The Taliban said Friday they were ready to restart peace talks with the United States, a day after President Donald Trump made a surprise visit to U.S. troops in Afghanistan and said he believed the radical group would agree to a cease-fire.Trump’s Thanksgiving Day visit was his first to Afghanistan since becoming president and came a week after a prisoner swap between Washington and Kabul that has raised hopes for a long elusive peace deal to end the 18-year war.“The Taliban wants to make a deal and we are meeting with them,” Trump told reporters after arriving in Afghanistan Thursday.“We say it has to be a cease-fire and they didn’t want to do a cease-fire and now they want to do a cease-fire, I believe. It will probably work out that way,” he said.Meetings with US officialsTaliban leaders have told Reuters that the group has been holding meetings with senior U.S. officials in Doha since last weekend, adding they could soon resume formal peace talks.On Friday, Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the hardline Islamist insurgent group, said they were “ready to restart the talks” that collapsed after Trump had called them off earlier this year.“Our stance is still the same. If peace talks start, it will be resumed from the stage where it had stopped,” Mujahid told Reuters.Trump canceled peace negotiations in September after the militant group claimed responsibility for an attack in Kabul that killed 12 people, including an American soldier.“We are hoping that Trump’s visit to Afghanistan will prove that he is serious to start talks again. We don’t think he has not much of a choice,” said a senior Taliban commander on conditions of anonymity.US troops in AfghanistanThere are currently about 13,000 U.S. forces as well as thousands of other NATO troops in Afghanistan, 18 years after an invasion by a U.S.-led coalition following the Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaida attacks on the United States.About 2,400 U.S. service members have been killed in the course of the Afghan conflict.A draft accord agreed in September would have thousands of American troops withdrawn in exchange for guarantees that Afghanistan would not be used as a base for militant attacks on the United States or its allies.Still, many U.S. officials doubt the Taliban could be relied upon to prevent al-Qaida from again plotting attacks against the United States from Afghan soil.
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Month: November 2019
Surge in New Voters Sparks Talk of UK Election ‘Youthquake’
In a British election dominated by Brexit, young voters who had no say in the country’s decision to leave the European Union could hold the key to victory. That is, if they can be bothered to vote.It has long been a truth in British politics that young people vote in lower numbers than older ones. In the last election in 2017, just more than half of under-35s voted, compared to more than 70% of those older than 60.But that may be changing. According to official figures, 3.85 million people registered to vote between the day the election was called on Oct. 29 and Tuesday’s registration deadline _ two-thirds of them under 35. The number of new registrations is almost a third higher than in 2017.Amy Heley of Vote for your Future, a group working to increase youth participation, says the figure is “really encouraging, and shows that politics has been so high profile recently that it is encouraging more young people to vote.”Moderator Julie Etchingham addresses Conservative leader Boris Johnson and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, left, during a televised debate ahead of the general election in London, Nov. 19, 2019.New voters are unimpressedThat doesn’t mean, however, that young voters like what they see. Many appear unimpressed with the choice between Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservatives, the main opposition Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn and a handful of smaller parties.“I think they’re all unlikeable,” said Callum Nelson, a 21-year-old law student attending a question session with local candidates at his London college. “I’m tempted to exercise my right to spoil my ballot.”About 46 million people are eligible to vote in the Dec. 12 election to fill all 650 seats in the House of Commons, including hundreds of thousands who were too young to take part in the U.K.’s 2016 Brexit referendum. Britain’s voting age is 18, although Labour and other parties, including the centrist Liberal Democrats and environmentalist Greens, want it lowered to 16.The current election campaign is a product of that 2016 vote, in which Britons decided by 52%-48% to leave the European Union after more than four decades of membership.The European Union’s Chief Brexit Negotiator Michel Barnier, right, and Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit steering group coordinator, attend a Brexit meeting at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, Oct. 2, 2019.More than three years on, the country remains an EU member. Johnson pushed for the December election, which is taking place more than two years early, in hopes of winning a majority and breaking Britain’s political impasse over Brexit. He says that if the Conservatives win a majority, he will get Parliament to ratify his Brexit divorce deal and take the U.K. out of the EU by the current Jan. 31 deadline.Labour says it will negotiate a new Brexit deal, then give voters a choice between leaving on those terms and remaining in the bloc. It also has a radical domestic agenda, promising to nationalize key industries and utilities, hike the minimum wage and give free internet access to all.While most opinion polls give Johnson’s Conservatives a substantial lead overall, the surge in new young voters is good news for Labour, which is seeking to defy the odds and win a general election for the first time since 2005.Young voters are more likely than their older compatriots to oppose Brexit, which will end Britons’ right to work and live in 27 other European nations and will have a major — though as yet unknown — economic impact.Other issuesMatt Walsh, a senior lecturer in journalism at the University of Cardiff, said young voters also strongly back abolition of tuition fees and stronger action against climate change, both policies “at the center of the offer that the Labour Party is putting forward to young people.”Labour’s strategy “is to try and grab those missing voters, get them registered and get them to vote and support Labour policies,” he said.Labour is spending more than its main rival on social media ads, churning out a stream of memes and messages on Facebook and Instagram. It is also outspending the Conservatives on Snapchat, whose users tend to be younger than those on the other networks. Twitter has banned all political advertising.Labour also pushed to get young people to register to vote before the Nov. 26 deadline, spreading the message through tweets from celebrity supporters, including grime artist Stormzy. Corbyn posted a link to the government’s voter registration website 26 times on Twitter and 31 times on Facebook in the month before the deadline. Johnson, in contrast, didn’t post the link or the word “register” at all on Twitter, and just once on Facebook.While some analysts are forecasting an electoral “youthquake,” others are cautious. This is a rare winter election, and turnout could suffer if Dec. 12 is a wet, cold day. It’s also difficult to know how much the voters’ decision will be motivated by Brexit and how much by domestic issues.“At this point, I’m kind of sick of Brexit,” said Susie Chilver, a first-year politics student at the University of Bristol, in southwest England. “So, the things that are swaying it for me are things like social housing, and things like health care, more about social issues than foreign policy.”Konstantinos Matakos, senior lecturer in the department of political economy at King’s College London, said there is an assumption that young voters are “leaning more Labour.” But he says their geographical spread, and whether they show up on polling day, will ultimately determine their impact on the outcome.“It’s not a straightforward assumption to say that this surge in the registration rates will undoubtedly benefit Labour in terms of gaining electoral seats,” he said.Some young voters agree that Labour shouldn’t take their support for granted.“People think that students will definitely vote for Labour,” said Molly Jones, a 19-year-old student at London’s Westminster Kingsway College. “But a lot of them who I’ve spoken to, it’s not like that. They will vote for the Liberal Democrats, or the Greens, or even the Conservatives.“All the parties are just a mess at the moment, and all the leaders are terrible,” she said. “It makes it really hard to vote for someone — you just hold your nose and vote.”
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Concerns Grow in Nigeria About Nation’s Bride Price Custom
The widespread African tradition of giving cash and gifts to a bride’s family before marriage, known as a “bride price,” critics say degrades women by putting a monetary value on a wife. A recent case in Nigeria ended in suicide, underscoring the financial pressure. But, supporters of the bride price tradition uphold it as a cherished cultural and religious symbol of marriage.Saadatu Ahmed Manga is having a dye called lalle, or henna, painted on her body because she’s about to get married. The bride and her friends are getting ready.She says they went to the hairdresser, and now they are doing lalle. For every wedding, the bride does lalle. Lalle is a dye made of plants. It’s painted on the body in patterns that resemble flowers or shapes.It’s part of the wedding custom in northern Nigeria, which is largely influenced by Islam.Marriage customBut the most important marriage custom is the bride price, a payment of cash that the fiancé gives to the bride’s family to show how serious he is about the marriage.Manga’s fiancé will make a cash payment to her family.In Islam, the bride price has to be paid before the wedding, she says. Bride price started since the days of the prophet, Muhammed, may peace be upon him, and we continue it, she says.But more Nigerians are condemning the bride price custom as a degrading practice that requires payment for marriage and places a monetary value on women.Women are largely left out of determining the bride price, which is negotiated between the male relatives of the bride and groom.Defenders and criticsYet, many Nigerians defend the tradition.One man says, dowry is something God has made compulsory.Another says, it is not selling her. It is not degrading. It is increasing her honor.Critical voices can be heard across Africa, including those of scholars, women’s rights activists and artists.In October, Nigerian media outlets reported the death of a 17-year-old girl in northern Nigeria who set herself on fire because her boyfriend could not afford the bride price. The dowry was 17,000 naira. That’s less than $50 in U.S. dollars.Marriage and relationship counselor Fiyabina Penuel says the tragedy could have been avoided. She says the pride price custom is being abused.“Initially, this issue of dowry and bride price was more like a pleasantry being exchanged between the husband-to-be and the in-laws-to-be. When it all started, in most cultures it was little things that everyone can afford. But as time goes on it became so big that most people cannot be able to afford it. So it’s like business and using it to put people in classes,” Penuel said. A symbol of loveBut African literature scholar, Dr. Agatha Ukata, blames radical feminist ideology for the rising criticism of bride price. She also says the tradition is misunderstood by the Western world.“The Western world, they have this cultural shock because it is not in their culture to have bride price and so that’s why they look at bride price and they’re imagining, ‘Why do you have to buy a woman?’ The concept of bride price, on its own, it’s not buying somebody. It is just a symbol of love,” Ukata said.When it’s finally time for Saadatu’s wedding. She walks among a lively crowd, her face covered by a heavy veil. Once seated, the groom’s family members drop money in a box and then ask her to lift the veil so they can see her.When it’s all done, the crowd burst into applause. She waves the bride price in the air to show it has been paid.Now, she can confidently call herself a wife.
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Botswana Drought Makes Wasteland of Harvests, Livestock
Southern Africa is experiencing one of the worst droughts in years, with more than 40 million people expected to face food insecurity because of livestock and crop losses. Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe have declared it an emergency.In semi-arid Botswana, the farmers are reeling after the worst drought in a decade wiped out entire harvests and left the land littered with dead livestock.Two thirds of the crops planted last season failed, while Ngamiland, a rich beef producing region, has recorded nearly 40,000 cattle deaths.Rancher Casper Matsheka says there was no food or water, so his animals starved to death.“The goats died, as well as the cattle, as you can see the carcasses all over. We were really affected. If only the government could subsidize the prices of feed and vaccines for the livestock during such times,” he said.Cattle and hippos wallow in mud in one of the channels of the wildlife-rich Okavango Delta near Nxaraga village in the outskirt of Maun, Sept. 28, 2019. Botswana government declared this a drought year because of no rainfall throughout the country.Nor has the drought sparred wildlife.National parks authorities have resorted to feeding starving hippos while hundreds of elephants have died.Environmental nongovernment organization, Kalahari Conservation Society’s Neil Fitt says competition for food and water has increased the risk of human-wildlife conflict.“The livestock are now putting pressure on the wildlife areas, so the wildlife are also getting pressure on their areas, and that is where the conflict zone is,” he said. “Why I am bringing this up? The… interconnected with the drought is this wildlife-human conflict.”In Botswana, where drought is frequent, President Mokgweetsi Masisi said the government plans to stop calling it an emergency and instead make drought relief part of the national budget.“Government has taken a decision to develop a Drought Management Strategy, which would classify drought as a permanent feature in our budget plans, rather than an emergency,” he said. “The strategy will be completed before the end of the financial year.”Acting director of Meteorological Services Radithupa Radithupa says a robust strategy is needed to deal with the recurring droughts.“We are looking at climate change as an impact now, we are seeing the impact now in terms of heating, the dry spells and the excessive rains. Therefore, we really need to adapt as a nation,” Radithupa said.Meanwhile, a forecast for rain has raised hopes among farmers and ranchers for recovery and that this season of severe drought won’t be a total loss.
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Tibetan Man Dies After Self-immolation Protest Against China
A former Buddhist monk has died in eastern Tibet after setting himself on fire this week to protest China’s repressive rule, a spokesperson for the monastery told VOA Tibetan Service.Yonten, a 24-year-old former monk at Kirti Monastery in Amdo Ngaba, in the western China province of Sichuan, carried out his self-immolation Tuesday in Meruma township, spokesperson Kanyag Tsering said.He said China had imposed restrictions in the area, including cellphone use, slowing the gathering and dissemination of information about the incident.“We have no further information on whether the body of the deceased has been handed over to the family or not since all channels are now blocked,” the monastery said in a statement.There have been 156 self-immolations across Tibet over the past decade, 44 of which took place in Amdo Ngaba.Once a monk, Yonten later disrobed and settled as a nomad. Meruma township has been the scene of multiple self-immolation protests, most recently in March 2018.In a statement, Free Tibet communications manager John Jones said, “Yonten lived his life under occupation. In his 24 years, he would have seen Chinese police and military suppress protests in his homeland, seen his culture, language and religion come under attack, seen people he knew arrested and made to disappear. Tibetans today grow up in a world of injustice.”China maintains it has worked to modernize Tibetan society since “liberating” Tibetans in 1950.
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NATO at 70: Internal Tensions, External Threats as Leaders Set to Gather
NATO leaders are preparing to gather in London for a two-day meeting Tuesday to mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the alliance, but growing tensions among members could overshadow the celebrations.The war in Syria and the ongoing Russian threat will serve as the backdrop to the summit. Fellow NATO members the United States and Turkey came close to confrontation in northern Syria last month, rattling the alliance.”The position of Turkey in the North Atlantic alliance is a difficult one,” said Jonathan Eyal of the Royal United Services Institute in London in an interview with VOA this week.”Turkey’s decision to become involved in military operations in the Middle East against the wishes of most of its allies, including the United States, [and] Turkey’s decision to buy Russian military equipment … [are] riling with many countries in Europe.”NATO members say it’s better to have Turkey inside than outside the alliance.”NATO is about European security, it’s not about coordinating policies in the Middle East,” Eyal said.Where American troops once kept the peace, Russian forces now patrol northern Syria. The U.S. withdrawal has fueled concerns over America’s commitment to NATO. French President Emmanuel Macron recently called the alliance “brain dead” and urged Europe to create its own security architecture. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, left, is welcomed by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Nov. 28, 2019.The comments elicited a sharp rebuke from NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg this week.”European unity cannot replace transatlantic unity. We need both. And we have to also understand that, especially after Brexit, the EU cannot defend Europe,” Stoltenberg told reporters.Europe still sees Russia as the biggest threat following its 2014 forceful annexation of Crimea and ongoing campaigns of espionage, cyberwarfare and disinformation.European concerns over the U.S. commitment to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, on collective defense, are not borne out by facts on the ground, Eyal said.”The reality is the Pentagon’s spending in Europe is increasing, the number of U.S. troops is increasing.”The deployment of U.S. troops in Europe is seen differently in Moscow.”Some of the Eastern European nations are trying to get American boots on the ground despite the fact that Article 5 should cover their security, which suggests that they trust the United States more than they trust NATO,” Andrey Kortunov of the Russian Council on International Affairs in Moscow told VOA in a recent interview.U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded that European NATO members “share the burden.” Germany on Wednesday pledged to meet the NATO defense spending target of 2% of GDP, but only by the 2030s.”The U.S. president should be credited with actually banging the table hard enough for the United States to be heard,” Eya said, “This is, and it’s important sometimes to repeat the cliché, the most successful alliance in modern history.”NATO will hope that is cause for celebration as leaders gather for its 70th anniversary.
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Aftershocks Rattle Albania, Leaving Residents on Edge
Residents remained on edge Thursday in the earthquake-stricken areas of Albania, as aftershocks continued to rattle the area.Thursday afternoon, another 5.0-magnitude quake was registered near the city of Thumane just hours after authorities called off search-and-rescue operations in the area after recovering the bodies of the last people who had been reported missing.The 6.4-magnitude temblor that struck Tuesday caused the most devastation in Thumane, where 23 people were killed, including seven from one family.“God let us keep two (members of the family) but took seven from us,” survivor Sul Cara told VOA. “Now we are focused on paying our respects to the dead, as honor and tradition demands of us. We will try our best to show strength as we send off seven loved ones to burial. This is a heavy tragedy to bear, but at the same time we have found strength in the outpouring of support, not just from this town but from the whole country.”Albanians sit at a makeshift camp in Durres, Nov. 28, 2019, after an earthquake shook Albania.The death toll rose to 47 as search operations continued in other locations, but rescuers are increasingly pessimistic survivors will be found.Residents in many neighborhoods remain in tents or have chosen to move in with relatives in other towns, as authorities warn that buildings remain unsafe.Dangerous aftershocksAlbanians should heed the warnings, Stanford University geophysics professor Ross Stein told VOA’s Albanian Service.Stein said that the days, even months after a major earthquake, aftershocks are a very serious threat.“The risk of another large shock today is much higher than it was a few days ago before the 6.4 struck. The likelihood of a large aftershock is much higher than the likelihood of the same shock had there not been a main shock at all,” he said.Stein, who has extensively studied seismic activity in the Balkans, said Tuesday’s earthquake was not a surprise from a geological point of view. He said Albania is “the most seismically active part of the Balkan region,” which has exhibited historically “larger and more frequent earthquakes even than Italy.”The seismic activity is the reason for Albania’s natural beauty, he said.“The reason why Albania is so beautiful is because it has this wonderful hill-valley topography and that is produced because the region is being compressed to the east and west. Think of a carpet and you’re a pushing a carpet across the floor and you’re producing folds,” Stein said.A rescue dog searches for survivors in a collapsed building in Durres, Nov. 28, 2019, after an earthquake shook Albania.Quake preparationBut despite the area’s history of earthquakes, scientists can’t predict where and when the next one will strike.The only possible thing people can do, he said, is have a good preparation strategy.He said there is a need to prioritize earthquake protections, “and the region around Tirana and along the coast of Albania have the highest hazard and indicate to us, in a broad sense, this is where we need to focus our attention.”Thursday marked Albania’s 107th independence anniversary. President Ilir Meta called on his countrymen to use the moment “to help heal the wounds caused by the earthquake.”
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Sudan Moves to Dissolve Ex-Ruling Party, Repeals Public Order Law
Sudanese transitional authorities approved a law on Thursday to dissolve the former ruling party and repealed a public order law used to regulate women’s behavior under ex-President Omar al-Bashir, the justice minister said. The two measures responded to key demands by a protest movement that helped overthrow Bashir in April. Their implementation will be a crucial test of how far transitional authorities are willing or able to go to overturn nearly three decades of rule by Bashir, who took power in a 1989 coup and whose Islamist movement penetrated deep into Sudan’s institutions.The law to dissolve Bashir’s National Congress Party (NCP) also allows for the party’s assets to be seized, Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdelbari said. State TV described it as a measure to “dismantle” the former regime. The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), which spearheaded the protests against Bashir, welcomed the law. “It is an important step on the path to building a democratic civilian state,” the group said in a statement. The law was passed during a marathon, 14-hour meeting of Sudan’s sovereign council and cabinet. The meeting saw disputes over an article that bans people who took leading posts in the former regime from practicing politics, sources with knowledge of the proceedings told Reuters. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said on Twitter that the measure was not an act of revenge, but was rather aimed at preserving the “dignity of the Sudanese people.” Information Minister Faisal Mohamed Saleh said the delay in approving the law was caused by work to “improve” it. “By this law, we want to establish a new era,” he said.
CelebrationIn the capital, Khartoum, some drivers tooted car horns in celebration after the late-night announcement, while others exchanged slogans from the uprising on social media. Hamdok’s government was formed in September after a power-sharing deal between anti-Bashir groups and the Transitional Military Council that ruled the country immediately after Bashir’s overthrow. The transitional authorities are due to hold power for just over three years before elections. Under Bashir, the public order law was deployed to impose conservative Islamic social codes, restricting women’s freedom of dress, movement, association, work and study. This could include preventing women from wearing trousers or leaving their hair uncovered in public, or mixing with men other than their husbands or an immediate relative. Those found to have contravened the law could be punished with flogging. Hamdok called the rules “an instrument of exploitation, humiliation, violation, aggression on the rights of citizens.” Women’s roleWomen played a prominent role in months of protests against
Bashir. Women’s rights activist Hadia Hasaballah said the repeal of
the law showed the failure of Islamist ideology. “The decision to abolish the public order law is a culmination of the courageous struggles of women for 30 years,” she told Reuters. “Women martyrs deserve it.”
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Trump Makes Surprise Afghan Visit, Says Taliban Wants Cease-Fire
U.S. President Donald Trump made an unannounced Thanksgiving visit to American troops in Afghanistan where he disclosed his administration had resumed peace talks with the Taliban and the insurgent group is willing to observe a cease-fire.The news comes less than three months after Trump abruptly halted the yearlong U.S.-Taliban dialogue just as the two adversaries had come close to signing an agreement to end the 18-year-old Afghan war, America’s longest overseas military engagement.“The Taliban wants to make a deal and we’re meeting with them and we’re saying it has to be a cease-fire and they didn’t want to do a cease-fire and now they do want to do a cease-fire,” Trump said during a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at Bagram Air Field.“I believe it probably will work out that way, and we’ll see what happens,” Trump added.There was no immediate reaction from the Taliban who have rejected repeated calls for a cease-fire until a foreign troop withdrawal deal is concluded with the U.S.There are fewer than 14,000 U.S. troops currently stationed in Afghanistan. Speaking during his first trip to the country Thursday, Trump reaffirmed that he hopes to reduce the troop presence to 8,600 but apparently linked further action to a peace pact with the Taliban.“We’re going to stay until such time as we have a deal or we have total victory, and they want to make a deal very badly,” Trump said.The draft agreement the U.S.-Taliban negotiations had produced before Trump called off the process on September 7 would have set the stage for a phased withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.The Taliban in return had given counterterrorism guarantees and promised to engage in intra-Afghan peace negotiations to permanently end decades of hostilities in the country.Trump suspended the talks, citing a spate of insurgent attacks in the Afghan capital of Kabul that killed among others an American soldier.President Ghani said in a statement after his meeting with Trump that the American leader appreciated “the tireless” efforts of Afghan security forces battling the Taliban and militants linked to Islamic State’s regional affiliate.“Both sides underscored that if the Taliban are sincere in their commitment to reaching a peace deal, they must accept a cease-fire,” Ghani said.A high-profile prisoner swap this month is being credited for the resumption of U.S.-Taliban contacts in Qatar, the traditional host of the Afghan peace talks. The prisoner deal secured freedom for an American and an Australian professor who had been held hostage by the Taliban since 2016. In return, the Afghan government released three high-ranking insurgent leaders.The Afghan war is estimated to have killed more than 150,000 people, including civilians, insurgents, local and foreign troops, since the U.S. and its allies invaded Afghanistan 18 years ago to oust the Taliban from power for sheltering al-Qaida leaders accused of plotting the September 2001 terrorist strikes on America.The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 2,400 U.S. service members and has already cost Washington nearly $1 trillion.
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Germany to Tighten Laws Against Anti-Semitic Crimes
Germany intends to strengthen its laws against anti-Semitic crimes as part of the government’s response to a deadly attack in the eastern part of the country. Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht told parliament Thursday of her planned amendment to the country’s current law that would make anti-Semitism an aggravating factor for hate crimes in the nation’s criminal code.Currently, discrimination against particular groups is considered an aggravating factor, but the law does not specifically refer to Jews. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) defines hate crimes or “bias crimes” as those “motivated by intolerance towards certain groups in society.” “We have to send a clear signal against anti-Semitism,” Lambrecht told lawmakers.
A proposed change to the law would need to be approved by parliament, where the government holds a majority of seats. Halle attackThe change is part of the government’s strategy to tackle anti-Semitism in the country following a deadly October attack in Halle, Germany. A gunman opened fire on a kebab shop after failing to storm a synagogue on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. The shooter killed a customer in the shop and a passerby. FILE – An apparent explosives cache is seen in a bag inside the vehicle used by a gunman in an attack on a synagogue in Halle, Germany, Oct. 9, 2019, in this still image taken from the gunman’s helmet camera video stream.The shooter confessed to German police that he was motivated by right-wing extremism and anti-Semitism. Other elements of the plan are stricter gun control measures and requirements for social media companies to report hate speech to authorities. The police plan to establish a new department that would collect the reported content and the internet addresses of the posters. The attack was part of a greater trend of crimes against Jews in the country.
Anti-Semitic offenses rose by almost 10 percent in Germany last year, with violent attacks going up more than 60 percent, according to preliminary police data released in February. Police recorded 1,646 violations motivated by hatred against Jews, the highest level in a decade. Perceived rise in anti-SemitismIn addition to rising hate crimes, studies show a perceived increase in anti-Semitism in German society. After the Halle attack, a survey sponsored by public broadcaster ARD showed 59% of voting-age Germans believed that anti-Semitism was spreading in their communities. More than a quarter of Germans hold anti-Semitic beliefs, according to a study by the World Jewish Congress. “I am ashamed that Jews in Germany no longer feel safe and that so many are even thinking of leaving the country,” said Lambrecht.
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Nigeria’s Progress Slow in Fight Against Gender-Based Violence
Nigerian authorities this week launched the first nationwide register of sex offenders and held a procession in Abuja to raise awareness of and work to prevent violence against women. While they welcomed these as steps forward, women’s rights activists and victims of gender-based violence note Nigeria has a poor record of prosecution. An event Monday in Abuja that marked the start of 16 days of activism against gender-based violence kicked off with a candlelight procession for victims at the National Centre for Women Development. Events in Nigeria are coinciding with the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, an annual international campaign coordinated each year by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Earlier on Monday, Nigerian authorities launched the first nationwide register of sex offenders to better track perpetrators. ‘Name-and-shame policy’The anonymity the online register affords victims is a major improvement on tracking offenders, said Julie Okah-Donli, director general of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons. “With the sex offenders register, it’s a name-and-shame policy,” she said. “ … It’s very important, because you have schools recruiting teachers, and houses recruiting helpers and drivers. So you have to be sure you’re not recruiting a rapist or a pedophile.”
Nigeria’s Progress Slow in Fight Against Gender-Based Violence video player.
Embed” />Copy LinkAccording to the U.N. children’s fund, UNICEF, one in four Nigerian girls is sexually abused before age 18, and a majority of offenders are never prosecuted. With little faith of getting justice, most victims of sexual violence are often too afraid of stigma to report the crime. But that tide turned after hundreds of protesters in May marched against the police for detaining 65 women for alleged prostitution and then assaulting and raping a number of them. Mary Ekpere-Eta, director general of the National Centre for Women Development, wants tougher penalties for offenders. Victims often remain silent
“It is unfortunate that the custodians of the law, like the security officers, could get involved in such acts,” she said. “It’s very unfortunate, and I think that the law should be stiffened to ensure that such people are brought to [justice]. Our judiciary process is slow, and judgments are not obtained on time, and because of a lack of evidence, at times, it still boils down that the victims are not speaking out.”
Nigerian police have said they are investigating the allegations and have vowed to pursue prosecutions. But police themselves have been accused of committing violence against women on the streets and in clubs at night. Dorothy Njemanze, a victim of sexual assault, recalled one experience in 2015 that occurred as she was on her way to host an evening event.
“Before I knew what was happening, people approached me, and I was given a beating,” she said, “and in the process, a man put his hand in my trousers.”
Njemanze was unable to get justice in Nigeria, so she took her case to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice. The court in 2017 ruled in her favor and ordered the Nigerian state to pay Njemanze $50,000 in compensation. But while the ruling was considered a landmark judgment, Nigerian authorities have yet to pay her.
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Nigeria’s Progress Slow in Fight Against Gender-Based Violence
Nigerian authorities this week launched the first nationwide register of sex offenders and held a candlelight procession in the capital, Abuja, to raise awareness and work to prevent violence against women. While they welcomed these as steps forward, women’s rights activists and victims of gender-based violence note Nigeria has a poor record of prosecution. Timothy Obiezu reports from Abuja.
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VOA EXclusive Interview with US Southern Command Chief, Admiral Craig Faller
The top U.S. commander in Latin America and the Caribbean says illicit narcotics money is now a “big part” of financing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government.“If you’re a cartel leader, you now see an easy pathway through Venezuela into commercial shipping and air to distribute your product, and Maduro and his illegitimate regime are getting a cut,” Admiral Craig Faller, the commander of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), told VOA in an exclusive interview.He added that illicit narcotics trafficking through Venezuela is now making it more difficult for the United States and its allies to detect, monitor and interdict illegal drugs.SOUTHCOM helped interdict 280 metric tons of illegal drugs last year, and U.S. drug deaths were down for the first time in 25 years, albeit only a decrease of 5%. “We had very, an excellent year in 2019, Fiscal Year ‘19, but it’s never enough. We’ve got to be able to do more on the interdiction,” Faller said.The interview, edited for brevity, is below:Admiral Craig Faller, U.S. Southern Command: We’re making an important and good progress in the (drug) interdiction. A lot of this is assisted with our partners, and there’s no better partners than El Salvador. El Salvador is actively engaged in defending the homeland of the United States, helping us stop the flow of illicit drugs.Carla Babb, VOA: If we were to lose the access that we have the partnership with El Salvador, what would that do? Would we be blind in the war on drugs on the Pacific?Faller: It’s critical that we have our access, our placement and the information that we gain here in the maritime patrol aircraft that hub out of here are absolutely essential in piecing that together. Would we be blind? We wouldn’t be blind, but we would, we would be degraded in our ability to see the picture. And that would impact the interdictions, which would impact lives and families in the United States. We had very, an excellent year in 2019, Fiscal Year ‘19, but it’s never enough. We’ve got to be able to do more on the interdiction. We’ve got to be able to put more pressure on the supply side, and our really good partners like the Colombians have stepped up. I was out eradicating coca with Colombian Defense Forces, and they’re working hard because they know how important this is for the United States, and it also affects their security.VOA: Is 2019 shaping up to be a record year for the amount of drugs collected?Faller: We’re analyzing the statistics. We had it, we had success. We made a difference. We know we saved lives. It’s too early to say where that number will come, but the team worked hard because they know how important the mission is. And we worked hard with our partners. That’s key. Between 40 and 50% of our introductions were partnerships with countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, where we work together.No one nation can go alone when it comes to the security of this neighborhood, this hemisphere of ours — it’s our neighborhood, these are our neighbors. We are all Americans. And so that’s been one of the real areas of progress is the amount of partnership, the amount that other nations have stepped up to really get in this because they know that flow of material through El Salvador affects their security as well.VOA: And so when we talk about the making a difference, drug deaths are down in the United States for the first time in 25 years. What do you make of that?Faller: It is a whole government effort. I credit that to the hard work of our team at SOUTHCOM. The Coast Guard — our United States Coast Guard — is critical in that and they have really stepped up in a way that should make every single American proud. Our Navy has supplied critical assets like the P/8. So this, this team working together and the partners. Our security cooperation programs have developed partnerships with El Salvador. These are professionals that we trust. That don’t succumb to corruption and do the right thing. And they’re working with us because it’s important to both of our countries.VOA: Now, you had mentioned recently earlier this month that drug trafficking in Venezuela had increased by about 50%. What exactly does that look like for the war on drugs, the US war on drugs?Faller: The illegitimate Maduro regime, at the expense of his people, it’s sad, has facilitated an increase of all types of illicit activity. And that’s drug flow, that’s terrorism, it’s illegal mining. This drug flow has been part of that. So if you’re a cartel leader, you now see an easy pathway through Venezuela into commercial shipping and air to distribute your product, and Maduro and his illegitimate regime are getting a cut. Maduro does whatever it takes to keep his team in self in power, and this is a big part of keeping his finances going–illicit narcotics money.VOA: So how does that affect us?Faller: It complicates our ability to interdict narcotics, because when it leaves Venezuela, it could leave hidden in cargo of a commercial fishing vessel, commercial ship or in a commercial airliner or an airplane. And that complicates our ability to detect, monitor and interdict certainly, and we see that particularly in the air and on the sea that those pathways have increased. And that’s to the advantage of Maduro and no one else.VOA: And you said recently also that Venezuela is exacerbating the situation in your region. What did you mean by that exactly?Faller: So the migration, now close to 5 million, has strained the social services of the hemisphere. So that’s one. Certainly the illicit narcotics traffic that is now a pathway that makes it more difficult for all of us to detect, monitor and interdict is another.The ties to Cuba, ties to Russia, the ties to Iran and to some extent China are unhelpful as they work to prop up the illegitimate regime and support a nation that’s not a democracy. Our response has been primarily in planning and the deployment of the United States Naval Ship (USNS) Comfort two times in one year. Where (USNS) Comfort has brought hope to the people that need it the most, those that are affected by that crisis and the social systems. Unfortunately, it hasn’t gone to where it’s needed the most in Venezuela because it’s not a democratic nation and we can’t port our, bring our ship in there to provide the Comfort. With hope, maybe one day.VOA: You mentioned the two deployments. Is there anything more than the U.S. military can do? I mean, this is a real crisis. People are starving. People are, you know, have nowhere to go. I believe the number of Venezuela’s refugees are going to surpass the number of Syrian refugees in 2020. It’s expected to grow to that large of a number. What more can the military do?Faller: It’s, having been out there on the (USNS) Comfort a couple times and seeing the face of the people and how it’s tearing apart moms and dads, and we’re looking at Thanksgiving here and we brought them hope. So, our military working with the rest of our government is bringing hope, and we’re with the people of Venezuela. I think there’s a lot, there’s a lot in that.Beyond that we’re planning for a range of contingencies. It’s what you expect us to do. It’s what our chain of command has asked us to do so we would be ready. I won’t go into any more detail than that. There’s going to be a day after. There’s going to be a legitimate government. (It) can’t happen soon enough for the people of Venezuela, unfortunately. And when that happens, they’ve got to restore social services, sewage, water, electricity, everything else that the inept, corrupt, illegitimate Maduro regime has destroyed and ruined. They’ve all got to be built up. It’s not a military role there, but we would be in support of that to provide the types of things that militaries do: planning, perhaps some lifts, whatever we’re asked to do.VOA: You mentioned hope, and so that makes me think about another crisis that we have — not just the Venezuelan refugees, but we’ve got the people trying to get to the United States from here, from Honduras. You’ve spoken to your counterparts. What are these countries doing to try to alleviate the problems that are sending these migrants to the US border?Faller: Earlier this year, we had the opportunity to go out in some neighborhoods in El Salvador and Honduras and sat with some young men and women that had participated in a caravan, gone all the way up into Mexico and come all the way back down. They came all the way back down and returned. And so you ask them, “Why do you leave your home?” And it’s all, it’s basic. It’s no hope, didn’t feel safe, no food, no job.“Didn’t you know it was going to be dangerous?” We knew. But when you don’t have anything and you need something, you move out. “Why’d you come back?” Because it was even more dangerous along that migration route than what we expected. And with assistance, they had found employment and were gaining some hope. And so there’s a complex array of factors that go into this. And when I meet with military members, militaries in these countries, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, they’re in support of their government.They’re doing their part to try to explain to the people that this isn’t the best option. It’s hard to convince somebody that doesn’t have any food that it’s not the best option. But we’re seeing progress, the numbers are down. And we’re working hard to do our part in the U.S. military, Southern Command, and work with our partners. A lot of that is sharing information, looking for where the migration intersects with other illicit activity. So there is a connection between transnational criminal organizations that principally work in the counter, in the narcotics to other illicit. They’ll do whatever they can to make a buck. And if that means working with illegal migration of people, they’ll do it.VOA: Do we have teams that are targeting these criminals?Faller: We assist our partners at the US Embassy in sharing information, intelligence primarily, about what we know and what we don’t know. And then we work in some partner capacity building — building intelligence networks, surveillance that supports the nation, But it’s all assistance.VOA: Should we do more than that? Should we do more than information sharing? Should we go outside the wire ourselves?Faller: I think we’re doing exactly what we should be doing. And these, the nation’s, this is primarily a policing effort for the partner nations or border nation. And most of their militaries are in support of that. And that’s, I think, the right balance. And I don’t, I don’t think we should be in actively engaged in that. Look at a nation like El Salvador. These (are) extremely capable armed forces. They fought with us in Iraq. They fought with us in Afghanistan. And they currently are deploying a helicopter company to Mali as part of the UN peacekeeping mission. A lot of their force right now is focused inward to help their police, but they truly understand that they play a role regionally and beyond and that’s because the training and assistance that we provide.VOA: We’re here in El Salvador where China has been courting El Salvador, trying to put a port here. Does it concern you as a military officer that China could be this close to the United States?Faller: I don’t ask for partners that choose. I don’t, but we do talk about values, democracy, human rights, rule of law, respect, integration of women and non-commissioned officers into our formations. And we see it the same. These officers and enlisted have been trained with us and trained in U.S. schools. We are on the same page, the same sheet of music when it comes to those basic principles. I do then pivot and I say, “China’s going to come dangling some very attractive offer, perhaps, but remember where they stand on all those things democracy rules based order, respect for property. And you make a choice.”VOA: What is the biggest threat now in the region? And then where does the concern of the rising violence–we look at Bolivia, right now and we see violence. Are you concerned that that could go from protest to something bigger?Faller: There’s a vicious circle of threats that affect the security of the United States that jeopardize a peace and prosperity and democracy right here in our neighborhood. Right here. And that vicious circle is on young governments. These are young democracies, civil wars within our lifetime right here. They have young, emerging institutions, and institutions are the strength of our democracy, like the United States military. They’re susceptible, these young institutions here, to corruption. They’re susceptible to transnational criminal organizations, which breed on corruption and will deal in anything they can to make themselves a buck and stay powerful and strong. And they’re often better funded than the security institutions that they face here. Those external powers that we talked about — China, Russia — they thrive on those same sorts of conditions. And that’s a threat.
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UK Police Explain Decision on Prince Andrew Case
London police are defending the decision not to pursue a full investigation of allegations made against Prince Andrew by a woman who says she was trafficked by the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Police acknowledged Thursday that they received a complaint in 2015 from a woman alleging she was the victim of trafficking for sexual exploitation.The woman, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, has said she was trafficked by Epstein and had sex three times with Prince Andrew starting in 2001, including once in London. She says she was 17 when they first had sex.Metropolitan Police Commander Alex Murray said police concluded in 2016 after looking into the matter and consulting prosecutors that the London-based force was the wrong agency to investigate.“Following the legal advice, it was clear that any investigation into human trafficking would be largely focused on activities and relationships outside the U.K.” he said.The London police, he added, would not be the “appropriate authority” to investigate.Epstein, a wealthy financier, died in prison in August in what the New York City coroner ruled as a suicide. He faced trafficking charges.The Met’s Murray said police reviewed its decision after Epstein’s death and decided not to change policy.Andrew, 59, has repeatedly denied the allegations, most recently during a televised interview broadcast nearly two weeks ago in which he lost public support by defending his friendship with Epstein and by not expressing sympathy for Epstein’s many young female victims. The prince has since stepped down from royal duties because of the scandal.A television interview with Giuffre is scheduled to be broadcast Monday in Britain. She has said Andrew must take responsibility for what he’s done.Murray also said that London police have not received a formal request for assistance from other law enforcement agencies investigating the case.U.S. officials are still looking into the case and a number of civil lawsuits against Epstein’s estate are in progress.
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Trump in Afghanistan, Says US, Taliban in Peace Talks
President Donald Trump paid a surprise Thanksgiving visit to Afghanistan, where he announced the U.S. and Taliban have been engaged in ongoing peace talks and said he believes the Taliban wants a cease-fire.In his first trip to the site of America’s longest war, Trump arrived at Bagram Air Field shortly after 8:30 p.m. local time Thursday and spent more than two-and-a-half hours on the ground, serving turkey, thanking the troops and sitting down with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.As per tradition, reporters were under strict instructions to keep the trip a secret to ensure his safety in the country. About 12,000 U.S. forces remain in Afghanistan.Traveling with a small clutch of aides, including his acting chief of staff, press secretary and national security adviser, but not the first lady, Trump appeared in good spirits as he was escorted around the base by heavily armed soldiers, as the smell of burning fuel and garbage wafted through the chilly air.His first stop was a dining hall where he plated turkey and sat down for a meal.During his visit, Trump said the U.S. and Taliban have been engaged in peace talks and insisted the Taliban want to make a deal after heavy U.S. fire in recent months.“We’re meeting with them,” he said. “And we’re saying it has to be a cease-fire. And they don’t want to do a cease-fire, but now they do want to do a cease-fire, I believe… and we’ll see what happens.”The trip comes after Trump abruptly broke off peace talks with the Taliban in September, canceling a secret meeting with Taliban and Afghan leaders at the Camp David presidential retreat after a particularly deadly spate of violence, capped by a bombing in Kabul that killed 12 people, including an American soldier.That ended a nearly yearlong effort by the U.S. to reach a political settlement with the Taliban, the group that protected al-Qaida extremists in Afghanistan, prompting U.S. military action after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. U.S. and international forces have been on the ground ever since.Trump ran his 2016 campaign promising to end the nation’s “endless wars” and has been pushing to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and in the Middle East, despite protests from top U.S. officials, Trump’s Republican allies in Washington and many U.S. allies abroad. For months now, he has described American forces as “policemen” and argued that other countries’ wars should be theirs to wage.Tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and more than 2,400 American service members have been killed since the war began 18 years ago.Just last week, Trump flew to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to oversee the transfer of remains of two Army officers killed when their helicopter crashed as they provided security for troops on the ground in Logar Province in eastern Afghanistan. The Taliban still controls or holds sway over about half of the country, staging near-daily attacks targeting Afghan forces and government officials.The U.S. and Taliban had been close to an agreement in September that might have enabled a U.S. troop withdrawal.Trump said he was proceeding with a plan to reduce U.S. troop levels to about 8,600, telling reporters we’re “bringing down the number of troops substantially.”Still, he said, the U.S. will stay in the country “until we have a deal or we have total victory.”Trump also met briefly with Ghani, the Afghan president. Ghani thanked the Americans who have made the “ultimate sacrifice” in Afghanistan“Afghan security forces are taking the lead now,” Ghani said.The White House took pains to keep the trip a secret after Trump’s cover was blown last year when Air Force One was spotted en route to Iraq by an amateur British flight watcher.Cellphones and other transmitting devices were confiscated for the duration of the trip from everyone traveling aboard Air Force One. And Thanksgiving-themed tweets were teed up to publish ahead of time from Trump’s account to prevent suspicions arising about the president’s silence.A small group of reporters was told to meet Wednesday night on the top floor of a parking garage and transported in black vans to Andrews Air Force Base. Meanwhile, the president was secretly flying back from Florida, where reporters had been told he’d be spending Thanksgiving at his Mar-a-Lago club.The plane he’d flown to Florida — the modified 747 painted in the iconic white and blue of Air Force One — remained parked on the tarmac at West Palm Beach Airport to avoid revealing the president’s movement.About 9:45 p.m., the president boarded a nearly identical plane concealed in a hangar at Andrews Air Base, taking off and landing under the cover of darkness, with cabin lights dimmed and window shutters drawn.White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said plans for the visit had been in the works for weeks.“It’s a dangerous area and he wants to support the troops,” Grisham told reporters before Trump landed. “He and Mrs. Trump recognize that there’s a lot of people who are away from their families during the holidays and we thought it’d be a nice surprise.”Shortly after midnight, Trump and his entourage departed.The president told the troops he was honored to spend part of his holiday with him.“There is nowhere I’d rather celebrate this Thanksgiving than right here with the toughest, strongest, best and bravest warriors on the face of the earth,” Trump said.
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Ban Black Friday? French Activists, LAwmakers Want to Try
Dozens of French activists blocked an Amazon warehouse south of Paris in a Black Friday-inspired protest, amid increased opposition to the post-Thanksgiving sales phenomenon that has seen a group of French lawmakers push to ban it altogether.Protesters from climate group Amis de la terre (Friends of the Earth) spread hay and old refrigerators and microwaves on the driveway leading to the warehouse in Bretigny-sur-Orge on Thursday. They held signs in front of the gates reading “Amazon: For the climate, for jobs, stop expansion, stop over-production!”The activists were later dislodged by police.More demonstrations are expected as Black Friday looms into view. French climate groups are planning “Block Friday” demonstrations Friday.Their objections are garnering some support within France’s National Assembly. Some French lawmakers want to ban Black Friday, which has morphed into a global phenomenon even though it stems from a specifically U.S. holiday: Thanksgiving Thursday.A French legislative committee passed an amendment Monday that proposes prohibiting Black Friday since it causes “resource waste” and “overconsumption.”The amendment, which was put forward by France’s former environment minister, Delphine Batho, will be debated next month. France’s e-commerce union has condemned it.On Europe 1 radio Thursday, France’s ecological transition minister, Elisabeth Borne, criticized Black Friday for creating “traffic jams, pollution, and gas emissions.”She added that she would support Black Friday if it helped small French businesses, but said it mostly benefits large online retailers.
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