Singer Charli XCX wins top prizes at BRIT Awards

Posted on by SeeEU

LONDON — Singer Charli XCX, whose album Brat inspired a cultural phenomenon last summer, was the big winner at the BRIT Awards, Britain’s pop music honors, in London on Saturday, picking up five prizes.

Brat, which inspired fans to film themselves dancing to its tracks and whose lime green cover look was adopted by U.S. presidential hopeful Kamala Harris’ campaign on social media after the singer referenced her in a post, won the coveted album of the year category.

Charli XCX, who had led nominations, was also named artist of the year and best dance act. Her single Guess, featuring Billie Eilish, won song of the year, beating tracks including the Beatles’ Now and Then. 

The 32-year-old pop star won her first BRIT, songwriter of the year, earlier this week.

“I’ve always felt like an outsider in the industry but particularly in the British music industry and so it feels really nice to be recognized on this album,” she said as she received the album of the year award.

“I would just like to share this with all artists who have ever felt that they need to compromise to be recognized and to have their moment in the sun because I think I’m living proof that maybe it takes a long time, but … you don’t need to compromise your vision.”

Jazz quintet Ezra Collective was named group of the year.

“This moment right here is because of the great youth clubs and great teachers and the great schools that support young people playing music,” drummer Femi Koleoso said in one of several of the night’s acceptance speeches that called for more support for young musicians and grassroots venues.

U.S. singer Chappell Roan won international artist of the year while her track Good Luck, Babe! won international song of the year.

Espresso singer Sabrina Carpenter was named as the first international recipient of the global success award, which recognizes artists with “phenomenal global sales,” following in the footsteps of One Direction, Adele, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith.

The ceremony also featured a tribute dedicated to late One Direction singer Liam Payne, who died in October after falling from a third-floor hotel room balcony in Buenos Aires, shocking fans of the boy band, one of the most popular of all time. 
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VOA Mandarin: China releases plan to improve consumer environment

Posted on by SeeEA

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation and five other departments issued the “Three-Year Action Plan for Optimizing the Consumer Environment (2025-2027).” It states that in implementing the action to optimize consumer order, they will continue to carry out special actions to regulate the internet market and crack down on illegal activities, such as traffic fraud, order manipulation, vulgar sales, and illegal advertising in the internet market.

Click here for the full story in Mandarin. 
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Former Governor Andrew Cuomo announces run for New York City mayor

Posted on by SeeUS

NEW YORK — Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday that he is running for mayor of New York City, relaunching his political career following a yearslong exile over sexual harassment accusations. 

In a 17-minute video announcing his campaign, Cuomo pitched himself as an accomplished moderate who could save a city that felt threatening and “out of control,” and who could navigate the delicate balance between working with Republican President Donald Trump and fighting him when necessary. 

“I am not saying this is going to be easy. It won’t be easy, but I know we can turn the city around and I believe I can help and that is why I announce my candidacy today for mayor of New York City today,” he said. 

The Democrat is expected to mount a formidable campaign, despite the scandal that forced his resignation from New York’s governor’s office in 2021. 

He takes on a large field of primary opponents with low name recognition plus an incumbent, Mayor Eric Adams. 

Cuomo enters the race with fundraising prowess, a record of accomplishments over his three terms as governor, and potential support among many of the same moderate voters who helped propel Adams to office. 

Yet it is unclear whether voters are willing to give Cuomo another chance following his remarkable downfall 3½ years ago, when he went from being hailed for his leadership during the onslaught of COVID-19 to being castigated for his behavior with women and questioned about his response to the pandemic. 

Adams, asked for comment by a Politico reporter after Cuomo’s announcement, welcomed the former governor to the race. 

“Come one, come all. Everybody should put their position forward. I have a great record to run on. We look forward to the campaign,” he said. 

Adams is also seeking reelection but is facing a tempest over the criminal case against him, and the U.S. Justice Department’s extraordinary effort to end the case over the objection of the prosecutors who brought the charges. 

An indictment said Adams accepted luxury travel perks and illegal campaign contributions from people who wanted to buy his influence, including a Turkish official and other foreign nationals. After Trump took office, a top Justice Department official ordered prosecutors to dismiss the charges so Adams could focus on assisting the president’s immigration agenda, while leaving open the possibly that the case could reemerge after the mayoral election. 

That dynamic led critics to claim that Adams had struck a deal to help with Trump’s immigration crackdown in exchange for legal salvation. 

Cuomo started in politics working for his father, former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, and later rose to become U.S. housing secretary under President Bill Clinton and New York attorney general before being elected governor in 2010. 

His national star power was highest during the coronavirus pandemic, when his televised daily briefings attracted admirers nationwide who saw him as a steady hand of leadership at a chaotic time. 

Women, though, began coming forward in late 2020 and early 2021, accusing Cuomo of misconduct. He faced a potential impeachment before he stepped down. 
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Ukraine’s Zelenskyy gets warm welcome from UK’s Starmer

Posted on by SeeEU

LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday gave Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a warm welcome in London, a day after the Ukrainian leader’s clash with U.S. President Donald Trump. 

The two countries also unveiled a $2.84 billion loan agreement to support Ukraine’s defense capabilities, to be paid back with the profits of immobilized sovereign Russian assets. 

Supporters cheered as Zelenskyy’s convoy swept onto Downing Street, where he was embraced by Starmer and posed for photographs before heading inside the U.K. leader’s home. 

“You’re very, very welcome here in Downing Street,” Starmer told Zelenskyy.

“And as you’ve heard from the cheers street outside, you have full backing across the United Kingdom, and we stand with you with Ukraine for as long as it may take,” he added. 

“I want to thank you, the people of the United Kingdom, for such big support from the very beginning of this war,” responded Zelenskyy, who is due to meet King Charles III on Sunday. 

The pair met behind closed doors for around 75 minutes and embraced again as Starmer escorted Zelenskyy to his car. 

Earlier Saturday Zelenskyy had stressed that Trump’s support was still crucial for Ukraine despite their row the previous day. 

The clash was a further shock to Kyiv’s European allies, still adjusting to Washington’s new stance on the war. 

On Friday, Trump berated Zelenskyy for not being ready for peace with Russia, triggering alarm across Europe. 

“Yesterday evening underlined that a new age of infamy has begun,” said Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. 

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Starmer were among several other European leaders who reiterated their support for Kyiv after the row. 

In an interview with the BBC, NATO chief Mark Rutte said that he had told Zelenskyy he had to “find a way” to restore his relationship with Trump. 

Russian politicians were delighted, however. 

Russia’s former President Dmitry Medvedev called Zelenskyy an “insolent pig” who had received “a proper slap down in the Oval Office.” 

Although Zelenskyy left the White House without having signed the deal on Kyiv’s rare minerals, he insisted he was still ready to sign it as “the first step toward security guarantees.” 

“It’s crucial for us to have President Trump’s support. He wants to end the war, but no one wants peace more than we do,” Zelenskyy said in a post on social media platform X. 

On Sunday, Zelenskyy will attend emergency talks with Kyiv’s European backers, also attended by Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 

Trump stunned many in Europe when he reached out to Russian President Vladimir Putin to seek a deal on Ukraine, which Moscow invaded three years ago. 

The president’s sudden shift on Ukraine, sidelining Kyiv and Europe while pursuing rapprochement with Putin, has rattled the transatlantic NATO alliance. 

Those concerns were only exacerbated Friday by the heated talks in the White House Friday. 

Trump has alarmed Kyiv and European allies with his change in U.S. policy, casting himself as a mediator between Putin and Zelenskyy and refusing to condemn the Russian invasion. 

He said in the Oval Office that he had “spoken on numerous occasions” to Putin — more than has been publicly reported. 

With fears growing over whether the United States will continue to support NATO, Sunday’s gathering in the U.K. will also address the need for Europe to increase defense cooperation. 

French President Emmanuel Macron has said he is ready to “open the discussion” on a possible future European nuclear deterrent. 

“We have a shield, they don’t,” he said in an interview with French newspapers appearing Sunday. “And they can no longer depend on the American nuclear deterrent.” 

Germany’s likely next leader, Friedrich Merz, also stressed the need for the continent to move quickly to “achieve independence” from the United States on defense matters. 

But Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban — the closest ally of Trump and the Kremlin in the European Union — vowed to oppose any EU-wide agreement on the conflict. 

“I am convinced that the European Union — following the example of the United States — should enter into direct discussions with Russia on a ceasefire and a sustainable peace in Ukraine,” Orban wrote in a letter. 
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US to deploy more troops to southern border

Posted on by SeeUS

The United States will deploy nearly 3,000 additional troops to its border with Mexico, bringing the total number of active-duty personnel there to around 9,000, U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM, said Saturday.

Border security is a key priority for President Donald Trump, who declared a national emergency at the U.S. frontier with Mexico on his first day in office.

“Approximately 2,400 soldiers from elements of the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT), 4th Infantry Division” will be sent to the border, along with “approximately 500 soldiers from the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade,” NORTHCOM said in a statement.

“Tasks carried out by 2nd SBCT will include detection and monitoring; administrative support; transportation support; warehousing and logistic support; vehicle maintenance; and engineering support. Personnel will not conduct or be involved in interdiction or deportation operations,” it said.

Troops from the aviation unit will “assist in the movement of personnel, equipment, and supplies; and provide aerial medical evacuation capabilities,” NORTHCOM said.

“These deployments will bring additional agility and capability to further efforts to stop the flow of illegal migrancy and drugs at the southern border,” its commander, General Gregory Guillot, said.

The Trump administration has launched what it cast as a major effort to combat illegal migration that has included immigration raids, arrests and deportations, including via the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Trump unveiled a surprise plan last month to hold up to 30,000 migrants at the base — a facility notorious for abuses against terror suspects detained after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — and U.S. forces have detained dozens of people there in recent weeks, many of whom have since been deported.
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Pope has coffee, rests after setback in recovery

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ROME — Pope Francis had coffee and was reading newspapers Saturday after an alarming setback in his two-week recovery from double pneumonia: Doctors had to put him on noninvasive mechanical ventilation following a coughing fit in which he inhaled vomit that needed to then be extracted.

Doctors said it would take a day or two to evaluate how and if the Friday afternoon episode affected Francis’ overall clinical condition. His prognosis remained guarded, meaning he wasn’t out of danger.

In its morning update Saturday, the Vatican said the 88-year-old pope didn’t have any further respiratory crises overnight: “The night has passed quietly, the pope is resting.” He had coffee in the morning for breakfast, suggesting that he was not dependent on a ventilation mask to breathe and was still eating on his own.

In the late Friday update, the Vatican said Francis suffered an “isolated crisis of bronchial spasm,” a coughing fit in which Francis inhaled vomit, which resulted in a “sudden worsening of the respiratory picture.” Doctors aspirated the vomit and placed Francis on noninvasive mechanical ventilation.

The pope remained conscious and alert at all times and cooperated with the maneuvers to help him recover. He responded well, with a good level of oxygen exchange, and he was continuing to wear a mask to receive supplemental oxygen, the Vatican said.

The episode, which occurred in the early afternoon, marked a setback in what had been two successive days of increasingly upbeat reports from doctors treating Francis at Rome’s Gemelli hospital since Feb. 14. The pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, has lung disease and was admitted after a bout of bronchitis worsened and turned into pneumonia in both lungs.

 

Doctors say episode is ‘concerning’

The Vatican said the episode was different from the prolonged respiratory crisis on Feb. 22 that was said to have caused Francis discomfort.

Dr. John Coleman, a pulmonary critical care doctor at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, said the isolated episode Friday as relayed by the Vatican was nevertheless alarming and underscored Francis’ fragility and that his condition “can turn very quickly.”

“I think this is extremely concerning, given the fact that the pope has been in the hospital now for over two weeks, and now he’s continuing to have these respiratory events and now had this aspiration event that is requiring even higher levels of support,” he told The Associated Press.

“So given his age and his fragile state and his previous lung resection, this is very concerning,” said Coleman, who is not involved in Francis’ care.

Dr. William Feldman, a pulmonary specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said it was a good sign that the pope remained alert and oriented during the episode, but he concurred that it marked “a worrying turn.”

“Often we will use noninvasive ventilation as a way of trying to stave off an intubation, or the use of invasive mechanical ventilation,” Feldman said.

Types of noninvasive ventilation include a BiPAP machine, which helps people breathe by pushing air into their lungs. Doctors will often try such a machine for a while to see if the patient’s blood gas levels improve so they can eventually go back to using oxygen alone. Friday’s statement said Francis showed a “good response” to the gas exchange using the ventilation.

Doctors did not resume referring to Francis being in “critical condition,” which has been absent from their statements for three days now. But they say he isn’t out of danger, given the complexity of his case.

 

Prayers continue to pour in

Francis’ hospitalization has come as the Vatican is marking its Holy Year, which is drawing pilgrims to Rome from all over. They are walking through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica and making pilgrimages to the hilltop Umbrian town of Assisi to pray at the home of Francis’ namesake, St. Francis.

“Every day we’re praying for the pope,” said the Rev. Jacinto Bento, a priest visiting Assisi on Saturday with a group of 30 Jubilee pilgrims from the Azores Islands. “We’re very sad for his situation.”

Veronica Abraham, a catechist and Argentine native, came to Assisi on Saturday with her two children and other kids from her parish on Lake Garda and said the group had prayed for the pope at every church they’d visited.

“I’m sure that he’s hearing our prayers, that he feels our closeness,” she said.

Serena Barbon, visiting Assisi from Treviso on Saturday with her husband and three children, said she hoped that if Francis doesn’t make it, the next pope will be just like him.

“He’s been very charismatic, and we pray for him and that any new pope might also be someone who puts the poor in the center. Because we’re all a bit poor,” she said.
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VOA Mandarin: As Trump’s talks with Zelenskyy disintegrate, will China benefit?

Posted on by SeeEU

The public spat Friday between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the White House has triggered European solidarity for Ukraine. Barring Hungary, major European powers led by Germany and France have thrown their weight behind Kyiv, calling it the victim of Russian aggression, while promising sustained support to the war-torn country. Experts say rising tensions in the transatlantic relationship would benefit one country – the People’s Republic of China. They argue that recent developments provide Beijing with an opportunity to make inroads in Europe.

Click here for the full story in Mandarin.
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Anti-corruption purges raise serious questions about China’s military readiness

Posted on by SeeEA

NEW DELHI — China is in the midst of a sweeping anti-corruption campaign that has seen a growing number of high-ranking military officials removed from their posts. The campaign has been so expansive that when China hosts the Two Sessions next week – Beijing’s biggest political event of the year – more than a dozen military officials will not be able to attend.

In late February, just days before the Two Sessions begin on March 4, authorities in China announced that Tan Ruisong, former chairman of the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China, or AVIC, was the latest target of the government’s anti-corruption campaign. AVIC is a major defense contractor and aircraft manufacturer that is on Fortune’s Global 500 list. The anti-graft watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), said Tan took huge bribes and “lived off the military sector.”

There has been no public response from Tan or AVIC.

Analysts say the purges are part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s efforts to ensure personal loyalty towards himself within the rank and file of the People’s Liberation Army, or PLA, and less about corruption. More than 14 senior officials have been punished in the past two years.

There have been several reports that China’s Defense Minister Dong Jun, a naval officer, may have been put under investigation, although the Foreign Ministry previously denied that was the case late last year. Analysts say they will be watching closely to see if Dong attends the Two Sessions meetings next week.

China’s leader has also fired General Li Yuchao, the head of the PLA’s Rocket Force unit — which is responsible for the country’s rocket and missile systems — as well as his deputy. Those sacked are part of the ongoing second wave of disciplinary actions that have included four generals, eight lieutenant generals and two major generals. At least three more aerospace defense executives have been expelled from China’s top political advisory body.

In his remarks to senior military leaders last June, Xi was clear about the intention of the crackdown.

“We must uphold the party’s absolute leadership over the military,” he said, adding that “the gun barrel must always be grasped by people who are loyal and reliable to the party.”

Xi’s remarks echoed a phrase that Communist Party’s founder Mao Zedong coined, “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”

Some see the ongoing anti-corruption campaign as a sign of political struggle within the party.

“Purges are likely a manifestation of growing challenges against Xi by other party leaders. Those military leaders suspected to be less loyal to Xi are likely to be subjected to pre-emptive removal,” Yoichiro Sato, a professor at the College of Asia Pacific Studies in Japan’s Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, told VOA.

“Corruption in the military is nothing new. Corruption charges are a tool of Xi for going after potential challengers to his rule,” he said.

The anti-corruption drive is also causing a good amount of political confusion because the targets include those regarded to be close to Xi. They included Miao Hua, who held one of China’s most powerful positions as a member of the Central Military Commission and was head of its Political Work Department.

Two consecutive ministers of defense, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, also were removed and punished in 2023. Li was removed while in office, and Wei after he had stepped down.

Wei served as China’s Defense Minister from March 2018 to March 2023. Before that, he was the commander of the PLA Rocket Force.

Miao’s suspension showed that the drive had expanded to the Political Work Department, which acts as the Communist Party’s eyes and ears within the military force. Previously, the anti-corruption campaign concentrated on military departments involved in defense procurement like the Rocket Force unit and the Equipment Development Department, which are regarded as hotbeds of corruption.

Analysts say the purges may further strengthen Xi’s position, but they may have negative implications for China as well. They would not just affect the military’s morale but could also hamper its ability to fulfil the party’s plans to take over Taiwan.

“If Xi cannot be sure that the PLA would be able to prevail in the case of a conflict, he is less likely to take on the risks that an operation against Taiwan or in the South China Sea, for example, would entail,” said Helena Legarda, lead analyst at the Berlin-based Mercator Institute of China Studies. “In the short run, and at least while this second anti-corruption drive takes place, Beijing’s appetite for initiating an open conflict might be reduced.”

Rocket Force hit hard

Xi has himself raised questions about the PLA’s ability to accomplish essential functions of a modern mission command and accused it of suffering from “peace disease,” said Roy Kamphausen, senior fellow for Chinese security at the Washington-based National Bureau of Asian Research.

“The decade-long campaign against corruption in the PLA has had a negative impact on morale and thus ability to accomplish its missions, despite technological advances,” Kamphausen told VOA. “All of this suggests that whatever inclination Xi might have to take Taiwan by force is reduced,” he said.

The Rocket Force – which would play a critical role in a potential Taiwan conflict – has been hit hard by anti-corruption purges, Mohan Malik, a non-resident fellow at the Washington-based Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, told VOA.

“Morale and capability suffer when leaders skim off the top or push subpar gear. This suggests the PLA may be less effective than it appears on paper, even as China fields advanced missiles, stealth fighters, and an expanding navy,” he said.

Xi cannot permit dissenting generals to continue in crucial positions because of the evolving international situation and the potential for a future global conflict, said Evan Ellis, a Latin America research professor at the U.S. Army War College.

“Xi is conscious that he will have to call on the PLA in a global war with the U.S. in the not distant future. It is vital that he eliminate any risk of dissent or challenge to his political authority on the military,” Ellis told VOA. 
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VOA Russian: Kremlin media change tune after US-Russia talks

Posted on by SeeEU

Following the U.S.-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the Kremlin sent new instructions to state-run media to cover developments between Moscow and Washington in a positive tone, but instead of praising U.S. President Donald Trump personally follow the line that “the United States were wise to respond to Russia’s outstretched hand.”

Click here for the full story in Russian.
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VOA Spanish: Mexico used 20 aircraft to extradite drug traffickers to the US

Posted on by SeeUS

In Mexico, authorities reported that the delivery to the United States of 29 people linked to drug trafficking was possible through an unprecedented police operation, in which 20 aircraft and thousands of agents participated.

Click here for the full story in Spanish. 
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Voices Unheard: Living with disability in Libya

Posted on by SeeAF

Khalid Al-Khateb was born in Libya in the 1990s without the use of his legs. Despite wars and economic collapse in his country, the greatest challenge he has faced is trying to function in a world where disabilities are mostly ignored. From Tripoli, Libya, Malik Ghariani has this animated story.
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Gene Hackman likely died Feb. 17, last day of activity on pacemaker, official says

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Academy Award-winning actor Gene Hackman likely died on Feb. 17, the last day there was any activity on his pacemaker, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. “According to the pathologist,” Mendoza said, “that is a very good assumption that was his last day of life,” nine days before investigators found his body.

The bodies of Hackman, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 64, a classical pianist, were found, along with the dead body of one of their three dogs, Wednesday in their home in the southwestern U.S. state of New Mexico.

The initial findings of autopsies on the couple revealed that Hackman and his wife both tested negative for carbon monoxide poisoning and “no external trauma” was reported to either of them.  Mendoza said, “There were no apparent signs of foul play.”

However, the couple’s “manner and cause of death has not been determined,” according to the sheriff. “The official results of the autopsy and toxicology reports are pending.”

Investigators have retrieved an assortment of prescription and over-the-counter medications, in addition to cellphones and records from medical diagnostics testing from the house.

“I’m pretty confident there is no foul play,” Mendoza said Friday on The Today Show. He said the autopsy results “will steer us in the right direction” in determining what happened to Hackman and his wife.

Without the autopsy, the sheriff said, it is difficult to determine how long the couple had been dead.

A search warrant affidavit issued Thursday said the circumstances surrounding the couple’s deaths were “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation.”

Mendoza told The Today Show that several doors around the house were unlocked and one door in the rear of the house was open. Earlier reports said the front door was open.

Hackman’s body was found near the rear of the house, while his wife’s body was found in a bathroom. The dead dog’s body was found in a dog crate, not far from Arakawa’s body. The couple had three German shepherds. The other two dogs were found alive and healthy at the property.

The search warrant affidavit also revealed that police called the Santa Fe Fire Department and the New Mexico Gas Company to Hackman’s residence, but no toxic fumes or leaky pipes were found on the grounds.

Storied career

Hackman had a lengthy career on stage and screen, including appearing in Broadway shows, on television and in more than 80 films.

He won an Oscar for best actor for his role in the 1971 film The French Connection and a best supporting Oscar for the 1992 film Unforgiven.

Hackman’s resume featured three other Oscar nominations, including his breakout role in Bonnie and Clyde in 1967 as well as I Never Sang for My Father in 1970 and Mississippi Burning in 1988.

His work crossed genres as he appeared in action movies, thrillers and off-beat comedies.

In addition to his award-nominated works, he was also known for roles in films such as The Poseidon Adventure, Young Frankenstein, Superman, Hoosiers, The Birdcage, and The Royal Tenenbaums.

His last film was Welcome to Mooseport in 2004.

His loss was immediately felt throughout the entertainment community as fellow artists praised him on social media. Director Francis Ford Coppola and actor Morgan Freeman were among those who posted their remembrances of the actor.

“The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration,” Coppola posted on Instagram. “Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity. I mourn his loss and celebrate his existence and contribution.” Hackman starred in Coppola’s 1974 film The Conversation.

Freeman posted on Instagram: “One of the personal highlights of my career was bringing the French Film Gardé a Vue (Under Suspicion) to life with the incredibly gifted Gene Hackman. And of course… Unforgiven. Rest in peace, my friend.”

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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Uyghur linguist’s presentation dropped at UNESCO summit, igniting fears of Beijing’s sway

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WASHINGTON — A United Nations-hosted language technology conference has come under scrutiny after organizers abruptly canceled a scheduled presentation by Abduweli Ayup, a prominent Uyghur linguist and human rights advocate.

The cancellation, communicated just hours before Ayup’s Feb. 25 talk, has prompted speculation about external pressures, with Ayup and others suggesting China’s influence may have been a factor.

Ayup was invited to deliver a 10-minute talk and serve as a panelist and chair/rapporteur at the conference, hosted by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at its headquarters in Paris.

“We are pleased to invite you to deliver a talk at the 2nd International Conference on Language Technologies for All (LT4ALL 2025),” the organizer stated in an email Ayup shared with VOA.

“I saw my participation [as] a rare chance on the Uyghur language’s plight — an issue I’ve fought to preserve against Beijing’s relentless suppression,” Ayup told VOA.

He said his talk was canceled under pressure from China.

“I see the reason as very simple. It’s because of my critique of China’s systematic erasure of Uyghur language and culture and questioning the Chinese representatives about the Uyghur language ban in education,” Ayup told VOA.

A linguistics graduate of the University of Kansas, Ayup returned to China in 2011 to launch Uyghur-language schools in defiance of Mandarin-only mandates. Arrested in 2013 on “illegal fundraising” charges, he said he endured 15 months of torture before fleeing to Turkey in 2015 and resettling in Norway by 2019.

There, he founded Uyghur Hjelp to document China’s cultural crackdown — a work recognized with the 2024 Language Rights Defenders Award. His siblings remain detained in Xinjiang.

Beijing’s “bilingual education” policy in the Uyghur region of Xinjiang in northwest China was enacted in the early 2000s and promised dual-language instruction but was later criticized as a tool of assimilation. By 2017, schools began to ban Uyghur language instruction at schools, a pattern researchers and advocates criticize as linguistic genocide.

Late on Feb. 24, Ayup received an email from the LT4ALL Organizing Committee stating, “We regret to inform you that we only received notice this evening that we were unable to secure approval to include your presentation in tomorrow’s program.”

The email sent by the summit organizers and later shared with VOA by Ayup continued, “Unfortunately, we were informed at the last minute, and this decision is beyond our control.” No further details were provided regarding who denied approval or why.

Speaking to Voice of America (VOA), Ayup suggested the cancellation was linked to his criticism of China’s language policies during the summit, which Ayup attended even though he could not deliver his presentation.

Earlier that day, he had directly questioned Chinese presenters — including a representative of iFlytek, a tech firm linked to Uyghur surveillance — about Beijing’s restrictions on minority languages.

The iFlytek representative who attended the summit did not respond to VOA’s inquiry regarding Ayup’s claim about why his presentation was canceled by the time of this report’s publication.

iFlytek, a China-based company specializing in voice recognition, has supplied Xinjiang police with voiceprint systems since at least 2016 and partnered with security agencies to build a national database used in the region’s mass surveillance, according to Human Rights Watch.

The U.S. sanctioned iFlytek in 2019 for its role in “high-technology surveillance” aiding China’s repression of Uyghurs, which includes detaining over 1 million since 2017, per U.N. estimates.

Ayup told VOA he asked Chinese representatives why China banned Uyghur language from education — a policy enacted first in parts of Xinjiang about 2017 — but received no answer.

Following the session, Ayup recounted being confronted by a few Chinese delegates, who questioned why he spoke in English rather than Mandarin and asked about his family’s whereabouts. When he revealed that his brother and sister were detained in Chinese internment camps — possibly now in prisons — the delegates dismissed his claims, labeling his relatives “terrorists.”

“I believe my encounters with the Chinese representatives have contributed to the exclusion of my presentation from the conference program,” Ayup said.

UNESCO’s response

UNESCO confirmed the cancellation, attributing it to “chaotic” planning.

In an email response to VOA, a UNESCO official stated that the cancellation only applied to a “scientific poster” presentation scheduled for a midday break on Feb. 25, not his broader participation in the event.

“UNESCO regrets that no space was available on Tuesday to accommodate Mr. Ayup’s scientific poster. However, this was possible the following day,” the UNESCO official wrote, adding, “[T]his logistical setback did not prevent him from participating in the Conference as such and from raising the issue of the Uyghur language.”

UNESCO noted that Ayup spoke freely during roundtables and was given the floor whenever he requested it. The organization attributed the issue to “chaotic” planning by academic co-organizers, who extended invitations without full coordination.

Ayup disputes that account, arguing that UNESCO, under pressure from China — a member of the U.N. Security Council — may have sought to limit his platform.

Other prominent human rights activists echoed those concerns on the social media platform X.

Former World Uyghur Congress President Dolkun Isa denounced the “last-minute cancellation of linguist Abduweli Ayup’s presentation on the Uyghur language without any explanation,” calling it “seemingly influenced by Chinese interests.

Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch, also weighed in, pointing to iFlytek’s presence at the conference. “UNESCO abruptly cancelled his presentation but allowed a Chinese voice recognition/surveillance company iFlytek + Hunan state TV to whitewash China’s erasure of minority languages,” she wrote.

Ayup’s ordeal didn’t end with cancellation. He told VOA an unidentified Chinese man shadowed him, filming him during breaks — a claim backed by an attendee’s video, later shared with VOA.

Ayup told VOA he’s not the first to face restrictions at a U.N.-related event, stating, “There are precedents.”

He pointed to Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, an expert at the 2019 U.N. Forum on Minority Issues in Geneva, who claimed her speech on “linguistic and cultural genocide” naming Uyghurs and China was censored by organizers fearing state backlash.

“Freedom of speech denied at the U.N.!” she wrote, later sharing her original text online after it was altered. Ayup sees this as part of a pattern limiting discussion of Uyghur repression at U.N. forums.
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WHO says water contamination suspected in Congo village hit by illness 

Posted on by SeeAF

BASANKUSU, Democratic Republic of Congo — Authorities investigating the deaths of at least 60 people in northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo suspect the water source in one of the areas may have been contaminated, the World Health Organization said Friday. But the agency said it’s too early for a definitive conclusion.

Doctors are investigating more than 1,000 illnesses that have emerged since late January in five villages in Congo’s Equateur province, where high rates of malaria have complicated efforts to diagnose the cases and where officials have said they’ve been unable so far to confirm the main cause.

WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said during an online briefing Friday that for one of the villages there is “a very strong level of suspicion … related to the poisoning of a water source.”

Ryan did not clarify whether he was referring to contamination by accident, negligence or deliberate action. He also did not identify the village where the poisoning was suspected.

“We will not stop investigating until we are sure that the true cause or the absolute cause of what is occurring here is fully investigated,” Ryan said.

Illnesses were first detected in late January in the village of Boloko after three children ate a bat and died within 48 hours.

Twelve cases and eight deaths in total have been recorded in Boloko, with no new cases recorded since January, officials say, adding that nearly half of deaths there occurred within hours of the onset of symptoms.

The village of Bomate in Basankusu health zone, around 200 kilometers from Boloko, has been hit the most: 98% of the cases and 86% of deaths have been recorded there, health officials say.

WHO said on Thursday that hundreds of the patients have tested positive for malaria, which is common in the region. In addition to common malaria symptoms such as fever and body aches, patients have also shown symptoms such as chills, sweating, stiff neck, runny or bleeding nose, cough, vomiting and diarrhea.

The health crisis has caused fear among residents, some of whom have said they fled the villages to avoid falling sick.

Experts say that access to the sick has been hindered by the remote locations of the affected villages and that several people died before medical teams were able to reach them.
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European leaders stand by Ukraine after heated exchange between Trump, Zelenskyy

Posted on by SeeEU

European leaders across much of the continent vowed to stand by Ukraine after a White House meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy turned into a heated exchange Friday, with Trump calling Zelenskyy “disrespectful.”

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said it has become clear that “the free world needs a new leader.”

“Ukraine is Europe! We stand by Ukraine,” Kallas wrote on the social media platform X.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on X, “Ukraine can rely on Germany — and on Europe,” while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on social media, “Ukraine, Spain stands with you.”

“Dear @ZelenskyyUa, dear Ukrainian friends, you are not alone,” wrote Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on X.

French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters in Portugal, “Russia is the aggressor, and Ukraine is the aggressed people.”

Other European leaders, including from Finland, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Norway, also took to social media to voice support for Ukraine.

Not all European leaders backed Ukraine. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has long been critical of EU military aid to Kyiv, posted on X, “President @realDonaldTrump stood bravely for peace. Even if it was difficult for many to digest. Thank you, Mr. President!”

The meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy came as the two countries were seeking a deal that would allow the U.S. access to Ukrainian rare mineral rights. The discussion took a combative tone about 40 minutes into the meeting when Zelenskyy raised Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance immediately criticized Zelenskyy, accusing him of engaging in a “propaganda tour.”

Both Vance and Trump accused the Ukrainian leader of not being thankful for the assistance his country has received from Washington.

After the meeting abruptly ended, the White House confirmed that the mineral deal was not signed.

US response

In the U.S., many Republicans in Congress expressed support for Trump’s actions.

Senator Lindsey Graham, who has previously supported military aid to Ukraine, said, “What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful and I don’t know if we can ever do business with Zelenskyy again.”

House Republican leader Steve Scalise, who has also previously supported military aid to Ukraine, wrote on X, “President Trump is fighting for PEACE around the world and is putting America First as our best negotiator — he’s the only one to get Russia to the table to consider a serious and lasting peace agreement with Ukraine.”

Republican Representative Andy Biggs wrote on X, “Dictator Zelensky had the audacity to disrespect President @realDonaldTrump and VP @JDVance during what should have been a friendly meeting, and @POTUS rightfully showed him the door. This is the leadership America has craved for four years.”

Democratic leaders in Congress argued that Trump’s actions would only benefit Russia.

“Trump and Vance are doing [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s dirty work. Senate Democrats will never stop fighting for freedom and democracy,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote in a statement, “Today’s White House meeting with the President of Ukraine was appalling and will only serve to further embolden Vladimir Putin, a brutal dictator. The United States must not reward Russian aggression and continue to appease Putin.”

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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Trump-Zelenskyy White House meeting on mineral deal devolves into shouting match

Posted on by SeeUS

A White House meeting Friday between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, aimed at securing a deal that would give the U.S. rights to rare earth minerals in Ukraine, turned into an intense and heated exchange between the two leaders. The White House later confirmed that the mineral deal was not signed. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
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Russia and China’s relationship may not be as strong as it seems, report says

Posted on by SeeEA

WASHINGTON — On the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine earlier this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed Beijing’s “no limits” partnership with Moscow in a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Chinese state media.

“China-Russia relations have strong internal driving force and unique strategic value,” Xi said, according to the official readout from state media. He also called Russia a “true friend” and a “good neighbor.”

The sentiment is not new. Moscow and Beijing have long touted the strength and long-term nature of their relationship.

But according to a new report from Filter Labs, a U.S.-based political research and analysis company, Russia and China’s relationship may be weaker than they want the rest of the world to believe.

“Their partnership is vulnerable,” Filter Labs founder Jonathan Teubner told VOA. “This ‘no limits’ partnership is much more complicated.”

‘Infused with doubt’

While the governments and state-run media from both countries work to project the image of a strong partnership, their relationship may be underpinned by more tension, mistrust and competing interests than previously thought, according to an extensive analysis of news media and social media posts by Filter Labs.

“The axis is infused with doubt, ripe for disruption,” the report said.

Teubner added, “The monolith theory of the China-Russia relationship isn’t necessarily the way it has to be.”

But not all experts agree that the Russia-China relationship is fragile.

“The China-Russia relationship continues to deepen and widen, and occasional disagreements are dwarfed by the scale and momentum of their strategic cooperation,” Robert Blackwill and Richard Fontaine wrote in a 2024 Council on Foreign Relations report.

From the Chinese perspective, according to the Filter Labs report, there are doubts over the true resilience of Russia’s economy, whether Russia’s military is as strong as it says it is, and what Russia’s true intentions are in the long term.

Meanwhile, says Filter Labs, Russian doubts pertain to quality concerns about Chinese goods, how militarily committed China actually is to Russia, and whether Chinese investment in Russia is really that substantial.

Chinese state media is generally positive about the state of the Russian economy and often criticizes Western sanctions.

However, Chinese netizens are increasingly worried about the impact that secondary sanctions could have on China.

The United States has threatened to use secondary sanctions against Chinese businesses viewed as engaging with Russia, pushing some Chinese netizens to weigh the value of China’s relationship with Russia against its ability to trade with the United States.

Once those sanctions are enforced on China, Teubner predicts, it will lead to changes in the Russia-China relationship.

“The sanctions on Russia actually have a pretty important countering Chinese effect, too,” said Teubner, who thinks the sanctions are the biggest source of friction between Beijing and Moscow.

Quality concerns

Meanwhile, the most common doubt among Russians about China pertains to quality concerns about Chinese goods, according to the report. In Russia, Chinese goods have a reputation for being affordable but of poor quality.

“We see more persistent complaints about Chinese goods,” Teubner said.

“That’s paired with Russian anxiety over pairing itself so deeply to China,” Teubner added. “That comes through very strongly in Russian anxieties toward being subordinated to the Chinese economy.”

One consequence of Russia’s war in Ukraine has been that it has pushed Russia and China closer together, prompting some governments to default to treating the autocratic duo as a bloc, according to Teubner.

“It will increasingly be that way unless we do something to keep them apart,” Teubner said.

The report recommends that the United States and its allies and partners take advantage of the fault lines to drive a wedge between Russia and China.
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Chad’s groundbreaking asylum law gives Sudanese refugees opportunity to work 

Posted on by SeeAF

With nearly 1 million Sudanese refugees having fled to Chad, escaping what the United States has called a genocide in Darfur, the country has taken an unusual step — allowing them to work. Due to a groundbreaking asylum law, refugees are finding ways to rebuild their lives, while Chadian business owners offer what little employment they can. Henry Wilkins reports from Adre, Chad.
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Trump to sign order designating English as official US language

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Friday designating English as the official language of the United States, according to the White House.

The order will allow government agencies and organizations that receive federal funding to choose whether to continue to offer documents and services in languages other than English, according to a fact sheet about the impending order.

It was not immediately clear when on Friday that Trump planned to sign the order.

The executive order will rescind a mandate from former President Bill Clinton that required the government and organizations that received federal funding to provide language assistance to non-English speakers.

Designating English as the national language “promotes unity, establishes efficiency in government operations and creates a pathway for civic engagement,” according to the White House.

More than 30 states have already passed laws designating English as their official language, according to U.S. English, a group that advocates for making English the official language in the United States.

For decades, lawmakers in Congress have introduced legislation to designate English as the official language of the U.S., but those efforts have not succeeded.

Within hours of Trump’s inauguration last month, the new administration took down the Spanish language version of the official White House website.

Hispanic advocacy groups and others expressed confusion and frustration at the change. The White House said at the time it was committed to bringing the Spanish language version of the website back online. As of Friday, it was still not restored.

The White House did not immediately respond to a message about whether that would happen.

Trump shut down the Spanish version of the website during his first term. It was restored when President Joe Biden was inaugurated.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on the order Friday.
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NATO exercises in Romania test Europe’s defense readiness

Posted on by SeeEU

NATO’s newest rapid-response force is testing its strength in Romania, just kilometers from the Ukrainian border. VOA Eastern Europe Bureau Chief Myroslava Gongadze has more on the drills and NATO’s evolving defense strategy. Camera: Daniil Batushchak
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Southern Africa pushes for better energy access

Posted on by SeeAF

GABORONE, BOTSWANA — Southern Africa energy experts and political leaders pledged to improve access to energy at a summit in Botswana this week. The commitments come as most countries in the region still rely on coal, a major contributor to global warming.

More than 500 participants from 16 Southern African Development Community, or SADC, member states, as well as other African countries, participated in the energy gathering.

Moses Ntlamelle, a senior SADC programs officer, said pursuing a more inclusive transition to cleaner energy was one of the resolutions that regional representatives adopted at the summit.

“The region is recommended to expedite just energy transition and explore the development of a regional renewable energy market,” he said. “This is to ensure that nobody is left behind. … Inasmuch as we are going for cleaner energy, we must ensure that this energy transition is just to everybody.”

Botswanan President Duma Boko spoke about the need to end energy poverty.

“Countries across the SADC region face challenges related to energy poverty,” Boko said. “This constrains our economies, leaving millions of people, especially in rural areas, without access to critical services like health, education, communication, among others. A clarion call for an energy-secure region is, therefore, urgent in order to drive industrialization and integration of our economies.”

Most Southern Africa countries rely on coal for energy. Boko called on the region to cut its dependence on fossil fuels and speed up the transition to green energy.

“We should incentivize renewable energy and energy-efficiency projects and initiatives, enforce environmental protections and establish clear roadmaps for a just and equitable energy transition, which is relevant to the realities of our countries and region,” he said. “As a region, let us set tangible targets not only to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels but also to increase the use of renewables.”

Yunus Alokore, a technical expert at the intergovernmental organization East Africa Center for Renewable Energy and Efficiency, told VOA that if Africa wants to accelerate its transition to sustainable energy, several key elements are needed.

“There has to be policies in place and regulatory framework,” Alokore said. “What this does is that it creates transparent, long-term, consistent target, which is something that investors and development partners need.”

Alokore said access to finance is also key.
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As Yoon remakes South Korea’s right, lonely conservative pushes back

Posted on by SeeEA

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — Conservative South Korean lawmaker Kim Sang-wook has received so many threats since December that his children no longer tell classmates who their father is.

Already sidelined in the ruling party, many colleagues want Kim expelled altogether. In his home district of Ulsan, he finds himself shunned by former friends and allies.

Welcome to the life of a conservative politician who has chosen to break ranks with the People Power Party, or PPP, which has swung sharply to the right as it rallies around impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Once a low-profile figure, the 45-year-old first-term lawmaker has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of Yoon, whose short-lived martial law declaration in early December triggered South Korea’s worst political crisis in decades.

At times, Kim has quite literally stood alone. Ahead of Yoon’s impeachment, he staged a one-man protest on the top steps of the National Assembly, holding a giant placard imploring fellow conservatives to abandon the president. Hours later, the impeachment motion passed with the support of just 11 other conservatives, out of a total of 108.

If fully implemented, Yoon’s decree would have outlawed all political activity and required journalists to report to martial law command – measures not seen since South Korea emerged from a military dictatorship in the 1980s.

That hasn’t prevented the overwhelming majority of the PPP from defending Yoon — a trend Kim blames on “extreme partisan logic” that has come to define both sides of the country’s politics.

“It’s like everything is justified by the belief that ‘we’ are right and ‘they’ are wrong,” Kim told VOA in an interview at his National Assembly office. “Is that conservatism? I don’t think so.”

Kim’s defiance highlights a broader reckoning within the PPP. As the Constitutional Court decides Yoon’s fate, the party must decide whether to uphold his populist legacy or choose a different path.

Fighting back

Few would deny that Yoon’s more combative approach has galvanized the conservative base, as indicated by the size and intensity of street protests.

Throughout the frigid Seoul winter, large crowds, including many young people, have rallied in Yoon’s defense. His arrest for alleged insurrection, which carries a possible death penalty, only added to their outrage.

That anger deepened when the opposition, using its legislative supermajority, ousted acting President Han Duck-soo less than two weeks after impeaching Yoon, reinforcing conservative concerns about political overreach.

The result was a scene unthinkable just months ago — Koreans packing streets in support of a leader who, however briefly, had just attempted to restore military rule.

“The whole situation just naturally evolved in a way that Yoon Suk Yeol became the symbol of this movement of freedom and liberal democracy, vis-a-vis communism, socialism, and tyranny,” said Lee Jung-hoon, a conservative legal scholar and dean at Seoul’s Yonsei University.

Lee served in the administration of the country’s last conservative president, Park Geun-hye, who was removed from office in 2017 and jailed on corruption-related charges.

In Lee’s view, Park was too passive in challenging her impeachment, which may have contributed to her downfall. By contrast, former prosecutor Yoon has vowed to “fight to the end,” further energizing his supporters, Lee said.

Yoon has defended his martial law decree as a tough but necessary response to an opposition he says crippled his administration with budget cuts and repeated impeachments of senior leaders.

At his final impeachment hearing this week, Yoon argued the decree was never meant to be enforced as written — insisting that if he had intended to follow through, he would have deployed more troops and used greater force.

Yoon has also defended martial law as necessary to investigate what he claims is election fraud.

Those comments helped bring once-fringe allegations into the conservative mainstream, where many now openly question the integrity of South Korea’s electoral system.

Some have gone further, attacking the credibility of judges they see as left-leaning, with a small group of conservative protesters even ransacking a court that had issued an arrest warrant for Yoon.

Underlying fears

Some of the hardening behind Yoon stems from deep distrust of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung. Lee is seen as the likely successor if Yoon is removed from office.

Conservatives view Lee as too soft on China and likely to pursue what they see as futile engagement with North Korea. Others fear he is seeking the presidency to shield himself from legal battles, as he faces five separate trials on corruption and other charges.

Hahm Sung-deuk, a professor of political science at Kyonggi University outside Seoul, said many conservatives are also eager to prevent a repeat of Park’s impeachment, which fractured the party and paved the way for a left-leaning president to take power.

“Conservatives have a painful memory. They feel that if they let this situation get out of hand, they might not regain power for not just five years, but maybe 10, 15, or even 20 years,” Hahm told VOA.

That anxiety may help explain the fierce backlash against lawmakers like Kim, the renegade conservative who has been accused of betraying conservative values after breaking with Yoon.

But Hahm insists the party’s divide isn’t about ideology but is about loyalty.

“This is not a policy debate,” he said. “It’s centered around whether … you support or oppose Yoon Suk Yeol.”

If Yoon is impeached, some fear that protests will once again turn violent. But in Yoon’s absence, party moderates may likely prevail, said Hahm, who is well-connected among elite conservatives.

“Deep down, both the far-right and moderates know that Yoon Suk Yeol made mistakes,” said Hahm, who believes the party will eventually unite around a steadier candidate to block Lee from taking power.

Uncertain future

As he withstands attacks from fellow conservatives, Kim is less confident about the party’s future. Once a rising figure in local conservative politics, he now acknowledges he may not win reelection.

But even if his stance costs him his political career, Kim says he will keep making decisions based on his principles, convinced this is what conservatism should be about.

“I have no regrets,” he said of voting to impeach Yoon. “I believe this was the best decision I have made in my entire life.”
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Perspectives, challenges of Ukraine’s next election

Posted on by SeeEU

WASHINGTON — The issue of Ukraine’s next presidential election has emerged as a possible element in the peace deal between Russia and Ukraine that the United States is negotiating.

Ukrainian leaders and elections experts argue, however, that holding elections anytime soon would endanger lives and Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was elected in April 2019, and the next presidential election was scheduled for March or April 2024. However, martial law has been in effect since Russia invaded the country in February 2022, and Ukrainian law prohibits presidential elections when martial law is in effect.

U.S. President Donald Trump has lambasted Zelenskyy for not holding a presidential election.

In a Feb. 19 post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said of Zelenskyy, “He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden ‘like a fiddle.’ A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.”

Some members of the U.S. Congress and conservative commentators echoed Trump’s demand that Ukraine hold elections to prove its democratic credentials.

“Zelenskyy should hold elections. They are basically under martial law. That’s not good when you claim to be defending democracy. They need to practice it,” Republican Senator Josh Hawley told VOA.

Republican Representative Victoria Spartz told VOA that Ukraine should hold “transparent elections, and that not doing so allows Russia to say, ‘You have an illegitimate president signing these contracts and deals.’”

Russia has questioned the legitimacy of Ukraine’s president and government since 2014, well before Zelenskyy was elected to office.

During his televised question-and-answer event on Dec. 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested he couldn’t negotiate with Zelenskyy until his legitimacy is confirmed through elections.

“If someone goes to the elections, gains legitimacy there, we will talk with anyone, including Zelenskyy,” he said.

Zelenskyy said during a Feb. 23 press conference that he would step down as president if it meant “peace for Ukraine” but pushed back on the calls for holding elections.

“How can we call an election in which half of the country’s population won’t be able to vote?” he said. “How can we vote when today, [Ukraine was] attacked with 267 drones?”

His major political rivals, former President Petro Poroshenko, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, have also rejected the call for holding elections. According to a February poll, 63% of Ukrainians also reject it.

Many challenges

Ukrainian election experts say there are many challenges to holding free and fair elections under wartime conditions.

It would violate international principles of electoral law, according to Yevhenii Radchenko, a former deputy chair of the Central Election Commission of Ukraine.

“Elections must be universal, equal and free. During active hostilities, it is unrealistic to guarantee the safety of any of the participants, and due to massive Russian strikes, a significant part of the electoral infrastructure has been destroyed,” she said.

Radchenko, who joined Ukraine’s armed forces, texted VOA from the trenches at the Donetsk front.

On Feb. 27, OPORA, a leading Ukrainian nongovernmental organization involved in public oversight and advocacy in the field of elections, issued a statement signed by several other Ukrainian NGOs titled, “Statement of Ukrainian Non-Governmental Organizations on the Impossibility of Holding Democratic Elections without the Sustainable Peace.”

‘Armed forces or elections’

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Ukrainian parliament, as required by the country’s constitution, introduced martial law, which prohibits elections.

OPORA chairperson Olga Aivazovska said the purpose of martial law is to preserve the state and mobilize society for defense.

“We have to choose either the armed forces or elections,” she told VOA.

Aivazovska noted that Ukraine held elections between 2014 and 2022, when the conflict with Russia was ongoing in eastern Ukraine, but before Russia launched air raids on Ukrainian territory.

“Even if a ceasefire is established, there are no guarantees that Russia would not violate it as it did many times between 2014 and 2022,” she said. “It can carry out a massive shelling of the Ukrainian territory on election day. It can organize terrorist attacks at the polling stations, killing voters, election workers and observers, or at the minimum, disrupt the process.”

Aivazovska said it would be easy to contest an election as illegitimate if only 5% to 10% of the population votes.

“If Ukraine begins the election process without a guarantee of its completion, it means that we are simply giving this tool away to Russia for abuse and manipulation,” she said.

Radchenko said that about 14 million citizens — out of a population of 41 million — would not be able to vote, given that the war has dislocated millions of Ukrainians, and nearly a million Ukrainian men and women are serving in the armed forces.

According to Aivazovska, it is also unclear how people in areas occupied by Russia, “where people are subjected to torture, kidnapping and other crimes,” will be able to cast their vote freely, even after lifting martial law.

Most of the 7 million Ukrainian citizens who fled the war abroad will also not be able to vote, unless their host countries heavily invest in organizing the process.

“In 2004, the record number of Ukrainians living abroad voted at the polling stations in Ukrainian embassies and consulates — 103,000 citizens worldwide. There are simply no resources available to organize voting for 7 million people,” Aivazovska said.

Let Ukraine decide

Most of the members of the U.S. Congress interviewed by VOA said Ukraine should be free to decide when to hold its elections.

Republican Representative Brian Fitzpatrick said the United States and other democracies will encourage Ukraine to hold elections when it can do it safely and fairly, but not when “Ukrainians are still under invasion by an evil communist dictatorship.”

Democratic Representative Eugene Vindman, who was born in Kyiv in 1975, told VOA, “When 20% of the territory is occupied, when millions of Ukrainians are out of the country, it’s hard to imagine democratic elections representing the majority of the people being held.”

Vindman expressed confidence that Ukrainian society will hold elections as soon as it achieves a stable peace.

Republican Senator Kevin Cramer said the example of the United States holding elections during World War II is inapplicable because the U.S. didn’t have to fight on its territory.

Vindman noted that European countries also suspended elections for the duration of that war.

Democratic Representative Seth Magaziner suggested that a strong statement from Trump supporting Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion would make it easier for Ukrainians to “develop a timeline for elections.”

Republican Representative Don Bacon pointed out that Russia is in no position to demand elections from Ukraine. “They haven’t had free elections in 25 years. Putin’s murdered all his rivals. They’ve been thrown off the buildings. They’ve been poisoned. They’ve been killed in GULAGs,” he told VOA in an email.

Katya Andrusz, spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, told VOA that at the request of Ukrainian authorities, her office has begun work to ensure that when all the prerequisites are in place, Ukraine can hold elections “in line with international standards and the commitments Ukraine has made as an OSCE country for holding democratic elections.”

“ODIHR is working with Ukraine in many areas, and we very much appreciate and respect the country’s democratic strength amidst all the ongoing challenges,” she said.

VOA’s Kateryna Lisunova contributed to this report.
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Moscow airport resumes flights after brief suspension, officials say

Posted on by SeeEU

Moscow’s Sheremetevo Airport resumed flight arrivals and departures early on Friday after a temporary suspension of operations, Russia’s aviation authority said.

“Restrictions on the arrival and departure of aircraft were lifted at Sheremetevo Airport at 03:45 Moscow time (0045 GMT),” the aviation authority said on its Telegram app. The authority said the restrictions were introduced to ensure the safety of civil aircraft flights.

During the period of restrictions, one aircraft flying to Sheremetevo landed at the alternate airfield in Pulkovo, the authority said on Telegram.

TASS news agency earlier reported that the airport had briefly suspended operations at 2:41 Moscow time.
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