As millions of Ukrainians flee their homes, there has been an outpouring of support from people around the world. One Ukrainian woman in Guatemala has mobilized the online community to help Ukrainians. For VOA News Eugenia Sagastume has the story.
Camera: Eugenia Sagastume
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Month: March 2022
UN Chief: 2 Billion People Live in Conflict Areas Today
The United Nations chief said Wednesday that one-quarter of humanity — 2 billion people — are living in conflict areas today and the world is facing the highest number of violent conflicts since 1945, when World War II ended.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cited conflicts from Yemen, Syria, Myanmar and Sudan to Haiti, Africa’s Sahel, “and now the war in Ukraine — a catastrophe shaking the foundations of the international order, spilling across borders and causing skyrocketing food, fuel and fertilizer prices that spell disaster for developing countries.”
He told the U.N. Peacebuilding Commission on Wednesday that last year 84 million people were forced to leave their homes because of conflict, violence and human rights violations. And that doesn’t include the Ukraine war which has already seen 4 million people flee the country and displaced another 6.5 million within the country, according to U.N. agencies.
Guterres said the U.N. estimates that this year “at least 274 million will need humanitarian assistance.” This represents a 17% increase from 2021 and will cost $41 billion for the 183 million people targeted for aid, according to the U.N. humanitarian office.
Guterres also cited the 2 billion figure of people living in conflict countries in a report to the commission in late January, which said there were a record number of 56 state-based conflicts in 2020. It doesn’t include the Ukraine war, which started with Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion and has affected almost all 40 million people in the country.
The secretary-general told the commission that conflicts are increasing “at a moment of multiplying risks that are pushing peace further out of reach — inequalities, COVID-19, climate change and cyber threats, to name just a few.”
He also pointed to an increase of military coups and seizures of power by force around the world, growing nuclear arsenals, human rights and international law under assault, and criminals and terrorist networks “fueling — and profiting from — divisions and conflicts.”
“The flames of conflict are fueled by inequality, deprivation and underfunded systems,” Guterres said, and these issues must be addressed urgently.
According to his report to the commission, the world is seeing the increasing internationalization of conflicts within countries, and this, together with “the fragmentation and multiplication” of armed groups linked to criminal and terrorist networks, “makes finding solutions arduous,” he said.
Consequently, Guterres said, “there are fewer political settlements to conflicts,” with Colombia a notable exception.
“Over the last decade, the world has spent $349 billion on peacekeeping, humanitarian relief and refugee support, he said. “And global military expenditures rose to nearly $2 trillion in 2020.”
The Peacebuilding Commission has worked to advance peace and prevent conflict in countries including Ivory Coast, Iraq, Africa’s Great Lakes region and Papua New Guinea, the secretary-general said, and the Peacebuilding Fund has grown, investing $195 million last year.
But it relies on voluntary contributions and peacebuilding needs are far outpacing resources, which is why Guterres said he is asking the U.N. General Assembly to assess the U.N.’s 193 member nations a total of $100 million annually for the fund.
“When we consider the costs of war — to the global economy but most of all to humanity’s very soul — peacebuilding is a bargain, and a prerequisite for development and a better future for all,” he said.
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Blinken Urges Algeria to Rethink Stands on Russia, Western Sahara
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up a three-nation tour of the Middle East and North Africa on Wednesday with appeals for Algeria to limit ties with Russia and look to improve relations with neighboring Morocco.
“The countries of North Africa and the Middle East have experienced themselves the consequences of Russia’s military campaigns before,” Blinken said, noting Russian interventions in Syria and Libya and the impact on energy and food security that the Ukraine conflict is having.
“The international community must increase the pressure on Russia to end this unprovoked and unjustified war,” he said.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has in the past referred to Russia as a “brotherly country,” and has maintained pressure on Morocco over its claim to the disputed territory of the Western Sahara, where Algeria backs independence fighters.
‘Stand with the victim’
After meeting with Tebboune, Blinken said the Ukraine conflict should cause all countries to re-evaluate relations with Russia and express their support for the territorial integrity of other states.
“I know that that’s something Algerians feel strongly about,” he said.
“There are times when one issue emerges that is so clearly black and white,” he said. “It’s important to stand with the victim and to stand with the principles that have also been violated.”
Algeria has had close ties with Russia since its independence from France in 1962 and is a major purchaser of Russian weaponry.
It is also locked in a bitter dispute with Morocco over the status of the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara. Algiers opposes a plan by Rabat to retain control of the territory while granting it semi-autonomous status.
Algerian officials provided no immediate readout of Tebboune’s meeting with Blinken.
Blinken and other U.S. officials have praised the Moroccan plan as “serious, realistic and credible” but have not explicitly endorsed it as the path to a resolution. Earlier this month, Algeria angrily recalled its ambassador to Spain after the Spanish government offered the same assessment — an enormous departure from its earlier stance of considering Morocco’s grip on Western Sahara an occupation.
Blinken did not repeat the phrase at his news conference in Algiers and instead said only that the U.S. fully supports U.N. efforts to resolve the situation.
“We’re very focused on diplomacy,” he said.
Blinken came to Algeria a day after meeting senior Moroccan officials in Rabat, where he praised Morocco’s improvements in ties with Israel.
And on Monday, Blinken had been in Israel’s Negev Desert where he and the Israeli foreign minister participated in a historic gathering with their counterparts from Arab nations, including Morocco, that have normalized relations with Israel.
‘Abraham Accords’
Morocco, along with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, was one of the countries to fully normalize relations with Israel during the Trump administration’s push to negotiate the so-called “Abraham Accords,” in which the U.S. pledged significant support in exchange for such recognition.
For its part, Morocco won U.S. recognition for its claim to Western Sahara in return for its agreement with Israel.
In a rare endorsement of a Trump foreign policy initiative, the Biden administration has signaled its full backing for the Abraham Accords and pledged to try to expand and strengthen them.
But, while the administration has not revoked Trump’s decision on Western Sahara, it has taken few steps to advance it, and plans to build a U.S. consulate there have not advanced since Trump announced them in 2020.
That has led to questions about whether Washington is fully on board with Moroccan sovereignty over the former Spanish colony.
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British Judges Quit Hong Kong Court Over Beijing-Imposed National Security Law
Two senior British judges resigned from Hong Kong’s highest court on Wednesday as part of a broader British rebuke of the territory’s claim that its courts are independent of political interference.
In a prepared statement released by Lord Robert Reed and his colleague Lord Patrick Hodge, the judges cited the territory’s Beijing-imposed National Security Law (NSL) as central to their decision, which followed discussions with Dominic Raab, the U.K. lord chancellor and justice secretary.
“I have concluded, in agreement with the government, that the judges of the Supreme Court cannot continue to sit in Hong Kong without appearing to endorse an administration which has departed from values of political freedom, and freedom of expression,” said the statement. “Lord Hodge and I have accordingly submitted our resignations as non-permanent judges of the HKCFA with immediate effect.”
Britain, which handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, has said the security law that punishes offenses like subversion with up to life imprisonment has been used to curb dissent and freedoms. London also says the law is a breach of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration that paved the way for the handover.
British officials on Wednesday issued comments explaining their decision to withdraw the judges from Hong Kong’s highest court, calling their presence untenable.
“The situation has reached a tipping point, where it is no longer tenable for British judges to sit on Hong Kong’s leading court and would risk legitimizing oppression,” said British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in a statement. “I welcome and wholeheartedly support the decision to withdraw British judges from the court.”
Raab said, “I thank our judges for being a bastion of international rule of law in Hong Kong over the past 25 years.”
Brian Davidson, the British Consul General to Hong Kong and Macao, also echoed the announcement in a video posted on Twitter.
Hong Kong government officials, however, were quick to respond to the resignations, calling the national security law typical for any country seeking to defend itself. In a harshly worded statement, officials called the British decision “appalling.”
“We take strong exception to the absurd and misleading accusations against the NSL and our legal system,” the statement said. “Every country around the world would take threats to its national security extremely seriously.”
Some observers not surprised
Hong Kong legal and political experts have said the action was expected because rule of law in the city has deteriorated in recent years.
Democracy advocate and political scientist Joseph Cheng told VOA in an email that the decision of the two British judges shouldn’t come as a surprise.
“This is expected as the international community becomes aware of the deteriorations in the rule of law in Hong Kong,” he told VOA. “Western societies know very well that the rule of law can hardly be maintained effectively when freedom of media and civil society are suppressed.
“Within the judiciary, the implementation of the National Security Law has been quite damaging,” added Cheng, who was secretary general of the Civic Party, a pro-democracy liberal political party in Hong Kong, and a member of various pro-democracy groups.
“A special group of judges have been chosen to adjudicate national security law cases, no juries are provided for such cases, and those prosecuted normally cannot seek bail. … The situation is expected to further deteriorate in the near future.”
Eric Yan-Ho Lai, a law analyst and fellow at Georgetown University, wrote on Twitter that the judges’ decisions were “respectable.”
“The resignations of Lord Hodge and Lord Reed from Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal are respectable moves in light of the ongoing political suppressions in the city,” he tweeted. “Yet it’s uncertain whether the remaining (Non-Permanent Judges) NPJs, who are retired judges, will follow so.”
He added that the U.K. Supreme Court’s statement “appears to imply the resignations are votes of no confidence to the city’s administration that does not respect political freedom and free speech anymore, and the Court does not want to collaborate with the Hong Kong administration anymore.”
The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal website, which has yet to be updated, lists 12 overseas non-permanent judges including the departing Lord Hodge and Lord Reed. Judges from Britain, Australia and Canada make up the list.
Chan-Chak Ming, president of the Law Society of Hong Kong, issued a statement to regional media outlets calling the criticism of Hong Kong’s judiciary system “unfair and unfounded.”
Six-month report
Wednesday’s announcement is the latest development in an increasingly strained relationship between Britain’s legal professionals and officials in Beijing.
In December, Britain released a six-month report about Hong Kong that outlined the eroding freedoms that have taken place since the enactment of the security law. The report included the accusation that Hong Kong’s judicial independence was at risk.
But Hong Kong’s chief of justice, Andrew Cheung, hit back in January stating that Hong Kong’s judiciary independence is a “fact.” Hong Kong legal experts disputed that in interviews with VOA.
Former Democratic Party leader Emily Lau hopes the judiciary can remain uncompromised.
“The foreign judges sitting in the Court of Final Appeal as stipulated in the Basic Law has been regarded as a sign of international confidence in the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law in Hong Kong, which is vital to the city as an international financial center,” she told VOA.
“I hope the legal profession and the judiciary can remain independent and professional and can resist pressure from the powerful sectors, to ensure the rule of law, due process and to safeguard the Hong Kong people’s human rights and personal safety.”
Following Hong Kong’s 2019 pro-democracy demonstrations, Beijing implemented the national security law, arguing that it was required to bring stability to the city. Critics, however, point out that the law prohibits secession, subversion, and collusion with foreign forces, criminalizes dissent, and makes it easier to punish protesters and reduces the city’s autonomy.
Under the new law, authorities have waged a political crackdown on dozens of civil society groups and independent media outlets. At least 150 dissidents have been arrested since the law was implemented, including dozens of democratic lawmakers and political figures.
In landmark cases, some dissidents have faced trial without a jury and with specially enlisted national security judges.
British judges have long served among the foreign jurists appointed to Hong Kong’s highest court, an arrangement that London had long described as a way to maintain confidence in the city’s legal apparatus amid Beijing’s tightening political grip on the territory.
Fourteen non-permanent judges remain at the Hong Kong court, including 10 from other common law jurisdictions such as Australia and Canada.
The Hong Kong Bar Association called Britain’s decision “a matter of deep regret” and appealed to the Court of Final Appeal’s remaining overseas judges to stay and serve the city and help uphold its judicial independence.
Some information for this report came from from Reuters and The Associated Press.
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Ukrainian Girl Singing in Kyiv Bomb Shelter During Russian Attack Now Living in Poland
A Ukrainian girl seen singing in a viral video while in a Kyiv bomb shelter is using her newfound fame to help raise money for her homeland. VOA’s Myroslava Gongadze caught up with Amelia Anisovych, 7, and her family in Poland, where they are living as refugees.
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Burundi Lifts Ban on BBC After Almost 3 Years
Burundi’s media authority announced Wednesday that it would lift a nationwide ban on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), nearly three years after the broadcaster was forced to stop operating in the East African country.
The National Communication Council withdrew the license for the broadcasting giant in 2019, accusing it of breaching press laws and unprofessional conduct.
“We reached the decision to reopen BBC radio starting today,” the regulator’s president, Vestine Nahimana, said.
The broadcaster had met the conditions set by the government, Nahimana said, adding that President Evariste Ndayishimiye had initiated the easing of restrictions on sanctioned news outlets.
Voice of America was suspended alongside BBC Radio in May 2018. While BBC has met the government’s conditions to broadcast, VOA has not.
The two broadcasters were suspended barely two weeks before a constitutional referendum intended to shore up the power of former President Pierre Nkurunziza and enable him to rule until 2034.
The government-controlled media regulator accused the BBC of damaging the reputation of Nkurunziza during a discussion program and said the broadcaster had ignored previous warnings.
The suspension followed a damning BBC investigation into alleged secret torture sites run by the government to silence dissent. The state denied the report, dismissing it as “fake news.”
Nkurunziza died of heart failure in June 2020.
Following Ndayishimiye’s election, Western nations including the United States and the European Union have eased sanctions on the country, crediting elections, a decrease in violence, and government reforms. But campaign groups insist human rights are still being widely abused.
Before the ban, the BBC and VOA used to broadcast daily in the national language Kirundi as well as in French and English, and drew large numbers of listeners, especially in rural areas.
Burundi is the poorest country in the world as measured by GDP per capita, at less than $240 (215 euros) in 2020, according to the World Bank.
It is ranked among the worst countries in the world for press freedom, with many local and international news outlets blacklisted and independent journalists forced into exile since a major political crisis in 2015.
your ad hereKenya Gets Huawei-Linked Chinese Communications Cable
China has connected a high-speed, multimillion-dollar, 15,000-kilometer undersea cable to Kenya, as Beijing advances what’s been dubbed its “digital silk road,” and Africa seeks the infrastructure it badly needs for better internet connectivity.
Chinese giant Huawei is a shareholder in the $425-million PEACE cable, which stands for “Pakistan and East Africa Connecting Europe.” It stretches from Asia to Africa and then into France, where it terminates.
It reached the coastal city of Mombasa on Tuesday, with the CEO of local partner company Telekom Kenya, Mugo Kibati, saying the cable would help meet the sharp rise in demand for internet services on a continent where internet adoption has trailed the rest of the world, but which is home to a growing, young and increasingly digital population.
“This ultra-high-capacity cable will assist Kenya and the region in meeting its current and future broadband capacity requirements, bolster redundancy, minimize transit time of our country’s connectivity to Asia and Europe, as well as assist carriers in providing affordable services to Kenyans,” said Kibati.
Business development
For his part, the PEACE Cable’s COO, Sun Xiaohua, said in a statement that the new infrastructure would “bring more business development to this region.” From Kenya, the cable will later be extended further down the continent’s east coast to South Africa.
It’s estimated that 95% of international data flows via submarine cables, and in terms of Africa, China dominates, with the most projects aimed at connecting the continent. Aside from the PEACE cable, China’s proposed 2Africa cable will become one of the biggest undersea projects in the world when it goes live in 2024.
But China’s massive digital infrastructure investments in Africa and elsewhere have not been without controversy, and Washington has expressed deep concerns that Beijing is attempting to monopolize networks and possibly use them for espionage.
Safety concerns
Some analysts are concerned the technology could be misused by authoritarian leaders on the continent, but Cobus van Staden, a senior China-Africa researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs, said most Africans simply want better internet.
“I think this PEACE Cable generally plays very positively in Africa. Obviously, the United States has raised … concerns around this, particularly in relation to security, but I think for lot of African countries, the security issue is actually balanced by the wider issue of a lack of connectivity,” van Staden told VOA.
Huawei was sanctioned by the U.S. under former president Donald Trump, but the company has built about 70% of Africa’s 4G networks, and van Staden said it seems China is winning the race for digital soft power on the continent.
“I think there’s a space there for competition, but Western actors will have to step up,” he said.
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UN Rights Chief Tells Russia to Stop War in Ukraine Immediately
The U.N. high commissioner for human rights on Wednesday called Russia to immediately withdraw its troops from Ukraine and stop the war that she said had caused immeasurable suffering and grief for millions of people.
In a dramatic rendering of conditions in Ukraine to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Michelle Bachelet described the living nightmare Ukrainians have endured for more than a month and said the war must end.
She said at least 1,189 civilians had been killed and 1,900 injured. She said relentless bombing raids and the persistent use of explosive weapons by Russian military forces had caused massive destruction and damage to homes, infrastructure, hospitals and schools. She noted cities such as Mariupol had been nearly razed, while others had been mercilessly pummeled and no longer existed.
Bachelet said her office had credible allegations that Russian armed forces have used cluster munitions in populated areas at least two dozen times. She said her office also was investigating allegations that Ukrainian forces have used such weapons.
“Indiscriminate attacks are prohibited under international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes,” she said. “The massive destruction of civilian objects and the high number of civilian casualties strongly indicate that the fundamental principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution have not been sufficiently adhered to.”
Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Yevheniia Filipenko, condemned Russia’s unprovoked aggression against her country. She called Russia’s actions against a sovereign state an attack against the norms of the world’s rules-based order.
‘Flagrant violation’ of charter
“This step by the country occupying a seat in the U.N. Security Council and in the Human Rights Council has become a flagrant violation of the U.N. charter and fundamental principles of international law, which will have long-lasting implications for the future of the world order and humanity,” she said.
Yaroslav Eremin, first secretary at the Russian Mission in Geneva, dismissed the conclusions of multiple investigative bodies that have found Russia guilty of widespread violations and abuse.
He listed a litany of alleged crimes committed by Ukrainian soldiers. He said these included preventing civilians in Mariupol from seeking safety in Russia, using civilians as human shields, and blowing up a factory and blaming it on Russia. Speaking through an interpreter, he accused the Ukrainian military of torturing Russian prisoners of war and innocent civilians.
“All these atrocities against civilians were carried out with the use of weaponry supplied by the Western countries,” he said. “We urge the high commissioner and OHCHR [Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights] to give a due assessment of these facts.”
Nearly 50 countries that participated in the interactive discussion on Ukraine did not buy into Russia’s viewpoint. One by one they stood up and demanded that Russia stop what they called an illegal war.
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Solar Panel Technology Boosts Yields for Farmers in Kenya
Scientists in Kenya are testing a project using solar panels to shade crops while generating clean energy. It’s called agrivoltaics. Successful trials have shown that this technology reduces water loss and results in higher yields. Juma Majanga reports from Kajiado, Kenya.
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Tanzania Seeking to Join Exporters of Liquified Natural Gas
Tanzania is stepping up efforts to join the club of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exporters, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine spurs Europe to look for new energy sources. Tanzania says investments in its first LNG project could reach $40 billion.
The Tanzanian government said it planned to conclude talks in June with a group of foreign oil and gas companies led by Norway’s Equinor on developing a liquified natural gas terminal.
Tanzania has an estimated 17 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves, which puts it in position to benefit from Europe’s rush to diversify its energy sources.
Analysts say the sale of LNG on the international market would generate huge revenues for the nation. Walter Nguma is an independent economic analyst.
He said, many Tanzanians will be employed and the country will increase government revenues through foreign income. In the project, the country would also have enough gas energy for its own needs. When you look, he says, the world is expected to use LNG in cars by 2030 to preserve the environment, so this is a potentially big project.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Tanzanian President Samia Hassan said embracing the private sector is her major priority. She said that it’s only the private sector that can bring foreign direct investment and create jobs.
Hassan has expressed her commitment to fast track the development of natural gas resources for the benefit of the nation.
However, James Tumaini, a Dar es Salaam resident and project manager from Mzumbe University, said the LNG market is extremely competitive, which might make it hard for Tanzania to penetrate it.
He said, the government should ensure a friendly environment in implementing this project. Since there are other countries with the same product, competition is high, so the government should stand firm on this, he said.
The LNG project will be Tanzania’s biggest project, and the earliest the country will be able to ship the gas is 2030, if there are no further delays.
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Turkish Drone Industry Banks on Ukrainian Battlefield Successes
Turkish-made drones have featured prominently in Ukraine’s resistance against Russia’s invasion, taking out significant Russian targets in the first few weeks of the war. But the conflict, and any possibility of a Russian victory, have cast a shadow over the future of Turkey’s rapidly growing drone industry, which relies on Ukrainian engines.
In one of many videos released by the Ukrainian military, a Turkish-made Bayraktar drone destroys a Russian tank to the cheers of the drone operators. But with the Bayraktar drone powered by Ukrainian engines, Samuel Bennet of the U.S.-based Center for Naval Analyses warns any Russian victory in Ukraine could set back Turkey’s rapidly growing drone industry.
“Russia sees Bayraktar’s TV2s in particular as a highly competitive weapon and technology not just in the former Soviet space, but in the global aerial vehicle market. Russians are nervous that Bayraktar are penetrating the former Soviet space, the Caucasus and Central Asia and now Ukraine,” Bennet said. “And so, if Russians were to sort of exercise the full extent of their powers in the outcome of the negotiations, they would probably seek to limit Ukrainian military cooperation with Turkey so as not to further Turkish growing advantage in certain technologies like UAVs.”
Ukraine provides cutting-edge engine know-how, and does not put restrictions on Turkish companies selling to third parties. Turkish drone use in conflicts like the Ethiopian civil war has drawn international criticism from rights groups.
James Rogers, assistant professor in War Studies at the University of Southern Denmark, says the Turkish drone industry would not have the same freedom of use if it turned to its Western allies for engines.
“There are more restrictions when you deal with UK, European or American suppliers, and that is something Turkey will definitely keep in mind,” he said. “We know that the United States has been very select to who it sells drones and drone elements to around the world. This was one of the reasons why Turkey started its entire indigenous drone program because Congress wouldn’t approve the sale of Reaper-Predator generation medium altitude long endurance drones to Turkey.”
Earlier this year, a prominent Turkish military helicopter deal with Pakistan collapsed over Washington’s restrictions on the use of American engines. In addition, Congress has been enforcing increased controls on the supplies of military components to Turkey over Ankara’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defense system.
While Ankara has received praise from Washington over its support of Ukraine, Aaron Stein, director of research at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, expects little change in Washington’s stance towards Turkey.
“One side is that Turkey is hostile to the United States. It’s no longer an ally, it’s (an) adversary. So, we should be treating it as such. And the other side is we misunderstand Turkey, and it needs a big hug because it’s so important. And the government is somewhere in the middle, and usually, current events reinforce positions on either side,” Stein said.
Given the challenges of finding an alternative to Ukrainian engines, Turkey’s drone industry will likely look for drones to thwart Moscow’s ambitions and secure both Kyiv and its future.
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India Police: Ex-Journalist Among 2 Rebels Killed in Kashmir
Two suspected rebels were killed in a shootout with government forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir’s main city early Wednesday, police said, describing one of them as a former journalist.
The exchange of gunfire erupted after police and paramilitary soldiers established a cordon in a neighborhood in the old quarters of Srinagar on Tuesday night following a tip that two militants were hiding there, Inspector-General Vijay Kumar told reporters.
Kumar said two militants were killed in the ensuing shootout early Wednesday. He said one of them had been a journalist running a news portal in southern Kashmir and joined militant ranks last year. Police identified him as Rayees Ahmad Bhat.
Kumar said that Bhat was involved in several killings of civilians.
Police tweeted a photo of a press ID card they said was found on Bhat’s body and said the incident “indicates a clear case of misuse of media.”
Kumar asked journalists to follow the Press Council of India guidelines and warned, “Else, police will act.”
There was no independent confirmation of the police claim.
The incident comes as journalists have faced relentless pressure since India revoked the region’s semi-autonomy in 2019. Dozens have been arrested, interrogated and investigated under harsh anti-terror laws. Fearing reprisals, the local press has largely wilted under pressure.
India and Pakistan each claim the divided territory of Kashmir in its entirety.
Rebels in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebel goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and most Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
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WHO Reports 43 Percent Increase in Global COVID-19 Deaths, While Caseload Drops
The World Health Organization reported a 43 percent spike in deaths from COVID-19 globally last week, while the number of cases continued to fall worldwide.
In its weekly epidemiological report, the WHO said 45,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19 were reported in the week ending March 27, up from 33,000 the week before. That spike follows a week in which deaths declined by 23 percent.
The agency said the increase in deaths is likely driven by changes in the definition of COVID-19 deaths in nations in the Americas such as Chile and the United States, and by retrospective adjustments reported from India in Southeast Asia.
As an example, Chile had the highest number of new deaths, reporting 11,858, a leap of 1,710 percent from the previous week. The United States saw a smaller but still significant increase of 5,367 new deaths, an increase of 8 percent.
While India saw 4,525 of new deaths; it represented an increase of 619 percent. The WHO said those deaths included numbers from Maharashtra state, which initially were not included in last week’s COVID-19 death toll.
While the number of new cases overall fell globally, three European countries — Germany, Italy and France — all saw an increase in new cases from the previous week. While Germany and Italy reported increases of two and six percent respectively, France reported 845,119 new cases – a increase of 45 percent.
The WHO has said repeatedly that COVID-19 case counts are likely a vast underestimate of the coronavirus’ prevalence. The agency also expressed concern that many countries in recent weeks announced plans to drop their comprehensive testing programs and other surveillance measures. They said doing so will cripple efforts to accurately track the spread of the virus.
Some information for this report was provided by the Associated Press.
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Ukrainian Refugees Trying To Build New Life in Belgium
Every day, the Ukrainian refugee registration center in Brussels sees around 2000 newcomers – mostly women with children who are trying to escape the war in Ukraine. Even with help, refugees face a daunting reality as they try to rebuild their lives. Valentina Vasileva reports. Anna Rice narrates her story. Camera: Dana Preobrazhenskaya
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Pakistan PM Khan’s Ouster Looks Imminent After Key Allies Abandon Him
Pakistan’s embattled prime minister, Imran Khan, received a serious political blow to his government Wednesday when another main coalition partner decided to join opposition groups seeking to oust him through a no-confidence vote due early next week.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party, Khan’s largest ally in the legislative National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, announced Wednesday it had resigned from the federal cabinet after reaching a deal with the united opposition.
Political opponents accuse the 69-year-old former cricket star of misruling the country and mismanaging the economy and foreign affairs, charges Khan vehemently rejects.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won the 2018 general election but fell short of receiving a simple majority in the 342-member house, forcing him to form a coalition government with the help of political allies, including the MQM. Earlier in the week, the PTI lost the support of another regional ally, the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP).
At least a dozen PTI lawmakers have already defected to the opposition and more are expected to do so ahead of the crucial no confidence vote, leaving the prime minister well short of 172 votes, a simple majority he needs to stay in office.
Opposition parities have consistently accused the powerful military, which has ruled Pakistan for almost half of its existence and allegedly continues to pressure elected governments from behind the scenes in policy making affairs, of manipulating the 2018 election to pave the way for Khan to rise to power.
However, opposition leaders and analysts lately have said that Khan lost the support of the military chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, over key security appointments and foreign policy matters, encouraging opponents to launch the no confidence proceedings against the prime minister.
The military denies any interference in the country’s political affairs and has publicly stated it has nothing to do with the current political turmoil.
On Wednesday Khan again alleged in a nationally televised speech at a ceremony in Islamabad that the opposition’s no confidence vote had stemmed from a “foreign-funded conspiracy” to dislodge his government.
“People do lose confidence in their party and a no confidence motion is part of the democratic process,” the prime minister said.
“But this is a foreign imported conspiracy and it started when people from abroad started controlling Pakistan through telephone calls. They cannot tolerate a (Pakistani) leadership that works in the people’s interest,” Khan asserted without elaborating.
Without naming the United States, he reiterated his criticism of the U.S.-led war in neighboring Afghanistan, saying Pakistan had to pay a “heavy price” for participating in it.
“We sacrificed our interests for those abroad and they never even appreciated it,” Khan said. He went on to announce that he would show to senior journalists later on Wednesday a “letter” Khan brandished at a recent public rally in Islamabad, purportedly containing “evidence of the foreign conspiracy” against his government.
“We want to protect the nation and can’t divulge the details in public. People think this is a joke and I have decided to share it with top journalists,” the prime minister said.
No Pakistani prime minister has ever completed a five-year term because of what critics cite as direct and indirect military intervention. The removal of Khan’s government would come more than a year before the country’s next general election. It would also mark the first time ever that an elected chief executive would be forced from office through a no confidence vote.
The National Assembly will start a debate on the no-confidence motion Thursday and a vote is expected by Monday. Khan also convened a cabinet meeting Wednesday.
The main opposition parties leading the campaign to bring down the government are the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) led by self-exiled Nawaz Sharif, who has been prime minister three times, and the Pakistan Peoples Party, headed jointly by former president Asif Ali Zardari and his son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Addressing a joint news conference in Islamabad on Wednesday, Bilawal Zardari announced that Shehbaz Sharif, the president of the PML-N and leader of the joint opposition, “will soon take over as the next prime minister of Pakistan.” He also demanded Khan immediately step down from office for losing support from the majority of lawmakers.
Pakistan’s latest political turmoil comes amid rising inflation and deepening economic troubles, which Khan blames on rampant corruption under previous administrations and repeated pandemic-related lockdowns over the past couple of years.
Khan’s government is working with the International Monetary Fund to secure the next tranche of a $6 billion bailout package to shore up the country’s dwindling foreign currency reserves.
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Mumbai to Rebuild Century-Old Tenements: Boon or Bane?
For Mumbai resident Shailesh Kambli a childhood dream is about to translate into reality. The 40-year-old is the third generation of his family living in a cramped, 15-square meter room along with his parents, brother and sister-in-law.
These tenements are housed in dilapidated buildings that stretch across about 37 hectares in the heart of India’s financial capital, where real estate is among the most expensive in the world.
All around the BDD Chawls, as they are called, prime commercial and residential buildings have mushroomed in recent decades as India’s financial capital, home to more than 20 million people, developed at a frenetic pace.
“Whenever I went out, I wanted to own a house, however tiny, in one these buildings,” Kambli recalls. “I even told my uncle that one day I will live in such a place.”
Now that aspiration is within his grasp.
Under a massive $2 billion redevelopment project, the 16,000 dingy settlements built over four floors will be pulled down to make way for high rise buildings in which the occupants will swap their living quarters for a 46-square meter apartment.
It is part of ambitious plans that space-starved Mumbai has long pursued with limited success — clearing up prime land on which old structures, shanties and slums sit to replace them with tall buildings that besides residential units, include office blocks and shopping malls.
Some urban planners however have raised concerns that the project will add enormous pressure in an already crowded city that is short on infrastructure.
The BDD Chawls, where the rooms built by the British a century ago for migrant cotton mill workers stretch on both sides of a corridor, are in urgent need of a revamp.
Inside most homes, a curtain separates the counter at one end that serves as a kitchen from the rest of the space that doubles as a bedroom and a living room. Televisions are mounted over the bed or in a corner. Two bathrooms serve the 20 rooms in each block. The occupants pay a meager rent to the government.
The elderly often spend their day in the corridor between the rooms where clothes hang for drying, or in a courtyard outside as they chat or look after small children, while the young go out to work.
These days, residents sometimes stop by at a sample flat that is showcased opposite one of the blocks to take a peek into what the future may hold.
“I don’t know when my turn will come. It may still take years. But it will be great to have a modern flat,” said 55-year-old Bhagwan Sawant as he proudly points to the neat kitchen, the two bedrooms and two attached toilets.
The new complexes will also have a hospital, hostels, schools, and gyms. “The work has started on the first building and it will be ready in three years,” said Prashant Dhatrak, the executive engineer of the project. “But the entire development will take seven years.”
The redevelopment project took more than two decades to get off the ground after it was first proposed.
However, some urban planners point out that Central Mumbai, where the project is coming up, is already congested with high rise buildings and question how it will bear the additional pressure of more such complexes. They say that in a city with the highest population density in the country, too much of the land is often handed over to developers for residential and commercial complexes instead of making public parks.
“Cities cannot be transformed in this way. Redevelopment is necessary but rebuilding has to be done in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner,” said Sulakshana Mahajan, who as a member of the Mumbai Transformation Support Unit, a state government think-tank set up in 2005, was involved in initial proposals for the redevelopment of the tenements. The think tank was shut down in 2019.
“Our initial idea was not to increase density in the area and to restrict the development for existing residents. But under the new plan, there are too many buildings being constructed,” said Mahajan. “Open spaces available per person will be drastically shrunk and the distance between buildings is too little. It will also create a huge strain on services such as water supply, sanitation and transportation.”
In an island city with little space to grow except vertically, the search for land has intensified in the last two decades. Authorities have also proposed clearing out Asia’s biggest slum, Dharavi, that sits on two square kilometers of prime space to replace it with skyscrapers and shopping malls, but the plan has made little headway so far.
In the BDD Chawls, however the larger question of sustainability is not on the minds of those who have long lived with shared toilets, but only a sense of anticipation. At the same time, there is a creeping sense that a way of life that revolved around the community will end when they eventually move out.
“Here, I never have to worry about my mother. All of us work, but we know that someone will look after her if she is unwell,” said Kambli. “But when we shut the door in the new flat, no one will know what is happening inside.”
“You just give one shout here and everyone gathers,” laughs Ranjana Gurav. “When there are marriages or celebrations or a problem, we are all there to help each other.”
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