Month: September 2018

Macedonia’s President Calls Name Change ‘Historical Suicide’ 

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President Gjorge Ivanov on Thursday urged Macedonians to boycott a referendum on changing the country’s name, saying making such a change would amount to “historical suicide.”

“On September 30, I will not go out and vote, and I know that you, my fellow citizens, will make a similarly wise decision,” Ivanov said in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

Macedonians are being asked to change the name of their country to North Macedonia to end a decades-old dispute with neighboring Greece and pave the way for the country’s admission into NATO and the European Union.

Athens has argued that the name belongs exclusively to its northern province of Macedonia and that using the name implies Skopje’s intention to claim the Greek province.

Greece has for years pressured Skopje into renouncing the country’s name, forcing it to use the more formal moniker Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the United Nations.

It has also consistently blocked its smaller neighbor from gaining membership in NATO and the EU as long as it retains its name. 

Ivanov said giving into Athens’ demand would be a “flagrant violation of sovereignty.” He has steadfastly refused to back a deal reached between Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and his Greek counterpart, Alexis Tsipras, that put the name change to a vote.

“This referendum could lead us to become a subordinate state, dependent on another country,” Ivanov said. “We will become a state in name only, not in substance.”
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Boris Johnson Demands May Scrap Her Brexit Proposals

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Former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called on Prime Minister Theresa May to rip up her Brexit proposals, ratcheting up the pressure on May as she prepares to face her divided party at its annual conference in two days time.

“This is the moment to change the course of the negotiations and do justice to the ambitions and potential of Brexit,” Johnson wrote in Friday’s Daily Telegraph, adding a six-point alternative plan for Brexit.

“There has been a collective failure of government, and a collapse of will by the British establishment, to deliver on the mandate of the people,” he wrote.

Just six months before the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on March 29, 2019, little is clear: PM May has yet to clinch a Brexit divorce deal with the EU and rebels in her party have threatened to vote down any deal she makes.

Johnson, one the most prominent campaigners for Brexit in the 2016 referendum, resigned in July as foreign secretary over May’s Brexit proposals which he cast in his 4,600-word Daily Telegraph article as “enforced vassalage.”

May has repeatedly said her Brexit proposals are the only viable ones.
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UN Report: Peace Impossible in CAR Without Justice for Victims 

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A United Nations human rights expert warns true peace in Central African Republic will not be possible without justice for the hundreds of thousands of victims who have suffered violence and human rights abuse during more than five years of civil war. 

War between the Muslim Seleka and mainly Christian anti-Balaka groups in Central African Republic (CAR) has taken a heavy toll. The U.N. refugee agency reports nearly 582,000 people have fled as refugees to neighboring countries and more than 687,000 are internally displaced.

The Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in CAR says some crucial steps have been taken in establishing a system of transitional justice and peace in the country.  

Marie-Therese Keita Bocoum welcomes these moves but said the success of ongoing reforms can only be assured if they are based on justice for the victims. She said people in the country are still suffering from lack of consultation at all levels. 

“Their participation in peace cannot be optional,” Bochum said. “Their voice has to be heard alongside that of the government and the armed groups as well as part of the African Facilitators’ Panel. An inclusive panel needs to build in consultation with all swathes of the population reaching out to all the different tribes and the hundreds of thousands of CAR refugees.”  

Bocoum warns the situation of human rights is threatened by public incitement to violence and media sponsored hate speech by various factions. She says discrimination and marginalization based on religion and ethnicity also are of great concern.

The Central African Republic’s Ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Leopold Ismael Samba, says his country is committed to finding solutions to the violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. He says his government wants to restore true rule of law, ensuring peace and security throughout the territory.

But, he notes, these challenges can only be met with the support of the international community.
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Canada MPs Vote to Strip Aung San Suu Kyi of Citizenship

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Canadian legislators, in a symbolic move, voted unanimously Thursday to strip Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi of her honorary citizenship in response to crimes committed against the Rohingya minority in her country.

The move by the House of Commons has no effect because honorary citizenship is conferred by a joint resolution of both the House and the upper Senate chamber, and officials say it must be removed the same way. Aung San Suu Kyi received her honorary citizenship in 2007.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on Wednesday that he was open to looking at stripping Suu Kyi of the honor but said doing so would not end the crisis in Myanmar, where more than 700,000 Rohingya have fled a government crackdown.

The House of Commons last week unanimously voted to call the killings of Rohingya a genocide.

A U.S. government investigation last month found Myanmar’s military waged a “well-planned and coordinated” campaign of mass killings, gang rapes and other atrocities against the Rohingya.
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Turkey’s Erdogan Visits Berlin to Reset Relations 

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began a three-day state visit to Germany on Thursday, the latest step in rapprochement efforts after more than a year of acrimony that pushed bilateral ties to the breaking point.

In in op-ed in the Thursday edition of Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, Erdogan called for bilateral ties to “turn over a new page.”

The arrest of German citizens in Turkey has been a point of contention between the two NATO allies, and Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to press for their release. They include five Germans who Berlin says are being held for political reasons.

Turkey’s human rights record is also seen as a key obstacle in Erdogan’s talks with German leaders. Berlin is a strong critic of an ongoing crackdown following a 2016 coup attempt in Turkey, which led to the arrests of tens of thousands of people and the purging of just as many from their jobs. Erdogan last year accused Merkel of using Nazi tactics after Germany accepted thousands of political refugees in the wake of the failed coup against him.

Erdogan regularly dismisses international human rights criticism, saying the judiciary is functioning normally and merely defending democracy. Some analysts, however, say the human rights issue could sour hopes of a new Turkish-German relationship. They also say the Turkish president will be under pressure to accommodate some of Berlin’s demands.

Others predict that both sides may be keen to prevent human rights from scuppering reconciliation efforts. Berlin’s granting of a full state visit already is seen as a diplomatic victory for Erdogan.

‘Togetherness of necessity’

The Turkish leader now appears to be looking to the future, rather than dwelling on the past, according to analysts.

“It’s a marriage of logic, a togetherness of necessity — they may not love each other, but they have to come together because the strategic and geopolitical imperatives forced both sides together and there is no way out,” said international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University. “He [Erdogan] has seen in particular that without the German leader, you cannot do anything on the European continent.”

Erdogan is scheduled to hold several talks with Merkel during his three-day visit, as well as to attend a state banquet Friday in his honor, hosted by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Erdogan’s visit comes as the Turkish economy is facing a crisis, with the currency falling in value by more than 40 percent this year. Analysts predict the Turkish economy is likely to need considerable financial support, given that Turkey owes upward of $140 billion in foreign-denominated loans, much of which is due to be repaid over the next 12 months.

Ankara has repeatedly ruled out turning to the International Monetary Fund for help. Such a move, analysts say, would be politically toxic for Erdogan since he regularly touts freeing Turkey from dependence on IMF support as one of his most significant achievements.

Berlin, along with the wider European Union, is promoted in Turkey as an alternative to the IMF. German and Turkish finance ministers met earlier in September in Berlin for talks that reportedly included possible German financial support.

Johannes Hahn, EU enlargement commissioner, appeared, however, to rule out any wider EU support. “Turkey’s current economic problems are essentially homemade. The situation cannot be solved by the EU or single member states giving out aid packages or credit to Ankara,” he told the German Die Welt newspaper this week.

Separately, Christian Lindner, the leader of Germany’s pro-business Free Democrats, criticized the granting of the state visit, calling it a “propaganda victory” for Erdogan.

Ankara has significant leverage over Berlin in its role as gatekeeper for refugees and migrants entering the European Union. An EU deal with Ankara two years ago resulted in a dramatic drop in migrant numbers leaving Turkey for the EU. Erdogan frequently has warned of ending the agreement.

Opposition to Trump’s moves

U.S. President Donald Trump also is providing major impetus for improving relations between Erdogan and Merkel. The two leaders share opposition to Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and the reimposition of sanctions.

With key trading partner Iran providing oil for Turkey, Erdogan has ruled out imposing U.S. sanctions, putting Ankara on a collision course with Washington.

Trump warned Wednesday that anyone who did not comply with U.S. sanctions would “face severe consequences.” U.S.-Turkish relations continue to be profoundly strained for myriad reasons, and in August, U.S. tariffs imposed on Turkish goods triggered a collapse in Turkey’s currency.

Aydin Selcen, a former senior Turkish diplomat, underscores that Berlin is key for Ankara in resisting U.S.-Iranian sanctions.

“The biggest ally for Turkey will be the EU, and among the EU countries it obviously will be Germany, and that is why we must watch very carefully when Erdogan is in Berlin,” said Selcen.

Erdogan is likely to be buoyed by EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini’s Wednesday announcement of an initiative to create an alternative payment system to dollars in an effort to avoid U.S. sanctions in trading with Iran.

The Turkish president is likely to be offered the lure of long-term business contracts with German companies. German media reported manufacturing company Siemens is on the verge of a $35 billion deal to modernize Turkish railways. Analysts point out Ankara will be aware that such mammoth contracts provide an essential incentive to Berlin to support the Turkish economy.
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Angolan President, One Year In, Praised for Anti-Corruption Push

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Even the toughest critics of Angola’s government say that in just more than a year, President Joao Lourenco has accomplished more to stop corruption than any previous Angolan administration.

Lourenco took power last September after the retirement of longtime president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, whose cronies and family members are alleged to have controlled every important company and source of wealth in the country.  

But in the year since the transition, Lourenco has swept away an impressive number of allegedly corrupt top officials who, under dos Santos, were considered untouchable.  Most notably, the ex-president’s son Filomeno, who ran the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, was arrested this week on allegations of money-laundering, embezzlement, and fraud.

Journalist and human rights activist Rafael Marques, who was arrested and put on trial for his corruption exposés during the dos Santos era, says the new president deserves praise.

“I would give Lourenco an eight out of 10, simply because he inherited a country where corruption was so ingrained, so institutionalized, that it became the institution itself,” he told VOA.  “The government itself was corruption. I think he’s done that with – and deserves great credit for – what he’s done in terms of also letting the judiciary have the power to indict and arrest some of these most notorious, corrupt officials.”

And the purge has been rewarded, says Alex Vines, who heads the Africa Program for research group Chatham House.  The nation’s biggest investors, international oil and gas companies, have decided not to pull out of the resource-rich nation. But, he says, more needs to be done to rebuild the country.

“This is a transition process still, it will progress in fits and starts, but I think we are beginning to see that these reform efforts aren’t just about the consolidation of power from dos Santos to Lourenco, but is beginning to become a bit more equitable,” he said.  

Lourenco, he notes, is a shrewd politician, having risen to prominence within the ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola in 1984.  He now has to gird his party for its next challenge, Vines says.

 

“Mr. Lourenco, I think, has bought himself a couple of years of credit with the reforms that are going on,” he said.  “The honeymoon period is over.  But he will be severely tested, I think, in 2020, with the local elections, the first eve in Angola’s history, and the MPLA is worried that in certain districts in Angola, it might do poorly.  And so, these reforms are really all about the MPLA and about renewal.  And that is really what this is all about, I think.”

But Marques says for the party to pull ahead, it needs to improve the economy and ensure millions of unemployed Angolans can find jobs.

“He continues to have a very, an extremely, incompetent economic team,” Marques said.  “And these measures will not yield great results in terms of changes in the public life if his government is not competent enough to turn around the economic situation, create jobs for the economy and economic growth.”

 

 
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Indonesia’s National Gallery Hosts Art of Refugees, Highlighting Migrant Plight

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The National Gallery of Indonesia is usually associated with such artists as Raden Saleh, Affandi and other icons of the nation’s artistic history. This month it plays host to the works of asylum seekers and refugees in an exhibition entitled Berdiam/Bertandang, which means Stay/Visit.

With about 13,800 people identified as “persons of concern” by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) residing in Indonesia, the exhibit aims to raise awareness of their plight while they wait in an uncertain and increasingly prolonged “transit.”

The exhibition is partly the culmination of a program called Art for Refuge, established by 16-year-old Indonesian high school student Katrina Wardhana, to teach art to children and young people at the Jakarta-based Roshan Learning Center for refugees. 

“I felt art was like a really powerful tool where refugees in Indonesia can share their stories,” she told VOA.

Many from Afghanistan

About half of the refugees in Indonesia are from Afghanistan. Mumtaz Khan Chopan, a professional artist who arrived in Indonesia in 2013 and whose paintings were part of Berdiam/Bertandang, said being an artist in Afghanistan holds extreme risks. There are few art institutions, he said, restricting opportunities to “go and practice and talk to likeminded people, artists.” 

“Most of the people in Afghanistan believe that art is not a valuable thing,” he added. “Not only valuable, it’s not even allowed … but this does not mean that Afghanistan doesn’t have art.”

Binam, a 17-year-old from Afghanistan whose name has been changed to protect his identity, came to Indonesia three years ago as an unaccompanied minor and lives in a shelter provided by the UNHCR. He learned photography as part of Art for Refuge and his work appeared in Berdiam/Bertandang. 

“It’s my first work, exhibition and it’s a big exhibition,” he said. “I feel proud.”

​Stuck in Indonesia

Indonesia has historically been a transit country for refugees seeking asylum in third countries, particularly Australia. While Indonesia is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it also does not deport asylum seekers and refugees back to potential danger. Jakarta’s historical approach to refugees has been described by anthropologist Antje Missbach as a form of “benign neglect.”

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in January 2017 signed a presidential decree that for the first time acknowledged the presence of a refugee community in Indonesia as distinct from “illegal immigrants” and gave directives to various government institutions regarding their respective responsibilities in managing humanitarian aid. They continue to be denied the right to work, however, and opportunities for formal education are limited.

Moreover, resettlement in third countries such as Australia, the United States and Canada are increasingly unavailable to refugees residing in Indonesia. As of late 2017, the UNHCR reportedly began telling the refugee community there that resettlement elsewhere was highly unlikely for at least 10 to 15 years, if ever. 

“We have to live in shelter[s] because in here we can’t work,” Binam said. “And now there is no resettlement for the refugee from other countries.”

According to UNHCR data, 269 out of almost 4,000 refugee children in Indonesia are enrolled in accredited national schools. The work of the Roshan Learning Center and other community-led education initiatives are therefore vital. Mitra Salima Suryono, a spokesperson for UNHCR Jakarta, told VOA that “by doing such activities, it’s good because it keeps their hopes alive. What’s more important is that friendship between Indonesians and the refugees are getting tighter with initiatives like this.”

Building relationships

The main goal of Art for Refuge is boosting understanding about refugees in the broader community, said Wardhana, its founder.

“Having just found out about refugees only quite recently after my involvement at Roshan, I realized how unaware and un-talked-about the issue is here in Indonesia,” she said.

Chris Bunjuman, a photographer who taught teenagers through the program, encouraged his students to attend a public festival in Jakarta and take photos of 40 people with mustaches as an assignment. 

“Most of the time they always stay in the same community … they don’t really interact with people around them because of the language barrier,” he said. “Those assignments really pushed them, with their thinking … eventually they got out of their comfort zone.”

Alia Swastika, the curator of Berdiam/Bertandang, said that “the problem in Indonesia is that when we discuss about refugees they always think, ‘Oh, we have many other different problems that need to be solved and these are more related to Indonesian people themselves.’”

“People in Indonesia they are educated, of course they are very nice, but there is one thing they don’t know much about refugee[s] … what they are doing here,” said Chopan, the Afghan artist, who says he has found empowerment through the creative scene in Indonesia. “If I introduce myself to a person that I am a refugee, I get different reaction to if I say I am an artist.”
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Trump Press Conference: From George Washington to Elton John

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U.S. President Donald Trump strode up to the lectern and took stock of the world’s press in a five-star New York hotel.

“This is quite a gathering. Wow!” he crowed.

And so began 1 hour and 22 minutes with the world’s most powerful man, pumped by days of U.N. diplomacy and seething over Democratic opposition to his Supreme Court nominee, now fighting multiple allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior while a student.

Standing before a large row of American flags, the 45th president of the United States dealt with everything from China, Iran and the Kurds, to socialism, Justin Trudeau, women, the Supreme Court and Middle East peace.

Without notes and clearly relishing the occasion, he dished out compliments and made digs where he saw fit.

 

WATCH: Trump Accuses China of Meddling in US Elections at Press Conference

“You do a very good job,” he told a Fox reporter who asked about NAFTA.

“Say ‘thank you, Mr. Trump,’” he mocked when a New York Times journalist said the newspaper was thriving rather than failing, with circulation figures up under the Trump presidency.

From the Lotte New York Palace on Madison Avenue, a brisk seven-minute walk from his old penthouse home and real-estate company headquarters at Trump Tower, the 72-year-old president appeared ready to go on all night. 

Here is a sampling:

On Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh:

“If we brought George Washington here,” said an exasperated Trump of America’s first president and founding father, “the Democrats would vote against him, just so you understand, and he may have had a bad past, who knows.”

On sexual assault:

“I’ve had a lot of false charges made against me. Really false charges!” he said as journalists pointed out that he had been the accused of inappropriate sexual behavior in the past. “So when you say ‘does it affect me in terms of my thinking with respect to Judge Kavanaugh?’ Absolutely. Because I’ve had it many times.”

On women:

“I’ve always said, women are smarter than men.”

On the Kurds:

“They’re great people, they’re great fighters, I like them a lot,” he said, later calling on a journalist as “Yes please, Mr. Kurd.”

On U.N. laughter:

“They weren’t laughing at me, they were laughing with me,” he insisted of the laughter that broke out in the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday after Trump boasted that his administration had done more than any other in U.S. history.

On Xi Jinping:

“I will, tomorrow, make a call to him and say ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ Trump said with a smile after admitting that Xi “may not be a friend of mine anymore.

“They are doing studies on Donald Trump, they are trying to figure it all out,” he said in reference to apparent Chinese interest in an American president so different to his predecessors.

Ending on a high:

“Elton John said when you hit that last tune and it’s good, don’t go back,” he said, taking the last question and pondering on what happens when a performer doesn’t deliver a good encore after a rousing concert.

“They don’t hit it and … everyone leaves and they say ‘that wasn’t a very good concert, was it?’”
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Trump: New Sanctions Will Force Iran Back to Nuclear Talks

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U.S. President Donald Trump said “Iran has to come back and they have to talk” if it wants to avoid a new round of economic sanctions.

Speaking to reporters in New York Wednesday, the president defended his decision to withdraw from the 2015 six-nation agreement for Tehran to give up its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of crippling economic sanctions.

“Here’s the thing: they have rampant inflation,” Trump said. “They have rampant inflation, their money is worthless. Everything is going wrong.

“At some point I think they are going to want to come back and say can we do something. Very simple, I just don’t want them to have nuclear weapons,” he added.

​Taking on Iran, nuclear deal

Taking the gavel of the United Nations Security Council earlier in the day, Trump used most of his remarks on the theme of nuclear nonproliferation to criticize Iran, labeling the government the “world’s leading sponsor of terrorism.”

He claimed that “Iran’s aggression only increased” after the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Agreement (JCPOA) was signed. The Trump administration withdrew from the deal earlier this year.

Trump repeated his frequent assertion that the JCPOA, which was signed by his predecessor, Barack Obama, was a “horrible, one-sided” deal benefiting Iran.

“They needed cash,” Trump said. “We gave it to them.”

Trump added that Iran, “a regime with this track record, must never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon,” and warned that Washington will pursue even tougher sanctions against Tehran.

Speaking immediately after Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron said there needs to be a long-term strategy to manage the Iran issue and it cannot be done with just sanctions and containment.

Macron added that all countries share the same objective of preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

​Rouhani reacts

Speaking at a news conference shortly after the Security Council session, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the meeting, which he did not attend, showed how isolated the United States is in its decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal.

“And today in the U.N. Security Council it became clear that America is alone,” Rouhani told reporters. “All the countries that spoke in the U.N. Security Council supported the JCPOA, either directly or indirectly, and referred to the American action as an incorrect action.”

Rouhani dismissed additional sanctions President Trump said would go into effect in early November, saying there was “not much left” for the U.S. to do. He urged nations to “trample upon” the sanctions and ignore them, because they are “illegal” and contradict the U.N. Security Council resolution that endorsed the nuclear deal as international law.

“The most important substance of the discussion is that nearly all other council members reiterated their commitment to preserving the Joint Comprehensive Program of Action, despite U.S. opposition, while several members (notably UK, France, Netherlands, Sweden) expressed their strong concern about Iran’s other destabilizing activities,” said Thomas Countryman, former assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation and now chairman of the board for the Arms Control Association.

In addition to controlling the spread of nuclear weapons, Trump, in his remarks on the stated theme of the council’s meeting, said, “We must never forget the risk posed by biological and chemical weapons.”

The U.S. president noted action he has taken to respond to Syria’s use of chemical weapons against civilians during that country’s protracted civil war and said, “The Syrian regime’s butchery is enabled by Russia and Iran.”

But Trump expressed gratitude to Iran, Russia and Syria for slowing attacks in Idlib, saying, “Get the terrorists, but I hope the restraint continues.”

​US, North Korea

Trump told the Security Council that “many things are happening behind the scenes” between the United States and North Korea as they pursue denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Trump predicted that very good news will be coming out of North Korea “in coming days and years.”

Earlier Wednesday, Trump said his administration is planning a second summit with Kim and details will be announced soon.

“I’ll be meeting with Chairman Kim,” Trump told reporters arriving at the United Nation’s General Assembly. He said a date and location would be announced soon.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he is planning the summit and that it may take place after October. The State Department announced Pompeo will visit Pyongyang next month.

“We’re working diligently to make sure we get the conditions right so that we can accomplish as much as possible during the summit. But we hope it will be soon,” Pompeo told the program CBS This Morning. “It may happen in October, but more likely sometime after that.”

Pompeo’s remarks came one day after Trump touted his relationship with North Korea, telling the United Nations General Assembly it has helped ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

“The missiles and rockets are no longer flying in every direction, nuclear testing has stopped; some military facilities are already being dismantled,” Trump said.

Trump added that “much work remains to be done” with North Korea and said, “The sanctions will stay in place until denuclearization occurs.”

His comments about North Korea were in sharp contrast from those he delivered at the assembly last year, when he threatened to “totally destroy” the country and ridiculed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as “Rocket Man” who was on a “suicide mission.”

South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, personally relayed a message to Trump on Monday, telling him that Kim wants to meet him again soon to make progress on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Wednesday’s Security Council meeting, with a U.S. president taking the gavel for only the third time (Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama did it twice), comes one day after Trump called on world leaders during his address before the U.N. General Assembly to “isolate Iran’s regime as long as its aggression continues.”

VOA United Nations correspondent Margaret Besheer, Wayne Lee and Richard Green​ contributed to this report.
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Ban on Kenyan Lesbian Film Lifted for One Week

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After a months-long ban because of its lesbian love theme, the Kenyan film “Rafiki,” which means “friend” in Swahili, premiered for the first time in Nairobi following a Kenyan high court decision to allow the screening of the controversial film. VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo reports.
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Blind Kurdish Musician Experiences Life in US Through His Music

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The late reggae legend Bob Marley once sang: “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” For a young Kurdish immigrant living in San Diego, Marley’s observation rings true. Blind since birth, the young musician says music washes away his pain. VOA’s Lukman Ahmad visited the talented musician in San Diego, California, and filed this report, narrated by Bezhan Hamdard.
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US Congressional Panel Considers Ways to Respond to Rohingya Crisis

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VOA’s Greta Van Susteren told a congressional panel Tuesday that Rohingya refugees are vulnerable to human trafficking, exploitation and violent extremism. Van Susteren and Stephen Pomper, U.S. program director for the International Crisis Group, gave their testimonies on Myanmar’s persecuted Muslim group to the House Foreign Affairs Committee in a hearing on “Genocide Against the Burmese Rohingya.” VOA’S Zlatica Hoke has more.
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Trump Says Will Meet North Korea’s Kim ‘In Very Near Future’

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U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday his administration is planning a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and will announce details soon.

“I’ll be meeting with Chairman Kim in the very near future,” Trump told reporters at the United Nation’s General Assembly in New York.

Earlier Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he is planning the summit and that it may take place after October. Pompeo will brief U.N. Security Council ministers Thursday on efforts to denuclearize North Korea.

“We’re working diligently to make sure we get the conditions right so that we can accomplish as much as possible during the summit. But we hope it will be soon,” Pompeo told CBS This Morning. “It may happen in October, but more likely sometime after that.”

At a news conference in New York on the sidelines of the General Assembly meetings, President Trump refused to get pinned down on a timeline for North Korea’s denuclearization. 

“We are not playing the time game,” Trump said. “If it takes two years, three years or five months it doesn’t matter, there’s no nuclear testing and there’s no testing of rockets.”

Trump also dismissed critics who have said he gave up leverage by meeting with Kim before getting any guarantees. 

“I gave nothing, what have I given, other than some time? Yes, I flew to Singapore, we had a meeting,” the president said. “Giving would be if I took the sanctions off.” He also defended his decision to suspend last August’s scheduled joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises, saying he had saved U.S. taxpayers “a fortune.” North Korea says the drills are a hostile provocation.

President Trump also asserted, without any evidence, that his predecessor, President Barack Obama, was “ready to go to war” over the North Korean nuclear problem.

​”If I wasn’t elected you would have had a war,” Trump claimed. “President Obama thought you had to go to war. Do you know how close he was to pressing the trigger for war?” 

Trump also said he had received two “magnificent” letters from Kim Jong Un about his commitment to denuclearization. 

Earlier Wednesday, President Trump chaired a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, as the U.S. currently holds the rotating presidency. The topic was non-proliferation and he spoke about progress on the North Korean issue.

“I think we will make a deal,” he told a table of presidents and prime ministers. “But unfortunately to ensure this progress continues, we must enforce existing U.N. Security Council resolutions until the denuclearization occurs.”

He said many things are happening “behind the scenes” in a “very positive way.” He thanked the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea for the role they have played in the process. Of the North Korean leader, he said he is a man that he has “gotten to know and like” who wants peace and prosperity for his country. 

The two leaders’ meeting in Singapore in June produced a broad commitment from Kim to “work toward” denuclearization of the peninsula.

Despite Trump’s praise of Kim, the Trump administration has said Pyongyang is stalling in meeting the goals set in Singapore. Washington has demanded that North Korea produce an inventory of its weapons programs and that it takes irreversible steps to relinquish a nuclear arsenal that poses a potential threat to the United States.
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Somalia to Get First Direct World Bank Grants in Decades

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Somalia’s finance minister says World Bank grants to the government are a sign the country has “trustable leadership” again after decades of chaos and corruption.

The World Bank said Tuesday it will provide $80 million in grants to Somalia’s federal government, the bank’s first direct grants to a Somali central authority in 27 years.

In an interview with VOA’s Somali service, Finance Minister Abdirahman Duale Beileh said the grants are “proof of Somalia’s merit.”

Beileh said $60 million will be used to increase the capacity of Somalia’s financial institutions, and $20 million will go toward education and energy projects to build the country’s resilience.

He said the grants show that international financial agencies have faith the government is capable of fighting against corruption.

“The work we have done and the trustworthiness we have earned brought us here,” he said. 

The World Bank cut ties with Somalia in 1991, following the collapse of the Mohamed Siad Barre government and the start of a long civil war.

Beileh said that in recent years, Somalia’s government has made tangible improvement in management of the economy and its institutions.

However, the latest global index of Transparency International put Somalia as the world’s most corrupt country.

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohammed, also known as Farmajo, took power last year in an election by parliament that observers said was characterized by bribes and vote-buying.

Beileh acknowledged the government’s fight against corruption is “far from over.”

“There is a perception that Somalia cannot be trusted because of its corruption history. Most of that is not perception,” he said.

He added: “We are proud that we made progress to at least a transparent level that both the World Bank and the IMF can notice.”
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Russian Officer Named in Britain Nerve Agent Poisoning

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A group of British investigative journalists have identified a highly decorated member of the Russian military intelligence agency (GRU) as one of two men accused of trying to assassinate an ex-Russian spy and his daughter in Britain earlier this year.

British prosecutors have charged two Russians, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, of trying to kill Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, with the Soviet nerve agent Novichok in the English city of Salisbury on March 4. 

On Wednesday, the investigative website Bellingcat reported that Boshirov was actually Col.  Anatoliy Chepiga, who was awarded Russia’s highest honor — Hero of the Russian Federation — in 2014.

The New York Times reported that the Russian news outlet Insider has confirmed Bellingcat’s findings. 

British authorities say the suspects arrived at London’s Gatwick airport two days before the poisoning took place.  

Their journey from a London hotel to the crime scene in Salisbury was tracked by security cameras. The two men then flew out of Heathrow Airport back to Russia the same evening.

Boshirov and Petrov were charged in absentia with carrying out the attack. In an interview on the Kremlin-funded RT channel, they denied they were GRU agents and claimed to work instead in the nutrient supplements business. The suspects said they visited Salisbury to see its famous cathedral and did not know Skripal or where he lived.

Britain quickly rejected the claims. 

“The government is clear,” Britain said, that the men “used a devastating toxic, illegal chemical weapon on the streets of our country.” 

Skripal and his daughter recovered from the attack, but a British woman who touched a discarded perfume bottle that contained the nerve agent died. 

Ken Bredemeier contributed to this report.
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