US service member, 3 contractors die in plane crash in Philippines

Posted on by SeeEA

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — One U.S. service member and three defense contractors were killed Thursday when a plane contracted by the U.S. military crashed in a rice field in the southern Philippines, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said.

The aircraft was conducting a routine mission “providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support at the request of our Philippine allies,” the command said in a statement. It said the cause of the crash was under investigation.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines also confirmed the crash of a light plane in Maguindanao del Sur province. It did not immediately provide other details.

The bodies of the four people were retrieved from the wreckage in Ampatuan town, said Ameer Jehad Tim Ambolodto, a safety officer of Maguindanao del Sur. Indo-Pacific Command said the names of the crew were being withheld pending family notifications.

Windy Beaty, a provincial disaster-mitigation officer, told The Associated Press that she received reports that residents saw smoke coming from the plane and heard an explosion before the aircraft plummeted to the ground less than a kilometer from a cluster of farmhouses.

Nobody was reported injured on or near the crash site, which was cordoned off by troops, Beaty said.

U.S. forces have been deployed in a Philippine military camp in the country’s south for decades to help provide advice and training to Filipino forces battling Muslim militants. The region is the homeland of minority Muslims in the largely Roman Catholic nation.
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Swedish police describe ‘inferno’ at scene of mass shooting

Posted on by SeeEU

Police in Sweden investigating the nation’s worst mass shooting said at a news briefing Thursday that the scene at an adult learning center was an “inferno” of smoke, with injured and dead victims.

The attack on Tuesday left 10 people dead, including the suspected shooter, at Campus Risbergska in the city of Orebro, about 200 kilometers west of Stockholm. The facility offers adult courses, including Swedish language classes for immigrants. Law enforcement officials say the shooter, who Swedish media have identified as 35-year-old Rickard Andersson, may have been a student at the center.

Law enforcement officials have not officially identified the suspect, whose cause of death remains unclear.

Orebro police Chief Lars Wiren said at the news conference Thursday that about 130 officers arrived at the scene within 10 minutes of an alarm, where they found “dead people, injured people, screams and smoke.”

As officers entered the building, they reported it was partially filled with smoke, making it difficult for them to see. They reported gunfire that they believed was directed at them but reportedly did not return fire.

Police said the smoke was not caused by fire but by “some sort of pyrotechnics.” Several officers had to seek medical treatment for smoke inhalation.

Chief investigator Anna Bergkvist said Thursday that the suspect had a license for four guns, all of which have been confiscated.

“Three of those weapons were next to him when police secured him inside the building,” she said.

Bergkvist said investigators have not determined a motive for the mass shooting, telling Agence France-Presse that “multiple nationalities, different genders and different ages” were among those who were killed.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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Trump attends National Prayer Breakfast

Posted on by SeeUS

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that his relationship with religion had “changed” after a pair of failed assassination attempts last year, as he advocated at the National Prayer Breakfast at the Capitol for Americans to “bring God back into our lives.”

Trump joined a Washington tradition of more than 70 years that brings together a bipartisan group of lawmakers for fellowship. He was also to speak at a separate prayer breakfast at a Washington hotel sponsored by a private group.

“I really believe you can’t be happy without religion, without that belief,” Trump said. “Let’s bring religion back. Let’s bring God back into our lives.”

Trump reflected on having a bullet coming close to killing him at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year, telling lawmakers and attendees, “It changed something in me, I feel.”

He continued: “I feel even stronger. I believed in God, but I feel, I feel much more strongly about it. Something happened.”

He drew laughs when he expressed gratitude that the episode “didn’t affect my hair.” The president, who’s a nondenominational Christian, called religious liberty “part of the bedrock of American life” and called for protecting it with “absolute devotion.”

Trump and his administration have already clashed with religious leaders, including him disagreeing with the Reverend Mariann Budde’s sermon the day after his inauguration, when she called for mercy for members of the LGBTQ+ community and migrants who are in the country illegally.

Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, has sparred with top U.S. leaders of his own church over immigration issues. And many clergy members across the country are worried about the removal of churches from the sensitive-areas list, allowing federal officials to conduct immigration actions at places of worship.

The Republican president made waves at the final prayer breakfast during his first term. That year the gathering came the day after the Senate acquitted him in his first impeachment trial.

Trump in his remarks then threw not-so-subtle barbs at Democratic then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, who publicly said she prayed for Trump, and Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, who had cited his faith in his decision to vote to convict Trump. “I don’t like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong.”

Trump said then in his winding speech, in which he also held up two newspapers with banner headlines about his acquittal. “Nor do I like people who say, ‘I pray for you,’ when they know that that’s not so.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first president to attend the prayer breakfast, in February 1953, and every president since has spoken at the gathering.

Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Republican Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas are the honorary co-chairs of this year’s prayer breakfast.

In 2023, the National Prayer Breakfast split into two dueling events, the one on Capitol Hill largely attended by lawmakers and government officials and a larger private event for thousands at a hotel ballroom.

The split occurred when lawmakers sought to distance themselves from the private religious group that for decades had overseen the bigger event, due to questions about its organization and how it was funded. In 2023 and 2024, President Joe Biden, a Democrat, spoke at the Capitol Hill event, and his remarks were livestreamed to the other gathering.
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Japan’s Ishiba faces balancing act in first meeting with Trump

Posted on by SeeEA

Seoul, South Korea — When Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meets with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday, his goal, according to Japanese officials, will be straightforward: reaffirm the U.S.-Japan alliance and build a strong rapport with Trump.

But many in Tokyo see Ishiba’s goal as even simpler: to avoid a diplomatic disaster with a newly re-elected Trump, whose “America First” foreign policy has returned with even greater intensity than during his first term.

Not even three weeks after retaking office, Trump has escalated pressure on U.S. allies and partners, often in abrupt and unpredictable ways.

He has threatened tariffs on Mexico and Canada while raising the possibility of military action against cartels and suggesting Canada become the 51st state. He has floated seizing Greenland from fellow NATO member Denmark, and warned Panama that if it doesn’t curb Chinese influence, the U.S. could forcibly take back control of the Panama Canal.

The developments have rattled many in Tokyo, which relies on the U.S. nuclear umbrella and has long aligned itself with the concept of a U.S.-led, rules-based international order.

“If you watch Japanese media or listen to what Japanese people say, they’re just hoping that Ishiba can get out of this meeting without being a victim of some kind of new attack from America,” said Jeffrey J. Hall, a Japanese politics specialist at Kanda University of International Studies.

Emulating Abe?

So far, Japan has been spared Trump’s second-term criticism. Last week, while announcing his meeting with Ishiba, Trump declared, “I like Japan,” citing his friendship with Shinzo Abe, the country’s deceased former prime minister.

Abe, who led Japan for nearly all of Trump’s first term, carefully cultivated the relationship through personal diplomacy and flattery – often playing golf with Trump and even gifting him a gold-plated golf club. Many Japanese commentators hope Ishiba can take a similar approach to maintain smooth relations with Trump.

But that may be difficult. Unlike Abe, Ishiba leads an unstable minority government and faces the possibility of his party losing its Upper House majority in crucial elections later this year.

Analysts also say Ishiba’s less charismatic personality may make it hard for him to form a personal bond with Trump.

“He doesn’t do the bullet points and assertive style of communication that Trump seems to appreciate,” said Philip Turner, a former senior New Zealand diplomat now based in Tokyo. “If flattery is the solution, then Ishiba probably is not very good at it.”

Better to stay quiet?

The situation is so volatile that some in Japan question whether Ishiba should be meeting Trump right now at all. Instead of walking into danger, they ask, why not try to stay off Trump’s radar for as long as possible?

But a quiet approach may not work either, said Mieko Nakabayashi, a former Japanese lawmaker. “Some people say, ‘Don’t wake the sleeping baby,’ but this time Ishiba may have to do it,” said Nakabayashi, a professor at Tokyo’s Waseda University.

If Trump eventually threatens Japan with tariffs, Nakabayashi said it will be better for Ishiba to have established a personal relationship with him beforehand to manage the crisis.

“You have to take a risk if you want to have a better relationship with Mr. Trump,” she added.

To head off potential pressure, analysts say Ishiba may highlight Japan’s role as the largest foreign investor in the United States. He may also want to raise economic issues like Nippon Steel’s attempted takeover of U.S. Steel, which was blocked by the administration of former U.S. president Joe Biden.

But some analysts predict Ishiba may scale back his ambitions, aiming simply to pave the way for a Trump visit to Japan, where officials would try to demonstrate the importance of the alliance firsthand.

Hall said that approach may be successful, if only because “Trump seems to have his plate full with a lot of other things right now and Japan is a sort of reliable partner that doesn’t stir things up.”

“But we’ll have to see. We really can’t predict America and how it will act right now,” he added. “It’s just at a level of uncertainty that Japan has never experienced before.”
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Baltic nations count final hours to ending electricity ties to Russia

Posted on by SeeEU

VILNIUS, LITHUANIA — Nearly 3 1/2 decades after leaving the Soviet Union, the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania this weekend will flip a switch to end electricity-grid connections to neighboring Russia and Belarus — and turn to their European Union allies.

The severing of electricity ties to oil- and gas-rich Russia is steeped in geopolitical and symbolic significance. Work toward it sped up after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine three years ago, battering Moscow’s EU relations.

“This is physical disconnection from the last remaining element of our reliance on the Russian and Belarusian energy system,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda told The Associated Press in a recent interview.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and other dignitaries are expected at a ceremony on Sunday as a specially-made 9-meter-tall clock in downtown Vilnius counts down the final seconds of the Baltic states’ electricity ties to Russia.

Chilly ties since the fall of the Soviet Union

The Baltic countries, which are all NATO members, have often had chilly ties with Russia since declaring independence from the USSR in 1990 — and relations soured further over Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Sixteen power lines that used to connect the three Baltic states with Russia and Belarus were dismantled over the years as a new grid linking them with the rest of the EU was created, including underwater cables in the Baltic Sea.

On Saturday, all remaining transmission lines between them and Russia, Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad — a Russian exclave wedged between EU members Poland and Lithuania and the sea — will be switched off one by one.

Then, for 24 hours, the Baltic Power System will operate solo in an “island operation mode.” The next day, the power system is set to merge with the Continental European and Nordic grids through several links with Finland, Sweden and Poland.

The Kaliningrad region, which has no land ties to mainland Russia, already relies on its own power generation, according to Litgrid, Lithuania’s electricity transmission system operator.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the disconnection plan was announced in advance by the Baltic countries and the Russian energy sector had taken preparatory steps to ensure smooth operation on its side.

“Those plans were announced a long time ago, and they required certain actions by our and their electric companies,” Peskov told reporters. “We have taken all necessary measures to ensure reliable and uninterrupted operation of our unified energy system.”

Risks of troublemaking?

The three Baltic countries, which together share a 1,633-kilometer-long border with Russia and Belarus, officially informed Moscow and Minsk of the disconnection plan in July. Their national transmission system operators credited 1.2 billion euros, or $1.25 billion, in EU and other support, to help the countries synchronize with the Continental Europe Synchronous Area.

“Lithuania has done a lot in the last 30 years to disconnect, to become independent,” Nausėda said. Three years ago, “we stopped buying any kind of energy resources from Russia. It was our response to the war in Ukraine.”

Despite the advance notice, the Baltic nations are still on watch for a possible response from their former Soviet partners.

“The risk of cyberattacks remains substantial,” Litgrid said last week, adding that continued vigilance, collaboration, defensive steps and “robust” cybersecurity measures were needed to effectively mitigate potential threats.

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa warned Wednesday of possible provocations, but said Latvia was well-prepared and services including the armed forces and national guard were stepping up their vigilance and security measures.

“Clearly there are risks, we understand that very well. But the risks are identified and there is a contingency plan in case these risks materialize,” Siliņa said.

After the disconnection plans were announced, propaganda campaigns cropped up on social media and in printed leaflets in city streets that issued fake-news warnings about blackouts, severe energy shortages and sky-high energy bills for consumers.

“We heard those rumors, but we are used to such things already,” said Jolanta Karavaitiene, a retired teacher, in central Vilnius. “Of course, we must disconnect from them. Given the geopolitical situation, I see no reason for us to be there (in the Russian grid).”

Still, some in the region were taking precautionary measures.

Estonia’s public broadcaster ERR has reported surging sales of generators. Home appliance chain Bauhof sold dozens more generators last month compared to January a year ago, and rival Ehituse ABC had to limit their purchases the report said.

A long road toward energy independence

The Baltic countries’ steps toward energy independence have been decades in the making.

In 2003, prior to joining the EU, Lithuania decided to shut down the Soviet-built Ignalina nuclear power plant in response to concerns in Brussels over its safety. It was decommissioned in 2009.

Lithuania built an offshore oil terminal in the Baltic Sea in 1999. Seven years later, it became the country’s sole crude oil import point after Russia’s surprise move to halt supplies of oil to Lithuania through Russia’s vast Druzhba pipeline network.

Rokas Masiulis, the CEO of Litgrid, said Lithuania has “suffered a great deal” because of Russian actions in the past, such as through halting oil supplies and jacking up prices for gas that his country once depended on.

He said Lithuania today has “much more than we need” in terms of electricity capacity, from both fossil fuels but also increasingly solar and wind. “So we are safe,” he said.

The disconnection with Russia “is neither bad for them, (nor) bad for us,” Masiulis said. “We were sort of interconnected and interdependent on each other. Now we will just part our ways.”

The three Baltic countries have rebuilt power lines and launched a vast construction and reconstruction program to turn their networks away from Russia and toward the West, the Litgrid CEO added, calling it a technological feat.

“Actions by Russia — by them being aggressive and pushing their neighbors — has really helped us,” Masiulis said. “Maybe we’ve suffered a little with oil prices, with gas prices, but we were forced to act. So we built alternative routes.”

“Now we’re in much better state than we were before,” he added. “So maybe they wished us ill, but ultimately everything worked very well for us.” 
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Mexico deploys the first of 10,000 troops to US border after Trump’s tariff threat

Posted on by SeeUS

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, MEXICO — A line of Mexican National Guard and Army trucks rumbled along the border separating Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday, among the first of 10,000 troops Mexico has sent to its northern frontier following tariff threats by President Donald Trump. 

Masked and armed National Guard members picked through brush running along the border barrier on the outskirts of Ciudad Juárez, pulling out makeshift ladders and ropes tucked away in the trenches, and pulling them onto trucks. Patrols were also seen on other parts of the border near Tijuana. 

It comes after a turbulent week along the border after Trump announced he would delay imposing crippling tariffs on Mexico for at least a month. In exchange, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum promised she would send the country’s National Guard to reinforce the border and crack down on fentanyl smuggling. 

Trump has declared an emergency on the border despite migration levels and fentanyl overdoses significantly dipping over the past year. The U.S. said it would, in turn, do more to stop American guns from being trafficked into Mexico to fuel cartel violence, which has rippled to other parts of the country as criminal groups fight to control the lucrative migrant smuggling industry. 

On Tuesday, the first of those forces arrived in border cities, climbing out of government planes. Guard members in the Wednesday patrol confirmed that they were part of the new force. 

“There will be permanent surveillance on the border,” José Luis Santos Iza, one of the National Guard leaders heading off the deployment in the city, told media upon the arrival of the first set of soldiers. “This operation is primarily to prevent drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States, mainly fentanyl.” 

At least 1,650 troops were expected to be sent to Ciudad Juárez, according to government figures, making it one of the biggest receivers of border reinforcements in the country, second only to Tijuana, where 1,949 are slated to be sent. 

During U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s trip through Latin America — where migration was at the top of the agenda — the top American diplomat thanked the Mexican government for the forces, according to a statement by the Mexican government. 

The negotiation by Sheinbaum was viewed by observers as a bit of shrewd political maneuvering by the newly elected Mexican leader. Many had previously cast doubt that she’d be able to navigate Trump’s presidency as effectively as her predecessor and ally, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. 

 
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South Korea’s impeached prime minister says Cabinet had concerns over martial law

Posted on by SeeEA

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — South Korea’s impeached prime minister told parliament on Thursday that “everyone” in a hastily arranged meeting of ministers expressed concerns about President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law plan before he announced it on Dec. 3.

Han Duck-soo, who was briefly acting president after Yoon was impeached and suspended from power on Dec. 14, before being impeached himself, on Thursday joined acting President Choi Sang-mok, the finance minister, in facing parliamentary questioning over their role in the shock martial law decision.

“Everyone objected and expressed worry and raised the problems with this decision to the president,” Han told a special committee, referring to the meeting where Yoon told some cabinet members of his intention to declare martial law.

The martial law lasted around six hours before Yoon rescinded the order in the face of opposition from parliament, but it sent shockwaves through Asia’s fourth-largest economy and sparked a spiraling political crisis.

Choi told the committee that the biggest challenges in the country right now include the livelihood of the people and changes in the international order.

“There’s the need to stabilize government administration,” he said.

Yoon appeared on Thursday at a hearing in his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court, which will decide whether to reinstate him or remove him permanently from office.

Senior military officials testified in the court about their role in deploying to parliament that night.

“My mission was to blockade the parliament building and the members’ hall, and secure those buildings,” said Army Colonel Kim Hyun-tae, who personally led about 97 special forces troops on the ground.

Kim said after they entered the building, his commander, Kwak Jong-geun, ordered him to get in the main chamber of the building where lawmakers had gathered to lift the martial law.

“(My commander) asked if we could get in because he said there shouldn’t be more than 150 people,” Kim testified, though he said he did not know the significance of that number at the time, or whether his commander meant lawmakers.

Kwak, the commander of the Army Special Warfare Command, has said he was told to stop 150 lawmakers or more from gathering, the quorum needed to vote down the martial law decree.

Kim said he told Kwak his troops were not able to enter the chamber. Eventually 190 lawmakers defied the cordon to vote against Yoon’s decision.

Kwak took the stand at the court later on Thursday and faced Yoon in the same courtroom. Kwak has been saying that Yoon directly ordered him to “drag out” lawmakers but Yoon did not ask him to protect civilians or withdraw his troops, contradicting Yoon’s claims.

Yoon has flatly denied any wrongdoing and allegations about attempted arrests of politicians. He has defended the martial law announcement two months ago as his right as the head of the state.

Yoon is in jail and separately faces a criminal trial on insurrection charges. 
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US government vessels can sail Panama Canal without fees, US says

Posted on by SeeUS

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of State said on Wednesday American government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees.

“The government of Panama has agreed to no longer charge fees for U.S. government vessels to transit the Panama Canal,” the department said in a post on X.

It said the agreement will save the U.S. government millions of dollars each year.

The Panama Canal Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino on Sunday during a trip to Central America.

Panama has become a focal point of the Trump administration as President Donald Trump has accused the Central American country of charging excessive rates to use its passage.

“If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” Trump said last month.

Mulino has dismissed Trump’s threat that the U.S. retake control of the canal, which it largely built. The U.S. administered territory surrounding the passage for decades.

But the U.S. and Panama signed a pair of accords in 1977 that paved the way for the canal’s return to full Panamanian control. The United States handed it over in 1999 after a period of joint administration.
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Greenlanders explore Pacific Islands’ relationship with Washington

Posted on by SeeEA

WASHINGTON — Greenland’s representative in the United States met recently with at least one ambassador from the Pacific Islands to learn more about a political arrangement that some think could create an opportunity for the Arctic island and Washington, VOA has learned.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his interest in either buying or taking control of Greenland, a resource-rich semiautonomous territory of Denmark, noting its strategic importance and position in the Arctic Ocean where Russia and China are rapidly advancing. But there has been pushback from the island’s residents, political leaders, Denmark and Europe.

Greenland representatives have declined to comment to VOA on their meeting that focused on a framework that Pacific Island nations have with Washington — known as the Compacts of Free Association, or COFA. The compacts give the United States military access to three strategic Pacific Islands — the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau — in exchange for economic aid.

Jackson Soram, ambassador to the United States from the Federated States of Micronesia, told VOA that the discussions took place at the end of January and focused on “basic questions” on the “provisions of economic assistance, and also the security and defense provisions of the compacts.”

Soram said he met with representatives from Greenland and the Faroe Islands, another self-ruled Danish territory.

Alexander Gray, a former National Security Council chief of staff during the first Trump administration who worked on Pacific Island issues, told VOA he encouraged the Pacific Islands’ ambassadors to conduct these meetings.

“[The Greenlanders] want independence from Denmark,” Gray, who is now a managing partner of American Global Strategies, said in an emailed response. “An independent Greenland, with a tiny population and the second-least densely populated geography on the planet, will quickly become dominated and its sovereignty undermined by Beijing and Moscow.”

Russia has been reopening bases in the region even as Beijing has invested more than $90 billion in infrastructure projects in the Arctic Circle. Both the United States and Denmark have military bases in Greenland.

Gray said arctic dominance by Moscow and Beijing poses “a unique strategic threat” to the United States. He said a COFA “would allow Greenland to maintain its sovereignty, while allowing the U.S. to ensure that sovereignty is truly protected.”

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has repeatedly told Trump that Greenland is “not for sale.” But Monday, she said Copenhagen welcomes additional U.S. military investment in the strategic island.

“So, if this is about securing our part of the world, we can find a way forward,” she said.

US-Greenland defense agreement

Some analysts say that neither Washington nor Nuuk needs a COFA agreement to increase the U.S. military presence in Greenland. In 2004, the United States, Greenland and Denmark signed the Igaliku Agreement to reduce the U.S. military presence in Greenland to a single air base, the Thule Air Base, which has been renamed Pitfuffik Space Base. It provides Washington with missile defense and space surveillance.

The 2004 agreement provides for “any significant changes to U.S. military operations or facilities” in Greenland to be made through consultation between Washington, Nuuk and Copenhagen.

“Washington can already achieve its objectives through working with Greenland and Denmark,” Otto Svendsen, an associate fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote last month on CSIS’s website.

A Danish Institute for International Studies policy brief in 2022 pointed out that COFA has created economic dependence between the Marshall Islands and the United States, as U.S. donor money makes up 70% of the Marshall Islands’ total GDP. This is the opposite of what Greenland’s leaders say they want.

Search for independence

A 2009 law called the Act on Greenland Self-Government outlines a “road map” —-drawn up by Nuuk and Copenhagen — for an independent Greenland, which requires a successful referendum.

In his New Year’s address, Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede said, “The upcoming new election period must, together with the citizens, create these new steps,” opening the door for a referendum during parliamentary elections in April.

A 2019 survey suggested that more than two-thirds of Greenlanders want independence at some point. Yet in a poll released in January by two newspapers in Denmark and Greenland, 85% say they do not want to be part of the United States. Fifty-five percent, however, see Trump’s interest in Greenland as an opportunity.

Gray told VOA that the U.S., Denmark and Greenland should enter trilateral discussions for a compact.

“Working together, Washington, Copenhagen, and Nuuk can find common ground and move forward on a post-independence arrangement that works for all parties,” he said in an emailed response.

As far back as 2010, Greenland told the United Nations it was exploring the idea of negotiating independence through a “free association” with Denmark.

Egede said he is ready to meet with Trump, but, “We do not want to be Danes. We do not want to be Americans.”

Soram said he is trying to get ambassadors from Palau and the Marshall Islands to attend additional meetings with Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Denmark.
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French PM survives no-confidence vote

Posted on by SeeEU

France’s prime minister survived a no-confidence vote by parliament on Wednesday after he invoked special constitutional powers to force through the country’s 2025 budget. 

Only 128 lawmakers voted in favor of the no-confidence motion against Francois Bayrou, falling short of the 289 votes required to pass. 

Far-left lawmakers called for the measure after Bayrou invoked Article 49.3, which grants the minority government special constitutional powers to pass legislation without a parliamentary vote. 

The no-confidence motion appeared to have no chance of succeeding after the Socialists and the far-right National Rally lawmakers announced they would not support it. 

Under France’s Constitution, the no-confidence motion’s failure meant that the 2025 budget automatically became law. 

The French political scene has been challenging since President Emmanuel Macron called snap elections last year, a move that resulted in no party having a majority in parliament. 

Some information for this story came from Reuters and The Associated Press. 
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UN: Deaths near 3,000 in fighting for DRC’s Goma

Posted on by SeeAF

UNITED NATIONS — A senior U.N. official in the Democratic Republic of Congo said Wednesday that nearly 3,000 people have been killed in a fighting between M23 militants and the national army over control of a key eastern city.

Vivian van de Perre, the deputy head of the United Nations mission in the DRC, told reporters in a video call from Goma that U.N. teams are “actively helping” the M23 to collect the dead from the city’s streets. She said that, so far, 2,000 bodies have been retrieved and 900 others are in hospital morgues.

“We expect this number to go up,” she said. “There are still many decomposing bodies in many areas. The World Health Organization is really worried about what kind of epidemic outbreaks that can contribute to.”

In early January, the M23 broke a ceasefire agreement, launching a large-scale offensive in the mineral-rich east with the support of the Rwandan army. On Jan. 27, the M23 said it had captured Goma, the capital of North Kivu province and a city of more than a million people, thousands of whom have been displaced from other conflict areas.

The DRC government has repeatedly accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebel group, a claim that Rwanda denies. Kigali, in turn, alleges that Kinshasa collaborates with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or the FDLR, an armed Hutu group with ties to the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, an allegation the DRC rejects.

M23 holds Goma

Van de Perre said Goma is “firmly under control at the moment of M23.” The Congolese government has officially designated the M23 as a terrorist organization, while the United Nations and the United States classify it as an armed rebel group.

“All exit routes from Goma are under their control, and the airport, also under M23 control, is closed until further notice,” she told reporters. “The escalating violence has led to immense human suffering, displacement and a growing humanitarian crisis.”

She said nearly 2,000 civilians are sheltering at U.N. peacekeeping bases in Goma and that “our bases are full, full, full.” She said they cannot handle any more people, and they are concerned that the overcrowding and unsanitary conditions could lead to disease outbreaks at the bases.

Water and electricity had been cut off to the city during the intense fighting but have been partially restored. Markets are also reopening, but van de Perre said prices have skyrocketed.

She said peacekeepers with the U.N. mission, known as MONUSCO, are operating under limited movements imposed by the M23. They are not patrolling the city, but they are able to resupply their bases.

“Any movement we have to announce 48 hours in advance,” she said. Asked about reports that M23 rebels have suspended some aid work and are interfering with the work of journalists, she said that there are indications of harassment, but that she did not know the extent of it.

On the move

The M23 is reported to be progressing toward the South Kivu capital of Bukavu. Van de Perre said heavy fighting has been reported along the main route between Kinyezire and Nyabibwe.

“In Bukavu, tensions are rising as the M23 moves closer, just 50 kilometers north of the city,” she said.

MONUSCO has been in the process of drawing down its peacekeepers at the request of the Congolese government. In June, it left South Kivu province entirely.

“While the 4 February unilateral ceasefire announced by the M23 offers assurances that Bukavu will not be taken, we are gravely concerned for Kavumu airport, which is critical for ongoing civilian and humanitarian use,” she said of South Kivu’s airport.
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VOA Mandarin: Is US state’s lawsuit against China over COVID winnable?

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The U.S. state of Missouri is suing China over the coronavirus pandemic, accusing it of “unleashing COVID-19 on the world.” The lawsuit threatens to seize $25 billion in assets if Beijing refuses to pay damages. Although the state attorney general is confident in winning the case, legal experts said there are still hoops Missouri needs to jump through due to laws protecting foreign state assets in the U.S.

Click here for the full story in Mandarin.
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VOA Mandarin: Chinese firms relocated to Mexico face new problems amid Trump tariffs

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President Donald Trump’s 25% tariff on imports from Mexico, temporarily put on hold this week, could disrupt the strategy of Chinese companies that have relocated to northern Mexico in recent years. By moving production closer to the U.S. market, these firms have been able to bypass U.S. tariffs toward China through the USMCA trade deal. Experts warn that these companies now face two significant challenges. 

Click here for the full story in Mandarin.

 

 
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Scores killed in Somalia in clash between security forces, Islamic State

Posted on by SeeAF

WASHINGTON — Nearly 70 people were killed and up to 50 others wounded during 24 hours of fighting between Islamic State fighters and security forces from Somalia’s Puntland region, officials said Wednesday. 

At least 15 Puntland soldiers and more than 50 militants were slain in the fierce fighting around the Dharin and Qurac areas of the Cal Miskaad mountains in Puntland’s Bari region, multiple Puntland security officials told VOA, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. 

In an interview Wednesday with VOA’s Somali Service, a spokesperson for Puntland security operations, Brigadier General Mohamud Mohamed Ahmed, said the fighting, which began Tuesday, was the heaviest since Puntland launched an offensive last month against Islamic State groups that have hideouts in the mountains.  

“We have confirmed that at least 57 Islamic State militants, all of them foreigners, were killed during the fighting in the last 24 hours,” Ahmed said. 

Ahmed declined to say how many Puntland soldiers were wounded or lost but suggested casualties were heavy.  

“The fighting is taking place in a mountainous area where the militants are using improvised explosives. The fighting of this nature in such an environment, the attacking force often suffers more casualties than the defenders,” he said. 

VOA could not independently verify the claim of 57 militants killed but graphic video circulated on social media was said to show scenes of militants’ bodies strewn in a mountainous area. 

Ahmed said Tuesday night the United Arab Emirates conducted a drone strike against the IS militants in the area to support Puntland forces. 

A statement from the Puntland forces said their troops have gained ground.  

“Puntland forces have successfully captured the strategic village of Dharin in Togga Jecel, dealing a significant blow to the extremist group’s operational capabilities in the region,” the statement said. 

It added: “The forces have expelled the enemy from the areas they fought along the Togga Jecel.” 

These latest clashes came just days after U.S. warplanes targeted the Islamic State affiliate in Somalia, hitting what officials described as high-ranking operatives in the terror group’s mountainous stronghold. 

U.S. President Donald Trump announced the airstrike Saturday on social media, describing the main target as a “Senior ISIS Attack Planner and other terrorists he recruited and led.” 

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud thanked the U.S. for its “unwavering support” in the “fight against international terrorism.” 

Military campaign

Puntland began a military offensive dubbed “Hilac Campaign” last month against extremist groups in the region following months of preparations. 

Claims by Puntland commanders made regarding different battles indicate more than 150 Islamic State militants have been killed.  

Puntland’s leader, Said Abdullahi Deni, appealed to the public to support the operation, which he said is aimed at dislodging the Islamic State militants from their hideouts in mountainous areas. 

The operation has garnered public support. Monday, hundreds of residents took to the streets of Bosaso, the commercial hub of Puntland state, to demonstrate against the terrorist group and show support for the military campaign. 

Puntland is a member state of Somalia but its relationship with the country’s federal government has been strained by political conflicts and the region is considered semi-autonomous.  

Analysts say the rift between the two sides has limited any collaboration between the federal government and the Puntland regional state, including the fight against terrorists. 

“An operation like this needs logistical support and reinforcements, and the regional states alone cannot handle it. Federal government support and involvement is a must,” Somalia’s former Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmake told VOA. 

“The Islamic State is a common enemy for Somalis. Politicians should separate the national interests and the political differences that can be later solved through negotiations. National interests including security and development should not be politicized,” former national intelligence chief Brigadier General Abdirahman Turyare told VOA. 

IS in Puntland  

Puntland has endured terrorist attacks perpetrated by al-Shabab and Islamic State militants, but the ongoing military operation appears to be focused on IS. 

The group has a relatively small presence in Somalia compared to the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, but experts have warned of growing activity. 

U.S. military officials and Somali security experts reported that IS increased its membership numbers in Somalia last year. 

The group was previously estimated to have between 100 and 400 fighters, but Somali security and intelligence experts say the number has grown to between 500 and 600. 

Most of the newcomers are said to be from the Middle East and eastern and northern Africa. 

Faadumo Yasin Jama contributed to this report.

 
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Trump’s plan for US to take over Gaza meets mixed reactions

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. President Donald Trump’s idea for the United States to take over the Gaza Strip has shocked Israelis and Palestinians. While some Israelis welcome the idea, Palestinians categorically reject it. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Jerusalem.
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Earthquakes keep rattling Greece’s volcanic island of Santorini every few minutes

Posted on by SeeEU

ATHENS, GREECE — Earthquakes rattled Greece’s volcanic island of Santorini every few minutes through the night and into Wednesday as authorities bolstered their emergency plans in case the hundreds of temblors over the past few days are a harbinger of a larger quake to come.  

A coast guard vessel and a military landing craft were in the wider area as a contingency should an evacuation be required, Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said Wednesday during an emergency meeting with security officials, scientists and the prime minister in Athens.  

“We are obliged to draw up scenarios for better and for worse regarding the prolonged seismic activity,” Kikilias said during the meeting, which was televised live.  

Predicting earthquakes is not scientifically possible, and experts cannot yet determine definitively whether the seismic activity between the islands of Santorini and Amorgos could be a precursor to a significantly larger earthquake, or is part of an earthquake swarm that could continue shaking the area with small or moderate intensity quakes for weeks or months. 

 “I understand the fear of what it means at the moment to be on a Santorini that is constantly moving,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, as he called on residents to remain calm and follow authorities’ instructions.  

Rescue crews with a sniffer dog and drones have been deployed on Santorini as a precaution since Sunday, while authorities have banned access to several coastal areas and ordered schools on several islands to shut for the week. Public events on Santorini have been banned, and local authorities were restricting access to clifftop areas that are among the biggest tourist draws to the island.  

Thousands of residents and visitors have already left Santorini, frightened by the hundreds of earthquakes measuring between magnitude 3 and magnitude 5 that have struck the area since the weekend.  

Ferry lines and commercial airlines have added ships and flights to their schedules this week to accommodate the increased demand. However, ferry services were disrupted on Wednesday due to rough weather.  

The quakes, which all have epicenters beneath the seabed between Santorini and the Amorgos, have so far caused no injuries or major damage, although limited rockslides and cracks in some older buildings have been reported on Santorini. Greece lies in a highly seismically active part of the world and earthquakes are frequent. But it is extremely rare for any part of the country to experience such an intense barrage of frequent earthquakes. 

 Last week, authorities said monitors had picked up increased volcanic activity within Santorini’s caldera, or flooded crater, but scientists say this is unrelated to the current quakes. They have also said the seismic activity northeast of the island is unlikely to trigger either of the two volcanoes in the area.  

Southeast Aegean regional governor Giorgos Hatzimarkos told Greek state television that the country’s electricity provider had sent staff and equipment to the island to prepare contingency plans in case of power cuts, while civil engineers were checking the road network. Digital Governance Deputy Minister Konstantinos Kyranakis said the government was working with telecommunications providers to ensure backup plans in case of a network outage in the area.
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2 Mozambicans with disabilities overcome social stigma

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Living with a disability presents unique challenges, but some living with a disability say resilience, determination, and support can help individuals thrive. From Maputo, Mozambique, reporter Amarilis Gule has this story of two Mozambicans who refuse to let disabilities define their lives. (Video edited by Amarilis Gule)
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US deportation flight carrying illegal Indian migrants lands in Punjab 

Posted on by SeeUS

New Delhi — A U.S. deportation flight carrying Indian nationals accused of entering the U.S. illegally landed in the northern state of Punjab Wednesday – the first such flight to India since the Trump administration launched a crackdown on illegal immigrants.

The military aircraft, which landed amid tight security, brought 104 deportees, according to media reports. Authorities did not confirm the number, but said the deportees will be received in a friendly manner.

New Delhi, which does not want to make illegal immigration a contentious issue with Washington, has said that it is open to the return of undocumented Indians in the United States if their nationality is verified.

President Donald Trump said last week that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him that the country would “do what’s right” in taking back illegal immigrants. His comment came following a phone conversation with Modi.

In New Delhi, foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a media briefing on Friday that India and the United States are engaged in a process to deter illegal migration and “cooperation between India and the U.S. is strong and effective in this domain. This will be evident in times to come.”

Trade and migration are expected to be key issues during a meeting that could take place next week between Trump and Modi.

“India does not want to focus on the issue of illegal migrants being deported. We know it is big business in India, sending migrants illegally. Instead, the government’s interest is in ensuring that legal migration channels to the U.S. for Indian nationals are not restricted by the Trump administration,” according to Manoj Joshi, Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.

Those legal routes are H-1B visas for skilled workers and visas for students.

“Both sides are engaged in a process to deter illegal migration, while also creating more avenues for legal migration from India to the U.S.,” Jaiswal has said.

The number of Indian migrants attempting to enter the U.S. unlawfully has grown in recent years, with India now accounting for the largest number of illegal immigrants to the United States from Asian countries, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

Their overall numbers, however, are still small; Indians account for only about 3 percent of illegal crossings.

The United States has identified some 18,000 undocumented Indian migrants to be sent back home, according to a Bloomberg report last week.

Deportation flights to India are not new — between October 2023 and September 2024, more than 1,000 Indian nationals were repatriated, but Wednesday’s flight was the first time that they were sent back via military aircraft.

The deportation flight was routed to Amritsar city in Punjab, which is among the three states where much of the illegal migration from India to the U.S. originates. The others are Haryana in the north and the western state of Gujarat.

Hours before the flight landed, Punjab’s minister for NRI (Non-Resident Indians) Affairs, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, urged people in the state to avoid illegal migration and instead focus on acquiring skills and education to access global opportunities through legal channels.
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South Africa’s unity government steady after stormy start

Posted on by SeeAF

Johannesburg — In the seven months since it was formed, South Africa’s unlikely unity government has been stretched and cracked but remains intact under the leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa, who delivers its first state of the nation address Thursday.

Several loud quarrels have erupted over sticking points such as language education in schools and Ramaphosa’s warm words towards Russia but nothing that has made real the threats and fears of collapse.

“They think we are at each other’s throats. We are not. We continue to meet and talk,” Ramaphosa said in the wake of the latest crisis sparked by his signing of a property expropriation bill last month.

The second-largest partner in the 10-party coalition, the Democratic Alliance, was angry that Ramaphosa signed the act without consulting his partners in the government of national unity (GNU).

“This is not how coalitions work,” DA leader John Steenhuisen fumed. “We will not be reduced to being spectators.”

But the party did not object to the need for land reform in the country, where most farmland is owned by whites. It also sided with Ramaphosa when the bill was attacked by US President Donald Trump for allowing the “confiscation” of property, saying this was untrue.

The DA has six ministries in exchange for propping up Ramaphosa’s ANC in government after it failed to win enough votes in the May election to govern alone, a first since the party took power in 1994 and ended decades of white-minority apartheid rule.

It was an unlikely collaboration, with the DA a long and critical rival of the African National Congress (ANC).

But the GNU, which includes eight other smaller parties, has been credited with bringing some stability to the continent’s most industrialized economy as it faces a host of challenges, from an unemployment rate topping 30%, to high rates of crime.

Big business

While it has fumed and flexed, the center-right DA is also aware that, should it quit the unity government, the ANC could find support from the radical-left EFF and the populist MK parties, now in opposition.

It is a scenario it calls a “doomsday coalition”.

“This is something the DA will move Table Mountain to avoid,” Sunday Times editor-in-chief Makhudu Sefara wrote in a weekend column. “And therein lies the extent to which they’re prepared to compromise.”

The DA will not walk out, said political scientist Sandile Swana. 

“It is the political party of big business,” he said. “And the GNU was mandated, or demanded or directed, to come into existence by big business in South Africa.”

Despite some cynical maneuvring at local government level — for example, to push out the DA mayor of the city of Tshwane in September — the coalition will even survive bitter local elections due in late 2026, said political scientist Susan Booysen told AFP.

“They could actually go into a poisonous, toxic local government election campaign and continue with the national coalition,” she said. “It’s such a schizophrenic type of coalition.”

Ramaphosa, meanwhile, is walking a fine line within his own party, where a large faction of the ANC wants him to assert that it “is not in the DA’s pocket,” Booysen said.

But even if Ramaphosa does not complete his term as president, with his future as head of the party not guaranteed after ANC leadership elections in 2027, his successor is also unlikely to end the fractious collaboration, Swana said.

“Even if Ramaphosa is removed, I do not think they will kick the DA out of government,” Swana said.

“The GNU, as things stand, will last the five-year period.”
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China says it is willing to work with EU on ‘global challenges’

Posted on by SeeEU

BEIJING — China is willing to work with the European Union on boosting cooperation and responding to “global challenges,” its foreign ministry said on Wednesday, as the bloc faces potential U.S. tariffs on its shipments to the world’s largest economy.

China attaches great importance to EU ties and hopes the bloc will become a reliable cooperation partner, said Lin Jian, spokesperson at the Chinese ministry.

The EU’s trade chief said on Tuesday that the bloc wanted to engage swiftly with the United States over President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen forecast negotiations with Washington would be tough.

As transatlantic ties come under strain with Trump’s tariff threats, China hawks within the EU such as von der Leyen are showing signs of willingness to rethink the relationship between Beijing and Brussels, a bond that had been tested by trade tensions and China’s ties with Russia.

Speaking in Brussels on Tuesday, von der Leyen said the EU would keep “de-risking” its relationship with China but added that there was room to “find solutions” in their mutual interest and “find agreements” that could even expand trade and investment ties.

She did not give details on what those agreements could be.

In Davos, Switzerland, last month, von der Leyen also said both sides should find solutions of mutual interest.

In October, the EU imposed double-digit tariffs on China-made electric vehicles after an anti-subsidy investigation, in addition to its standard car import duty of 10%. The move drew loud protests from Beijing, which in return, raised market entry barriers for certain EU products such as brandy.
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Decorated pilot Harry Stewart, Jr., one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen, dies at 100

Posted on by SeeUS

Retired Lt. Col. Harry Stewart Jr, a decorated World War II pilot who broke racial barriers as a Tuskegee Airmen and earned honors for his combat heroism, has died. He was 100.

Stewart was one of the last surviving combat pilots of the famed 332nd Fighter Group also known as the Tuskegee Airmen. They were the nation’s first Black military pilots.

The Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum confirmed his death. The organization said he died peacefully at his home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, on Sunday.

Stewart earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for downing three German aircraft during a dogfight on April 1, 1945. He was also part of a team of four Tuskegee Airmen who won the U.S. Air Force Top Gun flying competition in 1949, although their accomplishment would not be recognized until decades later.

“Harry Stewart was a kind man of profound character and accomplishment with a distinguished career of service he continued long after fighting for our country in World War II,” Brian Smith, president and CEO of the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum, said.

Born on July 4, 1924, in Virginia, his family moved to New York when he was young. Stewart had dreamed of flying since he was a child when he would watch planes at LaGuardia airport, according to a book about his life titled “Soaring to Glory: A Tuskegee Airmen’s Firsthand Account of World War II.” In the wake of Pearl Harbor, an 18-year-old Stewart joined what was then considered an experiment to train Black military pilots. The unit sometimes was also known as the Tuskegee Airmen for where they trained in Alabama or the Red Tails because of the red tips of their P-51 Mustangs.

“I did not recognize at the time the gravity of what we are facing. I just felt as though it was a duty of mine at the time. I just stood up to my duty,” Stewart said of World War II in a 2024 interview with CNN about the war.

Having grown up in a multicultural neighborhood, the segregation and prejudice of the Jim Crow-era South came as a shock to Stewart, but he was determined to finish and earn his wings according to the book about his life. After finishing training, the pilots were assigned to escort U.S. bombers in Europe. The Tuskegee Airmen are credited with losing significantly fewer escorted bombers than other fighter groups.

“I got to really enjoy the idea of the panorama, I would say, of the scene I would see before me with the hundreds of bombers and the hundreds of fighter planes up there and all of them pulling the condensation trails, and it was just the ballet in the sky and a feeling of belonging to something that was really big,” Stewart said in a 2020 interview with WAMC.

Stewart would sometimes say in a self-effacing way that he was too busy enjoying flying to realize he was making history, according to his book.

Stewart had hoped to become a commercial airline pilot after he left the military, but was rejected because of his race. He went on to earn a mechanical engineering degree at New York University. He relocated to Detroit and retired as vice president of a natural gas pipeline company.

Stewart told Michigan Public Radio in 2019 that he was moved to tears on a recent commercial flight when he saw who was piloting the aircraft.

“When I entered the plane, I looked into the cockpit there and there were two African American pilots. One was the co-pilot, and one was the pilot. But not only that, the thing that started bringing the tears to my eyes is that they were both female,” Stewart said.

The Air Force last month briefly removed training courses with videos of its storied Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs in an effort to comply with the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The materials were quickly restored following a bipartisan backlash.
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South Africa tests radioactivity in rhino horns to deter poachers

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Scientists are testing a novel technique to deter poachers targeting endangered rhinoceros for their prized horns. As part of a pilot study in South Africa, researchers have injected small, radioactive pellets into the horns of live rhinos. The goal is to make the horns radioactive so there is less demand for them on the black market. Marize de Klerk reports from the UNESCO Waterberg Biosphere Reserve in South Africa.
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Senate confirms Pam Bondi as US attorney general

Posted on by SeeUS

WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Pam Bondi as U.S. attorney general on Tuesday evening.

The vote fell almost entirely along party lines, with only Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, joining with all Republicans to pass her confirmation 54-46.

Bondi, a former Florida attorney general and corporate lobbyist, is expected to oversee a radical reshaping of the department that has been the target of Trump’s ire over the criminal cases it brought against him. She enters with the FBI, which she will oversee, in turmoil over the scrutiny of agents involved in investigations related to the president, who has made clear his desire to seek revenge on his perceived adversaries.

Republicans have praised Bondi as a highly qualified leader they contend will bring much-needed change to a department they believe unfairly pursued Trump through investigations resulting in two indictments.

“Pam Bondi has promised to get the department back to its core mission: prosecuting crime and protecting Americans from threats to their safety and their freedoms,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

But Bondi has faced intense scrutiny over her close relationship with the president, who during his term fired an FBI director who refused to pledge loyalty to him and forced out an attorney general who recused himself from the Justice Department’s investigation into potential ties between Russia and his 2016 presidential campaign.

While Bondi has sought to reassure Democrats that politics would play no part in her decision-making, she also refused at her confirmation hearing last month to rule out potential investigations into Trump’s adversaries. And she has repeated Trump’s claims that the prosecutions against him amounted to political persecution, saying the Justice Department “had been weaponized for years and years and years, and it’s got to stop.”

Bondi’s confirmation vote came just hours after FBI agents sued the Justice Department over efforts to develop a list of employees involved in the January 6 prosecutions, which agents fear could be a precursor to mass firings.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove last week ordered the acting FBI director to provide the names, titles and offices of all FBI employees who worked on the January 6 cases — which Trump has described as a “grave national injustice.” Bove, who defended Trump in his criminal cases before joining the administration, said Justice Department officials would carry out a “review process to determine whether any additional personnel actions are necessary.”

Justice Department officials have also recently forced out senior FBI executives, fired prosecutors on special counsel Jack Smith’s team who investigated Trump and terminated a group of prosecutors in the District of Columbia’s U.S. attorney’s office who were hired to help with the massive Jan. 6 investigation.

Bondi repeatedly stressed at her confirmation hearing that she would not pursue anyone for political reasons, and vowed that the public, not the president, would be her client. But her answers at times echoed Trump’s campaign rhetoric about a politicized justice system.
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