Author: Worldnews

The 2020 U.S. presidential campaign gets under way for real on Monday, Feb. 3, when voters in the Midwestern state of Iowa gather in schools, libraries and private homes to participate in the Iowa caucuses.

Iowa does not always determine the eventual party nominees, but the caucus vote does play a key role in shaping the primary races and weeding out contenders with little support.

Here are 10 things people should know about the Iowa caucuses.

What are the Iowa caucuses?

Once every four years, Iowa seizes the national political spotlight with its caucus vote. Party activists head out to local schools and other locations to express their preference for the various Democratic and Republican candidates running for president. The process can take hours, and the results are eventually used to award convention delegates to candidates who do well.

How do the caucuses work?

Upon arrival at the caucus site, Democrats taking part elect a local chairperson and form groups supporting the various candidates. After an initial round of voting, candidates who do not have at least 15% support among those at the caucus site are considered no longer viable. Their supporters are free to go to another candidate, and caucus-goers who support other candidates are free to try and persuade them. After this “realignment” process is complete, a final vote tally is taken and reported to the state party. The caucus results ultimately are used to allocate delegates to the national nominating convention in July committed to those candidates who draw the most support.

Why are the caucuses so important?

Iowa only sends 41 delegates to the Democratic National Convention this summer, so its real significance has to do with the fact it is the first voting test in the presidential primaries and can make or break presidential campaigns. The top finishers usually go on to be competitive in the New Hampshire primary the following week and other contests in the coming weeks. Those who finish poorly often see their funding dry up and are forced to leave the race.

Do caucus winners always win their party’s nomination?

Since 1972, the winner of the Iowa Democratic caucuses has gone on to win the party’s presidential nomination seven out of 10 times. Jimmy Carter got a big boost by finishing second to “uncommitted” in the 1976 caucus voting, and Barack Obama used his victory in 2008 to demonstrate he was a serious threat to favorite Hillary Clinton. But winning in Iowa does not guarantee success in the primary race. Past Democratic winners have included local favorite Sen. Tom Harkin in 1992, Congressman Dick Gephardt in 1988 and Ed Muskie in 1972, none of whom won the nomination. On the Republican side, Bob Dole in 1996 and George W. Bush in 2000 got a huge boost in momentum from winning the caucuses, and eventually went on to win the party nomination.

Who are some of the recent winners, and how did they fare in later primaries?

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the caucuses in 2016 over Donald Trump, while Democrat Hillary Clinton narrowly prevailed over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Sanders is one of the top Democratic contenders again this year. In 2012, former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum won a razor-thin victory over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, only to see Romney eventually claim the Republican nomination. Romney was defeated by Obama in the general election.

Why doesn’t Iowa hold a presidential primary like most other states?

Iowa is one of only a handful of states that still prefers to hold time-consuming caucus meetings to begin the process of selecting national convention delegates. Nevada, Kansas, North Dakota and Wyoming are the others. Iowa has traditionally preferred the caucus model since it became a state in 1846. But several states in recent years have moved away from caucus votes to primaries, where voters simply show up at a polling place and cast a ballot. Primary elections draw a wider cross section of voters compared to caucuses, which are usually attended by the more motivated and committed voters. Caucuses also last hours, compared to the more traditional act of voting at the polls or submitting an early vote by mail.

Are Republicans holding caucuses in Iowa, as well?

They are, even though Trump is a heavy favorite. The Republican caucuses function more simply than the Democratic ones. Voters simply show up at their local caucus locations and cast a vote and leave.

Iowa Democrats have announced changes to the caucuses this year. What are they?

In the past, Democrats would only announce the total number of delegates each candidate has won at the end of voting. This year, after pressure from Sanders supporters to be more transparent, Democrats have decided to also announce the raw vote totals from the first round of voting in the various caucuses, and from the final round of voting after caucus-goers are permitted to realign behind other candidates

Who decided Iowa should go first?  

Iowa began this tradition of holding the first caucuses for Democrats in 1972 and for Republicans in 1976. It has become a point of pride for Iowa to host the first caucuses and for New Hampshire to hold the first presidential primary. New Hampshire’s tradition goes back to 1916 and took on added significance beginning in 1952. Both states have a long-standing pact that they will remain the first contests to the exclusion of all other states, and for the most part, political leaders in both parties have supported them over the years.

Who is going to win in Iowa this year?

Recent state and national polls show Sanders is surging. He is hoping for a breakthrough in a top tier of candidates that includes former Vice President Joe Biden, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. In addition, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar is hoping for a strong showing to break into the top tier. But in the final run-up to the vote, Sanders, Warren, Klobuchar and Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet have been limited in their ability to campaign in Iowa because as sitting U.S. senators, they are required to attend Trump’s impeachment trial.

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The United States is refusing to rule out shrinking the size of its military presence in Africa despite warnings that without Washington’s help, critical counterterror efforts could fall apart.

French Defense Minister Florence Parly delivered the latest plea for continued U.S. involvement in the counterterror fight Monday during talks with top U.S. military officials at the Pentagon.

But following the meeting, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Washington had to take into account other urgent priorities.

“We are focused on great power competition, first with China, then Russia,” Esper told reporters. “My aim is to adjust our [military] footprint in many places. No decisions have been made.”

France currently has about 4,500 troops in Africa, taking a lead role in countering terror groups linked to Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaida across the Sahel region.

Earlier this month, in response to the death of 13 French soldiers during a combat mission in Mali late last year, France said it would send another 220 troops to the region.

And France is not alone in sounding the alarm about the growth of terror groups on the Sahel.

A increasing number of Western diplomats have warned that IS, in particular, is using the region to regroup following the loss of its self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

The concern has run so deep, that during an anti-IS coalition meeting hosted this past November in Washington, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that partner nations were already looking to West Africa and the Sahel as “a preferred, initial area of focus” outside of Syria and Iraq.

“We agreed at the working level that West #Africa & the #Sahel would be a preferred, initial area of focus for the Coalition outside of the #ISIS core space –& w/good reason” per @SecPompeo “ISIS is outpacing the ability of regional gvts and int’l partners to address the threat”

— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) November 14, 2019

U.S. and Western counterterror officials also caution the region is one of the few places where terrorists from IS and al-Qaida, usually fierce rivals, will work together to advance anti-Western plots.

Standing alongside Esper at the Pentagon on Monday, Parly said that, as a result, Washington’s support for the French-led efforts was “even more necessary,” noting that countries like Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso are already stepping up their campaigns to eradicate the terror groups.

“The U.S. support is critical to our operations,” she said. “Its reduction would severely limit our effectiveness against terrorists.”

U.S. officials have insisted they are not blind to the dangers. Still, for months, they have floated the idea of cutting some of the about 6,000 troops currently stationed in Africa.

Publicly, U.S. officials have declined to say what potential cuts would mean for its bases in Africa, both in Djibouti and in Niger, home to many of the U.S. military’s drones, which play a key role in gathering intelligence.

“There is a lot of collaboration in terms of logistics but also in terms of intelligence,” Niagale Bagayoko, a lead researcher and chair of the African Security Sector Network, told VOA. “That is one of the reasons why the French are presently eager to see the Americans to stay involved in the continent, in particular.”

French officials have also emphasized that while they understand Washington’s desire to rebalance its forces across the world to better confront adversaries like China and Russia, they are not asking for a lot.

“It’s a classic case of burden sharing where a limited U.S. support leverages an immesnse effort carried out by France and Europe,” Parly said Monday.

Yet despite French officials expressing hope that “good sense” would prevail and that Washington would maintain its support for the French-led counterterror operations, U.S. defense officials have increasingly signaled such help may not be forthcoming.

“France has reached out to other European allies. I think it’s time for other European allies to assist, as well, in the region,” Esper told reporters Monday. “That could offset whatever changes we make as we consider next steps in Africa.”

VOA’s Salem Solomon contributed to this report.
 

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Controversy and sadness were part of this year’s Grammys show before it even began Sunday.

“Here we are together on music’s biggest night celebrating the artists that do it best, but to be honest with you we are all feeling crazy sadness right now,” host Alicia Keys said at the top of the show, in a reference to the deaths of basketball legend Kobe Bryant  and his 13-year-old daughter who were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash Sunday morning.

The recording industry’s awards show was broadcast live from the Staples Center where Bryant showcased his basketball prowess for years as a guard with the Los Angeles Lakers.  

“We’re literally standing here heartbroken in the house that Kobe Bryant built,” Keys said.

The controversy was the suspension of Deborah Dugan, the Recording Academy’s CEO.  

Dugan, hired for the post earlier this year and the the first woman to head up the Academy, was suspended less than two weeks ago on misconduct charges. She has since filed a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Commission.

But the sadness and the controversy did not stop the artists from producing a stunning song fest.

Lizzo, the zaftig twerking singer and flautist, kicked off the beginning of the night’s many songs with “Truth Hurts” and “Cuz I Love You.”  Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” won the best pop solo performance Grammy.

The big winners of the night, however,  were 18-year-old Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas who made an album, “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”  in their Los Angeles home.  

Billie, who took home the best new artist prize, also won best album, and her song Bad Guy won best song and best record.

Finneas won producer of the year (non-classical) and best engineered album  (non-classical).

Together the sister and brother won best pop vocal album.

Here is a list of winners in key categories at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards, which took place Sunday in Los Angeles.

Teenage goth-pop iconoclast Billie Eilish was the big winner with a total of five golden statuettes, including a clean sweep of the “big four” prizes.

Lizzo, the top nomination getter, won three prizes — best pop solo performance, best urban contemporary album and best traditional R&B performance.

Album of the Year: Billie Eilish, “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”

Record of the Year: Billie Eilish, “Bad Guy”

Song of the Year (recognizing songwriting): Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, “Bad Guy”

Best New Artist: Billie Eilish

Best Music Video: Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus, “Old Town Road”

Best Rap Album: Tyler, The Creator, “Igor”

Best Rock Album: Cage The Elephant, “Social Cues”

Best Pop Vocal Album: Billie Eilish, “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”

Best Pop Solo Performance: Lizzo, “Truth Hurts”

Best Pop/Duo Performance: Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, “Old Town Road”

Best Urban Contemporary Album: Lizzo, “Cuz I Love You (Deluxe)”

Best Country Album: Tanya Tucker, “While I’m Livin'”

Best Alternative Music Album: Vampire Weekend, “Father of the Bride”

Best World Music Album: Angelique Kidjo, “Celia”

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Hundreds of employees are openly criticizing Amazon’s record on climate change despite what they say is a company policy that puts their jobs at risk for speaking out.

On Sunday, more than 300 employees of the online retail giant signed their names and job titles to statements on blog post on Medium. The online protest was organized by a group called Amazon Employees For Climate Justice, an advocacy group founded by Amazon workers that earlier this month said the company had sent letters to its members threatening to fire them if they continued to speak to the press.   

“It’s our moral responsibility to speak up, and the changes to the communications policy are censoring us from exercising that responsibility,” said Sarah Tracy, a software development engineer at Amazon, in a statement.   

Amazon said that its policy on external communications is not new and is in keeping with other large companies. It said the policy applies to all Amazon employees and is not directed at any specific group.

“While all employees are welcome to engage constructively with any of the many teams inside Amazon that work on sustainability and other topics, we do enforce our external communications policy and will not allow employees to publicly disparage or misrepresent the company or the hard work of their colleagues who are developing solutions to these hard problems,” according to an Amazon spokesperson.   

Amazon, which relies on fossil fuels to power the planes, trucks and vans that ship packages all over the world, has an enormous carbon footprint. And its workers have been vocal in criticizing some of the company’s practices.

Last year, more than 8,000 staffers signed an open letter to CEO and founder Jeff Bezos demanding that Amazon cut its carbon emissions, end its use of fossil fuels and stop its work with oil companies that use Amazon’s technology to locate fossil fuel deposits.

Amazon said in a statement that it is passionate about climate change issues and has already pledged to become net zero carbon by 2040 and use 100% renewable energy by 2030. 

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Ruling party CNDD-FDD has announced that Secretary-General Evariste Ndayishimiye will be its candidate for the presidential election slated for May.

Ndayishimiye was chosen Sunday after a- three-day party congress that took place in the political capital Gitega.

News of his choice has galvanized members of the ruling party who say that he is the right candidate to take the helm after President Pierre Nkurunziza leaves office. But his pick has disappointed government opponents who say that if elected, Ndayishimiye would be a continuation of what they call “failed policies” by Nkurunziza.

Ambassador Isidore Mbayahaga, an Uprona party member who is close to the ruling party, said that Burundians should rejoice at the pick of Ndayishimiye. He said Ndayishimiye has all it takes to carry on his predecessor’s legacy of uniting Burundians and fostering the country’s interest:“ All Burundians, irrespective of their party affiliations should be happy that the election of Nkurunziza’s potential replacement has been carried out peacefully and this cannot be taken for granted in a country that has been characterized by internal political feuds and killings,” he said.

However law expert and former head of the Burundi Bar Association, Isidore Rufyikiri, sees no bright future for the country. He said that if elected president, Ndayishimiye would not be capable of bringing about profound changes that are necessary to reverse the situation in Burundi.

“Although Burundians should celebrate that President Nkurunziza is no longer going to seek another term, they cannot be optimistic about the future of the country, for nothing guaranties elections are going to be fair and transparent,” he said. 

 “First of all, the elections will take place while President Nkurunziza will still be at the helm of the country and second, they will be overseen by an election commission that was appointed by President Nkurunziza,” he said.

Rufyikiri also said that the country would likely continue to experience human rights abuses because Ndayishimiye “will not be able to dismantle the youth ruling party Imbonerakure” whom he alleged are “creating mayhem across the country.”

Political analyst Innocent Bano said Burundians have to stop demonizing each other in order to build a country that fosters unity, tolerance and development.

“The term Imbonerakure has been used as a political tool to smear a group of youth of the ruling party, and politicians should get rid of that divisive rhetoric. What really matters for Burundians is for them to come together and support democratic changes initiated by the ruling party,” he said.

Bano also said the increasing number of presidential candidates for elections slated for 2020 is a vivid testimony that democratic institutions are getting stronger and stronger.

If General Ndayishimiye is elected come this May, it will be the first time in Burundian history that an outgoing president has picked his successor peacefully.

President Nkurunziza and Ndayishimiye are close allies who are among the founders of the ruling party CNDD-FDD. They are both former rebel leaders who signed a peace agreement with then Burundi President Pierre Buyoya in 2003.

Ndayishimiye has held other important posts including Interior and Security minister, director of the Military Cabinet to President Nkurunziza and is currently Secretary-General of the ruling party CNDD-FDD.

He was picked over several other prominent CNDD-FDD political leaders including second Vice President Joseph Butore, current chairperson of Burundi parliament, Pascal Nyabenda and Gabriel Nizigama, executive director in the office of President Nkurunziza

…

The World Food Program reports it is scaling up its operation to provide emergency food to tens of thousands of homeless, hungry people in Syria’s war-torn province of Idlib. 

Humanitarian officials say conditions for some three million civilians in Idlib have become intolerable since Syria and its Russian allies launched a major offensive in mid-December to seize this last rebel stronghold.

Since then, the United Nations reports more than 300,000 people, 80 percent of them women and children, have fled their homes in a desperate bid to protect themselves from heavy bombing and shelling.   

Last year, the World Food Program nearly doubled its food assistance from 550,000 beneficiaries to one million in northwest Syria.  Given the increasing conflict and displacement, WFP spokeswoman Elizabeth Byrs says her agency is scaling up its operation to provide emergency food aid to more than 126,000 displaced.

“WFP and its partners are now pre-positioning life-saving food for more than one million people in northwest Syria for six weeks.  It is — I can just say it is vital we continue to be able to reach these desperately vulnerable people whose lives are being torn apart by fighting.”  

Idlib is under siege, so WFP only can bring food into the territory from Turkey.  Byrs says this cross-border operation from Turkey has made it possible for WFP to feed hundreds of thousands of destitute people in Idlib last year and will continue to do so this year.  

The United Nations reports more than eight years of brutal civil conflict has pushed millions of Syrians into hunger and poverty.  It reports the war has displaced more than six million people within the country and created a food crisis for more than seven million who suffer from chronic food shortages.

…

U.S. President Donald Trump poked fun at North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s alleged golfing prowess during a private dinner in April 2018, joking that golfing legend Jack Nicklaus is “a beginner” by comparison.

Trump also questioned U.S. involvement in the 1950s Korean War, according to a recording of the dinner first published by ABC News.

“You know that Kim Jon Ung is a great golfer,” Trump told his dinner guests, mispronouncing the name of the North Korean leader he would meet for the first time in Singapore six weeks later. “He would make Jack Nicklaus look like a beginner.”

Trump continued, apparently mocking the cult of personality that North Korean state media have cultivated for the three generations of the ruling Kim family.

“Did you ever hear that? He shot an 18,” Trump said amid roars of laughter from the guests, before adding: “It’s actually his father, you know who they said shot an 18.”

“It’s just one weird deal,” Trump added.

The comments came as Trump was shifting his approach toward the young North Korean leader.

In 2017, Trump routinely mocked Kim, calling him “Little Rocket Man” and insinuating in a tweet that he was “short and fat.” Trump also threatened North Korea with “fire and fury like the world has never seen” and warned he could “totally destroy” the country.

But in early 2018, Trump drastically changed course, announcing he would meet Kim face to face. The two men met for the first time that June, signing a vague statement about the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The talks have since stalled.

At the dinner, which took place on April 30, Trump can be heard telling his guests about the plans for the upcoming Singapore summit.

“The North Korea thing is moving along very well. We have a site now. You know, we picked a site. They announce pretty soon. And a location, plus a date,” Trump said. “And he really wants to do something, I tell you. Part of the reason he wants to do two things – I mean maybe the rhetoric and maybe we put sanctions like you wouldn’t believe.”

One of the guests can be heard asking whether Trump would consider hosting the meeting at Songdo, a so-called “smart city” just outside Seoul. Trump said he would consider Songdo, but that plans for the Kim summit were already “very far down the line.”

The recording was released by a lawyer for Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Parnas was indicted last year on campaign finance-related charges, and released the tape amid Trump’s impeachment.

On the tape, Trump calls for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Democrats have pointed to Trump’s firing of Yovanovitch as one of the reasons he should be removed from office.

The dinner, which was attended by Trump donors, took place at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC.

Trump targets South Korea

During the dinner, Trump also took aim at South Korea on trade, after one of the dinner guests complained that South Korea was exporting Chinese steel to the United States.

“We’re doing a big number for them. Can you believe it?” Trump said, apparently referencing the U.S. military presence in Korea. “I could write a book on that.”

After one of the guests mentioned that the U.S. spends “billions of dollars to save [South Korea] from North Korea,” Trump reflected on the history of the U.S.-South Korea alliance.

“How we ever got involved in South Korea in the first place, you know, tell me about it. How we ended up in a Korean war,” Trump said as his guests laughed.

The U.S. has 28,500 troops in South Korea, a remnant of the 1950s era Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The Pentagon says the troops are meant to deter North Korea.

Trump has long complained that Seoul is not paying enough for the cost of the U.S. military presence.

For a second consecutive year, negotiators failed to reach an agreement before the military cost-sharing deal expired on December 31. Officials have said the talks have made progress, but that gaps remain.

Trump has at times dismissed the need for U.S. troops in Korea. Asked last month if it was in the U.S. security interest to keep troops in South Korea and the region, Trump said he could go “either way.”

…

Heather Murdock contributed to this report.

Iraqi security forces, seeking to disperse protesters, used live bullets Sunday, wounding demonstrators in the capital, Baghdad, and the southern city of Nassiriya.

Prominent cleric Muqafa al-Sadr withdrew his support Saturday for the four-month-long sit-ins and rallies in Iraq that have threatened the status quo.  Within hours of dropping his support, Sadr’s followers, who were some of the staunchest supporters of the protesters, packed their tents and left the camps.  

Protesters have called for  new leadership, jobs, healthcare, security and an end to widespread corruption and extreme poverty.

Without Sadr’s support, protesters had predicted Iraq’s many militias and divisions of security forces would attack the demonstrators.

It is estimated at least 600 people have been killed and 20,000 people have been wounded in the protests across Iraq since October.

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U.S. President Donald Trump’s legal team began presenting counterarguments Saturday in the Senate after House impeachment managers wrapped up three days of closing arguments in Trump’s historic Senate impeachment trial.

White House Counsel Pat Cipollone began presenting Trump’s defense by declaring the Democratic House managers failed to achieve their objective.“

We don’t believe that they have come anywhere close to meeting their burden for what they’re asking you to do,” Cipollone said.

Cipollone also reiterated an often-repeated criticism of the Democratic-led impeachment proceedings that they would nullify Trump’s 2016 election win and reduce choices for voters before the upcoming November presidential election.“

Trump Legal Team to Mount Aggressive Defense Against Impeachment

President’s team of counsel begins opening arguments Saturday, and will argue Trump did not commit an impeachable crime even if proven he withheld aid to Ukraine in exchange for dirt on Joe Biden and his son

They’re here to perpetrate the most massive interference in an election in American history and we cannot allow that to happen,” Cipollone said. “It would violate our Constitution. It would violate our history. It would violate our obligations to the future. And, most importantly, it would violate the sacred trust that the American people have placed in you.”

Saturday’s defense of Trump amounts to a preview of the arguments that will be laid out in further detail next week.

During his presentation, White House deputy counsel Michael Purpura played a video clip of lead House manager Adam Schiff embellishing the conversation Trump had with Ukraine’s president on July 25 phone call that is central to the impeachment probe.“

That’s fake. That’s not the real call, that’s not the evidence,” Purpura said in an attempt to discredit Schiff and other Democrats.

Schiff acknowledged after the hearing, during which he recounted the phone call, that his comments were “in character with what the president was trying to communicate.”

Trump is accused of pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during the July 25 call to open a corruption investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden — a major Democratic challenger to Trump’s re-election bid this year — and Biden’s son, who worked for a Ukrainian energy company.

The president allegedly withheld military aid to Ukraine unless Zelenskiy publicly announced a probe into Biden and his son Hunter’s lucrative position with the Ukrainian company. No evidence against the Bidens has ever surfaced.

During the prescheduled call, Zelenskiy told Trump that Ukraine sought more U.S. military assistance. Trump responded, “I would like you to do us a favor, though,” and then asks Zelenskiy to investigate the Biden’s and an unfounded claim that Ukraine, and not Russia, interfered in the 2016 U.S. election.

The U.S. assistance for Ukraine was formally frozen on July 25 under a legal provision known as an apportionment.

The aid embargo was lifted in September and Jason Crow said during the House impeachment managers’ closing arguments Friday, “It was only lifted because President Trump had gotten caught.”

But Purpura said Saturday that Ukraine did not become aware of Trump’s hold on the military aid until the latter part of August, well after the fateful July 25 call.“

There can’t be a threat without a person knowing he’s being threatened,” Purpura said. “There can’t be quid pro quo without the quo.”

The House of Representatives impeached Trump in December and he now faces two articles of impeachment that accuse him of abusing the office of the presidency and obstructing congressional efforts to investigate his actions related to Ukraine.

Democratic Representative Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and lead House manager in the impeachment trial said earlier this week all Trump cared about was investigating Biden, especially after early polls showed the former vice president would soundly beat Trump in the election.

Fight Intensifies Over Calling Witnesses for Trump’s Impeachment Trial

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton tops the Democrats’ wish list

Trump and his lawyers were invited to appear before the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment inquiry, but declined.

U.S. Democratic lawmakers closed out their final arguments against the president Friday, arguing that if Trump is not removed from office he will continue to abuse power.“

At the heart of Article Two, obstruction of Congress, is a simple troubling reality: President Trump tried to cheat, he got caught, and then he worked hard to cover it up,” said Hakeem Jeffries, one of seven House Democrats serving as managers of the trial.

Jeffries said Trump administration officials were aware of the president’s alleged misconduct last year and called the situation in the White House a “toxic mess.”

Schiff told lawmakers, “You cannot leave a man like that in office.” He argued that the president will not change and his actions will remain the same. “You know it’s not going to stop. It’s not going to stop unless the Congress does something about it.”

“He has shown neither remorse nor acknowledgment of wrongdoing,” said Schiff.  “Do you think if we do nothing, it’s going to stop now?”

In his final argument, Schiff urged senators to “give America a fair trial,” saying, “she’s worth it.”

Trump is only the third U.S. president to be impeached and tried before the Senate. Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 because of a post-Civil War dispute over states that seceded from the union.  

Bill Clinton was impeached in 1998 for lying to a grand jury over a sex scandal. Both Johnson and Clinton were acquitted and remained in office until the end of their terms.

…

A blueprint the White House is rolling out to resolve the decades-long conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is as much about politics as it is about peace.

President Donald Trump said he would likely release his long-awaited Mideast peace plan a little before he meets Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main political rival Benny Gantz. The Washington get-together offers political bonuses for Trump and the prime minister, but Trump’s opponents are doubting the viability of any plan since there’s been little-to-no input from the Palestinians, who have rejected it before its release.

“It’s entirely about politics,” Michael Koplow, policy director of the Israel Policy Forum, said about Tuesday’s meeting. “You simply can’t have a serious discussion about an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan and only invite one side to come talk about it. This is more about the politics inside Israel and inside the U.S. than it is about any real efforts to get these two sides to an agreement.”

Jared Kushner, a Trump adviser and the president’s son-in-law, has been the architect for the plan for nearly three years. He’s tried to persuade academics, lawmakers, former Mideast negotiators, Arab governments and special interest groups not to reject his fresh approach outright.

People familiar with the administration’s thinking believe the release will have benefits even if it never gets Palestinian buy-in and ultimately fails. According to these people, the peace team believes that if Israeli officials are open to the plan and Arab nations do not outright reject it, the proposal could help improve broader Israeli-Arab relations.

For years, the prospect of improved ties between Israel and its Arab neighbors had been conditioned on a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the administration believes that a change in regional dynamics – due mainly to rising antipathy to Iran – will boost Israel’s standing with not only Egypt and Jordan, which already have peace deals with the Jewish state, but also Saudi Arabia and the smaller Gulf nations, these people say.

There have been signs of warming between Israel and the Gulf states, including both public displays and secret contacts, and the administration sees an opening for even greater cooperation after the plan is released, according to these people.

Trump, for his part, told reporters on Air Force One this week that “It’s a plan that really would work.” He said he spoke to the Palestinians “briefly,” without elaborating.

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for the Western-backed Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, says that’s not true.

“There were no talks with the U.S. administration — neither briefly nor in detail,” he said. “The Palestinian position is clear and consistent in its rejection of Trump’s decisions regarding Jerusalem and other issues, and everything related to the rejected deal.”

Abbas ended contacts with the administration after it recognized disputed Jerusalem as Israel’s capital two years ago. The Palestinians’ anger mounted as Trump repeatedly broken with the international consensus around solving the conflict and took actions seen as biased toward Israel’s right-wing government.

The White House has cut off nearly all U.S. aid to the Palestinians and closed the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington. In November, the Trump administration said it no longer views Jewish settlements in the occupied territories as a violation of international law, reversing four decades of American policy. The Palestinians view the settlements as illegal and a major obstacle to peace, a position shared by most of the international community.

Tuesday’s meeting offers benefits to both leaders while they are under fire at home.

The meeting allows Trump to address a high-profile foreign policy issue during his impeachment trial, while Democrats are arguing for his ouster. Moreover, if the plan is pro-Israel as expected, Trump hopes it will be popular with his large base of evangelicals and maybe sway a few anti-Trump Jewish voters his way.

According to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of the American electorate, 79% of white evangelical voters in the 2018 midterms approved of the job Trump was doing as president, while 74% of Jewish voters disapproved.

Pastor John Hagee, founder and chairman of the 8 million-member Christians United for Israel, said in a statement that Trump “has shown himself to be the most pro-Israel president in U.S. history, and I fully expect his peace proposal will be in line with that tradition.”

For Netanyahu, the meeting allows him to shift press coverage Tuesday when Israel’s parliament convenes a committee that is expected to reject his request for legal immunity from charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes.

“The ‘Trump peace plan’ is a blatant attempt to hijack Israel’s March 2 election in Netanyahu’s favor,” tweeted Anshel Pfeffer, a columnist for Israel’s Haaretz newspaper and the author of a biography of Netanyahu.

Netanyahu is fighting for his political survival ahead of the election. The decision to bring Gantz along is likely aimed at forestalling any criticism that the U.S. administration is meddling in the election. But in Israel, the meeting and the unveiling of the plan will be widely seen as a gift to the prime minister. The prime minister has noted that it was his idea to invite Gantz, putting his rival in a position where he could not say no to a meeting that could make him look like a bystander at the White House event.

In Congress, Trump’s announced release of his Mideast plan has caused hardly a ripple against the backdrop of the impeachment drama.

Asked on Friday what he thought about the expected rollout, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said: “I’m on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and we’ve not heard anything about it.”

Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, the committee chairman, defended the administration’s work on a plan.

“I think the people who are working on this are working on this in good faith,” Risch said in the halls of Congress, shortly before Trump’s impeachment trial resumed. “I think the people who are trying to do it really are acting in good faith, hoping they can come up with a solution.”

…

The anniversary of Egypt’s January 25 revolution, which swept veteran Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011, is being observed in a fairly low-key manner. Most Egyptians were given that day off and the government celebrated the role of the country’s police in maintaining order.

Opponents of the Egyptian government, particularly Islamists, had harsh words for general-turned-President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in social media and on TV channels originating from Qatar and Turkey — which support them — but in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, and most of the rest of the country, there were no significant protests and most people stayed home after being given the day off.

Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square — where most of the major protests against former President Hosni Mubarak took place in 2011 — remained eerily quiet, except for some light traffic, and police were on heightened alert along the major arteries leading into the city center.

Egypt Rights Group: Nearly 2,000 Detained Since Anti-Sissi Protests Erupted

The Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights released a statement on its official Facebook page on Thursday saying that among the 1,915 arrested are at least 96 juveniles

A number of government-organized events took place to mark the event, including one at Cairo stadium with music to entertain the crowd.   

Egyptian TV played music to honor the country’s police and President Sissi attended a number of events in recent days to hand out awards and personally thank top officers and commanders. The day originally marked the anniversary of a police insurrection against British toops in Ismailiya in 1952, which was seminal in the country’s military coup that toppled King Farouq.

Well-known political sociologist Said Sadek tells VOA that the 2011 revolution left a mark on the country in many ways, despite the fact some analysts outside the country have negative words for the ultimate outcome.

“We have to remember that revolutions do not produce immediate results. It takes time. We have some results and maybe we’ll get more,” he said. “For the first time, Egypt began to talk about reforming the educational system … reforming religious discourse. This never happened before, so a lot of taboo topics began to be raised.”

Sadek also notes that both women and Copts, who were previously marginalized, began to play a major role in politics after the revolution, due to their first-hand encounter with “repression and violence under the Islamists” who ruled the country from 2012 to 2013.  

Egypt’s military, led by then Defense Minister General Sissi, overthrew Egypt’s first democratically elected civilian president, Mohammed Morsi, in 2013.

Egypt has witnessed an unprecedented crackdown on dissent since general-tuned-president Sissi came to power in 2014 – jailing Islamists as well as secular activists – while his government has put through austerity measures badly hitting the country’s poor and middle classes.

How Egypt’s President Tightened his Grip

Behind the scenes, President Abdel Fatah el-Sissi’s closest advisers reworked the constitution to prolong his presidency and tighten his grip on Egypt. Not since the decades-long rule of Hosni Mubarak has so much power been concentrated in the hands of one man

Khattar Abou Diab, who teaches political science at the University of Paris, tells VOA that Egypt’s unhappy period of Islamist rule, put a damper on efforts to democratize the country.

He says the big problem with the Egyptian revolution is that it wasn’t carried out by democratic forces that would have been able to effect veritable transformations.

Abou Diab notes the Egyptian revolution “was a historic phenomenon, given the massive mobilization of crowds in a peaceful manner,” and that there have “always been conflicts between military forces and Islamists in the Arab world, which clouds the horizon and makes democratization a difficult process.”

Given the recent wave of protest movements, Abou Diab insists he sees some reason for optimism in Iraq and Lebanon, with efforts to “create a national discourse,” but that the process is “mired in regional an international rivalries between Iran, the U.S., Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.”

…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is accusing Libyan militia leader General Khalifa Haftar of violating a cease-fire agreement. Despite deploying Turkish forces to back the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), though, Erdogan seems to be increasingly looking to diplomacy rather than force. 

“He [Haftar] says he agreed to a cease-fire, but two days subsequent, he bombed the [Tripoli] airport. So how can we trust him?” Erdogan said Friday in Istanbul with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. 

Haftar’s forces control most of Libya in their war against the U.N.-recognized GNA. 

Merkel on Sunday hosted an international summit in Berlin aimed at resolving the Libyan civil war. A 55-article road map to end the conflict was drawn up at the meeting, which Erdogan attended. 

Erdogan challenged Merkel at the news conference, however, to confirm whether Haftar had signed the Berlin agreement. A visibly uncomfortable Merkel confirmed he only orally agreed to it, noting that officials were still waiting for his signature. 

Support for Sarraj

Despite the Berlin agreement’s reaffirmation of the Libyan international arms embargo, the Turkish president said he would continue supporting the GNA’s prime minister, Fayez al-Sarraj. 

“We sent them a [military] delegation and continue to do so. We won’t abandon Sarraj. We will give the support we can,” Erdogan said. 

“Our soldiers are there to assist in the training [of GNA forces]. We have a history of 500 years, and we have an invitation [from the GNA] that gives us our right,” he added. 

But Erdogan, several times during the news conference, said the forces were purely for training. 

Earlier this week, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Aktar also stressed the training purpose of the Libyan deployment. The Turkish force reportedly still only numbers in the dozens. 

The downplaying of the military deployment contrasts with Erdogan’s recent sharp rhetoric. Last week, the Turkish president, while announcing to Parliament soldiers’ deployment, said Ankara would not hesitate about “teaching a lesson” to Haftar if his forces continued attacking. 

Fears of wider war

Such language reportedly has set off alarm bells in the region over fears that Turkish forces in Libya could end up triggering a wider regional conflict with Haftar’s military backers, including Egypt. 

Given that Libya is 2,000 kilometers from Turkey, though, a military expert questioned whether Ankara was capable of sustaining a hot conflict. 

“The logistic challenge is enormous, and these challenges, as they look now, are insurmountable. It’s far away. It’s not like Syria is just across the border,” said former Turkish General Haldun Solmazturk, a veteran of cross-border military operations. 

“If fighting gets tough, casualties would be inevitable. Returning dead persons and wounded would also be a major challenge. Apart from the fuel, the ammunition, spare parts, there are thousands of items needed to be provided in such an environment,” added Solmazturk, who heads the 21st Century Turkey Institute, an Ankara-based research organization. 

Turkish forces are already stretched, being deployed in Iraq and Syria, while analysts point out Haftar is in a strong military position. 

“At the moment the situation seems to be working on the side of Haftar. He has better weapons. He has jet fighters. He has superiority of the air and in the field,” said international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University. 

Further complicating Ankara’s situation is its international isolation over Libya’s military deployment. Erdogan’s shuttle diplomacy this month drew a blank, failing to win backing from Libya’s neighbors, Algeria and Tunisia. 

Erdogan also reportedly failed at the Berlin summit to secure backing for an international peacekeeping force, including the Turkish military, to be deployed to enforce a cease-fire in Libya. 

Military challenges for Turkey

Analysts suggest Ankara’s isolation only compounds the military challenges it faces in Libya. “The Mediterranean, in terms of naval transportation, is controlled by not too friendly forces. And neighboring countries Tunisia, Algeria and Italy are less than willing to help or to provide any logistic bases or any other logistic support. They seem determined to stay out of this,” said Solmazturk. 

“Libya threatens to be another Syria, where countless lives and many treasures will be wasted to defend a very ill-defined ‘national objective,’ ” warned analyst Atilla Yesilada of GlobalSource Partners, an economic and security research group based in New York. 

Erdogan appears increasingly to be looking to diplomacy in a bid to isolate Haftar. In a speech Thursday in the presence of Merkel, the Turkish president called for “pressure” to put on Haftar. 

Erdogan challenged the international community over its courting of Haftar, despite the general’s failure so far to sign on to a cease-fire. “It doesn’t make sense such support is continued,” he said at Friday’s news conference with Merkel, “if such a person is constantly so spoiled.” 

Migrant issue

The Turkish president also is seeking to play the migrant card against Europe, warning of “chaos” if Haftar remains unchecked. 

Some analysts are warning, however, that Ankara needs to face the reality that the region has little appetite for a Turkish role in Libya. 

“The region wants neither Turkey nor Russia seeking to extend its hegemony to Libya and the wider region. This is the reality,” said Bagci. 

But for now, Ankara is likely figuring on having a limited military presence in Libya while continuing to push for international deliberations on a resolution to Libya’s civil war and its future. 

…

While Washington obsesses about tensions with Iran and the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, a pair of high-ranking administration officials has been crisscrossing Europe and the Western Balkans in pursuit of a solution to a dispute that most Americans have barely noticed. 

The high-level focus on the quarrel between Serbia and its former province of Kosovo has left some analysts struggling to explain how the issue fits into a Trump administration foreign policy driven by crises in North Korea and Iran and defined by the slogan “America First.”

Trump himself has demonstrated a personal interest in the issue, tweeting approvingly on the eve of the impeachment trial’s opening about the establishment of direct flights between the two countries:

Everyone said it couldn’t be done. But for the first time in a generation, there will be direct flights between Serbia and Kosovo. Another win. Thanks to @WHNSC Ambassador Robert O’Brien and Ambassador @RichardGrenell! pic.twitter.com/0qSLryG96B

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 21, 2020

Earlier this week, as U.S. senators argued over the ground rules for the impeachment trial, White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien was at the World Economic Forum in Davos, meeting with the presidents of Serbia and Kosovo.

Following @realdonaldtrump’s successful effort to broker a deal to open up air travel between Serbia and Kosovo, NSA Robert O’Brien had cordial meetings with Presidents Aleksandar Vučić and Hashim Thaçi on the sidelines of #Davos. pic.twitter.com/JHYSUQHNCq

— NSC (@WHNSC) January 21, 2020

U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who also serves as White House special envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia talks, has meanwhile been visiting the two countries’ capitals – Belgrade and Pristina – urging officials to resume a dialogue on the normalization of relations and to focus on economic development. 

A third official, the State Department’s special envoy to the Western Balkans, Matthew Palmer, has also been deeply involved in the diplomatic effort. 

Belgrade has never formally recognized Kosovo, which declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, and has campaigned to keep it out of international organizations, including Interpol. Kosovo has retaliated by imposing a 100 percent tariff on all Serbian goods, which it says will not be lifted until Serbia recognizes it as a country. 

In his meetings this week, Grenell urged both countries to compromise. 

“The tariffs must be dropped. That is unacceptable, and I also bring the same request here, which is the de-recognition campaign must stop,” he said in Belgrade, after a meeting Friday with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. “What we’ll do is continue moving in this direction of concentrating on the economy, concentrating on growing jobs.” 

Neither the White House nor State Department responded to requests for comment on the thinking behind the high-level engagement. 

Ripe for resolution

Analysts contacted by VOA see little strategic value for the United States in throwing so much diplomatic muscle at the issue. But they suggest the problem is ripe for a resolution and could provide the administration with an easy foreign policy success. 

“So far as I can tell, the administration is beating the bushes for a success somewhere in the world. There is no real strategic interest,” said Daniel Serwer of Johns Hopkins University in an email exchange with VOA’s Albanian service. 

Damon Wilson, a vice president at the Atlantic Council, a global affairs research group in Washington, offered VOA’s Serbian service a similar analysis, noting the frustrating lack of progress on some of the administration’s biggest foreign policy concerns, including Iran and North Korea. 

“You don’t get easy wins in the Western Balkans, either, and yet in the Western Balkans we are dealing with democratic states that want to be part of the strategic West, that have a shared vision of the future of the region as a prosperous part of Europe,” he said. “This gives us something to work with, and while it might look hard, it actually looks relatively easy when you compare it to Iran, North Korea, Venezuela.” 

Wilson added that the issue gives the United States a chance to show that “we are going to be engaged, we are not leaving a vacuum in the Western Balkans, we’ve got a role to play, we want to play that role and we are going to do it.” 

James Hooper, a former U.S. diplomat and executive director of the Washington-based Balkan Action Council, said a breakthrough on the issue would allow Trump to show he is not distracted by the impeachment drama and give him an achievement to highlight as he seeks re-election in November. 

But Wilson warned against attaching too much significance to the initiative as an election boon, saying, “It’s not exactly a vote-getter out there in Iowa,” where Republicans and Democrats will cast the first votes to select their presidential candidates early next month. 

Chance for progress

Regardless of the motive, Hooper sees an opportunity to make real progress on a dispute that has held back progress in both countries. 

“This is a real opportunity because Washington is paying attention and Grenell is a serious person and he has a lot of influence in the White House,” he said. 

Alon Ben-Meir, a professor at New York University, said both Kosovo and Serbia would be wise to take advantage of that opportunity. 

“They are neighbors. They have to deal with one another. There is interdispersement of population. Many Serbs live in Kosovo. It is time for them to recognize certain facts on the ground that they cannot change,” he said. 

So far, however, there is little indication they will do so. Serbia immediately rejected Grenell’s proposals while Pristina has yet to deliver a clear response. 

“I don’t accept to draw an equality mark between the tariffs and the revoking of the campaign against recognition,” said Vucic, the Serbian president.  “America and Pristina … want Kosovo’s independence recognized. We do not. So it is logical that we have differing positions.” 

Ivana Konstantinovic from VOA’s Serbian service contributed to this report. 

…

Indonesia’s top security official said Friday that detained U.S. journalist Philip Jacobson should be deported immediately. 

Jacobson, 30, a reporter for the California-headquartered environmental news outlet Mongabay, was detained December 17 in Borneo for an alleged visa violation. 

The reporter was held without formal due process after attending a regional parliamentary hearing involving the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago, Indonesia’s largest indigenous rights advocacy group. 

This week, Jacobson was formally arrested and told he faced up to five years in prison for visiting Indonesia with the wrong visa, a claim his employer and U.S. officials have disputed. 

Official: Reporter’s work, arrest not linked

Speaking with VOA on Friday, Indonesia’s Chief Security Minister Mohammad Mahfud MD reiterated claims made by Borneo officials that Jacobson’s arrest was not linked to his reporting on sensitive stories about Indonesia’s myriad environmental and corruption woes. 

But then he said Jacobson should be released. 

“He came to Indonesia on a visit visa and then turned out he did journalism activities to write the news,” said Mahfud. “There was already evidence and then he was detained. Yes, that’s the fact, Indonesian law is like that, but he should just be deported immediately.” 

Mahfud’s comments preceded by hours a report published by Mangobay that said Jacobson had been “moved from prison to ‘city detention’ in Palangkaraya.” 

“We are grateful that authorities have made this accommodation and remain hopeful that Phil’s case can be treated as an administrative matter rather than a criminal one,” said Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler. “We thank everyone for their continued support.” 

Employer surprised by response

According to Mongabay, Jacobson traveled to the country on a multiple-entry business visa. The news outlet expressed surprise that Indonesian immigration officials took such stringent actions against its reporter for the perceived administrative violation. 

According to various news reports, Jacobson repeatedly had entered and left Indonesia on a non-journalist visa. The Jakarta-based Legal Aid Center for the Press told VOA the hearings Jacobson attended and his activities were “in accordance with applicable legal norms.” 

Summoned Friday by the Indonesia Security Ministry, U.S. Ambassador Joseph R. Donovan said: “It is important for us to deal with issues like this through the proper channels.” 

This story originated in VOA’s Indonesian service. Some information is from AFP. 

…

The Chinese government isolated more cities Friday, an unprecedented move to contain the coronavirus, which has spread to several other countries.

At least eight cities, and a total of at least 25 million people, have been put on lockdown — Wuhan, Ezhou, Huanggang, Chibi, Qianjiang, Zhijiang, Jingmen and Xiantao — all in central China’s Hubei province, on the eve of the Lunar New Year, when millions of Chinese traditionally travel.

On Thursday authorities first banned planes and trains from leaving the city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus is believed to have originated. Toll roads were closed, and ferry, subway and bus services were suspended.

Wuhan authorities have demanded that all residents wear masks in public and urged government and private sector employees to wear them in the workplace, according to the Xinhua news agency, which cited a government official.

Similar measures were taken hours later in the nearby cities of Huanggang and Ezhou.

The government also canceled holiday events in Beijing that usually attract large crowds.

The virus has killed at least 24 people, according to Hubei health authorities, who have also confirmed about 550 cases of the new coronavirus.

Fifteen medical workers are among those who have been infected by the virus, which has spread from Wuhan to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong province, as well as Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and the United States.

WATCH: WHO Warns Coronavirus Is ‘High Risk,’ Stops Short of Declaring Emergency

The World Health Organization said Thursday the deadly virus has not yet developed into a worldwide health emergency.

“This is an emergency in China, but it has not yet become a global health emergency,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said after a two-day emergency meeting in Geneva.

The U.N. health agency’s decision came after it received information from independent experts who spent two days assessing information about the spread of the new coronavirus.

WHO considers an international emergency an “extraordinary event” that puts other countries at risk and one that requires a coordinated global response.

The U.S. announced its first case Tuesday in the northwestern state of Washington. Health officials there said a man who returned to Seattle from Wuhan last week is hospitalized in good condition with pneumonia.

U.S. President Donald Trump assured reporters during a press conference in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday that U.S. officials “have a plan” to deal with the new outbreak, praising experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as “terrific, very great professionals, and we’re in great shape.”

Airports around the world have begun screening travelers from Wuhan for any signs of the virus.

A coronavirus is one of a large family of viruses that can cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to the deadly SARS.

…

Southeast Asia has been a major winner in the U.S.-China trade war. The region has seen a wave of new factories, as manufacturers move out of China to avoid U.S. tariffs. But Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, Indonesia, has struggled to attract new investment. That’s in part because of the country’s sprawling bureaucracy, as VOA’s Bill Gallo explains.

…

At one point there were dozens of people running to be the Democratic party’s next presidential candidate. Now there are only about a dozen, and only one of them isn’t a politician: Andrew Yang. The entrepreneur isn’t polling well but he’s still in the race thanks to a unique style and really devoted followers. VOA’s Suli Yi caught up with two former Trump voters who are now part of the Yang Gang. VOA’s Peggy Chang narrates her report.

…

The European Union on Thursday condemned renewed fighting around a rebel stronghold in northwest Syria, demanding an end to “unacceptable” air strikes that have killed civilians.

The regime of President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia, is tightening the noose around Idlib, the last major rebel-held bastion in Syria’s civil war, with air strikes killing at least 23 civilians on Tuesday.

“The renewal of the offensive in Idlib, including repeated air strikes and shelling targeting civilians are unacceptable and must cease,” an EU spokesman said in a statement.

“The EU will keep the sanctions against the Assad regime under review as long as these brutal attacks continue.”

Most of Idlib and parts of Aleppo province are still controlled by factions opposed to Assad.

The Damascus regime, which controls around 70 percent of the country after nearly nine years of war, has repeatedly vowed to recapture the region.

Idlib hosts at least three million people, many of whom have fled other parts of the country and are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.

The EU demanded “rapid, safe and unhindered access” for humanitarian organisations and stressed the need for a political solution to the conflict.

The surge in violence comes despite a ceasefire announced by Moscow earlier this month that never really took hold, and there are warnings that a ground offensive could be imminent.

…

Russian lawmakers have unanimously approved in its first reading a sweeping constitutional reform bill put forward by President Vladimir Putin.

All 432 lawmakers present in the State Duma voted in favor of the bill on Thursday, just three days after the amendments were presented to parliament.

“This was a powerful show of unity,” Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said after the vote. Volodin said the second reading was expected on February 11.

The bill will then face a third reading, but with parliament dominated by Kremlin-loyal lawmakers it is unlikely to face much pushback.

Once approved in three readings in the Duma, the bill will go to the Federation Council – the upper house of parliament – before being signed into law by Putin.

Putin’s announcement of the reforms during his state-of-the-nation address on January 15 was quickly followed by the resignation of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s government and the appointment of a new premier and cabinet.

Russia’s Political Shakeup Means Putin Here to Stay

Russian leader eyes an influential role beyond his presidency

The rapid sequence of changes has prompted observers to say that Putin may be laying the groundwork to hold on to power after his current term expires in 2024.

The Russian leader says that under the plan, more responsibilities will be given to parliament and other state bodies, while also maintaining a strong presidency.

The president has promised a referendum on the reforms, with some officials suggesting it could take place within weeks.

Putin suggested altering the constitution because “things have changed dramatically” since it was adopted in 1993.

He outlined some proposals, including strengthening the State Council, currently an advisory body and giving more authority to parliament.

Some analysts have suggested Putin could head the Council after 2024 to maintain his grip on power.

The text of the bill on the parliament’s website provides for lawmakers confirming the prime minister rather than the president, although the president can still reject any candidate.

Putin formed a “working group” of 75 people that includes athletes and celebrities to work on the amendments.

…

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence joins nearly 50 world leaders attending the World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem Thursday to mark the 75th anniversary of the Allies’ liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp at the end of the Second World War.  The gathering at  Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial comes amid a rise in tensions with Iran and an increase in anti-Semitism in both Europe and the United States.  Linda Gradstein reports from Jerusalem. 

…

The United States bombed parts of Southeast Asia a generation ago. The fallout of one of the longest military entanglements in American history wreaked havoc on local populations and destroyed much of the land once suitable for farming.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi looks at how US non-profit Roots of Peace sows seeds of hope today while unearthing the horrors of yesterday.

…

EU countries can restrict or exclude high-risk 5G providers from core parts of their telecoms network infrastructure under new guidelines to be issued by the European Commission next week, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The non-binding recommendations are part of a set of measures aimed at addressing cybersecurity risks at national and bloc-wide level, in particular concerns related to world No. 1 player Huawei Technologies.

The guidelines do not identify any particular country or company, the people said.

“Stricter security measures will apply for high-risk vendors for sensitive parts of the network or the core infrastructure,” one of the people said.

EU digital economy chief Margrethe Vestager is expected to announce the recommendations on Jan. 29.

Other measures include urging EU countries to audit or even issue certificates for high-risk suppliers.

EU governments will also be advised to diversify their suppliers and not depend on one company and to use technical and non-technical factors to assess them.

Europe is under pressure from the United States to ban Huawei equipment on concerns that its gear could be used by China for spying. Huawei, which competes with Finland’s Nokia and Sweden’s Ericsson has denied the allegations.

…

A U.S. military patrol has blocked a Russian military convoy from using a main highway in northeast Syria amid growing tensions between the two sides, local reports said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor that has researchers inside the country, reported on Tuesday that U.S. forces didn’t allow Russian military vehicles to use a major road between two Kurdish-held towns in Syria’s northeast.

The Russian convoy was attempting to reach a border crossing between Syria and Iraq that is under the control of U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Observatory added.

After Turkish military and allied Syrian militias launched an offensive against SDF fighters in October 2019, Russia, a staunch supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, stepped in to increase its military presence in northeast Syria following a U.S. decision to withdraw troops from parts of the border area between Syria and Turkey.

After mounting pressure from the U.S. Congress and U.S. foreign allies, President Donald Trump decided to keep about 500 U.S. troops in the area to protect the region’s oil fields, and prevent Islamic State and Syrian regime troops from accessing them.

Now, both the U.S. and Russia have military outposts throughout the region.

Growing tensions

The incident on Tuesday is part of a series of similar incidents that happened in recent days between the two powers over their presence in Syria, local sources said. 

“This is the third incident that occurred within a week,” said Nishan Mohammad, a local reporter who said he witnessed another recent standoff between U.S. and Russian troops in northeast Syria.

“I was there last weekend when U.S. soldiers stopped Russian military vehicles and forced them to head back to their base,” he told VOA in a phone interview Tuesday.

It seems that the U.S. wants to limit the Russian presence in certain parts of northeast Syria, Mohammad added.

Contacted by VOA, SDF officials declined to comment on the matter, citing the sensitivity of the issue.  

U.S. and Russian officials have not immediately reacted to this development.

Reasserting Assad’s authority  

Northeast Syria has largely been under the control of Kurdish forces since 2012 after Syrian regime troops withdrew to focus on fighting rebel forces elsewhere in the war-torn country.

With Syrian troops now in control of most territory once held by rebels, experts charge that Russia’s recent moves in northeast Syria are an attempt at reasserting the Syrian government’s authority in that region.“

Russia’s clear objective is to reestablish the authority of the (Syrian) regime in the Kurdish region,” said Radwan Badini, a Syria expert who teaches journalism and politics at Salahaddin University in Irbil, Iraqi Kurdistan.

He told VOA that such provocations by Russia will not yield any results in Moscow’s favor, as Syria’s northeast is of strategic importance to the U.S. in its continued war against IS.

“The Americans will not give up this part of Syria,” Badini said, noting that, “in addition to its oil fields, northeast Syria represents a strategic depth for the U.S. and its allies to carry on their counterterrorism efforts in eastern Syria.”

…

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido was in London on Tuesday as part of a surprise international trip to revive support for forcing the resignation of the country’s authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maduro.  One year ago, Guaido was recognized by the U.S. and over 50 countries as Venezuela’s interim president after Maduro blocked opponents in the last presidential election. However, VOA’s Brian Padden reports that tough U.S. sanctions and diplomatic pressure imposed a year ago have not succeeded to break the socialist president’s hold on power.

…

After the Afghan Taliban announced a seven  to 10-day cease-fire with US troops and a reduction in violence against Afghan forces, the Afghan government called the Taliban offer ‘ambiguous,’ and asked for a complete cease-fire as a way forward for peace talks.

…

China is raising pressure on Indonesia over rights to use a contested tract of sea and challenging the militarily weaker Southeast Asian country to consider options from friendly dialogue to strong protests.
  
Indonesia spotted as many as 63 “trespassing” Chinese vessels in 30 locations within its maritime exclusive economic zone last month, the research platform East Asia Forum says in a January 15 report.  Another spate followed in early January.  Chinese coast guard vessels had escorted some, media reports from Jakarta say.
  
Though not a first between the two big Asian countries, this escalation near Indonesia’s Natuna Islands raises the specter of a new flash point in a normally quiet part of the broader, heavily disputed South China Sea.

“On the Indonesian side, I think that there’s a growing sense at the security level that China is becoming a more problematic actor,” said Stephen Nagy, a senior associate professor of politics and international studies at International Christian University in Tokyo.
  
China may hope Indonesia will bargain over the tract of sea that’s near the 272 tiny Natuna islands northwest of Borneo, possibly in exchange for economic aid, Asia scholars say.
  
But if Indonesia fears talks would validate China’s claim, it might instead make diplomatic protests instead or get help from powerful Western-allied countries that already resent China’s maritime expansion.

“I think you’ll see a lot more of China pushing not just on us but on Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines and others through incursions and get us to eventually acknowledge their right to a negotiation, and I think this is why we’re still very much resisting the notion that we should come and talk to the Chinese about this,” said Evan Laksamana, senior researcher for the Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Jakarta.

“And I think China also doesn’t want to make (the coordinates of its claim) that clear yet, so that’s why these are kind of gradual, low-level incursions, that of course I think will escalate if Indonesia doesn’t respond strongly and forcefully and provide actual diplomatic protest notes so that under international law we always challenge China’s incursions,” Laksamana said.

  
China vies separately with Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines over parts of the 3.5 million-square-kilometer South China Sea north of the Natuna Islands. China uses a nine-dash line, sourcing it to maritime records from dynastic times, to claim about 90% of the waterway that multiple countries value for its fisheries and undersea fossil fuel reserves. The nine dashes cut into the Indonesian exclusive economic zone, or EEZ.
  
Indonesia and China are in a new phase of testing each other’s bottom line, said Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. Competing ship movements will continue “for a while”, he believes. “In recent years, I think both China and Indonesia came to the realization that the Natuna Island EEZ and nine-dash line, they do intersect one another, so they are literally testing the water now,” Oh said.
  
Friction between the two sides dates back to 2016, when Indonesian President Joko Widodo showed signs of taking a harder line in the maritime dispute compared to his predecessors.

Authorities in his government have burned dozens of foreign fishing boats found in the EEZ.   Vessels from the two countries entered a standoff   in 2016 when Indonesian authorities tried to arrest a private boat operator but a Chinese coast guard vessel intervened. Indonesia said then that China had officially included waters near the Natuna Islands on a territorial map. Two years later Indonesia opened a Natuna Islands military base for up to 1,000 personnel.
  
China hinted this month that the two sides should talk. 

“I can tell you that China and Indonesia have always carried out dialogue through diplomatic channels,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a news briefing January 7 as quoted on his ministry’s website. “We believe the Indonesian side also can see the issue from the vantage of bilateral relations and regional stability and resolve disputes with the Chinese side.”
  
China often offers aid and investment to ease rifts with smaller countries.  

Before Widodo took office in 2014, Indonesia normally said little about Chinese vessels near the Natuna Islands. China had invested in Indonesia’s infrastructure and bought oil from its palm plantations. Indonesian officials today have been cautious on any deals to accept infrastructure aid under Beijing’s $1 trillion, Belt and Road Initiative aimed at building trade routes across Asia.   
  
Indonesia indicated it would assert its maritime claim without dialogue.

Maritime and Fisheries Minister Edhy Prabowo made a working visit January 15 to the Natuna Islands “in order to follow up President Jokowi’s instructions that Indonesian sovereignty is not negotiable,” according to a statement on the ministry’s website. Jokowi is the president’s nickname.
  
Indonesia protested diplomatically over the December ship movements and China replied that it had rights to use those waters.
  
Jakarta might look to Australia, Japan and the United States for help such as “capacity building”, Nagy said. Eventually, he said, nothing will be settled. That way China can show it’s not being influenced by smaller countries and Indonesian people won’t see their government as a pushover, he said.
  
China would avoid any moves that might incite anger among Indonesian people, the source of deadly anti-Chinese riots in 1998, Nagy added.

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