Month: April 2018

Pamplonans Protest Gang Rape Verdict for 3rd Day

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Tens of thousands of people have marched in northern Spain for a third consecutive day to protest the acquittal of five men on gang rape charges.

Local police in Pamplona estimated the size of the crowd at Saturday’s march at 35,000.

An 18-year-old woman was attacked during the city’s famed San Fermin bull-running festival in 2016.

The five men, whose members named their WhatsApp group “The Pack,” were convicted Thursday on a lesser felony of sexual abuse and sentenced to nine years each in prison. Lawyers say the victim is appealing.

The court’s decision has also prompted thousands of women to share their experiences of abuse on Twitter under the hashtag #cuentalo, Spanish for #tell it.

The Spanish government has announced plans to convene discussions on possible legal reforms.
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Pamplonans Protest Gang Rape Verdict for 3rd Day

ITeuLeave a comment

Tens of thousands of people have marched in northern Spain for a third consecutive day to protest the acquittal of five men on gang rape charges.

Local police in Pamplona estimated the size of the crowd at Saturday’s march at 35,000.

An 18-year-old woman was attacked during the city’s famed San Fermin bull-running festival in 2016.

The five men, whose members named their WhatsApp group “The Pack,” were convicted Thursday on a lesser felony of sexual abuse and sentenced to nine years each in prison. Lawyers say the victim is appealing.

The court’s decision has also prompted thousands of women to share their experiences of abuse on Twitter under the hashtag #cuentalo, Spanish for #tell it.

The Spanish government has announced plans to convene discussions on possible legal reforms.
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Law Enforcement Effort Hits IS Propaganda Outlets

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Law enforcement authorities in the United States, European Union and Canada this week began a joint cybercampaign against Islamic State online communication channels that will “severely disrupt” the group’s propaganda machine, the EU’s law enforcement agency Europol said.

The multinational action, led by Belgian federal prosecutors, was launched  Wednesday and Thursday and targeted IS media outlets, including Amaq news, al-Bayan radio, Halumu and Nashir news.

IS’s Amaq news agency is believed to be a major propaganda outlet for the terror group. The group relies on the outlet to spread propaganda in several languages, including English and French. Amaq has broadcast claims of responsibility for deadly terrorist attacks in Paris, Brussels, Berlin and Barcelona.

“With this groundbreaking operation we have punched a big hole in the capability of IS to spread propaganda online and radicalize young people in Europe,” Rob Wainwright, the head of Europol, said in a statement released Friday.

“I applaud the determined and innovative work by Europol and its partners to target a major part of the international terrorist threat prevalent in Europe today,” he added.

Earlier efforts

This is not the first time Western countries joined forces to crack down on IS propaganda capabilities. A coordinated effort in August 2016 hit Amaq’s mobile application and web infrastructure. Another multinational operation led by Spanish Guardia Civil in June 2017 against the outlet helped authorities identify radicalized individuals in over 100 countries around the world.

Europol claimed the two-day effort this week led to the seizure of digital evidence by law enforcement authorities and compromised IS broadcast capabilities and materials.

Europol authorities said the data retrieved as a result of the crackdown would be used to identify the administrators behind IS media outlets.

In a separate statement, Belgian police said the operation also aimed to seize and shut down computer servers used to spread terror propaganda in Europe.

Over the years, IS has weaponized the internet to radicalize, recuit and inspire acts of terrorism in the West and around the world.

The group’s ability to produce and distribute new propaganda has been significantly diminished since it lost nearly 98 percent of the territory it once held in Iraq and Syria, and social media giants Facebook, Google and Twitter increased their efforts to remove radical content from the internet. 

VOA Turkish service’s Arzu Cakir contributed to this report from Paris. 
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Law Enforcement Effort Hits IS Propaganda Outlets

ITeuLeave a comment

Law enforcement authorities in the United States, European Union and Canada this week began a joint cybercampaign against Islamic State online communication channels that will “severely disrupt” the group’s propaganda machine, the EU’s law enforcement agency Europol said.

The multinational action, led by Belgian federal prosecutors, was launched  Wednesday and Thursday and targeted IS media outlets, including Amaq news, al-Bayan radio, Halumu and Nashir news.

IS’s Amaq news agency is believed to be a major propaganda outlet for the terror group. The group relies on the outlet to spread propaganda in several languages, including English and French. Amaq has broadcast claims of responsibility for deadly terrorist attacks in Paris, Brussels, Berlin and Barcelona.

“With this groundbreaking operation we have punched a big hole in the capability of IS to spread propaganda online and radicalize young people in Europe,” Rob Wainwright, the head of Europol, said in a statement released Friday.

“I applaud the determined and innovative work by Europol and its partners to target a major part of the international terrorist threat prevalent in Europe today,” he added.

Earlier efforts

This is not the first time Western countries joined forces to crack down on IS propaganda capabilities. A coordinated effort in August 2016 hit Amaq’s mobile application and web infrastructure. Another multinational operation led by Spanish Guardia Civil in June 2017 against the outlet helped authorities identify radicalized individuals in over 100 countries around the world.

Europol claimed the two-day effort this week led to the seizure of digital evidence by law enforcement authorities and compromised IS broadcast capabilities and materials.

Europol authorities said the data retrieved as a result of the crackdown would be used to identify the administrators behind IS media outlets.

In a separate statement, Belgian police said the operation also aimed to seize and shut down computer servers used to spread terror propaganda in Europe.

Over the years, IS has weaponized the internet to radicalize, recuit and inspire acts of terrorism in the West and around the world.

The group’s ability to produce and distribute new propaganda has been significantly diminished since it lost nearly 98 percent of the territory it once held in Iraq and Syria, and social media giants Facebook, Google and Twitter increased their efforts to remove radical content from the internet. 

VOA Turkish service’s Arzu Cakir contributed to this report from Paris. 
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Former President Banda Returns to Malawi

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Former Malawi President Joyce Banda has returned to her country after more than three years, where she faces possible graft charges.

Banda arrived in Lilongwe, the capital, on Saturday after spending three years outside the country, serving as a fellow at two think tanks in Washington, D.C.

A crowd of supporters was waiting for her at the airport when she arrived. Her spokesman said she would be going straight to her home. 

She is expected to make public remarks at a rally on Sunday.

In the past, Banda said she would be willing to stand for re-election in 2019, but has not said recently whether she plans to run. She served as Malawi’s president from 2012 to 2014 but was implicated in a corruption scandal known as “Cashgate” that erupted in 2013.

After she lost the election, Banda was subject to an arrest warrant and left the country shortly thereafter. Earlier this year, Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau said it had no solid evidence against the former president. Police have not said whether they will pursue the matter now that she has returned to the country. 

Banda was the country’s first female leader and the second female leader on the African continent. She founded the People’s Party in 2011 and remains its leader.

The Cashgate scheme in 2013 involved $30 million that government officials were alleged to have taken from government coffers. The scandal resulted in many of Malawi’s foreign donors withdrawing funds, which hampered development in the aid-dependent country. 
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Former President Banda Returns to Malawi

ITafLeave a comment

Former Malawi President Joyce Banda has returned to her country after more than three years, where she faces possible graft charges.

Banda arrived in Lilongwe, the capital, on Saturday after spending three years outside the country, serving as a fellow at two think tanks in Washington, D.C.

A crowd of supporters was waiting for her at the airport when she arrived. Her spokesman said she would be going straight to her home. 

She is expected to make public remarks at a rally on Sunday.

In the past, Banda said she would be willing to stand for re-election in 2019, but has not said recently whether she plans to run. She served as Malawi’s president from 2012 to 2014 but was implicated in a corruption scandal known as “Cashgate” that erupted in 2013.

After she lost the election, Banda was subject to an arrest warrant and left the country shortly thereafter. Earlier this year, Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau said it had no solid evidence against the former president. Police have not said whether they will pursue the matter now that she has returned to the country. 

Banda was the country’s first female leader and the second female leader on the African continent. She founded the People’s Party in 2011 and remains its leader.

The Cashgate scheme in 2013 involved $30 million that government officials were alleged to have taken from government coffers. The scandal resulted in many of Malawi’s foreign donors withdrawing funds, which hampered development in the aid-dependent country. 
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Suspected Jihadists Kill 40 Civilians in Northeast Mali

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A governor in Mali said Saturday that suspected jihadists had killed at least 40 civilians in two attacks near the country’s border with Niger, where attacks have increased in the past year. 

Menaka Gov. Daouda Maiga said gunmen on motorbikes staged the assaults Thursday and Friday. He said Fulani members of Islamic State Greater Sahara most likely attacked in retaliation for military actions supported by Tuaregs in the region. 

In recent months Tuareg civilian defense groups, supported by French soldiers, have fought against jihadists in northeastern Mali. 

The jihadist attacks may also be an attempt to further exploit tensions between Tuaregs and Fulani herdsmen over land.

In early April, the head of the U.N. mission in Mali’s human rights division, Guillaume Ngefa, said Tuaregs had killed 95 Fulani civilians in the region.
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Suspected Jihadists Kill 40 Civilians in Northeast Mali

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A governor in Mali said Saturday that suspected jihadists had killed at least 40 civilians in two attacks near the country’s border with Niger, where attacks have increased in the past year. 

Menaka Gov. Daouda Maiga said gunmen on motorbikes staged the assaults Thursday and Friday. He said Fulani members of Islamic State Greater Sahara most likely attacked in retaliation for military actions supported by Tuaregs in the region. 

In recent months Tuareg civilian defense groups, supported by French soldiers, have fought against jihadists in northeastern Mali. 

The jihadist attacks may also be an attempt to further exploit tensions between Tuaregs and Fulani herdsmen over land.

In early April, the head of the U.N. mission in Mali’s human rights division, Guillaume Ngefa, said Tuaregs had killed 95 Fulani civilians in the region.
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Russia, Iran, Turkey Criticize Western Airstrikes on Syria 

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Saturday that airstrikes on Syria, conducted by the U.S., Britain, and France on April 14, were a violation of international law and indicated that the Western powers were trying to destroy the peace process.

Lavrov, speaking after meeting in Moscow with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts, said such “attempts to … destabilize the situation” encourage the extremists in Syria to go on with their armed struggle.

Lavrov and his counterparts said they agreed that Syria’s territorial integrity should be preserved, while accusing the United States of plans to “reformat” the Middle East and divide Syria into parts.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javid Zarif said there was no military solution to the Syrian crisis. He also said that Iran condemned the use of chemical weapons and hoped that the investigation of an alleged Syrian attack on its own people would uncover the truth. He also said anyone who supported Iraq when it used chemical weapons against Iran in the 1980s had no right to criticize Syria today.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country, too, supported Syrian territorial integrity and, with allies Iran and Russia, hoped ultimately to find a political solution to the crisis. He said “some groups” had tried to undermine that work, and he urged all parties to contribute to the peace process instead.
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Russia, Iran, Turkey Criticize Western Airstrikes on Syria 

ITeuLeave a comment

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Saturday that airstrikes on Syria, conducted by the U.S., Britain, and France on April 14, were a violation of international law and indicated that the Western powers were trying to destroy the peace process.

Lavrov, speaking after meeting in Moscow with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts, said such “attempts to … destabilize the situation” encourage the extremists in Syria to go on with their armed struggle.

Lavrov and his counterparts said they agreed that Syria’s territorial integrity should be preserved, while accusing the United States of plans to “reformat” the Middle East and divide Syria into parts.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javid Zarif said there was no military solution to the Syrian crisis. He also said that Iran condemned the use of chemical weapons and hoped that the investigation of an alleged Syrian attack on its own people would uncover the truth. He also said anyone who supported Iraq when it used chemical weapons against Iran in the 1980s had no right to criticize Syria today.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country, too, supported Syrian territorial integrity and, with allies Iran and Russia, hoped ultimately to find a political solution to the crisis. He said “some groups” had tried to undermine that work, and he urged all parties to contribute to the peace process instead.
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Modi-Xi talks highlight India-China rivalry, cooperation

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The leaders of China and India stressed the importance of close ties in talks Saturday, against the background of their rivalry for leadership in Asia and the potential for cooperation on economic and security matters.

Solid China-India relations “are an important factor for global peace and stability,” Chinese President Xi Jinping was quoted as telling Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an informal summit in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Saturday.

The two Asian giants should “engage in even closer strategic communication,” Xi was quoted by the official Xinhua News Agency as saying.

In a tweet, Modi said discussions over tea had been productive and that “Strong India-China friendship is beneficial for the people of our nations and the entire world.”

Talks touched on economic issues, along with people-to-people relations, agriculture, technology, energy and tourism, Modi said in his tweet.

The meeting comes amid tensions over the contested China-India border and a rivalry for influence with smaller neighbors.

China-India relations date back centuries but in recent years have been characterized by competition for leadership in Asia.

The countries fought a border war in 1962 and last year engaged in a 10-week standoff. New Delhi has also been alarmed by China’s moves to build ties with Indian Ocean nations including India’s longtime rival Pakistan.

China, for its part, resents India’s hosting of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, and its control of territory Beijing says belongs to it.

Following the most protracted standoff in years, India last year agreed to pull back troops from the disputed Doklam Plateau high in the Himalayas, where Chinese troops had begun constructing a road. China claims the strategically important region, but India says it belongs to ally Bhutan.

Despite such differences, Modi hopes China can help drive Indian economic growth ahead of national elections next year. He also appears intent on building a strong personal relationship with Xi, who will be China’s leader for years to come following the lifting of term limits on the presidency.

However, Modi’s administration has been notably reluctant to engage with Beijing’s “Belt and Road” initiative linking its economy to those of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe through massive loans and investments.

Modi will travel to China again in June for a summit of the eight-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which is dominated by Beijing and Moscow. Along with China, Russia and India, that group includes the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as Pakistan.
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Modi-Xi talks highlight India-China rivalry, cooperation

ITasLeave a comment

The leaders of China and India stressed the importance of close ties in talks Saturday, against the background of their rivalry for leadership in Asia and the potential for cooperation on economic and security matters.

Solid China-India relations “are an important factor for global peace and stability,” Chinese President Xi Jinping was quoted as telling Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an informal summit in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Saturday.

The two Asian giants should “engage in even closer strategic communication,” Xi was quoted by the official Xinhua News Agency as saying.

In a tweet, Modi said discussions over tea had been productive and that “Strong India-China friendship is beneficial for the people of our nations and the entire world.”

Talks touched on economic issues, along with people-to-people relations, agriculture, technology, energy and tourism, Modi said in his tweet.

The meeting comes amid tensions over the contested China-India border and a rivalry for influence with smaller neighbors.

China-India relations date back centuries but in recent years have been characterized by competition for leadership in Asia.

The countries fought a border war in 1962 and last year engaged in a 10-week standoff. New Delhi has also been alarmed by China’s moves to build ties with Indian Ocean nations including India’s longtime rival Pakistan.

China, for its part, resents India’s hosting of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, and its control of territory Beijing says belongs to it.

Following the most protracted standoff in years, India last year agreed to pull back troops from the disputed Doklam Plateau high in the Himalayas, where Chinese troops had begun constructing a road. China claims the strategically important region, but India says it belongs to ally Bhutan.

Despite such differences, Modi hopes China can help drive Indian economic growth ahead of national elections next year. He also appears intent on building a strong personal relationship with Xi, who will be China’s leader for years to come following the lifting of term limits on the presidency.

However, Modi’s administration has been notably reluctant to engage with Beijing’s “Belt and Road” initiative linking its economy to those of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe through massive loans and investments.

Modi will travel to China again in June for a summit of the eight-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which is dominated by Beijing and Moscow. Along with China, Russia and India, that group includes the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as Pakistan.
…

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Suicide Bomber Kills 4 Somali Army Officers

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At least four Somali government soldiers have been killed and six wounded by a suicide bomber who attacked a tea restaurant in the divided town of Galkayo in central Somalia, witnesses and officials said Saturday. The attack happened on the northern side of the town controlled by the Puntland semi-autonomous region.

“A young man wearing a suicide vest rushed toward the restaurant where government security officials and their guards gathered and blew himself up,” a witnesses told VOA.

Government officials in the region have confirmed that two senior military commanders were among those killed in the attack.

Col. Abdi Hukun Abdullahi Mohamed, the commander of the town’s security patrol teams, senior Somali military official Abdikani Ahmed Geyre, another army colonel and one of their guards died in the attack, Somali security officials told VOA.

Galkayo is the provincial capital of the divided Mudug region of Somalia. The northern part of the town is controlled by the Puntland regional state, while the south is controlled by Galmudug regional state.

No one claimed immediate responsibility for the attack, but it had the hallmarks of an al-Shabab strike. That militant group has attacked dozens of government buildings, hotels, restaurants and other targets in Mogadishu in recent years.

The town’s mayor, Hirsi Yusuf Barre, told reporters they are investigating the attack.

The commanders targeted in this latest attack were in charge of hundreds of military officers from Galmudug and Puntland states, and they carry out joint patrols in the divided town as part of a cease-fire agreement brokered with help of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), United Nations and other partners in 2017.

Somalia has been gripped by conflict since the downfall of Mohamed Siad Barre in early 1991, when repeated and deadly inter-clan fighting claimed the lives of many innocent civilians. But for the major cities, including capital city, Mogadishu, the armed al-Shabab group has been one of the main causes of unrest in the past two decades.
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Suicide Bomber Kills 4 Somali Army Officers

ITafLeave a comment

At least four Somali government soldiers have been killed and six wounded by a suicide bomber who attacked a tea restaurant in the divided town of Galkayo in central Somalia, witnesses and officials said Saturday. The attack happened on the northern side of the town controlled by the Puntland semi-autonomous region.

“A young man wearing a suicide vest rushed toward the restaurant where government security officials and their guards gathered and blew himself up,” a witnesses told VOA.

Government officials in the region have confirmed that two senior military commanders were among those killed in the attack.

Col. Abdi Hukun Abdullahi Mohamed, the commander of the town’s security patrol teams, senior Somali military official Abdikani Ahmed Geyre, another army colonel and one of their guards died in the attack, Somali security officials told VOA.

Galkayo is the provincial capital of the divided Mudug region of Somalia. The northern part of the town is controlled by the Puntland regional state, while the south is controlled by Galmudug regional state.

No one claimed immediate responsibility for the attack, but it had the hallmarks of an al-Shabab strike. That militant group has attacked dozens of government buildings, hotels, restaurants and other targets in Mogadishu in recent years.

The town’s mayor, Hirsi Yusuf Barre, told reporters they are investigating the attack.

The commanders targeted in this latest attack were in charge of hundreds of military officers from Galmudug and Puntland states, and they carry out joint patrols in the divided town as part of a cease-fire agreement brokered with help of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), United Nations and other partners in 2017.

Somalia has been gripped by conflict since the downfall of Mohamed Siad Barre in early 1991, when repeated and deadly inter-clan fighting claimed the lives of many innocent civilians. But for the major cities, including capital city, Mogadishu, the armed al-Shabab group has been one of the main causes of unrest in the past two decades.
…

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Turkey: Ex-president Won’t Run Against Erdogan in Elections

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Former Turkish president Abdullah Gul has announced he would not be running in early elections, dispelling rumors of his candidacy.

Speaking in Istanbul Saturday, Gul said he would have considered running as a presidential candidate had there been “widespread agreement and desire” for him to do so. The ex-president left politics in 2014 but his name is often floated as a possible competitor to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan announced presidential and parliamentary elections would be moved forward by more than a year to June 24, catching opposition parties by surprise.

Gul, a founding member of Erdogan’s ruling party, briefly served as Turkey’s prime minister following elections that brought the party to power in 2002. He served as Erdogan’s foreign minister and Turkey’s eleventh president.
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Turkey: Ex-president Won’t Run Against Erdogan in Elections

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Former Turkish president Abdullah Gul has announced he would not be running in early elections, dispelling rumors of his candidacy.

Speaking in Istanbul Saturday, Gul said he would have considered running as a presidential candidate had there been “widespread agreement and desire” for him to do so. The ex-president left politics in 2014 but his name is often floated as a possible competitor to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan announced presidential and parliamentary elections would be moved forward by more than a year to June 24, catching opposition parties by surprise.

Gul, a founding member of Erdogan’s ruling party, briefly served as Turkey’s prime minister following elections that brought the party to power in 2002. He served as Erdogan’s foreign minister and Turkey’s eleventh president.
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