Month: January 2025

Biden administration sounds alarm about Sudan genocide

Posted on by SeeAF

washington — The White House described Sudan’s civil war as a genocide Wednesday, a day after Washington placed sanctions on the nation’s rebel leader for his forces’ “horrific, systematic atrocities” in a conflict that has gripped the nation for more than two years, killing tens of thousands of people and driving millions from their homes.

“This is the second genocide in a generation in Sudan,” said John Kirby, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council.

He was referring to the brutal Darfur conflict, in which Sudanese Arab Janjaweed militias used scorched-earth tactics on the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa people of western Sudan, killing at least 200,000. The scale and horror of the violence prompted the International Criminal Court to issue its first-ever warrant for genocide to Sudan’s then-president, Omar al-Bashir.

“Just think about that for a second,” Kirby said. “The second genocide in a generation in Sudan.”

Kirby named Rapid Support Forces leader Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa as the leader of a wave of renewed ethnic cleansing, rape and systemic atrocities. Daglo, who is better known by his nickname, Hemedti, was a commander in the Janjaweed militia. He led the paramilitary RSF until an April 2023 clash with government forces that sparked the current conflict.

The violence has plunged nearly 640,000 people in the oil-rich nation into famine, the State Department says. The United Nations estimates that 30 million people — more than half of Sudan’s population — need humanitarian assistance as a result.

The U.S. sanctions target Hemedti, along with seven RSF-owned companies in the United Arab Emirates and one other individual. Among other things, the State Department said in its announcement, the sanctions block Hemedti and his immediate family members from entering the United States.

The Khartoum-based Sudan Times cited an adviser to Hemedti who said, on social media, that sanctions could hamper efforts to resolve the conflict.

Rights groups applauded the sanctions. Nicole Widdersheim, deputy Washington director at Human Rights Watch, called the State Department’s move “the first step toward redefining U.S. policy in Sudan with accountability and civilian protection at the center.”

She added, “We hope to see more pressure from the United States on the parties to the conflict and U.S. allies to respond to past and ongoing atrocities and human suffering.”

Brian Adeba, a senior adviser at The Sentry, a Washington-based investigative organization that tracks war crimes and human rights abuses, told VOA’s John Tanza that this was the strongest move Washington had made on Khartoum since conflict erupted in 2023.

“It is welcome, but a lot of work needs to be put into ensuring that the culprits that are committing the mass atrocities are held accountable,” he said.

Adeba said it was significant that the U.S. sanctions also targeted seven Emirati firms seen to be supporting the RSF.

“And so, this one closes the loop. Not only does it target the perpetrator but also the enabler, and therefore it puts a lot of pressure on also the international community to take action against the RSF,” he said.

 
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Experts: Russian technology could enhance North Korea’s ICBM capabilities

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WASHINGTON — Russian space technologies, if transferred to Pyongyang in compensation for its support of Moscow’s war on Ukraine, could enhance North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities, U.S. experts say. 

“The DPRK [North Korea] is already receiving Russian military equipment and training,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters Monday in Seoul. “Now, we have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with Pyongyang.”

According to U.S. defense officials, North Korea has deployed an estimated 12,000 troops to Russia, of which roughly 1,000 have already fallen casualty to fighting Ukrainians in Russia’s Kursk region.

For months, top diplomats and defense analysts have said North Korea anticipates Russian technical assistance for nuclear and missile programs in exchange.

Robert Peters, research fellow for nuclear deterrence and missile defense at the Heritage Foundation, suggested that any of Russia’s technological assistance would likely aim to develop Pyongyang’s ICBM program under the guise of non-military satellite programs, as solutions for space launch vehicles can be applied to ballistic missiles. 

“It would be politically very challenging for Russia to announce that it is going to help North Korea with its ICBM program,” Peters told VOA’s Korean Service on Tuesday. “Russians are able to have this fig leaf of, ‘Well, we’re just helping North Korea with a satellite program.’ But I don’t think anyone’s fooled by this.” 

According to Peters, two areas where North Korea could substantially benefit from Russia’s space program: Accuracy and reliability, both of which are crucial for delivering nuclear warheads effectively. 

“Getting the actual warhead package on target is no small task,” he explained. “And the United States and also Russia has, over the past 35 years, figured out a way to get warheads on target in a way that was not possible during the Cold War.” 

Peters also said North Korean engineers have struggled with having warheads reliably survive reentry from space to produce yield. 

Vann Van Diepen, who served as deputy assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation from 2009 to 2016, told VOA Korean that technologies related to satellite dispensing and maneuvering could enhance North Korea’s ICBM program. 

“If space launch vehicle technology or booster technology gets transferred as part of so-called ‘space technology,’ then that potentially could be applicable to probably liquid-propellant ICBMs,” Van Diepen said. 

Many satellites are known to use liquid propellants for efficiency and controllability. 

Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation, also said satellite launch vehicles have components that could be adapted for North Korea’s liquid-fueled ICBMs. 

“Probably, that could be used in a liquid-fueled ICBM, giving it a longer range or a greater carrying capacity, so that it could carry more warheads,” Bennett told VOA Korean. 

The majority of North Korea’s known ICBMs are believed to use liquid fuels. 

Looming threat 

Peters said Russia’s assistance could pose a serious threat to the continental United States. 

“The only reason for North Korea to build ICBMs is to target the United States, as they don’t need ICBMs to target South Korea or Japan,” he said, adding that it could make East Asian allies question whether Washington, faced with a direct threat, could maintain its regional deterrence commitments. 

Even short of direct ICBM technology transfers, Van Diepen said enhanced North Korean satellite technology is detrimental to the U.S. and its allies. 

“If Russia helps North Korea make better reconnaissance satellites — [with] higher resolution [imaging], that sort of thing — that improves North Korea’s targeting ability and intelligence capability. And that, of course, is bad for the United States and for the alliance,” Van Diepen said. “So, even without technology transfers that would help North Korea’s ICBM program, it would still be a bad thing and something the United States would oppose.” 

In November 2023, North Korea announced it successfully launched a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit after two failed attempts. Seoul believes Russian support likely enabled that success, according to The Associated Press.  

Former U.S. defense intelligence officer Bruce Bechtol told VOA Korean that Pyongyang has been working to enhance satellite capabilities in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. 

“The North Koreans put up a satellite before into orbit, but they need the specific technology that has intelligence collection on it, and that they would need to get from a benefactor, the Chinese or the Russians,” he said. “It appears that they’re getting it from the Russians, and that’s disturbing.” 

China’s stance 

China has been walking a fine line between the concern about Russia’s possible transfer of missile technology to North Korea and its ties with Moscow and Pyongyang. 

“North Korea and Russia are two independent sovereign states. How to develop bilateral relations is their own business,” Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said in an email to VOA Korean on Tuesday. 

On Monday, North Korea fired what it said was a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile, which flew about 1,100 kilometers before landing in the sea off its east coast. The test launch was conducted two weeks before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump returns to office. Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times during his first term, before nuclear talks between the two collapsed.  

Bennett and other experts suspect that Russia may well have given North Korea knowledge of materials such as the new carbon fiber, which Pyongyang claims to have used in creating the latest missile. 

“They tested a hypersonic missile earlier last year, so they had already gotten some of that technology. But in almost all areas of technology, you kind of walk before you run,” Bennett said. “The likelihood is that the Russian scientists have sat down with North Korean scientists, helping improve the vehicle from what they tested a year ago.” 

VOA’s Joon Ho Ahn contributed to this report.  
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Biden signs emergency declaration for California wildfires

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday approved a federal emergency declaration for California’s wildfires that will release money and resources to battle the blazes. The president warned that area’s recovery will take time. 

The Los Angeles County Fire Department faced four life-threatening wildfires that have killed at least two people, burned more than 1,000 buildings, and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate. 

“The L.A. County Fire Department was prepared for one or two major brush fires, but not four, especially given these sustained winds and low humidities,” L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone said Wednesday. 

He said more than 2,000 hectares have burned and the fire is continuing to spread.  

“We have no percentage of containment,” Marrone said. 

Officials have warned residents to pay attention to evacuation orders and leave when directed. 

Two thousand National Guard members have been deployed to help local firefighters. 

In the Pacific Palisades, the fire jumped from one house to the next, pushed by hurricane-force winds. In the same area, firefighters said hydrants had run dry. 

“We had a tremendous demand on our system in the Palisades, Janisse Quiñones, chief executive and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said Wednesday. “We pushed the system to the extreme.”

The call for water was “four times the normal demand … for 15 hours straight,” she added. 

Later Wednesday, support aircraft that had been grounded by the strong winds were airborne again, dropping water and fire retardant on the fire. 

More than 400,000 homes and businesses are without power across Los Angeles, according to poweroutage.us. 

Washington is supporting California’s firefighting efforts with four U.S. Forest Service large air tankers and an additional tanker in on route. The federal government has also helped the firefighting efforts with 10 helicopters. Meanwhile, dozens of the Forest Service fire engines are ready to be deployed.   

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press. 
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Analysts weigh in ahead of ECOWAS members’ exit deadline

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Abuja, Nigeria — Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are due to officially exit the West African ECOWAS bloc of nations this month, one year after announcing their withdrawal. The bloc hopes to persuade them to remain, but some analysts say growing anti-French sentiment in the region and Nigeria’s own recent dealings with France could frustrate negotiations.

In each of the three exiting nations, military officers seized power in recent years in the midst of jihadist insurgencies. The countries formed an alliance last year and accused ECOWAS of pandering to foreign influence while failing to secure member states’ security.

In December, ECOWAS announced a six-month grace period for the countries after a summit in the Nigerian capital to try to dissuade them from leaving the bloc.

Aminu Hayatu, a political science researcher at Bayero University in Kano, said Nigeria’s role at the center “in terms of leadership of  ECOWAS is really in a dilemma, because at one point, it has to be able to prove to France that it is ready to diplomatically relate with France. This is very implicating for Nigeria because it has to do it in such a way that it doesn’t hurt the leadership position which it is occupying in ECOWAS.”

Comments by Macron

Resentment of the presence of French military forces has grown across West and Central Africa in recent years and soared again recently when French President Emmanuel Macron said some African leaders showed “ingratitude” toward French efforts to help fight jihadist insurgencies.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who is the chair of ECOWAS, made a three-day visit to France in late November in search of investment opportunities for Nigeria. Some analysts said that visit could be misinterpreted and cause the juntas to be more resistant to the regional bloc.

In a Christmas Day interview, Niger’s military leader, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, accused France of supporting militant groups in the Lake Chad region to undermine Niger’s security, allegedly with Nigeria’s knowledge.

Nigeria has dismissed the allegations as “baseless” and “false.”

Hayatu is worried about the trend. “It is really a great deal of concern, and that might exacerbate the already simmering tension in terms of the diplomatic relations between Nigeria and these countries,” he said. “It could only escalate the bitterness if Nigeria really doesn’t tread carefully in the way that it is romancing the French regime in this very volatile situation that many of these countries are in.”

But political affairs analyst Chris Kwaja said that “all member states of ECOWAS are sovereign entities. Nigeria has the right to go into diplomatic relations with any other country, as long as such relationships are not designed to undermine the sovereignty of any other country. No country should decide and define for Nigeria who the friends and enemies of Nigeria should be.”

Rotimi Olawale, an Abuja-based political affairs analyst, said the Sahel states could not survive long without their neighbors.

“Right now, they have strong support in their countries, [so] they will ride on that support,” Olawale said, “but I anticipate that as economic challenges pile up, insecurities very high, citizens will demand real solutions to local problems, and with that they need a lot of support from external stakeholders, including ECOWAS.”

As of now, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso are expected to officially leave ECOWAS on January 29.
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Refugees in Turkey cautious about returning to Syria

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With the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad, Turkey sees an opportunity to send home up to 4 million Syrians who came there during Syria’s civil war, amid growing public hostility toward the refugees. Many of those interviewed in Istanbul, however, have built new lives in Turkey and say that with no guarantees of safety or livelihood, they are not ready to return. Dorian Jones reports.
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How China’s national liquor greased the wheels of corruption among Communist elites

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TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Kweichow Moutai, the distiller of China’s most prestigious liquor, has seen three of its ex-chairmen face investigations for graft over the past five years, with a new probe into a former head of the maker of “firewater” announced earlier this month.

Over the past week, the topic has been trending on China’s social media and comes even as the company continues to see growth in sales, despite a weakening Chinese economy and lagging consumption.

Industry observers say that while the latest scandal is unlikely to hurt liquor sales, it highlights how corruption continues to ferment at Moutai – the drink of China’s state banquets since the 1970s.

Latest probe

Late last week on Jan. 2, authorities in China’s southwestern Guizhou province announced a probe into company official Ding Xiongjun on its website. Ding stepped down in April from the state-owned liquor giant, and, according to the announcement, is under investigation for “suspected serious disciplinary and legal violations.”

It is likely that Ding may follow in the footsteps of his two predecessors, Yuan Renguo and Gao Weidong, industry observers say. Yuan and Gao were jailed for life on charges of bribery in 2021 and 2024, respectively. Yuan died of a brain hemorrhage in late 2023.

While the charges against Ding remain unclear, the image of Moutai has long been tainted as businessmen in China mostly recognize it as a form of “hard currency” used for socializing with those in power.

One of the company’s most-cited quotes was from ex-U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger to late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping at a 1974 state dinner, “if we drink enough Moutai, we can solve anything.”

Wang Shoufeng, the former head of a construction labor force service company in Anyang, a city in central China’s Henan province, said that China’s corrupt officials only drink the pricey liquor even if that means taking extra measures to stay under the radar of anti-graft investigators.

“When our [property developers] friends invited officials for a drink, they often poured Moutai into plastic bottles, faking it as water. The liquor in the one yuan-worth bottles was valued at tens of thousands of yuan. That’s how they drank,” Wang told VOA Mandarin in a phone interview. Wang fled China late last year to Germany.

Moutai as bribes

Wang said that some Chinese officials in Henan were so greedy that many of his peers in the property industry had to “buy their personal safety or get things done” by offering bribes, including gifts of aged Moutai.

One such example was Wang Xiaoguang, a former vice governor of Guizhou province, who was found pouring some of his 4,000 bottles of aged Moutai down the drain when he was worried about a probe against him in late 2018, according to Chinese media reports.

Many of China’s Communist elites, including Chinese President Xi Jinping himself, are also known to enjoy Moutai.

Xi has also made corruption a key focus of his rule in China, purging more than five million, mostly party officials, between 2014 and 2024. Earlier this week in an address, Xi said corruption remains the biggest threat to the Chinese Communist Party.

That said, officials and their love of the tipple has enabled the price to climb and peak at around 3,000 yuan, or $420, per 500ml bottle in February of last year, taking the flagship product “Flying Fairy Moutai” as an example, which has a 53% alcohol level.

Although its price has now dropped to around 2,200 yuan, or $300, the liquor’s fat margin compared to its factory price of 1,163 yuan, or $158, has created wiggle room for corruption, said Willy Lin, secretary-general of the Chinese White Spirits Research Association in Taipei.

“The [Moutai] liquor sells so well with a handsome profit that everyone wants a share of the pie. That makes it hard for those in the chairman’s seats to stay untangled with many interest groups,” Lin told VOA Mandarin in a phone interview.

“You [the chairmen] need their support to get to that position, but once you’re in, you need to help them make money. That’s when corruption sets in … it’s not an easy position to hold on to,” he added.

According to state media reports, both Yuan and Gao were found to have illegally awarded distribution rights to cronies or used the liquor to gain political clout before their arrest.

Sales still strong?

In 2018, China launched an anti-graft campaign against the liquor giant and has since arrested a dozen top executives, but the corruption at the brand’s top management remains hard to root out.

For now, the liquor giant’s sales performance appears to remain unaffected. In its latest financial report, released on Jan. 2 – the same day the probe into Ding was announced – Kweichow Moutai said it is expected to deliver 173.8 billion yuan, or $23.7 billion, in revenues for last year, seeing 15% year-on-year growth.

China’s weakened domestic consumption, however, is fueling concerns that the liquor giant’s future may not be bright.

One Shaanxi province-based vendor who sells a variety of spirits including Moutai on China’s short video platform Douyin told VOA Mandarin on Sunday that “now is not a good time” to buy or invest in bottles of Flying Fairy Moutai since its price may keep plunging to below 2,000 yuan.

A stock analyst in Beijing, who spoke with VOA Mandarin on the condition of anonymity, also expressed concern that Chinese consumers’ slashed spending on luxury goods may spell more bad news for the company’s share price as well, which too has been falling.

“Although Moutai’s sales performance remains relatively stable, the company’s falling stock price reflects concern over its future sales,” the analyst told VOA. The analyst did not want to use his full name citing the sensitivity of the topic.

On Wednesday, Kweichow Moutai closed at 1442.5 yuan per share, a 45% drop from its record high of 2,627.88 yuan per share in early 2021.
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Taliban refute Trump’s claims on US financial aid to Afghanistan

Posted on by SeeUS

ISLAMABAD — Taliban leaders in Afghanistan on Wednesday denied President-elect Donald Trump’s assertions that they have received billions of dollars in U.S. financial aid since regaining control of the country. 

Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy Taliban spokesperson, responded to Trump’s claims by asserting that the Kabul administration neither anticipates nor seeks any assistance from the United States. 

“In reality, the United States has not provided a single penny to the Islamic Emirate,” Fitrat stated, referring to Afghanistan’s official name under Taliban rule. “Instead, it has confiscated and frozen billions of dollars that rightfully belong to the people of Afghanistan.”  

The Taliban’s sharp response followed Trump’s news conference in Florida on Tuesday, when he was asked to comment on the alleged monthly payments of millions of dollars by the Biden administration to the de facto Afghan rulers. 

“It’s not even believable. Billions of dollars, not millions — billions. We pay billions of dollars to essentially the Taliban Afghanistan,” Trump stated. “This can’t be allowed to happen.” 

Fitrat claimed that the U.S. funds in question were primarily utilized for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and the relocation and resettlement of their Afghan allies. 

“A portion of this money may have also been used under the pretext of ‘humanitarian aid’ by international organizations. … [The] U.S. directed all this money to Afghanistan, primarily for its own interests, and now exploits it as propaganda against the Islamic Emirate,” the Taliban spokesperson alleged. 

The controversy surrounding provision of financial aid to the Taliban intensified following a Jan. 2 letter by Congressman Tim Burchett to President-elect Trump, which expressed concern over foreign aid being directed to the de facto Afghan authorities. 

“These cash shipments are auctioned off, and after that, they are nearly impossible to track. This is how the Taliban is being funded and plans to fund terrorism around the world,” warned Burchett. “The United States of America should not fund its enemies abroad.” 

He cited U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken as having confirmed that non-governmental organizations in Afghanistan had paid nearly $10 million in foreign aid to the Taliban in taxes. 

The Taliban swept back to power in August 2021, prompting Washington and the West at large to suspend development aid to the country and effectively isolate the Afghan banking sector, freezing billions of dollars of central bank assets in the United States. 

The flow of humanitarian assistance, however, has primarily remained intact under the United Nations’ supervision. 

The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) refutes allegations that some of the funds it receives for humanitarian operations are being diverted to the Taliban. 

UNAMA has maintained that it transports cash into the country for the use of U.N. agencies and “approved and vetted” humanitarian partners to assist millions of Afghans needing support. 

The mission has emphasized that all cash is deposited in designated U.N. accounts in a private bank before being distributed directly to the United Nations and other entities. It has also clarified that none of the cash brought into the country is deposited in the Central Bank of Afghanistan or provided to de facto Taliban authorities by the U.N.
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Chadian leaders denounce Macron’s remarks, order French troops out of Chad this month

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YAOUNDE — Chad’s government has reiterated its order for French troops to withdraw from the central African country before the end of this month, following remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron that African countries are ungrateful for France’s role in helping to fight jihadist insurgencies.

Macron said on Monday that France did the right thing by deploying its military to the Sahel region but that the region failed to say thank you. Macron said the states of the Sahel region would have fallen under the control of jihadist insurgencies and would not be sovereign today without French intervention.

Macron’s statements sparked a wave of anger and disbelief across Africa. Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby said Tuesday that Macron’s declaration dishonored and disrespected Africa. Deby accused Macron of being in the wrong era — and said that France has until the end of January to withdraw its troops.

A special commission created by Chad’s government to supervise the withdrawal of French troops also met in N’Djamena. Chadian Prime Minister Allamaye Halina, who chaired the meeting, said Macron’s statements are an insult to Africa, which deployed over 200,000 soldiers conscripted from French colonies to help France battle Nazi Germany during World War II.

Halina said France never gave significant assistance to Chadian troops, adding that Paris often focused only on achieving what he called French strategic interests.

Caman Bedaou Oumar, a political affairs consultant and researcher at Chad’s Consortium for International Migration Studies, said there is an unprecedented wave of growing anti-French sentiment all over Africa, especially in Mali, Senegal, Benin, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Niger, Gabon and Chad.

Oumar said those nations, in particular, were places where France attempts to dominate politics by imposing people loyal to Paris as presidents. He said African countries are sovereign nations with militaries strong enough to assure the integrity of their territories.

He added that Africans see the presence of France in countries that are rich in natural resources such as gold, uranium and oil as exploitative.

France says its troops are in Africa to fight Islamic State and other terrorist groups. In 2012, French troops helped drive out Islamist militants who had seized control of northern Mali.

But Senegal’s prime minister, Ousmane Sonko, said Macron’s assertion that France is helping Africa to maintain peace and protect its sovereignty is wrong.

In addition to Chad, Senegal and Ivory Coast have demanded the departure of French troops from their territory.

Chad says several hundred of about 1,000 French troops have left the central African state within the past month. France handed over its military base at Faya-Largeau in northern Chad as part of the withdrawal last month, according to Chadian officials.

Several hundred youths assembled in Chad’s capital, N’djamena, Wednesday to express their dissatisfaction at Macron’s comments.

Secondary school teacher Hassan Dibunge said it is high time African countries assume full independence by ordering French troops out of their territories and making sure France does not exploit them economically.

The 32-year-old said Africans can reorganize their armies and protect their territories without the presence of what he called ‘’exploitative’’ French troops.
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Trump asks Supreme Court to block sentencing in his hush money case in New York 

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Washington — President-elect Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to call off Friday’s sentencing in his hush money case in New York. 

Trump’s lawyers turned to the nation’s highest court Wednesday after New York courts refused to postpone the sentencing by Juan M. Merchan, the judge who presided over Trump’s trial and conviction last May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. 

Trump’s attorneys asked for an immediate stay of Friday’s sentencing “to prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the Presidency and the operations of the federal government.” 

The Supreme Court asked for a response from New York prosecutors by Thursday. 

Merchan has indicated he will not impose jail time, fines or probation. 

Trump’s attorneys have pointed to the Supreme Court’s ruling giving him broad immunity from criminal prosecution as they tried to have his New York conviction tossed out. 

While that opinion came in a different case, Trump’s lawyers say it means some of the evidence used against him in his hush money trial should have been shielded by presidential immunity. Merchan has disagreed. 

 
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Italian journalist Cecelia Sala freed from Iran’s Evin Prison 

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An Italian journalist detained in Iran for three weeks was released Wednesday and is returning home, Italian officials said.    

Cecelia Sala was released following “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels,” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office said.    

The journalist, who contributes to the daily newspaper Il Foglio and hosts the “Stories” podcast for media outlet Chora Media, had been in Iran on assignment and with a journalist visa when she was arrested in the capital, Tehran, on December 19.    

The state news outlet IRNA reported that Sala was being held after “violating the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”   

The 29-year-old journalist was held in solitary confinement at Iran’s Evin prison. While detained, she told family that she had to sleep on the floor of a cell that had lights on permanently.    

Meloni is expected to greet Sala when the journalist arrives in Rome later on Wednesday. “I want to express my gratitude to everyone who helped make Cecelia’s return possible, allowing her to re-embrace her family and colleagues” Meloni said in a statement on X.    

Sala’s father Renato Sala said he was overcome when he learned that his daughter was returning home.    

“I have only cried three times in my life,” he told Reuters. “During this period, I had the impression that a game of chess was being played, but there were more than just two players.”    

The National Press Club in Washington welcomed Sala’s release.    

“Sala’s ordeal was a brazen attack on press freedom and a reminder of the extraordinary risks journalists face to bring the truth to light,” National Press Club president Emily Wilkins said in a statement. “Her freedom is a victory for journalism and for all who stand against the silencing of the press.”   

Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately reply to VOA’s email requesting comment on Sala’s release.    

Sala was detained three days after Swiss-Iranian businessman Mohammad Abedini was arrested in Milan on a U.S. warrant. He is accused of allegedly supplying drone parts that Washington says were used in a 2024 attack that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan.    

A U.S. State Department spokesperson told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that they believe Sala’s arrest was likely a response to the businessman’s arrest. But Iran has denied that accusation.    

Abedini remains detained in Italy, with a court due to decide next week on his request to be released to house arrest ahead of proceedings to extradite him to the U.S.   

Iran has long arrested foreigners and dual nationals, including journalists, and then used them as bargaining chips in an attempt to draw concessions from other countries, rights groups say. Iran denies the practice.    

American journalist Roxana Saberi was detained by Iran in 2009 and held for around 100 days before being released. And the Washington Post’s Jason Rezaian was held for more than 540 days in Iran before being released in 2016 in a prisoner swap. His wife, journalist Yegi Rezaian, was arrested at the same time and detained for 72 days.    

Press freedom groups have said Sala’s arrest underscored the poor state of press freedom in Iran. The country is a leading jailer of journalists and it ranks 176 out of 180 countries on the Press Freedom Index, where 1 shows the best environment.    

Some information in this report came from Reuters and the Associated Press.  

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Ukrainian drone attacks target Russia’s Saratov region

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Ukrainian forces carried out what Russian officials said Wednesday was a mass drone attack on the Saratov region, causing damage to an industrial enterprise.

Saratov Governor Roman Busargin said the attack targeted the neighboring cities of Saratov and Engels, an area that is home to an airbase for Russian bomber planes.

The General Staff of Ukraine’s military said on Telegram its forces hit a Russian oil depot in Engels that provides fuel to the airbase.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it destroyed 11 Ukrainian drones in the Saratov region, but did not say anything about damage in the area.

Ukrainian drone attacks are typically focused on the areas directly along the Ukraine-Russia border, with some targeting regions further into Russia. Saratov is located in southwestern Russia about 450 kilometers from Ukraine.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it also destroyed 21 total Ukrainian drones over Kursk, Rostov, Belgorod, Bryansk, Krasnodar, Volgograd and the Sea of Azov.

Ukraine’s military said Wednesday that Russian attacks overnight included 64 drones mostly targeting areas in central Ukraine.

Air defenses destroyed 41 of the drones over the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Sumy and Zhytomyr regions, the Ukrainian air force said.

Officials in Sumy said the attacks damaged a house and injured one person.

Some information for this report was provided Reuters
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Thousands flee, homes destroyed as Los Angeles wildfires burn out of control

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LOS ANGELES — California firefighters battled wind-whipped wildfires that tore across the Los Angeles area, destroying homes, clogging roadways as tens of thousands fled and straining resources as officials prepared for the situation to worsen early Wednesday.

The flames from a fire that broke out Tuesday evening near a nature preserve in the inland foothills northeast of LA spread so rapidly that staff at a senior living center had to push dozens of residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down the street to a parking lot. The residents waited there in their bedclothes as embers fell around them until ambulances, buses and even construction vans arrived to take them to safety.

Another blaze that started hours earlier ripped through the city’s Pacific Palisades neighborhood, a hillside area along the coast dotted with celebrity residences and memorialized by the Beach Boys in their 1960s hit “Surfin’ USA.” In the frantic haste to get to safety, roadways became impassable when scores of people abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot, some toting suitcases.

The traffic jam on Palisades Drive prevented emergency vehicles from getting through and bulldozer was brought in to push the abandoned cars to the side and create a path. Video along the Pacific Coast Highway showed widespread destruction of homes and businesses along the famed roadway.

Pacific Palisades resident Kelsey Trainor said the only road in and out of her neighborhood was blocked. Ash fell all around them while fires burned on both sides of the road.

“We looked across and the fire had jumped from one side of the road to the other side of the road,” Trainor said. “People were getting out of the cars with their dogs and babies and bags, they were crying and screaming.”

A third wildfire started around 10:30 p.m. local time and quickly prompted evacuations in Sylmar, a San Fernando Valley community that is the northernmost neighborhood in Los Angeles. The causes of all three fires were under investigation.

Flames were being pushed by Santa Ana winds topping 97 kph in some places. The winds were expected to increase overnight, producing isolated gusts that could top 160 kph in mountains and foothills — including in areas that haven’t seen substantial rain in months.

The situation prompted the Los Angeles Fire Department to take the rare step of putting out a plea for off-duty firefighters to help. It was too windy for firefighting aircraft to fly, further hampering the fight.

The erratic weather caused President Joe Biden to cancel plans to travel to inland Riverside County, where he was to announce the establishment of two new national monuments in the state. He remained in Los Angeles, where smoke was visible from his hotel, and was briefed on the wildfires. The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved a grant to help reimburse California for the firefighting cost.

Officials didn’t give an estimate of structures damaged or destroyed in the Pacific Palisades wildfire, but they said about 30,000 residents were under evacuation orders and more than 13,000 structures were under threat. Gov. Gavin Newsom visited the scene and said many homes had burned.

By evening the flames had spread into neighboring Malibu and several people there were being treated for burn injuries and a firefighter had a serious head injury and was taken to a hospital, according to Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott.

Things were expected to worsen overnight.

“By no stretch of the imagination are we out of the woods,” Newsom warned residents, saying the worst of the winds were expected to continue through the night. He declared a state of emergency.

As of Tuesday evening, nearly 167,000 people were without power in Los Angeles county, according to the tracking website PowerOutage.us, due to the strong winds.

Recent dry winds, including the notorious Santa Anas, have contributed to warmer-than-average temperatures in Southern California, where there’s been very little rain so far this season. Southern California hasn’t seen more than 0.25 centimeters of rain since early May.

The Pacific Palisades fire started in the late morning local time and quickly consumed about 11.6 square kilometers and sent up a dramatic plume of smoke visible across Los Angeles.

The neighborhood, which borders Malibu about 32 kilometers west of downtown LA, includes hillside streets of tightly packed homes along winding roads nestled against the Santa Monica Mountains and stretches down to beaches along the Pacific Ocean.

Long-time Palisades resident Will Adams said he immediately went to pick his two kids up from St. Matthews Parish School when he heard the fire was nearby. Meanwhile, he said embers flew into his wife’s car as she tried to evacuate.

“She vacated her car and left it running,” Adams said. She and many other residents walked down toward the ocean until it was safe.

Adams said he had never witnessed anything like this in the 56 years he’s lived there. He watched as the sky turned brown and then black as homes started burning. He could hear loud popping and bangs “like small explosions,” which he said he believes were the transformers exploding.

“It is crazy, it’s everywhere, in all the nooks and crannies of the Palisades. One home’s safe, the other one’s up in flames,” Adams said.

Actor James Woods posted footage of flames burning through bushes and past palm trees on a hill near his home. The towering orange flames billowed among the landscaped yards between the homes.

“Standing in my driveway, getting ready to evacuate,” Woods said in the short video on X.

Some trees and vegetation on the grounds of the Getty Villa were burned by late Tuesday, but staff and the museum collection remain safe, Getty President Katherine Fleming said in a statement. The museum located on the eastern end of the Pacific Palisades is a separate campus of the world-famous Getty Museum that focuses on the art and culture of ancient Greece and Rome. The fire also burned Palisades Charter High School.

Film studios canceled two movie premieres due to the fire and windy weather, and the Los Angeles Unified School District said it temporarily relocated students from three campuses in the Pacific Palisades area.
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Rescuers search for survivors after China earthquake

Posted on by SeeEA

Rescuers in China’s Tibet region searched Wednesday for survivors trapped in rubble, a day after a powerful earthquake killed at least 126 people and injured 188 others.

Chinese officials said more than 400 people have been rescued so far.

Some 30,000 people have also been relocated after the quake, which destroyed more than 3,600 homes.

Complicating the rescue effort were several hundred aftershocks and frigid temperatures in the region.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for a massive rescue effort to minimize casualties and to resettle those whose homes were damaged. More than 3,000 rescuers were deployed, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing was dispatched to the area to oversee the relief work and the government allocated $13.6 million for the effort. About 6,900 people live in three townships and 27 villages within 20 kilometers of the epicenter on the Chinese side, state media said.

People in northeastern Nepal strongly felt the earthquake, but there were no initial reports of injuries or damage, according to the country’s National Emergency Operation Center.

The area around Mount Everest was empty in the depth of winter when even some residents leave to escape the cold.

The quake woke up residents in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu — about 230 kilometers from the epicenter — and sent many of them running into the streets.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake measured magnitude 7.1 and was relatively shallow at a depth of about 10 kilometers. China’s Earthquake Networks Center recorded the magnitude as 6.8. Shallow earthquakes often cause more damage.

The epicenter was in Tibet’s Tingri county, where the India and Eurasia plates grind against each other and can cause earthquakes strong enough to change the heights of some of the world’s tallest peaks in the Himalayan mountains.

There have been 10 earthquakes of at least magnitude 6 in the area where Tuesday’s quake hit over the past century, U.S. officials said.

Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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Trump not ruling out military force to control Greenland, Panama Canal

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President-elect Donald Trump did not rule out using military or economic coercion to gain control of the Panama Canal and Greenland during a wide-ranging news conference in Florida on Tuesday. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports his remarks came hours after his son made a surprise trip to Greenland.
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Former Cambodian MP shot dead in Bangkok

Posted on by SeeEA

BANGKOK — A former member of Cambodia’s opposition party was shot dead in Bangkok on Tuesday evening.

Lim Kimya, a former politician of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), died at the scene near Wat Bowonniwet Vihara Ratchaworawihan, a Buddhist temple near the tourist area of Khao San Road in Phra Nakhon district, The Bangkok Post reports.

Police say a man parked his motorbike and then shot dead Lim Kimya at about 4 p.m. before fleeing. The authorities say surveillance cameras near the scene show the man riding a red Honda motorbike, and that they are searching for the suspect.

The focus is on catching the assassin, but questions remain about the motive of the killing, according to police.

Phil Robertson of Asia Human Rights and Labor Advocates (AHRLA) told VOA the killing on Tuesday is an escalation of transnational repression and appears to be a political assassination.

“This brazen shooting of a former CNRP MP on the streets of Bangkok has all the hallmarks of a political assassination and looks to be a significant escalation in the use of transnational repression in Bangkok,” he said.

Lim Kimya, 73, also held French citizenship and had reportedly traveled to Bangkok in recent days with his wife and uncle. He was elected as a member of Cambodia’s opposition party in 2013.

Cambodian activists and politicians who have opposed the country’s regime have long been targeted at home and abroad. Those who have fled to other countries, such as Thailand, have been attacked, arrested and deported to Cambodia. Critics have coined the term “transnational repression” to describe the phenomenon.

VOA reached out to Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment but has not yet received a reply. 

Cambodia has been ruled by Cambodia’s People’s Party for 45 years. Critics say the regime has targeted dissidents, opposition parties and independent media who pose any threat to its rule.

Hun Manet took power in 2022, succeeding his father, Hun Sen, who led Cambodia for nearly four decades.

For a short time, the CNRP posed a legitimate challenge to Hun Sen’s rule after it was founded in 2012. But the opposition party was dissolved five years later after a Cambodian court ruled the party had attempted to overthrow the then-president.

Members of the party were banned from political activities, and its founders fled the country.  Kem Sokha, one of the party’s founders, was sentenced in 2023 to 27 years for treason.

Robertson said Lim Kimya’s killing will have ramifications for other Cambodians who have fled the country.

“The direct impact will be to severely intimidate the hundreds of Cambodian political opposition figures, NGO activists, and human rights defenders who have already fled to Thailand to escape PM Hun Manet’s campaign of political repression in Cambodia,” he added.

In August, Hay Vannith, the brother of Hay Vanna, a CNRP member, was arrested at the Cambodian border.

And in November, Thailand authorities deported Pen Chan Sangkream, Hong An, Mean Chanthon, Yin Chanthou, Soeung Khunthea and Vorn Chanratana back to their homeland for criticizing an economic trade pact Cambodia was part of.

Observers and rights groups say Thailand and Cambodia have unofficial agreements in place to return political dissidents should they flee to one another’s country.  

“This collaborative approach is not coincidental but strategically designed. Both countries share similar authoritarian impulses, with royal institutions and political elites working in concert to maintain their grip on power. By harmonizing their approach to dissent, Thailand and Cambodia create a more comprehensive mechanism of controlling political discourse,” Prem Singh Gill, a visiting fellow at Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, told VOA in December.

Since 2014, more than 150 individuals in Thailand have been victims of transnational repression, according to a 2022 report from Freedom House. 

 
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DR Congo conflict displaces more than 100,000 people in a week

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KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of the Congo — Recent fighting in part of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has displaced more than 100,000 people over the last week, the United Nations humanitarian affairs office said Tuesday. 

M23 rebels on Saturday seized control of Masisi, a key town in the mineral-rich DRC.  

“Between 1 and 3 January 2025, intense clashes between the Congolese army and a non-state armed group in Masisi Centre, North Kivu province, displaced an estimated 102,000 people, according to local reports,” the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. 

Rwanda’s foreign ministry said that the areas taken by M23 forces in recent days had been in the hands of Hutu militias linked to the 1994 mass killings of Tutsis in Rwanda. 

“Many parts of Masisi territory are/were in the hands of the genocidal FDLR, which is a foreign force that is occupying a Congolese territory,” Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said in the statement. 

He also denounced international criticism that had not condemned “the continued violation of the integrity of Congolese land belonging to Congolese communities, including Tutsi Congolese.” 

Masisi, with a population of around 40,000 people, is about 80 kilometers north of North Kivu’s provincial capital, Goma. 

Relative calm returned to Masisi by January 5, prompting some displaced families to begin returning, OCHA said. 

“Humanitarian actors warn the influx of displaced people may worsen Masisi’s dire situation, with over 600,000 displaced as of 30 November 2024,” the UN body added. 

Between Friday and Monday, Doctors Without Border, or MSF, and health ministry teams treated 75 people at two hospitals in the area, MSF said in a statement Tuesday. 

“In addition to providing this care, these two health facilities also sheltered hundreds of civilians for several days, who sought refuge there to benefit from increased protection,” said Stephane Goetghebuer, head of mission in charge of the medical charity’s projects in North Kivu. 

The March 23 Movement (M23), a militia that the DRC and U.N. say is being supported by neighboring Rwanda and its army, has seized vast swaths of the east of the DRC since 2021, displacing thousands and triggering a humanitarian crisis. 

Rwanda’s statement blamed the ongoing fighting on “the marginalization of the Congolese Tutsi, victims of hate speech, discrimination and persecution.” 

Angola-mediated talks between DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame were abruptly canceled in mid-December over disagreements on the terms of a proposed peace deal. 

For 30 years, eastern DRC has been ravaged by fighting between local and foreign armed groups, dating back to the regional wars of the 1990s. 
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VOA Mandarin: Japanese PM postpones US visit, expresses willingness to visit China

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Japan Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has postponed his visit to the U.S. and once again expressed his willingness to visit China. Yoichi Shimada, a Japanese House of Representatives member, told VOA that if Ishiba visits China first, it will cause distrust from the Trump administration and will also cause the U.S. Congress to have considerable doubts about Japan’s policies on the Japan-U.S. alliance and Japan-China relations.

Click here for the full story in Mandarin.

 
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Russian gas shipments through Ukraine end; creating trouble for Transnistria

Posted on by SeeEU

With temperatures dipping below freezing this week in Moldova’s Russian-backed breakaway region of Transnistria, the end of an agreement to ship natural gas from Russia through Ukraine has led to rolling blackouts, idle factories and a lack of hot water.

Ukraine decided not to renew a five-year gas transfer deal with Russia’s state-controlled energy giant Gazprom. The agreement, which was negotiated before the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, allowed natural gas shipments across Ukrainian territories to countries in Europe.

Before the war, Russian pipelines supplied 40% of Europe’s natural gas. Now, that figure is about 8%, according to data from the European Commission.

Ukraine’s energy minister, Herman Halushchenko, confirmed Kyiv had stopped the transit “in the interest of national security,” according to The Associated Press. 

The European Commission has repeatedly emphasized that ending the transfer of Russian natural gas across Ukraine was not a surprise and that countries had time to prepare for it. 

But in Transnistria, a sliver of territory wedged between the Dniester River and the Ukrainian border, the end of the agreement is a serious matter. The pro-Russia separatist enclave, which fought against Moldova in 1992, declared a state of emergency over the end of the shipments.

Moldova’s Foreign Ministry told VOA in a statement that parts of the country west of the Dniester River — which includes most of Moldova’s population and the nation’s capital, Chișinau — was preparing to stop supplies from Russia and has been buying gas on European markets, albeit at a higher price. 

 

Moldovan authorities said they offered to help the breakaway region obtain gas from European markets. In response, Transnistria’s “Foreign Ministry” claimed Moldova was attempting “to manipulate public opinion by providing false information.” 

In a statement issued on January 6, it said: “Transnistria has not received any specific forms of assistance or adequate practical support from the Moldovan side. There is none today.”

Moldova’s pro-Western prime minister, Dorin Recean, said that by “jeopardizing the future of the protectorate it has supported for three decades in an attempt to destabilize Moldova, Russia is demonstrating the inevitable outcome for all its allies: betrayal and isolation.”

“We view this as a security crisis aimed at allowing pro-Russian forces to return to power in Moldova and use our territory as a weapon against Ukraine, with which we share a 1,200-kilometer border,” Recean said.

“The Moldovan government remains committed to supporting all citizens with simple solutions for those in the Transnistrian region. Alternative energy solutions such as biomass systems, generators, humanitarian aid and basic medical supplies are ready to be delivered if the separatist leadership accepts support,” he added.

Oazu Nantoi, a member of the Moldovan parliament, said he also believes that Transnistria is refusing help from official Moldovan authorities on the Kremlin’s orders.

Nantoi told VOA that most of Moldova is supplied until March.

“There, we are no longer dependent on Gazprom’s monopoly. We can buy gas at market prices,” he said. “Sometimes these prices bite, but Gazprom cannot influence consumption.”
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Trump: ‘All hell will break out’ if Hamas hostages not returned

Posted on by SeeEU

WASHINGTON — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday held an omnibus press conference at his Florida estate, where he explained his stances on key foreign policy issues as he prepares to take office in two weeks.

He forcefully called for the release of hostages seized in Israel more than a year ago by militant group Hamas, saying, emphatically — six times — that “all hell will break loose” otherwise.

The Palestinian group’s stunning terror attack on civilians in Israel sparked a brutal conflict that has since inflamed the region and killed tens of thousands of civilians.

His Middle East envoy had, moments before, joined Trump at the podium to brief reporters on his recent high-level talks in the region, saying that his team was “on the verge” of a deal and that he would travel back in coming days.

“I don’t want to hurt your negotiation,” Trump said to Steve Witkoff. “But if they’re not back by the time I get into office, all hell will break out in the Middle East, and it will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone.”

On Ukraine, he expressed interest in meeting with Russia’s leader and repeated his vow to get the conflict in Ukraine ”straightened out.” Trump has not explained how he would do this.

When asked about a key demand in Ukraine’s peace plan — that it be allowed to join NATO — Trump said, “My view is that it was always understood” that Ukraine would not be admitted to the security alliance.

He repeated his tariff threats against Canada and Mexico and his line that Canada should be a U.S. state, and he floated a name change, saying: “We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.”

Thessalia Merivaki, an associate teaching professor at Georgetown University, said Trump often uses bluster as a strategy.

“So, Trump has a record of just floating controversial ideas and positions to attract attention and generate interest and media coverage,” she said.

Foreign policy

Trump has not said how the United States will acquire control of Greenland, the large North American island that is an autonomous territory of Denmark. On Tuesday, he repeated his stance that “we need them for economic security.”

When asked directly if he would commit to not use military or economic coercion to back his increasingly voluble desire for control of Greenland and, also, the Panama Canal, Trump replied: “I can’t assure you on either of those two.”

Trump has accused Panama of violating the treaty under which the U.S. ceded control of the famous canal more than four decades ago, under then-President Jimmy Carter.

“Giving the Panama Canal to Panama was a very big mistake,” Trump said. “Giving that away was a horrible thing, and I believe that’s why Jimmy Carter lost the election.”

Trump added that he liked Carter “as a man.” He is expected to attend Carter’s national funeral on Thursday in Washington. President Joe Biden will deliver the eulogy.

First day and beyond

Trump also said he would be “making major pardons” on his first day in office, when asked about his previous vow to issue clemency to some of the more than 1,500 people charged with crimes in connection to the riot on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

He also repeated past commitments to loosen what he called the “quagmire” of U.S. environmental regulations and smooth the path for billionaire investors.

He described his reelection victory as a “landslide” for winning the Electoral College and the popular vote, although official results show he did not win the majority of the ballots, as third-party candidates shaved off votes. He promised to have future election results counted earlier on election night.

He repeated his vow to “drill, baby drill” on his first day in office by reversing Biden’s recent orders seeking to protect against offshore drilling.

He accused Biden of botching foreign policy, saying, “Now I’m going into a world that’s burning.”

Trump will assume office Jan. 20.

Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report.
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Arrest of activist spotlights alleged illegal lithium mining in central Namibia

Posted on by SeeAF

Windhoek, Namibia — Namibian activist Jimmy Areseb appeared in court Monday after being arrested for allegedly violating public order laws during a protest at a local traditional authority’s offices. Areseb and others at the rally accused officials of accepting bribes from a Chinese mining company in return for access to lithium deposits. The confrontation highlights growing tensions in Namibia’s Erongo region, where activists say the Chinese company, Xinfeng, is acting illegally.

Images of an elderly woman being carried off by members of Namibia’s paramilitary Special Field Force on Saturday set the Namibian social media space abuzz, with some comments likening it to the apartheid era when the country was controlled by South Africa.

In another circulating video, members of the widely feared police unit are seen confronting elderly men and women who had gathered at offices of traditional chiefs and councilors, whom they accuse of allowing the Chinese company Xinfeng permission to mine for lithium without following the proper channels and procedures.

The tensions at Uis, a mining settlement in the mineral-rich Erongo region, culminated in the arrest of activist Jimmy Areseb for interfering with the Special Field Force, who were enforcing a court order for demonstrators to vacate the offices where they had camped for a week demanding to see the chief.

At the center of the storm is Xinfeng, a company that Namibia’s commissioner of mines has charged with illegal mining.

Community members are asking why police arrested Areseb but not anyone from Xinfeng.

Speaking to VOA, police spokesperson Kauna Shikwambi said the two cases cannot be compared.

“Those, were obstructing officers, right there at the scene, now. The other one requires investigation, and there must be evidence, that’s why investigations take so long, to have evidence, that indeed an arrest can be affected or not. You can never compare that and that! It doesn’t make sense,” said Shikwambi.

Xinfeng is accused by the activists of paying bribes to the chiefs, in order to gain consent for the mining.

However, a Xinfeng spokesperson, Kuvee Kangueehi, said those claims are false. He said the company makes a contribution of about $550 per month to the traditional authority as part of its corporate social responsibility and this is being misconstrued by the community as a bribe. 

“EPL’s, and mining claims, and all the rights are granted by the Ministry. So for what reason will Xinfeng bribe an entity that does not grant the license? And it’s not in the business of Xinfeng to bribe anybody,” he said.

Local chief Sagarias Seibeb, who is being accused of turning a blind eye to the interests of his community in favor of the Chinese company, told VOA the people camping at his office, including Jimmy Areseb, are his in-laws.

He said family members feel they are not benefiting from his position as a chief, and are using the Xinfeng issue to settle family disputes.

“I cannot deny someone access to do prospecting, or whatever, in my area. I am just a custodian of the area. The land belongs to the state and there is a section that deals with that consent letter, and that can be done with or without my consent letter,” said Seibeb.

On Tuesday, the chief is to meet with protesters in the presence of police officers and officials from the central government to try and find a solution to the tensions troubling the community.  

Meanwhile, police say they are investigating the charge against Xinfeng.
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Trump special prosecutor temporarily blocked from releasing report on probe

Posted on by SeeUS

Washington — A U.S. judge temporarily blocked Special Counsel Jack Smith from releasing a report on his investigations into President-elect Donald Trump for his mishandling of classified documents and attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, a court order showed on Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who presided over the now-dismissed case accusing Trump of illegally holding onto classified documents, directed the Justice Department not to release the report until a federal appeals court rules on a request from Trump’s two former co-defendants in the case.

Lawyers for the co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, who were charged with obstructing the documents investigation, moved late Monday to block release of the report.

Nauta and De Oliveira argued the report would improperly interfere in their case, which remains ongoing.

Smith led both the classified documents case against Trump and a second prosecution accusing Trump of attempting to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election. Both cases have since been dropped.

Trump, who dismissed the federal probe and the two other criminal investigations he faced as a politically motivated attempt to block him from returning to power, said he welcomed the news.

“It was a fake case against a political opponent,” Trump told reporters at his Florida resort on Tuesday. “If they’re not allowed to issue the report, that’s the way it should be … that’s great news.”

A spokesperson for Smith’s office declined to comment on the order.

Justice Department regulations require Smith, who plans to wrap up his probe before Trump returns to office on Jan. 20, to submit a final report to Attorney General Merrick Garland. Garland has previously pledged to make public all reports from special counsels during his tenure.

Prosecutors said in a court filing earlier on Tuesday that Garland, who appointed Smith, had not yet decided how to handle the portion of the report that relates to the classified documents case.  

Cannon, a Trump appointee, dismissed the case against Trump and his two co-defendants in July 2024 after ruling that Smith was improperly appointed. Prosecutors are appealing the ruling as it pertains to Nauta and De Oliveira.
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US determines Sudan’s RSF committed genocide, sanctions leader

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WASHINGTON — The United States determined on Tuesday that members of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces and allied militias committed genocide in Sudan and it imposed sanctions on the group’s leader over a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and driven millions from their homes.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement the RSF and aligned militias had continued to direct attacks against civilians, adding that they had systematically murdered men and boys on an ethnic basis and had deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of sexual violence.

The militias have also targeted fleeing civilians and murdered innocent people escaping conflict, Blinken said.

“The United States is committed to holding accountable those responsible for these atrocities,” Blinken said.

Washington announced sanctions on the leader of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is also known as Hemedti, barring him from traveling to the United States and freezing any U.S. assets he might hold.

“For nearly two years, Hemedti’s RSF has engaged in a brutal armed conflict with the Sudanese Armed Forces for control of Sudan, killing tens of thousands, displacing 12 million Sudanese, and triggering widespread starvation,” the Treasury Department said in a separate statement.

Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in conflict for more than 18 months, creating a humanitarian crisis in which U.N. agencies have struggled to deliver relief.

The war erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule.
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Trump Jr. arrives in Greenland after his father said US should own it

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The eldest son of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump arrived in Greenland on Tuesday for a private visit that heightened speculation that the incoming U.S. administration could seek to take control of the mineral-rich Danish territory.

The Danish state broadcaster reported that Donald Trump Jr.’s plane landed in Nuuk, capital of the vast and icy territory that has some 57,000 residents. Local media broadcast footage of him walking across a snowy tarmac.

In a statement, Greenland’s government said that Trump Jr.’s visit would take place “as a private individual” and not as an official visit and that Greenlandic representatives would not meet with him. Greenland is an autonomous territory that’s part of Denmark.

Mininguaq Kleist, permanent secretary for the Greenland Foreign Affairs department, told The Associated Press that authorities were informed that Trump Jr. would stay for about four to five hours.

Neither Trump Jr.’s delegation nor Greenlandic government officials had requested a meeting, Kleist said.

The visit nonetheless had political overtones.

The president-elect recently voiced a desire — also expressed during his first presidency — to acquire the territory in the Arctic, an area of strategic importance for the United States, China, Russia and others.

The world’s largest island, Greenland sits between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans and is home to a large U.S. military base. It is 80% covered by an ice sheet.

“I am hearing that the people of Greenland are ‘MAGA.’ My son, Don Jr., and various representatives, will be traveling there to visit some of the most magnificent areas and sights,” the president-elect posted on his social media site Monday night, referring to his “Make America Great Again” slogan.

“Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our nation,” Trump wrote. “We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside world. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”

Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede has called for independence from Denmark, saying in a New Year’s speech that it would be a way for Greenland to free itself from its colonial past. But Egede has also said he has no interest in Greenland becoming part of the United States, insisting that the island is not for sale.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Tuesday that the future of Greenland would be decided by Greenland and called the United States Denmark’s most important ally.

Denmark’s King Frederik X has been asserting the kingdom’s rights to Greenland as well as the Faroe Islands, a self-governing archipelago located between Iceland and Norway in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Last month, the king changed Denmark’s coat of arms to include fields that represent Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Greenland is represented by a silver bear with a red tongue. The royal announcement noted that since 1194, the royal coat of arms “visually symbolized the legitimacy and sovereignty of the state and the monarch.”

“We are all united and each of us committed for the Kingdom of Denmark,” the king said in his New Year’s address, adding: “all the way to Greenland.”

During his first term, the U.S. president-elect mused about purchasing Greenland, which gained home rule from Denmark in 1979. He canceled a scheduled trip to Denmark in August 2019 after its prime minister dismissed the idea.

Reviving the issue in a statement last month as he announced his pick for U.S. ambassador to Denmark, Trump wrote: “For purposes of national security and freedom throughout the world, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”

Trump’s eldest son has become a prominent player in his father’s political movement and has served on his presidential transition team, helping to select the people who will staff the incoming White House.
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Chinese-owned gold mine stirs controversy in eastern Zimbabwe

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Mutare, Zimbabwe — Government officials in Zimbabwe have been scrutinizing a Chinese mining company that has been operating a gold mine in the country’s east since at least 2021. The scrutiny comes as residents voice concern about the impact on health and the environment.

The company in question is Sino Africa Huijin Holdings, which faces accusations of severe environmental destruction and community harm. Its gold prospecting operations have been taking place in an area known as Premier Estate in the Mutasa District of Manicaland.

Villagers and community groups have complained about the blasting that has taken place at the mine. Nearby residents have reported widespread ecological damage, including the decimation of a mountain and the displacement of wildlife. They also say tremors from the blasts have caused structural damage to homes.

Residents further complain of dust pollution and the potential contamination of water sources due to alleged leaching of cyanide. Cyanide leaching is a method of extracting gold from ore that can pollute water resources. 

Adding to these concerns, Sino Africa is accused of forging community signatures on their Environmental Impact Assessment document, raising questions about the transparency and legitimacy of their operations.

The complaints prompted the government to shut down the mine’s operations twice in 2024. In the past two months, however, mining has resumed. 

“We are between a rock and a hard place. If it’s possible, let them compensate us and relocate us because it’s no longer appealing,” Ishewedenga Moyo, one of 30 residents living within some 300 meters of the Sino Africa Huijin mine, told VOA in December.

“The vibrations and noise generated by mining blasting are disrupting wildlife habitats and ecosystems, damaging biodiversity, and causing cracks in our homes,” Moyo added.

Government-ordered suspensions 

A Manicaland Joint Command Task Force, composed of a number of government entities, ordered the temporary closure of Sino Africa Huijin’s gold mining operations twice. Officials say the shutdowns were enforced to ensure the mine met all necessary requirements. 

The first suspension occurred in October and lasted two weeks. Sino Africa Huijin made pledges to improve the situation and was allowed to resume operations. Then, the task force ordered the mine to close a second time in mid-November.

Traditional Chief James Kurauone of the Mutasa district told VOA on Dec. 11 that officials forced Sino Africa Huijing’s operations to stop each time because the company “failed to address critical concerns raised by the local community.”

“These concerns that led to the temporary closure included severe air pollution, destructive blasting activities impacting local homes, and the company’s failure to fulfill its corporate social responsibility obligations,” said Mutasa in recent comments. Mutasa added that he plans to convene a meeting with mining officials and members from the community to discuss a path forward in a couple of weeks.  

Mining compliance  

Mining operations resumed on November 25 at the conclusion of discussions among government officials, community leaders and company representatives.

Daniel Panganai, the current HR manager of Sino Africa Huijin, was involved in the discussions. He told VOA in mid-December that the company “complied with all the requirements outlined in writing, but I cannot divulge much information at this time.”

Misheck Mugadza, the Manicaland minister of state, also said in December that Sino Africa Huijin committed to adhering to all mining and environmental regulations. He said the Chinese company had acted on its social responsibility obligations by donating to the local hospital and drilling a well to provide water to the local school.

The government is closely monitoring the company’s operations, Mugadza said, and some households have already received full compensation for damages. He further stated that the company is obligated to compensate all affected residents.  

Chinese investments in Zimbabwean mines

The controversy surrounding the Sino Africa Huijin mine is not isolated, according to a September report by the Center for Natural Resource Governance, or CNRG, a Harare-based community rights organization.

The report, which assessed the impact of Chinese investment on Zimbabwe’s mining industry, found that “Chinese mining ventures have led to widespread environmental degradation, disregard for the cultural rights of host communities, and, in many cases, the violation of the country’s labor laws, often with apparent impunity.”

Chinese investors control an estimated 90% of the of Zimbabwe’s mining industry, according to the report.  

“In 2023 alone, Sino investments in Zimbabwe’s mining sector saw 121 investors contributing a staggering $2.79 billion,” said CNRG Executive Director Farai Maguwu, who was quoted in a post on the organization’s website.

Separately, another area resident voiced criticism of the government’s response to the mining.

“There are times when the mine uses explosives of higher magnitude, and there will be tremors,” said area resident Thobekile Mhenziwamukuru. 

“When we call the government officials about the crisis, they always go directly alone to the Sino mine offices without any community leaders, then they will come and address us, just saying they will use explosives of low magnitude next time and we now know that it’s now their cash cow.

“Even in terms of closing and reopening of the mine, instead of solving our grievances, there is no fairness in everything because money is being exchanged to slow the progress and we hope higher offices in government will come to rescue us,” she concluded.

Maguwu accused local lawmakers of corruption, saying, “Instead of enforcing the law, they are cashing in on this illegality by forcing them to close down, demanding bribes for reopening, and then returning to close them down again and demand another bribe.”

Despite repeated phone calls and visits to the offices of government stakeholders to address these accusations, including the Ministry of Mines and the Environmental Management Agency, VOA received no response.

“This cycle goes on and on while the environment is being sacrificed,” Maguwu said.
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