Month: August 2024

Australia, US look to joint production of hypersonic missile, US lawmaker says

Posted on by SeeUS

SYDNEY — Joint production of hypersonic missiles by Australia and the United States could reduce strain on the U.S. defense industrial base and boost deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region, U.S. Republican lawmaker Michael McCaul said in Sydney on Friday.

In an interview, the chair of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee said the Australian manufacture of the cutting-edge weapons provided an example of how streamlined licensing of sensitive U.S. defense technology, and license exemptions on 70% of defense exports to Australia from September 1, would help the U.S. compete with China in developing advanced weapons.

Hypersonic missiles, which travel in the upper atmosphere more than five times faster than sound, were tested by China in 2021, prompting a technology race with the United States. Their recent use by Russia in the Ukraine war, sparked concern among members of NATO.

A Chinese hypersonic weapon “could hit Australia in a matter of minutes and Australia cannot stop that right now. So we need to catch up to that,” McCaul said.

“I was at a hypersonic company just yesterday and we want to move towards co-production,” he added.

“It is already starting and that is the exciting thing and it will help relieve the stress that we see on the defense industrial base,” he added.

Australia is testing a Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) with the United States, which it will consider as its first such weapon for fighter jets, the defense and foreign ministers of the two countries said after talks last week.

McCaul said his visit focused on the AUKUS partnership with the United States and Britain to transfer nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, as well as develop other advanced defense technologies.

The AUKUS alliance was an example of a U.S. ally spending more on its own defense, he said, when asked if a reelected Donald Trump would continue to back a growing U.S. defense posture in Australia, and the sale of U.S. nuclear submarines next decade.

AUKUS talks had started under the Republican Trump presidency, he added.

“I think there will be strong support for it,” he said.

Rotations of U.S. nuclear submarines through Australia under AUKUS are a deterrent factor in the region, where the Philippines is under pressure from China in the South China Sea, he said, after visiting the Philippines.

“Chairman Xi, I think, fears this alliance more than anything else because he knows what it means – it means that nuclear submarines will be rotating, but also these innovative technologies that we have,” he added, in a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In Beijing this week, the Chinese foreign ministry said AUKUS “harms efforts” to keep the region peaceful and secure and exacerbates the arms race.
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Inflation, fatigue wear on Germany’s resolve to help Ukraine

Posted on by SeeEU

More than two and a half years into Russia’s war in Ukraine, Germany is considering slashing military assistance to Kyiv by 50%. Berlin is the European Union’s largest donor of military aid to Ukraine and second only to the United States, but domestic politics are casting doubt on that role. Marcus Harton narrates this report from Ricardo Marquina in Berlin.
Camera: Ricardo Marquina 
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Flights, trains canceled in Tokyo area as a strong typhoon swerves nearby

Posted on by SeeEA

TOKYO — Flights and trains in the Tokyo area were canceled Friday, and people were warned of strong winds, heavy rains and potential flooding and mudslides as a typhoon swerved near Japan on its way further north in the Pacific Ocean.

Typhoon Ampil was forecast to reach the waters near Tokyo in the evening then continue north, bringing stormy conditions to the northern Kanto and Tohoku regions early Saturday. It had sustained winds of 162 kph with higher gusts Friday morning and was moving north at 15 kph, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Ampil was not expected to make landfall and would weaken to a tropical storm by Sunday.

Tokyo’s Disneyland, usually open until 9 p.m., was closing early at 3 p.m. because of the typhoon. Yamato Transport, which makes Amazon and other deliveries in Japan, said no deliveries will be made in the Tokyo and nearby affected areas Friday and Saturday.

The Shinkansen bullet trains running between Tokyo and Nagoya were halted for the entire day, according to Central Japan Railway, a common response to typhoons here. Bullet trains serving northeastern Japan and some local Tokyo trains were suspended temporarily or switched to a slower schedule.

Dozens of departing and arriving flights were canceled at Tokyo’s two airports, Haneda and Narita, as well as at Kansai, Osaka and Chubu airports. The flight cancellations affect some 90,000 people, according to Japanese media reports. Several highways may also partly close to traffic.

Airports and train stations had been packed Thursday with people moving up their plans to avoid disruptions from the typhoon. Friday was drizzly and windy in Tokyo, although the intensity varied. Traffic and crowds out on the streets were sparse, mostly because of the Bon summer holiday period, not just the weather. Stores remained open.

Officials warned people to stay away from rivers and beaches and to be wary of winds strong enough to send objects flying.

“We foresee extremely fierce winds and extremely fierce seas,” said Shuichi Tachihara, JMA chief forecaster.

Japanese TV broadcasts showed Hachijo residents boarding up windows. Ampil moved past Hachijo by midday, as it headed northward. Store shelves for bread and instant noodles were empty.
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Ernesto grows into Category 2 hurricane as it aims for Bermuda

Posted on by SeeUS

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hurricane Ernesto strengthened into a Category 2 storm Thursday night as it barreled toward Bermuda after leaving hundreds of thousands of people in Puerto Rico without power or water. Sweltering heat enveloped the U.S. territory, raising concerns about people’s health.

A hurricane warning was in effect for Bermuda, with Ernesto expected to pass near or over the island Saturday.

The storm was centered about 660 kilometers south-southwest of Bermuda late Thursday. Its maximum sustained winds had risen to 155 kph, and the storm was moving north-northeast at 22 kph over open waters.

“I cannot stress enough how important it is for every resident to use this time to prepare. We have seen in the past the devastating effects of complacency,” said National Security Minister Michael Weeks.

Ernesto was forecast to possibly reach Category 3 strength Friday and then weaken as it approaches Bermuda, where it was forecast to drop 15 to 30 centimeters of rain, with up to 38 centimeters in isolated areas.

“All of the guidance show this system as a large hurricane near Bermuda,” said the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Ernesto was then expected to pass near or east of Atlantic Canada on Monday.

Meanwhile, the spinning storm on Thursday was generating southern winds in Puerto Rico, which have a heating effect as opposed to the typical cooling trade winds that blow from the east.

“We know a lot of people don’t have power,” said Ernesto Morales with the National Weather Service as he warned of extreme heat and urged people to stay hydrated.

More than 290,000 of 1.4 million customers remained in the dark Thursday evening, more than a day after Ernesto swiped past Puerto Rico late Tuesday as a tropical storm before strengthening into a hurricane. A maximum of 735,000 clients had been without power Wednesday.

Hundreds of thousands also were without water as many questioned the widespread power outage given that Ernesto was only a tropical storm when it spun past the island.

“I haven’t slept at all,” said Ramón Mercedes Paredes, a 41-year-old construction worker who planned to sleep outdoors on Thursday night to beat the heat. “I haven’t even been able to take a shower.”

At a small park in the Santurce neighborhood of the San Juan capital, Alexander Reyna, a 32-year-old construction worker, sipped on a bright red sports drink that friends provided as roosters crowed nearby above the slap of dominoes.

He had no water or power and planned to spend all day at the park as he lamented the lack of breeze, a slight film of sweat already forming on his forehead: “I have to come here because I cannot stand to be at home.”

The situation worried many who lived through Hurricane Maria, a powerful Category 4 storm that hit Puerto Rico in September 2017 and was blamed for at least 2,975 deaths in its sweltering aftermath. It also razed the island’s power grid, which is still being rebuilt.

The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory on Thursday warning of “dangerously hot and humid conditions.”

Faustino Peguero, 50, said he was concerned about his wife, who has fibromyalgia, heart failure and other health conditions and needs electricity. He has a small generator at home, but he is running out of gasoline and cannot afford to buy more because he hasn’t found work.

“It’s chaos,” he said.

Officials said they don’t know when power will be fully restored as concerns grow about the health of many in Puerto Rico who cannot afford generators or solar panels on the island of 3.2 million people with a more than 40% poverty rate.

Crews have flown more than 870 kilometers across Puerto Rico and identified 400 power line failures, with 150 of them already fixed, said Juan Saca, president of Luma Energy, a private company that operates the transmission and distribution of power in Puerto Rico. The remaining failures will take more time to fix because they involve fallen trees, he added.

“We haven’t seen anything catastrophic,” he said.

When pressed for an estimate of when power would be restored, Alejandro González, Luma’s operations director, declined to say.

“It would be irresponsible to provide an exact date,” he said.

At least 250,000 customers across Puerto Rico also were without water given the power outages, down from a maximum of 350,000. Among them was 65-year-old Gisela Pérez, who was starting to sweat as she cooked sweet plantains, pork, chicken and spaghetti at a street-side diner. After her shift, she planned to buy gallons of water, since she was especially concerned about her two small dogs: Mini and Lazy.

“They cannot go without it,” she said. “They come first.”
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Analysts: Flood disaster exposes Kim Jong Un’s fear of South Korean influence   

Posted on by SeeEA

washington — As North Korean leader Kim Jong Un struggles to cope with devastating floods in his country, his recent brash words have exposed his fear of South Korean influence over his people, analysts in Seoul said.

During a visit to a flood-stricken area last week, Kim slammed South Korean news reports about the flooding, claiming media outlets were producing fake news stories about the damage and death toll.

Kim accused the South Korean media of spreading false rumors, calling news reports “conspiracy propaganda” and “blasphemy” from “the country of waste.” The South’s media had reported that an estimated 1,500 people were dead or missing after the flooding, citing unnamed South Korean government officials.

While Kim often engages in bellicose rhetoric, his direct criticism of South Korean media stood out as rare. His sister, Kim Yo Jong, has often taken the role of verbally attacking the country’s southern neighbor.

Anxiety over outside influence

Some analysts said Kim’s denunciation of the South Korean media was spurred by his anxiety over North Koreans’ greater access to outside information.

Cho Han-bum, a senior research fellow at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, told VOA Korean on Tuesday that thanks to modern technology, North Korean people receive information from the outside world more easily today.

According to Cho, there are around 34,000 North Korean defectors in South Korea these days. This is a 23.6% increase from the end of 2014, when there were 27,500, data from South Korea’s Unification Ministry show.

“Many of them manage to talk frequently with their families in North Korea over the phone,” Cho said. “The information from South Korea tends to spread faster through the intranet within North Korea, even though the internet connected to the outside world is blocked.”

North Korean authorities are having more difficulty controlling the flow of information now than they did in the past, Cho added.

Nam Sung-wook, professor of North Korean studies at Korea University in Seoul, said the reopening of the North’s border with China in the post-COVID-19 era has allowed more information to enter what is often called the “Hermit Kingdom.”

“Those who live near the Chinese border area should be able to get hold of the foreign news,” Nam told VOA Korean in a phone call Tuesday. “They must be upset to find out the regime’s incapability in dealing with the disaster, and the regime, on the other hand, is trying to contain such dissatisfaction.”

South Korea has always been an easy target for the North Korean regime to frame as a source of fake news, Nam said. North Korea would be hesitant to blame China, its longtime benefactor, he said, although it is likely that some North Koreans have heard from the Chinese side across the border along the Yalu River about the flooding, which has affected both countries.

Cha Doo-hyun, a researcher at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, said Kim might fear that his incompetence would be highlighted if he accepted support from South Korea, which made an offer earlier this month that Kim rejected.

“For Kim, the news reports of the offers from other countries only underscore that the Kim regime doesn’t have enough capacity to handle the situation,” Cha told VOA Korean on the phone Tuesday. “And that is what makes Kim Jong Un respond to the South Korean media even more defiantly.”

Refusal of aid

In his speech last week, Kim also stressed that North Korea would “pioneer its own path with its own strength and effort,” while admitting that several countries and international institutions had offered to help the North.

Kim’s remarks suggested that the regime would refuse to accept any support from outside.

Lim Eul-chul, associate professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University in Changwon, South Korea, told VOA Korean on the phone Tuesday that Kim is trying to discredit the South Korean media.

“Kim Jong Un has already defined a new relationship with South Korea and is seeking an internal unity while escalating animosity toward the South,” Lim said. “He cannot receive the humanitarian aid proposed by South Korea in this situation, so I think Kim is using this South Korean media report as an excuse to lower expectations about the humanitarian aid that South Korea was willing to provide.”

Lim added that Kim is exploiting the natural disaster to more broadly limit South Korean influence among North Korean people.

The South Korean government interpreted Kim’s remarks about its nation’s news media as his attempt to “minimize public sentiment turning against the regime” by pointing fingers outward.

North Korea is “shifting the subject of criticism to the outside,” Koo Byoung-sam, a spokesperson at South Korea’s Unification Ministry, told a press briefing earlier this month.
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Jakarta’s exercises with Beijing signal nonalignment stance in US-China rivalry

Posted on by SeeEA

washington — As Indonesia gears up to participate in U.S.-led joint military exercises this month, it agreed at a meeting this week to hold military training with China, a move analysts say points to Indonesia’s nonalignment stance regarding the U.S.-China rivalry.

The Indonesian military is preparing to host Super Garuda Shield exercises led by the U.S. with participation by dozens of countries, including Japan, Australia, South Korea, Germany, Singapore and Malaysia. The annual drills will be held in the Indonesian provinces of East Java, West Java and South Sumatra from August 26 to September 5.

In the meantime, senior Indonesian and Chinese officials agreed to hold joint military training and reaffirmed their commitment to boost regional security, among other things, at a meeting Tuesday in Jakarta, according to a statement by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry.

It was the first senior officials’ meeting of a joint foreign-defense ministerial dialogue that will be elevated to a ministerial-level meeting during a new Indonesian administration next year. President-elect Prabowo Subianto will begin his term in October.

The two countries agreed to launch a new dialogue when outgoing President Joko Widodo met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in October in Beijing.

“If it takes place next year, the bilateral exercises with the Chinese will reflect Indonesia’s pursuit of showcasing its neutrality” based on “bebas and aktif,” or “free and active” foreign policy aimed at making it “difficult for any major power to pull Indonesia into its sphere of influence,” said Abdul Rahman Yaacob, a research fellow in the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute.

However, if the exercises with China focus on combat operations and interoperability rather than nontraditional security areas such as piracy and counterterrorism and are conducted in the contested South China Sea, it “will raise red flags for the U.S. and its allies,” Yaacob said.

“Indonesia under Prabowo will have to balance many factors when planning exercises with the Chinese, as potential repercussions could be high.” The U.S. and its allies, including South Korea, France and Japan, could reconsider a decision to supply the Indonesians with advanced weapons systems, he added.

Indonesia, like other Southeast Asian countries, has been conducting joint drills with both the U.S. and China.

Last year, China sent a naval destroyer and frigate to participate at the invitation of Jakarta in a multilateral naval exercise aimed at fostering cooperation on humanitarian operations and disaster management.

The U.S. Navy, which also participated, described the drills as allowing “exchanges that support multilateral cooperation.”

Indonesia’s defense cooperation with China is considered underdeveloped, mainly focusing on low-level exercises. But recently, Jakarta expressed its desire to hold more military exercises with China, in addition to ASEAN member states and the U.S.

In an interview with Nikkei Asia in July, Indonesian Army Chief of Staff General Maruli Simanjuntak said the Indonesian army is preparing to conduct joint drills with China that could start next year.

“Indonesia, like most of its neighbors, both seeks pragmatic cooperation with and wants to hedge against the hegemonic ambitions of China,” said Gregory Poling, senior fellow and director of the Southeast Asia Program and Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“That also explains why Jakarta would be open to low-level military exercises with China even as it prioritizes its much more robust military relationship with traditional partners like the United States, Japan and Australia.”

The U.S. Navy SEALs and the Indonesian navy’s Frogman Forces Command held a joint training exercise in July. The drills have been taking place annually since their bilateral defense talks in 2022.

Andreyka Natalegawa, an associate fellow for the Southeast Asia Program at CSIS, said, “Despite the apparent — and nascent — deepening of Indonesia-China defense ties, the United States remains the primary partner of choice in defense cooperation with Indonesia.”

He continued, “The depth, frequency and institutionalization of U.S. bilateral and multilateral exercises with Indonesia remains second to none, and it is highly unlikely that China will supplant the United States’ role as Indonesia’s primary defense partner of choice in the immediate future.”

At their first U.S.-Indonesian senior officials’ foreign policy and defense dialogue in October 2023 in Washington, the U.S. reaffirmed its commitment to support Indonesia’s defense forces as the country’s “largest military engagement partner.”
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Activist falsely blames US for Sudanese absence at peace talks

Posted on by SeeAF

There is no evidence the United States set any conditions for Sudanese participation. According to the United Nations, Sudan does not have a government, and the United Arab Emirates and Egypt are key to a successful cease-fire.
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Restaurant with robot servers causes excitement in Nairobi     

Posted on by SeeAF

In Nairobi, a new restaurant is generating business and buzz – not just because of the food, but because of the staff. Robots serving dishes is the main attraction of diners who flock to the Robot Cafe. Juma Majanga reports. Camera: Jimmy Makhulo.
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Biden’s remarks on Venezuela prompt questions over US policy

Posted on by SeeUS

white house — President Joe Biden said Thursday he supports new elections in Venezuela, giving a VOA reporter a two-word response — “I do” — when asked “do you support new elections in Venezuela?”

Brazil’s leader had proposed a rerun of the July 28 election, which the White House says opposition challenger Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia won. Protests have bubbled up in the wake of President Nicolas Maduro’s victory claim, and the leader of the opposition is calling for massive protests this Saturday.  

But the administration told VOA hours later that Biden understood VOA’s question differently, leaving it unclear whether this represents a shift in Washington’s position on Venezuela’s political crisis.  

A National Security Council spokesperson reiterated the administration’s stance, telling VOA in an email that Biden “was speaking to the absurdity of Maduro and his representatives not coming clean about the July 28 elections.” 

“It is abundantly clear to the majority of the Venezuelan people, the United States, and a growing number of countries that Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia won the most votes on July 28. The United States again calls for the will of the Venezuelan people to be respected and for discussions to begin on a transition back to democratic norms.” 

The spokesperson did not say definitively where Biden stands on whether the election should be repeated.  

Earlier Thursday, an NSC spokesperson told VOA that the Biden administration is “considering a range of options to incentivize and pressure Maduro to recognize the election results and will continue to do so.” 

White House seeks vote data

Separately, White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby told reporters: “We want to see the actual vote tallies, the data, and we haven’t seen that yet. So, we still need to see that.” 

Kirby also added, “it is not true that there’s been amnesty offered to Mr. Maduro” as part of any deal to resolve the crisis.  

Shortly after the election, Maduro began cracking down on political opponents, prompting rights groups to sound the alarm.

Strained ties 

Washington has long had strained ties with Caracas, Venezuela, caused by ideological differences with the left-leaning country, doubts about the validity of previous elections, U.S. sanctions on officials over human rights abuses, and crippling American economic sanctions on the oil-rich nation. 

Venezuela’s situation has led to a northward exodus of millions of Venezuelans, leaving both American authorities and those migrants in a delicate position.

Celia Mendoza, Carolina Valladares and Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this story.
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Nigerian lawmaker withdraws bill that would jail citizens for subversive activities

Posted on by SeeAF

Abuja, Nigeria — Nigerian legislation that critics said would have allowed the government to crack down on dissent has been withdrawn.

Supporters said the bill was intended to stop what were seen as subversive activities. But Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of Nigeria’s lower chamber of parliament and sponsor of the bill, withdrew it in a statement Wednesday. He said the decision was made in response to public concerns, and after careful consideration of Nigeria’s current circumstances.

The Counter Subversion Bill, with 24 clauses, had reached the first reading in parliament — a significant step in Nigeria’s legislative process, since it was introduced in late July.

The bill called for a 10-year jail term or a hefty fine for refusing to recite the national anthem and a five-year sentence for erecting an illegal roadblock, proposing illegal curfews or conducting illegal processions.

Damilare Akinola, an Abuja-based human rights activist, called the bill “thoughtless.”

“Even before the introduction of the bill, Nigeria’s civic space has been stifled,” Akinola said. “These are just further attempts to consolidate. So these attempts are not surprising.”

The bill said citizens who disobeyed constituted authority could be jailed for three years. It was introduced in the wake of anti-government demonstrations in Nigeria.

Earlier this month, thousands marched in the streets of Nigeria’s major cities to demand a reversal of government actions, especially the removal of fuel subsidies.

The protests turned violent when security agents applied excessive force to disperse demonstrators. Amnesty International said 23 people were killed.

Amnesty’s Isa Sanusi sayid Nigerian lawmakers are supposed to focus on important matters.

“The whole matter is misplaced, ill-timed and inappropriate, because that legislation is draconian, repressive and adds no value,” Sanusi said. “It can possibly be manipulated and used to target people who disagree with the government. It must be completely withdrawn. We want to get assurance that it will not be brought back through the back door. The lawmakers are supposed to focus on addressing corruption, mismanagement, hunger and growing inflation.”

Human rights groups often blame Nigerian authorities for trying to enact repressive legislation that shrinks the civic space. In 2019, legislation calling for regulation of social media was dropped after it led to protests.

Authorities often say such legislation is proposed in the interest of national security. Abuja resident Godswill Effiom disagrees.

“I am one of the citizens who kicked against” the bill on allegedly subversive activities, Effiom said. “Let them allow citizens to express themselves. There are better ways to curb all this, not to restrict people from expression. We are in a democratic kind of leadership.”

For now, activists and citizens will be monitoring lawmakers’ next step.
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US applauds Sudan’s decision to open Adre border crossing with Chad

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Washington — The United States welcomed Thursday’s announcement by Sudan’s sovereign council to allow the use of the Adre border crossing with Chad for three months, while continuing efforts to bring both sides of Sudan’s warring military factions to the negotiating table.

The opening of the Adre border crossing is a long-awaited move by aid organizations aiming to deliver humanitarian assistance to famine-threatened areas of the Darfur region. The war-torn country faces one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

We “welcome the news as it relates to this border crossing with Chad,” State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told VOA during a briefing on Thursday. “We are continuing to call on the SAF [Sudanese Armed Forces] and RSF [Rapid Support Forces] to facilitate unrestricted humanitarian access through any and all available channels.”

The United States has invited leaders from both warring factions to Geneva, Switzerland, for talks aimed at negotiating a potential cease-fire to end the 16-month civil war.

The SAF had already rejected the talks several days earlier, while the RSF delegation, though in Switzerland, was absent from Wednesday’s open session.

“We’re still very focused on getting both sides in Sudan back to the table and to come to meaningful agreements about laying their arms down and doing the right thing for the people of Sudan,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Thursday.

“You certainly need both military actors to be part of” the conversation on a cessation of violence, Patel told reporters on Thursday.

Diplomats from the African Union, Egypt, Saudia Arabia, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations were at the U.S.-mediated talks, which opened on Wednesday.

“Day 2 of our diplomatic talks on Sudan is under way. We continue our relentless work with international partners to save lives and ensure we achieve tangible results that build upon the Jeddah Process and implement the Jeddah Declaration,” U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello wrote on X.

The Jeddah Declaration, reached in May 2023, calls for full aid access by land and air to all populations regardless of who controls the area.

More than a year of fighting between SAF and RSF troops has displaced nearly 10 million people across the greater Horn of Africa country and left 26 million facing crisis-level hunger.  

“The medical system in Sudan is at a breaking point. Hospitals designed to serve tens of thousands are overwhelmed with over half a million displaced people, while the international community’s pledged aid remains largely undelivered,” Adil Al-Mahi, humanitarian organization MedGlobal’s country director in Sudan, told VOA on Thursday.

He added that the last operational hospital in El Fasher may be forced to close due to intense shelling. El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, is the battleground for intense conflict between the SAF and RSF.

“The Saudi Hospital, the last public hospital in North Darfur, is barely functioning after continued bombardments. With each attack, it becomes increasingly clear that there is no regard for the protection of health facilities or the civilians within them. The international community must urgently intervene to protect these vital lifelines before it’s too late,” Al-Mahi said.
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Armenia, Azerbaijan in arms race despite peace talks

Posted on by SeeEU

Azerbaijan and Armenia are in an arms race that threatens to undermine U.S.-backed peace talks between the two Caucasus countries. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
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Matthew Perry’s assistant among 5 people charged in ‘Friends’ star’s death

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los angeles — A prosecutor says five people have been charged in connection with Matthew Perry’s death from a ketamine overdose last year, including the actor’s assistant and two doctors.

U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada announced the charges Thursday, saying the doctors supplied Perry with a large amount of ketamine and even wondered in a text message how much the former “Friends” star would be willing to pay.

“These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves. They knew what they were doing was wrong,” Estrada said.

Perry died in October due to a ketamine overdose and received several injections of the drug on the day he died from his live-in personal assistant. The assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, is the one who found Perry dead later that day.

The actor went to the two charged doctors in desperation after his regular doctors refused to give him ketamine in the amounts he wanted. DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in one instance the actor paid $2,000 for a vial of ketamine that cost one of the physicians about $12.

Two of the people, including one of the doctors charged, were arrested Thursday, Estrada said. Two of the defendants, including Iwamasa, have pleaded guilty to charges already, and a third person has agreed to plead guilty.

Multiple messages left seeking comment from lawyers or offices for all the defendants have not yet been returned.

Among those arrested Thursday are Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who is charged with seven counts of distribution of ketamine and also two charges related to allegations he falsified records after Perry’s death.

The other person arrested Thursday is Jasveen Sangha, who prosecutors described as a drug dealer known as the “ketamine queen.”

Ketamine supplied by Sangha caused Perry’s death, authorities said.

Sangha and Plasencia could make their first court appearances later Thursday.

Records show Plascencia’s medical license has been in good standing with no records of complaints, though it is set to expire in October.

A San Diego physician, Dr. Mark Chavez, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine. Prosecutors allege Chavez funneled ketamine to Plasencia, securing some of the drug from a wholesale distributor through a fraudulent prescription.

The prosecutor said the defendants exchanged messages soon after Perry’s death referencing ketamine as the cause of death. Estrada said they tried to cover up their involvement in supplying Perry ketamine, a powerful anesthetic that is sometimes used to treat chronic pain and depression.

Los Angeles police said in May that they were working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with a probe into why the 54-year-old had so much of the surgical anesthetic in his system.

Iwamasa found the actor face down in his hot tub on Oct. 28, and paramedics who were called immediately declared him dead.

The assistant received the ketamine from Eric Fleming, who has pleaded guilty to obtaining the drug from Sangha and delivering it to Iwamasa. In all, he delivered 50 vials of ketamine for Perry’s use, including 25 handed over four days before the actor’s death.

Perry’s autopsy, released in December, found that the amount of ketamine in his blood was in the range used for general anesthesia during surgery.

Ketamine has seen a huge surge in use in recent years as a treatment for depression, anxiety and pain. People close to Perry told coroner’s investigators that he was undergoing ketamine infusion therapy.

But the medical examiner said Perry’s last treatment 1½ weeks earlier wouldn’t explain the levels of ketamine in his blood. The drug is typically metabolized in a matter of hours. At least two doctors were treating Perry, a psychiatrist and an anesthesiologist who served as his primary care physician, the medical examiner’s report said. No illicit drugs or paraphernalia were found at his house.

Ketamine was listed as the primary cause of death, which was ruled an accident with no foul play suspected, the report said. Drowning and other medical issues were contributing factors, the coroner said.

Drug-related celebrity deaths have in other cases led authorities to prosecute the people who supplied them.

After rapper Mac Miller died from an overdose of cocaine, alcohol and counterfeit oxycodone that contained fentanyl, two of the men who provided him the fentanyl were convicted of distributing the drug. One was sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison, the other to 10 years.

And after Michael Jackson died in 2009 from a lethal dose of propofol, a drug intended for use only during surgery and other medical procedures and not for the insomnia the singer sought it for, his doctor, Conrad Murray, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011. Murray has maintained his innocence.
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Even in exile, Russian journalists not ‘100% safe’

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Prague — When the opposition activist Ilya Yashin spoke after being freed from a Russian prison as part of the historic prisoner swap between Washington and Moscow, he said he had been warned never to return.

Speaking in Bonn, Germany, Yashin said that a Federal Security Service agent told him that if he came back from exile, his “days will end like Navalny’s” — a reference to opposition figure Alexey Navalny, who died in an Arctic penal colony in February.

But as the experiences of Russian journalists and critics already in exile show, distance from Moscow is no assurance of safety.

Alesya Marokhovskaya fled Moscow for Prague shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, thinking she would be safe in the Czech capital. Then the threats started.

Several menacing messages directed at her and a colleague came via the feedback form on the website of IStories, the Prague-based Russian outlet where they work.

Sent over the course of several months last year, the messages included detailed information about where they lived, their travel plans, and even that Marokhovskaya’s dog had breathing problems.

 

“I was thinking I was safe here, and it was a big mistake for me because it’s not true,” Marokhovskaya told VOA. “It’s hard not to be paranoid.”

Even when Marokhovskaya moved to a new apartment, the assailants took notice.

“Rest assured, you can’t hide from us anywhere,” an August 2023 message, originally in Russian, said. “We’ll find her wherever she walks her wheezing dog. None of you can hide anywhere now.”

The threats underscore a troubling pattern of transnational repression in which Moscow reaches across borders to target exiled journalists and activists around the world.

Well-documented tactics to silence critics include online harassment, legal threats, surveillance and suspected poisonings, press freedom experts say.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry declined to answer specific questions about threats and harassment facing journalists. A spokesperson instead said “protecting the rights of journalists” is the ministry’s “constant focus of attention.”

The emailed response shared a list of instances in which foreign governments fined, banned or suspended Kremlin-run media. Russia’s Prague embassy, meanwhile, did not reply to VOA’s email requesting comment.

At first, Marokhovskaya thought the threats didn’t impact her. But she later noticed changes in her lifestyle. She didn’t leave her home as often, she said, and she worried about surveillance.

“Physically, I’ve never faced any aggression. It’s just words for now, but it makes my life really messy,” she said. “But only in a psychological way.”

It’s a sentiment shared by her colleagues at IStories and other exiled Russian journalists who spoke with VOA in Prague.

“Any journalist, whether he’s working at IStories, or The Insider, or any other media outlet in exile, is, in a way, risking his or her life. You can’t be 100% safe,” IStories founder Roman Anin told VOA.

Restricted by Russian laws that effectively banned independent coverage of the war in Ukraine, hundreds of journalists — and their newsrooms — fled. Most resettled across Europe in cities like Amsterdam, Berlin, Riga, Vilnius, Tbilisi and Prague.

The legal aid group Setevye Svobody, or Net Freedoms Project, estimates that at least 1,000 journalists have left since the war broke out. Rights group OVD-Info estimates roughly the same number of political prisoners are held in Russian custody. Among that number, say watchdogs, are several journalists.

Had she stayed on Russian soil, Rita Loginova thinks she would have been among them. Originally from the Siberian city Novosibirsk, the journalist faced police harassment before fleeing in March 2023 on the encouragement of her editors.

“I didn’t want to become a prisoner, because a mother near her children is better than a mother in prison. That’s why I’m here,” Loginova told VOA one evening at her favorite pizza place in Prague.

Between puffs on her vape and sips of beer, she spoke about leaving home “because we had a lot of risk for our life and our liberty,” and how she misses her mom, her dog and the view from her old apartment.

Although she likes Prague, Loginova, who works at the independent outlet Verstka, says she is beset by financial hardship, a challenge experienced by many exiled Russians.

More broadly, reporting on Russia from abroad is a challenge, especially for outlets like IStories that have been branded “undesirable” organizations by the Kremlin — a designation that exposes staffers and sources to criminal charges and jail time.

As a result, says IStories founder Anin, finding sources in Russia willing to speak can be hard. And yet the exiled journalists know they are luckier than the political prisoners in Russia, let alone Ukrainians grappling with Russia’s invasion firsthand.

“We have not an easy job, but simultaneously, we shouldn’t complain,” Anin said.

In June, Russia issued an arrest warrant for Anin on charges of spreading “false information” about the military, a charge the Kremlin often uses to retaliate against independent journalists or critics who speak out against the war.

“I was a little bit surprised why it took them so long to take this legal step,” says Anin, who left Russia in 2021 for vacation but never returned after learning of his likely arrest.

Beyond legal threats and harassment, hacking is another problem.

Anna Ryzhkova, a journalist at Verstka, says that in December 2023, she received an email from someone posing as a journalist at another exiled Russian outlet, accusing her of plagiarism and asking her to click a link to the article in question.

Ryzhkova realized it was likely a scam designed to hack her accounts. She then learned several colleagues had received similar emails. Two months later, she discovered there had been a sophisticated attempt to hack her Gmail account.

“I was really frightened,” Ryzhkova said, adding that she believes the Russian government was behind both incidents.

Sitting outside a stylish cafe playing Charli XCX music, Ryzhkova admits these incidents make her consider quitting journalism entirely.

“But then you take half a day off. You breathe,” she said. “And you start again. You choose some dangerous topics again.”

These cases show that nothing is out of bounds for Russia, according to Gulnoza Said of the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

“Russia can do anything to silence government critics,” she told VOA. “The challenges they face make it very difficult for them to stay mentally healthy and continue working as journalists.”

There’s a strange irony in being an exiled Russian journalist who fled your home to continue reporting on it. Moscow may be more than 1,000 miles from Prague, but it doesn’t feel that far.

“Physically you’re here, but mentally you’re still in Russia, because you keep writing about Russia,” Ryzhkova said, adding that sacrifice is a unifying factor for all who do it.

“We all miss our home,” she said. “Most of us had to sacrifice something important to be here.”

But for many, the often-personal costs are worth it.

“It’s important to do this work. It’s important,” Alexey Levchenko, a journalist at The Insider, said at Prague’s Cafe Slavia, a venue on the banks of the Vltava that has a history as a hub for writers.

“What can we do to stop the war? We don’t have many possibilities,” he said. “Journalism is one of the most effective possibilities.”

Anin agreed. He views their work as integral to thwarting Moscow’s effort to distort the truth about the war.

“We work 24/7,” he said. “Even if you can’t change the reality with your stories, we’re saving the history for future generations.”

Prague has a long history of literary dissidents, and these exiled Russian journalists are just the latest chapter.

Asked if she is happy, Ryzhkova is briefly caught off-guard. “I am,” she says, before breaking into laughter.

Why the laughter? She tucks her blonde hair behind her ears before answering.

“If you had asked me the same question three years ago, when I lived in Moscow in my house, with my husband, with my dog, and if you had described to me everything that would happen to me over the next three years, I would say there is no way to stay happy in such circumstances,” she says. “But somehow I am.”
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As Paris readies for Paralympics, disability advocates call for bigger sea change

Posted on by SeeEU

With the 2024 Summer Olympics wrapped up, Paris is now getting ready to host the Paralympics later this month. More than 4,000 athletes with disabilities along with tens of thousands of spectators will attend the events that run from August 28 to September 8. Olympic authorities praise the city for the steps it has taken to make them accessible to all. But disability advocates say much more needs to be done — across France — to change infrastructure and mindsets. Lisa Bryant reports from Paris.
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Educators worry as Latvia phases out Russian in schools

Posted on by SeeEU

Latvia’s government has been moving to phase out teaching in the Russian language in the country’s schools. It’s part of a bid to reduce Moscow’s influence in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But as Henry Wilkins reports from the Latvian capital’s largely Russian-speaking Daugavgriva neighborhood, some educators and security experts say the move could be playing into the hands of the Kremlin’s propagandists.
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Vance, Walz agree to vice-presidential debate Oct. 1 on CBS

Posted on by SeeUS

COLUMBIA, South Carolina — Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Ohio Senator JD Vance have agreed to debate each other on October 1, setting up a matchup of potential vice presidents as early voting in some states gets underway for the general election.

CBS News on Wednesday posted on its X feed that the network had invited Vance and Walz to debate in New York City, presenting four dates — September 17, September 24, October 1 and October 8 — as options.

Walz reposted that message from his own campaign account, “See you on October 1, JD.” The Harris-Walz campaign followed up with a message of its own, saying Walz “looks forward to debating JD Vance — if he shows up.”

Vance posted on X that he would accept the October 1 invitation. He also challenged Walz to meet on September 18.

Whether Walz and Vance would debate before the November 5 general election had been in question. In just the past several weeks, President Joe Biden left the campaign, and Democrats selected Vice President Kamala Harris to lead their ticket.

Vance has largely kept his focus trained on Harris, whom he would have been set to debate before Biden’s departure from the race. Vance has lobbed critiques against Walz, including questioning the retired Army National Guardsman’s service record.

Trump has said he wanted Vance to debate Walz on CBS, which had been discussing potential dates for that meeting.

The debate is expected weeks after the September 10 top-of-the-ticket debate recently solidified between Trump and Harris on ABC News.

Trump has said he negotiated several other debate dates, on three different networks. Fox News has also proposed a debate between Harris and Trump to take place on September 4, and NBC News is angling to air one on September 25.

During an appearance in Michigan, Harris said she was “happy to have that conversation” about an additional debate.
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Political heiress Paetongtarn Shinawatra seen as likely Thai prime minister

Posted on by SeeEA

Bangkok — Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the heir of Thailand’s most powerful political dynasty, is tipped to become the kingdom’s youngest leader in a parliament vote on Friday after a top court ousted a prime minister this week. 

Her Pheu Thai party selected the 37-year-old to be its candidate in the vote to replace Srettha Thavisin, who was dismissed on Wednesday for appointing a cabinet minister with a criminal conviction. 

Srettha’s ouster threw Thailand into fresh political turmoil, fueled by a long-running battle between the military, pro-royalist establishment and parties linked to Paetongtarn’s father, one-time Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra. 

If she is voted in, Paetongtarn will become the youngest leader in Thailand’s history as a constitutional monarchy and the third of the Shinawatra name after her billionaire father and aunt Yingluck Shinawatra. 

She must secure 247 votes from the 493 members currently sitting in parliament to win.

“We are confident that the party and coalition parties will lead our country in helping with Thailand’s economic crisis,” she said after her candidacy was announced on Thursday. 

A political newcomer, Paetongtarn helped run the hotel arm of the ultra-rich family’s business empire before joining politics three years ago. 

She was a near-constant presence on the campaign trail in last year’s election amid searing heat despite being heavily pregnant. 

That vote ultimately saw Srettha take power in alliance with pro-military parties previously staunchly opposed to Thaksin and his followers. 

The timing seemed to suggest a truce in the long-standing feud as both sides sought to see off the threat posed by the newer Move Forward Party (MFP), which won the popular vote. 

Pheu Thai members voted overwhelmingly in October 2023 for Paetongtarn to become party leader and vowed to rejuvenate its image. 

During the Srettha government, she chaired the national soft power committee to push Thailand abroad.

Paetongtarn, known in Thailand by her nickname Ung Ing, is the youngest child of Thaksin, a policeman turned telecoms tycoon who won two elections in the early 2000s before being ousted in a coup in 2006. 

She grew up in Bangkok and studied hotel management in Britain, then married commercial pilot Pidok Sooksawas in 2019 with two glitzy receptions in the Thai capital and Hong Kong. The couple now have two children. 

Paetongtarn shares her jet-setting lifestyle with almost a million followers on Instagram, and her youth and energy stand out in a political scene dominated by strait-laced elderly men. 

She was chosen ahead of Pheu Thai stalwart Chaikasem Nitisiri, 75. 

The move showed “Pheu Thai’s strategy to stand by the youth movement,” political analyst Yuttaporn Issarachai told AFP. 

But he said it would be difficult to “move on from the conservative and military influence” that has dominated Thai politics for decades. 

Paetongtarn will hope to avoid the fate of her father and aunt — Yingluck was ousted by a military coup in 2014. Her uncle was also kicked out of office by a court ruling.
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Chad seeks assistance to deal with floods as neighboring Cameroon pleads for help with drought

Posted on by SeeAF

Yaounde, Cameroon — Officials in Chad are asking for international assistance to save thousands of people from persistent flooding, while officials in neighboring Cameroon are seeking help to cope with the opposite problem – severe drought. 

Officials say floods for the past three days have forced about 53,000 people to flee several towns and villages in Sila, a southeastern province bordering Sudan and the Central African Republic.

Forty-two-year-old farmer Regine Bumbai said her house was swept away by floods on Tuesday.

She said she is seeking refuge for herself and her three children at the Koukou-Angarana village primary school because heavy rains triggered flooding that is destroying houses and plantations and also displacing animals.

Bumbai told Chadian state TV Wednesday that flood victims are pleading for humanitarian assistance to save the lives of several hundred civilians, most of them children facing hunger and malnutrition.

This week, government officials, the United Nations and humanitarian agencies reported that 14 people had died and more than 245,000 civilians are affected by floods in 13 of Chad’s 23 provinces.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said about 60,000 structures have been destroyed or damaged. 

Chadian state TV has been broadcasting a message in which President Mahamat Idriss Deby calls for solidarity with all flood victims.

In the message Deby said Chad is not the only victim of devastating floods and other shocks caused by severe changes in normal environmental patterns. He said there should be international solidarity in fighting climate shocks that also affect the world’s most powerful nations.

Chad says it is building temporary shelters in several dozen towns and villages including the capital, N’djamena, and providing relief materials for affected families. The families include thousands of civilians fleeing internal armed conflicts and refugees fleeing Boko Haram terrorism and violence in conflict-ridden Sudan.

As Chad steps up efforts to help flood victims, Cameroon is facing a different situation, as rains that were expected in July have yet to come in many regions of the country.

This week, Muslims in Garoua, a northern town near Cameroon’s border with Chad and Nigeria, held public prayers for rain. 

Ibrahim El Rachidine, traditional ruler and Muslim spiritual leader of Garoua, organized the prayers.

He said he held the gathering after farmers complained that the lack of rain since July is causing droughts and making crops dry up in plantations. He says he is also calling Cameroonian government officials attention to the looming famine as droughts are already forcing farmers from their land.

Cameroon and Chad said last month the lives of more than 5 million people in the two countries were threatened by a severe humanitarian crisis triggered by the climate shocks and ongoing conflicts. 

Officials in both countries have called for international aid, though neither has given much detail on what they need.
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