Month: September 2019

France will host a conference with Sudan’s international creditors to help Khartoum address debt issues as soon as the United States removes the country from its state-sponsored terrorism list, French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday. In efforts to stabilize the country and to repair an economy battered by years of U.S. sanctions and government mismanagement during Omar al-Bashir’s 30-year rule, Sudanese transition government led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok is holding talks with Washington to see Sudan withdrawn from the list. “As soon as the Americans make their decision, we will be able to restructure the debt together,” Macron said at a joint press conference with Hamdok in Paris. “I have decided that France will host an international conference with private and public international creditors,” he added. Macron provided no timeframe. “The precise timing of the conference will depend on the timing upon which sanctions are to be lifted,” Macron said. On the sidelines of a United Nations General Assembly last week, Hamdok expressed hope Sudan would reach an agreement with the United States “very soon.” Sudan has been unable to tap the International Monetary Fund and World Bank for support because the United States still lists the country as a state sponsor of terrorism. A senior U.S. official said in August that Washington would test the commitment of Sudan’s new transitional government to human rights, freedom of speech and humanitarian access before it agrees to remove the country from a list of state sponsors of terrorism. Macron said France …

Colombia on Monday publicly defended a dossier it says proves Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro supports guerrilla groups and drug traffickers, but removed the armed forces’ head of intelligence after widespread criticism of the report.Colombia has long accused Maduro of sheltering rebel fighters and crime gang members. The allegations reached a fever pitch last month when several former commanders from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) said they were re-arming in a video Colombian officials say was filmed in Venezuela. President Ivan Duque announced in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly last week that he would give the organization a dossier of “conclusive proof,” including photographs, of Maduro’s support for terrorist groups. The dossier included years-old, uncredited photos from news agencies taken in Colombia — not in Venezuela — which led Maduro to dismiss the dossier’s contents and sparked widespread criticism of Duque from media outlets and nongovernmental organizations. The armed forces’ head of intelligence, General Oswaldo Pena, was removed from his post because of the photographs, high-level government and military sources told Reuters. A statement from the defense ministry made no mention of Pena being fired, but said in a statement that he had presented his resignation because of “the necessity of responding for my actions.” Colombian officials defended the report’s conclusions earlier on Monday. “It’s just an issue of design and of giving credit at the foot of the photos,” Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo told journalists. “In consequence, we are going to update using the …

Four years after battling life-threatening cancer in his liver and brain, and four months after falling and breaking his hip, requiring surgery and weeks of intense physical therapy, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter took the stage September 18, unassisted, here for the Annual Jimmy Carter Emory University Town Hall, which he’s participated in, uninterrupted, for 38 years. Standing without assistance for more than 30 minutes, addressing topics ranging from current polarized U.S. politics to his favorite animal, Carter, a distinguished professor at Emory, showed no signs of fatigue or pain as he enthusiastically answered question after question from those who gathered in the cavernous campus gymnasium by the thousands to hear him speak. “Before this I really didn’t know much about President Carter,”  freshman Stephanie Teng said. “I feel so fortunate to be here.  I know that many students won’t have this opportunity in their lifetime, and this is a uniquely Emory thing, and something I’ll remember the rest of my life.” “I think it’s a problem when we overly lionize political figures, but I do have a great deal of respect for Jimmy Carter,” another freshman, Gian-Luigi Zaninelli, said.  “I’ve heard a great many conservatives being credibly critical of Jimmy Carter and basically view him as an ineffectual president,”  he said. However, Zaninelli said that comes from Carter’s presidential term, from 1977 to 1981. “Because of the good works he’s been doing over the course of the last 30 or more years, we have a high opinion of him …

Liv first met Bill in 2016 when she was a college student and $5,000 in debt from student loans. Making rent was next to impossible, she said, but Bill helped her manage her expenses and finances better. They saw each other a few times a week, and soon Bill was paying Liv’s tuition and rent. He sent her on exotic trips to Europe and Thailand. They moved in together. “He taught me how to do my taxes. He taught me how to get my own car insurance. He helped me pay back student loans,” Liv said. “He just taught me so much and he didn’t have to do any of it. “I actually grew real feelings for him.” “Actually” because Liv was 24 and Bill was 70 when they connected on SeekingArrangement, an online sugar-dating site that promotes itself as offering “upfront and honest arrangements with someone who will cater to your needs.”  Typically, the arrangements are between young women (sugar babies) and older men (sugar daddies) with money. Sugar babies seek financial assistance in return for company. Most of the sources VOA Student Union interviewed said financial arrangements often, but not always, include sex in return. “Join the more than 2.7 million students in the United States who have turned to SeekingArrangement and Sugar Daddies to avoid student debt and secure a better future,” according to their website. VOA Student Union made several attempts for comment from SeekingArrangement.  Liv said she was seeking financial support for student debt and …

A regional Chinese diplomat has rebuked the United States for being “ignorant” about his country’s ongoing key economic contributions and cooperation with Afghanistan. Arrangements are being worked out to enhance the cooperation with Kabul even under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Yao Jing, the Chinese ambassador to neighboring Pakistan told VOA. He hailed Saturday’s successful Afghan presidential election, saying China hopes they will boost peace-building efforts in a country wrecked by years of conflicts. “We hope that with the election in Afghanistan, with the peace development moving forward in Afghanistan, Afghans will finally achieve a peaceful period, achieve the stability,” said the Chinese diplomat, who served in Kabul prior to his posting in Islamabad. China and US Clash Over ‘Belt and Road’ in Afghan Resolution China insisting on including a reference to Beijing’s $1 trillion global building program in resolution on the UN political mission in Afghanistan Earlier this month, U.S. officials and lawmakers during a congressional hearing in Washington sharply criticized China for its lack of economic assistance to Afghan rebuilding efforts. “I think it’s fair to say that China has not contributed to the economic development of Afghanistan. We have not seen any substantial assistance from China,” Alice Wells, U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, told lawmakers. Wells, however, acknowledged that Beijing has worked with Washington on a way forward on peace as have other countries, including Russia and immediate neighbors of Afghanistan. “She is a little ignorant about what China’s cooperation with Afghanistan …

Clashes between two Turkish-backed rebel groups in the northwestern Syrian town of Afrin have left at least two fighters dead and about a dozen wounded, according to reports Sunday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor group that has researchers across Syria, reported that fierce fighting between the al-Majd Legion and al-Sham Legion in Afrin erupted Saturday night following a disagreement over property. “Our sources have confirmed that the infighting erupted after a dispute over the ownership of a house just outside of Afrin,” Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory, told VOA. Local news said the disputed house belonged to a Kurdish civilian that armed groups reportedly had seized months ago. Frequent clashes Armed confrontations among Syrian rebel factions have reportedly increased since Turkish military and allied Syrian rebels took control of Afrin after a two-month-long military campaign that ousted the Kurdish People Protection Units (YPG) from the region in March 2018, rights groups said. “This is not the first time that such clashes take place over property and revenue-sharing among rebel groups,” the Syrian Observatory added. Infighting among rebel groups has become a common issue in the region.  “There is almost one occurrence like this one on a daily basis,” said Mohammed Billo, a journalist from Afrin. “Usually when fighting gets out of control, Turkish military interferes to stop it,” he told VOA. Some rights groups have also voiced concerns about growing violations against civilians in recent months in Afrin. FILE – Kurdish fighters from the …

About 350,000 treasure hunters from all over the world, have been scouting out a large area in the Rocky Mountains stretching from Northern New Mexico to Montana, looking for a hidden treasure. As the story goes, all one needs to do to find the loot, is to decipher the nine clues in a poem written by wealthy art collector and entrepreneur Forrest Fenn, who says he collected and hid the treasure years ago. Its lore became wildly popular after he had written a book called “The Thrill of the Chase,” talking about his life and the treasure.  While many believe the treasure is real, others think it’s a hoax. VOA’s Penelope Poulou visited the area and spoke with Fenn about the meaning of it all …

Pope Francis on Sunday decried “the culture of comfort” that leads to indifference in the face of a global migration and refugee crisis. The pope who has made caring for migrants a hallmark of his papacy spoke during a Mass for the World Day for Migrants and Refugees. “We cannot be indifferent to the tragedy of old and new forms of poverty, to the bleak isolation, contempt and discrimination experienced by those who do not belong to ‘our group,’” Francis said. “We cannot remain insensitive, our hearts deadened, before the misery of so many innocent people. We must not fail to weep. We must not fail to respond.” The pontiff has often spoken of the need to be welcoming to migrants, traveling to the Italian island of Lampedusa in 2013 on his first trip as pope to comfort refugees. His message found political resistance in Italy’s previous populist government, during which the former hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, campaigned to prevent the arrival in Italy of migrants rescued at sea by humanitarian groups. During his homily Sunday, the pope also noted the weapons that fuel wars are often produced and sold in other regions “which are then unwilling to take in the refugees generated buy these conflicts.” Many migrants and refugees from conflicts throughout the world attended the Mass in St. Peter’s Square, which closed with the unveiling of a bronze statue by Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz depicting migrants packed on a boat. “This statue depicts a group of migrants …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz traded blame Sunday over the failure so far of efforts to reach a unity government deal following deadlocked elections.   A new round of negotiations between Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud and Gantz’s centrist Blue and White broke down Sunday and the two sides appeared far from reaching a compromise.   Likud said Netanyahu would make a “last effort” to reach a deal before informing President Reuven Rivlin he is unable to form a government.   That would leave Rivlin to decide whether to ask Gantz to try to do so or call on parliament to agree on a candidate for prime minister by a vote of at least 61 out of 120 members.   Netanyahu “will make a last effort to realize the possibility of forming a government at this stage, before returning the mandate to the president,” Likud said in a statement.   It called the latest round of negotiations a “big disappointment.”   Blue and White accused Likud of “throwing around slogans with the sole aim of generating support in preparation for dragging Israel into another round of elections at the behest of Netanyahu.”   This month’s poll was the second this year, after Netanyahu failed to form a coalition following April polls.   Israel marks the two-day Rosh Hashanah holiday beginning Sunday night and serious negotiations are not expected during that time.   Likud wants to negotiate on the basis of a compromise set out by Rivlin to …

China says its top trade negotiator will lead an upcoming 13th round of talks aimed at resolving a trade war with the United States. Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen said Sunday that Vice Premier Liu He would travel to Washington for the talks sometime after China’s National Day holiday, which ends Oct. 7.   Wang repeated the Chinese position that the two sides should find a solution on the basis of mutual respect and benefit.   The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on Chinese imports in a bid to win concessions from China, which has responded with tit-for-tat tariffs. The escalating dispute between the world’s two largest economies has depressed stock prices and poses a threat to the global economy. …

A U.N. Human Rights Expert warns a host of natural and man-made disasters is impeding Somalia’s efforts to stabilize the country and improve conditions for its population.  The U.N. human rights council examined the expert’s report this past week. This is the independent expert’s last report to the Council before his mandate expires. Bahame Nyanduga said a number of changes have taken place in Somalia over the past six years, many for the better. He said there has been considerable progress in the security, political, socio-economic and human rights situation in the country. Unfortunately, he said during that period, the conflict with the militant al-Shabab group has continued. He said the clampdown on freedom of expression and other rights, and the failure to hold perpetrators of crimes accountable have continued. “Somalia has suffered grave human rights violations, in particular the endemic loss of lives due to improvised terrorist bombs by al-Shabab, inter clan violence, and the absence of the rule of law. Violations of the rights of women, through conflict related gender-based violence, and other sexual offenses such as rape…Violations of children’s rights, including abduction and forced recruitment by al-Shabab,” he said. Besides the man-made disasters, Nyanduga notes Somalia has had to contend with climatic and natural disasters, which have displaced 2.6 million people.  He said climate change has exacerbated the competition for pastures and water, which are critical for pastoralism in Somalia. “Access to water is a fundamental human right. Addressing the problem of water scarcity will contribute significantly …

Afghan election officials say only about 20% of the country’s more than nine million eligible voters cast ballots in the presidential election. Atta Noori, a political analyst, told the French news agency (AFP) that the turnout was low because of security threats and “the weak campaigning of the candidates.” The Taliban had warned voters to stay home or risk being hurt.   The insurgents did carry out some attacks, authorities say, but were blocked from conducting any major violence. Tens of thousands of Afghan security forces were deployed across the country to protect voters and the more than 4,000 polling stations. The results of the election are expected October 19.  If none of the candidates receives more than half of the votes, a second round will be held in November between the top two candidates.   …

Syria’s top diplomat on Saturday demanded the immediate withdrawal of American and Turkish forces from the country and said his government reserves the right to defend its territory in any way necessary if they remain. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem’s remarks to the United Nations General Assembly were made as Turkey and the United States press ahead with a deal to create a safe zone along Syria’s border with Turkey.  On the political front, he reaffirmed the government’s support for the recently agreed committee to draft a new constitution for the country. As has been the government’s tone since the start of the 2011 uprising in Syria, the foreign minister took a hard line, stressing there must be no interference from any country or timeline imposed on the process.  Al-Moallem’s speech highlighted the enormous challenges to achieve reconciliation in Syria, where over 400,000 people have been killed during the conflict and millions more have fled. The more than eight-year conflict has also drawn numerous foreign militaries and thousands of foreign fighters to Syria, many to support the now-defeated Islamic State extremist group and others still there backing the opposition and battling government forces.  “The United States and Turkey maintain an illegal military presence in northern Syria,” al-Moallem said. “Any foreign forces operating in our territories without our authorization are occupying forces and should withdraw immediately.” If they refuse, he said, “we have the right to take any and all countermeasures authorized under international law.” There are around 1,000 U.S. troops in …

The British-flagged oil tanker that was seized by Iran in July has docked in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates early Saturday, according to ship-tracking websites and pool reporters. The Stena Impero, which had been held off Bandar Abbas for more than two months, started moving out of the Iranian port Friday and reached the coast off Dubai early Saturday. The arrival was reported on several ship-tracking websites. Erik Hanell, CEO of the company that owns the vessel, Stena Bulk, told the media earlier that the tanker’s crew are “safe and in high spirits” following their release from Iran. He added that arrangements have been made for them to return to their families. “The crew will have a period of time to be with their families following 10 weeks of detainment on the vessel. Full support will be offered to the crew and families in the coming weeks to assist with their recovery,” he said. The company did not release the names of the crew. Following the release of the vessel, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said his country would cooperate with its overseas partners to protect shipping and uphold international laws. “The Stena Impero was unlawfully seized by Iran. It is part of a pattern of attempts to disrupt freedom of navigation. We are working with our international partners to protect shipping and uphold the international rule of law,” Raab said. Iranian authorities accused the Stena Impero and its crew of failing to observe international maritime law at the …

Seemingly low voter turnout marked presidential elections in Afghanistan Saturday, even as security forces managed to maintain relative calm across the country, despite dire warnings from the Taliban. At least four civilians and three security personnel were killed across the country and more than 50 civilians suffered injuries in election-related violence, mostly from small explosions. The figure is relatively small, keeping in mind past elections and the almost daily violence Afghanistan normally faces.   “At the moment we don’t have the exact number of voter turnout. But we have created a safe environment. We do believe quite a wide range of our compatriots were present,” General Khoshal Sadat, the Afghan deputy interior minister, told VOA before polls closed. Afghan incumbent president and presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani arrives to cast his vote in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sept. 28, 2019. Daryush Khan, who came to a Kabul polling center with his wife and two small children, one of them in his arms, said he was there to safeguard his kids’ future. “We know there are a lot of problems in Afghanistan, including security. But it’s our civil duty to come out and vote and choose our destiny,” he said. His wife, Gaity, holding up the other crying child, said they could not let threats get in the way of choosing their future.   The Taliban had threatened to attack any election related activity, block roads, and blow up communication towers, calling the elections a “fake process.” Taliban threats, however, were not the only …

ZWIMBA, ZIMBABWE — Zimbabwe’s former president, Robert Mugabe, was buried Saturday in a low-key ceremony in his rural village. The site was chosen after the 95-year-old former leader’s family refused to have him buried at the national shrine in Harare because he had been “ridiculed.” A Roman Catholic mass was held Saturday afternoon at Mugabe’s former home, about 100 kilometers northwest of Harare ahead of his burial. Only family members were allowed to witness the interment, which took place on the home’s grounds just before sunset. Junior Shuvai Gumbochuma, the sister of Grace Mugabe, said the former leader’s family was not worried about the low-key burial. Junior Shuvai Gumbochuma, sister of Zimbabwe’s former first lady Grace Mugabe, speaks behind a photo of the late president Robert Mugabe, at his burial in Zwimba, Zimbabwe, Sept. 28, 2019. (C. Mavhunga/VOA) “We might be surprised by the way Mugabe was a great man and then see the number of people who have gathered to bury him. I remember when he used to bury other heroes at the National Heroes Acre, buses were coming from all corners of the country, coming to bury other heroes but in our minds were expecting his burial to be more special than other heroes’ burials because of who he was. Let me tell you that what we have done today, was his wish because he said it with his own mouth that he does not what to be buried to be at National Heroes Acre. So we thank …

A U.S. judge on Friday blocked new Trump administration rules that would enable the government to keep immigrant children in detention facilities with their parents indefinitely. U.S. District Court Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles said the rules conflict with a 1997 settlement agreement that requires the government to release immigrant children caught on the border as quickly as possible to relatives in the U.S. and says they can only be held in facilities licensed by a state. Gee said the Flores agreement — named for a teenage plaintiff — will remain in place and govern the conditions for all immigrant children in U.S. custody, including those with their parents. “The agreement has been necessary, relevant, and critical to the public interest in maintaining standards for the detention and release of minors arriving at the United States’ borders,” the judge wrote in her decision. “Defendants willingly negotiated and bound themselves to these standards for all minors in its custody, and no final regulations or changed circumstances yet merit termination of the Flores agreement.” The Trump administration sought to end the agreement and issued the new rules with the hope of detaining immigrant children in facilities with their parents. The move came as part of a broader crackdown on asylum seekers arriving on the Southwest border, many of them families with children from Central America. America’s Shifting Asylum Policies Explained Trump administration overhauls rules for those seeking protection at US southern border The Flores agreement allows for the settlement to be …

The United States rejected a request by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to visit Iran’s United Nations ambassador in a New York hospital where he is being treated for cancer, the U.S. State Department and Iranian U.N. mission said on Friday. A U.S. State Department spokesperson said Zarif’s request would be granted if Iran released one of several American citizens it had detained. In July the United States imposed tight travel restrictions on Zarif before a visit that month to the United Nations, as well as on Iranian diplomats and their families living in New York, which Zarif described as “basically inhuman.” Unless they receive prior approval from Washington, they are only allowed to travel within a small area of Manhattan, Queens and to and from John F. Kennedy airport. FILE – Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi speaks to the media outside Security Council chambers at the U.N. headquarters in New York, June 24, 2019. Iran’s U.N. mission spokesman Alireza Miryousefi said Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi was being treated for cancer in a hospital not far away in Manhattan’s Upper East Side neighborhood. Zarif is in New York for the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations. “Iran has wrongfully detained several U.S. citizens for years, to the pain of their families and friends they cannot freely visit,” the State Department spokesperson said. “We have relayed to the Iranian mission that the travel request will be granted if Iran releases a …