Month: February 2025

Somali officials: US airstrike against Islamic State kills 16 militants

Posted on by SeeAF

Washington — U.S. airstrikes killed 16 militants affiliated with the Islamic State terrorist group in northern Somalia, officials there said Monday.

A spokesperson for security operations in the Puntland region, Brigadier General Mohamud Mohamed Ahmed, disclosed the death toll in an interview VOA’s Somali Service.  

“The strike carried out by our international security partners killed at least 16 militants including two senior members identified as the group’s bomb-makers, and a bomb factory was destroyed,” Ahmed said.

He said local officials are working to verify the names and nationalities of the bomb-makers.  

Ahmed said that the United Arab Emirates played a role Sunday’s attack.

“The United States government and the United Arab Emirates, both our partners supporting us in the fight against terrorists, were involved [in] the strikes on Sunday night,” he added.

Ahmed said the strikes targeted Godka Kunle and Xankookin, two villages in the Cal Miskaad mountain range in Puntland’s Bari region.

Ahmed said during the airstrikes, the militants launched drone attacks on the bases of the Puntland security forces in the area.

“Trying to hit back the bases of our security forces, the militants used seven drones. Puntland forces shot down five of them and two others, apparently with explosives, went off,” Ahmed claimed.

Somali and U.S. authorities have been working to root out Islamic State groups that established hideouts in mountainous parts of Puntland, a semi-autonomous region in northern Somalia.  

The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement Monday that it conducted an airstrike against ISIS-Somalia in the country’s northeast Sunday, killing two terrorists, according to an initial assessment.

AFRICOM said no civilians were harmed in the operation and said it would continue to evaluate the results and provide updates as necessary.

Speaking in Mogadishu, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud commended the U.S. airstrikes.

“The latest U.S. precision strikes against terrorist elements in Puntland reaffirms the strong partnership between Somalia and the United States in the fight against terrorism,” Mohamud said in a statement posted by the Somali National News Agency (SONNA). 

Sunday’s airstrike is the second the U.S. military carried out in Somalia this month.

A similar operation on Feb. 1, which targeted senior ISIS-Somalia leadership in a network of cave complexes in Puntland’s Golis Mountains, killed approximately 14 ISIS operatives, including Ahmed Maeleninine, who the U.S. identified as a key recruiter and financier responsible for coordinating jihadi movements into the U.S. and Europe.

Puntland authorities recently launched a military offensive against extremist groups in the region following months of preparations.

Puntland claims to have since killed more than 200 Islamic State fighters, dozens of them foreign fighters, and captured villages and bases in the mountainous area controlled by IS.
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Doctors change pope’s treatment to tackle ‘complex’ situation, Vatican says

Posted on by SeeEU

Vatican City — Doctors have changed treatment for Pope Francis’ respiratory tract infection to tackle a “complex clinical situation” and he will remain in hospital for as long as necessary, the Vatican said on Monday.

“The results of the tests carried out in recent days and today have demonstrated a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract, which has led to a further modification of the therapy,” said a brief statement.

“All tests conducted up to today are indicative of a complex clinical picture that will require an appropriate hospital stay,” it said.

The 88-year-old pontiff has been suffering from a respiratory infection for more than a week and was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pontiff was “in good spirits.” He did not specify whether the pope was suffering from a bacterial or viral infection, but said a further update on the pope’s condition would be issued later on Monday.

While a bacterial infection can be treated with antibiotics, viral infections cannot. Viruses usually have to run their course, but the patient can be assisted with other medicines to bring down their fever or help their body fight the infection.

A polymicrobial infection is one caused by two or more micro-organisms, and can be caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi.

The Vatican said on Monday that the pope’s planned weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square, set for Wednesday, had been cancelled “due to the continued hospitalization of the Holy Father.”

The pope’s doctors had earlier ordered complete rest, and Francis was unable to deliver his regular weekly prayer on Sunday to pilgrims in St Peter’s Square or lead a special Mass for artists to mark the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year.

‘Quite worried’ by pope’s absence

Pilgrims visiting the Vatican on Monday offered their hopes that Francis would recover soon.

“We certainly wish for him to get better very quickly,” said Rev. Tyler Carter, a Catholic priest from the United States. “He is our father and our shepherd, and so we want his continued health and blessing.”

Manuel Rossi, a tourist from Milan, Italy, said he was “quite worried” when the pope cancelled his appearance on Sunday.

“I am 18 years old so I have seen few popes in my life, and am very close to him,” said Rossi. “I hope he recovers as soon as possible.”

While in hospital over the weekend, the pope continued his recent practice of making phone calls to speak with members of a Catholic parish in Gaza, Italian broadcaster Mediaset reported on Monday.

One of the parish members said Francis had called on both Friday and Saturday and was in “good spirits” but sounded “a bit tired.”

“Thank you for the affection, prayer and closeness with which you accompany me in these days,” a post on the pope’s X account said on Sunday.
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Global benchmarks trade mixed as investors continue to eye Trump

Posted on by SeeUS

Tokyo — Global shares traded mixed on Monday as investors continued to watch economic data and policy moves from U.S. President Donald Trump, as both are likely to impact upcoming central bank moves.

France’s CAC 40 dipped nearly 0.1% in early trading to 8,171.59, while Germany’s DAX added 0.4% to 22,560.00. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.1% to 8,742.97.

U.S. markets are closed on Monday for a holiday.

In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose in early trading after the Cabinet Office reported that the economy grew at a better-than-expected annual rate of 2.8% in October-December, underlined by steady exports and moderate consumption. But the benchmark quickly fell back and then recovered to be little changed, finishing up less than 0.1% at 39,174.25.

On a quarter-to-quarter basis, the world’s fourth-largest economy grew 0.7% for its third straight quarter of growth. Japan marked its fourth straight year of expansion, eking out 0.1% growth last year in seasonally adjusted real gross domestic product, which measures the value of a nation’s products and services.

In other regional markets, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% to 8,537.10. South Korea’s Kospi surged 0.8% to 2,610.42. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng reversed course, to slip less than 0.1% to 22,616.23, while the Shanghai Composite added 0.3% to 3,355.83.

Markets around the world are nervously watching what upward pressure may come from tariffs that Trump has announced recently. But analysts now think Trump may ultimately avoid triggering a punishing global trade war.

His most recent tariff announcement, for example, won’t take full effect for at least several weeks. That leaves time for Washington and other countries to negotiate.

The Federal Reserve’s goal, as well as that of the Bank of Japan, is to keep inflation at 2%.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 28 cents to $71.02 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 34 cents to $75.08 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar declined to 151.90 Japanese yen from 152.25 yen. The euro cost $1.0472, down from $1.0495.
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China aims to improve ties with EU amid transatlantic tension

Posted on by SeeEA

Taipei, Taiwan        — China has launched a new round of diplomatic outreach to European countries amid rising tension between the United States and its European allies.

While top U.S. officials and European leaders clashed over issues such as values, democracy and Ukraine at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi held bilateral meetings with several top European officials, including EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

“There is no fundamental conflict of interest or geopolitical conflicts between China and the EU,” Wang said during his meeting with Kallas on Saturday, adding that Beijing “supports all endeavors conducive to peace and backs Europe in playing a significant role” in the peace negotiation process regarding the war in Ukraine.

The EU response was somewhat more reserved, with Kallas saying the EU was ready to “continue with dialogue and cooperate in selected areas, such as trade, economic affairs, and climate change.” He urged Beijing to halt exports of dual-use goods to Russia, which she said fuels Moscow’s ongoing war against Ukraine.

Wang’s remarks were in stark contrast to U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s criticism of European countries. Instead of highlighting the threats posed by Russia and China, Vance accused European government of censoring right-wing parties and failing to control migration.

“What I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America,” he said in a defiant speech that stunned European officials in Munich.

Several European leaders quickly rejected Vance’s remarks, with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius saying the U.S. vice president’s characterization of European policies was “unacceptable.”

The rare open clash between the U.S. and European countries came as top U.S. officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz, and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff flew to Saudi Arabia on Sunday for talks about the Ukraine-Russia war with Russian diplomats.

To the surprise of many European leaders, U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg said in Munich that European countries wouldn’t be part of any peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, which would be mediated by the U.S.

Analysts say China’s effort to strengthen engagement with Europe is part of Beijing’s plan to take advantage of divisions between Washington and its European allies.

“China’s posture is about exploiting the perceived mistakes of any U.S. administration,” said Mathieu Duchatel, director of international studies at the French policy group Institut Montaigne.

He told VOA by phone that the current tension between the U.S. and European countries has created an opportunity for Beijing to “weaken the transatlantic alliance on China policy.”

Given that U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on European countries, other experts say the growing tension in transatlantic relations could force the EU to moderate its policies towards China.

“Since Europe can’t afford to wage two trade wars at the same time, it will be difficult for the EU and EU member states to maintain critical policies toward China,” Matej Simalcik, executive director of the Central European Institute of Asian Studies, told VOA in an interview in Taipei.

In recent weeks, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who has pushed the EU to adopt more assertive policies against China, has repeatedly said the bloc is open to improving relations with China.

Europe “must engage constructively with China – to find solutions in our mutual interest,” she said during a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month.

US-European ties expected to hold

While European countries may consider adjusting their China policies, some European analysts say it’s unlikely for these attempts to turn into a fundamental shift of European policies towards China and the U.S.

“The U.S. and Europe are each other’s most important trading partners, so I don’t think there will be a [complete] transatlantic break,” said Sari Arho Havren, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.

European countries “are testing the grounds and seeing what can be done, but at the same time, European officials have said whatever happens with China, it must be fair,” she told VOA by phone, adding that these factors will prevent the EU from “walking back” their earlier positions on China entirely.

Additionally, Duchatel at Institut Montaigne said Beijing’s decision to appoint former Chinese ambassador to France Lu Shaye, a prominent “wolf warrior diplomat,” as its special representative for European affairs means China is unlikely to make major concessions in its relations with the EU.

“Lu’s appointment represents inflexibility on everything that matters,” he told VOA, adding that some European diplomats said the new Chinese special envoy would “turn any diplomatic meeting into some sort of ideological confrontation that leads to no common position” between Beijing and European countries.

While China and the EU’s fundamental differences over issues such as Beijing’s partnership with Russia and the trade imbalances remain unresolved, some Chinese academics say the growing tension between the U.S. and European countries still offers an opportunity for Beijing and Europe to “increase mutual trust.”

“The growing tension in transatlantic relations has created a new environment for China to moderate relations with the EU, but it doesn’t mean European countries will reduce their criticism over Beijing’s partnership with Russia or China’s human rights record,” Shen Ding-li, a Shanghai-based international relations scholar, told VOA by phone.
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Militant attack kills 6 Benin soldiers, army spokesperson says

Posted on by SeeAF

COTONOU, Benin — A militant attack on an army position has killed six soldiers in northern Benin, where government troops are trying to curb cross-border assaults by armed Islamist groups, an army spokesperson said.

The encounter on Saturday also left 17 militants dead, spokesperson Ebenezer Honfoga told Reuters late on Sunday, without giving further details.

The attack follows the killing of dozens of soldiers in a January assault in the northern department of Alibori, which shares a border with insurgency-plagued Niger and Burkina Faso.

Benin and coastal neighbor Togo have both suffered attacks in recent years as groups linked to Islamic State and al Qaeda expanded their presence beyond West Africa’s central Sahel region to the north.
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Saturday Night Live celebrates 50 years

Posted on by SeeUS

“Saturday Night Live” has been a staple of American television comedy for 50 years, launching stars and shaping culture. On Sunday night, fans and famous alumni gathered in New York City to celebrate this milestone. Aron Ranen reports from the Big Apple.
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China urges US to ‘correct its mistakes’ after State Department removes Taiwan web reference

Posted on by SeeEA

BEIJING/TAIPEI — China on Monday urged the United States to “correct its mistakes” after the U.S. State Department removed previous wording on its website about not supporting Taiwan independence, which it said was part of a routine update.

The fact sheet on Taiwan, updated last week, retains Washington’s opposition to unilateral change from either Taiwan or from China, which claims the democratically governed island as its own.

But as well as dropping the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence,” the page added a reference to Taiwan’s cooperation with a Pentagon technology and semiconductor development project and says the U.S. will support Taiwan’s membership in international organizations “where applicable.”

Beijing regularly denounces any international recognition of Taiwan or contact between Taiwanese and foreign officials, viewing it as encouraging Taiwan’s separate status from China.

The update to the website came roughly three weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in to his second term in the White House.

Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the revisions for Taiwan on the U.S. State Department’s website were a big step backwards and “sends a seriously wrong message to Taiwan independence separatist forces.”

“This is yet another example of the United States’ stubborn adherence to the erroneous policy of ‘using Taiwan to suppress China’. We urge the United States side to immediately rectify its mistakes,” Guo said.

The United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan but is its strongest international backer, bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

“As is routine, the fact sheet was updated to inform the general public about our unofficial relationship with Taiwan,” a State Department spokesperson said in an email sent late Sunday Taiwan time responding to questions on the updated website wording.

“The United States remains committed to its one China policy,” the spokesperson said, referring to Washington officially taking no position on Taiwan’s sovereignty and only acknowledging China’s position on the subject.

“The United States is committed to preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” the spokesperson said.

“We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side. We support cross-Strait dialog, and we expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to people on both sides of the Strait.”

On Sunday, Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung expressed his appreciation for what he called the “support and positive stance on U.S.-Taiwan relations.”

Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying that only the island’s people can decide their future.

Taiwan says it is already an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name. The Republican government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists, who set up the People’s Republic of China.
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France hosting European talks on Ukraine

Posted on by SeeEU

French President Emmanuel Macron is set to host a group of European leaders for talks Monday focused on the situation in Ukraine amid a shift in the U.S. approach to the conflict and suggestions by U.S. officials that Europe would not have a role in peace talks.

Among those expected to attend were leaders from Britain, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark. NATO chief Mark Rutte, European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were also due to participate.

European leaders have in recent days pledged continued support for Ukraine, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying his government was ready to send troops to Ukraine as part of any postwar peacekeeping force.

“I do not say that lightly,” he wrote Sunday in the Daily Telegraph. “I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm’s way.”

Starmer said securing a lasting peace in Ukraine was essential to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from further aggression.

Sweden’s Prime Minister Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Monday his country would not rule out contributing troops to a peacekeeping force that has a “clear mandate.”

Costa said last week’s Munich Security Conference showed the clear message that the security of Ukraine and the European Union “cannot be separated.”

“There will be no credible and successful negotiations, no lasting peace, without Ukraine and without the European Union.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived Monday in Saudi Arabia for meetings including talks expected Tuesday with Russian diplomats about ending the war. U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and national security adviser Mike Waltz were also due to take part in the talks.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday the Russian delegation would include Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy adviser to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin agreed during an hour-long call last week to the immediate start of peace negotiations, but Rubio told CBS’s “Face the Nation” in an interview that aired Sunday, “A process towards peace is not a one-meeting thing.”   

“We’ll see in the coming days and weeks if Vladimir Putin is interested in negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine, in a way that is sustainable and fair,” Rubio said.

A Ukrainian minister said an official delegation has arrived in Riyadh in preparation for a possible visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Whatever occurs this week in Saudi Arabia, Rubio said that once “real negotiations” begin, then Ukraine “will have to be involved.” 

In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday, Zelenskyy said, “I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine. Never. The war in Ukraine is against us, and it is our human losses.”

Zelenskyy said he told Trump in a call they had last week that Putin is only pretending to want peace.

“I said that he is a liar. And [Trump] said, ‘I think my feeling is that he’s ready for these negotiations.’ And I said to him, ‘No, he’s a liar. He doesn’t want any peace.'”

The United States has been Ukraine’s biggest arms supplier during the conflict, but Trump has wavered on continued support and declined during a political debate last year to say that he wants Ukraine to win.

Zelenskyy said that without continued U.S. military support, “Probably it will be very, very, very difficult” to defeat Russia. “And of course, in all the difficult situations, you have a chance. But we will have low chance — low chance to survive without support of the United States.”

Russia now controls about 20% of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory, including the Crimean Peninsula it unilaterally annexed in 2014, the eastern portion of Ukraine pro-Moscow separatists captured after that, and areas Russian forces have taken since February 2022.

Ukraine’s military said Monday it shot down 83 of the 147 drones that Russian forces used in overnight attacks.

The intercepts took place over the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia regions, the military said.

Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram that Russian shelling injured four people, while damaging eight apartment buildings and four houses.

In Kharkiv, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported damage to three warehouse buildings and 14 houses from Russia’s attacks.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Monday it destroyed 90 Ukrainian aerial drones, including 38 over the Sea of Azov, 24 over the Krasnodar region, 15 over Russia-occupied Crimea and seven over the Black Sea. Russian air defenses also shot down drones over the Kursk, Rostov, Bryansk and Belgorod regions, the ministry said.

Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on Telegram that falling debris from downed drones injured one person and damaged 12 houses.

Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters
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Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter open the ‘Saturday Night Live’ 50th anniversary celebration

Posted on by SeeUS

NEW YORK — Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter opened the 50th anniversary special celebrating “Saturday Night Live” with a duet of his song “Homeward Bound.”

The 83-year-old Simon has been a constant on “SNL” since its earliest episodes in 1975 and performed on the first show after the 9/11 attack. He was joined by the 25-year-old pop sensation of the moment, Carpenter.

“I sang this song with George Harrison on ‘Saturday Night Live’ in 1976,” Simon said.

“I was not born then,” Carpenter said, getting a laugh. “And neither were my parents,” she added, getting a bigger laugh.

Fifty seasons of “Saturday Night Live” sketches, songs and special guests are being celebrated for the special’s landmark anniversary in a Sunday night special.

The pop culture juggernaut has launched the careers of generations of comedians, from Bill Murray to Eddie Murphy and Tina Fey to Kristen Wiig.

Many of those stars were on hand for “SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration,” airing live from New York, of course.

“I grew up with the show, you know, and I was born in 1971, and it’s lived with me my whole life,” Amy Poehler, who was a cast member from 2001 to 2008,” said on Sunday ahead of the show’s start. “We have a show to do in just under two hours, and being back is an amazing privilege.”

The three-hour extravaganza comes after months of celebrations of “Saturday Night Live,” which premiered Oct. 11, 1975, with an original cast that included John Belushi, Chevy Chase and Gilda Radner.

“After the original cast, we were just going, Those guys just did it all for us,” Adam Sandler, a cast member from 1990-1995, said before the show. “They crushed it. We watched them at home. They made their movies. We worshiped their movies. And that’s all. What we wanted to do is just kind of continue that sort of stuff.”

It’s become appointment television over the years as the show has skewered presidents, politics and pop culture and been a platform for the biggest musical stars of the moment. As streaming has altered television viewing, “SNL” sketches, host monologues and short comedy films remain popular on social media and routinely rack up millions of views on YouTube.

While NBC has revealed some of the stars expected to appear, many of the special’s moments, cameos and music performances remain a surprise.

On Sunday, NBC announced more guest appearances including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Leslie Jones, Billy Crystal, Cher, Mike Myers and Alec Baldwin, who holds the title of the person who’s hosted “SNL” the most times.

 
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North Korea’s Kim makes rare visit to father’s tomb

Posted on by SeeEA

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has paid his respects at a family mausoleum to mark the birthday of his late father and former leader Kim Jong Il, state media KCNA said on Monday.

Kim Jong Il’s birthday, which falls on Feb. 16, is widely celebrated as a major holiday in North Korea, called the Day of the Shining Star.

But it was the first time in four years that the young Kim visited the Kumsusan Palace of Sun in the capital Pyongyang, which houses the embalmed bodies of his father and grandfather, for the anniversary.

Accompanied by Kim Yo Jong, his sister and a senior ruling Workers’ Party official, among other aides, Kim Jong Un paid homage “in the humblest reverence,” KCNA said.

“He expressed his solemn will to devote himself to the sacred struggle for the eternal prosperity of the country, the security of the people and the promotion of their well-being,” it said.

The Kim dynasty that has ruled North Korea since its founding after World War II and has sought to strengthen their grip on power by building cults of personality around them, though Kim Jong Un has shown signs of increasingly trying to stand more on his own feet without relying on his predecessors.

In another dispatch, KCNA said Kim attended a groundbreaking ceremony on Sunday for the final phase of his pet project to build 50,000 new homes in Pyongyang.

The ambitious initiative was launched in 2021 as part of Kim’s five-year plan to boost the economy and designed to distribute at least 10,000 new apartments in Pyongyang each year, though some analysts have questioned its feasibility amid international sanctions and economic woes.

During the ceremony, Kim lauded construction workers and officials for achieving nearly 400% progress last year compared to 2020 and pledged another plan to continue expanding the city.

The project would “usher in a new era of prosperity of Pyongyang in which the ideal streets of the people to be proud of in the world are built every year,” KCNA said.
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Two Kenyans allegedly abducted in broad daylight, held for 32 days  

Posted on by SeeAF

Nairobi — Since June 2024 — when a series of mass protests took place in Kenya — 82 cases of alleged forced disappearances were recorded by the Kenyan National Human Rights Commission.

Rights groups say some of those alleged victims have been lucky to reunite with their loved ones, but 29 are still missing. While many accuse the police of perpetrating such acts, it’s yet to be confirmed who’s behind the abductions.

VOA requests for comments from the National Police Service were not answered.

Aslam Longton and his brother, Jamil, told VOA they were abducted near their home in the Kitengela Town neighborhood, about an hour from central Nairobi.

Earlier that day in August, Aslam said, he felt uneasy and noticed unfamiliar people watching his every move. The brothers were riding together by car when things unraveled.

“At the first corner, there was a Toyota Vitz parked there and opened all the doors, so I couldn’t pass there. I reversed the car and came to this place [where VOA was conducting the interview]. When I entered this place, there was a Subaru that came and blocked me here and a Toyota Axio blocked me behind there,” Aslam recalled.

The brothers alleged they were approached by heavily armed men they described as appearing to be police officers and told to switch off their car.

Aslam then said “they opened the car, removed me at the steering [wheel], took me very fast in the Subaru. So, my brother started asking them, who are you? Why are you taking my brother?”

Jamil Longton said he was not meant to be taken away that day, but when he pressed the officers, even suggesting to call the neighborhood police station, they refused to identify themselves.

“I kept on asking them who are you, why are you taking my brother? I must go with my brother wherever you are taking him. I told them I’ll call the OCS [Officer Commanding Station] at the Kitengela police station to ask him if he’s aware of what you are doing. … When I attempted to call the OCS, my phone was confiscated by them. I was slapped, my phone switched off and I was also bangled [bundled] into the Subaru,” he also recalled.

The brothers say they were handcuffed, blindfolded, taken to a location, and held there for 32 days.

Amnesty International and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights confirm the accounts by the two men and say it’s similar to the treatment of other abductees.

“They were telling us they were denied food. They were kept in handcuffs for days. They were stripped naked and were made to lie on concrete floors for days,” KNHRC’s Ernest Cornel told VOA.

Aslam said he was abducted because of to his participation in the nationwide, youth-led, GenZ protests last year against a proposed bill that would have increased taxes. The protests expanded into a call for an end to corruption and for the president to resign. The bill was eventually withdrawn.

Aslam’s brother did not take part in the protests, but they said they were both repeatedly questioned about its funding source during their captivity.

Rights groups accused the Kenyan police of using excessive force against protesters, in some cases abducting government critics. Police deny the allegations. The police also said they had credible evidence criminal gangs had infiltrated the protests and planned to take advantage.

About 60 people died and hundreds were arrested. Since last June, 82 people have gone missing and about 29 are still not accounted for, the rights organization said.

In December, following more protests in Nairobi to demand the police produce the missing people, President William Ruto condemned the spike in disappearances, saying “any criminality must be investigated. Whether undertaken by citizens, criminals or undertaken by the police, it must be investigated, and we must get to the bottom of any criminal activity in Kenya.”

Meanwhile, at a recent press conference convened by KNHRC, some of the victims, including Aslam and Jamil, said that after their release, they still are being intimidated and called for international investigations.

“They are saying that when they go to [for a] run in the morning, they can see the car following them. They can see cars parked outside of their homes with their engines running and with their lights on and when they confront the occupants of the car, they sped off,” Cornel says.
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Scientists race to discover depth of ocean damage from Los Angeles wildfires

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Los Angeles — On a recent Sunday, Tracy Quinn drove down the Pacific Coast Highway to assess damage wrought upon the coastline by the Palisades Fire.

The water line was darkened by ash. Burnt remnants of washing machines and dryers and metal appliances were strewn about the shoreline. Sludge carpeted the water’s edge. Waves during high tide lapped onto charred homes, pulling debris and potentially toxic ash into the ocean as they receded.

“It was just heartbreaking,” said Quinn, president and CEO of the environmental group Heal the Bay, whose team has reported ash and debris some 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of the Palisades burn area west of Los Angeles.

As crews work to remove potentially hundreds of thousands of tons of hazardous materials from the Los Angeles wildfires, researchers and officials are trying to understand how the fires on land have impacted the sea. The Palisades and Eaton fires scorched thousands of homes, businesses, cars and electronics, turning everyday items into hazardous ash made of pesticides, asbestos, plastics, lead, heavy metals and more.

Since much of it could end up in the Pacific Ocean, there are concerns and many unknowns about how the fires could affect life under the sea.

“We haven’t seen a concentration of homes and buildings burned so close to the water,” Quinn said.

Fire debris and potentially toxic ash could make the water unsafe for surfers and swimmers, especially after rainfall that can transport chemicals, trash and other hazards into the sea. Longer term, scientists worry if and how charred urban contaminants will affect the food supply.

The atmospheric river and mudslides that pummeled the Los Angeles region last week exacerbated some of those fears.

When the fires broke out in January, one of Mara Dias’ first concerns was ocean water contamination. Strong winds were carrying smoke and ash far beyond the blazes before settling at sea, said the water quality manager for the Surfrider Foundation, an environmental nonprofit.

Scientists on board a research vessel during the fires detected ash and waste on the water as far as 100 miles (161 kilometers) offshore, said marine ecologist Julie Dinasquet with the University of California, San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Things like twigs and shard. They described the smell as electronics burning, she recalled, “not like a nice campfire.”

Runoff from rain also is a huge and immediate concern. Rainfall picks up contaminants and trash while flushing toward the sea through a network of drains and rivers. That runoff could contain “a lot of nutrients, nitrogen and phosphate that end up in the ash of the burn material that can get into the water,” said Dias, as well as “heavy metals, something called PAHs, which are given off when you burn different types of fuel.”

Mudslides and debris flows in the Palisades Fire burn zone also can dump more hazardous waste into the ocean. After fires, the soil in burn scars is less able to absorb rainfall and can develop a layer that repels water from the remains of seared organic material. When there is less organic material to hold the soil in place, the risks of mudslides and debris flows increase.

Los Angeles County officials, with help from other agencies, have set thousands of feet of concrete barriers, sandbags, silt socks and more to prevent debris from reaching beaches. The LA County Board of Supervisors also recently passed a motion seeking state and federal help to expand beach clean ups, prepare for storm runoff and test ocean water for potential toxins and chemicals, among other things.

Beyond the usual samples, state water officials and others are testing for total and dissolved metals such as arsenic, lead and aluminum and volatile organic compounds.

They also are sampling for microplastics, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, that are harmful to human and aquatic life, and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, a group of man-made chemicals shown to cause cancer in animals and other serious health effects. Now banned from being manufactured, they were used in products like pigments, paints and electrical equipment.

County public health officials said chemical tests of water samples last month did not raise health concerns, so they downgraded one beach closure to an ocean water advisory. Beachgoers were still advised to stay out of the water.

Dinasquet and colleagues are working to understand how far potentially toxic ash and debris dispersed across the ocean, how deep and how fast they sunk and, over time, where it ends up.

Forest fires can deposit important nutrients like iron and nitrogen into the ocean ecosystem, boosting the growth of phytoplankton, which can create a positive, cascading effect across the ecosystem. But the potentially toxic ash from urban coastal fires could have dire consequences, Dinasquet said.

“Reports are already showing that there was a lot of lead and asbestos in the ash,” she added. “This is really bad for people so it’s probably also very bad for the marine organisms.”
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Turkish delegation meets with Kurdish leader in Iraq amid peace efforts

Posted on by SeeEU

Baghdad — A Turkish opposition party delegation arrived in Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region Sunday against the backdrop of peace efforts between Ankara and a banned Kurdish separatist movement in Turkey.

The delegation led by Sirri Sureyya Onder and Pervin Buldan, two senior officials with the pro-Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, in Turkey, met with Masoud Barzani, the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party — the dominant Kurdish party in Iraq — in Irbil Sunday.

Barzani’s office said in a statement that they discussed “the peace process in Turkey” and that the Turkish delegation conveyed a message from Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of Turkey’s banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

Barzani “stressed the need for all parties to intensify their efforts and endeavors to enable the peace process to achieve the desired results” and reiterated “his full readiness to provide assistance and support to the peace process in Turkey and make it a success,” the statement said.

The DEM party has long pressed for greater democracy in Turkey and rights for the country’s Kurdish population, and to improve conditions for the imprisoned Ocalan.

Ocalan, 75, founded the PKK, in 1978, which began an armed insurrection for an autonomous Kurdish state in Turkey’s southeast in 1984, costing tens of thousands of lives. The group is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies. The central Iraqi government in Baghdad announced a ban on the group, which maintains bases in northern Iraq, last year.

Captured in 1999 and convicted of treason, Ocalan has been serving a life sentence on Imrali Island in the Marmara Sea.

The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has traditionally had an antagonistic relationship with the left-wing DEM party, frequently ousting its elected officials on charges of ties to the PKK and replacing them with state appointed officials.

However, this icy relationship began thawing last October, when Erdogan’s coalition partner, far-right nationalist politician Devlet Bahceli suggested that Ocalan could be granted parole, if his group renounces violence and disbands.

The peace effort comes at a time when Erdogan may need support from the DEM party in parliament to enact a new constitution that could allow him to stay in power for unlimited terms.

The Turkish Constitution doesn’t allow Erdogan, who has been in power since 2003 as prime minister and later as president, to run for office again unless an early election is called — something that would also require the support of the pro-Kurdish party.

Even as the latest peace efforts are underway, Erdogan’s government has widened a crackdown on the opposition, arresting journalists and politicians. Several elected Kurdish mayors have been ousted from office and replaced with state appointed officials, the latest this Saturday, when the mayor of Van municipality in eastern Turkey was removed from his post and replaced with the state-appointed governor.

Meanwhile, conflict is ongoing between Turkish-backed armed groups and Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria.

Turkey views the Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S.-backed military Kurdish alliance in Syria, as an extension of the PKK. The SDF is in negotiations with the new government in Damascus following the ouster of then Syrian President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive.

While most former insurgent groups have agreed to dissolve and integrate into the new Syrian army, the SDF has refused so far.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Saturday that the government would reconsider its military presence in northeastern Syria if that country’s new leaders eliminate the presence of the PKK in the area. Also Saturday, Kurds in northeastern Syria staged a mass protest to demand Ocalan’s release.
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Uganda government offers to drop military trial of hunger-striking opponent

Posted on by SeeAF

Kampala, Uganda — Uganda’s government said Sunday it would drop a military trial against opposition figurehead Kizza Besigye, urging him to give up his hunger strike in jail, a minister said.

The pledge was promptly rejected as “suspicious” by Besigye’s wife, UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima.

Besigye, a former ally turned rival of longtime President Yoweri Museveni, went on a hunger strike on February 10 in protest at his detention.

Charging him with treason for allegedly threatening national security, the government has vowed to try him in a military court, despite a Supreme Court ruling that such a move against a civilian is unconstitutional.

Now, however, “the government is fast-tracking the transfer of Besigye’s case from the court martial to the civil court,” Cabinet spokesperson and information minister Chris Baryomunsi told AFP.

“As a government, we are complying with the ruling of the Supreme Court.”  

The minister said in an earlier message on X that he had visited Besigye in prison Sunday “in the presence of his personal doctors” and “asked him to resume taking food” pending the transfer.

The army, which has not yet commented on the announcement, had previously dismissed the Supreme Court ruling and insisted the military trial would go ahead.

Besigye appeared in court for a hearing in a separate case Friday looking frail, prompting outrage from his supporters.

Baryomunsi declined to say whether Sunday’s pledge was prompted by the outcry.

Byanyima told AFP on Sunday that she was “very worried” about her husband’s condition.
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Rubio plays down immediate breakthrough on Russia-Ukraine peace

Posted on by SeeEU

Top U.S. officials headed Sunday to Saudi Arabia for talks with Russian diplomats in the coming days on ending Moscow’s three-year war on Ukraine, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed prospects for an immediate breakthrough.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin agreed during an hour-long call last week to the immediate start of peace negotiations, but Rubio told CBS’s “Face the Nation” in an interview aired Sunday, “A process towards peace is not a one- meeting thing.”

“We’ll see in the coming days and weeks if Vladimir Putin is interested in negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine in a way that is sustainable and fair,” Rubio said.

Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz said they were headed to Riyadh for the talks, while a Ukrainian minister says that an official delegation has arrived there in preparation for a possible visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The shape of the talks remained uncertain.

Rubio said he wasn’t even sure who Moscow was sending. “Nothing’s been finalized yet,” he said, adding that the hope was for an opening for a broad conversation that “would include Ukraine and would involve the end of the war.”

Trump’s call with Putin blindsided NATO allies as well as Kyiv, with Zelenskyy later saying that there should be “no decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine.”

Whatever occurs this week in Saudi Arabia, Rubio said that once “real negotiations” begin, then Ukraine “will have to be involved.”

In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday, Zelenskyy said, “I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine. Never. The war in Ukraine is against us, and it is our human losses.”

Zelenskyy said he told Trump in a call they had last week that Putin is only pretending to want peace.

“I said that he is a liar. And [Trump] said, ‘I think my feeling is that he’s ready for these negotiations.’ And I said to him, ‘No, he’s a liar. He doesn’t want any peace.’”

The United States has been Ukraine’s biggest arms supplier during the conflict, but Trump has wavered on continued support and declined during a political debate last year to say that he wants Ukraine to win.

Zelenskyy said that without continued U.S. military support, “Probably it will be very, very, very difficult” to defeat Russia. “And of course, in all the difficult situations, you have a chance. But we will have low chance — low chance to survive without support of the United States.”

Russia now controls about 20% of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory, including the Crimean Peninsula it unilaterally annexed in 2014 and the eastern portion of Ukraine pro-Moscow separatists captured after that and since the full-scale February 2022 Russian invasion.
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US, Ukrainian officials head to Saudi Arabia as talks loom on ending Russia’s war

Posted on by SeeUS

Kyiv, Ukraine — A Ukrainian delegation has arrived in Saudi Arabia for meetings in preparation for a possible visit by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a Ukrainian minister said Sunday, at a time of intense speculation over planned U.S.-Russia talks in the kingdom to end Moscow’s war on its neighbor.

It also comes as a top U.S. envoy revealed that he and a fellow negotiator appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump were heading to Saudi Arabia.

Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, who also serves as first deputy prime minister, didn’t clarify whether there is a link between Zelenskyy’s possible trip and the previously announced U.S.-Russia talks. In a Facebook post, she said that the Ukrainian delegation’s focus is on strengthening economic ties, as Kyiv “prepares to sign important economic agreements with countries in the region.”

Svyrydenko didn’t say anything about when Zelenskyy might go to Saudi Arabia and who he might meet with. No further details were immediately available.

Andriy Yermak, a top adviser to Zelenskyy, said earlier Sunday that there was no possibility of Ukrainian and Russian representatives meeting directly in the immediate future. In a Telegram post, Yermak said the Ukrainians weren’t planning to do so “until we develop a plan” to end the war and bring about a “just peace.”

Mykhailo Podolyak, another Zelenskyy adviser, on Saturday denied that Ukraine will participate in any planned U.S.-Russia meetings in Saudi Arabia.

“There is nothing on the negotiating table that would be worth discussing,” Podolyak said on Ukrainian television.

But Svyrydenko’s remarks came within hours of an announcement by Steve Witkoff, Trump’s close ally and special envoy to the Middle East, that high-level meetings were imminent in Saudi Arabia to discuss a negotiated settlement to the war in Ukraine.

Speaking to Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” program, Witkoff said that he and national security adviser Mike Waltz will be “having meetings at the direction of the president,” and hope to make “some really good progress with regard to Russia-Ukraine.”

Witkoff didn’t specify who they would be meeting and what they would discuss, but he said that he was leaving for Saudi Arabia on Sunday evening.

Following a lengthy phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, Trump noted that they “agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately” on ending the fighting. The president appointed Witkoff and Waltz to lead those talks, alongside U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

Earlier this week, Russian officials and state media took a triumphant tone after Trump jettisoned three years of U.S. policy and announced that he would likely meet soon with Putin to negotiate a peace deal in the almost three-year war in Ukraine.

Trump’s announcement created a major diplomatic upheaval that could herald a watershed moment for Ukraine and Europe.

Zelenskyy said that he wouldn’t accept any negotiations about Ukraine that don’t include his country. European governments have also demanded a seat at the table.

Putin has been ostracized by the West since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader.

Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy, didn’t directly respond to the question about whether Ukraine would have to give up a “significant portion” of its territory as part of any negotiated settlement.

“Those are details, and I’m not dismissive of the details, they’re important. But I think the beginning here is trust-building. It’s getting everybody to understand that this war does not belong continuing, that it should end. That’s what the president has directed us to do,” he said.
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Russian troops intensify attacks on Ukrainian forces in east, military says 

Posted on by SeeEU

KYIV — Russian troops have sharply stepped up their attacks in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv’s military said on Sunday, as a NATO official predicted Moscow would increase the pace and intensity of its assaults with talks to end the war approaching.

The main attacks were concentrated near the imperiled logistics hub of Pokrovsk, Kyiv said, with U.S. and Russian officials expected to hold talks in the coming days in Saudi Arabia and U.S President Donald Trump pushing for peace.

Kyiv’s military reported 261 combat engagements with Russia over a 24-hour period on Saturday, easily the largest number recorded this year and more than double the roughly 100 per day it reported in previous days.

“Today was the hardest day of 2025 at the front,” the Ukrainian DeepState military blog wrote late on Saturday.

Moscow’s troops advanced steadily in the east for much of the second half 2024, announcing the capture of village after village, though the intensity of the fighting dropped in January this year, according to Ukrainian military data.

Russian forces have seized a swathe of territory to the south of Pokrovsk and are now pushing upwards to its southwest, threatening a main supply route into the outpost, the capture of which could open up more lines of attack for Russia.

Despite being on the backfoot, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reported a “good result” in the east on Thursday and a military spokesman said Kyiv’s forces had recaptured the village of Pishchane, about 5 km to Pokrovsk’s south.

“It isn’t so much the result of something collapsing for the Russians or some kind of magical weapon being delivered to Ukraine, no. Certain organizational actions were taken to help Ukrainians act more effectively,” Viktor Trehubov, a military spokesman, told Reuters.

Ukraine has been using drones for deep strikes on Russia in an effort to inflict pain and strengthen its overall position. Russia has continued to conduct regular drone and missile strikes, while making advances on the ground in the east.

“I would expect a much stronger push. I would expect that we would see … a lot of Russian efforts to advance,” a NATO official who requested anonymity told Reuters.

Though Ukrainian officials are careful to praise Trump, his push to engage directly with the Russians without first consulting with Kyiv and to leave out the Europeans entirely is a cause for alarm in Ukraine and Europe.

Kyiv has said it was not invited to take part in the talks in Saudi Arabia and that in any case it wants to devise a joint strategy with its U.S. and European allies before meeting Russian officials.

France said on Sunday it would host a summit of European leaders on Monday to discuss the Ukraine war and European security as the continent scrambles to respond concretely to Trump’s unilateral approach to the conflict.

Zelenskiy gave figures for Russian strikes with aerial bombs and missiles that appeared to suggest they had increased in size in the last week.

He said Russia had fired about 1,220 aerial bombs, more than 850 drones and 40 missiles at Ukraine, compared with 1,206, bombs, 750 drones and 10 missiles the week before.
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Rwanda-backed rebels reach center of east Congo’s 2nd major city

Posted on by SeeAF

BUKAVU, CONGO — Rwanda-backed rebels reached the center of east Congo’s second largest city, Bukavu, on Sunday morning and took control of the South Kivu province administrative office after little resistance from government forces, many of whom fled the rebels’ advance.

Associated Press journalists witnessed scores of residents cheering on the M23 rebels in central Bukavu on Sunday morning as they walked and drove around the city center after a dayslong march from the region’s major city of Goma 101 kilometers away, which they captured late last month. Several parts of the city, however, remained deserted with residents indoors.

The M23 rebels are the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control of Congo’s mineral-rich east, and are supported by some 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to the U.N.

It was not clear if the rebels had taken decisive control of the city of about 1.3 million people. Their presence in central Bukavu is an unprecedented expansion of the rebels’ reach in their yearslong fighting with Congolese forces. Unlike in 2012 when they only seized Goma in the fighting connected to ethnic tension, analysts have said the rebels this time are eyeing political power.

Many Congolese soldiers were seen on Saturday fleeing the rebels’ advance into Bukavu alongside thousands of civilians amid widespread looting and panic.

Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi held a security meeting in the faraway capital of Kinshasa, where officials noted that Bukavu was “briefly” invaded by M23 but remains under the control of the Congolese army and allies from local militia, the presidency said on X. There were no signs of fighting or of Congolese forces in most parts of Bukavu on Sunday.

Tshisekedi has warned of the risk of a regional expansion of the conflict. Congo’s forces are being supported in Bukavu by troops from Burundi and in Goma by troops from South Africa.

Burundi’s president, Evariste Ndayishimiye, appeared to suggest his country will not retaliate in the fighting. In a post on X he said that “those people who were ready to get profit of the armed attack of Rwanda to Burundi will not see this.”

The Congo River Alliance, a coalition of rebel groups that includes M23, said it was committed to “defending the people of Bukavu” in a Saturday statement that did not acknowledge their presence in the city. “We call on the population to remain in control of their city and not give in to panic,” Lawrence Kanyuka, the alliance’s spokesperson, said in a statement.

The fighting in Congo has connections with a decadeslong ethnic conflict. M23 says it is defending ethnic Tutsis in Congo. Rwanda has claimed the Tutsis are being persecuted by Hutus and former militias responsible for the 1994 genocide of 800,000 Tutsis and others in Rwanda. Many Hutus fled to Congo after the genocide and founded the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda militia group. Rwanda says the group is “fully integrated” into the Congolese military, which denies the charges.
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Austrian city in shock after a deadly knife attack as migration comes in spotlight

Posted on by SeeEU

VIENNA — The city of Villach in southern Austria is in shock after a man stabbed six passersby in broad daylight, killing a 14-year-old boy and wounding five others, as police tried to establish a motive that put migration in the spotlight.

Residents began placing candles at the site of the attack in the city of about 60,000 inhabitants. A group of young people, who knew the boy who died in Saturday’s attack, gathered at the crime scene on Sunday morning to mourn and tearfully light candles, local media reported.

The 23-year-old suspect, who was detained shortly after the stabbing, is a Syrian with a residence permit in Austria. A 42-year-old man, also a Syrian working for a food delivery company, witnessed the attack from his car. He drove toward the suspect and helped to prevent the situation from escalating, police spokesperson Rainer Dionisio told Austria’s public broadcaster ORF.

Austria’s President Alexander Van der Bellen called the attack “horrific.”

“No words can undo the suffering, the horror, the fear. My thoughts are with the family of the deceased victim and the injured,” he posted on X.

The Free Syrian Community of Austria issued a statement on Facebook distancing itself from the attack and expressing its deepest condolences to the victims’ families. “We all had to flee Syria, our home country, because we were no longer safe there — no one left their country voluntarily. We are grateful to have found asylum and protection in Austria,” the association said.

“Finally, we would like to emphasize: Anyone who causes strife and disturbs the peace of society does not represent the Syrians who have sought and received protection here,” the statement concluded.

Dionisio said that a motive for the attack was not immediately known and police were investigating the suspect’s background.

Carnival procession canceled as police gather evidence

Villach, a popular tourist destination near the borders of Italy and Slovenia, is known for its laid-back atmosphere, which blends Mediterranean and Alpine traditions. The city hosts annual carnival processions in March and an event on Saturday was canceled in the wake of the attack.

The Austrian Ministry of Interior activated a platform for witnesses to upload videos or photos related to the attack. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner is expected in Villach on Sunday for a press conference. Local authorities said a crisis response team will be available to support pupils when schools open on Monday.

The victims were all men, with two seriously wounded and two sustaining minor injuries, police said. Later Saturday, police said a fifth person was also injured.

Peter Kaiser, the governor of the province of Carinthia, expressed his condolences to the family of the 14-year-old.

“This outrageous atrocity must be met with harsh consequences. I have always said with clarity and unambiguously: Those who live in Carinthia, in Austria, have to respect the law and adjust to our rules and values,” he said.

Calls to strengthen migration rules

Far-right leader Herbert Kickl wrote on X that he is “appalled by the horrific act in Villach” and called for a rigorous crackdown on asylum.

“At the same time, I am angry — angry at those politicians who have allowed stabbings, rapes, gang wars and other capital crimes to become the order of the day in Austria. This is a first-class failure of the system, for which a young man in Villach has now had to pay with his life,” Kickl said.

“From Austria to the EU — the wrong rules are in force everywhere. Nobody is allowed to challenge them, everything is declared sacrosanct,” he said, adding that his party had outlined what he viewed as necessary changes to immigration laws in its election platform.

Conservative party leader Christian Stocker said on X that the attacker “must be brought to justice and be punished with the full force of the law.”

“We all want to live in a safe Austria, adding that this means political measures need to be taken to avoid such acts of horror in the future,” he said.

The leader of the Social Democrats, Andreas Babler, said, “Crimes like this one simply should not happen in our society.”
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White South Africans gather in support of Trump and his claims that they are victims of racism

Posted on by SeeUS

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA — Some white South Africans showed support for President Donald Trump on Saturday and gathered at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria to claim they are victims of racism by their own government.

Hundreds of protesters held placards that read “Thank God for President Trump” and displayed other messages criticizing what they see as racist laws instituted by the South African government that discriminate against the white minority.

Many were from the Afrikaner community that Trump focused on in an executive order a week ago that cut aid and assistance to the Black-led South African government. In the order, Trump said South Africa’s Afrikaners, who are descendants of mainly Dutch colonial settlers, were being targeted by a new law that allows the government to expropriate private land. 

The South African government has denied its new law is tied to race and says Trump’s claims over the country and the law have been full of misinformation and distortions. 

Trump said land was being expropriated from Afrikaners — which the order referred to as “racially disfavored landowners” — when no land has been taken under the law. Trump also announced a plan to offer Afrikaners refugee status in the U.S. They are only one part of South Africa’s white minority. 

In a speech to Parliament this week, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the forced removal of any people from their land will never be allowed in South Africa again after millions of Blacks were dispossessed of property under the apartheid system of white minority rule and hundreds of years of colonialism before that. 

“The people of this country know the pain of forced removals,” Ramaphosa said. He said the land law does not allow any arbitrary taking of land and only refers to land that can be redistributed for the public good. 

The Trump administration’s criticism and punishment of South Africa has elevated a long-standing dilemma in the country over moves to address the wrongs of centuries of white minority rule that oppressed the Black majority. 

According to the government, the land law aims to fairly address the inequality that the majority of farmland in South Africa is owned by whites, even though they make up just 7% of the country’s population. 

White protesters on Saturday held banners referencing the expropriation law but also other affirmative action policies put in place by the government since the end of apartheid in 1994 to advance opportunities for Blacks. Those laws, known as Black Economic Empowerment, have been a source of frustration for some white people.

Influential Trump adviser Elon Musk — who was raised in South Africa — has also criticized South Africa’s government and claimed it is anti-white for years, although some have questioned his motivations. He has recently failed to get a license for his Starlink satellite internet service in South Africa because it doesn’t meet the country’s affirmative action criteria.

While race has long framed South African politics, the country has been largely successful in reconciling its racially diverse people in the years after apartheid. The current government is made up of a coalition of 10 Black-led and white-led political parties that are working together. 
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US, South Korea, Japan reaffirm pledge to seek denuclearization of North Korea

Posted on by SeeEA

MUNICH — The United States, Japan and South Korea renewed their “resolute” pledge to seek the “complete denuclearization” of North Korea, according to a joint statement from the three allies released Saturday.

The statement came after new U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held his first meetings with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Japan’s top diplomat Takeshi Iwaya on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.

“The Secretary and Foreign Ministers reaffirmed their resolute commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in accordance with the United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs),” it said.

“They expressed their serious concerns over and the need to address together the DPRK’s nuclear and missile programs, malicious cyber activities including cryptocurrency thefts, and increasing military cooperation with Russia,” it added.

The three sent a “strong warning” that they “will not tolerate any provocations or threats to their homelands,” and vowed to maintain and strengthen international sanctions against Pyongyang.

They also said they were committed to “the immediate resolution of the issues of abductees, detainees, and unrepatriated prisoners of war as well as the issue of separated families.”

Largely cut off from the world diplomatically and economically, and under a bevy of sanctions, North Korea with its ongoing nuclear weapons program has been a major thorn in the side of the United States for years.

President Donald Trump, who had a rare series of meetings with Kim Jong Un during his first term in office, has said he will reach out again to the North Korean leader, calling Kim a “smart guy.”

Despite Trump’s diplomatic overtures, North Korea said in January that its nuclear program would continue “indefinitely.”

Pyongyang also said earlier this month it would not tolerate any “provocation” by the United States after Rubio called it a “rogue state” in a radio interview.

It has also slammed a visit by a U.S. nuclear submarine to a naval base in South Korea this month as a “hostile military act.”

A summit between Trump and Kim in Hanoi collapsed in 2019 over talks on sanctions relief and what Pyongyang would be willing to give up in return. 
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Mali gold mine accident kills at least 48, officials say

Posted on by SeeAF

BAMAKO, MALI — At least 48 people were killed in the collapse of an illegally operated gold mine in western Mali on Saturday, authorities and local sources told Agence France-Presse. 

Mali is one of Africa’s leading gold producers, and mining sites are regularly the scene of deadly landslides and accidents. 

Authorities have struggled to control unregulated mining of the precious metal in the country, which is among the world’s poorest. 

“The death toll is 48 following the landslide,” a local police source said. The victims are mainly young women, including one who was carrying her child on her back. 

Boubacar Keita, from the Kenieba gold prospectors’ association, also counts at least 48 deaths. 

“It is an illegal site. There is a lot of complicity in the exploitation of this type of site in the region,” the head of a local environmental organization told AFP, adding that the search for victims was ongoing. 

Saturday’s accident took place at an abandoned site formerly operated by a Chinese company, sources told AFP.   

In January, a landslide at a gold mine in southern Mali killed at least 10 people and left many others missing, most of them women.  

Just over a year ago, a tunnel collapsed at a gold mining site in the same region as Saturday’s landslide, killing more than 70 people. 
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Nun takes top Vatican job running city state administration

Posted on by SeeEU

ROME — An Italian nun is taking over a top management job in the Vatican: Sister Raffaella Petrini was named Saturday as president of the Vatican City State, making her essentially the governor of the 44-hectare (108-acre) territory in Rome that is home to the Catholic Church. 

Petrini, 56, had previously been the secretary general of the Vatican administration, which among other things is responsible for the city state’s infrastructure and the Vatican Museums, a major source of revenue for the Holy See. She moves into the top job on March 1, following the retirement of Cardinal Fernando Vergez Alzaga, who turns 80 that day. 

Pope Francis had previously announced Petrini’s promotion, part of his effort to place women in decision-making roles in the Vatican to serve as models for the rest of the church. The Vatican officially published the appointment Saturday while the pope was hospitalized with a respiratory tract infection. 

Last month, Francis named the first woman to head a major Holy See office, appointing another Italian nun, Sister Simona Brambilla, to become prefect of the department responsible for all the Catholic Church’s religious orders. 

While women have been named to No. 2 spots in some Vatican offices, never before have women been named to the top jobs of the Holy See Curia or Vatican City State administration. 

Catholic women have long complained of second-class status in an institution that reserves the priesthood for men. Francis has upheld the ban on female priests and tamped down hopes that women could be ordained as deacons. 

But there has been a marked increase in the percentage of women working in the Vatican during his papacy, including in leadership positions, from 19.3% in 2013 to 23.4% today, according to statistics reported by Vatican News. In the Curia alone, the percentage of women is 26%. 

Critics complain that making women managers of the church doesn’t compensate for the continued ban on ordaining them as ministers. 

In addition to her job running the Vatican City State administration, Petrini also serves as one of three women who are members of the Vatican office that vets bishop nominations. When they were named in 2022 it marked the first time women had had a formal role in the Vatican process of selecting bishops. 

A member of the Meriden, Connecticut-based Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist religious order, Petrini otherwise keeps a relatively low public profile. 

But during a 2023 Women’s Day speech at Rome’s Pontifical Holy Cross university, she acknowledged that her nomination as secretary general of the Vatican City State had raised eyebrows, “more than I expected in my ingenuity.” 

“Even in non-ecclesial organizations, resistance is part of the process of change,” said Petrini, who has also been a professor of welfare economics at Rome’s Pontifical Angelicum University. 
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US, Russia officials to meet in Saudi Arabia to start talks on Ukraine

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MUNICH/WASHINGTON — U.S. and Russian officials will meet in Saudi Arabia in coming days to start talks aimed at ending Moscow’s nearly three-year war in Ukraine, a U.S. lawmaker and a source familiar with the planning said on Saturday. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance in Germany on Friday, said Ukraine was not invited to the talks in Saudi Arabia and Kyiv would not engage with Russia before consulting with strategic partners.  

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Saudi Arabia, U.S. Representative Michael McCaul told Reuters. It was not immediately clear who they would meet from Russia.  

Rubio spoke by phone on Saturday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and agreed on regular contacts to prepare for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said.   

The phone call was held at the initiative of the U.S. side, it added.   

“The two sides expressed their mutual willingness to interact on pressing international issues, including the settlement around Ukraine, the situation around Palestine and in general in the Middle East and other regional directions,” the ministry said in a statement. 

On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, McCaul said the aim of the talks was to arrange a meeting that included Zelenskyy, Trump and Putin “to finally bring peace and end this conflict.”  

A source with knowledge of the plans confirmed the talks in Saudi Arabia between U.S. and Russian officials. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  

Zelenskyy said on Saturday Ukraine would never accept any peace deals reached behind its back or without Kyiv’s involvement. Ukraine has repeatedly said it wants to come together with the United States and Europe to devise a joint strategy before any Trump-Putin meeting. 

Trump, who took office on January 20, has repeatedly vowed to swiftly end the Ukraine war. He made separate phone calls to Putin and Zelenskyy on Wednesday, leaving Washington’s European allies alarmed that they will be cut out of any peace process.  

Those fears were largely confirmed on Saturday when Trump’s Ukraine envoy said Europe won’t have a seat at the table, after Washington sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they could contribute to security guarantees for Kyiv. 

Keith Kellogg, special envoy for Ukraine-Russia talks, told the Munich conference that the U.S. would act as an intermediary in the talks, with Ukraine and Russia as the two protagonists. 

Asked about the prospects of the Europeans being at the table, Kellogg said: “I’m (from) a school of realism. I think that’s not gonna happen.” 

At a later event at the conference, Kellogg sought to reassure Europeans by declaring this did not mean “their interests are not considered, used or developed.” 

But European leaders said they would not accept being shut out of the talks. 

Zelenskyy said on Friday he would visit the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but did not say when. However, the Ukrainian leader said he had no plans to meet with U.S. or Russian officials during those visits. 

Moscow controls a fifth of Ukraine and has been slowly advancing in the east for months, while Kyiv’s smaller army grapples with manpower shortages and tries to hold a chunk of territory in western Russia.  

Russia has demanded Kyiv cede territory and become permanently neutral under any peace deal. Ukraine demands Russia withdraw from captured land and wants NATO membership or equivalent security guarantees to prevent attack by Moscow. 

The United States and Europe have given Ukraine tens of billions of dollars in military aid since the war started. Trump has said he backs Ukraine but is seeking security for U.S. funding for Kyiv.  

The U.S. and Ukraine are negotiating a deal that could open up Ukraine’s vast natural wealth to U.S. investment. Three sources said the U.S. proposed taking ownership of 50% of Ukraine’s critical minerals. Zelenskyy said on Saturday that the draft deal did not contain the security provisions Kyiv needed.  

Also on Saturday, France discussed with its allies holding an informal summit of European leaders to discuss Ukraine, a French presidency official said on Saturday, and four European diplomats said the meeting was likely to go ahead on Monday.  

Speaking on a panel at the Munich conference on Saturday, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski also said that French President Emmanuel Macron had called for a summit of European leaders in Paris.  

“President Trump has a method of operating, which the Russians call reconnaissance through battle. You push and you see what happens, and then you change your position, legitimate tactics. And we need to respond,” Sikorski said.   

The Dutch news agency reported that Prime Minister Dick Schoof would go to Paris on Monday for the summit.  

It was unclear whether Zelenskyy would be invited.  
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