships. China has also used collision and ramming tactics, undersea barriers and a military-grade laser to stop Philippine resupply and patrol missions.

Bowman said he expected Beijing to complain about the talks as an attempt to form a coalition like NATO in the Pacific.

“I think as a general rule, the People’s Republic of China wants to deal with everything in the region in a bilateral way that allows Beijing to take advantage of power asymmetries. … The bully on the playground … doesn’t want to deal with four or five kids at the same time,” he said.

Last month, Austin spoke with Chinese Admiral Dong Jun in the first dialogue between the two countries’ defense chiefs in nearly 17 months.

The Pentagon said Austin and his Chinese counterpart discussed “defense relations” and global security issues ranging from Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine to recent provocations from North Korea. A Pentagon press release said Austin stressed the importance of “respect for high seas freedom of navigation as guaranteed under international law, especially in the South China Sea.” 

Beijing has asserted its desire to control access to the South China Sea and bring Taiwan under its control, by force if necessary.

Biden has said U.S. troops will defend the democratically run island from attack.
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2 Nigerian military officers to face court martial over drone strike that killed civilians

Posted on by SeeAF

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Dozens arrested after London protest blocking removal of asylum seekers

Posted on by SeeEU

LONDON — British police arrested 45 people on Thursday after a violent protest in London against the transfer of asylum seekers form a hotel to a barge off southern England.

Dozens of protesters outside the hotel in Peckham, southeast London, attempted to stop a bus carrying the asylum seekers from leaving, reportedly deflating its tires and obstructing the vehicle by surrounding it, London’s Metropolitan Police said.

Tackling illegal migration is one of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s top priorities, and to bring down the high costs of accommodating migrants in hotels while their asylum claims are processed, the government has been trying to use barges and former military sites.

Critics, however, have called the Bibby Stockholm barge — which is docked at Portland Port in Dorset and can house up to 500 men — inhumane and compared it to a prison ship.

Several police officers were assaulted during the protest in Peckham, but none were seriously hurt, police said.

“We will always respect the right to peaceful protest, but when officers are assaulted and obstructed from their duty, then we can and will take decisive action,” Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said.

Arrests were made for offenses that included obstruction of the highway, obstructing police and assault on police.

“Housing migrants in hotels costs the British taxpayer millions of pounds every day,” Home Secretary James Cleverly said on social media platform X, alongside a video of the protest.

“We will not allow this small group of students, posing for social media, to deter us from doing what is right for the British public,” he said.
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Lawmakers in Serbia elect new government with pro-Russia ministers sanctioned by US

Posted on by SeeEU

BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbian lawmakers on Thursday voted into office a new government that reinstated two pro-Russia officials who are sanctioned by the United States, reflecting persistent close ties with Moscow despite the Balkan nation’s proclaimed bid to join the European Union. 

Prime Minister Milos Vucevic’s government got backing in a 152-61 vote in the 250-member parliament. The remaining 37 lawmakers were absent. 

The government includes former intelligence chief Aleksandar Vulin, who has made several visits to Russia in recent months, as one of several vice-premiers, along with Nenad Popovic, another Russia supporter who has faced U.S. sanctions. 

The foreign minister in the previous government, Ivica Dacic, also a pro-Russia politician, will be in charge of the Interior Ministry in the new Cabinet. 

The vote followed a heated two-day debate. President Aleksandar Vucic’s ruling nationalist conservative Serbian Progressive Party holds a comfortable majority after an election in December that fueled political tensions because of reports of widespread irregularities. 

The increasingly authoritarian Vucic has refused to join Western sanctions against Moscow over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, though Serbia has condemned the aggression. 

Vucevic, the new prime minister, reiterated that Belgrade doesn’t intend to impose sanctions on Russia and “cannot and will not give up” the friendship with Russia. Integration into the EU remains a “strategic goal,” Vucevic said. 

“Best possible” relations with the U.S. also are in Serbia’s interest, Vucevic added. “I firmly believe that our relations can once again be on a high level.” 

Security analyst and a Belgrade university professor Filip Ejdus described the new government’s composition as a “spin” designed to send a message both to the West and Russia, and to voters at home. 

“It sends a message to the EU that they should not push Belgrade too much over democracy, rule of law, or Kosovo if they want to keep Serbia in its orbit,” Ejdus said. “At the same time, it signals to Moscow a readiness to strengthen the strategic partnership with Russia.” 

The U.S. imposed sanctions on Vulin in July, accusing him of involvement in illegal arms shipments, drug trafficking and misuse of public office. 

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said that Vulin used his public authority to help a U.S.-sanctioned Serbian arms dealer move illegal arms shipments across Serbia’s borders. Vulin is also accused of involvement in a drug-trafficking ring, according to U.S. authorities. 

Vulin, who in the past had served as both the army and police chief, has recently received two medals of honor from Russia, one from the Federal Security Service, or FSB, and the other awarded to him by Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Popovic, a businessman and a former government minister, has “used his Russia-based businesses to enrich himself and gain close connections with Kremlin senior leaders,” the U.S. Treasury said last November in a statement. 

The U.S. sanctions against individuals and companies in the Balkans are designed to counter attempts to undermine peace and stability in the volatile region and Russia’s “malign” influence. 

The West has stepped up efforts to lure the troubled region into its fold, fearing that Russia could stir unrest to avert attention from the war in Ukraine. The Balkans went through multiple wars in the 1990s, and tensions still persist. 

Serbia’s falling democracy record has pushed the country away from EU integration, explained Ejdus. Reports of election fraud at the December 17 vote triggered street protests and clashes. 

“Vucic is still pretending to be on the EU path because it’s beneficial for Serbia’s economy, and the EU tolerates his authoritarian tendencies out of fear of instability that could be caused in its backyard if Belgrade was lost to Russia and China,” Ejdus said. 
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Covering the Capitol: Regional reporters play watchdog role for audiences back home

Posted on by SeeUS

The number of Washington-based journalists covering the Capitol for local news outlets is dwindling. As the beat shrinks, so, too, does the ability of these regional reporters to hold elected officials to account, media advocates say. VOA’s Cristina Caicedo Smit and Liam Scott have the story, narrated by Caicedo Smit.
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Kenya floods death toll rises to 188 as heavy rains persist 

Posted on by SeeAF

Nairobi — The number of people who have lost their lives in devastating floods in Kenya since March has risen to 188, with dozens still missing, the interior ministry said on Thursday.

Torrential rains in Kenya and other countries in East Africa have caused deadly havoc, with floods and landslides forcing people from their homes, destroying roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

“As a result, the country has regrettably recorded 188 fatalities due to severe weather conditions,” the ministry said in a statement.

It added that 125 people had been reported injured and 90 people were currently missing, while 165,000 have been displaced.

On Wednesday, nearly 100 tourists were among people marooned after a river overflowed in Kenya’s famed Maasai Mara wildlife reserve following a heavy downpour.

The ministry said rescuers had successfully evacuated 90 people by ground and air in the Masai Mara, where lodges and safari camps were flooded after the River Talek overflowed.

The ministry said rescuers had successfully evacuated 90 people by ground and air in the Masai Mara, where lodges and safari camps were flooded after the River Talek overflowed.

The area is currently inaccessible with bridges washed away, Narok West sub-county administrator Stephen Nakola told AFP, adding that about 50 camps in the reserve have been affected, putting more than 500 locals temporarily out of work.

There are no fatalities but communities living around the area have been forced to move away.

“Accessing the Mara is now a nightmare and the people stuck there are really worried, they don’t have an exit route,” Nakola said, adding that waterborne diseases were likely to emerge.

“I am worried that the situation could get worse because the rains are still on.”

In the deadliest single incident in Kenya, dozens of villagers were killed when a dam burst on Monday near Mai Mahiu in the Rift Valley, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) north of the capital, Nairobi.

The interior ministry said 52 bodies had been recovered and 51 people were still missing after the dam disaster.

Kenyan President William Ruto on Tuesday announced he was deploying the military to evacuate everyone living in flood-prone areas.

Opposition politicians and lobby groups have accused Ruto’s government of being unprepared and slow to respond to the crisis despite weather warnings, demanding that it declare the floods a national disaster.

“Kenya’s government has a human rights obligation to prevent foreseeable harm from climate change and extreme weather events and to protect people when a disaster strikes,” Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

The HRW statement said events such as flooding are “particularly threatening for marginalized and at-risk populations, including older people, people with disabilities, people in poverty, and rural populations”.

The United States and Britain have issued travel warnings for Kenya, urging their nationals to be cautious amid the extreme weather.

The downpours have also left a trail of destruction across other East African countries, including neighboring Tanzania, where at least 155 people have been killed in flooding and landslides.

The heavy seasonal rains have been amplified by the El Nino weather pattern — a naturally occurring climate phenomenon typically associated with increased heat worldwide, leading to drought in some parts of the world and heavy rains elsewhere.

The disaster in Kenya and other nations has sparked an outpouring of condolences and pledges of solidarity with the affected families from all over the world.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “deeply distressed” to hear of the loss of lives from heavy flooding in Burundi, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania and other parts of East Africa, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

“The [U.N.] secretary-general is extremely concerned about the impacts of El Nino-triggered extreme weather, which risk further devastating communities and undermining their livelihoods.”
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Australian students join pro-Palestine campus rallies   

Posted on by SeeEA

Sydney — Pro-Palestinian students at four Australian campuses say they will permanently occupy university land until their demands for divestment are met. The protests have been called by activists in solidarity with their counterparts in the United States.

Australian students say they see themselves “part of this global wave” of pro-Palestinian activism. The protests have, so far, been peaceful, although some Jewish students say they feel intimidated by the rallies.

The Australian Union of Jewish Students in New South Wales state told local media that antisemitism was forcing many of its members to avoid going to classes and many were “scared” to go to campus. In response, protest organizers said that antisemitism had no place in their campaign. A university spokesperson said the protest camp was being carefully monitored and that threatening chants or slogans would not be tolerated.

At the University of Sydney, there have been verbal disputes between pro-Palestinian students and others who oppose their actions.

Student activists at four Australian campuses want their universities to divest from all activities that support Israel, as well as a cease-fire and the end of Australian government ties to Israel.

All four universities told local media they supported the rights of students and staff to protest peacefully in accordance with Australian law.

Antony Loewenstein is a Jewish Australian and author of the best-selling book The Palestine Laboratory.

He told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the students support their counterparts in the United States.

“There were a lot of Jewish students and others,” he said. “There were Muslims, there were Christians. What they are protesting, yes, is partly what is happening in Gaza, of course, in solidarity with students across the U.S. but also the connections between Sydney University and frankly many Australian universities with defense companies.”

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have continued at universities across the U.S. and there have been counterprotests by activists supporting Israel.

Police officers have massed in Los Angeles on the campus of the University of California. telling pro-Palestinian protesters to leave or face arrest.

Last month, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the country could consider a highly conditional recognition of a Palestinian state. The Canberra government would expect a cease-fire in the war in Gaza, the return of Israeli hostages held by the militant group Hamas, and the exclusion of Hamas from any future Palestinian government as preconditions for recognition.
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South Korea raises terror alert following reported North Korea threat

Posted on by SeeEA

Seoul, South Korea — South Korea’s government raised its terror alert level for five diplomatic missions Thursday, warning North Korea could attack South Korean diplomats overseas. 

The country’s terror watch level was raised to “alert” status, the second-highest level in a four-tier system, indicating a “high possibility of a terrorist attack,” according to a statement from South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

The statement said the decision was made during a Thursday meeting of South Korea’s Counter Terrorism Center. 

South Korean officials recently received intelligence that North Korea was planning to harm South Korean diplomats, it added, without disclosing the exact nature of the alleged threat.  

The targeted diplomatic missions include South Korean embassies in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, as well as consulates in the Far Eastern Russian city of Vladivostok and the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang.  

South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to VOA’s request for more details. 

The two Koreas have remained technically in a state of war since their 1950s conflict ended in a truce instead of a peace treaty. However, it has been decades since major sustained hostilities have arisen. OK?

North Korea has a long history of terror attacks and political assassinations against South Korea. In 1983, North Korea bombed a hotel in Rangoon, Burma, now Yangon, Myanmar, during a visit by South Korea’s then-president Chun Doo-hwan. Although Chun survived, 21 others were killed. In 1988, North Korean agents blew up a South Korean civilian airliner, killing 115 people.  

After the airliner attack, the United States formally placed North Korea on its list of state sponsors of terrorism. Pyongyang was removed from the list in 2008 amid negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.  

In 2017, the United States reinstated North Korea on the terror sponsor list after American college student Otto Warmbier died shortly after being released from North Korean custody.  

That year, North Korea also assassinated Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, during a brazen attack at a Malaysian airport.  

North Korea has denied involvement in any terrorist activities. It has not commented on the South’s latest accusations.  
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Philippines summons China envoy over water cannon incident

Posted on by SeeEA

Manila, Philippines — Manila summoned a senior Chinese envoy on Thursday to protest a water cannon incident that damaged two Philippine vessels during a patrol in the South China Sea.

A coast guard vessel and another government boat were damaged in the April 30 incident near the disputed Scarborough Shoal, according to the Philippines’ foreign ministry.

Manila and Beijing have a long history of territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and the neighbors have been involved in several maritime incidents in recent months as they assert their rival claims in the strategic waterway.

The latest, near the China-controlled Scarborough Shoal, occurred during a mission to resupply Filipino fishermen.

Zhou Zhiyong, the number two official at the Chinese Embassy, was summoned by Manila over “the harassment, ramming, swarming, shadowing and blocking, dangerous maneuvers, use of water cannons, and other aggressive actions of China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia vessels,” according to a statement from the foreign ministry.

“China’s aggressive actions, particularly its water cannon use, caused damage” to the Philippines’ vessels, the ministry added, demanding that the Chinese boats immediately leave the shoal and its vicinity.

The Philippines said the pressure in Tuesday’s water cannon incident was far more powerful than anything previously used, and that it tore or bent metal sections and equipment on the Philippine vessels.

Thursday’s diplomatic protest was the 20th lodged by Manila this year, and 153rd since President Ferdinand Marcos came to power in mid-2022, the foreign ministry said.

The Chinese Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China’s coast guard had previously said it “expelled” the two Philippine ships from its waters near Huangyan Island, the Chinese name for Scarborough Shoal.

The shoal has been a flashpoint between the two countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012.

Major military exercise

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims from other countries, including the Philippines, and an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

The triangular chain of reefs and rocks that make up Scarborough Shoal lies 240 kilometers west of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and nearly 900 kilometers from Hainan, the nearest major Chinese land mass.

Since seizing the shoal, Beijing has deployed its coast guard and other vessels that Manila says harass Philippine ships and prevent its fishermen from accessing the rich lagoon.

The latest incident came as the Philippines and the United States held a major annual military exercise that has infuriated Beijing.

Manila and Washington have a mutual defense treaty and recent confrontations between Philippine and Chinese vessels have fueled speculation of what would trigger it.

President Marcos said last month that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had given assurances that the treaty would be invoked if another “foreign power” killed a Filipino soldier.
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South Korea parliament approves new inquiry into deadly 2022 crowd crush

Posted on by SeeEA

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s National Assembly voted Thursday to approve a bill backed by the ruling and opposition parties to launch a fresh probe into the deadly Halloween crowd crush in the capital Seoul in 2022.

An earlier bill, which was backed the opposition-led parliament without the support of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), was vetoed by President Yoon Suk Yeol in January.

The latest bill is a compromise that removes granting full investigative power to the panel, which Yoon had objected to, according to his office.

Under the bill, a committee made up of members recommended by two major parties and a chair chosen by them through consultations will look into the tragedy.

The passage of the bill comes after Yoon met opposition leader Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party for talks on Monday following the PPP’s crushing general election defeat last month.

It also comes amid growing pressure on authorities, including from relatives of the victims, to hold those responsible to account.

A spokesperson for Yoon on Wednesday welcomed the agreement reached between the ruling and opposition parties on the bill as indicating a return to cooperation in politics.

The Halloween crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon district in 2022 killed nearly 160 people and relatives of the victims as well as the United Nations Human Rights Committee have since called for an independent inquiry.

A police investigation published early last year concluded that a lack of preparation and an inadequate response were the main factors behind the deadly crush.

In January, South Korean prosecutors indicted the former head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, charging him with contributing through negligence to the crush.

No senior government figures, including the interior and safety minister, have resigned or been sacked so far over the crush.
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Is social media access a human right? Norway’s Supreme Court to decide

Posted on by SeeEU

STAVANGER, Norway — A convicted sex offender is asking the Norwegian Supreme Court to declare social media access is a human right.

The case before the court Thursday involves a man who molested a minor and used the Snapchat messaging app to connect with young boys.

The unnamed offender was sentenced last year to 13 months in prison and banned from using Snapchat for two years.

His lawyers argue that depriving him of his account is unlawful under the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case turns on how vital social media has become for freedom of expression, even though the court must decide the case through laws that predate such sites.

“The case raises important questions about the extent to which the state can restrict access to social media platforms, which are significant tools for exercising the right to freedom of expression and maintaining social connections,” defense lawyer John Christian Elden said.

A November 2023 appeal against the ban failed with the state successfully arguing the ban was “proportionately measured against the fact that the defendant has used Snapchat to exploit children sexually.” The Appeal Court added that he still had the right to use other social media. If the Supreme Court also upholds the decision, the offender could attempt to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

The European convention has been used before to test the limits on Norwegian justice. Anders Behring Breivik, the far-right extremist who murdered 77 people in 2011, lost a court challenge in February that argued being held in isolation while serving his prison sentence amounted to inhumane punishment under the convention.

Signatories to the ECHR agree to abide by 18 articles guaranteeing citizens rights including life, liberty and freedom of expression. Norway was the second country to ratify the convention in 1952, after the United Kingdom.

Snapchat, run by Snap Inc., allows users to send and receive messages that disappear once they are read. Users also can physically locate other users who opt in to location tracking.

Snap prohibits child sexual exploitation on the app but allows accounts to be create anonymously. In an email it said, “when we disable accounts for sexual exploitation and grooming behavior, we also take steps to block the associated device and other accounts connected to the user from creating another Snapchat account.”

Snap disabled 343,865 accounts connected with child sexual exploitation in the second half of 2023. It sanctioned 879 accounts in Norway though it is not clear how many of these were permanently disabled.

The Norwegian court will issue its ruling in the coming weeks.
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International aid flotilla searches for new flags to sail from Turkey to Gaza

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Istanbul, Turkey & Washington — Activists from an international flotilla carrying humanitarian aid are applying for new maritime flags to sail to Gaza from Turkey after the flags of two of their ships were removed by Guinea-Bissau authorities last week.

“We will take flags of different countries. We will also apply to Turkey. We will also try to get Turkey’s flag,” Behesti Ismail Songur, head of the Mavi Marmara Association, a group that is part of the international flotilla, told VOA.

“So, this will be a litmus test for all states. We will see who will be brave enough to flag the freedom fleet,” Songur said.

The flotilla is organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which consists of several Turkish and international groups, including the Turkish Islamist Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) and the Mavi Marmara Association.

Inspection

The flotilla has three ships, named Vicdan (conscience in Turkish), Anadolu (Anatolia), and Akdeniz (the Mediterranean).

Anadolu, docked at Turkey’s Iskenderun port in the Mediterranean, was set to transport 5,000 tons of humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, the activists were planning to sail to Gaza on the Akdeniz, a ferry, from Istanbul’s Tuzla shipyard. Vicdan, recently acquired by the group, was not part of the planned sailing.

Anadolu and Akdeniz carried Guinea-Bissau flags until last week when the Guinea-Bissau International Ships Registry (GBISR) inspected them and decided to remove the flags.

Flotilla organizers said the GBISR referred to their planned mission to Gaza while informing them about the removal of the flags.

GBISR did not respond to VOA’s request for comment.

The flotilla organizers believe that Guinea-Bissau authorities withdrew their flags because of pressure from Israel, which objects to the refusal of the organizers to allow the ships to be inspected for contraband or weapons. But Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo dismissed these allegations Monday. 

Embalo told the Portuguese LUSA News Agency that he never spoke to his Israeli counterpart “about the flagging of ships,” noting that it is not a matter that he would deal with.

“I do not usually talk to the prime minister of Israel; I talk to the president of Israel, a friend I met many years ago. That’s who I have been talking to, but about the war in the Gaza Strip,” Embalo said, adding that he talked with Israeli President Isaac Herzog Sunday.

Mavi Marmara

On April 22 Israel’s Channel 12 television reported that Shayetet 13, the Israeli army’s elite special forces unit, had been preparing to intercept the flotilla, citing the Israel Defense Forces. 

Shayetet 13 was also involved in 2010 when the Mavi Marmara, carrying pro-Palestinian activists including Turkish Islamist IHH, attempted to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza with a flotilla. Israel views the IHH as a terrorist group.

Israeli units boarded the Mavi Marmara with helicopters in international waters, killing nine activists. At least seven Israeli soldiers were injured as activists attacked them with clubs, knives and pipes. 

According to a report by the Spanish daily El Pais on April 25, the activists, who were set to sail on the Anadolu and the Akdeniz, took basic training in Istanbul in case of an Israeli attack on the flotilla. The training was conducted by Lisa Fithian, an American expert who teaches “peaceful resistance.”

At least 500 international activists were set to sail in the flotilla, including Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, the grandson of late South African President Nelson Mandela; Ada Colau, former mayor of Barcelona; and Ann Wright, a former U.S. Army colonel and diplomat who resigned from the State Department in opposition to the 2003 U.S.-led military invasion into Iraq. 

Wright, who also participated in the Mavi Marmara voyage in 2010, accused the U.S. of pressuring the current flotilla to prevent it from sailing.

“The U.S. is very complicit in trying to stop the Gaza flotilla,” Wright said, referring to a letter to U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken signed by 20 members of Congress last week.

In the letter, members of the U.S. House of Representatives said they were “gravely concerned by the reported ‘Freedom Flotilla Coalition,’ which plans to breach the established security perimeter with an unknown number of ships to deliver aid to Gaza.”

“The flotilla, led in part by the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) — which has close ties with the Turkish government and has previously raised funds for Hamas — intends to bypass established aid channels and refuse to allow Israeli inspection of their cargo, casting doubt on the nature of the mission,” the letter stated.

The House members also called on Blinken “to engage directly with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish government to prevent or delay the flotilla’s departure and ensure that all shipments to Gaza are vetted and in compliance with international standards for humanitarian assistance.”

Wright hopes Erdogan will support the flotilla. Erdogan and Turkish government officials have not commented publicly on the flotilla.

Erdogan hosted Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul last month, and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced on Wednesday that Ankara has decided to join South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel at the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

This story originated in VOA’s Turkish Service with contributions by Portuguese Service.
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Columbia students on edge as police presence remains on campus after raid to clear protesters

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Police remain on Columbia University’s campus, even after clearing out student protesters and their encampment. But questions remain about how the university and the students move forward. Tina Trinh reports from New York.
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Drone footage shows how Russian airstrikes devastated Ukrainian city

Posted on by SeeEU

KYIV, Ukraine — Months of relentless Russian artillery pounding have devastated a strategic city in eastern Ukraine, new drone footage obtained by The Associated Press shows, with barely a building left intact, homes and municipal offices charred, and a town that once had a population of 12,000 now all but deserted. 

The footage shows Chasiv Yar — set amid green fields and woodland — pounded into an apocalyptic vista. The destruction is reminiscent of the cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka, which Ukraine yielded after months of bombardment and huge losses for both sides. 

The strategically important city has been under attack by Russian forces for months. Capturing it would give Russia control of a hilltop from which it can attack other cities that form the backbone of Ukraine’s eastern defenses. 

That would set the stage for a potentially broader Russian offensive that Ukrainian officials say could come as early as this month. 

Russia launched waves of assaults on foot and in armored vehicles at Chasiv Yar’s outnumbered Ukrainian troops, who have run desperately short of ammunition while waiting for the U.S. and other allies to send fresh supplies. 

Rows of mid-rise apartment blocks in Chasiv Yar have been blackened by blasts, punched through with holes or reduced to piles of timber and masonry. Houses and civic buildings are heavily damaged. The golden dome of a church remains intact but the building appears badly damaged. 

No soldiers or civilians were seen in the footage shot Monday and exclusively obtained by the AP, apart from a lone man walking down the middle of a road between wrecked structures. 

Regional Governor Vadym Filashkin said Wednesday on Ukrainian TV that 682 residents have held on in Chasiv Yar, living in “very difficult conditions.” The city had a pre-war population of more than 12,500. Filashkin said that those remaining have lacked running water and power for over a year, and that it is “ever more difficult” for humanitarian aid to reach them. 

The destruction underscores Russia’s scorched-earth tactics throughout more than two years of war, as its troops have killed and displaced thousands of civilians. 

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged Monday that the delayed delivery of allies’ military aid to Ukraine had left the country at the mercy of the Kremlin’s bigger and better-equipped forces. 

Ukraine and its Western partners are racing to deploy critical new military aid that can help check the slow but steady Russian advance as well as thwart drone and missile attacks. 
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