The eyes of free press advocates and U.S. intelligence officials are on London, where the High Court is set to rule on the fate of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Washington wants him extradited to face 18 charges tied to the hacking and theft of classified material. VOA’s Jeff Seldin reports.
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Month: February 2024
French Senate Approves Bill to Make Abortion a Constitutional Right
paris — France’s Senate on Wednesday adopted a bill to enshrine a woman’s right to an abortion in the constitution, clearing a key hurdle for legislation promised by President Emmanuel Macron in response to a rollback in abortion rights in the United States.
Wednesday’s vote came after the lower house, the National Assembly, overwhelmingly approved the proposal in January. The measure now goes before a joint session of parliament for its expected approval by a three-fifths majority next week.
Macron said after the vote that his government is committed to “making women’s right to have an abortion irreversible by enshrining it in the constitution.” He said on X, formerly Twitter, that he would convene a joint session of parliament for a final vote on Monday.
Macron’s government wants Article 34 of the constitution amended to specify that “the law determines the conditions by which is exercised the freedom of women to have recourse to an abortion, which is guaranteed.”
The Senate adopted the bill on a vote of 267 in favor, and 50 against.
“This vote is historic,” Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said. “The Senate has written a new page in women’s rights.”
None of France’s major political parties represented in parliament has questioned the right to abortion, which was decriminalized in 1975. With both houses of parliament adopting the bill, Monday’s joint session at the Palace of Versailles is expected to be largely a formality.
The government argued in its introduction to the bill that the right to abortion is threatened in the United States, where the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned a 50-year-old ruling that used to guarantee it.
“Unfortunately, this event is not isolated: in many countries, even in Europe, there are currents of opinion that seek to hinder at any cost the freedom of women to terminate their pregnancy if they wish,” the introduction to the French legislation says.
In Poland, a controversial tightening of the already restrictive abortion law led to protests in the country last year The Polish constitutional court ruled in 2020 that women could no longer terminate pregnancies in cases of severe fetal deformities, including Down Syndrome.
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Planned Transnational Highway Would Connect 5 African Nations
West African nations are pushing for the construction of a major highway network connecting five countries from the Ivory Coast to Nigeria. The African Development Bank says the project will be an economic engine for all the countries involved. Senanu Tord reports from Accra, Ghana.
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IRC Suspends Red Sea Route for Sudan Aid Amid Rising Cost, Risks
nairobi, kenya — Getting humanitarian supplies to millions of Sudanese affected by the country’s more than 10 months of conflict is getting expensive and risky because of attacks on Red Sea shipping by Houthi rebels based in Yemen.
The International Rescue Committee said this week that its logistics partner would now bypass the Red Sea route and deliver supplies through Jebel Ali port in the United Arab Emirates on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula. It said the new route would raise transportation costs by more than 40 percent.
Sally Anyanga, who works with the IRC, said the new route will also increase the shipping time for supplies, from approximately two weeks to more than a month.
“The alternative routes involve longer transportation distances, leading to increased transit times and causing delays in delivering critical aid to those in need, making our operation very challenging and also expensive at the same time,” Anyanga said. “We’re not able to get pharmaceuticals on time that are used by our health team.”
According to aid agencies, more than 25 million people in Sudan need humanitarian support in the wake of the war between Sudan’s armed forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that broke out in April 2023.
For security reasons, most aid agencies have moved their operations to Port Sudan, where they are able to receive and supply aid to the needy.
Anyanga said it is critical that humanitarian aid be allowed to enter Sudan through all available routes.
“But ultimately, what the people of Sudan need most is peace, lasting peace, because for the last several months we have seen that civilians have been a target,” she said. “More than 13,000 have been killed. We’ve also seen aid workers being a target. And so we need to make an end to all this and to ensure that aid reaches the people in need on time.”
Humanitarian agencies, experts and some government officials in eastern Africa have expressed concern about the Houthi attacks on ships, saying the attacks affect the security and economic situation of the countries that rely on that route to receive goods.
U.S. and British forces have targeted Houthi positions to try to deter attacks, but the group continues to launch rockets and raids on ships, hampering the free flow of goods and services.
Edgar Githua, a lecturer at the U.S. International University-Africa who specializes in international relations, peace and conflict, told VOA a global effort is needed to stop Houthi attacks before they make the situation worse for many countries.
“The international community needs to deal with the Houthi rebels, who have now turned to blatant piracy in the name of supporting [Hamas in] the Israel-Palestinian conflict,” Githua said. “But now they are hijacking ships and creating a logistical nightmare. So, I think there needs to be a huge response, because it will not only affect the humanitarian crisis, it will affect food prices, it will affect so many things that are attached that rely on the logistical support of that corridor. So the international community needs to just step up.”
Late Tuesday, the U.S. military reported shooting down five Houthi drones in the Red Sea. The U.S. Central Command said the drones had presented a threat to merchant and naval vessels in the region.
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Pro-Russian Narratives Rise Among Latin American X Users, Research Shows
Chad Announces May 6 Presidential Election, Months Earlier Than Projected
Yaounde, Cameroon — Chad’s electoral commission made a surprise announcement Tuesday that a presidential election to end three years of military rule will take place May 6, several months earlier than planned.
The election will mark a return to constitutional order and the end of General Mahamat Idriss Deby’s transitional period in the Central African country, the commission said.
The 37-year-old Deby became leader of Chad’s Transitional Military Council in April 2021 after his father, Idriss Deby Itno, died while fighting northern rebels. The rebels said they wanted to end the older Deby’s 31-year rule.
The younger Deby took over and promised to head an 18-month transitional council, but in October 2022, he dissolved the council and declared himself interim president.
It is not yet known how many candidates will run in the May 6 polls. But last month, Chad’s former ruling Patriotic Salvation Movement party, or MPS, said that Deby will be the party’s nominee.
A group of some 127 opposition leaders met Monday, a day before the elections date was disclosed, to select a candidate. They, too, decided to support Deby.
Takilal Ndolassem, president of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Chad, took part in Monday’s meeting and spoke to VOA by phone from N’djamena. He said Deby has maintained peace in Chad by disarming rebel groups and providing basic needs, including water, education, food and jobs, to millions of suffering people.
Not all opposition leaders support Deby. Gilbert Ratou Barka, president of Artisans for a New Chad, or ARNT, has declared he will run in the May 6 election.
On Wednesday, Chad’s state TV reported that Deby was on a tour of eight of Chad’s 23 provinces, including Logone-Occidental, Logone-Oriental, Mandoul, Mayo-Kebbi-Est and Mayo-Kebbi-Ouest. The report did not give a reason for his visits.
Barka accused Deby of campaigning before official campaigns are launched.
Campaigning for the first round of the presidential election is scheduled to begin April 14 and end May 4. Barka said ARNT wants Deby to respect the electoral calendar and stop what he called an illegal campaign.
Deby had not visited civilians since the food crisis, rebel attacks on communities, floods and other humanitarian disasters within the past three months, Barka said.
By visiting now, Deby is manipulating civilians to maintain his grip on power, Barka said.
Deby, in a message broadcast on Chad’s state TV Wednesday, said elections will be free, fair and transparent.
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Navalny Funeral Set for Friday in Moscow
India Makes Headway in Goal to Install Taps in Rural Households
NEW DELHI — Until a few months ago, Babli Devi used to walk half an hour from her house in Kunsal village in North India to draw water from a community water tap several times a day for her daily washing and cooking.
“I used to go in the morning, afternoon and evening, making two or three trips. Other family members also helped,” said Devi, who spent about three hours a day in that grueling routine.
It was the same story in other homes in the village. “Collecting water was as good as putting in a day’s work,” according to Biri Lal.
Villagers across India have long been accustomed to that arduous trek — until five years ago only one in six of India’s 200 million households in its vast rural areas had access to a tap in their homes.
But an ambitious $50 billion nationwide program launched by the federal government in 2019 to provide a tap to all rural houses has eased the daily burden of gathering water for many like Devi.
A tap was installed in every home in her village in Himachal Pradesh state under the program several months ago. “I get some time to rest now after I finish my household chores,” she says.
Now nearly three in four rural homes in the country have been given access to a tap in their households, according to government figures.
The task has been challenging in one of the world’s most water-stressed countries. India has 18% of the world’s population but only 4% of the world’s water resources. In a country dependent on four months of monsoon rains to recharge rivers and groundwater, acute shortages intensify in summer across urban and rural areas.
That is why the progress of the drive has been uneven across the vast country. States like Himachal Pradesh where water resources are more abundant have fared better than others with almost all village homes getting taps.
Even here, reaching every village was not easy. In the hilly state, monsoons brought ample rains, but the water flew downstream creating shortages in summer. The winter season presented new problems.
“The challenge was very big because we have very remote areas, we have areas with temperature up to minus 20 degrees centigrade, up to minus 35 degrees centigrade in remote, tribal areas, so this was a tough job,” said Suresh Mahajan, Chief Engineer, Water Department, Dharamshala.
Now pipelines have been laid across the state, sometimes over vertical cliffs, to feed a network of storage tanks. Reservoirs and small dams have been built to retain water in areas where there is no reliable source. Huge tanks will be installed to avert shortages in the lean summer season. Engineers are also studying anti-freezing techniques to ensure availability of water all year round.
The drive aims to not just provide a tap, but also potable water to every house according to Mahajan. Health experts have long called for improving access to clean water in a country where water-borne diseases like diarrhea lead to thousands of deaths.
“We will provide 70 liters of potable water per person per day in every household. We can give more than this, not less,” according to Rakesh Sharma, at the Water Resources Department who oversees a storage and treatment plant that will supply about ten villages.
Experts say that while the project is easier to implement in northern states, it faces challenges in parched areas that sprawl across western, eastern and southern India.
“It is feasible in areas where ground water level is not so depleted like the Gangetic plains, but several states like Maharashtra and Karnataka that have a lot of arid and semi-arid areas will face problems,” according to Depinder Kapur at New Delhi’s Center for Science and Management. “Creating sustainable water sources in such places will be critical for the program’s success. Otherwise, you might have pipes, but no steady supply.”
He points out that with ground water levels having depleted, villagers are having to walk further away from their habitations to fetch drinking water. Even big cities like Bengaluru are reporting huge water shortages.
But the project is a boon for villagers in whose homes taps have been installed. Undergraduate student, Akshay Kumar in Kunsal, who used to share the work of filling water with his mother, now gets two more hours to study.
Rural households without water in their homes spent 55.8 million hours each day collecting water, according to a study by the World Health Organization.
But experts say as piped water becomes available, authorities will also have to ensure its judicious use.
Kumar, who knows the value of saving water after having struggled for years to fetch it from a distance, keeps a watchful eye in his village. “We don’t waste water and if I see someone’s tap is open, I shut it,” he said.
Building a culture of water conservation will be key to ensuring that the boon of piped water for village communities remains sustainable and that taps don’t run dry.
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Breakaway Moldovan Region Asks Russia for ‘Protection’
India Makes Headway on Goal to Install Taps in Rural Households
In India, water taps have been installed in millions of village homes in recent years as part of an ambitious nationwide program to provide a water connection to every household in the country’s vast rural areas. In the water-stressed country, it’s a boon for rural communities. Anjana Pasricha looks at how the drive has helped residents in one village in North India. (Camera: Rakesh Kumar; Produced by: Rod James)
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Zelenskyy in Albania in Latest Push for Defense Support
Zimbabwe Court Sentences Opposition Leader for Insulting Russian Businesswoman
Harare, Zimbabwe — A court in Zimbabwe has sentenced an opposition leader to six months in prison or a $300 fine for verbally assaulting a Russian businesswoman.
Magistrate Vongai Guwuriro ruled that Tendai Biti, a former Zimbabwean finance minister, must pay the fine or go to prison, ending a four-year legal battle between Biti and Tatiana Aleshina, who court papers said was a Russian investor.
Biti paid the fine.
Alec Muchadehama, Biti’s attorney, told reporters outside the Harare magistrate’s court Tuesday that Biti would appeal the sentence and conviction.
“Both myself and Tendai Biti are extremely disappointed with the conviction, but I am not surprised that it came to that [conviction],” he said. “This is why we are going to appeal to the High Court, we have various grounds, which we will outline in our grounds of appeal.”
The state prosecutors accused Biti of calling Aleshina “stupid” and pointing at her in 2020. Biti denies the charge of verbal assault.
Aleshina said the ruling was a victory for women.
“Zimbabwe has got justice, even if it has taken long four years. But I learned a lot. I realized if we women can’t stand for our rights, justice will not be revealed,” she said. “And I have nothing to do with Tendai Biti, or anyone, but let him learn good lessons – respect women, and respect not only women, but everyone in this country.”
Aleshina’s supporters outside the court said Biti should have been given a no-fine option and sent to prison, while Biti’s supporters said the punishment for calling someone “stupid” was unfair.
Agnes Togarepi said Biti was innocent.
“How many times do you call someone ‘stupid’ or even ‘idiot’? Is it a crime to point at someone?” she asked.
Biti is vice president of Citizens’ Coalition for Change, Zimbabwe’s main opposition party.
His colleague Job Sikhala, who spent nearly two years in jail, was given a nine-month suspended sentence if he pays a $500 fine by March 4. He was convicted of publishing falsehoods.
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North Korean Missiles Used by Russia Against Ukraine Are Products of Sanction Loopholes
Washington — The discovery of a North Korean missile in Ukraine that had more than 200 components from U.S. and European companies revealed loopholes that North Korea uses to evade sanctions, said analysts.
North Korea is operating its arms factories at full capacity to supply Russia with weapons needed to fight Ukraine, said South Korean Defense Minister Shin Wonsik at a news briefing on Monday.
South Korea estimates Pyongyang sent about 6,700 containers to Russia since September, Shin said, according to South Korean media.
The U.S. puts the number even higher, estimating that North Korea delivered more than 10,000 containers of munitions or munition-related materials to Russia since September.
The U.S. announced the estimates on Friday as it issued sanctions against more than 500 individuals and entities in Russia.
North Korean weapons have been turning up on the Ukraine battlefield since December, according to the Security Service of Ukraine. It said on Thursday that Russia has fired at least 20 North Korean missiles at Ukraine since then, adding that the missiles had killed or injured civilians.
Russia denied any military or technical cooperation with North Korea during a Jan. 26 news briefing conducted by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
VOA contacted the North Korean mission at the United Nations in New York City for comment but received no response.
Investigators determined a missile recovered on Jan. 2 in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, was made with components from U.S. and European companies, according to a report by the U.K.-based investigative group Conflict Armament Research (CAR), first reported by CNN on Feb. 20.
The CAR report found that of the 290 components from the North Korean missile that were examined, about 75% originated with U.S.-based companies. About 16% of the components were linked to European companies.
The report said more than three quarters of the components were produced between 2021 and 2023 and that the missile could not have been made before March 2023. The report said, however, CAR “will not identify the companies linked to their production.”
U.N. member states have been banned from exporting materials and technologies that North Korea could use to make ballistic missiles since the Security Council passed Resolution 1718 in 2006.
Experts said U.S. companies whose parts ended up in the North Korean missile probably did not know the identity of the end user.
Aaron Arnold, a former member of the U.N. Panel of Experts for North Korea’s sanctions, said, however, that the discoveries show “how porous Western export control systems can be.”
Arnold, who is currently a senior associate fellow at Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at the Royal United Service Institute, told VOA via email on Friday that some of the items that ended up in the North Korean missile are items that can be used to make weapons as well as commercial goods.
“While I can’t say for sure in this particular case, some of the micro-electronics are dual use, meaning, they could be commonplace and used in other commercial applications,” Arnold said. “Some of the Western micro-electronics found in Russian drones, for example, are also used in refrigerators.”
Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation, emailed VOA on Monday that in addition to dual-use items, “the focus on sanctions enforcement should be on more important components.”
Such components could include “non-domestic electronic components” that the CAR report said were found in the North Korean missile.
Arnold and other experts said North Korea’s practice of using third-party countries to smuggle banned items makes it difficult to detect components headed into the country. But they said it is possible to use established procurement networks to track components back from the missile to identify intermediaries.
Anthony Ruggiero, senior fellow and sanctions expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said in a telephone interview with VOA on Friday, “Part of the biggest challenge is going after those who help North Korean sanctions evasion.”
He continued, “China, Russia, North Korea, Iran — these countries are experts in avoiding U.N. and U.S. sanctions. They are smart enough not to use their names and avoid any suggestion that it’s Russia or North Korea or Iran or China trying to buy these items. Part of the challenge is to lift that veil.”
Joshua Stanton, an attorney based in Washington who helped draft the Sanctions and Policy Enforcement Act in 2016, said via email these discoveries could be “an opportunity for the Commerce Department to trace North Korea’s procurement networks from each component through its supply chain and put the middlemen on its entity list.”
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Afghan Journalist Makes Long, Perilous Journey to Safety
For Afghan journalist Sadiq Torabzai, the path to escaping Taliban rule led through nearly a dozen countries. Now in Canada, he waits to be reunited with his children. From Toronto, Ahmad Farshad Saleh has the story, narrated by Bezhan Hamdard.
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US Announces Tech, Academic Opportunities to Empower Afghan Women
Senegal Panel Suggests Delayed Election Be Held in June
DAKAR, SENEGAL — Senegal’s national dialogue commission will propose a delayed presidential election be held on June 2 and recommend President Macky Sall remain in office until his successor is sworn in, commission member Ndiawar Paye said on Tuesday.
The West African nation, set to become an oil and gas producer by the end of the year, was thrown into an unprecedented political crisis after Sall postponed the election initially scheduled for February 25.
The proposed date follows two days of talks organized by Sall to ease tensions. His and parliament’s failed bid to postpone the February 25 poll by 10 months sparked unrest and warnings of democratic backsliding in one of coup-hit West Africa’s more stable democracies.
The recommendation will be sent to Sall, who will make the final decision, Paye told Reuters.
Speaking by phone, he said it was not known whether Sall would accept the recommendation, but his decision could come on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The talks in the capital, Dakar, were boycotted by many of the opposition, some of whom want the vote to be held before Sall’s mandate expires on April 2.
Paye said the commission agreed that early June was the most feasible time for the vote.
“The month of May has a number of religious festivals, so the elections could not be held then,” he said.
It was not immediately clear how the opposition would respond to the proposed date. Its successful legal challenge of the original postponement led the top constitutional authority to rule the delay unlawful and ask Sall to find a new date as soon as possible.
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