Vatican letter said to undermine U.S. bishops' efforts to address sexual abuse scandal

Abstract: VATICAN CITY - The Vatican blocked U.S. bishops from taking measures to address the clergy sex abuse scandal because U.S. church leaders didn’t discuss the legally problematic proposals with the Holy See enough beforehand, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press. The Nov. 11 letter from the Vatican’s Cardinal Marc Ouellet provides the primary reason that Rome balked at the measures that were to be voted on by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops at its Nov. 12-14 meeting. The blocked vote stunned abuse survivors and other Catholics who were demanding action from U.S. bishops to address clergy sex abuse and cover-up. Ouellet’s letter undermines the version of events provided by the conference president, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo. It could also provide fodder for questions during a spiritual retreat of U.S. bishops, dedicated to the abuse crisis, that opens Wednesday in Chicago. They may want to know why, as Ouellet noted in the letter, the draft proposals only arrived at the Vatican on Nov. 8, four days before the U.S. bishops’ meeting began. While the Vatican is known for its slow pace, even the speediest bureaucracy would have found it difficult to review and sign off on sensitive legal documents in that time. “Considering the nature and scope of the documents being proposed by the (conference), I believe it would have been beneficial to have allowed for more time to consult with this and other congregations with competence over the ministry and discipline of bishops,” Ouellet wrote to DiNardo. Such back-and-forth, he wrote, would have allowed the documents to “properly mature.” The main goal of the U.S. bishops’ fall meeting had been to approve a code of conduct for bishops and create a lay-led commission to receive complaints against them. The measures were a crisis response to the scandal over ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a once-senior American cleric who is now accused of molesting minors and adults, and new revelations of old sex abuse cases in Pennsylvania. DiNardo stunned the bishops when he opened the assembly Nov. 12 by announcing that “at the insistence of the Holy See” the bishops would not be voting on the measures after all. He said the Vatican wanted them to delay a vote until after Pope Francis hosts a global summit in February on preventing sex abuse by priests. While DiNardo blamed the Vatican, the letter from Ouellet suggests that the Vatican thought DiNardo had tried to pull a fast one by intentionally withholding legally problematic texts until the last minute. It is not surprising that Rome wanted a say in crafting the text, given the Holy See has exclusive authority to investigate and discipline problem bishops. “While fully aware that a bishops’ conference enjoys a rightful autonomy … to discuss and eventually approve measures that are within the conference’s powers, the conference’s work must always be integrated within the hierarchical structure and universal law of the church,” Ouellet wrote. In a statement Tuesday to AP, DiNardo characterized the dispute as a misunderstanding. He said he assumed the Vatican would have had a chance to “review and offer adjustments” to the measures after the U.S. bishops approved them, not before. He insisted that U.S. bishops were not trying to appropriate Vatican powers for themselves. “It is now clear there were different expectations on the bishops conference’s part and Rome’s part that may have affected the understanding of these proposals,” DiNardo said in a statement. “From our perspective, they were designed to stop short of where the authority of the Holy See began.” The U.S. strategy, it seems, was to avoid drawn-out negotiations before the vote so the U.S. bishops could present the Vatican with documents after the fact. Legally speaking, the U.S. bishops didn’t need Vatican approval prior to the vote. But since the Holy See would have to approve the proposals afterward for them to become binding, consultation on the text was necessary and strategically wise to do so beforehand, said Nicholas Cafardi, a U.S. canon lawyer. DiNardo, in his statement to AP, said he had shared the “content and direction” of the proposals with multiple Vatican offices in October and drafted the final text after encountering no opposition. “We had not planned, nor had the Holy See made a request, to share the texts prior to the body of bishops having had an opportunity to amend them,” he said. During a Nov. 12 press conference, DiNardo was asked when the Vatican was actually consulted about the measures. He replied the texts were finalized Oct. 30 and that the delay in finishing them might have been a problem. “So it’s not surprising, on one level, that people would be catching their breath, perhaps even in Rome,” he told reporters. DiNardo also acknowledged, when pressed by a reporter, that the texts themselves had some legal problems, though he downplayed the severity of them. In his statement to AP, DiNardo said he had told Ouellet that failing to vote on the texts “would prove a great disappointment to the faithful, who were expecting their bishops to take just action. Though there were canonical precisions mentioned, the emphasis seemed to be on delaying votes and not wanting to get ahead of the (pope’s) February meeting of episcopal conference presidents,” he said. Ouellet did indeed cite the February meeting in his letter, saying any document “should incorporate the input and fruits of the college of bishops’ work of common discernment.” But the February summit was announced Sept. 13. If that were the primary reason for Ouellet’s demand to scrap the U.S. vote, he could have communicated that to DiNardo a lot sooner. Instead, as the Nov. 12 deadline loomed for the start of the U.S. meeting and still no text proposals had arrived in Rome, Ouellet wrote DiNardo an initial warning on Nov. 6 not to vote. Five days later, in his Nov. 11 letter, Ouellet reaffirmed that decision after having finally read the text. That also undermined DiNardo’s claim to have only received the request to delay the vote the night before the meeting began.

u.s .
vatican
pope francis
holy see
bishops
sexual abuse
marc ouellet


Pope bemoans profit-hungry disjointed world, praises unity over diversity

Abstract: VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis, in his first message of the new year on Tuesday, bemoaned a lack of unity across the world, and warned against a soulless hunt for profit that benefits only a few. “How much dispersion and solitude there is all around us. The world is completely connected, yet seems increasingly disjointed,” the pope said in his traditional New Year’s Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. In his homily he paid homage to motherhood, saying a world that looked to the future while forgetting “a mother’s gaze” was shortsighted. “It may well increase its profits, but it will no longer see others as children. It will make money, but not for everyone. We will all dwell in the same house, but not as brothers and sisters,” he said. The New Year’s address followed a turbulent 2018 for the pope, whose Church was battered by a torrent of sex scandals across the world that Francis has repeatedly failed to contain. The sense of crisis was underscored on Monday when the Vatican spokesman and his deputy abruptly and unexpectedly resigned following disagreements on communications strategy. Pope Francis made no overt reference to the tumult, but called for Roman Catholics to remain rooted to the Church, saying: “Unity counts more than diversity.” He also warned that the Church risked becoming “a beautiful museum of the past” if people lost “the amazement of faith.

catholic church
pope francis
sex scandal
unity
new year 's mass


'We have a healthy spacecraft': NASA succeeds in historic flyby of faraway world

Abstract: MIAMI - NASA rang in the New Year on Tuesday with a historic flyby of the farthest, and quite possibly the oldest, cosmic body ever explored by humankind — a tiny, distant world called Ultima Thule — in the hopes of learning more about how planets took shape. A series of anxiously awaited “phone home” signals arrived after 10:30 a.m. (1530 GMT), indicating the spacecraft had made it, intact, through the risky, high-speed encounter. “We have a healthy spacecraft,” said mission operations manager Alice Bowman, as cheers erupted in the control rooms at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland. About 10 hours earlier, NASA celebrated the New Year’s flyby, as mission managers — alongside kids dressed in space costumes — blew party horns to mark the moment at 12:33 a.m. (0533 GMT) when the New Horizons spacecraft aimed its cameras at the space rock 4 billion miles (6.4 billion km) away in a dark and frigid region of space known as the Kuiper Belt. More images and data will start arriving later Tuesday, offering scientists the first up-close look at an ancient building block of planets, Bowman said. The flyby took place about a billion miles beyond Pluto, which was until now the most faraway world ever visited up close by a spacecraft. Hurtling through space at a speed of 32,000 mph, the spacecraft made its closest approach within 2,200 miles of the surface of Ultima Thule. “This is a night none of us are going to forget,” said Queen guitarist Brian May — who also holds an advanced degree in astrophysics — and who recorded a solo track to honor the spacecraft and its spirit of exploration. Lead planetary scientist for New Horizons, Alan Stern, said Ultima Thule is unique because it is a relic from the early days of the solar system and could provide answers about the origins of other planets. “The object is in such a deep freeze that it is perfectly preserved from its original formation,” he said. “Everything we are going to learn about Ultima — from its composition to its geology to how it was originally assembled, whether it has satellites and an atmosphere and those kinds of things — are going to teach us about the original formation conditions of objects in the solar system.” Scientists are not sure exactly what Ultima Thule (pronounced TOO-lee) looks like — whether it is cratered or smooth, or even if it is a single object or a cluster. But a new, though still blurry image released Tuesday showed its oblong shape resembles something like a bowling pin or a peanut, and its dimensions are about 22 miles long and 9 miles wide (35 by 15 km). Stern said his bet is that the object is a single body, not two pieces orbiting each other, but he would wait until more, clearer images arrive Wednesday to say for sure. The highest resolution images are expected in February, Stern said. Ultima Thule was discovered in 2014 with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope. Scientists decided to study Ultima Thule with New Horizons after the spaceship, which launched in 2006, completed its main mission of flying by Pluto in 2015, returning the most detailed images ever taken of the dwarf planet. Stern said the goal was to take images of Ultima that are three times the resolution the team had for Pluto. Ultima Thule is named for a mythical, far-northern island in medieval literature and cartography, according to NASA. Project scientist Hal Weaver of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory said humans didn’t even know the Kuiper Belt — a vast ring of relics from the formation days of the solar system — existed until the 1990s. “This is the frontier of planetary science,” said Weaver. Another NASA spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx, also set a new record on Monday by entering orbit around the asteroid Bennu, the smallest cosmic object — about 1,600 feet (500 meters) in diameter — ever circled by a spacecraft. NASA said the orbit some 70 million miles (110 million km) away marks “a leap for humankind” because no spacecraft has ever “circled so close to such a small space object — one with barely enough gravity to keep a vehicle in a stable orbit.” The twin planetary feats coincided with the 50th anniversary of the first time humans ever explored another world, when U.S. astronauts orbited the Moon aboard Apollo 8 in December 1968. “As you celebrate New Year’s Day, cast an eye upward and think for a moment about the amazing things our country and our species can do when we set our minds to it,” Stern wrote in the New York Times on Monday.

nasa
pluto
hubble
kuiper belt
ultima thule


Retired U.S. Marine arrested in Russia for spying was there for wedding: family

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine arrested in Russia on espionage charges, was visiting Moscow over the holidays to attend a wedding when he suddenly disappeared, his brother said Tuesday. Whelan, 48, who is head of global security for a Michigan-based auto parts supplier, was arrested on Friday. In announcing the arrest three days later, the Russian Federal Security Service said he was caught “during an espionage operation,” but gave no details. “We are deeply concerned for his safety and well-being,” his family said in a statement that his brother, David Whelan, posted on Twitter. “His innocence is undoubted and we trust that his rights will be respected.” The Russian spying charges carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years. David Whelan said in an interview that his brother had been to Russia several times previously, so when a fellow former Marine was planning a wedding in Moscow with a Russian woman, he was asked to come along to help out. The morning of his arrest, he had taken a group of wedding guests on a tour of the Kremlin museums. The last time anyone heard from him was at about 5 p.m. and then he failed to show up that evening for the wedding, his brother said. “It was extraordinarily out of character,” he said. The family feared he had been mugged or was in a car accident, David Whelan said, and it was when searching the internet on Monday that he learned of the arrest. “I was looking for any stories about dead Americans in Moscow, so in a way it was better than finding out that he had died,” he said. The State Department said Monday it had received formal notification from the Russian Foreign Ministry of the arrest and was pushing for consular access. David Whelan said the family was told by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow they have not been able to speak to Paul Whelan. David Whelan said he has no idea why his brother was targeted by the Russian security services. Paul Whelan had traveled to Russia in the past for work and to visit friends he had met on social networks, his brother said. Paul Whelan did multiple tours in Iraq with the Marine Corps, his brother said. He now lives in Novi, Michigan, and is director of global security for BorgWarner, where he has worked since early 2017. “He is responsible for overseeing security at our facilities in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and at other company locations around the world,” company spokeswoman Kathy Graham said in a statement. She said BorgWarner does not have any facilities in Russia. He previously worked for Kelly Services, which does maintain offices in Russia, his brother said. The arrest comes as U.S.-Russian ties are severely strained, in part over Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. A Russian gun-rights activist, Maria Butina, is in U.S. custody after admitting she acted as a secret agent for the Kremlin in trying to infiltrate conservative U.S. political groups as Donald Trump was seeking the presidency. She pleaded guilty in December to a conspiracy charge as part of a deal with federal prosecutors. Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed the case is fabricated and that Butina entered the guilty plea because of the threat of a long prison sentence.

russia
espionage
u.s. marine
maria butina
paul whelan


U.K. police probe Manchester station knife attack as 'terrorist' incident

Abstract: LONDON - A British police probe into a triple stabbing at a Manchester railway station on New Year’s Eve that wounded three people is now being treated as “a terrorist investigation,” the city’s top law officer said on Tuesday. Counterterrorism police have arrested a 25-year-old man who remains in custody, and are searching an address where he recently lived in the northwestern English city, Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said. The suspect reportedly shouted “Allah” during what Hopkins called a “horrific attack” on three people, including a police officer, at Manchester Victoria station on Monday evening. A man and a woman, both in their 50s, are still being treated in a hospital after sustaining “serious” injuries, while the officer was stabbed in the shoulder, Hopkins added. “We are treating this as a terrorist investigation, which is being led by counterterrorism officers with support from Greater Manchester police,” he told a briefing. “They were working through the night to piece together the details of what happened and to identify the man who was arrested.” Hopkins said counterterrorism officers were searching an address near the city center “which is believed to be where the man had most recently been living”. Prime Minister Theresa May thanked emergency services for their “courageous response” in swiftly tackling the suspect. She wrote on Twitter: “My thoughts are with those who were injured in the suspected terrorist attack in Manchester last night.” No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which happened at around 8:50 p.m. (2050 GMT) when many revelers in the city would have been enjoying New Year’s Eve celebrations. Witness Sam Clack, 38, a BBC radio producer, said the suspect shouted “Allah” before and during the attack. He also quoted the perpetrator as saying: “As long as you keep bombing other countries, this sort of shit is going to keep happening.” The witness added he heard the “most blood-curdling scream” and looked down the platform to see the attack unfolding. “He came towards me,” he added. “I looked down and saw he had a kitchen knife with a black handle with a good 12 inch (30-cm) blade. “It was just fear, pure fear.” Clack said police used a stun gun and pepper spray before “six or seven” officers jumped on the man. Video footage of the incident shows him being overpowered by the officers. The police said he was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and officers had recovered two knives from the scene. The woman suffered wounds to her face and abdomen and the man was wounded in the abdomen, while a British Transport Police officer sustained a stab wound to the shoulder. Their injuries were described as serious but not life-threatening. The city’s New Year’s celebrations went ahead in Albert Square despite the incident, with a fireworks display taking place as planned, though increased security was brought in. British Transport Police said Tuesday its officers would be “highly visible through the national rail network”. Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham paid tribute to the emergency services’ response. He added the “vile attack” had “all the hallmarks … of an isolated incident”. Manchester police Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson said they were still trying to establish whether the suspect is a British national and how he came to be at the station. “We are obviously considering his mental health, given how frenzied the attack was, its random nature,” he added. “There is wide reporting … about what the attacker allegedly said during the incident. “However, it’s really important to stress we are retaining an open mind in relation to the motivation for this attack.” Police said investigators were considering its closeness to the Manchester Arena, where a suicide bomber struck in May 2017, as potentially significant. The attack at a concert by the U.S. singer Ariana Grande killed 22 people and wounded 139. The perpetrator, Salman Abedi, 22, was born and raised in Manchester. “That the incident happened so close to the scene of the terrorist attack on May 22, 2017 makes it even more dreadful,” Chief Constable Hopkins said. “Our work will continue to ensure we get to the full facts of what happened and why it took place.”

terrorism
england
theresa may
manchester


Macron government on tenterhooks as new tax regime takes effect

Abstract: PARIS - The French government sought on Wednesday to downplay fears that workers will be left out of pocket as the country transitions to a pay-as-you-earn tax system that could fan the flames of a revolt over spending power. After years of delays, France on Jan. 1 ditched a system whereby residents file income tax returns based on the previous year’s earnings, replacing it with a system where the state deducts the taxes directly from people’s salaries or pensions each month. Opinion polls show the French broadly supporting the change but the shift presents risks for President Emmanuel Macron, not least that workers may feel poorer when they receive their new net pay — even if they will no longer have to save up to pay their taxes three times a year. Any glitches in the new system that could see taxpayers pay more than they bargained for could further infuriate the “yellow vest” anti-government protesters who have been demonstrating around the country since mid-November over Macron’s fiscal policies, which they see as skewed towards the rich. One of the leaders of the demonstrations, Eric Drouet, was detained by police and placed in custody on Wednesday for organizing a central Paris protest without declaring it, according to a source at the prosecutors office. Drouet — who already faces a trial for carrying a weapon — was held while heading for the Champs-Elysees, according to a police source. A few dozen demonstrators had gathered outside a McDonalds near France’s famous Arc de Triomphe war monument and had been waiting for Drouet to arrive early Wednesday evening. Drouet was first arrested last month. He will face trial on June 5 for “carrying a prohibited category D weapon,” a judicial source said. Radical leftist leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, a fierce critic of Macron, tweeted: “Again Eric Drouet arrested, why? Abuse of power. A politicized police targeting and harassing the leaders of the yellow vest movement.” Visiting a tax query call center in the northern city of Amiens, Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin attempted to assure the French that the change would be painless. “Taxation at source is like the mobile phone. In a month’s time we’ll be wondering how we ever managed without it,” he said, calling it a “big step forward for the French.” He attempted to silence the doomsayers, noting that so far there was no sign of the much-prophesied chaos and that the number of queries received by the call center were on a par with an average month. The shift to a pay-as-you-earn system was adopted by the Socialist government of Macron’s predecessor Francois Hollande, but is only now being implemented, after some dithering by Macron on the issue. To prepare the French for the change, the government has sent 93 million letters and emails explaining the new system. The move, which will only affect the 43 percent of households liable for income tax, brings France in line with most Western countries but comes at a critical juncture for the Macron. Over the past six weeks, “yellow vest” demonstrators — so-called after the high-visibility jackets they wear — have repeatedly clashed with police in Paris and other big cities, plunging Macron’s presidency into crisis. The “yellow vest” movement began in rural France over fuel taxes and quickly ballooned into a wider revolt against the 41-year-old president’s pro-business policies and perceived arrogance by low-paid workers and pensioners. In mid-December, he attempted to calm the rebellion by backtracking on a planned increase in antipollution fuel taxes. He also announced €10 billion ($11.4 billion) in tax breaks and income support for the low-paid and retirees, setting back his deficit-reduction drive in the process. Since then the protests have appeared to lose steam. In his New Year’s address to the nation on Monday, Macron vowed to resume his reforms program in 2019, including trimming the sprawling public sector and shaking up the unemployment and pension systems, all potential political minefields.

france
taxes
fiscal policy
president emmanuel macron
yellow vest protesters


Brazil inaugurates far-right firebrand junta fan Jair Bolsonaro as president

Abstract: BRASILIA - Right-wing nationalist Jair Bolsonaro, who has vowed to crack down on political corruption, violent crime and ignite a moribund economy with deregulation and fiscal discipline, was sworn in as Brazil’s president on Tuesday. The former army captain and seven-term fringe congressman rode a wave of anti-establishment anger to became Brazil’s first far-right president since a military dictatorship gave way to civilian rule three decades ago. Bolsonaro plans to realign Brazil internationally, moving away from developing nation allies and closer to the policies of Western leaders, particularly U.S. President Donald Trump, who sent Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to his inauguration. As a clear sign of that diplomatic shift, Bolsonaro plans to move the Brazilian Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, breaking with Brazil’s traditional support for a two-state solution to the Palestinian issue. Crowds of supporters, many with the Brazilian flag draped around their shoulders and with faces painted yellow and green, the national colors, gathered before the Planalto palace, where later Tuesday the presidential sash will be draped on Bolsonaro. Backed massively by conservative sectors of Brazil, including Christian evangelical churches, Bolsonaro would block moves to legalize abortion beyond even the current limited exceptions and remove sex education from public schools, opposing what he calls “cultural Marxism” introduced by recent leftist governments. One-third of his Cabinet are former army officers, mostly fellow cadets at the Black Needles academy, Brazil’s West Point, all outspoken backers of the country’s 1964-1985 military regime. Bolsonaro, 63, has faced charges of inciting rape and for hate crimes because of comments about women, gays and racial minorities. Yet his law-and-order rhetoric and plans to ease gun controls have resonated with many voters, especially in Brazil’s booming farm country. In an interview with Record TV on the eve of his inauguration, Bolsonaro lashed out at Brazil’s notorious bureaucracy, which makes doing business in the country difficult and expensive. He vowed to strip away the”Brazil Cost” that hamstrings private enterprise. “The government machine is really heavy,” he said. “There are hundreds of bureaucratic governing bodies across Brazil, of regulators as well. … We have to untangle the mess.” His vow to follow Trump’s example and pull Brazil out of the Paris Agreement on climate change has worried environmentalists. So have his plans to build hydroelectric dams in the Amazon and open up to mining the reservations of indigenous peoples who are seen as the last custodians of the world’s biggest forest. Brazilian businesses are eager to see Bolsonaro take office and install a team of orthodox economists led by investment banker Paulo Guedes, who has promised quick action in bringing Brazil’s unsustainable budget deficit under control. Guedes plans to sell as many state companies as possible in a privatization drive that he forecasts could eventually bring in up to 1 trillion reais ($257 billion). That would help restore order to government finances. The key measure, however, for reducing the deficit and stopping a dangerous rise of Brazil’s public debt will be the overhaul of the country’s costly social security pension system. Pension reform will be Bolsonaro’s biggest challenge since he has yet to build a base in Congress, where he has eschewed the political horse-trading that has traditionally helped Brazilian presidents govern the nation of nearly 210 million people. Bolsonaro may find that lax protection of the environment and human rights could have negative economic effects, more so than those faced by other far-right leaders, given the spotlight on Brazil’s Amazon jungle as a protection against global warming and because the country has more murders than any other nation. “I think they will be good on the economy and they will probably be bad for human rights and the environment,” said Brian Winter, vice president for policy at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas in New York. “The key question is whether those things can be separated. Most of Wall Street says ‘Yes.’ I have my doubts.”

brazil
environment
donald trump
paris climate accord
dictatorship
jar bolsonaro


New Year's Day dip: Europe enjoys a frosty traditional plunge

Abstract: PARIS - From Edinburgh to Lisbon by way of Berlin, the chilly thrill of a New Year’s Day dip appealed to many looking for a bracing way to ring in 2019. How cold? “Nine or 9-10 (degrees Celsius), but it’s fine, it feels good,” said Claudy, who took part with around 1,000 others in the annual rite at Malo-les-Bains, northern France. In Fahrenheit, this means a chilly 48 degrees. Similar scenes played out elsewhere in Europe, some themed, others not, with the common denominator a willingness to take the plunge as others cheer from the shore wearing woollen caps and gloves. Costumes and glasses of champagne are often part of the fun, though many simply donned a bathing suit and cap and dove in. In the Netherlands, a crowd of about 10,000 had a swim in the North Sea at Scheveningen, where the water was a frosty 7 degrees and an epic beach bonfire more than 40 meters (131 feet) high had showered nearby streets with burning embers on New Year’s Eve. English visitor Hillary, 28, summed up Tuesday’s dip in one word: “glacial. Farther north, at Norderney Island off the German coast, the North Sea was just 5 degrees, but 500 people of all ages jumped in just the same. In the German capital, 11 “Berliner Seehund” (Berlin Seals) honored their swim club’s tradition in the Oranke lake. The annual “Loony Dook” near Edinburg drew several hundred to the Forth river for a dip that began in 1987 when two friends decided it was a good way to sober up after the indulgences of New Year’s Eve. These days the event is also a fundraiser for local charities, with evening gowns replacing bathing suits and a Donald Trump lookalike posing for photos. In the slightly warmer waters of Portugal, Santa Clauses, jailbirds and soccer players frolicked in the waves of Carcavelos beach near Lisbon, while in Cap d’Agde, southern France, several swimmers ensured that the local tradition of skinny dipping sent the old year out without a stitch.


Emboldened Taliban kill 21 Afghan security force members, threaten city: official

Abstract: KABUL - Taliban fighters killed more than 20 Afghan security forces in simultaneous raids on a provincial capital and district in northern Afghanistan, an official said Tuesday, as the city braced for further violence. Hundreds of militants were outside Sar-e-Pul city, which provincial governor spokesman Zabihullah Amani said was at risk of falling to the Taliban if reinforcements were not sent. The Taliban have stepped up attacks on security forces across the country, slaughtering police and soldiers in record numbers, as the threat of a U.S. draw-down complicates American-led efforts to end the 17-year conflict. “The enemy is still amassing forces outside the city,” Amani told AFP. “We have deployed all the forces available in the city, but no reinforcements have arrived from outside so far. “The people inside the city are very worried.” Taliban fighters launched the attacks on Sar-e-Pul and neighboring Sayad district on Monday night, which Amani said were aimed at seizing control of several oil wells on the outskirts of the city. At least 21 local forces, including police and intelligence, were killed and another 23 wounded in the attacks, Amani said. “They have attacked the city many times in the past, but this time the threat is more serious,” he said. A security official, who spoke to AFP on the condition of anonymity, put the death toll slightly lower at between 15 and 20 members of local forces. Kabul-based interior ministry deputy spokesman Nasrat Rahimi confirmed there had been casualties, but would not provide details. He said reinforcements had been deployed to Sar-e-Pul and dismissed concerns that the provincial capital was at risk of falling to the insurgents. The Taliban confirmed the attacks, saying their fighters had captured three checkpoints and killed or wounded 50 members of the security forces. Afghanistan’s largest militant group made significant territorial gains in 2018, including overrunning Ghazni city — a few hours’ drive from Kabul — which they held for several days before being pushed back with the help of U.S. air power. At the time, officials said Ghazni remained in government hands. But residents told AFP that the insurgents were in the streets, burning buildings and targeting civilians. The Taliban’s increased aggression on the battlefield coincided with a flurry of diplomatic efforts aimed at bringing the group to the negotiating table. In recent days, Taliban representatives have met with Iran, as Tehran makes a more concerted and open push for peace ahead of a possible U.S. draw-down. The Taliban delegation discussed with Iran “the post-occupation situation, restoration of peace and security in Afghanistan and the region”, the militants said in a statement posted on social media and emailed to journalists on Tuesday. It signals a growing confidence among the Taliban that U.S. troops will pull out of Afghanistan, after U.S. officials last month told various media outlets that President Donald Trump had decided to slash the number of boots on the ground.

u.s .
terrorism
afghanistan
taliban
donald trump


U.K. forced marriage victims charged repatriation costs

Abstract: LONDON - Britain is charging young women rescued from forced marriages abroad for the cost of their repatriation, The Times newspaper revealed Wednesday. Four British women who were liberated from a punishment institution in Somalia were each charged £740 ($940), the daily said. Victims are told they have to fund their flight back to Britain, basic food and shelter costs, it reported. Those who are aged over 18 and cannot pay have to sign emergency loan agreements with the Foreign Office. The ministry helped bring back 55 forced marriage victims in 2016 and 27 in 2017. The four young women who were found in a “correctional school” in Somalia had been sent to the religious institution by their families, and reported being chained to the walls and whipped with hose pipes. Some had their legs shackled, spent days locked in a small box, were burned with hot sticks and forced to sit in their own urine unless they accepted a forced marriage, The Times said. The Foreign Office and the Home Office interior ministry run the Forced Marriage Unit and from 2009 to 2017, the FMU has given advice or support to nearly 12,800 people. Marriages without consent, or their refusal, have led to suicides and so-called honor killings in Britain, with several cases coming to national prominence. Since 2014, forced marriage has been a crime in Britain carrying a maximum seven-year prison sentence. In the past two years, the Foreign Office has lent £7,765 to at least eight forced marriage victims who could not pay for their repatriation. Around £3,000 has been repaid, although debts of more than £4,500 are outstanding. A 10 percent surcharge is added if an emergency loan is not repaid within six months. “Given these are from public funds, we have an obligation to recover the money,” a Foreign Office spokesman said. “The FMU provides funding for safe houses and nongovernmental organizations to ensure victims of forced marriage can get a place of safety as soon as possible. “We do not charge British nationals for this service and work with organizations to support them on their return.” However, news of the compulsory charges has prompted criticism in Britain. Tom Tugendhat, the Conservative chairman of a parliamentary committee that monitors the work of the Foreign Office, called it “astonishing,” and vowed to scrutinize the policy.

human rights
women 's rights
britain
somalia
forced marriages


Death toll hits new peak in Indian Kashmir as both sides dig in for fierce 2019

Abstract: JAMMU AND KASHMIR, INDIA - The most deadly year in a decade has left Indian-controlled Kashmir facing a grim future with militant groups and the New Delhi government digging in for an even fiercer battle in 2019, experts say. Indian forces say they killed two infiltrators coming from Pakistan on New Year’s Eve and authorities still virulently blame the neighboring state for the three-decade-old conflict, which has claimed tens of thousands of victims. But Kashmir politicians and independent Indian experts say the presence of 500,000 troops in the former Himalayan kingdom and an election in India in 2019 leaves little hope for an end to the bloodshed. The Jammu-Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), a rights group, listed 586 dead in its annual 2018 toll: 267 militants, 160 civilians — including 31 children — and the rest, state police and Indian armed forces. Its list does not include the dozens killed in firing across the unofficial border between the Indian and Pakistani sectors of Kashmir. Both sides claim the region. The numbers of dead militants and security forces are both the highest for a decade, as are the nearly 800 recorded clashes. The bleak statistics all highlight the effects of a more intense government campaign — “Operation All-Out” — to flush out armed groups who want an independent Kashmir or merger with Pakistan. Even the 20 recorded cases of suicide among Indian forces in Kashmir is a record, according to the JKCCS. The 12.5 million population in India’s only Muslim-majority state has given strong support to the militants’ political agenda. But the nationalist government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a hard line on Kashmir and Pakistan. With his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seeking a new term this year, there will be no let-up in the military showdown, experts said. “I don’t expect anything to change in the coming year or so. Life will continue to be uncertain,” political analyst Siddiq Wahid, of the University of Kashmir, told AFP. “An election year in India means there will be an uptick in hard-line Hindutva politics over Kashmir. The BJP will try to strongly align Kashmir with its muscular Hindu nationalism,” said Wahid. Security authorities acknowledge that the hardening positions mean more young Kashmir men are joining rebel ranks. A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that at least 128 Kashmiri youth had joined underground groups in 2018 — 70 percent more than the previous year. “There has been no effort to engage the opinion (of Kashmiris) in any kind of a political process,” said Manoj Joshi from the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think-tank. “So it is not surprising that the disaffected young are taking to militancy in larger numbers,” he told AFP. The atmosphere of fear and mistrust runs deep. “The separatists exploit every possible situation to agitate the people, to fan anti-India sentiments,” Indian Home Affairs Minister Rajnath Singh said last week. Authorities accuse militants of targeting the families of police and security forces who have detained the relatives of wanted militants. Kashmiri civilians in turn are showing a greater willingness to express public defiance. Many take to the streets hurling stones at the Indian army when they lay siege to militant hideouts. Thousands attended the funeral in December of 14-year-old Mudasir Ahmad Parrey, believed to be the youngest rebel killed in the battle that started in 1989.

conflict
india
kashmir
pakistan
muslims
narendra modi


Hong Kong democracy camp kicks off 2019 with protests, braces for confrontational year

Abstract: HONG KONG - Hong Kong’s embattled democracy advocates kicked off 2019 with a large street rally on Tuesday, lamenting what they said had been a grim year for freedoms and steeling themselves for fresh battles with Beijing. A thousands-strong crowd — including a small retinue of independence activists — protested over disappearing political freedoms, rising inequality and the local government’s perceived coziness with big business and Beijing. Semi-autonomous Hong Kong currently enjoys liberties unseen on the mainland including freedom of expression and the press under a deal struck with Britain before the 1997 handover. But concern is growing that those rights are being eroded by an increasingly assertive China ruled by President Xi Jinping. Last year city authorities made a series of unprecedented moves that caused alarm among activists and prompted rare criticism from Western governments. In September a tiny pro-independence political party was banned under an obscure national security law designed to target triad gangs. Soon after a Financial Times journalist who chaired a talk with that party’s leader at a press club found himself effectively expelled after officials refused to renew his visa. Authorities also continued to bar political candidates from standing for local elections if they held pro-independence views. “We have experienced a lot in 2018 — society, politics and people’s livelihood have all regressed. I can’t see hope in 2019,” protester Kwan Chun-pong, a 47-year-old production line manager, told AFP. The majority of Hong Kong’s democracy advocates want people to have a greater say in how their city is run, such as the ability to directly elect their leader. Mass pro-democracy demonstrations in 2014 blockaded parts of the city for 79 days but failed to win any meaningful concessions. Although most Hong Kongers do not advocate independence — a red line with Beijing — a small group of hard-line independence activists emerged from the failure of the 2014 protests, rattling local and mainland authorities. A few dozen independence activists — some of them masked — attended Tuesday’s rally, followed by police officers with video cameras. “We are still coming out today because we still love this place, we want it to change, we want the next generation to feel proud of Hong Kong’s identity,” activist Wayne Chan shouted through a loud-hailer. The Hong Kong government rejects the suggestion that rights are slipping and says campaigning for independence contravenes the city’s mini-constitution. The Civil Human Rights Front, which organized Tuesday’s march, does not support independence but argues the city’s free speech laws should allow others to campaign for it. Activists face new challenges in 2019 with the government hoping to table new national security legislation and laws that would ban disrespecting China’s national anthem. A number of 2014 protest leaders will also find out in April whether a court will jail them after they were prosecuted under a slew of little-used public order offenses.


Taiwan's Tsai rejects call by China's Xi for unification under 'one country, two systems' approach

Abstract: BEIJING - Taiwan’s leader has rejected the Chinese president’s call for unification under a “one country, two systems” approach. President Tsai Ing-wen said Tuesday that China must face the fact of the existence of the Republic of Taiwan. She made the statement to news media hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a policy speech on Taiwan that no one can stop the trend toward unification. In a speech commemorating the 40th anniversary of a message sent to Taiwan in 1979, in which Beijing called for unification and an end to military confrontation, Xi said, “China must and will be united … which is an inevitable requirement for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese people in the new era.” Xi described unification under a “one country, two systems” approach that would “safeguard the interests and well-being of Taiwanese compatriots.” “One country, two systems” refers to a framework similar to Hong Kong in which the territory became part of China but retained a degree of autonomy. Taiwan and China split in a civil war that brought the Communist Party to power in China in 1949. The rival Nationalists set up their own government on Taiwan, an island 160 kilometers (100 miles) off the Chinese mainland. Xi urged people on both sides to reach a consensus on the unification of Taiwan and China and not leave the issue for future generations. Xi said in a speech devoted to Taiwan on Wednesday that no one or no party can stop the trend toward unification, and that independence for the self-governing island is a dead end.


Indonesian landslide leaves at least 15 confirmed dead, with 25 still missing

Abstract: JAKARTA - Rescuers on Wednesday recovered six bodies buried under tons of mud from a landslide that crashed onto a hilly village on Indonesia’s main island of Java, bringing the death toll to 15. The landslide that plunged down surrounding hills just before sunset Monday buried 30 houses in Sirnaresmi village in West Java’s Sukabumi district. Sixty people who lost their homes were forced to move to a temporary shelter, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. Television video showed relatives wailing as they watched rescuers pull a mud-caked body from a devastated hamlet. It was placed in a blue bag and taken away for burial. Authorities struggled to bring tractors and other heavy equipment over washed-out roads after torrential rains sent mud and rocks crashing onto the hilly hamlets. Hundreds of police, soldiers and residents dug through the debris with their bare hands, shovels and hoes as heavy rain hindered their efforts. “Lack of equipment, bad weather and a blackout hampered our rescue efforts for those who are still missing and feared dead,” Nugroho said. Made Oka Astawa, head of the operations division at the National Search and Rescue Agency, said the six bodies were found under 4 meters (13 feet) of mud with the help of two excavators that managed to reach the devastated area. Astawa said rescuers also pulled out four injured people, including an infant who died in a hospital. Twenty villagers are still believed to be missing. He said the search effort was halted late Tuesday due to darkness and heavy rains that made the landslide areas unstable. The operation is to be resumed early Wednesday. Seasonal rains and high tides in recent days have caused dozens of landslides and widespread flooding across much of Indonesia, a chain of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains close to rivers. The landslide occurred during New Year’s Eve celebrations. On Dec. 22, the Anak Krakatau volcano in the Sunda Strait erupted and partially collapsed into the sea, causing a tsunami that killed at least 437 people on Java and Sumatra islands. At least 16 people are still missing and more than 33,700 residents were displaced.


Death toll from Philippine landslides, floods climbs to 85

Abstract: MANILA - The death toll from landslides and devastating floods in the central Philippines triggered by a tropical depression climbed to 85, officials said on Wednesday, and 20 people were missing as rescuers slowly reached cut-off communities. The casualties, including young children, were mostly killed when their homes collapsed in landslides after days of heavy rain in several provinces in the central Philippines, said Ricardo Jalad, executive director of the national disaster agency. “If we don’t recover the missing or we recover them dead, that is 105 deaths, which we hope not,” Jalad said. The tropical depression, which weakened into a low pressure system before leaving the Philippines on Sunday, brought heavy rain that triggered landslides and flooding in the Bicol and eastern Visayas regions. Officials put three provinces under a “state of calamity” to give them access to emergency funds. Bicol, with a population of 5.8 million, was the hardest hit, with 68 killed in intense rains and landslides. Damage to agriculture in Bicol, which produces rice and corn, was estimated at 342 million pesos ($6.5 million). Rescuers, including the police and military, used heavy-lifting equipment to clear roads leading to landslide sites and entered flooded communities using rubber boats. “The sun is already out, with occasional light rains. We hope floods will subside,” Ronna Monzon, a member of the operations personnel at the disaster agency in Bicol, told Reuters. About 20 tropical cyclones hit the Philippines every year, with destroyed crops and infrastructure taking a toll on human lives and weighing down one of the fastest growing economies in Asia.


Australia stands by canceling citizenship of IS recruiter despite Fiji challenge

Abstract: SYDNEY - Australia’s government is confident it has grounds to strip an alleged Islamic State recruiter of citizenship, a minister said on Wednesday, as questions arose over whether doing so could be illegal and leave the man stateless. The case highlights the problems many governments face as they consider what action to take against people who have traveled abroad, often to the Middle East, to join militant groups. Under Australian law, a person can only be stripped of their citizenship if they are dual citizens, thereby preventing people from being made stateless. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said Melbourne-born Neil Prakash, who is imprisoned in Turkey, was a dual citizen as he also has Fijian citizenship. Prakash ceased to be an Australian “by virtue of his actions in fighting for Islamic State from May 2016,” and he had been notified of the decision in December, Dutton said. “The advice to the government based on all the intricate detail and fact of this particular matter is that Mr. Prakash is, by operation of law, a citizen of Fiji,” Dutton told reporters in Brisbane. “The other point to make is that Mr. Prakash is sitting in a Turkish jail at the moment … Prakash is not coming anywhere near our part of the world any time soon.” Prakash has been in Turkey on trial for charges relating to being a member of the Islamic State militant group since being caught there in October 2016. Australia believes Prakash is a dual national because his father was Fijian. However, Fiji’s director of immigration, Nemani Vuniwaqa, said in a Facebook message that Prakash was not Fijian, which could complicate the Australian government’s bid to strip him of his citizenship. Prakash can challenge the Australian government’s decision, Dutton said, and he could be entitled to retain his citizenship if he does not hold dual-citizenship status. The government wrongly reported in 2016, based on U.S. intelligence, that Prakash had been killed in an airstrike in Mosul, Iraq. The government said he had appeared in Islamic State videos and magazines and had actively recruited Australian men, women and children, and encouraged acts of terrorism He is also wanted in Australia over terrorism-related activities including a suspected plot to behead a police officer, though an Australian push for his extradition was rejected by Turkey in July. A spokesman for the Fijian prime minister could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

citizenship
australia
turkey
fiji
islamic state
is terrorism
neil prakash


Two women enter Indian temple, defying centuries-old ban

Abstract: KOCHI, INDIA/NEW DELHI - Two women defied a centuries-old ban on entering a Hindu temple in India’s southern state of Kerala in the early hours of Wednesday, the state’s chief minister said, raising fears of a backlash from conservative Hindu groups. The women, reported by Reuters partner ANI to be in their 40s, entered the premises of the Sabarimala hill temple, defying local tradition that bars women of menstruating age — between the ages of 10 and 50. Conservative Hindu groups say they believe women of menstruating age would defile the temple’s inner shrine. Local news channels reported the chief priest closed the temple for “purification” rituals after the women visited. A video from a local police official posted online by ANI on Wednesday showed two women inside the temple with their heads covered. The state government defended its decision to protect the women as they went into the temple, saying it was a matter of civil rights. “I had earlier made it clear that the government will provide protection if any women come forward to enter the temple,” said Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala’s chief minister, according to local TV. In Kerala, the main political opposition warned of protests. “This is treachery…The government will have to pay the price for the violation of the custom,” K. Sudhakaran, vice president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, said in a statement. Congress is the main opposition party in the state, which is run by a coalition of left-wing parties. Vijayan said in a televised news conference that the two women, who had previously tried but failed to enter the temple because their way was blocked by devotees, faced no obstruction on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear how the women on this occasion managed to avoid devotees guarding the temple. Last year, violent protests broke out in the state after India’s top court in September ordered the authorities to lift the ban on women or girls of menstruating age from entering the temple, which draws millions of worshippers a year.

india religion women discrimination tradition


Emperor Akihito greets well-wishers in final New Year's address

Abstract: Emperor Akihito spoke of his hopes for world peace Wednesday in the final New Year’s address of his reign, with a record 154,800 well-wishers visiting the Imperial Palace during the course of the day. “I hope this year will be a good year for as many people as possible,” said the Emperor, who waved to the crowd with his wife, Empress Michiko, and other members of the Imperial family from behind bullet-proofed glass on a balcony of the palace. “At the beginning of the year, I pray for the peace and happiness of the people of our country and the world.” On April 30, the 85-year-old Emperor will become the first Japanese emperor to abdicate in about two centuries after indicating in 2016 a wish to retire, citing concerns that he might not be able to fulfill his official duties due to his advancing age. His eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito, will ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne on May 1. A total of five greeting sessions were initially planned for Wednesday: three in the morning and two in the afternoon. But due to the large number of visitors, the Imperial Household Agency added another greeting session in the afternoon. Last year, 126,720 well-wishers showed up for the annual event, in what was until now the largest number of people to visit the palace for his New Year’s address since the Emperor ascended the throne in 1989. With Emperor Akihito set to abdicate at the end of April, the official name of the next era and when it will be announced have been hot topics among the public. Natsuo Yamaguchi, who heads Komeito, the junior partner in the ruling coalition, said Wednesday that the gengō , or era name, will be unveiled on April 1. Yamaguchi also said in a stump speech in Tokyo that the new era name will become effective on May 1, when Crown Prince Naruhito will ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne. The comments came a day after a government source said the new gengō will be approved by members of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet on April 1. A gengō is used for the length of an emperor’s reign. It is the first time that a Japanese lawmaker or a government official has unveiled in public the schedule of the upcoming era name change. Abe is expected to explain arrangements for the name change during a news conference Friday. The current Heisei Era, which means “achieving peace,” commenced on Jan. 8, 1989, the day after the death of Emperor Hirohito, posthumously known as Emperor Showa, the Emperor’s father. The era name is of public interest partly because it is still widely used in official documents. Conservative members of the Liberal Democratic Party, which is headed by Abe, had been demanding that required procedures in connection with the name change take place after the ascension, in keeping with tradition. But the government insisted that it is impossible to complete all necessary procedures on the day of the ascension, as doing so could cause disruptions.


As wartime issues simmer, 2019 looks to be another testing year for Japan-South Korea relations

Abstract: Japan’s relations with South Korea are unlikely to see a significant improvement in 2019, as tensions over wartime issues have reared up in recent months and inflamed passions on both sides of the Sea of Japan. In a fresh sign of friction, the Japanese government accused a South Korean warship of locking its fire-control radar on a Japanese patrol plane on Dec. 20 and released video footage taken from the aircraft. Seoul has denied Japan’s claim. “Mistrust of South Korea has risen more than ever” within the Japanese government, a source at the Prime Minister’s Office said in the wake of the radar incident. Japan and South Korea have otherwise forged close economic ties and expanded person-to-person exchanges. In the first half of 2018, diplomatic ties showed improvement as the countries cooperated closely in efforts to denuclearize North Korea. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited South Korea to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in February, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in traveled to Tokyo in May for a trilateral summit that also involved Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. But in late October, the situation took a turn for the worse when the South Korean Supreme Court ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. to pay compensation to four South Koreans who were forced into labor during Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, which lasted from 1910 to 1945. Another similar ruling the following month ordered Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. to compensate two groups of South Koreans for similar reasons. But Japan maintains that compensation for South Koreans conscripted as wartime laborers was settled under an agreement attached to a 1965 treaty that established diplomatic ties between the two countries. The accord stipulates that issues concerning property and claims between the two countries and their peoples have been settled “completely and finally.” In November, Seoul drew anger from Tokyo by disbanding a Japan-funded foundation established under a 2015 bilateral accord to settle the issue of “comfort women,” who worked in wartime brothels, including those who did so against their will, to provide sex to Japanese soldiers — an emotional, long-time sticking point between the two countries. Susumu Kohari, a professor well-versed in Korean affairs at the University of Shizuoka, said anti-Japan sentiment could gain steam in 2019, as the year marks the 100th anniversary of the March First Independence Movement — major resistance demonstrations held in 1919 to protest Japanese colonial rule. The South Korean government has launched an organizing committee for a series of ceremonies for the anniversary, with Moon expressing hope that joint events will be held with North Korea. But when it comes to the court rulings, the South Korean government has remained vague on its stance and it seems Seoul is not planning to come to a conclusion too hastily. Moon explained in mid-December to a group of Japanese lawmakers visiting Seoul that his government “will take sufficient time to explore a solution.” The South Korean government is apparently considering setting up a foundation involving itself and companies from both countries and using money from that institution to compensate the plaintiffs, a plan Japan is unlikely to accept. Yuki Asaba, a professor of comparative politics at the University of Niigata Prefecture, said the South Korean government should have prepared its response to the rulings well in advance, as results of this kind were easily predictable. The Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that the right of former workers and their families to seek compensation was not invalidated by the 1965 pact and ordered a retrial. “South Korea has put its relations with Japan on the back burner, as it has been obsessed with improving ties between the United States and North Korea,” said Asaba, who is also an expert in Korean affairs. Kohari thinks Japan’s priority in South Korea’s diplomatic pecking order has fallen, noting the governments of both countries “lack a vision” of how to develop bilateral ties. As Moon’s five-year tenure will hit the halfway point at the end of 2019, the president may take a tougher stance toward Japan in an attempt to woo the public and avoid being regarded as a lame duck, Kohari said. South Korean presidents, who are banned from seeking re-election, tend to become progressively impotent as the second half of their term progresses. Japan hopes to find a mutually acceptable solution to the wartime labor rulings. “We have to avoid having a directly hostile relationship with South Korea,” a Foreign Ministry source said, citing the need for trilateral cooperation with the United States as the issue of North Korea continues to loom. Japan also needs Seoul’s cooperation to solve the issue of the abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s — one of Abe’s main political goals. Still, tensions run deep and Tokyo has indicated it will not rule out the possibility of seeking the establishment of an arbitration panel to address the wartime labor issues, which either side can do as stated in the 1965 accord, or taking them to the International Court of Justice. Asaba believes South Korea could welcome such proposals as it has become difficult to find mutually acceptable solutions under the current circumstances.

south korea
south korea-japan relations
moon jae-in


In New Year's statement, Abe vows to step up peace treaty talks with Russia in 2019

Abstract: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday pledged to step up talks with Russia to conclude a postwar peace treaty, among other major diplomatic challenges this year. “As we are at a major turning point, we will aggressively pursue the resolution of Japan’s postwar diplomatic concerns,” Abe said in a New Year’s statement, referring to peace treaty talks with Russia, improving ties with China and an expected second meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “Japan will draw the global spotlight as we will welcome top world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, as host of the Group of 20 summit” in Osaka in June. Tokyo and Moscow have yet to sign a peace treaty to formally end wartime hostilities due to a dispute over four islands off Hokkaido that are controlled by Russia and claimed by Japan. The islands were seized by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II. Abe and Putin agreed in November to accelerate talks based on a 1956 joint statement, in which Moscow agreed to hand over the two smaller islands to Tokyo after a peace pact is concluded. Abe will visit Russia around Jan. 21 for a summit with Putin, according to government sources. On the domestic front, the prime minister said Japan will see a historic turning point when it begins a new era, as Crown Prince Naruhito will ascend the throne on May 1, following the retirement of his father, Emperor Akihito — the first abdication in Japan in about 200 years. “I am determined to take a leading role to make (2019) a year to ‘open Japan’s tomorrow’ … beyond the current Heisei” era that started upon the current emperor’s reign in 1989, he said. Abe promised to tackle the country’s low birthrate and aging population, with a free public preschool education program set to begin in October for all children aged between 3 and 5. “We will aggressively invest in children and transform our country’s social security system for all generations ranging from children and people of working age to the elderly,” Abe said. He did not mention his long-cherished political goal of revising Japan’s pacifist Constitution in the New Year’s statement.

shinzo abe
vladimir putin
disputed islands
northern territories


South Korea demands apology from Japan for flight over navy warship

Abstract: SEOUL - The South Korean Defense Ministry on Wednesday demanded that Japan apologize for a “menacing” low-altitude flight by a Japanese patrol plane during a rescue operation by a South Korean Navy ship last month. It is the latest twist in an ongoing saga between the two countries that erupted over what Japan alleges was a radar “lock-on” incident. The ministry in a statement also called on Japan to “cease actions that distort facts” while saying that the defense authorities of both sides should continue holding working-level consultations. Japan alleges that a South Korean destroyer intentionally directed its fire-control radar at the P-1 patrol plane in the Sea of Japan on Dec. 20. South Korea has steadfastly denied Japan’s claim, saying the destroyer was at the scene to rescue a North Korean fishing boat in distress. It said the destroyer used an optical camera but did not direct radar. On Friday, the Japanese Defense Ministry released video footage that it says proves that the Kwanggaeto Daewang locked its fire-control radar at least twice on the Maritime Self-Defense Force plane. The South Korean ministry later that day voiced regret over the move and reasserted its own claim that fire-control radar was not used.

defense
security
south korea
self defense forces


South Korean forced labor plaintiffs seek Nippon Steel asset seizure

Abstract: SEOUL - Lawyers representing South Korean plaintiffs in a wartime forced labor case said they have launched procedures to seize South Korean assets of Japanese steelmaking giant Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp., according to an official statement released Wednesday. The lawyers on Dec. 31 specifically requested the Daegu District Court to seize the company’s shares in Posco-Nippon Steel RHF Joint Venture (PNR), its strategic partnership with South Korean steelmaker Posco, according to the statement. The Japanese steel firm owns a 30 percent stake in PNR worth about ¥1.1 trillion. The court in the country’s southeast has jurisdiction over the joint venture. The lawyers notably did not apply for an order forcing the sale of the assets, which is often done at the same time when applying for asset seizure, indicating their desire to reach a resolution. The move follows a ruling by South Korea’s Supreme Court in October ordering the company to pay 400 million won to four South Koreans for their forced labor during the era of Japanese colonial rule between 1910 and 1945. After plaintiffs make such an application to a court, it will normally take about two weeks for the court to notify those whose assets are to be potentially seized, according to the lawyers. The lawyers previously set a Dec. 24 deadline for the Japanese firm to respond to their request to begin compensation talks based on the ruling, but the firm did not do so. “We are deeply concerned at Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp.’s insincere and inhumane stance for not doing anything regarding implementation of the ruling, when the plaintiffs and their families have fought for their rights for over 70 years,” the statement said. Lawyers added that they still seek a smooth settlement with the Japanese firm and are waiting for a response from its side as soon as possible. After the plaintiffs announced the start of the asset seizure procedures, an official with Nippon Steel suggested that the company will not comment on the latest move. The steelmaker has consistently taken the position that it will leave the settlement of the issue to intergovernmental discussions between Japan and South Korea. The Japanese government maintains that the issue of compensation was settled “completely and finally” in an agreement attached to a 1965 treaty that normalized ties between Japan and South Korea. It has also signaled its readiness to take countermeasures against any enforcement of the ruling, which could further worsen bilateral ties. The Oct. 30 verdict against Nippon Steel was followed by more rulings by the South Korean top court ordering compensation payments by Japanese firms, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., over wartime labor. On Wednesday, a lawyer for the plaintiffs in a compensation suit against Mitsubishi Heavy indicated the possibility of setting the deadline for starting asset-seizure procedures on March 1, when South Korea marks the 100th anniversary of the 1919 independence movement against Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

wwii
history
south korea
nippon steel & sumitomo metal


Toyota and Panasonic plan to produce electric car batteries at joint venture in 2020

Abstract: Toyota Motor Corp. and Panasonic Corp. are set to launch a joint venture in 2020 to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles, expecting growing demand in a sector where Chinese and South Korean rivals are gaining ground, sources close to the matter said Sunday. Toyota plans to take a 51 percent stake in the new company and Panasonic the rest. They will announce the plan as early as this week, the sources said. The two companies will join forces to develop solid-state batteries, which require advanced technologies to improve the range of EVs while cutting recharging time, they said. Panasonic will shift its five plants for car batteries in Japan and China to the new company. The venture will supply batteries to Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu Motor Co., Mazda Motor Corp., which has teamed up with Toyota on EV technology, and Subaru Corp. It will also encourage Honda Motor Co. to adopt its batteries, according to the sources. Toyota and Panasonic announced their partnership on car batteries in 2017 and have jointly invested in a Japanese firm that produces batteries for hybrid vehicles. Toyota is aiming to sell 1 million electric and fuel cell vehicles in 2030.

toyota
panasonic
batteries
joint venture
electric car


Honda to release Kumamon-themed Super Cub motorbike this summer

Abstract: KUMAMOTO - Honda Motor Co. will release this summer a new version of its iconic Super Cub motorcycle featuring Kumamon, the popular black bear mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture. Honda designed the model at the request of the prefectural government, which wanted Kumamon to be incorporated in the automaker’s commemorations to mark production of its 100 millionth Super Cub in 2017. It is also hoped the project will bring encouragement to residents still suffering in the aftermath of the deadly earthquakes that hit Kumamoto in April 2016. Based on the Cross Cub, a more robust-looking, off-road variant of the Super Cub, the motorcycle’s body is painted black and red and has smiling Kumamon decals on each side. Kumamon expressed his pleasure with the new motorcycle. “It’s a very good bike and makes me feel like going to many places all over the world,” the mascot was quoted as saying by an “interpreter” at a ceremony earlier this month at the Kumamoto Prefectural Government building. “It will come in handy for young people to go to school, so I hope it will motivate them to enjoy riding bikes,” said a Honda official. The Kumamon Cub will come in 50 cc and 110 cc models, which are expected to cost around ¥300,000 and ¥350,000, respectively. The bikes will be produced at Honda’s Kumamoto factory in the town of Ozu. The basic functionality of the Super Cub has remained unchanged since its debut in 1958. The rider is able to use a foot to change gears to allow one hand to remain free, handy for people such as food delivery workers. The Kumamon model will go on sale only in Japan, but the prefecture said it may consider requesting that the automaker sell it abroad depending on overseas reaction, with an official saying, “Both Kumamon and the Super Cub are loved throughout the world.” Gaining a strong reputation for fuel efficiency and durability, Super Cubs have been produced and sold in many countries, especially in Southeast Asia and South America, according to Honda. This is the third time that Kumamoto Prefecture and Honda have collaborated to release Kumamon-themed motorbikes, following the Monkey model in 2014 and the Giorno model in 2016. Since his debut in 2011, Kumamon has become one of the most famous yuru-kyara (mascots) in Japan. The characters are created to promote various municipalities and areas.

kumamon
kumamoto
motorcycle
honda motor co .
super cub


U.S. moves to ban online gambling with reinterpretation of Wire Act

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. authorities have begun an effort to ban all forms of internet gambling, reversing course from a 2011 decision and imperiling a burgeoning online wagering sector in several American states. The Justice Department earlier this month released a legal opinion stating that any form of online betting, not just sports betting, would be a violation of the federal Wire Act. That could shut down online poker, casino and lottery offerings launched in a handful of states since a 2011 decision by the Obama administration to refrain from prosecuting any online betting that is not sports-related. “It could have a significant impact but it will depend on whether the DOJ strictly enforces its new interpretation,” said Jennifer Roberts, associate director of the International Center for Gaming Regulation at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Roberts said a very strict interpretation could shut down fantasy sports leagues that have grown in recent years and potentially any online wagering even if confined to a single state where betting is legal. “Even if the betting takes place in a jurisdiction where it’s legal, if the communication is routed into another state that could trigger the Wire Act,” Roberts said. The Wire Act is a 1961 law that bars the use of telecommunications for gambling as part of an effort to crack down on organized crime. Since the 2011 decision, various forms of online gambling have begun in Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with a handful of other states considering legalization. While there is no comprehensive breakdown of U.S. online gambling revenues, total wagers were up near 22 percent to $298 million last year in New Jersey, which has the largest internet segment. In the latest opinion, the DOJ stopped short of indicating how far it would go in enforcement. But in a Jan. 15 memo, deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein said prosecutions could begin after 90 days. “A 90-day window will give businesses that relied on the 2011 . . . opinion time to bring their operations into compliance with federal law,” Rosenstein said. “This is an internal exercise of prosecutorial discretion; it is not a safe harbor for violations of the Wire Act.” For many years, online gambling was opposed by the U.S. casino industry, but recently some traditional gaming operators have joined the move to internet wagering. Casino operators including Caesars Entertainment and Golden Nugget now take online bets where legally allowed, making it as easy to wager as tapping on a smartphone. The new Justice Department policy follows a lengthy lobbying campaign by the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling, a group backed by Las Vegas casino owner Sheldon Adelson, a prominent backer of President Donald Trump. The group applauded the new policy guidance, repeating its concerns that online wagering could get consumers, including minors, hooked on gambling. “Countries around the world offer a perilous preview of where our nation was headed absent today’s action from the federal government,” the coalition said in a statement. “In the U.K., which is the epicenter of the epidemic . . . over half of 16-year-olds have gambling apps on their smartphones. Further, the iGaming industry obtains more than half of its profit from problem gamblers.” Sen. Lindsey Graham, head of the Judiciary Committee, also welcomed the decision. “Restoring the original interpretation of the Wire Act takes great strides to protect children and society’s most vulnerable,” Graham said in a statement. But Michelle Minton, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said the move would just force gamblers to go to illegal sites with fewer scruples. “Prohibition has never worked,” Minton said. “It just turns law-abiding citizens into lawbreakers and reduces the level of trust in government.” Minton said the new legal opinion is likely to create further confusion, and may dissuade states from authorizing new internet gambling operations. It is likely to lead to a spate of legal challenges over online betting in various states, she added. “They may choose to not prosecute, knowing it will never hold up in a court of law, and as a result the uncertainty in the law would persist,” she said. “My bet is that there won’t be prosecutions.”


Japan to miss out on total lunar eclipse, but billions of others may get a chance if clear skies prevail

Abstract: NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES - Astronomy buffs across the United States have been promised all the makings of a spectacular total lunar eclipse on Sunday except one — clear skies. Star gazers from Los Angeles to New York will keep their eyes on the sky for the eclipse, known as a super blood wolf moon, expected to appear at 11:41 p.m. EST. Although it is a total eclipse, the moon will never go completely dark but rather take on a coppery red glow — called a blood moon. It is also a full moon that is especially close to Earth, called a supermoon. And since it appears in January, when wolves howled in hunger outside villages, it has earned the name wolf moon, according to The Farmers Almanac. But no matter how perfectly the stars align for this stellar event, the thrill or disappointment of the evening really depends on one thing: the weather. Where skies are clear Sunday night, the spectacular total lunar eclipse will be visible with the naked eye. Unlike a solar eclipse, which requires eye protection to safely enjoy the view, no extra measures need to be taken for hazard-free lunar eclipse watching. If cloud cover ruins visibility, there is always a view on the internet. “Anyone clouded out can go online and see the view from our sky cameras around the world,” said Andrew Fazekas, spokesman for the site AstronomersWithoutBorders.org . Next chance for Americans to see a total lunar eclipse is 2022. The blood moon’s red hue is the result of sunlight traveling through the Earth’s dusty, polluted atmosphere, Fazekas said. The shorter, more pliable blue wavelengths of light are scattered outside the Earth’s shadow and the longer, less bendable red wavelengths are refracted toward the moon. Best viewing of the one-hour total eclipse will be from North and South America, with as many as 2.8 billion people able to see it from the Western Hemisphere, Europe, West Africa and northernmost Russia.


French 'yellow vest' protests, in 10th week, relatively peaceful

Abstract: PARIS - Clashes broke out throughout France on Saturday as an estimated 84,000 “yellow vest” demonstrators took to the streets in a 10th consecutive weekend of protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s government. The demonstrations passed off relatively peacefully in Paris where 7,000 turned up, although Reuters Television reporters saw scuffles briefly break out between police and demonstrators, some wearing masks, in the capital’s Invalides district. Protesters threw firecrackers, bottles and stones at police who responded with water canon and tear gas to push them back. “Macron, resign!” some of the protesters shouted. The protests — named after the fluorescent jackets French motorists are required to carry in their cars — began in November over plans to raise fuel taxes. The number of demonstrators on Saturday was roughly the same as the previous week. The fuel tax hikes were subsequently scrapped, yet the movement has morphed into a broader protest against Macron’s government and general anger over taxes and the cost of living. “How can we continue to live with so little?” said Bernard Grignan, a 65-year old retired manager who took part in the Paris demonstrations. In Paris, some demonstrators carried mock coffins symbolizing the 10 people who have died during the protests, mainly due to accidents when demonstrators blocked roads. December’s demonstrations saw some of the worst violence in decades in Paris, as rioters burned cars and vandalized shops. Protests in Paris this month have not seen the same level of trouble, although video of a former French boxing champion punching and kicking police in Paris shocked many. Despite a relative decline in crowd trouble in Paris, however, disturbances have flared up in other cities. According to official figures, the biggest demonstration on Saturday occurred in the southern city of Toulouse, where around 10,000 people took part. The demonstration turned violent as evening fell, as protesters vandalized a bank and other shops. Eight people were injured and there were 23 arrests. Reuters correspondents also reported disturbances in Bordeaux, Lyon and Marseille, while the local government building was attacked in Angers, northwest of Paris. Macron has launched a series of national debates to help quell public discontent and restore his standing. French far-right leader Marine Le Pen — soundly beaten by Macron in the 2017 presidential election — is looking to take advantage of the “yellow vests” crisis and win ground in the May 2019 European parliament elections. On Saturday, Le Pen reiterated her support for the protesters at a meeting near Marseille, at which she described the movement as a “legitimate” and “courageous” revolt. The Angers’ member of parliament, Matthieu Orphelin, a member of Macron’s LREM centrist party, said he would cancel talks with members of the “yellow vests” in light of the trouble in Angers. “It fills me with fury to see our beautiful town attacked in this way, in particular the damage caused to symbols of the Republic,” Orphelin said in a statement.

france
taxes
protests
paris
yellow vests


A scaled-down but still angry Women's March returns

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Amid internal controversies and a capital city deeply distracted by the partial government shutdown, the third Women’s March returned to Washington on Saturday with an enduring message of anger and defiance aimed directly at President Donald Trump’s White House. The original march in 2017, the day after Trump’s inauguration, flooded the city with pink-hatted protesters. The exact size of the turnout remains subject to a politically charged debate, but it is generally regarded as the largest Washington protest since the Vietnam War era. This year was a more modest affair for multiple reasons. An estimated 100,000 protesters packed several blocks around Freedom Plaza, just east of the White House, holding a daylong rally. The march itself took about an hour and only moved about four blocks west along Pennsylvania Avenue past the Trump International Hotel before looping back to Freedom Plaza. Organizers submitted a permit application estimating up to 500,000 participants even though it was widely expected that the turnout would be smaller. The original plan was to gather on the National Mall. But with the forecast calling for snow and freezing rain and the National Park Service no longer plowing snow because of the shutdown, organizers on Thursday changed the march’s location and route. As it turned out the weather was chilly but otherwise pleasant, and the mood among the marchers a now-familiar mix of sister-power camaraderie and defiant anger toward Trump and the larger power structure. As always, the Trump administration was the direct target of most of the abuse — with fresh bitterness stemming from more recent events like Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s successful confirmation last fall despite a direct accusation of sexual misconduct when he was in high school. One sign declared, “Strong women only fear weak men.” Another stated, “MOOD: Still pretty mad about Kavanaugh.” Parallel marches took place in dozens of cities around the country. In Los Angeles, a few hundred demonstrators gathered in Pershing Square downtown and marched to Grand Park as the crowd swelled to thousands. “Democracy is not a spectator sport and I came out to continue to stand for that proposition, said Ellen Klugman of Marina Del Rey. “If I don’t go, who will?” In San Francisco, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in the march, and video on Twitter showed people clapping and cheering as she passed. In Denver, protester Jacquelynn Sigl said it is a mistake to focus solely on Trump. “It’s not OK, the rhetoric the president has today, but it’s also important to know this isn’t an anti-Trump rally,” she said. “This isn’t about him. It’s about the thought that’s running across the country right now.” Preparations for this year’s march were roiled by an intense ideological debate among the movement’s senior leadership. In November, Teresa Shook, one of the movement’s founders, accused the four main leaders of the national march organization of anti-Semitism. The accusation was leveled at two primary leaders: Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-American who has frequently criticized Israeli policies, and Tamika Mallory, who has maintained a public association with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Shook, a retired lawyer from Hawaii, has been credited with sparking the movement by creating a Facebook event that went viral and snowballed into the massive protest on Jan. 21, 2017. In a recent Facebook post, she claimed Sarsour and Mallory, along with fellow organizers Bob Bland and Carmen Perez, had “steered the Movement away from its true course” and called for all four to step down. The four march organizers have denied the charge, but Sarsour has publicly expressed regret that they were not “faster and clearer in helping people understand our values.” Despite pleas for unity, the internal tensions were most keenly felt in New York. An alternate women’s march organization held a parallel rally a few miles away from the official New York Women’s March protest, and one activist actually disrupted the main protest. As New York march director Agunda Okeyo was making her opening remarks, an activist named Laura Loomer came on stage and shouted that the march “does not represent Jewish people” and called it “the real Nazi march.” Loomer is a longtime political provocateur whose previous protests have included handcuffing herself to a Twitter office after the service banned her and jumping a fence at a home owned by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. As Loomer was ushered from the stage, Okeyo challenged her. “This is not a negative day,” Okeyo said. “You’re not coming with that. We’re not doing that today. What we’re doing today is we’re going to uplift each other and we’re going to make sure we stay positive.”

washington rights women protests discrimination


Democratic switch in Venezuela constitutionally viable under revived assembly, analysts say

Abstract: WASHINGTON - After an election victory slammed as fraudulent by the opposition and the international community, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has begun a new term that will see him in office until 2025, his grip on power seemingly firmer than ever. So why are analysts talking up hope for political change? Step in Juan Guaido, a 35-year-old industrial engineer who took charge of the opposition-dominated National Assembly on Jan. 5, breathing new life into the body that had been rendered virtually impotent by Maduro’s constitutional maneuvers. “It’s almost like a rebirth. The opposition has emerged more unified than ever before,” says Geoff Ramsey, vice president for Venezuela at WOLA, a research center on Latin America based in Washington. “For the first time in many months . . . Maduro is on the defensive,” wrote Andres Oppenheimer, a noted journalist on Latin American affairs. Weeks into his new job, Guaido has managed to get the assembly’s opposition majority to officially declare Maduro a usurper and denounce his re-election as a fraud, while promising an “amnesty” for all military and government officials that disavow the president. That achievement eluded his predecessors, who have been exiled, imprisoned or disqualified. Guaido upped the ante in a Washington Post column Tuesday, invoking articles of Venezuela’s Constitution that call on its people to reject regimes that violate democratic values, adding: “I am fully able and willing to assume the office of the presidency on an interim basis to call for free and fair elections.” Michael Shifter, director of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank, agreed that Guaido wresting power from Maduro would be in accordance with the law. “What is happening in Venezuela is not a coup d’etat,” he said. “The National Assembly and its current leader Guaido are totally legitimate, and have the law and Constitution on their side.” But, he added, the limits of the opposition’s newfound strength are soon to be tested. Facing a regime-loyalist-dominated Supreme Court that annuls all its decisions, the opposition has three main pathways, argues veteran diplomat Michael Matera, director of the U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The support of the military, the Venezuelan people and the international community will be essential to allow Guaido to assume (office) officially as president and to step into a role that now Maduro is trying illegitimately to hold to,” he said. To that end, the National Assembly this past week boldly extended a hand to the military: It promised to grant amnesty to all those who support a return to constitutional order. Guaido will also require the support of moderate followers of Maduro’s predecessor Hugo Chavez to break for him, added Ramsey. International pressure on Caracas has been growing since Maduro’s re-election last May, but it surged with the arrival in power of the far right in Brazil: New President Jair Bolsonaro agrees with U.S. counterpart Donald Trump that Maduro is a “dictator.” Bolsonaro, whom Maduro called a modern-day Hitler, Thursday met at Planalto Palace with Miguel Angel Martin, president of the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela in exile, appointed by the opposition majority Assembly. A top adviser of Organization of American States chief Luis Almagro also was present. Meanwhile, Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo met with Venezuelan opposition members and representatives of the United States and the Lima Group, a bloc of countries critical of Maduro. After the meeting, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Brazil’s willingness to support a Guaido “interim presidency.” Though Maduro has a few allies in Latin America and around the world, most of the international community would welcome a democratic transition in Venezuela, according to Shifter. “This process needs to be managed skillfully and be very clear-eyed about the obstacles that stand in the way,” he said.

venezuela
protests
nicolas maduro
national assembly


Court declares Felix Tshisekedi winner of Congo election

Abstract: KINSHASA - Congo’s top court on Sunday declared opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi the winner of disputed presidential elections after throwing out a legal challenge by the runner-up. Announcing the final results of the long awaited poll, the Consitutional Court said Tshisekedi had won by a simple majority, paving the way for him to take over from longterm leader Joseph Kabila in an official ceremony on Tuesday. Runner-up Martin Fayulu immediately called on the international community to reject the results, after the court said his appeal was “unfounded.” “I ask the entire international community not to recognise a power that has neither legitimacy nor legal standing to represent the Congolese people,” he said of Tshisekedi, declaring himself “the only legitimate president.” Tshisekedi’s victory was first announced earlier this month based on provisional results by the Independent National Election Commission (CENI) but it was challenged both at home and abroad, with the African Union appealing for the final results to be delayed. On Sunday, the Consitutional Court said Fayulu had failed to prove any inaccuracies. “Only the CENI has produced authentic and sincere results,” Judge Noel Kilomba said. Hundreds of supporters of Tshisekedi had gathered outside the court holding placards saying “No to interference” and “Independent country” as riot police stood nearby. The election commission announced on January 10 that Tshisekedi had provisionally won with 38.57 percent of the vote against Fayulu’s 34.8 percent. Fayulu denounced the figures as an “electoral coup” forged by Tshisekedi and Kabila, and filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court. At a summit on Thursday, AU leaders said there were “serious doubts” about the vote’s provisional results and called for the announcement of the final results to be suspended. But DR Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende had snubbed the demand, saying: “I don’t think it is the business of the government or even of the African Union to tell the court what it should do.” The AU also announced that its commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, currently the AU chairman, were expected to fly to DR Congo on Monday. The European Union said it joined the AU in inviting “all the Congolese players to work constructively with this (AU) delegation to find a post-electoral solution which respects the Congolese people’s vote.” The Financial Times and other foreign media have reported seeing documents that confirm Fayulu as the winner. “If the court declares Tshisekedi victor, the risk of isolation would be enormous and untenable for a country positioned right in the middle of the continent,” Adeline Van Houtte of the Economist Intelligence Unit wrote on Twitter. Fayulu’s camp had hailed the AU appeal for the final result to be put on hold, but Tshisekedi’s entourage branded it “scandalous.” The dispute has raised fears that the political crisis that began when Kabila refused to step down at the end of his constitutional term in office two years ago, could turn into a bloodbath. The vast and chronically unstable country lived through two regional wars in 1996-97 and 1998-2003, and the previous two elections, in 2006 and 2011, were marred by bloody clashes. The AU has taken the firmest line of all major international bodies with regard to the post-election crisis. The Southern African Development Community (SADC), a bloc that includes Angola and South Africa, initially called for a recount and a unity government. But in a later communique, it made no mention of those demands, instead calling on Congolese politicians to “address any electoral grievances in line with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Constitution and relevant electoral laws.”

elections
congo
felix tshisekedi
martin fayulu


Downing Street says MP moves on Brexit 'extremely concerning'

Abstract: LONDON - British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Downing Street office said Sunday that reported plots for Parliament to seize control from the government over Brexit were “extremely concerning.” Downing Street blasted reported moves by lawmakers seeking to rewrite the rules of the House of Commons in an attempt to take control of the business of the lower chamber in order to frustrate May’s plans for the U.K.’s so-called British exit. Groups of MPs are planning to table such amendments this week, newspapers reported Sunday. “The British public voted to leave the European Union and it is vital that elected politicians deliver upon that verdict,” a Downing Street spokeswoman said. “Any attempt to remove the government’s power to meet the legal conditions of an orderly exit at this moment of historic significance is extremely concerning. “This news should serve as a reminder to those MPs who want to deliver Brexit that they need to vote for it — otherwise there is a danger that Parliament could stop Brexit.” May is due to spell out to lawmakers on Monday what her plans are now for Brexit following the MPs’ overwhelming rejection of the divorce deal agreed to by London and Brussels. Lawmakers are set to submit a series of various Brexit amendments this week to test their support in the Commons. May was due to hold a conference call with senior ministers to update them on her talks with other political parties in the wake of last week’s landslide vote. International Trade Secretary Liam Fox warned of a “political tsunami” if MPs fail to deliver on the 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU. He also slammed people calling for May to rule out a no-deal Brexit — a key demand of the Labour main opposition — saying the “most stupid thing possible” in a negotiation is to “give away your strongest card.” “Failure to deliver Brexit would produce a yawning gap between Parliament and the people, a schism in our political system with unknowable consequences,” Fox, a senior pro-Brexit Cabinet minister, wrote in The Sunday Telegraph newspaper. “It is time for MPs to deliver on the promises they made. It is a matter of honor and a matter of duty.” A Sunday newspaper reported that May plans to seek a bilateral treaty with the Irish government as a way to remove the contentious backstop arrangement from the U.K.’s divorce deal with the European Union. The Sunday Times said aides to May thought a deal with Ireland would remove the opposition to her Brexit plan from the Democratic Unionist Party, which supports May’s minority government, and from pro-Brexit rebels in her Conservative Party. May suffered a heavy defeat in Parliament on Tuesday when Conservative lawmakers and members of other parties rejected her Brexit plan by an overwhelming majority. That left the U.K. facing the prospect of no deal to smooth its exit from the EU in little more than two months’ time. May is due to announce on Monday how she plans to proceed. Many Conservatives and the DUP oppose the backstop that the European Union insists on as a guarantee to avoid creating a hard border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland. Earlier on Saturday, Ireland’s foreign minister Simon Coveney said Dublin’s commitment to the Brexit divorce deal was “absolute,” including the border backstop arrangement.