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Ugandan runner Cheptegei dies after boyfriend set her on fire, officials and media say
NAIROBI, Kenya — Ugandan Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei has died, hospital officials said on Thursday, days after she was doused in petrol and set on fire by her boyfriend.
Kenyan and Ugandan media reported that Cheptegei, 33, who competed in the Paris Olympics, suffered burns to more than 75% of her body in the attack in Kenya on Sunday, making her the third female athlete to be killed in the country since October 2021.
“We have learnt of the sad passing on of our Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei … following a vicious attack by her boyfriend,” Donald Rukare, president of Uganda Olympics Committee, said in a post on X.
“May her gentle soul rest in peace and we strongly condemn violence against women. This was a cowardly and senseless act that has led to the loss of a great athlete.”
Cheptegei, who finished 44th in Paris, was admitted to a hospital in the Kenyan Rift Valley city of Eldoret after the attack.
Cheptegei “passed today morning at 5.30 am after her organs failed,” Owen Menach, senior director of clinical services at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, told Reuters, adding that a full report regarding the circumstances of her death would be released on Thursday afternoon.
Peter Ogwang, Uganda’s minister of state for sports, described her death as “tragic.”
“Kenyan authorities are investigating the circumstances under which she died and a more detailed report and program will be provided in due course,” he said.
Cheptegei’s death shines a spotlight on violence experienced by sportswomen in Kenya, where she lived when she trained.
In October 2021, Olympian runner Agnes Tirop, a rising star in Kenya’s highly competitive athletics scene, was found dead in her home in the town of Iten, with multiple stab wounds to the neck.
Ibrahim Rotich, her husband, was charged with her murder and has pleaded not guilty. The case is ongoing.
The 25-year-old’s killing shocked Kenya, with current and former athletes setting up Tirop’s Angels in 2022 to combat domestic violence.
Joan Chelimo, one of the founders of the non-profit, told Reuters that female athletes were at high risk of exploitation and violence at the hands of men drawn to their money.
“They get into these traps of predators who pose in their lives as lovers,” she said.
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Magnitude 6.2 quake strikes off Papua New Guinea
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea — A magnitude 6.2 earthquake rattled Papua New Guinea on Thursday, the United States Geological Survey said, striking off the country’s northern coast.
A USGS map showed the tremor centered in a patch of ocean some 300 kilometers east of the town of Vanimo, which is preparing to host Pope Francis over the weekend.
A photographer based in the provincial capital of Wewak told AFP there did not appear to be major damage in the immediate aftermath of the quake.
Earthquakes are common in Papua New Guinea, which sits on top of the seismic “Ring of Fire” — an arc of intense tectonic activity that stretches through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
Although they seldom cause widespread damage in sparsely populated areas, they can trigger destructive landslides.
Pope Francis arrived in Indonesia earlier this week on the first leg of his 12-day tour.
On Friday he heads to Christian-majority Papua New Guinea for a three-night visit that will see him briefly stop in Vanimo, a remote coastal town close to the country’s border with Indonesia.
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Like Brazil, the European Union also has an X problem
Brussels — Elon Musk’s woes are hardly limited to Brazil as he now risks possible EU sanctions in the coming months for allegedly breaking new content rules.
Access to X has been suspended in South America’s largest country since Saturday after a long-running legal battle over disinformation ended with a judge ordering a shutdown.
But Brazil is not alone in its concerns about X.
Politicians worldwide and digital rights groups have repeatedly raised concerns about Musk’s actions since taking over what was then Twitter in late 2022, including sacking many employees tasked with content moderation and maintaining ties with EU regulators.
Musk’s “free speech absolutist” attitude has led to clashes with Brussels.
The European Union could decide within months to take action against X, including possible fines, as part of an ongoing probe into whether the platform is breaching a landmark content moderation law, the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Nothing has yet been decided but any fines could be as high as 6% of X’s annual worldwide turnover unless the company makes changes in line with EU demands.
But if Musk’s reactions are anything to go by, another showdown is on the cards.
When the EU in July accused X of deceptive practices in violation of the DSA, Musk warned: “We look forward to a very public battle in court.”
The temperature was raised even further a month later with another war of words on social media between Musk and the EU’s top tech enforcer, Thierry Breton.
Breton reminded Musk in a letter of his legal duty to stop “harmful content” from spreading on X hours before an interview with U.S. presidential challenger Donald Trump live on the platform.
Musk responded by mocking Breton and sharing a meme that carried an obscene message.
EU ban ‘very unlikely’
Despite the bitter barbs, the European Commission, the EU’s digital watchdog, insists that dialogue with X is ongoing.
“X continues to cooperate with the commission and respond to questions,” the commission’s digital spokesman, Thomas Regnier, told AFP.
Experts also agree that a Brazil-like shutdown in the 27-country EU is unlikely, although it has the legal right.
The DSA would allow the bloc to demand a judge in Ireland, where X has its EU headquarters, order a temporary suspension until the infringements cease.
Breton has repeatedly insisted that “Europe will not hesitate to do what is necessary.”
But since X has around 106 million EU users, significantly higher than the 22 million in Brazil, the belief is that Musk would not want to risk a similar move in Europe.
“Obviously, we can never exclude it, but it is very unlikely,” said Alexandre de Streel of the think tank Centre on Regulation in Europe.
Regardless of what happens next, de Streel said the case would likely end up in the EU courts, calling X “the least cooperative company” with the bloc.
Jan Penfrat of the European Digital Rights advocacy group said a ban was “a very last resort measure” and that X would “probably” not close shop in the EU.
“I would hope that the commission thinks about this very, very hard before going there because this (a ban) would have a tremendously negative effect on the right to freedom of expression and access to information,” Penfrat said.
EU’s X-File
The commission in July accused X of misleading users with its blue checkmarks for certified accounts, insufficient advertising transparency and failing to give researchers access to the platform’s data.
That allegation is part of a wider probe into X, launched in December, and regulators are still probing how it tackles the spread of illegal content and information manipulation.
X now has access to the EU’s file and can defend itself including by replying to the commission’s findings.
The list of governments angry with Musk is growing. He also raised hackles over the summer in the UK during days of rioting sparked by online misinformation that the suspect behind a mass stabbing that killed three girls was a Muslim asylum seeker.
The billionaire, whose personal X account has 196 million followers, engaged in disputes with British politicians after sharing inflammatory posts and claiming a “civil war is inevitable” in the country.
Non-EU member Britain will soon be able to implement a similar law to the DSA with enforcement expected to start next year.
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First mpox vaccines due in DR Congo on Thursday
Kinshasa, Congo — The first delivery of almost 100,000 doses of mpox vaccines will arrive in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, the African Union’s health watchdog said.
The vast central Africa country of around 100 million people is at the epicenter of the mpox outbreak, with cases and deaths rising.
“We are very pleased with the arrival of this first batch of vaccines in the DRC,” Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told AFP, adding that more than 99,000 doses were expected.
More than 17,500 cases and 629 deaths have been reported in the country since the start of the year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The vaccine doses will be transported onboard an airplane leaving the Danish capital Copenhagen on Wednesday evening and are due to arrive at Kinshasa’s international airport on Thursday at 1100 GMT.
‘Health war’
The Congolese National Institute of Public Health, which is in charge of managing the country’s mpox response, indicated that it was still waiting for details on the origin of the vaccines contained in the first delivery.
“Kinshasa is still waiting for documents from the Africa CDC that will provide information on these doses,” the institute’s director Dieudonne Mwamba Kazadi told AFP.
“We are in a health war against mpox. To face this disease, we need you,” Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said on X on Tuesday.
In Africa, mpox is now present in at least 13 countries, including Burundi, Congo-Brazzaville and the Central African Republic, according to figures from the Africa CDC dated August 27.
On Wednesday, Guinea said it had recorded its first confirmed case of the disease, convening an emergency meeting in response.
A health official speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP that the case was discovered in a sub-prefecture close to the Liberian border.
Outside the continent, the virus has also been detected in Sweden, Pakistan and the Philippines.
The WHO said last week that the first vaccine doses would arrive in the DRC in the following days, with other deliveries to follow.
The WHO said at the end of August that around 230,000 MVA-BN vaccine doses produced by Danish drugmaker Bavarian Nordic were “imminently available to be dispatched to affected regions.”
Other countries have also promised to send vaccine doses to African nations.
Spain has promised 500,000 doses, with France and Germany each pledging 100,000.
The WHO declared an international emergency over mpox on August 14, concerned by the surge in cases of the new Clade 1b strain in the DRC that spread to nearby countries.
Both the Clade 1b and Clade 1a strains are present in the DRC.
The WHO’s Africa bureau said at the end of last month that 10,000 vaccine doses would be delivered to Nigeria — Bavarian Nordic vaccines donated by the United States.
This was the first African country to receive doses outside of clinical trials.
Formerly called monkeypox, the virus was discovered in 1958 in Denmark, in monkeys kept for research.
It was first discovered in humans in 1970 in what is now the DRC.
Mpox is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals but can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact.
The disease causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions.
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China’s Xi promises $50 billion for Africa over next three years
BEIJING — Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday pledged more than $50 billion in financing for Africa over the next three years, promising to deepen cooperation in infrastructure and trade with the continent as he addressed Beijing’s biggest summit since the pandemic.
More than 50 African leaders and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres are attending this week’s China-Africa forum, according to state media.
African leaders already secured a plethora of deals this week for greater cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, mining, trade and energy.
Addressing the leaders at the forum’s opening ceremony in Beijing’s ornate Great Hall of the People on Thursday morning, Xi hailed ties with the continent as their “best period in history.”
“China is ready to deepen cooperation with African countries in industry, agriculture, infrastructure, trade and investment,” he said.
“Over the next three years, the Chinese government is willing to provide financial support amounting to $50.7 billion,” Xi said.
Over half of that will be in credit, he said, with $11 billion “in various types of assistance” as well as $10 billion through encouraging Chinese firms to invest.
He also promised to help “create at least one million jobs for Africa.”
Also addressing the meeting, UN chief Guterres told African leaders that growing ties between China and the continent could “drive the renewable energy revolution.”
“China’s remarkable record of development — including on eradicating poverty — provides a wealth of experience and expertise,” he said.
Deals and pledges
China, the world’s number two economy, is Africa’s largest trading partner and has sought to tap the continent’s vast troves of natural resources including copper, gold, lithium and rare earth minerals.
It has also furnished African countries with billions in loans that have helped build much-needed infrastructure but sometimes stoked controversy by saddling governments with huge debts.
Analysts say that Beijing’s largesse towards Africa is being recalibrated in the face of economic trouble at home and that geopolitical concerns over a growing tussle with the United States may increasingly be driving policy.
But bilateral meetings held on the sidelines of the summit delivered a slew of pledges on greater cooperation in projects from railway to solar panels to avocados.
Following meetings on Wednesday, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema said he had overseen a deal between the country’s state-owned power company ZESCO and Beijing’s PowerChina to expand the use of rooftop solar panels in his country.
Nigeria — one of Beijing’s biggest debtors on the continent — and China inked a joint statement agreeing to “deepen cooperation” in infrastructure, including “transportation, ports and free trade zones.”
Expanding transport links
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, in turn, obtained a commitment from Xi to push for new progress on a long-stalled railway connecting his country to neighboring Zambia.
That project — which Zambian media has said Beijing has pledged $1 billion towards — is aimed at expanding transport links in the resource-rich eastern part of the continent.
Zimbabwe also won promises from Beijing for deeper cooperation in “agriculture, mining, environmentally friendly traditional and new energy (and) transportation infrastructure,” according to a joint statement by the two countries.
The southern African nation and Beijing also agreed to sign a deal that would allow the export of fresh Zimbabwean avocados to China, the joint statement said.
And Kenyan leader William Ruto said Xi had promised to open up China’s markets to agricultural products from his country.
The two sides agreed to work together on the expansion of the country’s Standard Gauge Railway — built with finance from Exim Bank of China — which connects the capital, Nairobi, with the port city of Mombasa.
And Ruto also secured a pledge for greater cooperation with China on the Rironi-Mau Summit-Malaba motorway, which Kenyan media has said is expected to cost $1.2 billion.
Ruto last year asked China for a $1 billion loan and the restructuring of existing debt to complete other stalled construction projects. The country now owes China more than $8 billion.
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Putin makes renewed push for gas pipeline deal with China
washington — During his recent trip to Mongolia, Russian President Vladimir Putin promoted a plan to build a pipeline from his country to China. The pipeline, which could weaken U.S. energy leverage over Beijing, would have to pass through Mongolia.
In a joint press conference held after talks in Ulaanbaatar on Tuesday, Putin said cooperation in the gas sector looks promising.
The two sides have completed drawing up documents to design the Soyuz Vostok gas pipeline extension in Mongolia and it is “at the stage of state expert appraisal and assessment,” Putin said.
New export market
The Soyuz Vostok gas pipeline extension is part of the Power of Siberia 2 (PS-2) pipeline. The PS-2 pipeline would transport about 50 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas annually to China when completed.
It is seen as an effort by Moscow to divert gas that had been exported to Europe to Asia after the Nord Stream 1 pipeline under the Baltic Sea was damaged by explosions last year.
Russia uses the Power of Siberia 1 pipeline to deliver gas to China, exporting 22.7 bcm in 2023. It aims to raise the supplies to 38 bcm annually by 2025.
“China is really Russia’s option to find a customer for a sizable portion of the pipeline gas it previously sent to Europe,” said Erica Downs, a senior research scholar focusing on Chinese energy markets at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.
“Putin will continue to champion the project and look for ways to characterize any discussion of the project with Mongolian officials as progress,” she continued.
Beijing and Moscow have been in talks for years over PS-2, but a final agreement has not been reached. Mongolia also has not made a final approval for the pipeline to pass through its land.
“The pipeline, if built, would reduce U.S. LNG [liquefied natural gas] exports to China,” further weakening U.S. energy leverage over China that is already declining, said Joseph Webster, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center.
Beijing seeks to reduce foreign energy dependence by “replacing imports with indigenously produced energy” including solar, wind, and nuclear energy, Webster said.
A report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service on Aug. 28 said, “PS-2 could strengthen China’s bargaining position” with the U.S. if it receives additional Russian natural gas. The U.S. has been the sixth largest exporter of LNG to China between 2016 and 2023, the report noted.
The report said PS-2 could also help Russia avoid sanctions imposed by the West because “PS-2 would involve pipeline trade of natural gas” and “no existing sanctions would impact this trade.”
Renewed push
Putin made an extra effort to promote the pipeline deal at the press conference with Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh.
He said Russia and Mongolia are “not only talking about the transit of Russian gas across Mongolia” but “the potential delivery of gas to Mongolian consumers.”
Ahead of the talks, Putin said Mongolia initially “preferred to limit themselves to being just a transit country” for the pipeline but is now considering a deal to obtain “cheap pipeline gas to support the development of their economy and infrastructure.”
Putin made the comments in a written interview with Mongolia’s Onoodor newspaper, according to the Kremlin on Monday.
Putin’s renewed push to boost PS2 came after Mongolia in August excluded the pipeline project in its national development plan through 2028.
Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Center for Energy, Climate and Environment at the Heritage Foundation, said Putin made the remarks “to project strength” and because he “needs a market for his oil.”
“He wants to see what the West says,” and also “to see whether Mongolia changes its mind,” but the pipeline deal is still incomplete “until we get confirmation from Mongolia,” she said.
Khurelsukh did not confirm in his statements in the bilateral talks with Putin whether he agreed to allow the pipeline deal to proceed.
In a series of documents signed on Tuesday, Russia and Mongolia made agreements on the supplies of oil, petroleum products, and aviation fuel but did not mention any agreements on the pipeline deal.
China-Russia competition
Mongolia is heavily dependent on Russian energy, importing 95% of its petroleum products and more than 20% of electricity. A spokesperson for the Mongolian government told Politico on Tuesday that is why it did not arrest Putin when he was in the country.
The International Criminal Court issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest for crimes committed in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As a member country of the ICC, Mongolia was obligated to arrest him.
“Mongolia probably does not have to make a final decision about Power of Siberia 2 anytime soon because China is in no hurry to move forward with the project,” Downs said.
“The fact that Mongolia did not include Power of Siberia 2 in its next four-year spending plan indicates that it does not expect the project to move off the drawing board before 2028,” she said.
Russia also has been in talks with China about the project in recent months.
In May, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Beijing and Moscow are expected to sign a contract on the PS-2 gas pipeline “in the near future.”
But the pipeline deal between the two remained stalled over pricing demands by Beijing, the Financial Times reported in June.
On Wednesday, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui apparently told the Russian News Agency Tass on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok that Beijing and Moscow would eventually launch PS-2 despite difficulties surrounding the project.
“China always drives a hard bargain on the pricing of gas imports and wants to control as much as possible of the transportation network involved in its imports and exports,” said Thomas Duesterberg, senior fellow at Hudson Institute.
“Russia and China compete over influence in Mongolia, and the Russo-Mongolian deal is subject to close scrutiny because of these factors, and that likely explains the failure at this time to reach a deal,” he added.
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng will visit Mongolia from Sept. 4 to 8 after attending the Eastern Economic Forum held in Vladivostok, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday.
It is uncertain, however, whether Beijing and Ulaanbaatar will discuss the PS-2 pipeline project.
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White House signals it may block sale of US Steel to Nippon Steel
WASHINGTON — The White House is signaling an openness to blocking the acquisition of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel, as a government review of the proposed takeover by the Japanese company is wrapping up.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that President Joe Biden plans to stop the deal from going forward. A White House official, insisting on anonymity to discuss the matter, did not deny the report and said Biden still needs to receive the official recommendation from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). That review could end as soon as this month.
Biden had voiced his objections to the merger, backing his supporters in the United Steelworkers union who oppose the deal. The objection carries weight as U.S. Steel is headquartered in the swing state of Pennsylvania and is a symbol of Pittsburgh’s industrial might in an election year when Republicans and Democrats alike are promising more domestic manufacturing jobs.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, came out against the deal this week. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has said he would block the merger if he were still in the White House.
Stock in U.S. Steel fell roughly 17% on the news that Biden would stop the merger.
The CFIUS review process generally pertains to business issues with national security implications. U.S. Steel spokesperson Amanda Malkowski said in an email that the company had not received any update on the process and that the company sees “no national security issues associated with this transaction, as Japan is one of our most staunch allies.”
“We fully expect to pursue all possible options under the law to ensure this transaction, which is best future for Pennsylvania, American steelmaking, and all of our stakeholders, closes,” Malkowski said.
A spokesman representing Nippon Steel said the company had not received any updates from the federal government on the review process.
U.S. Steel on Wednesday hosted a rally in support of the acquisition. It said in a statement that without the Nippon Steel deal the company would “largely pivot away from its blast furnace facilities, putting thousands of good-paying union jobs at risk, negatively impacting numerous communities across the locations where its facilities exist, and depriving the American steel industry of an opportunity to better compete on the global stage.”
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China’s envoy not expelled; he left because term ended, says US
washington — China’s consul general in New York left his post as scheduled after completing his posting last month, the State Department said on Wednesday, hours after New York’s governor said she asked for his expulsion in the aftermath of the arrest of a former aide who was accused of secretly acting as a Chinese agent.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that Consul General Huang Ping “was not expelled.”
“Our understanding is that the consul general reached the end of a regular scheduled rotation in August, and so rotated out of the position, but was not expelled,” Miller said.
“But of course, when it comes to the status of particular employees of a foreign mission, I would refer you to the foreign country to speak to it. But there was no expulsion action.”
China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Huang Ping’s status.
Governor asked for envoy’s expulsion
Earlier on Wednesday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul told an event that she spoke by phone at the request of Secretary of State Antony Blinken to a high-ranking State Department official “and I had conveyed my desire to have the consul general from the People’s Republic of China in the New York mission expelled.”
“And I’ve been informed that the consul general is no longer in the New York mission,” she said.
Miller said Hochul had spoken on Wednesday to Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.
Asked by an audience member if she had been interviewed by investigators, including the FBI, Hochul said: “They asked me one question.”
“I’m not able to talk about it but it had something to do with identifying whether or not something was my signature and that was it,” she said.
Former aide charged
Linda Sun, 41, a former aide to Hochul, was charged on Tuesday with secretly acting as an agent of the Chinese government in exchange for millions of dollars in compensation and gifts, including meals of gourmet duck.
Sun and her husband, Chris Hu, 40, pleaded not guilty to criminal charges before U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo in Brooklyn, after being arrested on Tuesday morning.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said that while working in state government, Sun blocked representatives of the Taiwanese government from meeting with officials and sought to arrange for a high-level New York state official to visit China. In exchange, Chinese government representatives allegedly arranged for millions of dollars in transactions for Hu, who had business activities in China.
Prosecutors said Sun and Hu used the money to buy a 2024 Ferrari Roma sports car, as well as property on New York’s Long Island and in Honolulu worth about $6 million.
Hochul was not accused of any wrongdoing. Her office fired Sun in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct and reported Sun’s actions immediately to authorities. Her office also has assisted law enforcement throughout the process, a spokesperson for the governor said.
According to the website of China’s consulate in New York, Huang Ping had been the consul general since November 2018. Prior to that, Huang, 61, served as a Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe and did stints as an official at the embassy in Washington and China’s consulate in Chicago.
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Russia weaponized migration to help bolster populists, say Latvian experts
European Union governments have accused Russia of “weaponizing” migration by helping illegal migrants cross into the EU, stoking political tensions in countries such as Finland, Poland and Latvia. Latvian political observers say this tactic, in part, led to the gains of far-right parties in European elections this year. Henry Wilkins reports from Riga, Latvia
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Trump, Harris offer different futures for Ukraine as they vie for US presidency
Ukraine faces wildly different prospects under a potential Donald Trump or Kamala Harris U.S. presidency. But as their campaigns race to the finish line, neither candidate has laid out exactly how they plan to deal with Russia’s war on Ukraine. Experts say in that same space of time, the battlefield in Ukraine has itself radically changed, giving more power to Ukraine in determining its own fate. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Washington.
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Africa needs strategic, disciplined approach with China, experts say
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA / WASHINGTON — China has been establishing closer cooperation with Africa, a relationship some view as fraught with debt burden while others hail as Africa leveraging its strategic importance globally.
This week’s Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing carries benefits for both Africa and China, officials and African affairs experts say.
Countries like Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya have been on the receiving end of a huge amount of investment from Beijing. And China has been relentless in seeking to secure partnerships for dependable sources of raw materials as well as creating alliances to gain geopolitical influence and counterbalance Western powers. That is the assessment of former Ugandan diplomat Simon Mulongo.
“What is in it for Africa is basically four things: infrastructure development where China has invested heavily in Africa infrastructure, building roads, railways, ports and other essential facilities,” Mulongo said.
“The second is economic growth. The Chinese investments have actually created jobs and stimulated economic activities in various sectors, which includes manufacturing, mining and agriculture. There is also financial aid and loans where China offers financial assistance, often with fewer conditions compared to the Western countries. And the fourth is trade opportunities [in] which Africa benefits from access to the Chinese markets, which can boost export revenues, especially raw materials and agricultural products.”
Mulongo, who is the managing partner of EMANS Frontiers, a governance and security consultant, said China also is benefiting from the partnership with Africa, including through trade opportunities and the rich mineral resources, oil and other natural resources that China needs to fuel its industrial growth and sustain its population.
Djibouti is one of the countries where China investment is visible. China not only has a major military base there but also has developed, together with the Djibouti government, large infrastructure projects, including electrical rail, a deep-sea port and a free-trade zone.
Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh, Djibouti’s minister of economy and finance, said the forum has become the “cornerstone for enduring collaboration” between the two counties.
Financing challenges
“Everybody knows in Africa we are facing financing challenges when it comes to the key infrastructure development,” said Dawaleh, who spoke to VOA’s Horn of Africa Service from Beijing.
“The infrastructure financing gap in Africa is estimated to billions per year. Therefore, we very much value the support of China when it comes to narrow or reduce that gap in infrastructure financing,” he said.
Asked if Chinese loans were a “ticking time bomb” for Africa, Dawaleh said they weren’t.
He said the debt crisis Africa is facing is driven by global challenges, including the impact of two years of COVID-19; droughts and climate change in the Horn of Africa; the Red Sea and Middle East crisis; and “inflation imported due to the crisis in Ukraine and Russia.”
“We need the understanding of the partners, and China again confirmed, standing with Africa in order to look at means and ways to deal more softly in the debt crisis,” he said.
Kibur Gena, an economist and the executive director of Initiative Africa, said African countries should exercise a strategic and disciplined approach in managing large loans so that they contribute to sustainable economic development rather than leading to debt distress.
The loans, he said, should be “transparent with clear terms and conditions.”
“They should be definitely used to finance projects that have the potential to generate significant economic returns,” he said. Countries should “strengthen their debt management offices to monitor and manage the loans portfolio effectively. I think these are some of the basic points that I would like to raise in terms of managing loans with China, or any other country, for that matter.”
Kibur said balanced partnership is key to China-Africa relations.
“All that requires is a balanced and strategic partnership that prioritizes mutual interest, that prioritizes transparency and scores long-term development,” he said.
Open markets
Kibur said China should also open its markets to a broader range of African products, particularly those with higher value added to support industrialization effort.
Mulongo highlighted the difference between the relations Africa has with China as opposed to Western countries.
“The Western countries often engage and involve aid with conditions related to governance, human rights and economic reforms — a number of African leaders can see these conditions as intrusive,” the former Africa Union deputy special envoy to Somalia said.
“The other one is security-focused. The West usually focuses on security, particularly counterterrorism, peacekeeping and military cooperation,” he added.
Africa should not be forced to choose between China and the West, Mulongo said. Instead, African countries should aim to balance relations with both, leveraging the unique strengths and opportunities that each power presents, he said.
This story originated in VOA’s Horn of Africa Service.
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US sailor detained in Venezuela
pentagon — Venezuela has detained a U.S. Navy sailor who was visiting the country while on personal travel, U.S. officials have confirmed to VOA.
The reason for the detention is unknown.
A defense official who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity because of international sensitivities said the sailor was detained “on or about August 30, 2024, by Venezuelan law enforcement authorities while on personal travel to Venezuela.”
“The U.S. Navy is looking into this and working closely with the State Department,” the defense official added.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. was tracking the detention closely and was seeking additional information.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby added that the U.S. was “obviously in touch” with Venezuelan authorities.
The tension in the U.S.-Venezuela relationship has been further stretched since Venezuela held elections earlier this year.
The Biden administration has questioned the results that kept Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in power, stating last month that “Maduro and his representatives have tampered with the results of that election, falsely claimed victory and carried out widespread repression to maintain power.”
Earlier this week, the U.S. seized Maduro’s plane over alleged sanctions violations.
Guita Mirsaeedi and Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report.
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Britain defends Israeli weapons export ban as Europe mulls sanctions
London — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended his government’s decision to suspend some arms shipments to Israel Wednesday, saying the move was necessary to comply with international law.
“We absolutely recognize and support Israel’s right to self-defense and have taken action in support of that right of self-defense. … But in relation to licenses, this isn’t an Israel issue. It’s the framework for all licenses that have to be kept under review,” he said.
“We either comply with international law or we don’t. We only have strength in our arguments because we comply with international law,” Starmer told lawmakers in Parliament.
Israel has strongly criticized the move and said it would only serve to strengthen Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. Israel invaded the Palestinian territory after Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 people and took 253 hostages in a cross-border terror attack on October 7.
Britain on Monday suspended around 30 of the 350 licenses for weapons exports to Israel after a legal review. Foreign Secretary David Lammy made the announcement in parliament on Monday.
“The assessment I have received leaves me unable to conclude anything other than that for certain U.K. arms exports to Israel, there does exist a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law,” Lammy told lawmakers, adding that the export bans include “equipment that we assess is for use in the current conflict in Gaza, such as important components which go into military aircraft, including fighter aircraft, helicopters and drones, as well as items which facilitate ground targeting.”
The British move will have little impact on the Israel Defense Forces’ operations, said Middle East analyst Yossi Mekelberg of the London-based policy institute Chatham House. “Most of Israel’s weapons and ammunition come actually from the United States and Germany. It amounts to nearly 99% of the arms supplied to Israel.”
But the symbolism of Britain’s move is significant, Mekelberg said.
“Suspension sends a clear message that you can be a friend of Israel, you can support Israel — including Labour [the ruling party] — supportive of Israel, especially after October 7, and rightly so. But at the same time to disagree fundamentally with the way Israel conducts the war and how it uses weapons,” he said.
“I think we can start seeing a change [in Britain’s approach], and I think what some of us wonder is if it will go as far as recognizing a Palestinian statehood. This probably would be the biggest step forward,” Mekelberg said.
Andreas Krieg, a fellow of the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies at Kings College London, said the political impact of the export ban would outweigh the practical implications.
“The U.K. might not be the strongest hard power in the Middle East, but it has significant soft power and influence. It shows that for the very first time that a very close partner and ally of Israel doesn’t trust the Israeli government, when they’re saying that they are complying with the laws of armed conflict,” Krieg told VOA.
“The fact that the U.K. is now saying that there are potential doubts is casting bigger doubts over Israel’s campaign and the complicity of other countries as well, including Germany and the United States, in aiding and supporting Israel’s campaign, particularly in Gaza, but also potentially in the West Bank,” he said.
“Other European countries might want to now revisit their arms export licenses and to what extent their weapons are being used in what could be seen as an illegal war, a partially illegal war in Gaza,” Krieg said.
Washington paused the export of large 1-ton bombs to Israel in May over concerns that they could be used in a ground invasion of the city of Rafah but has continued to supply billions of dollars’ worth of other weapons.
Germany, which supplies about 39% of Israel’s arms imports, has not said it plans to suspend any arms shipments.
Israel strongly denies breaking international law in Gaza and claims it targets only Hamas militants, whom it accuses of hiding in schools, hospitals and mosques and using human shields.
Critics accuse the Israel Defense Forces of conducting indiscriminate attacks against the civilian population and targeting basic infrastructure. The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli operation began, most of them women and children. Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been forced to flee their homes.
The Israeli military says the death toll includes several thousand Hamas combatants. The U.S., the U.K. and other Western countries designate Hamas as a terror group.
Writing on the social media platform X, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly criticized Britain’s move to ban some arms exports.
“Days after Hamas executed six Israeli hostages, the UK government suspended thirty arms licenses to Israel. This shameful decision will not change Israel’s determination to defeat Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization that savagely murdered 1,200 people on October 7, including 14 British citizens.”
“Hamas is still holding over 100 hostages, including 5 British citizens. Instead of standing with Israel, a fellow democracy defending itself against barbarism, Britain’s misguided decision will only embolden Hamas. Israel is pursuing a just war with just means, taking unprecedented measures to keep civilians out of harm’s way and comporting fully with international law,” Netanyahu wrote on Tuesday.
In recent days, tens of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets of Tel Aviv to protest Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza and the failure to secure the release of the remaining hostages.
“I think there’s a growing divide between the Israeli public and Israeli national interest, and the Netanyahu government. So, siding or moving against the Netanyahu government is now seen less and less so as moving against Israel as a whole, or the Israeli public,” said analyst Andreas Krieg.
Meanwhile the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell last week proposed sanctioning two unnamed Israeli government ministers, accusing them of having a “colonial agenda” in the occupied West Bank. Israel is conducting an ongoing raid against militants in the territory, focused on refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarem. Israeli settlers are accused of forcibly seizing Palestinian land in the West Bank with the support of the IDF, which Israel denies.
“We are … witnessing a formal radicalization on the part of some members of the Israeli far-right for whom Gaza has always been a minor issue compared with the West Bank and Jerusalem. Maybe, they don’t care about the settlements in Gaza, since any return to calm would make it more difficult to pursue the colonial agenda they have for the West Bank, the expansion of the colonies,” Borrell told reporters in Brussels on August 29.
Any decision on sanctioning Israeli ministers would require unanimity among EU member states. Borrell said that threshold had not been met.
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Blinken heads to Haiti, Dominican Republic this week
state department — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling to Haiti and the Dominican Republic on Thursday, marking his first visits to both Caribbean nations as the top U.S. diplomat.
Blinken’s visit to Port-au-Prince underscores U.S. support for Haiti, with additional humanitarian assistance anticipated as the country grapples with gang violence. His trip to Santo Domingo follows the start of Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader’s second term in mid-August.
A senior State Department official told reporters on Wednesday that the United States is prioritizing efforts with its international partners to set up a structure that ensures “a reliable source of financing and staffing” for a security mission in Haiti.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is reportedly considering the possibility of transitioning a largely U.S.-funded multinational security force into a traditional United Nations peacekeeping operation.
“A formal PKO (peacekeeping operation) is one of the ways that we could accomplish that, but we’re looking at multiple ways to do that,” said Brian Nichols, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs.
With about a month left in the mandate of the U.N.-ratified, Kenya-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) in Haiti, progress has been limited, and many pledges remain unfulfilled.
“The one-year anniversary of the mission is October 2, and we’re going to work to ensure that it’s poised for success and renewal of its mandate in whatever form that takes,” Nichols told VOA on Wednesday.
Multinational security support
Gang-related violence and drug trafficking have fueled political instability and insecurity in Haiti, leading to an unbearable living situation for the Haitian people.
In October 2022, Haiti requested the deployment of an international force to assist the Haitian National Police in combating heavily armed gangs and facilitating humanitarian aid. In October 2023, the United Nations Security Council authorized the MSS.
The United States and Canada are the top funders of the MSS in Haiti. The estimated first-year cost for the mission is $589 million. The U.S. has already provided $309 million — $200 million toward the MSS mission base and $109 million in financial support.
During a visit to Haiti in July, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced an additional $60 million in humanitarian assistance for the Haitian people, along with providing armored vehicles for the national police.
While in Haiti, Blinken will review the progress made toward improving security and encourage efforts to appoint the provisional electoral council so Haiti can move toward elections, according to the State Department.
Blinken will hold talks with Edgard Leblanc Fils, president of Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council, and Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille. Blinken also will meet with MSS head Godfrey Otunge and Normil Rameau, head of the Haitian National Police.
At least 80% of Port-au-Prince is no longer under the control of the Haitian authorities, with violence spreading to other parts of the country.
In the past year, displacement in Haiti has tripled as gang violence grips the Caribbean nation. The United Nations reports that at least 578,000 people have been displaced due to violence, including murders, kidnappings and rapes.
The situation is further exacerbated by widespread hunger, with nearly half of the 11.7 million population facing acute food insecurity.
Gangs, some aligned with political elites, accumulated their control over territory and illicit markets during the tenure of the deeply unpopular former Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who took office after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021, according to a Congressional Research Service report. Henry resigned in April 2024 following the formation of a Transitional Presidential Council.
The Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic will host the 2025 Summit of the Americas, where Western Hemisphere leaders will address shared challenges and policy issues facing the region.
“In the Dominican Republic, we will reinforce our shared priorities such as promoting democratic governance, supporting free and fair elections in the region, and fighting corruption,” Nichols told reporters.
On August 16, President Luis Abinader was inaugurated for a second four-year term. He has vowed to boost security by training more police over the next four years. His administration has barred migrants from neighboring Haiti.
“We certainly hope to see more normal relations between the Dominican Republic and Haiti,” Nichols said. “The countries are inexorably linked, and we certainly will have those conversations with leaders on both sides of the border.”
The U.S. and the Dominican Republic signed a historic Open Skies agreement on August 2. Once in effect, the agreement will expand opportunities for airlines, travel companies and people-to-people exchanges. More than 4 million U.S. citizens visit the Dominican Republic each year.
The Dominican Republic is a crucial partner for the U.S. in hemispheric affairs, due to its position as the second-largest economy in the Caribbean, after Cuba, and the third-largest country by population, behind Cuba and Haiti. The U.S. is its primary trading partner.
Additionally, the Dominican Republic is home to Pueblo Viejo, one of the world’s largest gold mines, and serves as a major global supplier of ferronickel.
The United States said it will continue robust collaboration with the Dominican Republic to advance inclusive economic growth, bolster democratic institutions, uphold human rights, and enhance governance and security.
The Dominican Republic and the United States, along with five Central American countries, are parties to the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement, known as CAFTA-DR. This agreement enhances economic opportunities by eliminating tariffs, opening markets, reducing barriers to services and promoting transparency.
The U.S. Agency for International Development is investing more than $9.5 million to strengthen the Dominican Republic’s existing justice system and to reduce crime and violence.
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Putin accuses West of persecuting journalists days after Russia bans more reporters
Washington — In an interview with a Mongolian newspaper, Russian President Vladimir Putin this week accused the West of persecuting Russian journalists.
“In order to hide from inconvenient facts, from truthful information, the West, which considers itself the standard of freedom, has launched an open persecution against Russian correspondents,” Putin told the newspaper Onoodor.
Putin spoke with the newspaper the day before he arrived in Mongolia, where he traveled despite being under an international arrest warrant.
And the comments came just days after the Kremlin announced it was banning entry to Russia for 92 more people — mainly U.S. citizens, including several journalists — over what Moscow characterized as Washington’s anti-Russia posture.
Among those banned were The Wall Street Journal’s editor-in-chief Emma Tucker, as well as other journalists from the Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Media analysts said Putin’s comments reflect the restricted environment facing journalists in Russia.
“This is nothing new, this kind of vocabulary. But it underlines yet again that there is no independent press in Russia, especially when it comes to reporting on the war in Ukraine,” Karol Luczka, Eastern Europe monitor at the International Press Institute in Vienna, told VOA.
Putin’s comments follow years of Moscow’s harsh crackdown on independent media, with dozens jailed, including local and foreign reporters, and a series of harsh laws that analysts say make independent journalism all but impossible.
Since the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, independent outlets and journalists have been forced to decamp to other countries to avoid arrest and to keep reporting on Russia. And even in exile, Russian journalists continue to face Moscow-backed harassment in a process known as transnational repression.
Putin’s claims echoed a statement that Russia’s Foreign Ministry gave VOA in August.
The Foreign Ministry declined to answer VOA’s specific questions about threats and harassment facing journalists, but a spokesperson said “protecting the rights of journalists” is the ministry’s “constant focus of attention.”
The emailed response then shared a list of instances in which foreign governments fined, banned or suspended Kremlin-run media.
Washington has imposed sanctions against some state-run Russian television stations, which it says have spread disinformation to boost Moscow’s war in Ukraine. And Canada and the European Union blocked broadcasts to Russian state-run news outlets.
Russia’s Washington embassy, meanwhile, did not immediately reply to VOA’s email requesting comment for this story.
Putin, however, maintained that news outlets operate freely in Russia.
“The only requirement for them is compliance with Russian legislation,” he said. “Foreign correspondents accredited in our country should understand this.”
Luczka said that statement was “laughable” and “not something that can be taken seriously.”
“What does respect the law mean? The laws are such in Russia that independent media cannot function — so, yes, they can function as long as they respect the law, but the law says that they cannot function,” Luczka said.
In early August, two American journalists — Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Alsu Kurmasheva and The Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich — were released from Russia, where they were held on bogus charges, in a historic prisoner swap between the U.S. and Russia. Gershkovich was accredited to report in Russia but was still arrested for his work.
Press freedom experts say their jailings underscored Russia’s disdain for media freedom.
Putin’s comments came ahead of his first trip to Mongolia in five years.
Ukraine and the European Union expressed concern that Mongolia, which is a member of the International Criminal Court, or ICC, did not act on a warrant to arrest Putin when he arrived in Mongolia on Monday.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin in 2023 over alleged war crimes committed in the war in Ukraine. As a member of the ICC, Mongolia has a responsibility to act on warrants.
Some information in this report came from Reuters.
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US sending Pentagon rep to China’s top security forum this month
Pentagon — The United States is planning to send Michael Chase, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, Taiwan and Mongolia, to China’s top annual security forum this month, two U.S. defense officials have confirmed to VOA.
One of the officials, who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity ahead of the forum, called Chase’s upcoming attendance “consistent participation from the U.S.”
Chase is more senior than the U.S. representative at last year’s Xiangshan Forum, but his rank is on par with historical norms for Pentagon representatives who attend the annual meeting. The Pentagon did not send a representative from 2020-2022 due to the pandemic.
“This engagement is meant to be more of the same” to keep the lines of military communication open and ensure that China has a clear understanding of the United States’ position on global security issues, the defense official told VOA.
The forum comes on the heels of a face-to-face meeting in Singapore between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart, Admiral Dong Jun, in late May.
Austin spoke with Dong for the first time in April, marking the first dialogue between the two countries’ defense chiefs in nearly 17 months. The top U.S. military officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown, spoke with his Chinese military counterpart in December.
“Of course talks can make a difference. Having those mil-to-mil communications, those senior channels open, actually allows for the avoidance of a miscalculation,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters earlier this year.
Chinese state media reports say that more than 90 countries and international organizations plan to send delegations to Beijing for the September 12-14 forum.
Reuters was first to report the decision.
Beijing has asserted its desire to control access to the South China Sea and bring democratically ruled Taiwan under its control, by force if necessary. President Joe Biden has said U.S. troops would defend the island from attack.
China’s defense ministry has said the Taiwan issue is the “core of China’s core interests.”
Tensions have risen sharply between China and U.S. ally the Philippines in the South China Sea, with China’s coast guard using water cannons to threaten Filipino fishing ships. China has also used collision and ramming tactics, undersea barriers and a military-grade laser to stop Philippine resupply and patrol missions.
Last year, Austin and his Philippine counterpart established the U.S.-Philippines Bilateral Defense Guidelines, which reaffirmed that an armed attack in the Pacific – including anywhere in the South China Sea – on either of their public vessels, aircraft, or armed forces, would invoke mutual defense commitments outlined in the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty.
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Zimbabwe court acquits more than 70 activists in detention since June
Harare — More than 70 activists were acquitted Wednesday after being arrested in Zimbabwe in June for disorderly conduct for allegedly planning to peacefully demonstrate during a meeting of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Jeremiah Bamu of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is representing 78 opposition activists who were arrested in mid-June at the home of Jameson Timba, the acting opposition leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change. The activists were charged with participating in a public gathering with the intent to promote public violence and disorderly conduct in a public place.
“They were all found not guilty and were acquitted on the second count of one disorderly conduct in a public place,” Bamu said outside the Harare Magistrates Court. “And with respect to the first count of participating in a public gathering with intent to promote public violence, [at] least 11 of them were discharged at the close of the state’s case, with the remaining being put to their defense. We then made an application for an inspection in loco [on the spot] before we begin the defense case in earnest.”
The minister of home affairs, Kazembe Kazembe, said the activists were arrested in June because of plans to protest at the Southern African Development Community meeting held last month in Harare.
Others were arrested in other parts of the country, bringing the tally to more than 100.
Among those was 25-year-old Namatai Kwekweza, a human rights activist and feminist advocate who was arrested along with Robson Chere and Samuel Gwenzi, and forcibly removed from a domestic plane. Later in court, the trio said they had been tortured while in police detention. They were granted bail and released on September 4.
“We appeared before the court, and the appeal was dealt with, and the appellants have been granted bail,” said Charles Kwaramba of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, who is representing them. “Our appeal succeeded — pay $150 as bail sums, and … report every Friday of the month end.”
The activists’ arrests attracted international condemnation.
“I am both delighted and relieved that the three have been released on bail,” said Mary Lawlor, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights defenders. “That being said, it is a travesty of justice that they were detained in the first place. …. The charges should be dropped, and an investigation opened into the circumstances of their detention, which the ruling party has admitted as being politically motivated and linked to the SADC summit.”
She continued, “I further call for all those human rights defenders who remain in detention to be released. It is time for Zimbabwe to stop playing games and step up as a responsible member of the international community and abide by its freely assumed international human rights obligations.”
Khanyo Farisè, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for East and Southern Africa, agreed that all those arrested should be discharged.
“All these activists committed no offense but have been arbitrarily arrested and detained for exercising their human rights,” he said. “This, in violation of Zimbabwe’s constitutional and international human rights obligations. We therefore urge the government to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of all those detained for exercising their rights. The charges against them must be dropped.”
Rights groups have criticized Zimbabwe for human rights abuses for decades, going back at least to the early 2000s, when the government of then-President Robert Mugabe engaged in alleged election rigging and forced thousands of white commercial farmers off their land.
Mugabe’s successor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa — who is in China — has maintained that he is a constitutionalist and respects human rights.
Officials of his administration refused to comment Wednesday.
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