Highway and airport projects are yet to begin in Nepal, as India and China compete for influence in the Himalayan country through infrastructure projects. Analysts and politicians say Nepal’s government is performing a balancing act to stay neutral in the contest. Henry Wilkins reports.
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Month: March 2024
Humanitarian Needs in Afghanistan Improve Slightly, Millions Still in Crisis
US and UK Announce Sanctions Over China-Linked Hacks on Election Watchdog and Lawmakers
london — The U.S. and British governments on Monday announced sanctions against a company and two people linked to the Chinese government over a string of malicious cyberactivity targeting the U.K.’s election watchdog and lawmakers in both countries.
Officials said those sanctioned are responsible for a hack that may have gained access to information on tens of millions of U.K. voters held by the Electoral Commission, as well as for cyberespionage targeting lawmakers who have been outspoken about threats from China.
The Foreign Office said the hack of the election registers “has not had an impact on electoral processes, has not affected the rights or access to the democratic process of any individual, nor has it affected electoral registration.”
The Electoral Commission said in August that it identified a breach of its system in October 2022, though it added that “hostile actors” had first been able to access its servers in 2021.
At the time, the watchdog said the data included the names and addresses of registered voters. But it said that much of the information was already in the public domain.
In Washington, the Treasury Department said it sanctioned Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company Ltd., which it calls a Chinese Ministry of State Security front company that has “served as cover for multiple malicious cyberoperations.”
It named two Chinese nationals, Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin, affiliated with the Wuhan company, for cyberoperations that targeted U.S. critical infrastructure sectors including defense, aerospace and energy.
The U.S. Justice Department charged Zhao, Ni, and five other hackers with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and wire fraud. It said they were part of a 14-year long cyber operation “targeting U.S. and foreign critics, businesses and political officials.”
“Today’s announcements underscore the need to remain vigilant to cybersecurity threats and the potential for cyber-enabled foreign malign influence efforts, especially as we approach the 2024 election cycle,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said.
British authorities did not name the company or the two individuals. But they said the two sanctioned individuals were involved in the operations of the Chinese cyber group APT31 — an abbreviation for “advanced persistent threat.” The group is also known as Zirconium or Hurricane Panda.
APT31 has previously been accused of targeting U.S. presidential campaigns and the information systems of Finland’s parliament, among others.
British cybersecurity officials said that Chinese government-affiliated hackers “conducted reconnaissance activity” against British parliamentarians who were critical of Beijing in 2021. They said no parliamentary accounts were successfully compromised.
Three lawmakers, including former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, told reporters Monday they have been “subjected to harassment, impersonation and attempted hacking from China for some time.” Duncan Smith said in one example, hackers impersonating him used fake email addresses to write to his contacts.
The politicians are members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international pressure group focused on countering Beijing’s growing influence and calling out alleged rights abuses by the Chinese government.
Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said his government will summon China’s ambassador to account for its actions.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said ahead of the announcement that countries should base their claims on evidence rather than “smear” others without factual basis.
“Cybersecurity issues should not be politicized,” ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said. “We hope all parties will stop spreading false information, take a responsible attitude and work together to maintain peace and security in cyberspace.”
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reiterated that China is “behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad” and is “the greatest state-based threat to our economic security.”
“It’s right that we take measures to protect ourselves, which is what we are doing,” he said, without providing details.
China critics including Duncan Smith have long called for Sunak to take a tougher stance on China and label the country a threat — rather than a “challenge” — to the U.K., but the government has refrained from using such critical language.
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Italy Raises Security After IS-Claimed Russian Concert Hall Attack
BERLIN — Italy followed France on Monday in stepping up security following the attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall and the claim of responsibility by an affiliate of the Islamic State group.
The attack renewed attention in Europe on the risk from extremists, and particularly the Central Asian affiliate, as the continent gears up for big events such as the Paris Olympics and the European Championship in Germany.
France on Sunday increased its security alert posture to the highest level. In Italy, a national security council meeting Monday resulted in a decision to increase security around Holy Week observances leading up to Easter this weekend.
Both surveillance and checks will be increased, “paying the most attention to the places of greatest aggregation and transit of people, as well as sensitive targets,’’ the Italian Interior Ministry said in a statement. Pope Francis has a busy schedule of events in Rome and at the Vatican in the days leading up to Easter Sunday.
In Germany, Interior Ministry spokesperson Cornelius Funke said the threat from Islamic extremists “remains acute” but authorities’ risk assessment hasn’t changed so far as a result of the Moscow attack.
In Serbia, secret police officers with machine guns were seen patrolling the streets of Belgrade over the weekend. President Aleksandar Vucic said they and plainclothes police would monitor sports venues and shopping malls in the capital. The measure was criticized by Vucic’s opponents as unnecessary and designed to scare the population.
An affiliate of the Islamic State group variously as ISIS-K, IS-K or ISPK claimed responsibility for the Moscow attack, a claim that U.S. and other Western officials have confirmed. The affiliate has repeatedly carried out attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in 2021.
It was behind the August 2021 suicide bombing at Kabul airport that left 13 American troops and about 170 Afghans dead during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal. It also claimed responsibility for a bomb attack in Kerman, Iran, in January that killed 95 people at a memorial procession.
But it also has been active and on authorities’ radar in Europe.
IS-K, which the German Interior Ministry’s Funke said “is to our knowledge the most aggressive IS affiliate at present,” has been linked by German authorities to three alleged plots since July.
Those include an alleged plan that prompted authorities to step up security at Cologne Cathedral over Christmas and, most recently, the arrest last week two Afghan men accused of planning to attack police near the Swedish parliament in response to the burning of copies of the Quran, the Muslim holy book.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris has intelligence pointing to “an IS entity” as responsible for the Moscow attack and that the group is believed to be involved in several attempted attacks in recent months in France.
He didn’t specifically name IS-K but said during a trip to French Guiana that was why France raised its security alert as a “precautionary measure.”
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Pro-Kremlin Media Downplay Islamist Extremists’ Involvement in Moscow Attack
Russian pro-government media are ignoring the Islamic State group’s claim of responsibility for the deadly attack last Friday at a Moscow concert hall, instead focusing on unsubstantiated allegations that the mass killing was linked to Ukraine. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from the VOA Moscow bureau.
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Senegal Opposition’s Faye Set to Become President After Rival Concedes
DAKAR — Senegal opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye was set to be declared the country’s next president after his rival from the ruling coalition called him Monday to concede defeat.
Results trickling in since polls closed Sunday evening in the first round of a delayed presidential election rapidly suggested Faye, 44, may have clinched an outright majority. The trends announced on local media sparked street celebrations by his supporters in the capital Dakar.
Ruling coalition candidate Amadou Ba, 62, initially called these celebrations premature and said a run-off vote would be needed to determine the winner.
But he then called Faye on Monday to offer his congratulations, a government spokesperson told journalists.
“In light of presidential election result trends and while we await the official proclamation, I congratulate … Faye for his victory in the first round,” Ba said in a statement.
A peaceful transition of power in Senegal would mark a boost for democracy in West Africa, where there have been eight military coups since 2020.
Some of the juntas that seized power have cut ties with traditional powerbrokers in the region such as France and the United States and turned instead to Russia for help in their fight against a jihadi insurgency spreading through countries that neighbor Senegal.
Senegal’s international bonds rose on reports that Faye was close to being declared a winner, reversing sharp falls from earlier in the day.
Official results are expected to be announced by the Dakar appeals court Friday. The electoral commission has not yet communicated on the tallies counted so far out of 15,633 voting stations.
Many hope the vote will bring stability and an economic boost to Senegal after three years of unprecedented political turbulence in one of West Africa’s only stable democracies, which is set to start producing oil and gas this year.
“I am happy to see there is a wind of change,” said Tall, who joined revelers during the night as supporters waved Senegalese flags, lit flares and blasted vuvuzelas (molded plastic horns).
“It is wonderful because democracy has won. Many thought it would not happen,” he said, only wishing to give his first name.
Young voters
Several opposition contenders had also conceded defeat to Faye during the night, including Anta Babacar Ngom, the only woman running.
Ba was the candidate backed by outgoing President Macky Sall, who is stepping down amid a drop in popularity after two terms in office marred by economic hardship and violent anti-government protests.
Faye has not publicly spoken since he cast his vote. He owes much of his success to the backing of firebrand opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who was barred from running due to a defamation conviction.
The two former tax inspectors have campaigned together under the slogan “Diomaye is Sonko,” promising to fight corruption and prioritize national economic interests.
They are particularly popular among young voters in a country where more than 60% of people are under 25 and struggle to find jobs.
Police crackdowns on protests, the government’s failure to cushion rising living costs and concerns Sall would seek to extend his mandate beyond constitutional limits buoyed the opposition.
Anger crystalized around Sonko’s prosecution only grew when authorities sought to postpone the vote, initially scheduled to take place in February, by 10 months.
Investors are meanwhile wary about a potential change in leadership to an anti-establishment government that may not pursue the same business-friendly policies seen under Sall’s government that has attracted investments into infrastructure.
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In India, Political Parties Woo Women Voters
Haryana, India — After the morning chores of cooking, and milking buffaloes are completed in the narrow alleys of Mankrola village in India’s northern Haryana state, women gather in the house of Rekha Sabharwal, who heads a women’s community group. An animated discussion follows about the forthcoming general elections that begin April 19.
While Mankrola is still a largely patriarchal society, women have begun asserting their voice loudly in one place — at polling booths.
“In the village, the system was that women had to vote as their families told them to. But now we have freedom to vote as we choose,” said Sabharwal.
Women are not just making independent decisions; they also are turning out in huge numbers to cast ballots, closing a gender gap that had existed for decades.
Their emergence as an influential voting bloc has prompted political parties to woo women. From funding millions of concrete homes and household toilets for poor families in villages, to providing cooking gas and piped water connections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has targeted many of his welfare programs at women during his 10 years in power.
Such programs have helped his Bharatiya Janata party widen its support among female voters, especially in rural areas and in poor homes.
“These programs have had a cascading effect. Women are in favor of Modi by leaps and bounds because he is delivering these programs,” according to Yashwant Deshmukh, head of C-Voter polling agency.
The money Sushila Kumari in Mankrola got to build a concrete room and a toilet has eased her life — her earlier one-room home had a tin roof. “I don’t have to go into fields now because I now have a toilet. When my relatives visited, there was no place for them to sit. Now I have a room where they can relax,” said Kumari.
She also got $800 in aid for her daughter’s marriage, which helped her repay the loan she took for the wedding expenses. She said she will keep these in mind at voting time.
Such programs are likely to have weaned women voters away from the main opposition Congress Party, for which they voted in huge numbers before the BJP became India’s dominant political party after it registered a massive win in the 2014 elections.
“Our current data shows that for every one female voter that is going to the Congress Party, two women are going to the BJP,” said Deshmukh.
The Congress Party, which has fared poorly in the last two general elections, is also eyeing women voters. It has unveiled a “Women Justice” program promising financial aid of $1,200 per year to poor women, and a 50 percent reservation for them in new federal government jobs if voted into power.
In India’s vast rural outback, there also is a growing demand for more economic opportunities for women, especially as rural distress and inflation emerge as key concerns.
27-year-old Neha Sabharwal, a mother of two, knows what she wants – in a country where women make up only 37 percent of the workforce, she wants a chance to work. The sole option in the village is tilling the fields, but only those at the bottom of the economic ladder work as farm laborers.
“Women should also be able to earn money, so that they can spend on their children’s education and clothes, and plan their future,” she laments.
In this village, which lies close to a gleaming business hub, aspirations are rising. Women say they do not want just free gas connections and homes, but a government that can empower them with better education and more work opportunities.
Village resident Manju Ranga, who has struggled with financial problems, says she desperately wants her two daughters to acquire college degrees or diplomas that will open the door to better economic opportunities.
“I don’t want my two daughters to have the kind of life I have lived. The government should give them some support to study so that they can get good jobs,” said Ranga.
Sociologists say political consciousness is growing both because of better levels of education among girls, and a 1993 law that mandated reservation of up to half the seats in village councils for women. However, it remains a work in progress. Neha Sabharwal will vote as her family tells her to, otherwise, she says, they will be offended.
While gender inequality is still entrenched in the village, women are becoming more politically assertive. They weigh issues such as development, governance and women’s safety, rather than caste and community, which have long influenced electoral choices in India.
Pollster Deshmukh calls that a “seismic shift.” He pointed out that building toilets, for example, was a huge factor that prompted women to vote for the BJP in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh in state elections held in 2022.
“For them the important issue in getting toilets at home was not sanitation. It was an issue of safety because they were vulnerable to sexual assaults when they went into the fields early morning and late evening,” he noted.
Social activist Sunil Jaglan, who has been spearheading programs to raise the status of women and girls for nearly two decades in villages like Mankrola, has noticed a huge change.
“Younger women look at issues like education, safe transportation when they travel to colleges, and social security when they go to vote,” according to Jaglan. “Older women assess if their household expenses are reducing or increasing.”
Those choices will influence the poll outcome, especially in seats where victory margins are narrow.
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In India, Political Parties Woo Women Voters
As India heads into a national election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other political leaders are wooing women voters, who have been turning out in huge numbers to cast ballots in recent polls. Anjana Pasricha visited a village in Haryana in northern India to find out that Modi’s welfare programs have won support.
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EU Probes Apple, Google, Meta Under New Digital Law
India Celebrates Holi, Hindu Festival of Color That Marks Reawakening of Spring
Millions celebrate by dancing, exchanging food and drink, and smearing each other with colorful powder
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Vote Counting Underway in Senegal Presidential Election
DAKAR, SENEGAL — Vote counting is underway as Senegalese cast their ballots Sunday for presidential candidates after months of political tension and uncertainty.
The election comes after outgoing President Macky Sall’s earlier attempt to delay the vote raised fears he may try to hold on to power.
By Sunday evening, most polling stations around Senegal had closed and the much-anticipated election seemed to have gone smoothly, according to reports.
Thousands of Senegalese showed up all over the country and waited patiently to cast their votes. Abdoulaye Sylla, president of the National Electoral Commission, said turnout was high.
Observers from many organizations were present, including from the European Union, which sent 100 observers throughout the country.
“This morning our observers were present in 40 polling stations,” said Malin Bjork, who heads the EU group that arrived in January. “Our summary as of now is that the poll took place in a calm environment and was well-organized.
It’s not clear yet how soon official results will be available, but political analyst Babacar Ndiaye explained the next step.
“We can have a scenario where one candidate wins in the first round. The person needs 51%, but if that’s not reached, there will be a second round, which could take place in two to three weeks,” Ndiaye said.
Djibril Gningue, executive director of PACTE, a civil society group working for election transparency, said a second round of voting could raise new problems for the country.
“President Sall recently said that if a candidate wins, he’ll make sure a transition takes place. If not, he’s leaving on April 2,” Gningue said.
Gningue said in the event of a second round, results won’t be known by the time Sall has pledged to step aside.
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New Zealand and EU Trade Agreement to Take Effect on May 1
sydney — New Zealand said Monday a free trade agreement with the European Union would come into effect on May 1, after the country’s parliament ratified the deal.
New Zealand notified the European Union it ratified the agreement earlier on Monday, Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay said in a statement.
Wellington and Brussels signed the deal in July 2023, with the European Parliament ratifying its side of the agreement in November.
New Zealand expects the deal to benefit its beef, lamb, butter and cheese industries, as well as removing tariffs on other exports like its iconic kiwi fruit.
The EU will see tariffs lifted on its exports including clothing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and cars, as well as wine and confections.
The EU is New Zealand’s fourth-largest trade partner, according to government data, with two-way goods and services trade worth $12.10 billion in 2022.
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Russia Reports Downing 11 Ukrainian Drones in Rostov
France Raises Security Readiness to Highest Level After Attack in Russia
PARIS — France’s government increased its security alert posture to the highest level Sunday after the deadly attack at a Russian concert hall and the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced the decision in a post on X, formerly Twitter, saying authorities were “taking into account the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility for the (Moscow) attack and the threats weighing on our country.”
The announcement came after President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency security meeting prompted by Friday’s attack in a Moscow suburb that killed more than 130 people. The attack was claimed by an affiliate of the Islamic State group.
France has repeatedly been hit by deadly Islamic State attacks, including the Bataclan theater massacre in 2015 in which extremists opened fire on concertgoers and held hostages for hours. French troops have also fought against Islamic extremists in the Middle East and Africa.
France was already on high security alert ahead of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics this year, which are expected to draw millions of visitors to the country.
Security concerns are notably high for the exceptional opening ceremony July 26, which will involve boats riding along the Seine River and huge crowds watching from the embankments.
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Malawi Follows Zambia in Declaring Drought Disaster
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — The southern African nation of Malawi has declared a state of disaster over drought in 23 of its 28 districts and the president says it urgently needs more than $200 million in humanitarian assistance, less than a month after neighboring Zambia also appealed for help.
Malawi is the latest country in the region to have its food supply crippled by a severe dry spell that’s been linked to the El Niño weather phenomenon.
A third country, Zimbabwe, has also seen much of its crops decimated and is considering following suit, underlining concerns raised by the U.N. World Food Program late last year that numerous nations in southern Africa were on the brink of a hunger crisis because of the impact of El Niño.
The WFP said there were already nearly 50 million people in southern and parts of central Africa facing food insecurity even before one of the driest spells in decades hit.
USAID, the U.S. government’s aid agency, said that more than 20 million people in southern Africa would urgently need food aid in early 2024, partly due to the El Niño effect.
Last month was the driest February in 40 years for Zambia and Zimbabwe, according to the WFP’s seasonal monitor, while Malawi, Mozambique and parts of Angola had “severe rainfall deficits.”
Millions in southern Africa rely on the food they grow to survive. Corn, the region’s staple food, has been badly affected by the drought.
El Niño is a natural, recurring weather phenomenon involving the warming of the sea surface in parts of the Pacific Ocean. It has impacts on global weather, including causing below-average rainfall in southern Africa. Some scientists say that climate change is making El Niños stronger and their impacts more extreme.
The 2015-2016 El Niño also brought a severe drought for southern Africa, the region’s worst in 35 years, according to the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs.
Humans aren’t the only ones affected, with conservation officials in Zimbabwe reporting the rare occurrence of at least 100 elephants dying in a national park late last year because of waterholes drying up in the drought.
Before the national disaster announcements by Malawi and Zambia, the WFP and USAID had already launched a program to feed 2.7 million people in rural Zimbabwe facing food shortages — nearly 20% of that country’s population.
British charity Oxfam said this month that more than 6 million people in Zambia — 30% of its population — are now facing acute food shortages and malnutrition, with the next crop growing season a year away.
Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera said he had been on a tour of his country to discover the extent of its drought crisis, and a preliminary assessment by the government found about 44% of Malawi’s corn crop had failed or been affected, and 2 million households were directly impacted. He said the country of 20 million people needed around 600,000 metric tons of food aid and called on the international community for help.
Malawi has been repeatedly hit by weather extremes in recent years, emphasizing how some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries are feeling the worst effects of climate change even as they contribute the least to global emissions.
Cyclone Freddy killed hundreds in Malawi last year, one of a succession of strong cyclones that have ripped through various parts of southern Africa in the last five years.
In early 2022, tropical storms and floods contributed to Malawi’s worst outbreak of the water-borne disease, cholera. More than 1,200 people died in the outbreak that lasted for months, according to the World Health Organization. Zambia is also currently experiencing a major cholera outbreak.
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