Month: February 2019

Hanoi Summit Sparks Optimism, But Called Moment of Truth

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The second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in roughly two weeks is being seen by some as cause for optimism, but also as a moment of truth.

Park In-hook, the president of the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies, said during the organization’s inaugural trilateral conference on China, U.S., and South Korean issues, there’s a lot of emphasis on the February 27-28 talks in Hanoi “because there is some phobia that this might be the last chance.”

Real results expected in Hanoi

Former U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Joseph Yun said the international community had the right to expect results from the Hanoi summit.

“The first meeting (Singapore summit) succeeded in breaking a barrier, [the] second meeting must show results… [there] are two underlying issues. One is denuclearization and a second is building a peace process,” said Yun.

He added there is a fear in the United States that getting into a peace track might lead to the acceptance of nuclear weapons in North Korea.

“Many people in Washington are worried about this concept of denuclearization through peace, because that seems to most Americans… backwards. It should be denuclearization first, then peace,” said Yun.

Recently, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun spent nearly three days engaged in talks with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Hyok Chol, in Pyongyang. While Biegun called the discussions “productive,” he also noted that much work still needed to be done.

“President Trump has made clear, both to North Korea as well as to our team, that he expects significant and verifiable progress on denuclearization — actions that are bold, and real to emerge from that next summit,” said Biegun.

Robert Einhorn, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, said the Trump administration is “getting a lot more realistic” about what’s needed for serious negotiations to take place in Hanoi.

“We are unlikely to learn whether Kim Jong Un is really willing to give up his nuclear weapons,” Einhorn said. He added that he “strongly doubts” the Trump administration can secure a commitment from North Korea to completely denuclearize.  

But he added there is an alternative course of action than returning to a “strategy of squeezing the North Koreans economically, deterring North Korea’s aggressive behavior, and eventually bring about its fundamental transformation or collapse.”

“Negotiate an interim agreement that would cap, and perhaps reduce, North Korea’s nuclear and missile capabilities,” he said.

It’s something Einhorn believes would allow North Korea and the United States to continue negotiations toward the goal of complete denuclearization, but without a deadline.

Such a deal would have some disadvantages, he said, but it could also limit Pyongyang’s weapons development progress and open channels of communication that could be used to pursue confidence-building measures to reduce tensions and avoid dangerous miscalculations.

Can the process move forward?

Despite a general sense of optimism surrounding the upcoming summit, there is still the possibility of continued “stagnation,” or the status quo, said Zhang Fangming, chairman of the Academic Committee of the Center for Foreign Policy Studies at the China Foundation for International Strategic Studies.

He said this may happen if “[North Korea] refuses to make a nuclear declaration in any form at the current stage or does not accept verification of its declaration.”

Another scenario that may perpetuate the status quo revolves around the U.S. Congress’ response to the summit and if they refuse to gradually lift sanctions against Pyongyang without it first comprehensively abandoning its nuclear program or making a comprehensive declaration.

Zhang said the “only correct choice is to jointly make [a] long term and worthy effort for the full denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.”

But Kim Sung-han, South Korea’s former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said President Trump may agree to “something attractive to the U.S. for the easing of sanctions on North Korea.”

“President Trump could choose a part of the North Korean nuclear problem… like ICMBs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) because they are the most threatening to the safety of U.S. citizens,” said Kim.

But the problem, according to Kim Sung-han, is that if, after two summits, Trump and Kim do not come to an agreement where Pyongyang declares its nuclear capability, then the United States would be acquiescing to North Korea’s tactics.

Handong Global University professor Kim Joonhyung said both Kim Jong Un and President Trump are aware of the criticisms.

He said the Hanoi meeting is very much a “moment of truth.”

“If this [summit] fails,” he said, he doesn’t think there will be future meetings between the two leaders.

He added that the big question for the upcoming summit is, “How much sanctions relief Trump is willing to offer in exchange for [partial denuclearization.]”

 

 
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Peace Remains Elusive in Libya

ITafLeave a comment

On February 17, eight years ago, Libyans rose up and launched a rebellion that led to the ouster of autocrat Col. Moammar Gadhafi. The high expectations of what life would be like without Gadhafi are no nearer being met — hope has given way to despair with the north African country frozen in a multi-sided conflict dividing regions, towns and involving dozens of rival militias.

This year, as it has every anniversary since 2012, Tripoli’s Martyr’s Square will once again be crowded with revelers waving the red, black and green national flag. Revolutionary music will blare from makeshift loudspeakers.

But the anniversary is likely to be more subdued. For many Libyans the commemoration will be a far cry from the joy of the first post-uprising anniversary when Gadhafi’s fall was fresh and people were still relishing a new freedom to say what they liked.

Back then Libyans excitedly predicted their country was destined to become a ‘Dubai on the Mediterranean.’ Now Libya appears further away from fulfilling that prophecy.

Since Gadhafi’s ouster and gruesome death on a desert road outside the coastal city of Sirte, Libya has seen a series of prime ministers and U.N. envoys, all of whom have failed to piece together a fractured country and arrive at a political settlement to bring stability and end lawlessness.

Divisions between Western powers — especially between Italy and France — over the best strategy to pursue, as well as a vague U.N. road-map, have not helped, say analysts. Nor has the agitation by other outside powers all armed with regional agendas and backing competing groups.

Chief among them are an internationally recognized Government of National Accord led by Fayez al-Sarraj in Tripoli and a rival administration in Libya’s east loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar, a former Gadhafi general who broke with the autocrat and lived in exile in the United States for many years. He has the backing of the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Russia and France.

U.N. officials say Haftar still harbors ambitions to pull off a military solution. But despite progress this week in capturing the city of Derna from al-Qaida-linked militants and his offensive in the fractious south, where his forces took control of Libya’s largest oilfield, Haftar doesn’t have the capacity, they say, to impose his will on the West of the country and the powerful militias of Tripoli and Misrata.

But the splits are more Byzantine than West versus East. In the south there are ethnic and tribal feuds and the country is a jigsaw puzzle of rival militias and warlords. They have little incentive to disband and much invested in the chaos that has enriched them.  

A reconciliation conference had been scheduled for last month, but failed to meet — to the frustration of U.N. envoy Ghassan Salamé. The conference was intended to have been a precursor for presidential and parliamentary elections this spring designed to repair the entrenched splits paralyzing the country.

Speaking to the U.N. Security Council in January, Salamé declined to set a date for the conference, but said he hoped it would be staged “in the coming weeks.”

He warned the Council the clock was ticking. “We can fight fires, but eventually there will be an inferno that cannot be extinguished, so we must go beyond and tackle the underlying dysfunctionalities of the Libyan state. The political deadlock has been underpinned by a complex web of narrow interests, a broken legal framework and the pillaging of Libya’s great wealth,” he said.

But the U.N. road-map, drafted in 2017, has been faulted as ill-defined and impractical by some influential analysts, who say it fails to cover many crucial topics such as the issue of decentralization and the sharing of the country’s oil revenue between regions and is confusing about the timing of a referendum on a draft constitution and elections.

Critics also say the United Nations places too much faith on formal domestic political leaders who have no real power, which they say rests more with militias and their warlords.

On Monday, the African Union backed the idea of elections, saying it planned in conjunction with the U.N. to hold an international conference to discuss the Libya crisis in July as a stepping stone for nationwide elections earmarked for October.

Some political analysts are skeptical of continuing with the U.N. plan. Nationwide elections are unworkable, they say, and risk inflaming rivalries and triggering more violence. “The level of insecurity in the country may lead to low turnout,” according to analysts Karim Mezran and Wolfgang Pusztai.

“The low level of security will be exploited by spoilers to undermine the credibility of the new parliament. There will be difficulties also in staging an effective electoral campaign in such a fragmented environment and with a barely-functioning media,” they say. “These and other considerations show that the country is not ready for elections in any aspect, neither from a legal nor from an organizational point of view and that premature elections would be very risky and could even accelerate the descent of the country into much more violent confrontations between the various armed actors.”

In a recently published paper by the U.S.-based Brookings Institution, the Mezran and Pusztai argue for a city-based strategy for Libya’s rebuilding and a restoration of order, pointing out that there are islands of stability within the overall mess. “Much of the emphasis should shift to local actors—elected municipal governments, supportive militias that are willing to abide by higher standards of behavior and cease criminal misconduct, and civil society groups,” they say.

Their idea is that while the international community rewards individual, functioning municipalities, national-level efforts should continue as well with a focus on building up the coast guard and elite security forces to guard key national assets and personnel and to promote economic reforms.

They identify the United States as the key to progress, saying its leadership is indispensable and has advantages in becoming the arbiter because of its “distance from Libya, its relative disengagement from the country in recent times, and its relationships with European allies as well as Persian Gulf partners.”

 

Either way, the drift and disorder in Libya risks contagion, warn analysts. Islamic State adherents  have carried out a series of bombings, including one in December on the foreign ministry in Tripoli that left two dead, and in May they stormed and set fire to the headquarters of Libya’s electoral commission, killing at least a dozen people and coming close to murdering visiting Western advisers.

In the south, Libya’s porous and long borders with Chad, Niger and Sudan remain easily crossed by people smugglers and jihadists alike.

 
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Peace Remains Elusive in Libya

ITafLeave a comment

On February 17, eight years ago, Libyans rose up and launched a rebellion that led to the ouster of autocrat Col. Moammar Gadhafi. The high expectations of what life would be like without Gadhafi are no nearer being met — hope has given way to despair with the north African country frozen in a multi-sided conflict dividing regions, towns and involving dozens of rival militias.

This year, as it has every anniversary since 2012, Tripoli’s Martyr’s Square will once again be crowded with revelers waving the red, black and green national flag. Revolutionary music will blare from makeshift loudspeakers.

But the anniversary is likely to be more subdued. For many Libyans the commemoration will be a far cry from the joy of the first post-uprising anniversary when Gadhafi’s fall was fresh and people were still relishing a new freedom to say what they liked.

Back then Libyans excitedly predicted their country was destined to become a ‘Dubai on the Mediterranean.’ Now Libya appears further away from fulfilling that prophecy.

Since Gadhafi’s ouster and gruesome death on a desert road outside the coastal city of Sirte, Libya has seen a series of prime ministers and U.N. envoys, all of whom have failed to piece together a fractured country and arrive at a political settlement to bring stability and end lawlessness.

Divisions between Western powers — especially between Italy and France — over the best strategy to pursue, as well as a vague U.N. road-map, have not helped, say analysts. Nor has the agitation by other outside powers all armed with regional agendas and backing competing groups.

Chief among them are an internationally recognized Government of National Accord led by Fayez al-Sarraj in Tripoli and a rival administration in Libya’s east loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar, a former Gadhafi general who broke with the autocrat and lived in exile in the United States for many years. He has the backing of the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Russia and France.

U.N. officials say Haftar still harbors ambitions to pull off a military solution. But despite progress this week in capturing the city of Derna from al-Qaida-linked militants and his offensive in the fractious south, where his forces took control of Libya’s largest oilfield, Haftar doesn’t have the capacity, they say, to impose his will on the West of the country and the powerful militias of Tripoli and Misrata.

But the splits are more Byzantine than West versus East. In the south there are ethnic and tribal feuds and the country is a jigsaw puzzle of rival militias and warlords. They have little incentive to disband and much invested in the chaos that has enriched them.  

A reconciliation conference had been scheduled for last month, but failed to meet — to the frustration of U.N. envoy Ghassan Salamé. The conference was intended to have been a precursor for presidential and parliamentary elections this spring designed to repair the entrenched splits paralyzing the country.

Speaking to the U.N. Security Council in January, Salamé declined to set a date for the conference, but said he hoped it would be staged “in the coming weeks.”

He warned the Council the clock was ticking. “We can fight fires, but eventually there will be an inferno that cannot be extinguished, so we must go beyond and tackle the underlying dysfunctionalities of the Libyan state. The political deadlock has been underpinned by a complex web of narrow interests, a broken legal framework and the pillaging of Libya’s great wealth,” he said.

But the U.N. road-map, drafted in 2017, has been faulted as ill-defined and impractical by some influential analysts, who say it fails to cover many crucial topics such as the issue of decentralization and the sharing of the country’s oil revenue between regions and is confusing about the timing of a referendum on a draft constitution and elections.

Critics also say the United Nations places too much faith on formal domestic political leaders who have no real power, which they say rests more with militias and their warlords.

On Monday, the African Union backed the idea of elections, saying it planned in conjunction with the U.N. to hold an international conference to discuss the Libya crisis in July as a stepping stone for nationwide elections earmarked for October.

Some political analysts are skeptical of continuing with the U.N. plan. Nationwide elections are unworkable, they say, and risk inflaming rivalries and triggering more violence. “The level of insecurity in the country may lead to low turnout,” according to analysts Karim Mezran and Wolfgang Pusztai.

“The low level of security will be exploited by spoilers to undermine the credibility of the new parliament. There will be difficulties also in staging an effective electoral campaign in such a fragmented environment and with a barely-functioning media,” they say. “These and other considerations show that the country is not ready for elections in any aspect, neither from a legal nor from an organizational point of view and that premature elections would be very risky and could even accelerate the descent of the country into much more violent confrontations between the various armed actors.”

In a recently published paper by the U.S.-based Brookings Institution, the Mezran and Pusztai argue for a city-based strategy for Libya’s rebuilding and a restoration of order, pointing out that there are islands of stability within the overall mess. “Much of the emphasis should shift to local actors—elected municipal governments, supportive militias that are willing to abide by higher standards of behavior and cease criminal misconduct, and civil society groups,” they say.

Their idea is that while the international community rewards individual, functioning municipalities, national-level efforts should continue as well with a focus on building up the coast guard and elite security forces to guard key national assets and personnel and to promote economic reforms.

They identify the United States as the key to progress, saying its leadership is indispensable and has advantages in becoming the arbiter because of its “distance from Libya, its relative disengagement from the country in recent times, and its relationships with European allies as well as Persian Gulf partners.”

 

Either way, the drift and disorder in Libya risks contagion, warn analysts. Islamic State adherents  have carried out a series of bombings, including one in December on the foreign ministry in Tripoli that left two dead, and in May they stormed and set fire to the headquarters of Libya’s electoral commission, killing at least a dozen people and coming close to murdering visiting Western advisers.

In the south, Libya’s porous and long borders with Chad, Niger and Sudan remain easily crossed by people smugglers and jihadists alike.

 
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Hopes High Before Kenya Ruling on Decriminalizing Gay Sex

ITafLeave a comment

Members of Kenya’s LGBT community are looking forward to a High Court ruling that might decriminalize gay sex. The impending ruling is raising hopes among LGBT persons across the region.

South of Nairobi, in a remote town, models are in training in a safe house tucked in a quiet neighborhood. These are not just any models. These are LGBT refugees from Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.

Most fled persecution from their home countries because of their sexual orientation.

Lubega Musa, 27, fled to Kenya in 2015. He, together with other LGBT refugees, started an economic empowerment program called Lunco Haute Cotoure, whose activities focus on fashion, design and music.

“There are things we would love to do as Lunco Houte Cotoure for the gay community openly, but we cannot do them because of the law,” Musa said. “So, if there is change in the law, if same-sex becomes legal in Kenya, we as artists, we work with the gay community. The situation will be much better for us to exhibit our talent, and you know the LGBT community is one that is most talented in the arts.”

 

WATCH: Kenya High Court Ruling on Decriminalizing Gay Sex Awaited 

High Court ruling

Kenya’s High Court will rule this month on whether to repeal Section 162 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes gay sex.

In Kenya, one can be sentenced to up to 14 years for violating the law.

Activists say the case is a milestone in the fight for LGBT rights in the region.

“This is an opportunity for LGBTI people to claim their spaces,” said Brian Macharia, a gay rights activist. “Whether we win this case or not, there is visibility that is coming by the fact that we managed to get this far at the courts, that we got a lot of Kenyans thinking and talking about this.”

Homophobic attacks are common in Kenya, as a majority of the population objects to homosexuality.

​Too soon, some say

Charles Kanjama, the lead lawyer representing the Kenya Christian Professionals Forum in the case, says Kenya is not ready to accept homosexuality.

“We think that it is in the interest of our country, as do most other Africans in this continent in which we live, to outlaw homosexuality. That is gay sex in particular, and any manifestations as promotion or propagandizing in favor of gay sex, so that we can try as much as possible to encourage and promote healthy sexual behavior,” he said.

Activists in Africa and elsewhere are campaigning against penal codes that criminalize gay sex, most of which date from the colonial period.

The laws in many countries are being overturned. India scrapped them last year. Angola in January.

Kenya might do it in a matter of weeks.

However the High Court rules, both sides are likely to appeal to the Supreme Court if they lose.
…

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Hopes High Before Kenya Ruling on Decriminalizing Gay Sex

ITafLeave a comment

Members of Kenya’s LGBT community are looking forward to a High Court ruling that might decriminalize gay sex. The impending ruling is raising hopes among LGBT persons across the region.

South of Nairobi, in a remote town, models are in training in a safe house tucked in a quiet neighborhood. These are not just any models. These are LGBT refugees from Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.

Most fled persecution from their home countries because of their sexual orientation.

Lubega Musa, 27, fled to Kenya in 2015. He, together with other LGBT refugees, started an economic empowerment program called Lunco Haute Cotoure, whose activities focus on fashion, design and music.

“There are things we would love to do as Lunco Houte Cotoure for the gay community openly, but we cannot do them because of the law,” Musa said. “So, if there is change in the law, if same-sex becomes legal in Kenya, we as artists, we work with the gay community. The situation will be much better for us to exhibit our talent, and you know the LGBT community is one that is most talented in the arts.”

 

WATCH: Kenya High Court Ruling on Decriminalizing Gay Sex Awaited 

High Court ruling

Kenya’s High Court will rule this month on whether to repeal Section 162 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes gay sex.

In Kenya, one can be sentenced to up to 14 years for violating the law.

Activists say the case is a milestone in the fight for LGBT rights in the region.

“This is an opportunity for LGBTI people to claim their spaces,” said Brian Macharia, a gay rights activist. “Whether we win this case or not, there is visibility that is coming by the fact that we managed to get this far at the courts, that we got a lot of Kenyans thinking and talking about this.”

Homophobic attacks are common in Kenya, as a majority of the population objects to homosexuality.

​Too soon, some say

Charles Kanjama, the lead lawyer representing the Kenya Christian Professionals Forum in the case, says Kenya is not ready to accept homosexuality.

“We think that it is in the interest of our country, as do most other Africans in this continent in which we live, to outlaw homosexuality. That is gay sex in particular, and any manifestations as promotion or propagandizing in favor of gay sex, so that we can try as much as possible to encourage and promote healthy sexual behavior,” he said.

Activists in Africa and elsewhere are campaigning against penal codes that criminalize gay sex, most of which date from the colonial period.

The laws in many countries are being overturned. India scrapped them last year. Angola in January.

Kenya might do it in a matter of weeks.

However the High Court rules, both sides are likely to appeal to the Supreme Court if they lose.
…

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US Military Denies Taking Part in Raid on Al-Qaida Site in Libya

ITamLeave a comment

The U.S. military denied on Thursday taking part in a raid on an al-Qaida site in the Libyan city of Ubari, contradicting a statement by a Libyan official.

The spokesperson for Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the Presidency Council of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord of Libya, said in a statement late Wednesday that a site with a number of al-Qaida members in Ubari was “raided” by joint U.S.-Libyan forces.

“This joint work between the Presidency Council of the Government of National Accord and the U.S. Government coincided with the meeting of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Foreign Minister Mohamed Sayala at the Global Coalition To Defeat Islamic State meeting last week,” spokesperson Mohamed El Sallak said in the statement.

But U.S. Africa Command, which is responsible for American troops in the area, said that although the United States supports what is described as counterterrorism efforts of the U.N.-recognized Libyan government, U.S. forces were not involved in the raid.

“U.S. Africa Command was not involved in the reported raid of an al-Qaeda site in Ubari, Libya, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019,” it said in a statement. “U.S. Africa Command has not conducted any air strikes in Libya in 2019.”
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US Military Denies Taking Part in Raid on Al-Qaida Site in Libya

ITamLeave a comment

The U.S. military denied on Thursday taking part in a raid on an al-Qaida site in the Libyan city of Ubari, contradicting a statement by a Libyan official.

The spokesperson for Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the Presidency Council of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord of Libya, said in a statement late Wednesday that a site with a number of al-Qaida members in Ubari was “raided” by joint U.S.-Libyan forces.

“This joint work between the Presidency Council of the Government of National Accord and the U.S. Government coincided with the meeting of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Foreign Minister Mohamed Sayala at the Global Coalition To Defeat Islamic State meeting last week,” spokesperson Mohamed El Sallak said in the statement.

But U.S. Africa Command, which is responsible for American troops in the area, said that although the United States supports what is described as counterterrorism efforts of the U.N.-recognized Libyan government, U.S. forces were not involved in the raid.

“U.S. Africa Command was not involved in the reported raid of an al-Qaeda site in Ubari, Libya, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019,” it said in a statement. “U.S. Africa Command has not conducted any air strikes in Libya in 2019.”
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Trump Enters Obese Range, But Still in ‘Good Health,’ Exam Shows

ITamLeave a comment

President Donald Trump has put on a few pounds over the past year and is now in the obese range, although he remains in “very good health overall,” according to the results of a physical examination conducted last week.

“After taking into account all the laboratory results, examinations and specialist recommendations, it is my determination that the president remains in very good health overall,” the president’s physician, Sean Conley, wrote in a memo Thursday. A copy of the memo was released by the White House.

The memo, which detailed the findings of an examination of Trump that Conley led Friday, said the 72-year-old president weighed 243 pounds (110.2 kg), up from 239 pounds (108.4 kg) in early 2018.

The findings pushed Trump into the obese range under a widely used government body mass index that aims to measure body fat based on height and weight.

Little more than a year ago, Trump’s doctor directed him to try to lose 10 to 15 pounds (4.5 to 6.8 kg) by eating better and exercising.

Aides say he now eats more fish than he used to but still enjoys steaks, well done with ketchup on the side, and fried potatoes prepared by the chefs at the White House and at the Trump International Hotel in Washington. Trump also has long had a well-documented fondness for fast food.

In his memo, Conley said he had increased the amount of rosuvastatin the president takes. The drug aims to lower LDL, or so-called bad cholesterol, while raising HDL, or good cholesterol. Over the past year, Trump’s LDL count fell, but so did his HDL count, the exam results showed.
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Ireland Under Pressure Over Border Plans for No-Deal Brexit

ITeuLeave a comment

The European Union will give Ireland some leeway to establish new border arrangements with Northern Ireland in case of a no-deal Brexit, sources in the bloc’s political hub Brussels said.

But they said Dublin would soon have to come up with a plan to ensure the integrity of the EU’s single market or face checks on its own goods coming into the rest of the bloc.

“Ireland can get transition periods or some temporary opt-outs on the border in the worst-case scenario,” a senior EU diplomat said.

“But soon enough it will have to face up to the fact that either there is a border on the island or a border between Ireland and the rest of the EU,” the person added.

EU diplomats and officials dealing with Brexit admit it is impossible to set up full border controls overnight as should theoretically be the case if the United Kingdom leaves the bloc without a divorce settlement on March 29.

The issue of a “hard border” on the island of Ireland has hung over Brexit negotiations from the start and is threatening to sink the divorce deal put together over months of painstaking EU-U.K. talks as the British parliament opposes the Irish “backstop” part of it.

The “backstop” is meant as a last resort, a way to prevent full-blown border controls on goods crossing between EU-state Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland.

But without a U.K.-EU free trade deal, yet to be negotiated, that would tie the latter to the bloc’s trade rules — anathema to hardline pro-Brexit supporters in Britain and British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Northern Irish allies who say it would weaken the province’s links with the rest of the country.

Many in Britain, Ireland and the rest of the EU also fear the return of border checks could reignite violence and make checkpoints a target.

In 1998, Britain and Ireland made the Good Friday Agreement to end 30 years of sectarian violence over whether Northern Ireland should remain British or join the Irish Republic. With both states in the EU, checks along the 500-km (300-mile) land border ended.

“The Irish-Irish border is a European border. The Brexit issue is not a bilateral question between the Republic of Ireland and the U.K. It’s a European issue,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said after talks with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Brussels this month.

Asked to comment on the matter in the Irish parliament Thursday, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said: “Deal or no deal, there is an obligation on the Irish and British governments, and the EU to try and work together to find a way of avoiding physical border infrastructure on this island.”

Hard choice

But an EU official familiar with the bloc’s preparations for a no-deal Brexit said: “In a no-deal scenario, Ireland would have to choose between setting up a physical border with Northern Ireland and de facto leaving the single market.

“If there is no physical border, the customs checks would have to take place on all goods coming from Ireland.”

The EU has made a point of publishing contingency plans for areas from transport to social benefits to university exchanges as the risk of an abrupt split grows. But it has kept silent on the Irish border.

Varadkar’s stark warning last month that the army may have to be deployed to the border “if things go very wrong” highlighted the risks.

The threat that Ireland could lose at least some access to the EU market is not lost on Varadkar who in Brussels spoke of Dublin’s readiness to protect the bloc’s common economic area.

“It’s core to our economic and industrial strategy, core to our prosperity,” he said standing side-by-side with Juncker, promising Ireland would not become a “back door” to the EU.

But while Ireland is promising the EU it would implement border checks, Varadkar also said: “We are making no preparations, no plans for physical infrastructure on the border.”

EU and Irish sources say the only way to ensure customs controls while avoiding border infrastructure is the backstop.

It envisages that many checks would be carried out away from the actual frontier — in market places or production sites.

“It is not possible to erect a border. It’s just impossible and a different solution needs to be found,” said a second EU official dealing with Brexit. “The backstop is our template. It is a solution that is ready and it works.”
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Ireland Under Pressure Over Border Plans for No-Deal Brexit

ITeuLeave a comment

The European Union will give Ireland some leeway to establish new border arrangements with Northern Ireland in case of a no-deal Brexit, sources in the bloc’s political hub Brussels said.

But they said Dublin would soon have to come up with a plan to ensure the integrity of the EU’s single market or face checks on its own goods coming into the rest of the bloc.

“Ireland can get transition periods or some temporary opt-outs on the border in the worst-case scenario,” a senior EU diplomat said.

“But soon enough it will have to face up to the fact that either there is a border on the island or a border between Ireland and the rest of the EU,” the person added.

EU diplomats and officials dealing with Brexit admit it is impossible to set up full border controls overnight as should theoretically be the case if the United Kingdom leaves the bloc without a divorce settlement on March 29.

The issue of a “hard border” on the island of Ireland has hung over Brexit negotiations from the start and is threatening to sink the divorce deal put together over months of painstaking EU-U.K. talks as the British parliament opposes the Irish “backstop” part of it.

The “backstop” is meant as a last resort, a way to prevent full-blown border controls on goods crossing between EU-state Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland.

But without a U.K.-EU free trade deal, yet to be negotiated, that would tie the latter to the bloc’s trade rules — anathema to hardline pro-Brexit supporters in Britain and British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Northern Irish allies who say it would weaken the province’s links with the rest of the country.

Many in Britain, Ireland and the rest of the EU also fear the return of border checks could reignite violence and make checkpoints a target.

In 1998, Britain and Ireland made the Good Friday Agreement to end 30 years of sectarian violence over whether Northern Ireland should remain British or join the Irish Republic. With both states in the EU, checks along the 500-km (300-mile) land border ended.

“The Irish-Irish border is a European border. The Brexit issue is not a bilateral question between the Republic of Ireland and the U.K. It’s a European issue,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said after talks with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Brussels this month.

Asked to comment on the matter in the Irish parliament Thursday, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said: “Deal or no deal, there is an obligation on the Irish and British governments, and the EU to try and work together to find a way of avoiding physical border infrastructure on this island.”

Hard choice

But an EU official familiar with the bloc’s preparations for a no-deal Brexit said: “In a no-deal scenario, Ireland would have to choose between setting up a physical border with Northern Ireland and de facto leaving the single market.

“If there is no physical border, the customs checks would have to take place on all goods coming from Ireland.”

The EU has made a point of publishing contingency plans for areas from transport to social benefits to university exchanges as the risk of an abrupt split grows. But it has kept silent on the Irish border.

Varadkar’s stark warning last month that the army may have to be deployed to the border “if things go very wrong” highlighted the risks.

The threat that Ireland could lose at least some access to the EU market is not lost on Varadkar who in Brussels spoke of Dublin’s readiness to protect the bloc’s common economic area.

“It’s core to our economic and industrial strategy, core to our prosperity,” he said standing side-by-side with Juncker, promising Ireland would not become a “back door” to the EU.

But while Ireland is promising the EU it would implement border checks, Varadkar also said: “We are making no preparations, no plans for physical infrastructure on the border.”

EU and Irish sources say the only way to ensure customs controls while avoiding border infrastructure is the backstop.

It envisages that many checks would be carried out away from the actual frontier — in market places or production sites.

“It is not possible to erect a border. It’s just impossible and a different solution needs to be found,” said a second EU official dealing with Brexit. “The backstop is our template. It is a solution that is ready and it works.”
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Report: Education Department Mismanages Student Loans

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The U.S. Department of Education has failed to properly oversee more than $1 trillion in federally held student loans annually, the inspector general’s office has found.

Lenders were overpaid and borrowers were inaccurately charged because the department’s Federal Student Aid (FSA) program failed to ensure that nine lenders followed federal regulations, the IG’s office reported. 

The IG identified 210 of 343 instances (61 percent) of “servicer noncompliance” in federal loan requirements. Noncompliance was found in forbearances, deferments, income-driven repayment, interest rates, due diligence and consumer protection between the beginning of 2015 and Sept. 30, 2017.

“In most cases, FSA only required servicers to correct the accounts of borrowers affected by the noncompliance specifically identified by FSA,” meaning FSA failed to police itself.

“As a result, FSA management did not have reasonable assurance that servicers were complying with federal loan servicing requirements when handling borrowers’ inquiries, borrowers might not have been protected from poor services, and taxpayers might not have been protected from improper payments,” the report stated.

FSA is the largest provider of student financial aid in the nation, handling more than $120 billion a year in federal grants, loans and work-study aid to more than 13 million students. It has more than 1,300 employees.

The inspector general wrote that FSA “neither agreed nor disagreed with the findings but agreed with all six recommendations” the IG said would benefit students and their families.

The IG said as of September 2017, FSA was responsible for about $1.147 trillion of federally held student loans. Of that, $950 billion (93 percent) was assigned to four servicers — Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency ($319 billion), Great Lakes ($236 billion), Navient ($215 billion) and Nelnet ($180 billion).

The remaining $76 billion (7 percent) was assigned to Educational Services of America Inc., Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, New Hampshire Higher Education Loan Corp., Oklahoma Student Loan Authority and Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority.

The IG report noted that about $120 billion (10 percent) of the $1.147 trillion in outstanding federally held student loan debt was in default.

“Defaulted loans were assigned to private collection agencies, not to servicers,” it wrote.

Congress is considering a bill introduced by Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander that would overhaul the student loan system. It includes garnishing borrower’s paychecks for loan repayments, a proposal that has some borrowers fuming as they face historically high costs of education in the U.S. 

The average cost of tuition and fees at a U.S. college or university is around $25,000 a year, while more exclusive schools charge up to $70,000 in annual tuition and fees.
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White House Upbeat on Beijing Trade Talks

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A top White House economic adviser is expressing confidence in the current U.S.-China trade negotiations in Beijing.

“The vibe in Beijing is good,” National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told reporters Thursday at the White House. 

Kudlow provided few details but said the U.S. delegation led by Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is “covering all ground” ahead of their expected meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping tomorrow.

“That’s a very good sign and they’re just soldiering on, so I like that story,” Kudlow said, “And I will stay with the phrase, the vibe is good.”

Negotiators are working to strike a deal by March 1, to avoid a rise in U.S. tariffs on $200 million worth of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent. President Donald Trump suggested earlier this week that if talks are seeing signs of progress, that deadline could be pushed back.

When asked Thursday if there would be an extension, Kudlow said, “No such decision has been made so far.”

Analyst William Reinsch, a former president of the National Foreign Trade Council and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says the talks are complicated by the three main areas under negotiation.

“Market access, which I think is well on the way to completion. Some Chinese offers on intellectual property, which I think they are not going to offer what we want. … And some compliance in enforcement matters,” he said.

Reinsch told VOA’s Mandarin service that U.S. negotiators are specifically seeking ways to hold China accountable for the commitments it makes in any deal.

Munich Security Conference

While American and Chinese negotiators continue talks in Beijing, both countries are setting up for another potential faceoff in Europe.

The U.S. and China are sending large delegations to Friday’s Munich Security Conference in Germany, a high-level conference on international security policy. Vice President Mike Pence leads the U.S. delegation while Politburo member Yang Jiechi will be the most senior Chinese official.

Yang Jiechi is heading the largest-ever Chinese delegation to the conference traditionally attended by the U.S. and its European allies. He is pushing back against Washington’s campaign pressing Europe to exclude Chinese tech giant Huawei from taking part in constructing 5G mobile networks in the region.

U.S. officials say allowing the Chinese company to build the next generation of wireless communications in Europe will enhance the Chinese government’s surveillance powers, threatening European security.

Although the technology behind 5G is complex, Brad Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former assistant secretary at the U.S. Treasury Department, said the decisions for European countries is simple.

“Given the nature of modern telecommunication, countries do have to make a choice whether or not that Huawei, given its ownership relationship with the Chinese government, can it be trusted to provide their future communication systems.”

Both Pence and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned allies in Poland and other Central European countries this week on the dangers of closer ties with Beijing and collaboration with Chinese firms. In Budapest, Hungary, on Monday, Pompeo said American companies might scale back European operations if countries continue to do business with Huawei.

Huawei has repeatedly denied its products could be used for espionage.

U.S. prosecutors have filed charges against Huawei including bank fraud, violating sanctions against Iran, and stealing trade secrets. The company refuted these accusations and rejected charges against its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who is currently on bail in Canada following her arrest in December.

This year’s Munich Security Conference topics include the “great power competition” between the United States, China and Russia. Conference organizers have listed U.S.-China tensions as one of their top 10 security issues of 2019.

VOA’s Mandarin Service reporter Jingxun Li contributed to this report.
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White House Upbeat on Beijing Trade Talks

ITasLeave a comment

A top White House economic adviser is expressing confidence in the current U.S.-China trade negotiations in Beijing.

“The vibe in Beijing is good,” National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told reporters Thursday at the White House. 

Kudlow provided few details but said the U.S. delegation led by Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is “covering all ground” ahead of their expected meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping tomorrow.

“That’s a very good sign and they’re just soldiering on, so I like that story,” Kudlow said, “And I will stay with the phrase, the vibe is good.”

Negotiators are working to strike a deal by March 1, to avoid a rise in U.S. tariffs on $200 million worth of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent. President Donald Trump suggested earlier this week that if talks are seeing signs of progress, that deadline could be pushed back.

When asked Thursday if there would be an extension, Kudlow said, “No such decision has been made so far.”

Analyst William Reinsch, a former president of the National Foreign Trade Council and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says the talks are complicated by the three main areas under negotiation.

“Market access, which I think is well on the way to completion. Some Chinese offers on intellectual property, which I think they are not going to offer what we want. … And some compliance in enforcement matters,” he said.

Reinsch told VOA’s Mandarin service that U.S. negotiators are specifically seeking ways to hold China accountable for the commitments it makes in any deal.

Munich Security Conference

While American and Chinese negotiators continue talks in Beijing, both countries are setting up for another potential faceoff in Europe.

The U.S. and China are sending large delegations to Friday’s Munich Security Conference in Germany, a high-level conference on international security policy. Vice President Mike Pence leads the U.S. delegation while Politburo member Yang Jiechi will be the most senior Chinese official.

Yang Jiechi is heading the largest-ever Chinese delegation to the conference traditionally attended by the U.S. and its European allies. He is pushing back against Washington’s campaign pressing Europe to exclude Chinese tech giant Huawei from taking part in constructing 5G mobile networks in the region.

U.S. officials say allowing the Chinese company to build the next generation of wireless communications in Europe will enhance the Chinese government’s surveillance powers, threatening European security.

Although the technology behind 5G is complex, Brad Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former assistant secretary at the U.S. Treasury Department, said the decisions for European countries is simple.

“Given the nature of modern telecommunication, countries do have to make a choice whether or not that Huawei, given its ownership relationship with the Chinese government, can it be trusted to provide their future communication systems.”

Both Pence and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned allies in Poland and other Central European countries this week on the dangers of closer ties with Beijing and collaboration with Chinese firms. In Budapest, Hungary, on Monday, Pompeo said American companies might scale back European operations if countries continue to do business with Huawei.

Huawei has repeatedly denied its products could be used for espionage.

U.S. prosecutors have filed charges against Huawei including bank fraud, violating sanctions against Iran, and stealing trade secrets. The company refuted these accusations and rejected charges against its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who is currently on bail in Canada following her arrest in December.

This year’s Munich Security Conference topics include the “great power competition” between the United States, China and Russia. Conference organizers have listed U.S.-China tensions as one of their top 10 security issues of 2019.

VOA’s Mandarin Service reporter Jingxun Li contributed to this report.
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Kenya Police Found Liable in Death of Baby During Post-Election Violence

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A judge in Kenya has found five top police commanders “culpable” for the death of a six-month-old in 2017.  The little girl died as police tried to control election-related protests in Western Kenya.  The country’s director of public prosecutions may now file charges against the commanders.

Magistrate Beryl Omollo ruled that the five commanders are “culpable” for the death of Samantha Pendo.

Pendo was a six-month-old girl killed in August 2017 as police tried to quell protests in Western Kenya, after President Uhuru Kenyatta was named the winner of the country’s presidential election.

Witnesses said anti-riot police stormed into the home of Joseph Abanja and Lencer Achiengs in the town of Nyalenda and clobbered baby Samantha on the head.  She died while undergoing medical treatment.

The public prosecutor’s office ordered an inquiry after investigations by Kenya’s Independent Policing Oversight Authority failed to determine who killed the little girl.

Omollo read out her decision in court Thursday.

“I have evaluated the entire evidence as presented before me, and I am satisfied that the deceased baby Samantha Pendo did not die as a result of natural consequences, but due to severe head injury caused by blunt force trauma inflicted on her by members of the National Police service,” Omollo said.

The magistrate also ordered the director of the public prosecutions office to investigate 31 more officers who might be linked to Pendo’s death.

Pendo’s mother, Lencer Achiengs, told to VOA after the decision that it provides some relief.

“Today I am happy at least some people have been held responsible.  Even if they did not find the culprit, at least some of the officers have been held responsible for what happened to my daughter. It should be a lesson, even if elections are being held, let nobody shed blood because of elections. Elections come and go,” Achiengs said.

According to a 2017 report by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, at least 33 people were killed by police as they protested the outcome of Kenya’s general elections.

Demas Kiprono, Amnesty International’s campaign manager for safety and dignity, said today’s ruling supports the group’s previous findings.

“This means that atrocities happened during our last election and we need to come up with elaborate steps to ensure police accountability so that whenever they are interacting with members of the public in any situation, they are guided by their standing orders and international human rights law regarding the use of force and policing assemblies,” Kiprono said.

The courts have forwarded Pendo’s case to the public prosecutor’s office for a decision on what charges the police commanders might face.  The timing and seriousness of the charges are still to be determined.

 

 
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Kenya Police Found Liable in Death of Baby During Post-Election Violence

ITafLeave a comment

A judge in Kenya has found five top police commanders “culpable” for the death of a six-month-old in 2017.  The little girl died as police tried to control election-related protests in Western Kenya.  The country’s director of public prosecutions may now file charges against the commanders.

Magistrate Beryl Omollo ruled that the five commanders are “culpable” for the death of Samantha Pendo.

Pendo was a six-month-old girl killed in August 2017 as police tried to quell protests in Western Kenya, after President Uhuru Kenyatta was named the winner of the country’s presidential election.

Witnesses said anti-riot police stormed into the home of Joseph Abanja and Lencer Achiengs in the town of Nyalenda and clobbered baby Samantha on the head.  She died while undergoing medical treatment.

The public prosecutor’s office ordered an inquiry after investigations by Kenya’s Independent Policing Oversight Authority failed to determine who killed the little girl.

Omollo read out her decision in court Thursday.

“I have evaluated the entire evidence as presented before me, and I am satisfied that the deceased baby Samantha Pendo did not die as a result of natural consequences, but due to severe head injury caused by blunt force trauma inflicted on her by members of the National Police service,” Omollo said.

The magistrate also ordered the director of the public prosecutions office to investigate 31 more officers who might be linked to Pendo’s death.

Pendo’s mother, Lencer Achiengs, told to VOA after the decision that it provides some relief.

“Today I am happy at least some people have been held responsible.  Even if they did not find the culprit, at least some of the officers have been held responsible for what happened to my daughter. It should be a lesson, even if elections are being held, let nobody shed blood because of elections. Elections come and go,” Achiengs said.

According to a 2017 report by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, at least 33 people were killed by police as they protested the outcome of Kenya’s general elections.

Demas Kiprono, Amnesty International’s campaign manager for safety and dignity, said today’s ruling supports the group’s previous findings.

“This means that atrocities happened during our last election and we need to come up with elaborate steps to ensure police accountability so that whenever they are interacting with members of the public in any situation, they are guided by their standing orders and international human rights law regarding the use of force and policing assemblies,” Kiprono said.

The courts have forwarded Pendo’s case to the public prosecutor’s office for a decision on what charges the police commanders might face.  The timing and seriousness of the charges are still to be determined.

 

 
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EU Lawmakers to Saudis: End Women’s Guardianship

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The European Parliament urged Saudi Arabia on Thursday to abolish its male guardianship system, under which women have to seek permission from their guardian on issues such as getting married, saying it and other rules reduce women to second-class citizens.

Parliamentarians also expressed concern over “government web services” that allow male guardians to track women when they cross borders. A Saudi application called Absher notifies men when women travel.

Although male guardianship has been chipped away at over the years it remains in force. Under the system, every Saudi women is assigned a male relative — often a father or husband but sometimes an uncle, brother or even a son — whose approval is needed if she is to marry, obtain a passport and travel abroad. In their resolution, approved by more than two thirds of the assembly, EU lawmakers urged the Saudi government to immediately abolish the system.

Current rules in the kingdom effectively make women “second-class citizens,” the document said. EU states should continue pressuring Riyadh on improving women conditions and human rights, lawmakers said.

Resolutions by the parliament are not binding but can influence decisions made by EU governments and EU institutions. The resolution passed a day after the EU executive commission added Saudi Arabia to its blacklist of countries that pose a threat because of lax controls on money laundering and terrorism financing.

The bloc’s relations with Saudi Arabia have cooled since the murder of Washington-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate on October 2.

Despite reforms introduced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that have reduced discrimination, such as the lifting of the driving ban for women, lawmakers said “the Saudi political and social system remains discriminatory.”

They urged the release from Saudi prisons of women’s rights defenders, including some who were arrested after campaigning to end the ban on women driving.

Lawmakers also called for an immediate moratorium on the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, where it is still applied to punish non-violent offenses, such as drug smuggling, treason, adultery and apostasy, they said.

The EU parliament passed a resolution in October urging an international investigation into Khashoggi’s killing and called on EU states to stop the sale of weapons to the kingdom.
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