Month: October 2024

Here’s a look at Musk’s contact with Putin and why it matters

Posted on by SeeEU

WASHINGTON — Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of major government contractor SpaceX and a key ally of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the last two years, The Wall Street Journal reported.

A person familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, confirmed to The Associated Press that Musk and Putin have had contact through calls. The person didn’t provide additional details about the frequency of the calls, when they occurred or their content.

Musk, the world’s richest person who also owns Tesla and the social media platform X, has emerged as a leading voice on the American right. He’s poured millions of dollars into Trump’s presidential bid and turned the platform once known as Twitter into a site popular with Trump supporters, as well as conspiracy theorists, extremists and Russian propagandists.

Musk’s contacts with Putin raise national security questions, given his companies’ work for the government, and highlight concerns about Russian influence in American politics.

Here’s what to know:

What they talked about

Musk and Putin have spoken repeatedly about personal matters, business and geopolitics, The Journal reported Thursday, citing multiple current and former officials in the United States, Europe and Russia.

During one talk, Putin asked Musk not to activate his Starlink satellite system over Taiwan as a favor for Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose ties to Putin have grown closer, The Journal reported. Putin and Xi have met more than 40 times since 2013. 

Russia has denied the conversations took place. In 2022, Musk said he’d spoken to Putin only once, in a call 18 months earlier focused on space.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington said Friday that it was “not aware of the specifics” of any requests made by Putin on China’s behalf.

There was no immediate response to messages left with X and Tesla seeking Musk’s comment.

What the talks mean for national security

Musk’s relationship with Putin raises national security questions given the billions of dollars in government contracts awarded to SpaceX, a critical partner to NASA and government satellite programs.

Trump also has vowed to give Musk a role in his administration if he wins next month.

The head of any large defense contractor would face similar questions if they held private talks with one of America’s greatest adversaries, said Bradley Bowman, a former West Point assistant professor and Senate national security adviser who now serves as senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based defense think tank.

Bowman said the timing of the calls as reported by The Journal and Musk’s changing views on Ukraine was a “disturbing coincidence.”

“The policy of the U.S. government is to try to isolate Vladimir Putin, and Elon Musk is directly undercutting that,” Bowman said. “What is Putin doing with Musk? Putin is trying to reduce his international isolation and impact American foreign policy.”

The request from Putin on Starlink as a favor to China is also likely to get attention, given U.S. support for Taiwan and concerns about the growing partnership between the Kremlin and Beijing.

Musk, whose Tesla operates Gigafactory Shanghai, has developed a close relationship with China’s top leaders. His remarks about China have been friendly, and he has suggested Taiwan cede some control to Beijing by becoming a special administrative region.

Moscow has growing ties to other American adversaries. The U.S. has accused Russia of sending ballistic missiles to Iran and said North Korea sent troops to Russia, possibly for combat in Ukraine.

On Ukraine, Musk’s views have shifted since he initially supported Kyiv following Russia’s invasion in 2022 and provided it with his Starlink system for communications.

Musk then refused to allow Ukraine in 2023 to use Starlink for a surprise attack on Russian soldiers in Crimea.

He also floated a proposal to end the war that would have required Ukraine to drop its plans for NATO membership and given Russia permanent control of Crimea, which it seized in 2014. The plan infuriated Ukrainian leaders.

One person familiar with the talks between Musk and Putin told The Journal that there is no evidence the contact between Musk and Putin represents a security problem for the U.S.

Asked about Musk’s contacts with Putin, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Friday that he had no information to share.

The CIA, Pentagon and National Security Agency had no comment. The State Department didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Musk’s close ties to Trump

Musk recently appeared at a Trump rally, sporting a Make America Great Again hat and delivered an ominous warning that if Trump lost the race, “this will be the last election.”

Last year, Musk mocked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s request for aid for his country with a meme and said in February that the U.S. should cut its assistance because Ukraine couldn’t win.

Trump, who has praised Putin’s leadership and criticized the NATO alliance and U.S. aid for Ukraine, has raised questions about what he would be willing to concede if he’s elected in a negotiation over Ukraine’s future.

U.S. intelligence officials and private tech analysts have concluded that Russia is working to covertly support Trump with disinformation and propaganda targeting his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Since he took over X, it has become a leading online source of Russian propaganda and disinformation aimed at Americans.

Trump has faced scrutiny over his own recent contacts with Putin, outlined in a new book by Watergate journalist Bob Woodward.

Woodward quoted an unnamed Trump aide who said the former president and Putin may have had as many as seven conversations since Trump lost reelection in 2020.

Before one of the calls, the aide said they were asked to leave Trump’s office to give the two privacy.

The Trump campaign and the Kremlin have denied those calls occurred.

In response to questions about Musk and Putin, Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the billionaire “a once-in-a-generation industry leader” whose ideas could benefit “our broken federal bureaucracy.”

“As for Putin, there’s only one candidate in the race that he did not invade another country under, and it’s President Trump,” Leavitt said in a statement. “President Trump has long said that he will re-establish his peace through strength foreign policy to deter Russia’s aggression and end the war in Ukraine.”

Russia confirms one conversation

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Friday rejected The Journal’s report as “absolutely false information.”

Peskov said Putin and Musk once held a “medium-length phone conversation” prior to 2022 that was “as more of an introductory nature” and that the two talked about “visionary technologies, technological solutions for the future.”

“After that, Musk had no contacts with Putin,” Peskov said, dismissing The Journal’s article as political.

“The election has entered its home stretch, and of course the opponents stop at nothing,” Peskov said. “Remember that a week ago they were saying that Putin allegedly talks to Trump all day long. Now he allegedly talks to Musk all the time. It’s all untrue.”

Ukraine’s military intelligence told the AP that they would “refrain from commenting” about communication between Putin and Musk.
…

your ad here

Reaction mixed as Ugandan court sentences former LRA commander to 40 years

Posted on by SeeAF

KAMPALA, UGANDA — A Ugandan court sentenced former Lord’s Resistance Army commander Thomas Kwoyelo to 40 years in prison on Friday.

In August, the Ugandan International Crimes Division found Kwoyelo guilty on 44 charges, including murder, pillaging, inhumane acts and gender-based violence such as rape. Lawyers for Kwoyelo, 50, said he is going to appeal the sentence.

Francis Okello Oloya, a psychologist and head of a comfort dog project in Gulu for LRA war survivors, was blinded by a bomb blast at the age of 12 during Uganda’s war against the rebels. He told VOA that he welcomes the court process but that the sentence doesn’t satisfy him or other survivors.

“The perpetrator needed to ask for forgiveness and reconciliation with his heart,” Oloya said, adding, “He will be serving his jail terms, but what benefits will the victims get?”

In reading out the sentence, Justice Duncan Gaswaga emphasized that there is no chance Kwoyelo will be released early on parole. “This sentence also excludes a possibility of rehabilitation, reconciliation and reform of the convict, and concentrates on punishment, retribution and deterrence,” he said.

The judges also highlighted Kwoyelo’s guilt on the rape charges.

Susan Aceng Oroma, the project officer for the Foundation for Justice and Development Initiative, a nongovernmental organization that works to promote justice and economic recovery in northern Uganda, said she was happy to hear the judges focus on gender-based violence.

“Looking at the magnitude of the offenses he committed, he deserved the sentencing,” she said.

However, Angelo Izama, a Ugandan international crimes analyst, argued that Kwoyelo should not have been put on trial.

He said that the best method to resolve Kwoyelo’s case would have been to put him under the local Matoput process. That would have led to reconciliation and forgiveness, which he said cannot be achieved by law or force of arms.

“Kwoyelo has been sort of a stand-in character for the northern Uganda conflict,” Izama said. “He is the most visible remaining member of the LRA to be put forward to answer for the crimes of that organization. But you have to recall that the conflict in the north took place over 20 years. And the atrocities were on all sides of that conflict.”

Meanwhile, LRA leader Joseph Kony remains wanted by the International Criminal Court on dozens of war crimes charges but has not been confirmed alive for years.
…

your ad here

Zelenskyy: North Korean troops are poised for deployment

Posted on by SeeEU

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that Russia is expected to deploy North Korean soldiers to combat as early as Sunday. 

In a statement posted to his official X social media account, Zelenskyy said the prediction is based on military intelligence he received in a Friday briefing from armed forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi. 

Zelenskyy called the move a “clear escalation by Russia,” adding that “the world can clearly see Russia’s true intentions: to continue the war.” 

Calling for a “principled and strong response” from global leaders, Zelenskyy said, “North Korea’s actual involvement in combat should not be met with indifference or uncertain commentary, but with tangible pressure on both Moscow and Pyongyang, to uphold the U.N. Charter and to hold them accountable for this escalation.” 

Responding Thursday to a Ukraine intelligence report that the North Korean troops were in Russia’s Kursk region, Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was up to Moscow to decide how they might be deployed, including possibly sending them to fight on the front lines against Ukraine. He did not deny a U.S. claim that North Korea has dispatched some 3,000 troops to fight alongside Russian forces. 

On Friday, North Korean state broadcaster KCNA carried a statement by Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jong Gyu, who would not comment directly on reports of the deployment, but said if there were such a thing, “I think it will be an act conforming with the regulations of international law.” 

Ukraine has argued North Korean participation in the war violates international law; U.S. officials earlier this week called such a deployment a major escalation. But Putin argued the West had escalated the war in Ukraine by sending NATO officers and instructors to help Kyiv defend itself against Russian aggression. 

Meanwhile, in an interview with Russian television Friday, Putin spoke about possible cease-fire negotiations with Ukraine, saying Russia was ready to seek compromises. He said Turkey had presented a number of peace initiatives to both Russia and Ukraine, which he claimed Ukraine has rejected. 

Regarding possible compromises, Putin said: “Any outcome must be in Russia’s favor. … This outcome should be based upon the realities which are taking shape on the battlefield. Without any doubt, we are not going to make any concessions. There will be no exchange [of territory], whatsoever.” 

Putin blamed Ukraine for what he described as “irrational behavior” in negotiations, saying, “It is not possible to build any plans on this basis.” 

Bio lab construction 

In an exclusive report Friday, The Washington Post said satellite images from the past two years have shown substantial construction at a site-restricted military facility northeast of Moscow that was once a major research center for biological weapons.  

The report said the site has a history of experiments that included viruses that cause smallpox, Ebola and hemorrhagic fevers. 

The satellite imagery of the Russian site, called Sergiev Posad-6, shows construction vehicles renovating the Soviet-era laboratory and breaking ground on 10 new buildings, totaling more than 250,000 square feet, with several of them bearing hallmarks of biological labs designed to handle extremely dangerous pathogens. 

The report said there has been no sign such weapons are being used in the Ukraine conflict, but the construction is being closely watched by U.S. intelligence agencies and bioweapons experts. 

Ukraine’s Kyiv Independent reported Friday the apparent deployment of North Korean troops could be at least in part a result of Russia’s losses on the battlefield. 

In a report on its Facebook social media account, the Ukraine General Staff of the armed forces reported Russia has lost 685,910 troops since the beginning of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. This includes, the general staff report said, 1,630 casualties over a 24-hour period ending Friday. 

Ukraine has closely guarded its battlefield troop casualties, even from Western allies, but a U.S. official in September estimated Ukraine has likely seen an estimated 57,500 troops killed and 250,000 wounded, according to a report by The New York Times. 

Battlefield casualties are difficult to verify, and Russia has made claims that Ukrainian casualties are much higher than those indicated by Ukrainian and U.S. estimates. 

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
…

your ad here

Biden apologizes for school policy that separated Native American families

Posted on by SeeUS

LAVEEN VILLAGE, Arizona — President Joe Biden on Friday formally apologized to Native Americans for the government-run boarding school system that for decades forcibly separated children from their parents, calling it a “blot on American history” in his first presidential visit to Indian Country. 

“It’s a sin on our soul,” said Biden, his voice full of anger and emotion. “Quite frankly, there’s no excuse that this apology took 50 years to make.” 

It was a moment of both contrition and frustration as the president sought to recognize one of the “most horrific chapters” in the national story. Biden spoke of the abuses and deaths of Native children that resulted from the federal government’s policies, noting that “while darkness can hide much, it erases nothing” and that great nations “must know the good, the bad, the truth of who we are.” 

“I formally apologize as president of United States of America for what we did,” Biden said. “The federal Indian boarding school policy, the pain it has caused, will only be a significant mark of shame, a blot on our record history. For too long, this all happened with virtually no public attention, not written about in our history books, not taught in our schools.” 

Boost for Harris

Democrats hope Biden’s visit to the Gila River Indian Community’s land on the outskirts of Phoenix’s metro area will also provide a boost to Vice President Kamala Harris’ turnout effort in a key battleground state. The moment gave Biden a fuller chance to spotlight his and Harris’ support for tribal nations, a group that historically has favored Democrats, in a state he won just by 10,000 votes in 2020. 

The race between Harris and former President Donald Trump is expected to be similarly close, and both campaigns are doing whatever they can to improve turnout among bedrock supporters. 

“The race is now a turnout grab,” said Mike O’Neil, a nonpartisan pollster in Arizona. “The trend lines throughout have been remarkably steady. The question is which candidate is going to be able to turn out their voters in a race that seems to be destined to be decided by narrow margins.” 

Biden has been used sparingly on the campaign trail by Harris and other Democrats since he ended his reelection campaign in July. 

But analysts say Biden could help Harris in her appeal with Native American voters — a group that has trailed others in turnout rates. 

In 2020, there was a surge in voter turnout on some tribal land in Arizona as Biden beat Trump and became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state since Bill Clinton in 1996. 

Biden, whose presidency is winding down, had promised tribal leaders nearly two years ago that he would visit Indian Country. 

For decades, federal boarding schools were used to assimilate children into white society, according to the White House. Not everyone saw the apology as sufficient. 

“An apology is a nice start, but it is not a true reckoning, nor is it a sufficient remedy for the long history of colonial violence,” said Chase Iron Eyes, director of the Lakota People’s Law Project and Sacred Defense Fund. 

973 deaths

At least 973 Native American children died in the U.S. government’s abusive boarding school system over a 150-year period that ended in 1969, according to an Interior Department investigation that called for a U.S. government apology. 

At least 18,000 children, some as young as 4, were taken from their parents and forced to attend schools that sought to assimilate them. 

“President Biden deserves credit for finally putting attention on the issue and other issues impacting the community,” said Ramona Charette Klein, 77, a boarding school survivor and an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. “I do think that will reflect well on Vice President Harris, and I hope this momentum will continue.” 

Both Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, met with tribal leaders in Arizona and Nevada this month. And Clinton, who has been serving as a surrogate for Harris, last week met in North Carolina with the chairman of the Lumbee Tribe. 

The White House says Biden and Harris have built a substantial track record with Native Americans over the last four years. 

The president designated the sacred Avi Kwa Ame, a desert mountain in Nevada, and Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon in Arizona as national monuments and restored the boundaries for Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. 

In addition, the administration has directed nearly $46 billion in federal spending to tribal nations. The money has helped bring electricity to a reservation that never had electricity, expand access to high-speed internet, improve water sanitation, build roadways and more. 

Biden picked former New Mexico Representative Deb Haaland to serve as his interior secretary, the first Native American to be appointed to a Cabinet position. Haaland is a member of Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico. 

She, in turn, ordered the comprehensive review in June 2021 of the troubled legacy of the federal government’s boarding school policies that led Biden to deliver the formal apology.
…

your ad here

North Korea eyes Russian military assistance in exchange for Ukraine troop deployment, say experts

Posted on by SeeEU

washington — North Korea is likely anticipating Russian technical assistance to perfect its nuclear and missile programs in exchange for sending its troops to support Russia in the Ukraine war, U.S. experts say.

On Wednesday, the U.S. government confirmed for the first time the presence of at least 3,000 North Korean troops in Russia. Last Friday, South Korea’s intelligence agency said North Korea had sent 1,500 special forces troops to Russia for training and likely deployment for combat in the war in Ukraine.

Seoul has expressed grave concerns about the development.

“North Korea will expect a generous payoff from Moscow in return for its troop contribution,” Hwang Joon-kook, South Korean ambassador to the United Nations, said Monday at a United Nations Security Council Briefing on Ukraine. “It could be either military or financial assistance; it could be nuclear weapons-related technology.”

Weapons upgrades

North Korea has recently been more open about showing its nuclear and missile ambitions. State media outlets last month released photos showing leader Kim Jong Un visiting what they said was a uranium enrichment facility.

The Kim regime has exported dozens of ballistic missiles and more than 18,000 containers of munitions and munitions-related material to Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, according to the U.S. State Department.

Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the Rand Corporation, told VOA Korean on Wednesday that Kim Jong Un is now in a position where he can “leverage Russia to get much more” by deploying his own soldiers to the Ukraine war.

“As they were doing their nuclear tests, they would have discovered that some things didn’t work,” Bennett said. “I think Kim has got a lot of technology he would like to get from Russia.”

Robert Peters, research fellow for nuclear deterrence and missile defense at the Heritage Foundation, said sending in North Korean troops “could be a token of goodwill on the part of Kim,” and Kim’s expectation would be that “the quid pro quo is Russian technical assistance.”

“The ultimate goal for Kim is a revitalized alliance with Russia that helps North Korea catch up its missile program and its nuclear program with those in the West,” Peters told VOA Korean Tuesday on the phone. “I think that’s part of his game.”

Peters added that Kim could ask Russian President Vladimir Putin to provide technical assistance for effective miniaturization of nuclear warheads that could go on the tip of intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, targeting the United States.

Sung-Yoon Lee, a fellow with the Wilson Center’s Indo-Pacific Program, told VOA Korean in an email that he believes Russia likely promised “to provide Pyongyang with sensitive nuclear technology like nuclear-powered submarines, military satellites, and ICBM reentry into the earth’s atmosphere” in return for North Korea sending troops to the war in Ukraine.

Economic benefits

Another benefit for North Korea is that its troops might be paid in hard currency that can be exchanged internationally.

“The financial benefits from this initial deployment may seem relatively small, but they are comparatively important for North Korea,” Troy Stangarone, director of the Center for Korean History and Public Policy at Wilson Center, told VOA Korean via email Thursday.

“If Russia is compensating North Korea at the same rate as new Russian recruits, we could expect Pyongyang to earn a little less than $10 million a month from the 3,000 troops that are reported to have already been deployed.”

Stangarone says that amount would be equal to about 40% of North Korea’s legal exports to China over the course of a full year. China is North Korea’s main trading partner, with some studies saying China makes up as much as 95% of North Korea’s total trade.

Robert Abrams, a retired U.S. Army four-star general who served as commander of U.S. Forces Korea from 2018 to 2021, said the deployment of North Korean soldiers will not be a military game changer for Russia. But, he said, it shows “the depth of commitment by Kim Jong Un to be a strategic partner of Russia.”

“Russia is losing 10,000 soldiers about every 10 days, so this deployment of 10,000 North Korean soldiers will not noticeably change the outcome,” Abrams told VOA Korean via email Wednesday.

“However, this deployment of North Korean soldiers has significant symbolism for both North Korea and Russia; this is an obvious outcome of the recent North Korea-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership agreement.”

Putin and Kim signed their partnership treaty in June, vowing to challenge the U.S.-led world order.

The new treaty mandates Russia and North Korea to immediately provide military assistance using all available means if either of them is attacked by a third country.

Putin did not deny the presence of North Korean soldiers in Russia during a Thursday press conference at the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan.

“We have never doubted at all that the North Korean leadership takes our agreements seriously,” Putin said. “What and how we will do within the framework of this article [of the agreement] is our business.”
…

your ad here

Can either Trump or Harris end the wars?

Posted on by SeeUS

Vice President Kamala Harris says she believes the U.S. should lead by building alliances to manage conflict. Former President Donald Trump says his projection of strength, and unpredictability, can stop wars before they begin. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara spoke to experts on which foreign policy approach would be better at reducing conflict, amid wars in the Middle East and Europe.
…

your ad here

Hopes for justice expire 20 years after Thailand’s Tak Bai Massacre

Posted on by SeeEA

BANGKOK — Friday’s lapse of murder charges in Thailand against 14 people, including former police and army officers, for the deaths of 85 protesters two decades ago is raising fears of a spike in violence in the country’s long-restive south.

The 14 were charged with murder and other felonies earlier this year for their alleged roles in the so-called Tak Bai Massacre on October 25, 2004, named after a district in the far south of Thailand, a predominantly Muslim and ethnic Malay part of the country.

On that day 20 years ago, soldiers and police shot and killed seven people at a protest that called for the release of suspected Islamic militant collaborators in police custody. The officers also bound and stacked many more protesters several rows high inside police trucks where 78 of them died of suffocation, according to a state inquest five years later.

Although the inquest found fatal flaws in the security response to the protest, authorities did not pursue the charges, and no one was ever put on trial.

The courts issued arrest warrants for all 14 of those charged earlier this year, but none has been arrested. Under Thai law, anyone charged with certain serious crimes, including murder, must appear in court in person before the statute of limitations expires for a trial to proceed. Otherwise, the charges are dropped.

The 14 are believed to have gone into hiding or abroad to wait for the end of the statute of limitations in their cases, which expired late Friday.

For Muhammasawawee Auseng, whose older brother Abdulhadee, then 19 years old, was among those who died in the police trucks, the end of criminal liability for the accused feels like a fresh trauma.

“Since the Narathiwat provincial court issued the arrest warrants, we all hoped deep down that we could get justice from the authorities,” he told VOA.

“Now it feels like our old wounds are opening up again,” he said. “The cases may expire, but the feelings and the pain of the villagers will not expire; they will remain in our hearts.”

Auseng said the authorities’ failure to put the accused on trial reinforces feelings among many of Thailand’s Malays and Muslims that they are second-class citizens in a country where ethnic Thais and Buddhists make up the vast majority.

“All the [Tak Bai] victims and relatives are losing their faith in the authorities and their justice system. This incident was committed by government officials, yet the authorities cannot do anything to put them through the legal process,” he said.

“The Tak Bai incident proves that the authorities treat us different because we are Malay,” he said.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra issued a public apology Thursday “on behalf of the government” to the victims and their families for what they have lost and suffered. But she said the constitution did not allow the government, as some academics had suggested it does, to extend the statute of limitations to give the police more time to arrest the accused.

Police officials had said for the past several weeks that they had done everything possible to find them.

But their failure to do so will add not only to impressions of racial and religious bias, but of impunity for the well-connected, said Somchai Homlaor, a senior adviser and co-founder of the Cross Cultural Foundation, a local rights group.

“That confirms the belief of the people in the south that the criminal justice system in Thailand is still under the … influence, especially if the wrongdoers are high-ranking government officials or influential people,” he told VOA.

Of the 14 people charged, most of the attention landed on Pisal Wattanawongkiri, a retired general who headed the army’s southern command at the time of the 2004 protest.

Pisal won an elected seat in the House of Representatives with the ruling Pheu Thai party last year, granting him legal immunity. Although Pheu Thai announced his resignation from the party and house on October 15, authorities claimed they did not know where he was.

Some rights groups and analysts fear the failure to find and arrest Pisal or any of the other accused in time to take them to trial may spark a new wave in violence in Thailand’s deep south.

Once the seat of a Muslim sultanate, the southern provinces of modern-day Thailand were deeded to the then-kingdom of Siam by the British in 1909. Refusing to accept the transfer, several Malay Muslim armed groups have been waging a guerrilla war against the Thai state to win back independence for the region.

More than 7,000 people have died in related violence since fighting picked up in January 2004.

“Some of the … armed groups may use [the end of] this case to make some violence,” said Somchai.

“Because [of] the failure of the authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice,” he explained. “It’s the reasons that can be used — impunity among the high-ranked officers, and the [impression that] Muslim Melayu people are just only like the second citizens.”

Don Pathan, an independent security analyst who has been following the conflict for decades, says insurgent groups already have picked up the pace of attacks and bombings in recent weeks, as they usually do ahead of each anniversary of the Tak Bai protest and crackdown.

“But not as big as this [year], because this is the 20th anniversary,” he said. “And it’s just not the number, the 20th year; it’s also about the statute of limitations expiring, so it gives them that extra reason to carry out more attacks.”

The government and the largest of the armed groups, Barisan Revolusi Nasional, have been in talks over a possible cease-fire deal aimed at curbing the attacks and lifting the emergency laws most of the south of Thailand has been under since 2004.

Pathan and Somchai say the dropping of the charges in the Tak Bai cases could make those talks harder if the insurgents use it as a reason to toughen their demands. They say it will also serve to keep the events of October 25, 2004, as a potent recruiting tool for armed groups looking to replenish their ranks with fresh fighters.

Until Thailand learns to reckon with the events of that bloody day and get to the bottom of exactly what happened and why, Pathan said, the country will struggle to move on.

“You’re not going to heal, you’re not going to be able to move on as a nation if you can’t settle this,” he said. “How do you put this behind you? You have to be fair, you have to be honest, and you have to do it keeping in mind … human dignity, and right now I don’t see any of that.”
…

your ad here

Protests erupt at release of Mozambique’s disputed election results

Posted on by SeeAF

MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE — Opposition supporters took to the streets of Mozambique’s capital late Thursday, burning tires and blocking key roads, to protest the announcement that ruling party presidential candidate Daniel Chapo won the October 9 election in a landslide.

Police said 371 people were arrested in connection with the protests and skirmishes across the country.

Dog teams, armored vehicles from the riot police and dozens of heavily armed officers, with the support of a helicopter, fought running battles with the protesters amid an intense smell of tear gas in most Maputo neighborhoods.

A spokesperson for the Mozambique General Police Command, Orlando Mudumane, said people illegally led disorderly demonstrations on public roads, vandalized public and private property and looted goods from various commercial establishments.

He said officers will remain on the streets to contain acts of violence and property destruction.

Mudumane advised people to be wary of incendiary speeches and misinformation on social networks and other digital platforms.

Thursday’s protests followed earlier demonstrations at which hundreds of people poured into the streets of Maputo and Matola to protest what they called fraudulent election results.

The official results showed Frelimo party candidate Daniel Chapo winning the election with more than 70% of the vote.

The runner-up, independent Venancio Mondlane, called for peaceful protests of the election results and issues such as kidnappings and police brutality.

Mondlane holds Frelimo responsible for last week’s killings of two people aligned with the opposition Podemos party, lawyer Elvino Dias and party official Paulo Guambe.

Mondlane called for Mozambique to come to a halt for two days, urging in a speech posted to Facebook that all institutions, whether public or private, be paralyzed in that time.

Human Rights Watch researcher Zenaida Machado criticized the police actions against protestors, saying people have the right to protection when expressing their concerns even as authorities work to maintain order.

“The state, when they deploy security forces to the streets, they need to make sure that they are there not only to create the space for people to peacefully protest, but also to protect them against anything that might want to affect the protest itself,” Machado said.

Observer missions from the European Union and Southern African Development Community have yet to offer a final assessment of the election.

However, the EU mission said this week that some of its 179 observers were prevented from observing tabulation processes in some districts and provinces and at the national level.

The EU mission also said its observers witnessed “unjustified alteration” of election results at some polling stations.

The National Electoral Commission says that all cases of alleged wrongdoing during voting and vote counting are being investigated.

The official results are not final until validated by Mozambique’s Constitutional Council.
…

your ad here

Chad looks to western neighbors for internet access after protracted blackout

Posted on by SeeAF

Yaounde — Officials in Chad are stepping up efforts to connect the central African state to a regional fiber-optic network after cable breakages caused by flooding in neighboring Cameroon caused a protracted internet blackout.

Authorities in the country have been unable to reestablish internet connections since the blackout began 10 days ago. 

The central African state lost internet access when fiber-optic cables in Cameroon, the southern neighbor via which landlocked Chad is digitally networked, saw cables washed out by flooding. 

Chadian officials told VOA on Friday that European Union and African Development Bank officials this week agreed to intensify efforts to get Chad hooked up to the trans-Saharan fiber-optic network via Niger, Cameroon’s neighbor to the west. 

Brahim Abdelkerim, secretary general of Chad’s ministry of telecommunications, said that by February 2025, there will no longer be frustrations as a result of regular internet disruptions that paralyze businesses in Chad. He said Chad and Niger governments have made firm commitments to supervise the project to completion. 

Speaking with VOA Friday by messaging app from Chad’s capital, N’djamena, Abdelkerim said Chad will lay some 500 kilometers of cable from N’djamena to the Niger border. 

The ADB said the EU will give 31.4 million dollars and the ADB will provide the other 55 million needed to complete the project.  

Chad was already projected to be a part of the trans-Saharan fiber-optic network, more than 1,500 kilometers long, that will eventually stretch through Chad, Algeria, Niger and Nigeria. 

The four countries say the project will create jobs and opportunities to generate income and reduce chronic rural poverty, especially among youths. 

Sona Jarosova, head of the EU political mission to Chad, said Friday on Chad state TV that connecting Chad to the Trans-Saharan fiber-optic network will reduce or stop regular blackouts caused by disruptions in Cameroon, which is the only country that connects landlocked Chad to the internet. She said the alternative connection will remove Chad from its present digital isolation. 

Jarosova said improved internet development will support the economy by improving infrastructure, trade and connectivity between North, West and Central Africa, and eventually the entire African continent. 

The International Telecommunications Union reports that the internet penetration rate in Africa was less than 40% in 2023, with sub-Saharan Africa — where Chad, Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon are located — suffering regular internet blackouts due to old equipment and electricity outages.
…

your ad here

Russian influence looms as Georgians prepare for consequential elections

Posted on by SeeEU

Elections in Georgia are taking place as the government faces accusations of being increasingly influenced by Russia, raising concerns about the nation’s pro-Western future. Ani Chkhikvadze reports from the capital, Tbilisi. Videographer: Giorgi Akhalaia
…

your ad here

Kremlin denies WSJ report of Elon Musk’s contacts with Putin

Posted on by SeeUS

MOSCOW — The Kremlin on Friday denied a Wall Street Journal report about regular contacts between Elon Musk and President Vladimir Putin.

“No, this is not true,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Peskov said that Putin had one contact with Musk — the world’s richest man — and it was before 2022.

The Journal said Musk had been in regular contact with Putin since late 2022. Peskov said the report was absolutely false.
…

your ad here

Storm blows away from Philippines leaving 82 dead — but it may do a U-turn

Posted on by SeeEA

MANILA — Tropical Storm Trami blew away from the northwestern Philippines on Friday, leaving at least 82 people dead in landslides and extensive flooding that forced authorities to scramble for more rescue boats to save thousands of terrified people who were trapped, some on their roofs.

But the onslaught may not be over: State forecasters raised the rare possibility that the storm — the 11th and one of the deadliest to hit the Philippines this year — could make a U-turn next week as it is pushed back by high-pressure winds in the South China Sea.

A Philippine provincial police chief said Friday that 49 people were killed, mostly in landslides set off by Trami in Batangas province, south of Manila. That brought the overall death toll from the storm to at least 82.

Eleven other villagers remain missing in Batangas, Colonel Jacinto Malinao Jr. told The Associated Press by telephone from the lakeside town of Talisay, where he stood beside a villager whose wife and child were buried in the deep mound of mud, boulders and trees.

With the use of a backhoe and shovels, police scrambled to search into 3 meters (10 feet) of mud, rocks and debris and found a part of a head and foot that apparently were those of the missing woman and child.

“He’s simply devastated,” Malinao said of the villager, a fisherman. “He’s in shock and couldn’t speak and we’re only asking him to point to where their bedroom was located so we can dig in that part.”

The storm was last tracked Friday afternoon blowing 410 kilometers (255 miles) west of the northwestern Philippine province of Ilocos Sur with sustained winds of up to 95 kilometers per hour (59 miles per hour) and gusts of up to 115 kph (78 mph). It was moving northwestward at 30 kph (19 mph) toward Vietnam, which is forecast to be lashed by Trami starting Sunday if it stays on course.

The Philippine weather agency, however, said it’s possible that high-pressure winds and other weather factors in the South China Sea could force the storm to turn back toward the Philippines.

President Ferdinand Marcos, sounding exasperated, inquired about that prospect in an emergency meeting with Cabinet members and disaster-response officials Friday about the response to the widespread devastation.

“What is the forecast for that? Is it possible it would return?” Marcos asked.

A government forecaster told him Trami could turn toward the western Philippines early next week, but it’s more likely to blow away from the Philippines again without making landfall.

“It doesn’t have to make landfall for the damage to occur,” Marcos said, citing the continuing downpours set off by Trami in the Philippines.

Marcos also cited another brewing storm in the Pacific Ocean that could again threaten the country.

“Oh God, it is what it is. We just have to deal with it,” Marcos said.

State forecaster Jofren Habaluyas told the AP that Trami’s possible U-turn has drawn interest among government weather experts in Asia, including those from Japan, which has been providing information to the Philippines to help track the storm.

The 82 storm deaths included 26 villagers who died in floodwaters and landslides in hard-hit Bicol, an agricultural region and tourism destination southeast of Manila that is popular for Mayon, one of the country’s 24 most-active volcanoes that has a near-perfect cone.

At least 27 remain missing in several provinces, including 17 in Batangas, according to Malinao and the Office of Civil Defense.

Although Trami did not strengthen into a typhoon, it dumped unusually heavy rains in some regions, including some that saw one to two months’ worth of rainfall in just 24 hours, inundating communities with flash floods.

Officials in Naga city, where 11 people died by drowning, and the outlying provinces of Camarines Sur and Albay pleaded for more rescue boats at the height of the onslaught to reach people trapped on the upper floors of their homes or on their roofs as floodwaters rose.

In the foothills of Mayon volcano in Albay province, mud and other debris cascaded toward nearby towns as the storm hit, engulfing houses and cars in black-colored mudflows.

More than 2.6 million people were affected by the deluge, with nearly 320,000 people fleeing into evacuation centers or relatives’ homes, disaster-mitigation officials said.
…

your ad here

Beijing gets new Catholic bishop, days after Vatican-China deal renewal 

Posted on by SeeEA

Vatican City — A new assistant Catholic bishop for Beijing was ordained on Friday, three days after the Vatican and Chinese officials extended an accord on appointments in China, the Vatican said.  

Bishop Matthew Zhen Xuebin, 54, was named to the role by Pope Francis, who approved his nomination within the framework of a diplomatic deal originally struck in 2018 that gives Chinese officials some input into papal appointments.  

Some conservative Catholics say the deal gives too much influence to China’s ruling communists, who have kept a tight reign on religious practice since taking power in 1949.  

But the Vatican stresses that Francis retains final decision-making power and says the accord resolves a decades-long split between an underground church swearing loyalty to the Vatican and the state-supervised Catholic Patriotic Association.  

Beijing and the Vatican announced on Tuesday that the accord, previously renewed in two-year increments, had been renewed again for a longer period of four years.  

Zhen will assist Bishop Joseph Li Shan, 59, in running the local Church. Zhen was appointed with right of succession, the Vatican said, meaning he will automatically replace Li at the bishop’s death or resignation.  

The Vatican spokesperson did not immediately respond to a question about why Zhen had been appointed with right of succession, a process the Vatican usually uses when an ageing bishop is expected to retire soon.  

Zhen’s ordination occurred Friday morning at Beijing’s Church of the Saviour, the Vatican news agency Fides reported. Among those taking part were Li, four other Chinese bishops, and about 650 others, the agency said.  

Beijing, the world’s most populous city with some 22 million residents, has about 100,000 Catholics, according to Vatican statistics. Around China, there are about 5 million Catholics in a total population of 1.4 billion, the Vatican estimates. 
…

your ad here

LRA rebel commander jailed in Uganda for war crimes in landmark case 

Posted on by SeeAF

KAMPALA — Thomas Kwoyelo, a mid-level commander in the notorious Lord’s Resistance Army rebel group, was sentenced to 40 years in prison in Uganda on Friday for war crimes including murder, rape, enslavement, torture and kidnap.  

Kwoyelo was convicted of dozens of war crimes in August, the first time an officer of his seniority had been tried by Uganda’s judiciary.  

Founded in the late 1980s with the aim of overthrowing the government, the LRA brutalized Ugandans under the leadership of Joseph Kony for nearly 20 years as it battled the military from bases in northern Uganda.  

The insurgents carried out horrific acts of cruelty, including rapes, abductions, hacking off victims’ limbs and lips and using crude instruments to bludgeon people to death.  

“The convict played a prominent role in the planning, strategy and actual execution of the offences of extreme gravity,” Justice Duncan Gasagwa, one of the four judges, said.  

“The victims have been left with lasting physical and mental pain and suffering.”  

Kwoyelo avoided the death sentence because he was recruited by the LRA at a young age, was not one of the top-ranking commanders, and has expressed remorse and a willingness to reconcile with the victims, Gasagwa said.  

Kwoyelo had denied the charges during the trial. His lawyer, Caleb Alaka, told the court he would appeal against both the verdict and the sentence.  

In around 2005, under military pressure, the LRA fled to the lawless jungles of South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic, where it also unleashed waves of violence against civilians.  

Splintered elements of the group, including Kony, are believed to still live in those areas, although attacks are now infrequent.   

The Ugandan military captured Kwoyelo in 2009 in northeastern Congo and his case crept through the Ugandan court system until he was convicted in August.  

He was found guilty on 44 charges, 31 were dismissed as duplications of others while he was acquitted on three.  

An arrest warrant was issued by the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) against Kony in 2005, making him the court’s longest standing fugitive.  

The LRA’s original aim was to create a state based on Kony’s interpretation of the Ten Commandments. 
…

your ad here

Union’s rejection of Boeing offer threatens jobs at aerospace suppliers 

Posted on by SeeUS

Striking workers’ rejection of planemaker Boeing’s BA.N latest contract offer has created a fresh threat to operations at aerospace suppliers such as family-run Independent Forge.  

If the strike by more than 33,000 U.S. Boeing workers persists another month, the Orange County, California supplier might need to cut its operations from five to three days a week to save money and retain workers, president Andrew Flores said.  

While Independent laid off a few employees already, letting more go is not an appealing option, he said. The 22 workers who remain are critical for the company, especially when the strike eventually ends and demand for its aluminum aircraft parts rebounds.  

“They are the backbone of our shop,” Flores said this week. “Their knowledge, I can’t replace that.”  

Wednesday’s vote by 64% of Boeing’s West Coast factory workers against the company’s latest contract offer, further idling assembly for nearly all of the planemaker’s commercial jets, has created a fresh test for suppliers such as Independent, which opened in 1975.  

Boeing’s vast global network of suppliers that produce parts from sprawling modern factories or tiny garage workshops, was already stressed by the company’s quality-and-safety crisis, which began in January after a mid-air panel blow-out on a new 737 MAX.   

Demand for parts has dropped, hitting suppliers after they spent heavily to meet renewed demand for planes in the post-pandemic era.   

How small suppliers such as Independent navigate the strike, which began on Sept. 13, is expected to affect Boeing’s future ability to bring its plane production back online.   

More job cuts?   

Five Boeing suppliers interviewed by Reuters this week said continuation of the strike would cause them to furlough workers, freeze investment, or consider halting production.  

Boeing declined comment.  

Seattle-area supplier Pathfinder, which runs a project to attract young recruits to aerospace and trains them alongside its skilled workers, will likely need to lay off more employees, CEO Dave Trader said.  

Pathfinder, which let go one-quarter of its 54 workers last month, will also need to send more of its aerospace students back to their high schools, instead of training them in the company’s factories, Trader said.  

Suppliers on a regular call on Thursday with Boeing supply-chain executives said they expect the strike will continue for weeks, one participant told Reuters.  

About 60% of the 2.21 million Americans who work in the aerospace industry have jobs directly linked to the supply chain, according to the U.S. industry group Aerospace Industries Association.  

Those suppliers’ decisions to reduce staffing could create a vicious cycle, as they will put added strain on Boeing’s efforts to restore and eventually increase 737 MAX output above a regulator-imposed cap of 38 after its factories re-open, analysts say.  

“Once we get back, we have the task of restarting the factories and the supply chain, and it’s much harder to turn this on than it is to turn it off,” CEO Kelly Ortberg told an analyst call on Wednesday.  

“The longer it goes on, the more it could trickle back into the supply chain and cause delays there,” Southwest Airlines LUV.N Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson said of the strike on Thursday.   

Shares of Boeing suppliers fell on Thursday. Howmet HWM.N lost 2%. Honeywell HON.O and Spirit AeroSystems SPR.N fell 5% and 3%, respectively, following weak results.  

Spirit Aero, Boeing’s key supplier, which has already announced the furlough of 700 workers on the 767 and 777 widebody programs for 21 days, has warned it would implement layoffs should the strike continue past November.  

“It’s starting up the supply chain that is likely to be the biggest worry, especially if they have taken action to cut workers due to a lack of Boeing orders,” Vertical Research Partners analyst Rob Stallard said by email.  

A strained supply chain, Spirit Aero’s challenges and increased regulatory oversight from the Federal Aviation Administration over MAX production, means it could take up to a year from the strike’s end to get 737 output back to the 38-per-month rate, Stallard said. 
…

your ad here

Indonesia’s new president trains cabinet at military-style camp

Posted on by SeeEA

Indonesia’s newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto hosted his cabinet Friday at an army academy retreat in the mountains where ministers dressed in camouflage fatigues, stayed in tents and were ordered to march.

The 73-year-old former general became leader of the world’s fourth most populous nation on Sunday, pledging to bolster Indonesia’s defenses and fight corruption.

Prabowo, accused of rights abuses under dictator Suharto in the late 1990s, ordered the retreat in Magelang, located in the mountains of Central Java, to drill ministers and unite them before leading the next government.

“The activity started with exercise together, led by coaches from the military academy in Magelang. After a 30-minute exercise, the agenda continued with a march training,” said presidential spokesman Hasan Nasbi.

“What’s surprising is when the cabinet members arrived on the field, President Prabowo Subianto was the first to arrive. President Prabowo was giving an example as a disciplined leader.”

Images on social media showed Prabowo and his ministers dressed in camouflage military gear.

“We must move in sync with the same goal. The government does not work alone, we have to work as a team,” Prabowo told the ministers, according to state news agency Antara.

Erick Thohir, the state-owned enterprises minister and former chairman of Inter Milan football club, posted videos from the academy and the military plane that flew the cabinet to the area.

“Learning to create content from the experts,” he wrote on Instagram, showing himself laughing with other ministers.

Indonesian celebrity Raffi Ahmad, who was announced as one of Prabowo’s presidential envoys, posted to 76 million followers that he was headed to the military academy where the new president wanted “to create good teamwork”.

Rights advocates have raised concerns that Prabowo and key allies like Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin — also implicated in rights abuses under Suharto — could strengthen the role of the military in the secular democracy of around 280 million.
…

your ad here

Germany, India look to boost ties on defense, green energy

Posted on by SeeEU

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to deepen defense ties with New Delhi and bring the two countries’ militaries closer, he said on Friday, after meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Germany has not traditionally had close defense ties with India, but is now pitching to join the latter’s effort to wean its arms base from decades of dependence on Russia, at a time when the West seeks to counter China’s growing influence.

“Our overall message is clear, we need more co-operation, not less,” Scholz said.

“At our inter-governmental consultations with India, we also want to deepen co-operation in defense and agree to bring our militaries together.”

Scholz, accompanied by most of his cabinet, is leading a high-level delegation to New Delhi, betting that greater access to the vast Indian market can reduce Germany’s reliance on China.

German Thyssenkrupp is one of two bidders to have partnered with Indian firms to build six conventional submarines in India, in a deal estimated to be worth $5 billion.

The Indian Navy is expected to pick between the German company or Spain’s Navantia soon.

New Delhi and Berlin are working on renewable energy projects, Modi said, among many possible investments in transport infrastructure.

“India is completely transforming its physical infrastructure,” Modi told the Asia-Pacific conference of German business in the Indian capital, attended by Scholz.

“Record investments are being made. This offers many possibilities for German and Indo-Pacific region companies.”

In 2022 Germany pledged 10 billion euros to help India achieve its climate goals.

German state lender KfW’s unit DEG, which focuses on the private sector, plans to more than double investment in India to $1 billion over the next few years, focusing on renewable energy and infrastructure, an official, Jochen von Frowein, has said.

India-EU FTA

Scholz reiterated his economy minister’s push for swift progress on talks for a free-trade pact between India and the European Union.

“I am sure that if we work on this together, prime minister, this could happen in months rather than years,” Scholz said.

Earlier, Trade Minister Piyush Goyal warned that India would be unable to strike such a deal if the bloc insisted on getting access to the Asian giant’s dairy industry.

A trade deal could be swiftly reached if sensitivities were respected on both sides, Goyal told the conference, following Thursday’s comments by German Economy Minister Robert Habeck that agriculture was the talks’ “most problematic” area, and suggesting that they first tackle the industrial sector.

Progress has been slow on the talks, initially targeted to be wrapped up by the end of 2023, with India blaming the EU for what it called “irrational” standards, as one reason.
…

your ad here

Russia targets Kyiv in overnight drone attack

Posted on by SeeEU

Russia sent two waves of drones at the Ukrainian capital overnight in its 15th air attack on Kyiv this month, city officials said on Friday.

More than a dozen drones were downed over the city during the strike, which lasted around four hours, city military administrator Serhiy Popko said on Telegram.

He added that authorities had not received any reports of injuries and that debris had ignited a fire that was later extinguished.

Reuters correspondents reported hearing multiple explosions early on Friday.

Overall, Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 36 out of 63 drones launched overnight by Russia over various parts of Ukraine, Kyiv’s air force said.

Most were downed over the Kyiv and southern Odesa regions, it added, while another 16 were “locationally lost.”

Russia has denied targeting civilians in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022, but has regularly fired missiles and drones at towns and cities behind the front line.
…

your ad here

King Charles tells summit past can’t be changed as leaders ask Britain to reckon with slavery

Posted on by SeeEA

King Charles III told a summit of Commonwealth countries in Samoa on Friday that the past could not be changed as he indirectly acknowledged calls from some of Britain’s former colonies for a reckoning over its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

The British royal understood “the most painful aspects of our past continue to resonate,” he told leaders in Apia. But Charles stopped short of mentioning financial reparations that some leaders at the event have urged and instead exhorted them to find the “right language” and an understanding of history “to guide us towards making the right choices in future where inequality exists.”

“None of us can change the past but we can commit with all our hearts to learning its lessons and to finding creative ways to right the inequalities that endure,” said Charles, who is attending his first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, or CHOGM, as Britain’s head of state.

His remarks at the summit’s official opening ceremony echoed comments a day earlier by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that the meeting should avoid becoming mired in the past and “very, very long endless discussions about reparations.” The U.K. leader dismissed calls from Caribbean countries for leaders at the biennial event to explicitly discuss redress for Britain’s role in the slave trade and mention the matter in its final joint statement.

But Britain’s handling of its involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade is seen by many observers as a litmus test for the Commonwealth’s adaptation to a modern-day world, as other European nations and some British institutions have started to own up to their role in the trade.

“I think the time has come for this to be taken seriously,” said Jacqueline McKenzie, a partner at London law firm Leigh Day. “Nobody expects people to pay every single penny for what happened. But I think there needs to be negotiations.”

Such a policy would be costly and divisive at home, McKenzie said.

The U.K. has never formally apologized for its role in the trade, in which millions of African citizens were kidnapped and transported to plantations in the Caribbean and Americas over several centuries, enriching many individuals and companies. Studies estimate Britain would owe between hundreds of millions and trillions of dollars in compensation to descendants of slaves.

The Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis on Thursday said he wanted a “frank” discussion with Starmer about the matter and would seek mention of the reparations issue in the leaders’ final statement at the event. All three candidates to be the next Commonwealth Secretary-General — from Gambia, Ghana and Lesotho — have endorsed policies of reparatory justice for slavery.

Starmer said Thursday in remarks to reporters that the matter would not be on the summit’s agenda. But Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland told The Associated Press in an interview that leaders “will speak about absolutely anything they want to speak about” at an all-day private meeting scheduled for Saturday.

King Charles said in Friday’s speech that nothing would right inequality “more decisively than to champion the principle that our Commonwealth is one of genuine opportunity for all.” The monarch urged leaders to “choose within our Commonwealth family the language of community and respect, and reject the language of division.”

He has expressed “sorrow” over slavery at a CHOGM summit before, in 2022, and last year endorsed a probe into the monarchy’s ties to the industry.

Charles — who is battling cancer — and his wife, Queen Camilla, will return to Britain tomorrow after visiting Samoa and Australia — where his presence prompted a lawmaker’s protest over his country’s colonial legacy.

He acknowledged Friday that the Commonwealth had mattered “a great deal” his late mother Queen Elizabeth II, who was seen as a unifying figure among the body’s at times disparate and divergent states.

The row over reparations threatened to overshadow a summit that Pacific leaders — and the Commonwealth secretariat — hoped would focus squarely on the ruinous effects of climate change.

“We are well past believing it is a problem for the future since it is already undermining the development we have long fought for,” the king said Friday. “This year alone we have seen terrifying storms in the Caribbean, devastating flooding in East Africa and catastrophic wildfires in Canada. Lives, livelihood and human rights are at-risk across the Commonwealth.”

Charles offered “every encouragement for action with unequivocal determination to arrest rising temperatures” by cutting emissions, building resilience, and conserving and restoring nature on land and at sea, he said.

Samoa is the first Pacific Island nation to host the event, and Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mata’afa said in a speech Friday that it was “a great opportunity for all to experience our lived reality, especially with climate change,” which was “the greatest threat to the survival and security of our Pacific people.”

Two dozen small island nations are among CHOGM’s 56 member states, among them the world’s most imperiled by rising seas. Her remarks came as the United Nations released a stark new report warning that the world was on pace for significantly more warming than expected without immediate climate action.

The population of the member nations of the 75-year-old Commonwealth organization totals 2.7 billion people.
…

your ad here

Four astronauts return to Earth after being delayed by Boeing’s capsule trouble, Hurricane Milton

Posted on by SeeUS

Four astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after a nearly eight-month space station stay extended by Boeing’s capsule trouble and Hurricane Milton.

A SpaceX capsule carrying the crew parachuted before dawn into the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida coast after undocking from the International Space Station mid-week.

The three Americans and one Russian should have been back two months ago. But their homecoming was stalled by problems with Boeing’s new Starliner astronaut capsule, which came back empty in September because of safety concerns. Then Hurricane Milton interfered, followed by another two weeks of high wind and rough seas.

SpaceX launched the four — NASA’s Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps, and Russia’s Alexander Grebenkin — in March. Barratt, the only space veteran going into the mission, acknowledged the support teams back home that had “to replan, retool and kind of redo everything right along with us … and helped us to roll with all those punches.”

Their replacements are the two Starliner test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, whose own mission went from eight days to eight months, and two astronauts launched by SpaceX four weeks ago. Those four will remain up there until February.

The space station is now back to its normal crew size of seven — four Americans and three Russians — after months of overflow.
…

your ad here

India-China deal raises questions about US Indo-Pacific strategy

Posted on by SeeUS

NEW DELHI — This week’s movement toward rapprochement between the leaders of China and India is raising questions about New Delhi’s commitment to the Quad, the loose four-nation alliance widely seen as a U.S.-led bid to counter Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific.

India’s participation in the grouping, which also includes Japan and Australia and is formally known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, has been at least partly driven by a vexing border dispute that has seen repeated clashes between Chinese and Indian troops along their Himalayan border.

Presidents Narendra Modi of India and Xi Jinping of China agreed Wednesday on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia to reduce their differences and jointly work out a plan for patrolling the border. The agreement is expected to result in closer political and economic ties.

“The thaw in India-China relations is a boon to both countries. This is particularly significant for China because India may now be less inclined to confront Beijing as part of Quad,” Zhiqun Zhu, professor of political science and international affairs at Bucknell University, told VOA. “In this sense, the effectiveness of Quad would be diluted with a less enthusiastic India.”

India and China share certain common interests as the two largest developing nations. China was India’s biggest trade partner last year, though there are signs that the U.S. might take its place this year.

“This suggests that the U.S. may wish to push forward its Indo-Pacific strategy without relying too heavily on support from India,” Zhu said.

The Quad has served as an important element in the American effort to establish a network of alliances and partnerships to counter China’s rising economic and military power, marked by its aggressive behavior in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.

“By remaining relatively informal, the Quad can quietly achieve many of the functions performed by NATO, up to and including military contingency planning,” wrote James Jay Carafano, a security affairs expert, on the website of the Liechtenstein-based think tank Geopolitical Intelligence Services AG.

China’s state-run newspaper Global Times described the improved China-India relationship as a response to U.S. and Western European efforts to reduce their economic reliance on China, a process sometimes described as “decoupling.”

“In the context of the US ‘decoupling’ strategy, the strengthened cooperation between China and India takes on even greater significance,” the paper said in an editorial published Thursday. “The pressures from the US ‘decoupling’ strategy and technological restrictions have heightened regional tensions and increased geopolitical risks for both nations.”

The editorial also said that the potential geopolitical shift has already generated market optimism. “It’s based on the recognition of their complementary strengths and the vast opportunities for collaboration across diverse sectors, including manufacturing, infrastructure and sustainable development.”

Nevertheless, it is uncertain whether the border agreement will be sustained in the face of decades-old differences between the world’s two most-populous countries.

They fought a war in 1962 and were engaged in a border clash in 2020 in which 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers died. There is some concern in India about whether China will in fact pull back troops in the disputed border areas and implement the agreement on the ground.

India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said Thursday that “agreements, once reached, must be scrupulously respected” and “disputes and differences must be settled by dialogue and diplomacy.”
…

your ad here

Many Nigerians leery of bill seeking firearms for road safety corps

Posted on by SeeAF

Many Nigerians are objecting to a bill that would create an armed unit for the Federal Road Safety Corps. The FRSC says the bill, if passed, would ensure the security of its facilities and officers, and that members of the squad would not be deployed on traffic patrols. But rights activists are calling for the bill to be rejected saying it could lead to intimidation, extortion, and brutality. Timothy Obiezu reports from Lagos.
…

your ad here

Blinken shuttles around Mideast on peace quest

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with key negotiators Thursday to discuss a Mideast cease-fire during a stop in the negotiating hub of Qatar. The parties have spent months trying to broker an end to hostilities in Gaza and Lebanon and bring home about 100 hostages believed to still be held in Gaza. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell has the story.
…

your ad here

White House pushes for de-escalation in Mideast, warns North Korea for aiding Russia

Posted on by SeeEA

The Biden administration continues to push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and de-escalation between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. In Europe, the administration has revealed intelligence that North Korean troops are being trained in Russia to help its war efforts.

VOA White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara spoke with White House national security communications adviser John Kirby on the latest developments in the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

VOA: [U.S.] Secretary [of State] Antony Blinken today warned Israel against a protracted campaign in Lebanon. He warned Israel to avoid civilian casualties, not to endanger U.N. peacekeepers and the Lebanese army. The only way Israel can do that is by operating a targeted campaign. Is it operating a targeted campaign?

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby: We would like to see no civilian casualties and no damage to civilian infrastructure to the maximum extent possible. We have told the Israelis that we don’t support near daily strikes in densely populated areas, and that’s part of the message that [Blinken] delivered when he was there. We believe that there’s still a diplomatic path to be found here to bring this conflict with Hezbollah and Lebanon to a close. That was one of the reasons that Secretary Blinken traveled there.

VOA: Do you support Israeli demands for an expanded U.N. peacekeeping force to include north of the Litani River?

Kirby: I’m not going to get into any specific proposals one way or the other. I don’t think we’re at that point right now. … What we support is de-escalation. What we support is minimization of civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure. We also continue to support Israel’s right to defend itself.

VOA: What about Israel’s efforts to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon? How far can you accept the cost of that?

Kirby: Look, they have done an extraordinary amount of work towards already dismantling Hezbollah’s capability, including the killing of [Hassan Nasrallah], their leader. Hezbollah is not Hamas. They are in many ways superior in terms of military capability and resources. So, it’s a different kind of a fight. It’s a different kind of enemy that they face.

And I would remind that even just in the last 24 hours, more than 100 rockets and drones [were] launched by Hezbollah towards Israeli citizens who are just trying to live their lives on that side of the Blue Line, as well. So, it remains a viable threat to the Israeli people, and we’re going to continue to talk to the Israelis about how they go after that threat, because how they do that matters significantly.

VOA: Ten days ago, the administration set a 30-day deadline for Israel to improve Palestinian access to aid. Can you update us on the progress?

Kirby: There has been some progress, and as you heard Secretary Blinken say during his travels, more needs to be done. But there has been an increase of trucks flowing into North Gaza; specifically, the Erez Crossing is back open. We want to see more.

VOA: Israel announced that Mossad chief David Barnea will meet with CIA Director Bill Burns and the Qatari prime minister in Doha. Is there anything about that meeting that you can tell us?

Kirby: Without talking to the CIA director’s travel or meetings, I won’t do that. But you saw the prime minister already announced that there’s another meeting in Doha of negotiators, and we’re grateful to see this progress continue. We’re grateful to see yet another meeting here, and we’re hopeful that now, with Mr. Sinwar gone, Hamas might be more willing to sit down and negotiate in good faith and come up with a solution that gets a cease-fire of at least some duration, and gets those hostages home with their families where they belong, as well as to your earlier question, gives us a pause in the fighting that can help us all work towards a more dramatic increase in humanitarian assistance.

I’m not suggesting that more can’t be done now. Even while Gaza remains an active combat zone, more can be done, more should be done. But if you can end the fighting, then you can definitely make it easier to get humanitarian assistance.

VOA: Does the administration see [Yahya Sinwar’s brother] Mohamed Sinwar as somebody with influence on the negotiations?

Kirby: I think it’s unclear right now where the leadership of Hamas goes, and I would just say that we’re watching this very, very closely, as you might imagine, monitoring it.

Regardless of how Hamas tries to fill the vacuum left by Sinwar, they have an opportunity before them right now to help end this war, to get those hostages home and to do the right thing.

VOA: Let’s move on to North Korea and Russia. [Russian President] Vladimir Putin appears to have implicitly acknowledged what you laid out yesterday, that North Korean troops are in Russia to help their war efforts. How do you see this?

Kirby: We see it the same way as we laid out yesterday. We know that there are at least several thousand North Korean soldiers in three military training bases in eastern Russia. Now, exactly what they’re being trained to do, we don’t know. Whether and how they’ll be deployed in this war against Ukraine, we don’t know that either. But it is a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions that, I would remind you, Russia themselves signed up to. The procurement of arms and ammunition from North Korea is a violation of U.N. Security Council existing resolutions that Russia signed up to. We’re going to watch this very, very closely.

VOA: What is the geopolitical implication for Kim Jong Un now that he’s willing to send his troops to die for Putin? Are you concerned that in return, Russia could help North Korea improve the reach of their ICBMs [intercontinental ballistic missiles] to hit American cities, for example?

Kirby: That’s what we’re watching closely to see. We don’t know exactly what Mr. Kim thinks he’s getting out of this arrangement. And it’s worrisome. As you heard the secretary of defense say the other day, this potential move here by the North Koreans to put soldiers on the ground, literally skin in the game when it comes to fighting Ukraine, is not only going to have implications in Ukraine and on that battlefield, but it’s going to have implications in the Indo-Pacific.

What we don’t know right now is exactly what that looks like. What does Kim think he’s getting out of this? It is possible that there could be some provision by Russia to enhance and improve North Korean military capabilities? Again, that would just further destabilize a very tense region.

VOA: You said these North Korean soldiers are legitimate military targets. But would you consider taking direct military action against them as the head of the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Mike Turner, suggested?

Kirby: The United States is not directly involved in combat operations in or around Ukraine. The president has been clear about that. We are providing Ukraine with the kinds of tools, capabilities and weapons that they need to defend themselves. And when we say they’re legitimate military targets, these North Korean soldiers, we mean they would become legitimate military targets of the Ukrainian Armed Forces should they be involved in operations against Ukraine.

VOA: China has said that they have no information on these North Korean troops. Do you believe them?

Kirby: I’ll let the Chinese speak to what they see or they don’t see. What I said yesterday stands today. We’re going to certainly be communicating with our PRC [People’s Republic of China] counterparts about this.

VOA: Last month you also confirmed that Iran transferred shipments of domestic missiles to Russia. Now we have these North Korean troops fighting for Russia. What is your assessment of this trilateral cooperation?

Kirby: Number one, it certainly shows Mr. Putin’s increasing desperation, and quite frankly, his weakness, that he has to reach out to the likes of Kim Jong Un and the supreme leader in Tehran for assistance to fight Ukraine. Clearly, he’s under a lot of military pressure. We know he’s losing 1,200 soldiers a day. He suffered more than 530,000 casualties in the time he’s been fighting in Ukraine. So, he’s clearly under pressure, and he’s not … being honest with the Russian people about what he’s doing and what he’s losing and how bloody and lethal this war has been on his own armed forces.

Number two, I think it certainly speaks to worrisome defense relationships between these countries that are now growing and deepening. They’re worrying not just because of what might be the effects in Ukraine, they’re worrying because of what might be the effects in other parts of the world. You and I were just talking about what Kim Jong Un might be getting out of this. Let’s talk about Iran, because Iran, certainly we know, is interested in advanced aviation capabilities, for instance, from Russia. Now, again, I don’t know that we’ve seen it all consummated yet, but Iran being able to benefit from Russian military technology is also not good for the Middle East region.
…

your ad here