Thursday’s repeat of Kenya’s presidential election has been marred by clashes between police and protesters, as well as unopened polling stations in opposition strongholds. VOA Nairobi correspondent Jill Craig recorded this video Oct. 26, 2017.
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Month: October 2017
Kenya Election: Boycott, Protests Derail Voting in Opposition Stronghold of Kisumu
Kenya’s electoral commission has postponed voting in four counties to Saturday due to security issues. The postponement includes the western city of Kisumu, where polling stations failed to open today amid violent unrest and an opposition boycott of Thursday’s election. The city is a stronghold of opposition leader Raila Odinga, who withdrew from the presidential re-run election two weeks ago, and is calling for a fresh poll in 90 days. Mohammed Yusuf reports for VOA from Kisumu.
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Lower Voter Turnout Marks Kenya’s Re-Run Presidential Poll
Kenyans voted Thursday in the country’s second presidential election, although turnout appears lower than it was for the August 8th poll and violent protests have erupted in some opposition strongholds. Security issues have forced voting in several areas to be delayed until Saturday.
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US Defense Officials Brief Lawmakers on Niger Attack
U.S. defense officials briefed lawmakers Thursday about the Islamic State ambush attack in Niger earlier this month that killed four American soldiers.
The Pentagon’s assistant secretary for international security affairs, Robert Karem, and Air Force Major General Albert Elton, the deputy director for special operations and counterterrorism, discussed the October 4 firefight in a closed-door session of the Senate Armed Forces Committee. The House Armed Services Committee held a separate hearing.
Defense Department officials are in the midst of an investigation of the attack that occurred near the Niger-Mali border and took the lives of the four servicemen, all U.S. Special Forces troops. Even as details remain murky of how the attack unfolded, several key lawmakers have voiced surprise that the United States has had about 1,000 troops in the West African nation, and said they are uncertain what the troops’ mission is.
After the House hearing, Congressman Marc Veasey, a Texas Democrat, said, “I think that you’re going to see more and more troops in Africa because … as ISIS continues to get pushed out of the Middle East and their so-called caliphate … they’re going to be looking for places to regroup.”
He said the jihadists are “looking for people that may sympathize with them – may want to bolster their own reputation in these certain areas. And you have a lot of ungoverned space in Africa, particularly along these borders. When you look at what happened in Niger and how close it was to Mali it’s almost very similar to the Middle East and that those spaces are ungoverned – yeah, no man’s land.”
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he did not specifically authorize the Niger mission.
“But I have generals that are great generals. These are great fighters, these are warriors,” he said. “I gave them authority to do what’s right so that we win. That’s the authority they have. I want to win and we’re going to win.”
Congresswoman Jackie Speier, a California Democrat, said Trump “is the commander in chief and it’s about time he stops trying to shift responsibility to others. That’s what a commander in chief is all about.”
Trump has been embroiled in days of contentious public statements about his condolence call to the widow of one of the soldiers killed, Sergeant La David Johnson.
The widow, Myeshia Johnson, pregnant with her third child, told ABC News earlier this week that Trump’s call to her only made her cry more because she heard him stumbling trying to remember my husband’s name.
“That’s what hurt me the most because if my husband is out there fighting for our country, and if he risks his life for our country, why can’t you remember his name? And that one made me upset and cry even more because my husband was an awesome soldier.”
She said that Trump told her that her husband “knew what he signed up for [in joining the military], but it hurts anyway. It made me cry. I was angry at the tone of his voice.”
Trump has disputed her account, saying, “I certainly respect La David, who I, by the way, called La David right from the beginning. Just so you understand, they put a chart in front, ‘La David,’ it says ‘La David Johnson.’ So I called right from the beginning.”
“I was extremely nice to her,” Trump said. “She sounds like a lovely lady. I’ve never seen her, I’ve never met her, but she sounds like a lovely lady. But I was extremely nice to her, I was extremely courteous, as I was to everyone else.”
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Top US Security Official: Iran Threatens Regional Stability
U.S. President Donald Trump says Islamic State in the Middle East is being defeated and the militants are moving to parts of Africa and other places. But a top U.S. security official says the departure of Islamic State does not spell the end of terrorism in the region. In an interview with Alhurra television this week, National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster warned of Iran’s dangerous influence in the Middle East. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.
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Navy SEAL Describes Being Wounded in Search for Bergdahl in Afghanistan
A retired Navy SEAL wounded in the search for U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who walked away from his post in Afghanistan in 2009, testified about the harrowing firefight that ended his career.
Speaking at Bergdahl’s sentencing hearing Wednesday, Senior Chief Petty Officer James Hatch choked up when describing how enemy combatants shot a trained dog that was with the team before shooting him just above his right knee.
“I really thought that I was going to die,” Hatch said.
Hatch walks with a limp after undergoing 18 surgeries to repair his leg.
The former Navy SEAL, forced to retire from the military after nearly 26 years of service because of injuries sustained while searching for Bergdahl, said he had known days before that the search was going to be hazardous.
“Somebody’s going to get killed or hurt trying to get that kid,” he recalled saying to his teammates.
Trump motion still pending
The hearing started with a surprise, as the judge, Colonel Jeffery R. Nance, said he was not yet ready to rule on the defense’s argument that recent comments by President Donald Trump had made a fair hearing impossible.
“I’m still considering it,” Nance said.
The defense has argued that the president seemed to endorse previous assertions, made when he was a presidential candidate, that Bergdahl was a traitor and deserved execution. As commander in chief, he is the superior officer of all the military officials responsible for disciplining Bergdahl.
Questioned by reporters last week about Bergdahl, Trump said he couldn’t say more on the case, “but I think people have heard my comments in the past.”
Last week, Bergdahl pleaded guilty at a court-martial hearing to charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. The latter carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Bergdahl’s sentencing hearing is expected to extend into next week.
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Bodyguard Killed, MP and Two Others Wounded in Kyiv Blast
An explosion in Kyiv on Wednesday killed a bodyguard and wounded three people, including Ukrainian lawmaker Ihor Mosiychuk, Ukrainian officials said, describing the incident as a deliberate attack.
Mosiychuk, a member of the opposition Radical Party, was hospitalized but did not suffer life-threatening injuries, while his bodyguard was killed, according to party leader Oleh Lyashko.
Interior Ministry adviser Zoryan Shkiryak said investigators were at the scene of the incident, where it appeared a motorcycle had been blown up near the entrance to a TV station.
“Unfortunately, one [blast victim] could not be saved. He died on the way to the hospital from the wounds he received,” he said.
Kyiv police spokeswoman Oksana Blyshchyk said that at 19:05 GMT authorities had received information about a car explosion in the Solomensky district of Kyiv.
There was no immediate word from police on possible suspects or a motive for the attack, but Lyashko said he had no doubt the incident was politically motivated.
“The attempt on Mosiychuk’s life was linked to his professional activities and political position,” he said on Facebook.
Since fighting with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine broke out in 2014, the number of incidents involving explosives outside the conflict zone has increased, but vehicle bombings are relatively rare.
In June, a colonel in Ukraine’s military intelligence was killed by a car bomb in central Kyiv, while in 2016 a prominent investigative journalist, Pavel Sheremet, was killed by the detonation of an explosive device in his car.
Radical Party lawmaker Evhen Deidei posted photos on his Facebook page from the scene of Wednesday’s attack that showed the burned-out shell of a motorcycle in front of a blast-hit vehicle.
“Judging by the damage to the car and the shrapnel holes in the doors, the power of the explosion was pretty strong,” he said.
The interior ministry’s Shkiryak said political analyst Vitaliy Bala was one of the three wounded in the blast.
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Haley to S. Sudan’s Kiir: Stop Violence or Lose US Funding
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley issued a stern warning Wednesday to South Sudan’s president, telling him “the hate and the violence that we are seeing has to stop” or the U.S. will reconsider its financial support for the country.
“It was a very honest conversation. I basically said the United States had invested well over $11 billion in South Sudan and into him, and that we were now questioning that investment. I told them that he couldn’t deny the stories about his military,” Haley said to reporters after meeting with President Salva Kiir.
This was an about-face from Tuesday in Addis Ababa, when Haley sounded hesitant to withdraw U.S. aid from South Sudan despite human rights abuses and the ongoing fighting.
“When you look at South Sudan, you have to really think hard before you pull U.S. aid, because President Kiir doesn’t care if we pull U.S. aid. He doesn’t care if his people suffer,” Haley said.
‘The president of everyone’
She said the U.S. had lost trust and that the only way to regain that trust was by taking care of all South Sudanese, adding, “President Kiir is the president of everyone, not just one tribe, not just one group.”
South Sudan is the world’s youngest country, having gained independence from Sudan in 2011. But despite high hopes and significant international support, the sub-Saharan African nation has been embroiled in a violent civil conflict for nearly its entire existence.
For several years, soldiers loyal to Kiir have clashed with forces loyal to his ousted vice president, Riek Machar, displacing millions of civilians. The two groups are largely split along ethnic lines.
That split became obvious during the U.S. envoy’s visit Wednesday.
Meeting cut short
While Haley was meeting with civilians affected by the South Sudan conflict at a U.N. camp in Juba, her trip was cut short after hundreds of people began protesting Kiir’s arrival at the camp.
Her security team determined the situation was unsafe and escorted her away.
“The situation just got a little out of hand, and our security colleagues decided it was better to be safe and depart a little early,” a spokesman told The Associated Press.
Haley said the Trump administration was closely monitoring events in South Sudan.
Haley said she made it clear to Kiir that the U.S. had to see a willingness “of the government and the military to stop the violence and stop the abuses that are happening in this country.”
Talks seen as productive
Kiir’s foreign affairs adviser, Nhial Deng Nhial, said the two leaders had fruitful discussions about revitalizing a peace deal put forward by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an eight-nation regional body, and humanitarian access.
“The discussions revolved around three main terms: the revitalization process of IGAD, the issue of the permanent cease-fire or cessation of hostilities, and issues of humanitarian access,” Nhail told South Sudan in Focus.
Nhial said Kiir urged the U.S. government to do more to improve relations between Juba and Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, including provision of help in sorting out the final status of the disputed Abyei region, which he described as “complicated.”
In addition to visiting South Sudan, Haley also visited Ethiopia, and she will be in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Thursday.
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Europe Braces for More Attacks From Islamic State
European counterterror officials say they are taking no solace in the liberation of Raqqa from Islamic State, with some warning that the terror group’s communication and planning units remain “very active.”
The fall of IS’s Syrian capital this month has been heralded as a crushing blow to the group’s aspirations, with U.S. President Donald Trump calling it a “critical breakthrough.”
But counterterrorism officials say there is broad consensus that IS still has considerable reach, especially in the near term.
“We all share the same opinion. The military defeat, the so-called caliphate being scattered, does not mean that the terrorist organization ISIS is defeated,” Dick Schoof, the Dutch national counterterrorism coordinator, told reporters Wednesday, using an acronym for the group.
Ability to communicate
A key concern is that a loss of territory in Iraq and Syria has yet to have a considerable impact on the terror organization’s ability to communicate, both with its operatives in Europe and potential recruits.
IS has also been able to leverage relationships with organized crime syndicates, which officials describe as especially worrisome.
“We know that ISIS’s planning unit is still functioning. Also, its communications unit is still functioning,” said Schoof.
The European assessment mirrors that of counterterror officials in the United States, who have repeatedly warned that, at best, there would be a lag between the fall of the terror group’s self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria and any impact on its external operations.
“We do not think battlefield losses alone will be sufficient to degrade its terrorism capabilities,” Nick Rasmussen, head of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, warned in written testimony to U.S. lawmakers in September. He called IS’s reach on social media “unprecedented.”
Also, one of the most anticipated consequences of the collapse of the so-called caliphate has failed to materialize: a substantial flow of foreign fighters to their home countries.
Schoof, the Dutch counterterror coordinator, said that of the Netherlands’ approximately 300 foreign fighters, slightly more than 50 have returned, with only a handful trying to make their way back as IS’s fortunes have waned.
Complex terror threat
Friedrich Grommes, head of the international terrorism and organized crime directorate for Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, has also said that “there is no hard evidence” for a rising tide of returning foreign fighters.
Instead, officials say, Europe is facing a more complex and variable threat picture, even as they have worked to take down, through multiple raids and a series of arrests, most of the IS network thought to be behind the terror attacks on Paris and Brussels.
At the same time, officials warn al-Qaida operatives have become more active, stepping up their planning for potential attacks on the West.
In particular, there has been growing concern about IS and al-Qaida activity in northern Africa.
“We are very cautious,” Schoof said. “ISIS and al-Qaida are still not very strong but do have footprints.”
Like the U.S., which has sent troops to Niger to track IS operatives and officials, European militaries have also been active in the region.
So far, at least, Western officials have yet to track any significant flow of foreign fighters or top officials from the Middle East to Africa.
But IS, at least, is turning to a familiar strategy.
“What ISIS is absolutely trying to do is leverage local insurgencies now to rebrand themselves,” Joint Chiefs Chairman General Joe Dunford, the top U.S. military officer, said Tuesday following a meeting of the global coalition to defeat IS. “They’re trying to maintain relevance.”
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US Reiterates Call for Kosovo-Montenegro Border Deal
A top U.S. State Department official on Wednesday urged Kosovo officials to ratify a border demarcation agreement with Montenegro, the last remaining criteria to be fulfilled before Kosovo can benefit from visa-free travel to the European Schengen zone.
Shortly after meeting with Kosovar President Hashim Thaci in Pristina, Hoyt Brian Yee, the deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, told VOA’s Albanian Service that he encouraged the new government “to seize the opportunity where the last government was not able to.”
Kosovo’s opposition prevented the previous parliament from voting on the border agreement, which was signed with Montenegro more than two years ago.
Immediately after taking office in September, Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj decided to disband the commission in charge of the border demarcation with Montenegro. Instead, he composed a new commission consisting of professionals mainly in opposition to the agreement.
Yee said during the interview that government must find a way to ratify the agreement or Kosovo’s path to visa free travel in the EU will remain blocked.
“We believe this is extremely important for the people of Kosovo, to show them that they are part of Europe, that they are not isolated, that they are welcome in Europe,” he said, adding that the U.S. understands “agreements like this, issues involving borders and relations with neighbors, are sometimes complicated,” but that leaders must assume the responsibilities.
He also said the U.S. plans to continue its role in the EU-led dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo.
“We have been there from the beginning. Our intention is to remain there as long as Europeans wants us to be there and as long as both parties, Serbia and Kosovo, wants us to be there,” said Yee.
Last month, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence hosted President Thaci at the White House, where he encouraged him to ratify a border-demarcation deal with Montenegro.
Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, is recognized by 114 countries but not by Belgrade.
Belgrade remarks
Answering a question about comments he’d made while addressing the Serbian Economic Summit in Belgrade on Monday, Yee told VOA that the U.S. respects Serbia’s historical ties with Russia.
Yee recently was criticized by Serbia’s defense minister for telling summit participants that “EU hopefuls” such as Serbia “should clearly demonstrate that they really want to become members.”
“You cannot sit on two chairs, especially if those chairs are too far apart,” said Yee, referring to the balancing policy of Serbia between Moscow, the European Union, and the United States.
Addressing Serbian news outlets, Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin, who has been known to advocate a pro-Russian stance, called Yee’s “undemocratic” comments “the greatest pressure against Serbia yet.”
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who held a meeting Tuesday with Yee, issued a statement saying he carefully listened to Yee’s concerns and responded to his remarks “very directly.” He did not, however, publicly disclose his response.
“There are historical, cultural, religious connections — energy, economic ties — we have no objections to that,” Yee told VOA on Wednesday.
“Our advice to Serbia, just like it is to Kosovo, is that it should make very clear what its priorities are, make very clear what its policies are,” he added. “You can sit on two chairs and probably get to the destination, but it’s much slower.”
This story originated in VOA’s Albanian Service.
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Giant Sequoia Doing Well 4 Months After Idaho Uprooting
A 10-story-tall tree moved two city blocks on giant rollers last summer has new growth and appears happy in its new location, a tree expert said Wednesday.
Tree mover David Cox of Environmental Design examined the 800,000-pound (363,000-kilogram) sequoia in Boise, Idaho, and pronounced the tree fit.
“She looks pretty good,” he said. “But it’s still too early to tell. You still need about two or three growing seasons to really say that she’s recovered. We’re not in any danger zone. We feel like the tree is still happy.”
Moving the tallest tree ever attempted by the company required cutting back the root system that’s now being monitored for moisture content with underground sensors at the tree’s new location on city property.
Three of the four sensors Cox examined indicated the root system was not getting enough moisture, so he ordered a water truck. One was already scheduled to visit once a week this winter, but hadn’t started.
An irrigation system that includes misting hoses at the top of the tree was recently turned off by city workers in preparation for winter, and the area dried out quicker than expected, Cox said.
Cox also said he’s a bit concerned about some broken bark and smoothed-over bark at the base that might have been caused by animals or vandals or somebody climbing. He said the bark is about 9 inches (23 centimeters) thick so the living part of the tree under the bark isn’t being damaged.
Naturalist John Muir, who played a key role in establishing California’s Sequoia National Park, sent the tree as a seedling to Boise more than a century ago. It was planted in the yard of a doctor’s home.
St. Luke’s Health System in June paid $300,000 to move Idaho’s largest sequoia — which are not native to the state — to make way for a hospital expansion. Cutting down the most notable tree in the city’s urban forest could have risked a public relations backlash, and the hospital has said it never considered that option.
The tree suffered at its old location because it was shaded by a tall building. Cox also said the building created a kind of wind tunnel that caused part of the tree to dry out and turn brown. But those needles have fallen off at the new location and have been replaced with green, healthy needles.
The tree’s future health is uncertain in its new spot next to one of the city’s busiest traffic routes and only about eight blocks from the city’s core downtown area.
“We’re in a new environment here, a little more open,” Cox said. “We don’t know if we’re going to be better off or worse off. Se we’re going to prepare for drying winds.”
Winter treatments
He prescribed treatments in November, December and January to spray the tree with a type of substance to prevent it from drying out in cold winter winds, likening the process to a person applying hand lotion to prevent skin from drying out.
“It goes on kind of oily and dries waxy,” he said.
The treatments will cost about $1,500 each. St. Luke’s spokeswoman Anita Kisee said she did not know if the company will pay, and Boise’s Parks and Recreation department did not immediately respond to a telephone message seeking comment.
Cox under the contract with the hospital is serving only as a consultant, but said the company could chip in to partially fund expenses.
Brian Jorgenson, a city forester, checks on the tree and neighbors also appear to be watchful. He said he was challenged once by someone wanting to know if he was supposed to be poking around under the tree.
“I think the tree looks better in its current location,” he said. “It’s a lot more visible than it used to be, and we’re proud to have it on park property now.”
Cox said he plans to make site visits in January and again in March or April to consider treatments for the growing season for the sequoia, which are known to live for several thousand years in the right conditions.
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New Screenings to Start for All US-bound Airline Passengers
All incoming flights to the United States will be subject to new security screening procedures before takeoff, including both American citizens and foreigners possibly facing security interviews from airline employees, the U.S. government said Wednesday.
Both American air carriers and global airlines must comply, affecting all the 2,100 flights from around the world entering the U.S. on any given day. The directive is far broader than an earlier Trump administration ban on laptops inside the cabins of some airliners, which only targeted 10 Mideast cities and their airlines.
Carriers confused
Confusion greeted the new rules. While five global long-haul carriers said they would begin the new security interviews on Thursday, each offered different descriptions of how the procedure would take place, ranging from a form travelers would be required to fill out to being verbally quizzed by an airline employee. Other carriers insisted their operations remained the same.
“The security measures affect all individuals, international passengers and U.S. citizens, traveling to the United States from a last point of departure international location,” said Lisa Farbstein, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. “These new measures will impact all flights from airports that serve as last points of departure locations to the United States.”
The new rules come at the end of a 120-day window for new U.S. safety regulations to be implemented following the lifting of the laptop ban imposed on some Mideast airlines.
They include “heightened screening of personal electronic devices” and stricter security procedures around planes and in airport terminals, Farbstein said. She did not elaborate.
Details of the new rules first became apparent in a statement by Dubai-based Emirates, which operates the world’s busiest airport for international travel.
Allow extra time
In the statement, Emirates said it would begin carrying out “pre-screening interviews” at its check-in counters for passengers flying out of Dubai and at boarding gates for transit and transfer fliers. It urged those flying through Dubai International Airport to allow extra time for flight check-in and boarding.
“These measures will work in complement with the current additional screening measures conducted at the boarding gate,” it said.
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. said on its website that it had suspended self-drop baggage services and that passengers heading to the U.S. “will be subject to a short security interview” when checking their luggage. Those without bags would have a similar interview at their gates.
Air France said it would begin the new security interviews on Thursday at Paris Orly Airport and a week later, on Nov. 2, at Charles de Gaulle Airport. It said the extra screening would take the form of a questionnaire handed to all passengers.
EgyptAir said in a statement the new measures include more detailed searches of passengers and their luggage as well as interviews. It said the procedure would extend to unauthorized agricultural or veterinary products.
Expect a short interview
A statement by Germany’s Lufthansa Group said that “in addition to the controls of electronic devices already introduced, travelers to the U.S.A. might now also face short interviews at check-in, at document check or (at their) gate.” Lufthansa Group includes Germany’s largest carrier, Lufthansa, as well as Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Eurowings and several other airlines.
Royal Jordanian, based in Amman, said it would introduce the new procedures in mid-January. Spokesman Basel Kilani said it would take the form of a questionnaire given to passengers before check-in. He said he didn’t know what kind of questions would be asked.
U.S. carriers also will be affected by the new rules. Delta Air Lines said it was telling passengers traveling to the U.S. to arrive at the airport at least three hours before their flight and allow extra time to get through security. United declined to comment, while American did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
‘Complex security measures’
The International Air Transport Association, which represents 275 airlines, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, Vaughn Jennings of the trade group Airlines for America said that while the new rules include “complex security measures,” U.S. officials have been flexible.
“The safety and security of passengers and crew is the highest priority for U.S. airlines and we remain committed to ensuring the highest levels of security are in place throughout the industry,” Jennings said.
However, not all were convinced of the new measures’ effectiveness.
“The part of the new measures I don’t like is that airline personnel are being put back into the security screening process,” said Jeffrey Price, an aviation-security expert at Metropolitan State University of Denver. “Airline ticket agents aren’t always the best at conducting security measures.”
Trump’s latest travel move
This is just the latest decision by President Donald Trump’s administration affecting global travel.
In March, U.S. officials introduced the laptop ban in the cabins of some Mideast airlines over concerns Islamic State fighters and other extremists could hide bombs inside of them. The ban was lifted after those airlines began using devices like CT scanners to examine electronics before passengers boarded planes heading to the U.S. Some also increasingly swab passengers’ hands to check for explosive residue.
The laptop ban as well as travel bans affecting predominantly Muslim countries have hurt Mideast airlines. Emirates, the region’s biggest, said it slashed 20 percent of its flights to the U.S. in the wake of the restrictions.
your ad hereUS Lawmakers: Ethnic Cleansing Taking Place in Myanmar
U.S. lawmakers are pressing the Trump administration to declare that ethnic cleansing is taking place against the Rohingya Muslim population in Myanmar – a majority-Buddhist nation also known as Burma, which has seen improved ties with Washington in recent years. As VOA’s Michael Bowman reports, a Senate panel Tuesday demanded U.S. officials take a tougher stand against the brutal oppression and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya in Myanmar.
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A Look Back At America’s Decades-Long War On Drugs
The United States is suffering through an unprecedented, deadly wave of opioid and prescription drug overdoses. The drug crisis comes nearly 50 years after the government declared a “War on Drugs.” VOA’s Chris Simkins looks back at the War on Drugs and how experts say mistakes of the past cannot be repeated in this new battle against opioid drug abuse.
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Trump Resumes Refugee Admissions into U.S., but with Greater Restrictions
U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order resuming the admission of refugees into the country, but imposed tougher scrutiny on nationals from 11 countries identified as posing a high risk to national security.
The new order was issued Tuesday as an earlier order that imposed a 120-day ban on refugee admissions expired. All refugees hoping to enter the United States will face additional, enhanced vetting measures, such as providing additional biographical information than previously required, under the new directive.
Nationals from the 11 countries identified as high risk will face an extra 90-day review on their application, and will be admitted into the United States on a case-by-case basis if their entry is deemed in the national interest, and they pose no threat to Americans.
Officials refused to name the 11 countries, but both Reuters and the French news agency have identified them as the same countries whose nationals are already required to undergo higher-level screening known as Security Advisory Opinions — Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Refugee advocates say the tighter requirements on refugees from those nations could add months, if not years, to the application process, effectively banning them from coming into the United States.
Tuesday’s order is the latest in President Trump’s efforts to follow through on his campaign promises to curtail the number of refugees allowed to enter the United States. He issued temporary bans on refugees and travelers from several Muslim-majority countries within days of taking office in January. Lawsuits stymied the initial roll-out of the temporary ban. Later, the U.S. Supreme Court determined arrivals could continue as long as the refugees could demonstrate “bona fide” close family ties to the country.
The high court on Tuesday also dismissed a lawsuit by the state of Hawaii against an earlier version of Trump’s travel ban – the same one that limited refugee arrivals. The new refugee vetting procedures, and a separate presidential proclamation in September limiting travelers from eight countries, replace much of what the two earlier travel bans attempted. Last week, a judge in Hawaii halted the administration’s latest efforts to block travelers from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
In addition to the forthcoming vetting changes, the Trump administration last month announced it would drop the ceiling on refugee arrivals for the 2018 fiscal year to 45,000, the lowest limit ever set for the program. Former President Barack Obama set the ceiling on refugee arrivals for the previous fiscal year that ended on September 30 at 110,000.
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Cuban Investigators Say U.S. Sonic Attack Allegations ‘Science Fiction’
Cuban officials investigating U.S. complaints of attacks on diplomats in Havana said talk of acoustic strikes was “science fiction” and accused Washington of “slander” while it refused to cooperate fully with Cuba’s enquiry.
U.S. President Donald Trump said last week he believed Havana was responsible for 24 diplomats being harmed. Washington expelled 15 Cuban diplomats and recalled more than half the U.S. diplomatic personnel from Havana earlier in October.
While Cuba had already denounced the expulsions as “unjustified” and accused the United States of insufficient cooperation, three Interior Ministry officials and a doctor heading the inquiry provided more details in an interview in Havana on Sunday.
Cuba had deployed about 2,000 security officials and experts, from criminologists to audiologists and mathematicians, to investigate the incidents after it became aware of them in February, the investigators said.
The probe has not ended but it had so far failed to uncover any evidence to corroborate allegations of attacks that the United States says have caused hearing loss, dizziness, fatigue and cognitive issues in diplomatic personnel while based on the Communist-run island.
“This is slander by the United States,” said Coronel Ramiro Ramirez, responsible for the security of diplomats in Cuba.
There was no immediate comment from the White House or the U.S. State Department.
Washington officials have raised the possibility that sonic weapons were used to harm the diplomats, according to U.S. media reports. However, Cuban investigators denied such weapons could even have been used by third parties without affecting the health of others or attracting attention.
“It’s impossible. We are talking about science fiction,” said Lieutenant Colonel Jose Alazo, an expert in the criminal investigation unit of the Interior Ministry. “From a technical point of view, that argument is unsustainable.”
Hard to explain
The investigators said the United States had supplied 14 recordings of the sound it says the victims heard during the attacks and recorded, for example, on cellphones.
These, however, did not contain anything that could damage human health, they concluded. The noises included the usual suburban sounds such as traffic, footsteps and voices.
They were also characterized by a deviation peak of 7 kiloHertz (kHz) in the frequency band of 3 kHz, similar to the song of a cricket.
An audible sound would need to be very loud – above 80 decibels or akin to a plane’s engine “to have a health impact, they said. Yet only the victims heard the noise, not their families living in the same houses, nor their neighbors.
“We interviewed more than 300 people in the neighborhood, we also evaluated more than 30 medically, and no one heard these things,” Alazo said.
Even if the U.S. diplomats’ report of loud sounds was misleading and the source of the attacks were infra- or ultrasonic and therefore inaudible to human ears, it would be hard to explain how it could go undetected, the Cuban investigators said.
“You would need a source that could be seen from a satellite, it would be enormous,” said Dr. Manuel Villar, an ear, nose and throat specialist.
Finally, only two or three of the alleged victims had hearing problems, according to the U.S. information provided, whereas any kind of sonic attack would cause them in everyone, Villar said.
‘Anti-Cuban Mafia’
The United States has not formally accused Cuba of carrying out attacks, but Trump’s comments further damaged relations between the old Cold War foes, which have rapidly deteriorated since he took office.
Canada has said several Canadians had reported similar symptoms to the U.S. diplomats but it has not taken any action against Cuba and has said Cuba had been very cooperative with the investigation.
“There is an anti-Cuban mafia in Miami and we are victims of their dirty work that involve certain people very close to the governing circles of the United States,” Ramirez said.
Anti-Castro Cuban-Americans such as Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida have guided Trump’s policy on Cuba, including a partial rollback of the historic détente forged by his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama.
Washington insists its drawdown at its embassy was motivated by concern for the health of its diplomats.
Investigators said U.S. actions did not add up with their accusations. More than 200 friends and relatives of U.S. diplomats based in Havana had asked for visas to visit them between February and July, despite the alleged attacks.
The fact the information the United States provided was late was a major obstacle to resolving the mystery, said the investigators, who refused to comment on the state of cooperation with Canada.
So far, Washington had only officially reported 14 cases of alleged attacks to Cuba, compared with the 24 it had announced to the media, they said.
“It will be impossible to resolve this investigation without more cooperation,” Ramirez said.
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