Month: June 2024

Families of Boeing MAX crash victims seek nearly $25 billion fine, prosecution

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Washington — Families of Boeing 737 MAX crash victims on Wednesday asked U.S. authorities to impose a fine of up to $24.8 billion on the aviation giant and proceed with criminal prosecution.

The move comes a day after Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun acknowledged the gravity of the company’s safety problems and assured a U.S. congressional panel that it was making progress on the issue.

Sitting behind him in the audience were relatives of victims of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019, who held up victims’ photos.

“Because Boeing’s crime is the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history, a maximum fine of more than $24 billion is legally justified and clearly appropriate,” Paul Cassell, a lawyer for the families, wrote in a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The 32-page document explains the calculations behind the amount sought, saying Boeing “should be fined the maximum — $24,780,000,000 — with perhaps $14,000,000,000 to $22,000,0000,000 of the fine suspended on the condition that Boeing devote those suspended funds to an independent corporate monitor and related improvements in compliance and safety programs as identified below.”

It added: “And Boeing’s Board of Directors should be ordered to meet with the families.”

The families also believe the government should promptly “launch criminal prosecutions of the responsible corporate officials at Boeing at the time of the two crashes.”

The case relates to crashes in 2018 and 2019 in Indonesia and Ethiopia that together claimed 346 lives and comes as Boeing faces intensifying scrutiny following recent manufacturing and safety problems.

The aviation giant has again been in the public spotlight since a January 5 incident in which a 737 MAX operated by Alaska Airlines was forced to make an emergency landing after a fuselage panel blew out midflight.
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Interview: UN refugee chief urges end to ‘insane’ Sudan war

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United Nations — Filippo Grandi, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, on Wednesday urged an end to the war in Sudan, where hunger and violence have driven millions from their homes.

“They are fleeing horrible violence, very severe violations of human rights,” Grandi told VOA in an interview from Juba, South Sudan, after field visits to Renk in South Sudan and across the border in Kosti, a city in Sudan’s White Nile state.

Thursday is World Refugee Day, and Grandi hopes to put this neglected crisis in the global spotlight.

The United Nations has warned that 5 million Sudanese are on the brink of famine. Millions more are severely food insecure. Harvests have been lost, markets looted and burned, and humanitarians obstructed from delivering adequate aid.

“But increasingly they are also fleeing deprivation — and in particular food insecurity, and in some cases, hunger,” Grandi said. “So you have a multiplication of factors that are all generated clearly by this insane war that doesn’t seem to end.”

The United Nations says the 14-month-long war between rival generals has internally displaced more than 6 million people on top of the nearly 4 million who were displaced before the current conflict. Another 2 million have fled to neighboring countries, including Chad, South Sudan and Ethiopia.

“Let’s not forget that these people are coming, like here in South Sudan, to countries that are already very fragile — they have huge challenges of their own in terms of security, political fragility, governance, economic problems and so forth,” Grandi said, praising them for keeping their borders open and offering shelter.

A U.N. panel of experts said earlier this year that external actors are fueling Sudan’s conflict by providing the warring generals with weapons and ammunition.

“My appeal is really to everybody who has any influence on the parties in this conflict: Push them not towards the battlefield, but to the negotiating table,” Grandi said. “This is what is most needed: a cease-fire first and then the possibility that there is a political solution. Without that, I am afraid we will see more refugees and more suffering.”

The head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has been locked in an armed power struggle with the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces for the past 14 months. The fighting has spread from Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, to other parts of the country, leaving death, destruction and a humanitarian catastrophe in its wake.
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Louisiana requires public school classrooms to display Ten Commandments

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BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — Louisiana has become the first U.S. state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom, the latest move from a Republican-dominated legislature pushing a conservative agenda under a new governor. 

The legislation that Republican Governor Jeff Landry signed into law on Wednesday requires a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities. 

Opponents questioned the law’s constitutionality and vowed to challenge it in court. Proponents said the measure is not solely religious, but that it has historical significance. In the language of the law, the Ten Commandments are “foundational documents of our state and national government.” 

The posters, which will be paired with a four-paragraph “context statement” describing how the Ten Commandments “were a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries,” must be in place in classrooms by the start of 2025. 

Under the law, state funds will not be used to implement the mandate. The posters would be paid for through donations. 

The law also “authorizes” but does not require the display of other items in K-12 public schools, including: The Mayflower Compact, which was signed by religious pilgrims aboard the Mayflower in 1620 and is often referred to as America’s “First Constitution”; the Declaration of Independence; and the Northwest Ordinance, which established a government in the Northwest Territory — in the present day Midwest — and created a pathway for admitting new states to the Union. 

Opponents vow to challenge law

Not long after the governor signed the bill into law at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School in Lafayette on Wednesday, civil rights groups and organizations that want to keep religion out of government promised to file a lawsuit challenging it. 

The law prevents students from getting an equal education and will keep children who have different beliefs from feeling safe at school, the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation said in a joint statement Wednesday afternoon. 

“Even among those who may believe in some version of the Ten Commandments, the particular text that they adhere to can differ by religious denomination or tradition. The government should not be taking sides in this theological debate,” the groups said. 

The controversial law, in a state ensconced in the Bible Belt, comes during a new era of conservative leadership in Louisiana under Landry, who replaced two-term Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards in January. Republicans hold a supermajority in the legislature, and Republicans hold every statewide elected position, paving the way for lawmakers to push through a conservative agenda. 

Similar bills requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in classrooms have been proposed in other states, including Texas, Oklahoma and Utah. However, with threats of legal battles over the constitutionality of such measures, no state besides Louisiana has succeeded in making the bills law. 

Similar law ruled unconstitutional

Legal battles over the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms are not new. 

In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a similar Kentucky law was unconstitutional and violated the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution, which says Congress can “make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”  

The high court found that the law had no secular purpose but rather served a plainly religious purpose. 
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Georgia looks to China for investment; critics fear turn from West

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A Chinese consortium last month was awarded the contract to develop a deep-sea megaport on Georgia’s Black Sea coast. But critics say the Georgian government is putting the country’s economy and democracy at risk by turning away from Western partners toward China. Henry Ridgwell reports from Tbilisi.
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Nigeria announces plans to acquire 50 military aircraft; analysts question intent

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Abuja, Nigeria — The Nigerian air force said Tuesday it will acquire 50 new aircraft to strengthen its capabilities against armed gangs and terrorists in northwest Nigeria.

Nigerian Chief of Air Staff Marshal Hassan Bala Abubakar made the announcement at the opening of new military facilities, including two aircraft hangars in northwest Katsina state.

Abubakar said the aircraft would include 12 AH-1 attack helicopters, 24 M-346 combat planes, 12 AW109 multipurpose helicopters and a pair of Casa 295 transport aircraft. He did not disclose the cost, nor did he say who would provide the aircraft.

He said Nigeria is expected to receive them by next year.

The aircraft will be used to bolster offensives against jihadist groups and armed gangs that have terrorized northwest and central states in recent years, Abubakar said.

But security analyst Mike Ejiofor says acquiring 50 aircraft is overambitious and possibly misdirected.

“I know it will bolster the fight against terrorism, but I believe that we should concentrate more on land than air. We’re not at war,” Ejiofor said.

The money, he said, should “have been channeled to training and provision of welfare for the ground troops. I think we would’ve achieved more results.”

Abubakar’s announcement came as Kaduna state authorities announced Tuesday a partnership with the military to set up three new operational fronts within the state.

Kaduna state Governor Uba Sani said, “We concluded with the military to set up forward-operating bases in southern Kaduna, and another one in the Giwa and Birnin-Gwari axis. All the arrangements are being concluded.”

The Nigerian air force came under heavy criticism in December after more than 80 people were killed and dozens wounded during an airstrike in Kaduna state that was intended to target gangs.

Nigerian authorities have promised to operate with more precision to avoid future accidents.

Nigerian Chief of Defense Staff General Christopher Musa told journalists in Abuja, “The armed forces of Nigeria are highly professional. We’re here to protect innocent citizens, not to harm them. Whatever it was that happened there was a mistake, but we’re addressing such issues.”

Ejiofor said authorities should focus more on boosting the ability of the air force to gather and process accurate information about the activities of armed groups.

“These strikes are intelligence-driven, so we must get the intelligence before they’re guided to the areas,” he said. “I think what we should’ve done is to deploy more drones that will be sending this data.”
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Tropical Storm Alberto forms over Gulf of Mexico, bringing floods

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MEXICO CITY — Tropical Storm Alberto, the first named storm of 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, has formed over the western Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC), said on Wednesday, bringing  flooding across the southern coast of the United States. 

The storm was located about 300 kilometers (186.4 miles) east of Tampico, Mexico, packing maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour (40.3 miles per hour), the forecaster said. Alberto is likely to dissipate over Mexico as early as Thursday night. 

The NHC said the storm was very large and that rainfall, coastal flooding and strong winds could occur far from the center along north-eastern Mexico and the south Texas coast.  

Heavy rains also will affect large regions of Central America, the NHC warned, a region that is still facing strong rains that left some 11 people dead in El Salvador over the weekend because of landslides and road accidents. 

“Life-threatening flooding and mudslides are likely in and near higher terrain across the Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas,” the NHC said, including the eastern city of Ciudad Victoria and Monterrey, Mexico’s third-biggest city in Nuevo Leon state. 

Nuevo Leon State Governor Samuel Garcia said on the social media platform X that people should avoid leaving the house or crossing waterways while it is raining and to keep emergency kits on hand. Workers were ready to address the possible impact of strong winds and rain on the electrical grid, water supplies, and sewage, he said. 

Across the Gulf on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, local media reported strong winds and torrential rains. Some authorities, however, said the storm could help fill the country’s dams, depleted by an extended drought. 

The NHC predicted “moderate coastal flooding” along much of the Texan coast through Thursday as southern areas experience tropical storm conditions.  

Forecasters have warned that this year’s Atlantic hurricane season will likely be highly active because of impacts from the La Nina weather pattern and warmer ocean water. 
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Ukraine launches sexual assault registry for victims of Russian forces

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KYIV, Ukraine — Authorities in Ukraine have created a national registry to document cases of sexual violence allegedly committed by Russian forces, a senior prosecutor told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Viktoriia Litvinova, the country’s deputy prosecutor general, said the registry was created out of a pilot project that had already resulted in the convictions of five people in absentia. She declined to comment on details of the cases.

“We used to have to visit territories where hostilities are taking place ourselves,” she said. “But now people — individuals who have experienced sexual abuse — are seeking us out for information.”

Litvinova said 303 cases of conflict-related sexual violence had been registered since the start of the full-scale invasion in early 2022, with 112 involving male and 191 involving female victims. Some of the victims have suffered from multiple assaults, she said.

The initiative was announced on the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence, and it has received assistance from U.N. agencies and several Western governments.

Government officials said the registry could be used to make claims for financial compensation for the victims from Russia in the future. The five convictions resulted from sexual assault allegations in areas attacked or occupied by Russian forces, in Kyiv and the cities of Kherson and Chernihiv.

Massimo Diana, a representative of the U.N. Population Fund, said the actual number of victims was likely to be much higher than those in the registry.

“This violence has been perpetrated on women and girls, on men and boys. Nobody has been exempted from the risk of this heinous act,” Diana said.

His agency had assisted in creating 12 support centers around the country for victims of domestic violence and sexual attacks, he said, along with three mobile facilities.

To raise awareness for the program and to encourage victims to come forward, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna unveiled a painting by artist Julia Tveritina at a gallery and art center in Kyiv.

“The [painting] is of men and women surrounded by yellow rapeseed flowers,” Stefanishyna said. “This flower renews itself after the frost, and it symbolizes hope that all of the survivors may leave their traumatic events in the past.”
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Explosions at Chadian military ammunition depot kill 9, injure 46

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N’DJAMENA, Chad — Nine people were killed and more than 40 injured when a fire set off explosions at a military ammunition depot in Chad’s capital, an official said Wednesday.

Government spokesperson Abderaman Koulamallah said 46 people were being treated for various injuries after the explosions jolted residents from their sleep late Tuesday in the Goudji district of N’Djamena. The situation has been brought under control, Koulamallah said.

The explosions lit up the sky as thick smoke covered the clouds in the West African nation, setting off frantic efforts to extinguish the fire as residents fled their homes for safety.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear, and President Mahamat Deby Itno said an investigation would be conducted.

“Peace to the souls of the victims, sincere condolences to the bereaved families and quick recovery to the injured,” Deby said on Facebook. He later visited the accident scene and hospitals where the injured were treated.

People living in the area panicked, thinking the explosion was an armed attack, resident Oumar Mahamat said.

Local media reported the blasts started just before midnight as nearby buildings shook and ammunition was thrown from the depot with explosive force.

Authorities called on residents to stay out of the area, which was taken over by security forces gathering the scattered artillery shells.

Allamine Moussa, a resident, called on the government to “come to our aid urgently” after he and other residents fled their homes.

“Many families have recorded deaths, and it’s sad,” Moussa said.

Chad, a country of nearly 18 million people, has been reeling from political turmoil before and after a controversial presidential election that resulted in Deby Itno’s victory.

He had led the country as interim president during the period of military rule that followed the death of his father in 2021.

Cameron Hudson, an Africa expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the explosions might not be entirely coincidental and “feels more like a message” to the government, which has been embroiled in internal political tensions and as well as regional tensions over the war in neighboring Sudan.

Recent claims about Chad’s alleged involvement in the war in Sudan create an untenable position at home for Deby Itno, said Hudson, a former U.S. official. “A house divided cannot stand.”
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Brussels refuses to host Belgium-Israel match over security fears

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Brussels — Brussels has refused to host a Nations League football match between Israel and Belgium on September 6 because it could spark demonstrations, city authorities said on Wednesday.

They said holding such a match while the war in Gaza was continuing “will undoubtedly provoke large demonstrations and counterdemonstrations, compromising the safety of spectators, players, Brussels residents and also the police.”

The Belgian Football Federation said it would have accepted that the match, at the King Baudouin Stadium, take place behind closed doors, but it deeply regretted that the Belgian capital refused to host the game at all.

“We deplore the decision taken by the City of Brussels — which has a lot of experience of organizing big events — to not organize the match in our stronghold,” the federation said.

The federation said it was in contact with several cities and security services about finding an alternative venue.

The city of Louvain has already said it would not host the match.

A spokesperson for the Israeli football federation, Shlomi Barzel, told AFP: “This is a matter concerning Belgium; it’s not our problem.”

Concerns were likely raised by the attack in Brussels in October in which an Islamist gunman killed two Swedish football fans before a Euro 2024 qualifier between Belgium and Sweden, although the motive of the attack was not anti-Semitic.

France and Italy are in the same Nations League Group A2 as Belgium and Israel.
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World Refugee Day: Is neglect the new normal?

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Aid groups say crises in Sudan, Somalia, the Sahel, and other places are receiving a lot less funding that they need to handle the challenges they face. Earlier this month, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) said “the utter neglect of displaced people has become the new normal.” Henry Wilkins reports on what refugees and non-profit groups think about current funding levels.
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Investigators: Disregard for human rights, law drives crisis in Sudan

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GENEVA — Independent investigators have accused Sudan’s warring parties of driving the country into a humanitarian abyss by blatantly disregarding fundamental human rights and international humanitarian law. 

The three-member International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan presented its first oral update Tuesday and Wednesday at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.  

The investigators told the council that the lack of concern for the suffering of millions of Sudanese civilians by the warring parties has led to killings, looting, mass displacement, rape and other forms of sexual violence, “and resulted in a grave humanitarian crisis.” 

They accused the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of preventing humanitarian aid from reaching millions of people who are at risk of famine. 

Citing the World Food Program, they warned that around 18 million people deprived of sufficient food will face acute hunger, with 5 million on the brink of starvation. 

The U.N. reports that rampant violations and abuses, along with the deprivation of essential lifesaving aid, have led to the mass displacement of nearly 9 million people inside Sudan, as well as to more than 1.8 million people fleeing to neighboring countries. 

Since the conflict began in April 2023, other armed groups have sprung up to support the two main military forces. Fact-finding mission chair Mohamed Chande Othman said the deadly conflict “now involves multiple actors within and outside Sudan and has spread from Khartoum and Darfur to most of the country.” 

“We are deeply concerned that the fighting persists with tragic consequences and enormous suffering of the civilian population,” he said.  

“We have received credible accounts of indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian objects, including through airstrikes and shelling in heavily populated residential areas, as well as ground attacks against civilians in their homes and villages,” he said. He added that in the capital, Khartoum, and in nearby towns, killings, looting and sexual violence have “forced many to leave their homes and property to seek refuge in other locations.” 

The investigators expressed particular concern about the situation in the Darfur region, especially the siege of the capital, El Fasher — the last stronghold of the SAF, where 1.5 million inhabitants and some 800,000 internally displaced people are in great danger. 

“Already, heavy fighting between the warring parties in different parts of the city has led to significant civilian casualties, damaged homes and caused mass displacement,” Othman said. “The attack on one of the main and last functioning hospitals in the city on June 8 led to its closure, leaving the civilian population without access to lifesaving medical care.” 

The fact-finding mission said it is investigating earlier large-scale attacks against civilians based on their ethnicity in other areas of Darfur. These, said Othman, “have included killings, rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture, forced displacement and looting.” 

The investigators said they also have received credible reports of rampant sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, and that they are investigating reports “of sexual slavery and sexualized torture in detention facilities, including against men and boys.” 

Othman said the mission has received worrying reports about the “widespread recruitment and use of children at checkpoints to gather intelligence, as well as to participate in direct combat and commit violent crimes,” thereby putting the lives and future of many children at risk. 

A June 3 report from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on children and armed conflict ranks Sudan among the countries with the highest number of “grave violations against children” in the world.  

The fact-finding mission to Sudan is calling for an immediate cease-fire, without which, it said, “it is hard to see the human rights and humanitarian situation in Sudan improving.” 

Following the presentation of the report, Yassir Bashir Elbukhari Suliman, the chief prosecutor of Sudan, spoke as the representative of the concerned country. He accused the RSF of multiple crimes and atrocities against unarmed civilians, without assigning any blame to the SAF for the commission of similar acts. 

Commanders of the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces have previously denied committing war crimes as they battle for control of the country. 

Commenting on the situation in Sudan last month, Guterres accused both warring factions of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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Abortion looms in US presidential election 2 years after key ruling

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Two years ago this month, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed its 1973 ruling that legalized abortion. Now, abortion looms as a major issue in this year’s elections. VOA’s senior Washington correspondent Carolyn Presutti looks at how the issue is charging the presidential campaign.
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North Korea, Russia pledge mutual defense, surprising many observers

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un upgraded their countries’ relationship as they met Wednesday in Pyongyang. Both men signed a treaty they say contains a mutual defense clause. The developments are being criticized by the U.S. and its allies, who say the relationship is a threat to global peace. More from VOA’s Bill Gallo in Seoul, South Korea. Contributor: Kim Lewis
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EU criticizes France for excessive debt

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BRUSSELS — The European Union’s executive arm on Wednesday criticized France for running up excessive debt, a stinging rebuke at the height of an election campaign where President Emmanuel Macron is facing a strong challenge from the extreme right and the left.

The EU Commission recommended to seven nations, including France, that they start a so-called “excessive deficit procedure,” the first step in a long process before any member state can be hemmed in and moved to take corrective action.

“Deficit criteria is not fulfilled in seven of our member states,” said EU Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, also pointing the finger at Belgium, Italy, Hungary, Malta, Slovakia and Poland.

For decades, the EU has set out targets for member states to keep their annual deficit within 3% of Gross Domestic Product and overall debt within 60% of output. Those targets have been disregarded when it was convenient, sometimes even by countries such as Germany and France, the biggest economies in the bloc.

This time, however, Dombrovskis said that a decision “needs to be done based on, say, facts and whether the country respects the treaty, reference values for a deficit and debt and not based on the size of the country.”

The French annual deficit stood at 5.5% last year.

Over the past years, exceptional circumstances such as the COVID-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine allowed for leniency, but that has now come to an end.

Still, Wednesday’s announcement touched a nerve in France after Macron called snap elections in the wake of his defeat to the hard right of Marine Le Pen in the EU parliamentary polls on June 9.

Le Pen’s National Rally and a new united left front are polling ahead of Macron’s party in the elections, and both challengers have put forward plans in which deficit spending is essential to get out of the economic rut.

In the election campaign, Macron’s camp could use the wrist-slap as a warning that the extremes will drive France to ruin, while the opposition could claim that Macron had overspent and still impoverished the French, leaving them no choice but to spend more still.

Despite the rebuke over excessive debt, EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni stressed France was also moving in the right direction to address certain “imbalances,” sending a “message of reassurance” to the EU institutions.

The International Monetary Fund forecasts that the French economy will grow at a relatively sluggish 0.8% of GDP in 2024, before rising to 1.3% in 2025.

Unlike the measures imposed on Greece during its dramatic fiscal crisis a decade ago, Gentiloni said, excessive austerity was not an answer for the future.

“Much less does not mean back to austerity, because this would be a terrible mistake,” he said.

He also disputed a claim that it was austerity itself that drove voters to veer to the extreme right, pointing out that lenient budget conditions had been in force for the past years and still allowed the hard right to come out as victors in many member states.

“Look to what happened in the recent elections. If the theory is ‘less expenditure, stronger extremes,’ well, we are not coming from a period of less expenditure,” Gentiloni said.
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For Juneteenth, Black creatives use augmented reality to bring past to life

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June 19th is known as Juneteenth, a U.S. holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the former Confederate states of the American Civil War. In observance of the day, international collaborators gathered in California to connect history with the future using an augmented reality app. Matt Dibble has our story from Oakland.
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US lawmakers meet Dalai Lama as China slams visit  

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New Delhi — A group of U.S. lawmakers met the Dalai Lama in India’s northern town of Dharamshala Wednesday, amid cheers from Tibetans in exile and an angry reaction from China, which calls the Tibetan spiritual leader a separatist and a splittist.

The visit follows the passage last week of a bill by the U.S. Congress that seeks to encourage dialogue between Beijing and Tibetan leaders in exile, who have been seeking more autonomy for Tibet. Talks with the Dalai Lama’s representatives and China stalled in 2010.

“This bill is a message to the Chinese government that we have clarity in our thinking and our understanding of this issue of the freedom of Tibet,” Nancy Pelosi, former House Speaker, said to cheers from hundreds of Tibetans whom the lawmakers addressed at a public ceremony after meeting the Dalai Lama at his residence.

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to soon sign the legislation called “Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act,” also referred to as the Resolve Tibet Act.

In Dharamshala, where the Tibetan government in exile is based, the visit of the U.S. lawmakers brought hope. “It is a jubilant moment for all Tibetans. We are all overjoyed. The visit is very significant because it comes soon after the passage of the bill which we hope will soon be passed into law,” Tenzin Lekshay, spokesperson for the Central Tibetan Administration, told VOA.

Congressman Michael McCaul, who led the seven-member visiting delegation, said the bill reaffirms American support for what he referred to as the Tibetan right to self- determination. He said that their delegation had received a letter from the Chinese Communist Party, warning them not to visit.

Beijing said the U.S. should not sign into law the bill passed by Congress. “China will take resolute measures to firmly defend its sovereignty, security and development interests,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Lin Jian said on Tuesday, as the lawmakers arrived in the Indian town.

The Chinese embassy in New Delhi reiterated Beijing’s concerns. “We urge the U.S. side to fully recognize the anti-China separatist nature of the Dalai group, honor the commitments the U.S. has made to China on issues related to Xizang, stop sending the wrong signal to the world,” it said in a statement Tuesday night. Xizang is China’s name for Tibet.

In his remarks to Tibetans, McCaul said it is important that China not influence the choice of the Dalai Lama’s successor. “Beijing has even attempted to insert itself into choosing the successor of the Dalai Lama,” he said. “We will not let that happen.”

The issue is contentious. China says it has the right to approve the spiritual leader’s successor while according to Tibetan tradition, the Dalai Lama is reincarnated after his death. The Dalai Lama has said his successor is likely to be found in India but Tibetans in exile fear China will try to designate a person to be the successor, in an effort to bolster control over Tibet.

Meanwhile, Tibetan spokesman Lekshay said China needs to come forward to reinstate a dialogue with exiled Tibetan leaders. “It is a time for introspection for China to see what is going wrong, particularly with the Tibet issue which has been a longstanding conflict. China needs to be more positive.”

Beijing does not recognize the exiled administration. A formal dialogue process between the Dalai Lama’s representatives and the Chinese government ended in 2010 after it failed to produce a concrete outcome.

Pointing out that they are asking for autonomy within China and not independence, Lekshay said the Tibetan administration in exile did not represent a separatist movement.

Tibetans in exile say they fear that their culture, language and identity is under threat due to Chinese assimilation of the region.

The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959, has been instrumental in putting the Tibetan cause in the global spotlight but in recent years some Tibetan activists have expressed concerns that the Tibet cause is not getting appropriate attention in Western capitals.

The Himalayan town of Dharamshala has been the Dalai Lama’s home since he fled Tibet over six decades ago following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
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Media: Myanmar authorities arrest 22 for marking Suu Kyi’s birthday

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Yangon — Myanmar authorities arrested 22 people for marking the birthday of imprisoned democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi, local media reported on Wednesday.  

Police in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, arrested 22 people who had posted pictures of themselves wearing flowers in their hair — long a signature Suu Kyi look — Eleven Media reported, citing an anonymous official.  

Other local media said around a dozen had been arrested in the central Myanmar city for wearing flowers or praying with them in public.   

A prominent pro-junta Telegram account posted several photos claiming to show those arrested, including one showing five people with their legs placed in stocks.   

Suu Kyi, who turned 79 on Wednesday, has been detained by the military since it toppled her government and seized power in 2021.  

The coup and subsequent crackdown on dissent have sparked a widespread armed uprising that the military is struggling to crush.  

The junta has rebuffed numerous requests by foreign leaders and diplomats to meet Nobel laureate Suu Kyi, who has reportedly suffered health problems during more than three years in detention.  

Suu Kyi’s only known encounter with a foreign envoy since the coup came in July last year, when then-Thai foreign minister Don Pramudwinai said he had met her for more than an hour.   

Suu Kyi is serving a 27-year sentence imposed by a junta court after a trial condemned by rights groups as a sham to shut her out of politics.  

Her son told AFP in February she was in “strong spirits” after receiving a letter from her — their first communication since she was detained in the coup. 
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Chad ammo depot blaze kills 9, wounds dozens 

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N’Djamena — A fire that tore through a huge military ammunition depot in Chad’s capital N’Djamena killed at least nine people and wounded dozens more, officials said Wednesday, warning the toll could rise.

The blaze, which started late on Tuesday, sent powerful blasts into the night sky and the exploding ordnance shook buildings miles away.

Chad’s Health Minister Abdelmadjid Abderahim told journalists that the toll was in danger of rising as many of the 46 wounded were in an “extremely serious” condition.

A visit to the scene Wednesday revealed unexploded shells and other munitions scattered on the ground and the burnt-out wreckage of what looked like military vehicles.

Government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said the cause was not “criminal” but an investigation was under way.

According to initial indications, several people died in the ammunition storeroom, he said.

“There are fewer deaths and less damage than we foresaw. We were expecting dozens and dozens of deaths,” Koulamallah, who is also foreign minister, told AFP by telephone. “There aren’t many civilians who lost their lives.”

The sky burst into flames above the Goudji area — where the army’s largest depot of ammunition is located — for several hours before tapering off and finally ceasing after midnight.

The explosions shook buildings as far as seven kilometers (four miles) away and the flames were visible from far off.

“The roof of our house was blown off by one of the explosions,” said resident Kadidja Dakou, who lives in the Amsinene area near Goudji.

The 36-year-old and her three children took refuge in the street alongside their neighbors, for fear their houses would collapse, she told AFP by phone.

“The soldiers had time to evacuate the vehicles, heavy weapons etc. and were able themselves to take shelter,” Koulamallah said.

Burned

Regional Planning Minister Mahamat Assileck Halata told reporters at the scene that the fire was “contained” and the situation was under control.

Nearby, gutted buildings could be seen and at least one huge crater was visible in the grounds of the military camp.

“I call on people to remain calm and serene and to avoid handling any object that may have landed,” Assileck said, adding deminers were at work.

President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno during the night offered his condolences to victims’ families.

The grieving family of a six-year-old girl sat in front of ruined houses in Amsinene after a shell fell in the room of the child, killing her, the family told AFP.

“She burned to death, we couldn’t get her out” of the house, her cousin, who did not want to be named, said.

Iron fist

Authorities had cordoned off the area with a heavy security presence, where thick red smoke hung in the air long after the blasts stopped.

There are multiple homes in the neighborhood that is the site of the depot, which lies near the international airport and a base where French troops are stationed.

The blaze “caused explosions of ammunition of all calibers”, an official with the French forces told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“For the moment, no French military personnel have been wounded,” he said.

Chad’s president officially won 61 percent of a May 6 vote that international NGOs said was neither credible nor free and which his main rival called a “masquerade.”

Deby was proclaimed transitional president in April 2021 by a junta of 15 generals after his father, president Idriss Deby Itno who had ruled with an iron fist for 30 years was shot dead by rebels.

Chad, one of the world’s poorest nations, is considered vital in the fight to stop the march of jihadists through the Sahel region.
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South African President Ramaphosa starts new term with multi-party government

Posted on by SeeAF

PRETORIA — South Africa put on a display of pomp and ceremony on Wednesday for Cyril Ramaphosa’s inauguration as president for a second term that will see his African National Congress share power with other parties after it lost its majority in parliament.  

African heads of state and dignitaries gathered outside the Union Buildings in Pretoria, seat of the South African government, to watch Ramaphosa’s motorcade arrive with a guard of honor on horseback.  

Ramaphosa will head what he calls a government of national unity with five other parties, including the ANC’s largest rival and virulent critic, the pro-business Democratic Alliance.

While investors have welcomed the inclusion of the DA, which wants to boost growth through structural reforms and prudent fiscal policies, analysts say sharp ideological divisions between the parties could make the government unstable.  

Just before the election, Ramaphosa signed into law a National Health Insurance bill that the DA says could collapse a creaking health system. It was unclear what would happen to that law under the new government.  

The DA advocates scrapping the ANC’s flagship Black economic empowerment program, saying it hasn’t worked — a highly contentious topic in a nation grappling with huge inequalities, some inherited from apartheid.  

Ramaphosa has yet to announce the make-up of his new government, which he will have to negotiate with members of the new alliance.  

“The president does not want the country to go through a prolonged period of uncertainty,” his spokesman Vincent Magwenya told state broadcaster SABC.

“This time around, there is a small layer of complexity in that he has to consult with the various parties that form part of the government of national unity. Those consultations have been underway. They will continue, even tonight,” he said. 

A former liberation movement, the ANC came to power under Nelson Mandela’s leadership in the 1994 elections that marked the end of apartheid. Once unbeatable, it has lost its shine after presiding over years of decline.  

It remains the largest party after the May 29 election, with 159 seats out of 400 in the National Assembly, but lost millions of votes compared with the previous election in 2019. The DA’s vote share remained stable and it has 87 seats.  

Voters punished the ANC for high levels of poverty, inequality and unemployment, rampant crime, rolling power cuts and corruption in party ranks. 
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In Pyongyang, Putin and Kim upgrade relationship, pledge closer ties

Posted on by SeeEU

Seoul, South Korea — Russian President Vladimir Putin received a grandiose reception in Pyongyang on Wednesday, meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and pledging closer cooperation as both countries confront the West. 

Putin and Kim, who also signed a document upgrading ties, participated in a welcoming ceremony in the central Kim Il Sung Square, where buildings were draped in massive Russian and North Korean flags and portraits of the two leaders. 

North Korean residents dressed in red, white, and blue shirts waved bright bouquets of flowers in unison as a brass band played patriotic songs. Putin and Kim also observed a North Korean honor guard before departing for negotiations, which included two hours of one-on-one talks, according to Russian media.

At the outset of the negotiations, Putin thanked North Korea for its “consistent and unwavering support” for Russian policy, including in Ukraine, reported Russia’s Interfax news agency.

Kim expressed his “full support and solidarity” for what he called Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, according to Interfax. The North Korean leader also vowed to “unconditionally support” Russia’s policies, the agency added.

Putin, who is making his first visit to North Korea in 24 years, invited Kim to Moscow, Russian state media reported.

Russia and North Korea have long been close partners, but their cooperation has intensified following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. North Korea has supplied Russia with thousands of containers of munitions, including ballistic missiles, according to U.S. officials – an allegation denied by Pyongyang and Moscow.

Close, but how close?

According to Interfax, Putin and Kim signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty, formally upgrading ties. The treaty text has not been released. Though it is expected to fall short of a formal alliance agreement, Russian officials have said it will likely cover defense cooperation in some sense.

Analysts debate how far North Korea-Russia military cooperation will go. Some say Kim and Putin may find more reasons to continue working together as each country’s relationship with the West deteriorates. But the two men will not restore Soviet-era ties, said Kim Gunn, a South Korean lawmaker who earlier this year stepped down as South Korea’s top nuclear envoy.

“Russia is not the former Soviet Union,” he said. “And Russia is at war in Ukraine – they are pouring all their energy into this war. There’s not so much room for Russia to do anything with North Korea.”

For now, Putin and Kim are presenting a united front, with Putin describing their collaboration on Wednesday as a fight against U.S. hegemony.

An editorial Tuesday in the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s main newspaper, said the “people and military of both countries have the sacred duty, together, to safeguard their country’s sovereignty and dignity and guarantee the peace and security of the region.”

Rachel Minyoung Lee, a North Korea watcher and senior fellow at the Washington-based Stimson Center, said that formulation was unusual for North Korean state media, an aberration that she said sends a “less than comforting message” about future military cooperation.

“The agreement (or a treaty) North Korea and Russia sign during Putin’s visit, if made public, will hopefully bring clarity to this phrase,” she wrote in a blog post on 38 North, a North Korea-focused website.

Sanctions evasion

Tuesday, Putin vowed to work with North Korea to counter sanctions. In a letter published in North Korean state media, Putin said the two countries would develop trade mechanisms “not controlled by the West” and would “jointly oppose illegitimate unilateral restrictions.”

Both countries are subject to a growing number of sanctions imposed by individual countries – Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine and North Korea because of its nuclear weapons program and other illicit activities, such as cybertheft.

North Korea is also subject to a series of United Nations Security Council resolutions, which prohibit a wide range of economic activity with Pyongyang.

Russia – a permanent, veto-wielding member of the U.N. Security Council – voted for the North Korea sanctions as recently as 2017. But it now opposes the sanctions and has taken steps to complicate their enforcement. 

 Many Russian analysts say Putin is reluctant to completely abandon U.N. sanctions on North Korea. Instead, he may search for what he sees as loopholes that facilitate cooperation even in areas that are subject to U.N. sanctions, such as North Korean laborers earning income abroad.

For instance, North Korean IT specialists could work remotely from their home country without technically receiving income abroad, said Georgy Toloraya, a former member of the U.N. Panel of Experts, which was meant to monitor enforcement of the North Korea sanctions.

Weapons cooperation

Analysts are also watching Putin’s visit for any signs of additional defense cooperation.

A key question among Western analysts is what Putin might offer North Korea in exchange for weapons allegedly used in the Ukraine war.

U.S. officials have expressed concern that Russia may provide North Korea with advanced weapons or other assistance related to its nuclear program.

Such cooperation represents “the greatest threat to U.S. national security since the Korean War,” said Victor Cha, the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

In a blog post, Cha said it is “highly unlikely that Kim would have feted Putin so lavishly only for the promise of food and fuel,” noting that Pyongyang seeks advanced weapons, including nuclear submarine and intercontinental ballistic missile technology.

“This aspect of the relationship not only destabilizes security on the peninsula and in Asia; it also heightens the direct threat posed by North Korea to the [U.S.] homeland,” he said.
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Fresh Malaysian durians for China after trade deals signed during Li’s visit

Posted on by SeeEA

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Fresh Malaysian durians will soon make their way to China as the two countries signed a slew of trade and economic deals Wednesday during a visit by Premier Li Qiang to celebrate a half-century of diplomatic relations.

Li held private talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in the government administrative capital of Putrajaya before they met with their delegations. The two leaders witnessed the signing of various pacts, including a new five-year deal for economic and trade cooperation that officials said would bolster links between industries in priority sectors like high-level manufacturing and the digital economy.

The sides also inked a protocol on measures that will allow Malaysia to export to China fresh durian, a spiky tropical fruit with a strong odor and known for its creamy pulp, Anwar’s office said.

Exporting fresh durians to China will open a new market for Malaysia, which began selling durian pulp and paste to China in 2011 and frozen durian whole fruits in 2018. Malaysia’s frozen durian export value to China has surged from 170 million ringgit ($36 million) in 2018 to nearly 1.2 billion ringgit ($255 million) last year, it said.

Li, the first Chinese premier to visit Malaysia since 2015, flew in for a three-day visit late Tuesday from Australia. Li, who was given a red-carpet welcome, said upon his arrival that the two nations’ 50-year anniversary was a new starting point to deepen links and increase exchanges.

“China is advancing Chinese modernization on all fronts through high-quality development. Malaysia, on its part, is promoting national development under the vision of Malaysia MADANI. China is ready to work with Malaysia,” Li said in a statement published by the national Bernama news agency.

Li, China’s No. 2 leader after President Xi Jinping, last week also became the first Chinese premier to visit New Zealand and then Australia in seven years.

Other agreements signed aim to promote investment in the digital economy and green development, combat transnational crime, and boost housing and urban development, higher education, people-to-people exchanges in science and technology, tourism and cultural cooperation, Anwar’s office said.

Trade with China — Malaysia’s No. 1 trading partner since 2009 — made up 17% of Malaysia’s global trade, valued at $98.8 billion last year, Trade Minister Zafrul Aziz was quoted as saying by Bernama last week.

While trade dominated the talks, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Mohamad Hassan has said the prickly issue of territorial claims in the South China Sea was also likely to be raised.

Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan all dispute Beijing’s claims to almost the entire South China Sea. But unlike the publicized clashes between the Philippines and China, Malaysia’s government prefers the diplomatic channel and rarely criticizes Beijing even though Chinese coast guard ships have sailed near Malaysia’s waters. This is partly to protect economic ties between the trade partners.

“That is why we need to further build on this good cooperation we have established since 1974. The good ties we have enjoyed since will allow us to manage and resolve any issue amicably,” Mohamad Hassan was quoted as saying by The Star newspaper ahead of Li’s visit. 

Anwar, who visited China twice last year, has sought to move closer to Beijing even while engaging the U.S. as a key ally. While speaking at a forum in Tokyo in May, Anwar stressed that Beijing is too close, too important and too strategic to ignore.

Ahead of Li’s visit, Anwar told Chinese media that Malaysia planned to join the BRICS bloc of developing economies but didn’t give details. The plan was confirmed by Zafrul and Mohamad Hassan on Monday. The bloc’s core members are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, who seek a fairer world order currently dominated by Western nations. The bloc expanded with Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invited to become members this year. Some 40 countries have also expressed interest.

“Joining BRICS doesn’t mean Malaysia will lose its strategic ambiguity between Beijing and Washington. It merely means an additional platform to give it a bigger voice as a middle power,” said James Chin, professor of Asian studies at Australia’s University of Tasmania.

Li is also scheduled to have an audience with King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar. Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry said Li and Anwar will also attend a groundbreaking ceremony at a construction site for the East Coast Rail Link, which connects Malaysia’s west coast to eastern rural states and is a key part of China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.

The project was suspended in 2018 after Malaysia’s long-ruling coalition was toppled in a historic general election over a massive corruption scandal. It was subsequently revived after the Chinese contractor agreed to cut the construction cost by one-third, and is now due to be completed by the end of 2026.

The two leaders will also attend a dinner to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations. Both leaders will also meet the business community at a luncheon before Li heads home Thursday.
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Security and trade dominate Australian ministerial talks in Papua New Guinea

Posted on by SeeEA

SYDNEY — Senior Australian ministers are in Papua New Guinea to discuss security and development amid China’s growing ambitions in the region.

The ministerial forum comes at a critical time with the Canberra government hoping to maintain its position as a dominant trade and security partner in the Pacific.

Papua New Guinea is boosting trade ties with China and has had negotiations with Beijing over policing cooperation, which has caused alarm in Canberra and Washington, which struck a defense accord with Papua New Guinea last year. 

Australia’s high-level delegation to Papua New Guinea includes Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, Defense Minister Richard Marles, and ministers for cyber security, agriculture and fisheries, trade and international development.

They will join their counterparts for talks Wednesday on economic and security cooperation.

Wong told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that Canberra will pursue its own interests, while Beijing will do the same.

“We do not expect China to stop being China. China will continue to assert its interests,” she said. “How we deal with that is to assert ours and we do so both in the bilateral relationship but also in the way we engage in the region and the way we engage with other powers.”

Meg Keen, director of the Pacific Islands Program at the Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based research organization, told VOA that both Canberra and Washington want to limit Beijing’s influence in Papua New Guinea.

China has already sent police to neighboring Solomon Islands and Kiribati, insisting it has a plan to help Pacific Island countries maintain social order.

Australia has, however, said that Beijing should have “no role” in policing the Pacific Islands, and that the Canberra government will train more local security forces to fill gaps.

Keen said China has strategic ambitions in the Pacific region.

“China is in a competition with Taiwan for recognition and since 2019 it has been able to win the support away from Taiwan of three countries in the region. That is significant. Kiribati is one of those,” Keen said. “So, while these are small countries they have enormous ocean territories. They sit in a very strategic place between the United States, Australia and Asia.”

This week, the Chinese Premier Li Qiang held talks with senior government officials in Australia.

It was a further sign that bilateral relations, which have been strained over various geopolitical and trade disputes, are improving.

However, differences between the two sides remain over human rights, the South China Sea, allegations of cyber espionage and, increasingly, over Beijing’s ambitions in the Pacific, a region Australia has traditionally considered to be its sphere of influence.
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