In the Senegalese border town of Moudery, a committee initially created to protect residents from robberies has taken on a new purpose in the wake of jihadist violence in neighboring Mali. In 2010, when Moudery inaugurated its “Committee of Vigilance,” the goal was mostly to identify unknown people who might rob homes in the wealthy Senegalese river town. Zakaria Ndiaye, one of the committee’s founding members, said robberies had decreased since the committee was set up, because members perform nightly patrols and criminals are aware of the committee’s presence on the ground.
Fousseynou Diallo, now the mayor of Moudery, served in the army for more than 30 years before moving back and helping in the founding of the committee. He said because Moudery is uniquely positioned along the river that separates Senegal from Mauritania, criminals can flee from one side of the border to the other without being prosecuted. This position, along with its proximity to Mali, has made the town sensitive to criminal activity.
The system for reducing crime in the village worked so well that members of the U.N.’s migration organization identified the program as a model for more border towns to secure their communities against the threat of jihadist violence.
Six years after the committee was founded, officials of the International Organization for Migration reached out to Diallo and explained how they thought his committee could serve to identify potential jihadists entering the country. Not a militia
The committee is also registered with Senegal’s interior ministry, partially to keep it accountable. Diallo was firm that his committee is not law enforcement or a militia and that his members simply keep an eye on the town and ask any suspicious people for identification.
But as ethnic tensions and jihadist violence in nearby Mali worsen, the city is also welcoming immigrants. After VOA interviewed the mayor, he left for a meeting with the Malians of Moudery to discuss a recent festival honoring that country’s independence day.
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Month: October 2019
Guinea Counter-Rally Backs President’s Constitutional Bid
Tens of thousands of Guineans rallied in support of President Alpha Conde on Thursday after two weeks of violent protests against the leader’s suspected bid to prolong his rule claimed around 10 lives.Communication Minister Amara Sompare said 45,000 people turned out to greet Conde, 81, on his return from a trip abroad, which the minister said proved that the president has wide backing for his push for a new constitution.The pro-Conde rally was a response to a protest that saw hundreds of thousands take to the streets a week ago, according to local journalists. Organisers put the turnout for that rally at around a million, while the government said the protesters numbered 30,000.On Thursday, people thronged the Conakry airport and lined the road leading into town, wearing the yellow and white colours of the ruling party, their T-shirts emblazoned with “Yes to the new constitution” and “Let’s have a referendum”.Fode Oussou Fofana, vice president of one of the opposition parties, claimed that civil servants had been instructed to leave work to attend the rally.He added that buses were chartered to ferry people to the airport at great expense.The authorities have not responded to the accusations.Conde, whose second term ends next year, launched constitutional consultations in September, saying the former French colony’s basic law “concentrates corporate interests”.His adversaries say the president will try to push through an amendment allowing him to seek a third term.At least eight protesters — 10 according to the opposition — and a police officer have been killed since October 24, when opposition parties, unions and civil society groups called for a mobilisation against a possible third term for Conde.More violence is feared in the West African country of 13 million, which is poor despite significant mineral resources.Conde has neither confirmed nor denied his intentions.
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Fiat Chrysler, PSA Peugeot Boards Approve Merger
The boards of Fiat Chrysler and PSA Peugeot announced Thursday fast-moving plans to merge the two companies creating the world’s fourth-largest automaker with enough scale to confront “the new era in mobility.”The merger would bring together Italian-American Fiat Chrysler, with its strong footprint in North America where it makes at least two-thirds of its profits, and France’s PSA Peugeot, the No. 2 automaker in Europe. Both lag in China, despite the participation of the Chinese shareholder Dongfeng, in PSA Peugeot, and are catching up in the transition to electrified powertrains.The 50-50 merger is expected to create synergies of 3.7 billion euros ($4 billion), a figure that the automakers said they expect to achieve without any factory closures – a concern of unions in both France and Italy where the carmakers have more model overlap.The new company would have combined revenues of 170 billion euros, an operating profit of over 11 billion euros and produce 8.7 million cars a year – behind Toyota, Volkswagen and the Renault-Nissan alliance. The combined market capitalization would be around $50 billion.Once a merger is finalized, PSA Peugeot CEO Carlos Tavares will be chief executive of the new company with Fiat Chrysler Chairman John Elkann taking the role of chairman. Fiat Chrysler CEO Mike Manley would have a senior executive role and work closely with Tavares.“This convergence brings significant value to all the stakeholders and opens a bright future for the combined entity,” Tavares said in a statement.Manley called it “an industry-changing combination,” and noted the long history of cooperation with the Groupe PSA in the industrial vehicle sector in Europe.The 11-member board will be made up of five members from each company plus Tavares, who is locked in as CEO for five years.The automakers said that the new company would be able to meet the challenges of powertrain electrification, connectivity and autonomous driving “with speed and capital efficiency.”The combined company will be able to share in the cost of developing those technologies with their “strong global R&D footprint,” they said, adding that will also save on investments in vehicle platforms and save money with greater purchasing power.Both companies “share the conviction that there is compelling logic for a bold and decisive move that would create an industry leader with the scale, capabilities and resources to capture successfully the opportunities, and manage effectively the challenges in the new era in mobility,” the statement said.The merger decision comes about five months after a similar deal with French automaker Renault fell apart, mostly over French government concern about the role of Renault’s Japanese alliance partner Nissan. There were no signs of resistance to this deal, beyond concerns for jobs.French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire answers reporters, Oct. 31, 2019 in Paris.French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in a statement that he “favorably welcomes” the proposed merger.“This operation responds to the automobile sector’s need to consolidate to face the challenges of future mobility,” Le Maire said, adding that the government would be vigilant about preserving French factories and the location of company headquarters.He also is seeking that the new group will create a European electric battery industry, something the French government has pushed for to ensure that European carmakers can reduce their dependence on U.S. and Asian battery technology.The companies said head offices would continue to operate in France, Italy and the United States, and that shares would be traded in the main exchanges in those three countries. The parent company would be based in the Netherlands, as is currently the case with Fiat Chrysler.European automakers have been eyeing consolidation for years in a bid to share the costs of new technology and tackle the issue of overproduction on the continent. Fiat gains some of the advantages that Peugeot has developed in electrified powertrains that should help ease its transition in the face of tough new EU emissions standards. And PSA gains access to North America, which it has long sought.The prospective FCA-PSA tie-up with Peugeot “follows intensive discussions between the senior managements of the two companies.” Both have strong shareholder participation by the founding families – the Peugeots in France and the heirs to the Agnelli family in Italy, represented by Elkann.As part of the agreement, the main shareholders – the Peugeots, the Agnelli family investment arm Exor, as well as the Chinese investor Dongfeng and the French state investment bank – agree to maintain their stakes for seven years. The only exception is that the Peugeots could increase their stake by up to 2.5% during the first three years by buying shares from Dongfeng and the French investment bank.The next step in the deal is expected to be a signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, which could come before the end of the year.
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Sources: US Envoy Returns to Afghanistan, Discusses Prisoner Swap
Chief U.S. peace negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad is back in Afghanistan and held fresh meetings with Afghan leaders on the fate of two Western hostages held by the Taliban and efforts aimed at restarting stalled peace talks with the insurgent group, sources said.Insurgent sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, have also confirmed to VOA that “(a) prisoners’ (swap) deal is underway” with Khalilzad’s team and “is in the final stages.” But when approached for comment, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told VOA, “So far I have no information about this issue.”An Afghan government source confirmed to VOA Thursday the American envoy met with President Ashraf Ghani after arriving in Kabul the previous day from Pakistan. The discussions between the two, said the source, focused on American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks, the two hostages being held by the Taliban for more than three years.FILE – A photo combination if images taken from video released June 21, 2017, by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, shows kidnapped Australian Timothy Weeks, top, and American Kevin King.U.S. officials have not confirmed or released any details of the Khalilzad-Ghani meeting, but U.S. sources have said, “Getting hostages back is always at the forefront of our policy” of seeking Afghan peace and reconciliation.King and Weeks were teaching at the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul before they were kidnapped at gunpoint near the campus in August 2016.Khalilzad also met with Ghani on Sunday in the Afghan capital prior to the brief stop in Pakistan. In a post-meeting news conference, a senior Afghan official confirmed the U.S. envoy sought cooperation in securing the release of the American professor, who is said to be suffering from serious health problems, and his Australian colleague. National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib, however, refused to discuss further details.The Taliban has long demanded the release of around a dozen high-profile prisoners held in Afghan jails in exchange for freeing King and Weeks. The insurgent detainees include death row prisoner Anas Haqqani, a younger brother of Taliban deputy chief Sirajuddin Haqqani, and their uncle, Mali Khan.Khalilzad traveled to Pakistan on Monday and discussed “the current status of the Afghan peace process” with leaders in the neighboring country, said the U.S. embassy in Islamabad. He also underscored the importance of reducing violence in Afghanistan, it said.Afghan officials allege Pakistan shelters Taliban leaders on its soil, charges Islamabad rejects. Pakistani officials maintain their country still hosts around 3 million Afghan refugees and do not rule out the possibility of insurgents hiding among them.The U.S. Afghan reconciliation envoy’s back-and-forth visits to Afghanistan and Pakistan have fueled speculation a prisoner swap could soon materialize to pave the way for the resumption of peace talks involving the United States and the Taliban.U.S. President Donald Trump canceled the negotiations, citing continued Taliban attacks in Kabul, including one that killed an American soldier.
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Mexico Marks Day of Dead on 500th Anniversary of Conquest
Mexico is marking its Day of the Dead amid the 500th anniversary of the Spanish Conquest, and true to the holiday’s roots, it has become an opportunity for reflection and reconciliation, not revenge.Often misinterpreted as Mexico’s equivalent of Halloween, the two-day Nov. 1-2 Day of the Dead is a celebration to welcome and commune with the dead, not fear their return or revive old hatreds.This year it comes very close to 500 years after a bloody date: the Oct. 18, 1519 massacre of thousands of indigenous people at the ceremonial center of Cholula, just east of Mexico City.
The Cholula killings were perhaps the first large-scale indigenous massacre, the beginning of a series of mass killings in the Americas that would continue up to the early 1900s and result in the near-extermination of indigenous peoples.
While Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has asked Spain for an apology for the whole of the 1519-1521 Conquest _ when Hernan Cortes defeated the Aztec empire _ Mexicans are taking the opportunity to remember, re-interpret and learn lessons from the date.
This year, indigenous dancers burned incense and performed ceremonial dances on the spot where the Cholula massacre is believed to have occurred, and left offerings to the estimated 3,000 victims.
At a Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City, dancer Madai Selbor dressed in a feather headdress and skull paint as La Malinche, the indigenous translator and lover of Cortes who has long been viewed as a traitor in Mexico. Now, La Malinche is getting a new, deeper and more nuanced treatment in movies and TV shows coming out this year.
“She is a figure who has been very censured in history, but when you look at her story after the passage of the years, she is truly an icon,” said Selbor. “There are people who see her as an icon of feminism, but I see her more as an icon of negotiation and alliances.”
Mexico City’s Day of the Dead Parade Dedicated to Migrants
Mexico City dedicated its Day of the Dead parade Saturday to migrants, just as thousands of Central Americans were trekking from the country’s southern border toward the United States under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to disband.In an a twist on the traditional dancing skeletons and marigold-adorned altars making their way down the capital’s main thoroughfare, the parade also referenced Mexicans who emigrated as well as foreigners who settled in the capital.“The parade ...
But Cholula historian Refugio Gallegos noted that La Malinche, and other indigenous people who helped Cortes, played key roles in the Cholula massacre, which occurred just weeks before the Spaniards marched into present-day Mexico City. The Spaniards would be welcomed by Aztec Emperor Moctezuma, then kicked out of Mexico City and wouldn’t return to complete the conquest until 1521.
But Cortes and his 400 Spaniards would have lost if it were not for the thousands of allied Tlaxcalan warriors who joined the Spaniards in order to throw off the yoke of the Aztec empire.
“One of the advantages of the joint armed formed by Indians and Spaniards was to revive old quarrels and take advantage of the resentments that several groups had against the Aztecs,” who demanded tribute payments from vassals, wrote Gallegos.
At the center of all this was La Malinche, who served as Cortes’ translator. While the residents of Cholula initially welcomed the Spaniards, they feared a trap; La Malinche heard of supposed plans to ambush the Spaniards, and warned Cortes.
“La Malinche’s role was crucial,” said Gallegos.
What Cortes did was simply order his men to massacre everybody they could find in Cholula. In Cortes’ own words: “we hit them so hard that in two hours, more than 3,000 men died.”
By his own account, Cortes was helped in this task by about 4,000 Tlaxcalans, an indigenous group who inhabited what is now the Mexican state of Tlaxcala. For centuries, that “betrayal” led to sayings like “it’s all the fault of the Tlaxcalans.”
But according to Gallegos, this year’s ceremonies marking the 500th anniversary involved all of the towns along Cortes’ route to Mexico City, Cholulans, Tlaxcalans and others, coming together and forgetting past grievances.“The event is about brotherhood, of towns working together,” said Gallegos. “We know that in the pre-Hispanic era that didn’t happen, there were differences, but today there is a new attitude. There is no more talk about traitors.”
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Violations, Violence and Repression Remain Rampant in Indian-Administered Kashmir: UN
The U.N. human rights office has denounced what it calls the ongoing repression in Indian-administered Kashmir and is urging the government to restore the rights stripped from the region’s millions of Muslim inhabitants in August.India’s only Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir has officially ceased to exist. On August 5, the Indian government revoked constitutional provisions that granted partial autonomy to the area. As a result, the region was divided into two federally administered states – one being Jammu and Kashmir, which will include the restive Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley and the Hindu-majority Jammu. The second territory will include the high-altitude Buddhist enclave of Ladakh.This move, which came into effect on Thursday, ends seven decades of self-rule for the region. The office of the U.N. high commissioner for human rights says it deplores the restrictive measures and what it calls the wide range of rights abuses that have continued unabated since August. In large parts of the Kashmir Valley, it reports an undeclared curfew is preventing the free movement of people and restricting their rights to health, education and freedom of religion and belief.Human rights office spokesman Rupert Colville says the agency has heard about allegations of excessive use of force by security forces during sporadic protests. He says at least six people reportedly have been killed and scores seriously injured in separate incidents since the area was split into two.“We have also received reports of armed groups operating in Indian-administered Kashmir threatening residents trying to carry out their normal business or attend school, as well as several allegations of violence against people who have not complied with the armed groups’ demands…Hundreds of political and civil society leaders, including three former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, have been detained on a preventative basis,” Colville said.Colville says his office also has received allegations of torture and ill-treatment of people held in detention. He notes torture is banned under international law and says these allegations must be independently and impartially investigated.Colville says restrictions on landline telephones have been lifted, but all internet services remain blocked in the Kashmir valley. At the same time, he says media outlets face restrictions and several journalists allegedly have been arrested in the past three months.He says the people of Kashmir remain bound to the whims and will of the government. He says major political decisions about the future status of Jammu and Kashmir are taken without their consent. He notes the region’s leaders are being detained and their right to freedom of expression and political participation undermined.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has defended the split, saying the special status had impeded the region’s progress, given rise to terrorism and was used as a weapon by rival Pakistan to “instigate some people.”India has long accused Pakistan of supporting and training militants to foment a separatist insurgency in Kashmir, charges Islamabad denies.
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Putin was ‘Conscientious and Disciplined’ Spy: KGB Documents
Declassified KGB documents on display in Russia describe future President Vladimir Putin as a “conscientious and disciplined” spy at the start of his career.”Comrade Putin… is constantly raising his ideological, political and professional level,” said the one-page document released to Russian media, written while the intelligence agent turned politician was in his 20s.Now 67, Putin worked for the secret service from the mid-1970s and was posted in Dresden, then East Germany, from 1985 to 1990, as Soviet power was crumbling.In the Kremlin he has surrounded himself with many former employees of the secret service and the FSB, the successor to the KGB, remains a powerful agency.The KGB profile is part of an exhibition at the Central Archive of Historical and Political Documents in Russia’s second city of Saint Petersburg, featuring other declassified files.The young Putin also received “congratulations from his seniors” in the organization “for his well organized work and results,” the document said.In 2016, Putin, who has been in power as president or prime minister for two decades, revealed he had kept his USSR Communist Party membership card for sentimental reasons.
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Facebook Moves to Curb Russian Interference in African Politics
This week’s takedown of Facebook and Instagram accounts that were used to interfere with African political affairs has provided new insight into the extent to which a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin is engaged in the continent, analysts say.Facebook announced Wednesday that, after a weeks-long investigation, it was FILE – Kremlin-linked businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin gestures on the sidelines of a meeting at the Konstantin palace outside St. Petersburg, Russia, Aug. 9, 2016. “We believe that this is consistent with Russian commercial-linked activities, and to some extent with Russian state political interests as well,” Grossman told VOA in an interview this week.Prigozhin, commonly called “Putin’s chef” in Russia media, was A screenshot shows a Facebook page found to be part of a Russian disinformation campaign. (Courtesy – Stanford Internet Observatory researchers)For example, in Mozambique, sites supported Frelimo, the country’s longtime ruling party, in advance of elections. In Sudan, Facebook pages initially supported former dictator Omar al-Bashir and then switched to the Transitional Military Council following his ouster.In Libya, the pages supported both rogue General Khalifa Haftar and his potential political rival, Saif al-Islam, son of autocrat Moammar Gadhafi, killed in 2011 during Arab Spring uprisings. “These pages were interesting in part because many of them posted a lot of Moammar Gadhafi nostalgia content,” Grossman said. “So trying to get Libyans to think about the positive parts of living under Gadhafi’s rule and then throwing in posts that were supportive of his son.”Often the pages are linked to activity conducted by the Wagner Group, Prigozhin’s military arm, which supplies contractors in several African countries. Wagner is A screenshot shows a Facebook post found to be part of a Russian disinformation campaign. Pictured is Saif al-Islam, son of the late Libyan autocrat Moammar Gadhafi. (Courtesy – Stanford Internet Observatory researchers)“Russia is willing to do business with a lot of unsavory actors,” he told VOA. “It is willing to do business with regimes that are seeking to hold onto power through unconstitutional methods. It is willing to do business with military governments, governments that Western democracies might not be so quick to embrace. Russia sees itself as having an advantage in going after those markets.”Hudson said Russia’s aim is to make its presence felt in the same way it did during the Cold War, but with a much smaller investment.“Russia doesn’t have the political clout, it doesn’t have the ideological clout and it certainly doesn’t have the financial backing to play the role that it played during the Cold War, where it was a heavy investor in development projects in Africa — where ideologically it was bringing African leaders to study the communist model,” he said.The country believes cyber interference in the affairs of other countries gives it the most bang for its buck, according to Hudson.“So how does it have its influence felt? Well, it can do it through things like social media and online influence, which is a relatively low-cost way to have the impact on the world stage that they’re looking to have,” he said. “Anything that they can do to undermine the free press, democratic institutions and to sow doubt in the minds of those of populations, I think, probably plays into their broader vision.”
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Seychelles Leader Pleads for Action on Climate Change
Small island nations are among the most vulnerable to climate change. Many are fighting the effects of a warming planet but say they cannot succeed alone. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi heads to island waters for this story
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Bolivia: 2 People Killed in Clashes in Election Dispute
Bolivian authorities say at least two people have been killed in clashes between supporters and opponents of President Evo Morales over the disputed presidential election.
Health officials in Santa Cruz province say the people were fatally shot at around midnight Wednesday in the town of Montero. Santa Cruz is an opposition stronghold.
The government of Morales is blaming the opposition led by Carlos Mesa for the deaths.
Backers of Mesa say results from the Oct. 20 vote were rigged to give Morales enough of a majority to avoid a runoff. Morales denies irregularities.
The Organization of American States sent a team to Bolivia to begin an election audit Thursday. Mesa rejects the audit, saying it is a deal between the OAS and Morales that excludes the opposition.
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Turkey Says Its Forces Captured 18 Syrian Soldiers in Syria
Turkey’s defense minister said Thursday its forces captured 18 Syrian government soldiers in northeastern Syria, including two who are wounded.
Hulusi Akar said the soldiers were captured during Turkish reconnaissance southeast of Ras al-Ayn, but didn’t say when. Ankara was already in talks with Russia to hand over the Syrian soldiers, he added, according to the official ministry website on Thursday. Akar was speaking during a visit to Turkish troops at the border.
A Syrian Kurdish official said the soldiers were captured Tuesday during an intense battle between Syrian government forces and Turkey-backed fighters. Kurdish fighters were fighting alongside the Syrian troops. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.
The town of Ras al-Ayn has been a flashpoint in Turkey’s invasion of northeastern Syria that has sought to drive back Kurdish fighters from its borders.Darbasiyah and Ras al-Ayn, Syria
Turkey agreed to a cease-fire brokered by Russia on Oct. 22. Under the deal, Kurdish fighters would withdraw to 30 kilometers (19 miles) away from the Turkish border and Syrian government forces would take positions along the frontier. Joint Turkish-Russian patrols are due to begin Friday.
Turkey launched its cross-border operation earlier in the month to push out Syrian Kurdish fighters who had partnered with U.S. forces against the Islamic State group. The invasion came after President Donald Trump ordered American forces to step aside. The U.S. negotiated an initial cease-fire. Ankara views the Syrian Kurdish fighters as an extension of the decades-long Kurdish insurgency in southeastern Turkey.
Largely abandoned by their U.S. allies, the Kurdish fighters have leaned on Russia and the Syrian government forces to fend off Turkey’s invasion.
But the truce has been marred by accusations of violations from both sides.
For days now, Turkey-allied fighters have been fighting Kurdish forces near Abu Rasein, a village between Ras al-Ayn and Tal Tamr, despite the deployment of Syrian government forces. Syrian state media also reported some government soldiers clashed with the Turkey-backed forces.
The Kurdish official said the Syrian government forces withdrew from the area after their soldiers were captured.
A war monitor group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, also reported that Syrian troops pulled out from the Tal Tamr area on Wednesday, amid a Turkish-backed advance with air cover. The Syrian withdrawal left empty the border post in Darbasiyeh, west of Ras al-Ayn, which Kurdish forces had handed over just days before, according to the Rojava Information Center, an activist group.
Fighting in the area continued Thursday, the Kurdish official said.
Separately, a car bomb went off in a town administered by Turkey-backed forces in northwestern Syria, killing at least eight people.
Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency said another 14 people were wounded in the attack in a vegetable market in Afrin. It said the explosives were packed into a refrigerator truck.
Turkish-led forces captured Afrin from Syrian Kurdish fighters early last year. The area is controlled by Syrian fighters allied with Turkey, who have been accused by rights groups of seizing land and property . The area sees sporadic attacks and other violence.
Syria’s state-run SANA news agency also reported the attack, saying nine people were killed and 20 wounded. It said the blast ignited a nearby patrol station and caused damage to surrounding homes and shops.
No one has claimed the attack.
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India Asks WhatsApp to Explain Privacy Breach
India has asked Facebook-owned WhatsApp to explain the nature of a privacy breach on its messaging platform that has affected some users in the country, Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Thursday.A WhatsApp spokesman was quoted by the Indian Express newspaper on Thursday as saying that Indian journalists and human rights activists were targets of surveillance by an Israeli spyware. The company said it was “not an insignificant number” of people, but did not share specifics.WhatsApp’s comments came after the messaging platform sued Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group on Tuesday, accusing it of helping government spies break into the phones of roughly 1,400 users across four continents including diplomats, political dissidents, journalists and government officials. NSO denied the allegations.“We have asked WhatsApp to explain the kind of breach and what it is doing to safeguard the privacy of millions of Indian citizens,” Prasad said in a tweet.WhatsApp said it had no comment on Prasad’s tweet, but referred to a previous WhatsApp statement that the company believes people have the fundamental right to privacy and no one else should have access to their private conversations.Facebook’s WhatsApp Allows Users to Control Who Can Add Them to Group Chats
Facebook Inc on Wednesday changed the privacy settings on its WhatsApp messaging platform, allowing users to decide who can add them to chat groups, as it tries to revamp its image after growing privacy concerns among users.
WhatsApp, which has about 1.5 billion users, has been trying to find ways to stop misuse of the app, following global concerns that the platform was being used to spread fake news, manipulated photos, videos without context and audio hoaxes, with no way to monitor their origin or…
India is WhatsApp’s biggest market with 400 million users. Globally, the platform is used by some 1.5 billion people monthly and has often touted a high level of security, including end-to-end encrypted messages that cannot be deciphered by WhatsApp or other third parties.In its lawsuit filed in a federal court in San Francisco, WhatsApp accused NSO of facilitating government hacking sprees in 20 countries, calling it “an unmistakable pattern of abuse.”
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As Economy Slows, New ECB Head Lagarde Faces Big Challenges
Europe’s economy is losing strength. Top officials at the European Central Bank are at odds over policy. And it’s even unclear whether they can do much to help anyway.It adds up to a full in-tray for Christine Lagarde as she takes over as ECB president on Friday.The former head of the International Monetary Fund succeeds Mario Draghi, who as head of the central bank for the 19 countries that use the euro helped keep the currency union together through a financial crisis.While the crisis has abated, the pressures of the job have not diminished, with the ECB president acting as the final backstop for Europe’s economy and global uncertainties on the rise.Here’s a look at the main challenges Lagarde faces.A weakening economyGrowth has dropped significantly even since Draghi announced a big stimulus package on Sept. 12. Analysts think Lagarde may not have to change policy for a while as that stimulus runs, but big risks still loom over the global and European economies. Trade disputes between the U.S. and major economies like China and Europe have hurt manufacturing. Brexit has yet to be resolved, keeping businesses uncertain about how to invest.The ECB’s next move may be to provide even more stimulus, rather than raising interest rates back to where they were before the global financial crisis.Central Bank powerAnd yet providing more stimulus could be complicated, in part because so much has already been spent.The ECB’s benchmark interest rate on deposits left overnight from banks is already at an unprecedented minus 0.5%. Bank officials have said it could be cut further, but at some point the ECB would reach a point where adverse side effects such as the impact on bank profits may outweigh the benefits.Draghi’s plan to have the ECB buy 20 billion euros ($22 billion) a month in corporate and government bonds will continue to help hold down market borrowing costs for companies and governments. Eventually, however, there won’t be enough government bonds to buy up. The ECB has a self-imposed limit of buying no more than a third of any government’s debt.And it’s not clear how much good more rate cuts and bond purchases would do.Rates are already negative, and the ECB already pumped 2.6 billion euros ($2.9 billion) into the economy through bond purchases from 2015 to the end of 2018. Despite that, inflation has remained below the ECB’s goal of under 2%. Growth has not led to increases in wages and inflation as seen in earlier eras, and not just in Europe; economists say aging populations, digitalization and globalization that can shift jobs to lower wage locations may all play a role.“The workings of the economy are changing,” said Maria Demertzis, deputy director of the Bruegel think tank in Brussels. “This is a big challenge for the ECB: what can they do to stimulate the economy, both because they have almost exhausted the instruments that they have, but also because the digital transformation implies that the economy simply works differently.”DiplomacyPrecisely that question led to unusually strong criticism from several members on the ECB governing board, including the central bank heads from Germany, the Netherlands and Austria.Lagarde can use her political and negotiating skills honed as French finance minister and head of the IMF to manage the rift.Yet it’s more than a matter of winning people over with diplomacy. The dispute reflects uncertainty about how the economy works and how it will respond, or not, to stimulus.Lagarde, an engaging public speaker, will also need all her communications skills to rebut criticism from German economists and news media that the bank’s low-rate policies are depriving savers of returns and benefitting shaky southern European governments. Draghi has often noted that 11 million jobs were created since the peak of post-crisis unemployment in 2013.Fixing EuropeLagarde repeated as recently as Wednesday Draghi’s plea for governments that are in good financial shape to spend more on projects such as infrastructure that can help economic growth, and to not let the central bank carry the whole burden. Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, has insisted on running budget surpluses.
“After the crisis in 2008 everyone worked together and countries … did their job. But since then … countries that have budgetary space have not made the necessary efforts” in investment to support growth, Lagarde said on RTL radio. “Notably countries like Netherlands, Germany and some others in the world.”“Those that have a margin of maneuver – why not use this budget surplus and invest in infrastructure, which really needs it? Why not invest in education, why not invest in innovation?”The broader question, said Demertzis, is that the eurozone lacks a central budget to stabilize its economic ups and downs but instead relies on budget decisions in 19 member countries. French President Emmanuel Macron has pushed for a central budget, but German skepticism has limited its size and purpose.
“It really needs to be a fiscal capacity at the eurozone level,” said Demertzis.
“Politically, that is a very, very difficult thing to do. If Lagarde has the political acumen, which I think she does, she may be able to move that conversation in that direction, which would be extremely welcome.”
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Ivanka Trump to Promote Women’s Prosperity in Morocco
Ivanka Trump is getting ready to promote her women’s economic development program on an upcoming trip to Morocco.It will be her third overseas trip this year to promote the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative , which was launched in February to benefit women in developing countries.President Donald Trump’s daughter and senior adviser will visit the North African country in early November, the White House said. Specific dates for her travel were not released.In a statement to The Associated Press, Ivanka Trump said the kingdom of Morocco is a valued U.S. ally that has “taken strides” under King Mohammed VI to promote gender equality.In August, she tweeted her support to the Moroccan government after it began the process of amending its inheritance laws, which say women should receive half as much as men.Ivanka Trump will travel with Sean Cairncross, CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corp., an independent U.S. foreign aid agency that provides grants to developing countries to help promote economic growth, reduce poverty and strengthen institutions.They will meet with government officials and local leaders in Morocco’s capital, Rabat, and in Casablanca to discuss how to help women in the region gain a measure of economic independence.The Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative has a goal of helping 50 million women in developing nations advance economically over the next six years.It’s a U.S. government-wide effort that involves the State Department, the National Security Council and other agencies. It aims to coordinate existing programs and develop new ones to help women in areas such as job training, financial support and legal or regulatory reforms.Ivanka Trump traveled to Ethiopia and Ivory Coast , in sub-Saharan Africa, in April and to Argentina, Colombia and Paraguay , in South America, in September to promote the initiative.
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HRW: CIA-Trained ‘Death Squads’ Behind Afghan War Crimes
Human Rights Watch (HRW) says CIA-backed Afghan paramilitary forces have “committed summary executions and other grave abuses without accountability” — including extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and attacks on health-care facilities.In its report, released on Thursday, HRW called on the Afghan government to immediately disband all pro-government paramilitary groups that operate outside the “ordinary military chain of command.”It is also calling for the Afghan government to “impartially investigate all allegations of abuse by Afghan security forces” and to “prosecute those responsible for war crimes and serious abuses.”It says both the United States and the Afghan government should also “cooperate with independent investigations of all allegations of war crimes and other human rights abuses.”It also says the U.S. government should “investigate any U.S. personnel” involved in abuses, and should “cease supporting Afghan forces that have been responsible for serious violations.”HRW documented 14 cases from late 2017 to mid-2019 in which it said CIA-backed “strike groups” committed grave abuses during night raids, such as one in the southeastern province of Paktia in which a paramilitary squad killed 11 men, including eight who were home for the Eid holidays.In some cases, HRW says, troops detained men and didn’t tell families where they were being held.The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has disputed the HRW report, saying many of the claims against Afghan special forces were “likely false or exaggerated.””In ramping up operations against the Taliban, the CIA has enabled abusive Afghan forces to commit atrocities including extrajudicial executions and disappearances,” said Patricia Gossman, the report’s author and HRW’s associate Asia director.”In case after case, these forces have simply shot people in their custody and consigned entire communities to the terror of abusive night raids and indiscriminate air strikes,” Grossman said.Night raids, which combine surprise, overwhelming firepower, and night-vision equipment, are a tactic preferred by special forces.FILE – Taliban fighters stand with their weapons in Ahmad Aba district, on the outskirts of Gardez, the capital of Paktia province, Afghanistan, July 18, 2017.On several occasions, raids which usually take place in Taliban-controlled areas were backed by airstrikes that “indiscriminately or disproportionately” killed civilians, HRW said.According to data released this week by NATO, the United States conducted 1,113 air and artillery strikes in September, a large increase on previous months that came as talks between Washington and the Taliban collapsed.CIA spokesman Timothy Barrett said the agency’s operations abroad are conducted in “accordance with law and under a robust system of oversight.”Barrett accused the Taliban of spreading misinformation and noted that the militants do not operate under any similar rules.”Unlike the Taliban, the United States is committed to the rule of law,” officials added in a CIA statement.”We neither condone nor would knowingly participate in illegal activities, and we continually work with our foreign partners to promote adherence to the law.”Afghanistan’s CIA-backed militias, whose tradition goes back to the Soviet-Afghan war of the 1980s, are seen as a critical tool in the fight against Taliban and Islamic State militants.Such paramilitary groups are officially under Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) but often operate almost independently of Afghan authorities.Speaking to HRW, one unnamed diplomat referred to them as “death squads.”The NDS did not immediately comment.The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), a U.S. government monitor, says Afghan special forces conducted 2,531 ground operations from January-September this year, more than the total of 2,365 for all of last year.A U.N. report earlier this month said 1,174 civilians were killed and 3,139 wounded in Afghanistan from July to September this year — a 42 percent increase over the same period last year.
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At Least 73 People Killed in Pakistan Train Fire
Officials in Pakistan say at least 73 people have been killed and dozens more injured after fire engulfed a passenger train near Pakistan’s Rahimyar Khan city in eastern Punjab province.The train was traveling from the southern city of Karachi to Rawalpindi when the disaster struck. Television footage showed showed flames pouring out of the train’s carriages, sending huge clouds of black smoke into the sky above. Authorities say many of the victims died when they jumped from the moving train to escape the inferno. Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the fire was sparked when two gas stoves used by passengers to cook breakfast exploded. Gas stoves are banned on Pakistan trains, but the rule is rarely enforced on the overcrowded trains.At least 40 other passengers were injured. Many of the passengers were Muslim missionaries headed to a conference organized by the Tablighi-e-Jamaat movement.Prime Minister Imran Khan posted a message on Twitter saying he was “deeply saddened” by the tragedy, and offering his condolences to the victims’s families and prayers for the “speedy recovery” of the injured. Khan said he has ordered an immediate investigation of the incident.Deeply saddened by the terrible tragedy of the Tezgam train. My condolences go to the victims’ families & prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured. I have ordered an immediate inquiry to be completed on an urgent basis.— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 31, 2019Train accidents are common in Pakistan, where the railways have seen decades of decline due to corruption, mismanagement and lack of investment. They often take place at the unmanned crossings, which frequently lack barriers and sometimes signals. In July, at least 23 people were killed in the same district when a passenger train coming from the eastern city of Lahore rammed into a goods train that had stopped at a crossing.
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