UN says it is concerned about LNA siege of Derna

Tunis, 6 August 2017

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya, Maria Ribeiro, has expressed concern about reports of severe shortages of medicine and other basic necessities in Derna.

The town, controlled by Islamist mujahideen, has been subject to a blockade by the Libyan National Army. However, this was tightened last week following the execution by the mujahideen of the LNA’s Air Colonel Adel Jehani whose plane was shot down near the town. Responding to the killing, the head of the Omar Mukhtar Operations Room tasked with taking Derna, Brigadier Salem Rifadi, last Sunday declared a total blockade. No food, medicines, cooking gas, petrol or anything else would be allowed in, he said.

For the past week, all roads in and out of the town have been blocked. Three days ago, faced with deteriorating conditions and fearing a humanitarian disaster, Derna’s council of elders issued an appeal.

“The town is being slaughtered in cold-blood by the siege. We call on all to put an end to it,” it said.

Telling on all sides in the conflict to respect humanitarian and human rights law, Ribeiro has called on the LNA to relax the blockade.

“I urge all parties to consider the safety and the wellbeing of the civilians a top priority and allow for the safe delivery of humanitarian supplies to ensure continued access to basic services, especially health”, she said.

The State Council’s second deputy president has added his voice to concerns about the siege, calling on Arab and European countries to put pressure on the LNA to lft it.

Source: Libya Herald.
Link: https://www.libyaherald.com/2017/08/06/un-says-it-is-concerned-about-lna-siege-of-derna/.

Venezuela's new assembly declares itself all-powerful

August 09, 2017

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The new constitutional assembly assumed even more power in Venezuela by declaring itself as the superior body to all other governmental institutions, including the opposition-controlled congress.

That decree came Tuesday just hours after the assembly delegates took control of a legislative chamber and put up pictures of the late President Hugo Chavez, who installed Venezuela's socialist system.

Delcy Rodriguez, the head of the ruling socialist party and leader of the body, said the unanimously approved decree prohibits lawmakers in congress from taking any action that would interfere with laws passed by the newly installed constitutional assembly.

"We are not threatening anyone," said Aristobulo Isturiz, the constitutional assembly's first vice president. "We are looking for ways to coexist." Leaders of congress, which previously voted not to recognize any of the new super-body's decrees, said lawmakers would try to meet in the gold-domed legislative palace Wednesday, but there were questions whether security officers guarding the building would let them in.

The opposition to President Nicolas Maduro also faced another fight Wednesday before the government-stacked Supreme Court, which scheduled a hearing on charges against a Caracas-area opposition mayor. The judges convicted another mayor Tuesday for failing to move against protesters during four months of political unrest.

In calling the July 30 election for the constitutional assembly, Maduro said a new constitution would help resolve the nation's political standoff, but opposition leaders view it is a power grab and the president's allies have said they will go after his opponents. Before its decree declaring itself all-powerful, the assembly ousted Venezuela's outspoken chief prosecutor, established a "truth commission" expected to target Maduro's foes and pledged "support and solidarity" with the unpopular president.

The latest surge of protests began in early April in reaction to a quickly rescinded attempt by the government-supporting Supreme Court to strip the National Assembly of its powers. But the unrest ballooned into a widespread movement fed by anger over Venezuela's triple-digest inflation, shortages of food and medicine, and high crime.

Opposition lawmakers said security forces led by Rodriguez broke into the congress building late Monday and seized control of an unused, ceremonial chamber almost identical to the one where lawmakers meet.

"This government invades the spaces that it is not capable of legitimately winning," Stalin Gonzalez, an opposition lawmaker, wrote on Twitter, alluding to the opposition's overwhelming victory in the 2015 congressional elections.

Before the assembly met Tuesday, the pro-government Supreme Court sentenced a Caracas-area mayor to 15 months in prison for not following an order to remove barricades set up during anti-government demonstrations.

Ramon Muchacho was the fourth opposition mayor ordered arrested by the high court the past two weeks. His whereabouts were not known, but he denounced the ruling on Twitter. The constitutional assembly's meeting Tuesday came amid mounting criticism from foreign governments that have refused to recognize the new body.

The foreign ministers of 17 Western Hemisphere nations met in Peru to discuss how to force Maduro to back down. The ministers issued a statement after the meeting condemning the body and reiterating previous calls for the parties in Venezuela to negotiate on ending the political crisis.

Meanwhile, leaders from the Bolivarian Alliance, a leftist coalition of 11 Latin American nations, met in Caracas and declared the creation of the constitutional assembly a "sovereign act" aimed at helping Venezuela overcome its difficulties.

"We reiterate the call for a constructive and respectful dialogue," the alliance said in a statement read after the meeting. Since the disputed election, security forces have stepped up their presence. A U.N. human rights commissioner report issued Tuesday warned of "widespread and systematic use" of excessive force, arbitrary detention and other rights violations against demonstrators.

Only a few dozen demonstrators heeded the opposition's call to set up traffic-snarling roadblocks in Caracas on Tuesday to show opposition to the new assembly, underlining the fear and resignation among that has weakened turnout for street protests that once drew hundreds of thousands. At least 124 people have been killed and hundreds injured or detained during the protests.

Powerful Venezuela assembly meets again as pressure mounts

August 08, 2017

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Foreign ministers from 14 nations are meeting in Peru on Tuesday in hopes of finding consensus on a regional response to Venezuela's growing political crisis, while President Nicolas Maduro's all-powerful constitutional assembly is forging ahead on promises to punish the embattled leader's foes.

The assembly was expected to gather at the stately legislative palace in Caracas for the first time since voting Saturday to remove the nation's outspoken chief prosecutor, a move that drew condemnation from many of the same regional government that are sending representatives to the meeting in Peru's capital.

Peru's president has been vocal in rejecting the new assembly, but the region has found that agreeing on any collective actions has proved tricky. Still, Venezuela is facing mounting pressure and threats of deepening sanctions from trade partners, including a recent suspension from South America's Mercosur.

Despite growing international criticism, Maduro has remained firm in pressing the constitutional assembly forward in executing his priorities. He called for a special meeting Tuesday in Caracas of the Bolivarian Alliance, a leftist coalition of 11 Latin American nations.

The new constitutional assembly has signaled it will act swiftly in following through with Maduro's commands, voting Saturday to replace chief prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz with a government loyalist and create a "truth commission" that will wield unusual power to prosecute and levy sentences.

"It should be clear: We arrived there to help President Nicolas Maduro, but also to create strong bases for the construction of Bolivarian and Chavista socialism," Diosdado Cabello, a leader of the ruling socialist party and member of the new assembly, told a crowd of supporters Monday.

Opposition leaders, meanwhile, vowed to remain in their posts in their only government foothold — the country's single-chamber congress, the National Assembly. John Magdaleno, director of the Caracas-based consulting firm POLITY, said that rather than having co-existing assemblies and chief prosecutors, it is more likely that opposition-controlled institutions will be rendered powerless as Maduro's administration further consolidates Venezuela into an authoritarian state.

The opposition-dominated National Assembly "will be a body that in principal co-exists with the constitutional assembly but that will surely be displaced in practice," Magdaleno said. National Assembly president Julio Borges told fellow lawmakers Monday that they should keep an active presence in the legislative palace despite threats from the constitutional assembly to strip them of any authority and lock up key leaders. Borges called the building, with its gold cupola, the "symbol of popular sovereignty."

"We are a testament to the fight for democracy," he said. "It should be known this assembly was true to its mandate." In theory, both the National Assembly and the constitutional assembly could operate simultaneously, but the new super body created through a July 30 election has the authority to trump any other branch of government — and Venezuela's leaders have promised to do just that.

National Assembly members voted unanimously Monday not to recognize any of the new super body's decrees. "The intent is to pursue those who think differently," lawmaker Delsa Solorzano said of the constitutional assembly's plans.

Cabello said that the new assembly's decisions have all aligned strictly with the 1999 constitution crafted by the late President Hugo Chavez and that the new assembly would be in power for "at least two years."

"This is a completely legal process," he said. The widening political gulf comes as opposition parties face a rapidly approaching deadline to decide whether they will take part in regional elections scheduled for December. Candidates are expected to sign up to run this week. Opposition members refused to participate in the election for delegates to the constitutional assembly but have thus far been divided on taking part in the contests for governors.

While Maduro's popular support is estimated to run at no higher than 20 percent, some opposition leaders are skeptical of running in regional elections they fear could be rigged. The official turnout count in the constitutional assembly election has been questioned at home and abroad. The CEO of voting technology company Smartmatic said last week that the results were "without a doubt" tampered with and off by at least 1 million votes.

On Sunday, a band of 20 anti-government fighters attacked an army base in an apparent attempt to foment an uprising. The men managed to reach the barracks' weapons supply. Ten escaped, but two were killed and the remaining eight were captured after battling with soldiers for three hours, Maduro said.

Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said special units were being activated Monday to assist in the search for the escapees, who remained at large more than 24 hours after the attack.

Associated Press writer Christine Armario in Miami contributed to this report.

Migrant center in Berlin brings Germany Arabic culture

August 08, 2017

BERLIN (AP) — Germany is the country of Goethe and Kant, Bach and Beethoven. But recent migrants are hoping to sprinkle Arabic poetry and Middle Eastern music, into that mix. At the "Between Us" cultural center in the German capital, migrants meet regularly to share their art, poetry and music — both to provide a flavor of home, and to educate the native citizens of their new home.

"There are almost no libraries with Arabic books or institutions for Arab culture here," said Muhannad Qaiconie, the 30-year old founder of the center. "Still, Berlin is now a hotspot for Syrian authors, artists and musicians, and we want to give them a meeting place and a platform."

Nearly 900,000 migrants flooded into Germany in 2015 and hundreds of thousands more have arrived since then, the largest single group being refugees fleeing war-torn Syria. Qaiconie, a native of the Syrian city of Aleppo, arrived two years ago, and founded the center this summer for his fellow Syrians and anyone else interested in stopping by.

The center, in a room on the top floor of a 16-story refugee hostel in central Berlin, hosts poetry readings and has a library that holds a collection of Arab books. It's funded by donations and staffed by volunteers.

On the weekends, Syrian musicians are invited to play at the center's outdoor space, on the rooftop of the hostel. At a recent concert Nabil Arbaain, who arrived as an asylum seeker from Syria two summers ago, charmed the crowd with melodies played on the oud, a pear-shaped instrument commonly used in Middle Eastern music, accompanied by a German guitarist and a Syrian percussionist.

The audience is international. Arabic is mixed with English and German and the crowd cheers after each song. In the background, the sun sets over the Berlin skyline. "Some people don't know anything about Syria" said Arbaain, 36, after the concert. "So we have to work hard to fix the image."

Arbaain travels across Germany to play concerts, and said in addition to fellow Syrians longing for a taste of their homeland, many Germans turn out to listen. Some have preconceived notions about migrants, but he said the first-hand contact and cultural exchange helps immediately.

"It is not so difficult to change German people's minds," he said. Meantime, Arbaain said migrants have their own challenges to work on, like learning the German language, which is helped by mixing with local residents.

"German is not hard — it's the first 100 years that are difficult and then it gets easy," he joked. But kidding aside, Qaiconie said most migrants that he knows are anxious to shed the name "refugee" and be accepted as individuals.

"When I introduce myself I don't introduce myself as a refugee, I introduce myself as a student," said Qaiconie, who is now working on a BA in English literature and philosophy at a small college in Berlin. "I don't think anyone likes being called a refugee."

The cultural center's library, which is open one day a week, attracts a steady flow of people looking for books. Most are looking for volumes they might have owned before fleeing or books that can help them with their studies, but some come because they are themselves writing about their experiences as migrants, and need help and inspiration.

With the passage of time and support of such efforts, Qaiconie said, he hopes that Syrian culture will become a part of Germany. "I think we will add to German society," he said. "We won't just take but we will add."

French president Macron wants to give a role to his wife

August 08, 2017

PARIS (AP) — After more than three years without a first lady, the French don't appear to be very eager to get a new one. President Emmanuel Macron wants to formalize the role of his wife Brigitte, but critics say that would be too costly. The president's office is preparing a formal communication in coming days, Brigitte Macron's office said Tuesday.

During his presidential campaign, the 39-year-old outspoken centrist promised more "transparency" on the issue. Unlike in the U.S., France's first lady doesn't have an official status. As the president's popularity drops in polls, more than 280,000 people have signed a petition in the past few weeks against Macron's plan to grant a formal budget to finance his wife's activities.

"There's no reason why the spouse of the head of state would get a budget from public funds," the petition says. However the petition isn't pushing to get rid of Brigitte Macron's existing office and staff. It says her current setup — an office at the Elysee palace, two advisers, two secretaries as well as bodyguards — is "sufficient" and she shouldn't need an official budget or money for special activities.

It's not yet clear exactly what the president wants the first lady's role to be. His plan isn't to change the French Constitution or make a bill to give official status to his wife, but to publish a charter that would detail her public role, her staff and the cost to the French taxpayer, an official in Brigitte Macron's office told The Associated Press on customary condition of anonymity.

No estimation has been given of the cost of Brigitte Macron's current office or any potential changes. The status of the president's partner is a sensitive issue in France following a series of scandals in the past few decades, including Macron predecessor Francois Hollande's complex private life.

Hollande entered office with his girlfriend Valerie Trierweiler at his side, but she left him after a tabloid magazine exposed Hollande's secret affair with actress Julie Gayet in January 2014. The French got used to the absence of a first lady: Gayet never publicly appeared by Hollande's side.

Before him, Sarkozy was the first French president to divorce and remarry while in office. His former wife, Cecilia, had a prominent role at his side. The couple divorced in the first year of his term. Sarkozy then remarried, to supermodel Carla Bruni.

But the major scandal remains the one surrounding Francois Mitterrand, president from 1981 to 1995. Mitterrand had a secret family made up of his mistress, Anne Pingeot, and their daughter, who lived in a state-owned apartment in Paris.

Macron once said he wants to end "French hypocrisy" about the status of presidential spouses. The person living with the president "must be able to play a role and be recognized for that role" but wouldn't be paid for it, he said before his election.

Macron created an inseparable team with his wife Brigitte during his presidential campaign, something more often seen on American political stages than in France. Brigitte Macron, 64, a former teacher at Emmanuel Macron's high school, attended most of her husband's rallies. The president doesn't hide that she is also his close political adviser.

Lawmaker Clementine Autain, from the far-left movement France Insoumise, called the idea of giving official status to the first lady "stupid." "I'm sorry, but there's no need for a status of first lady in a democratic, modern, 21st-century system," she told BFM television.

Kenyan president leads in nearly complete election results

August 09, 2017

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta was leading challenger Raila Odinga by a significant margin Wednesday in nearly complete election results, but the opposition said the counting process was flawed and disputed the tally.

The website of Kenya's election commission showed Kenyatta with 54.8 percent and opposition leader Odinga with 44.4 percent after votes were counted from more than 35,000 of the 40,833 polling stations. The commission did not release information about which constituencies had been counted, although Kenyan television news channels later showed results from individual areas that confirmed Kenyatta's lead.

The election body's omission of constituency results prompted sharp criticism from Odinga, who also ran against Kenyatta in the 2013 vote and unsuccessfully challenged the results in court with allegations of vote-tampering. The longtime opposition figure also ran in the 2007 election, which was followed by violence fueled by ethnic divisions that killed more than 1,000 people.

"A clean credible process would by now have a dashboard showing all tallies from all constituencies to add to a sum total so that country can know which part of the country has been counted and what the votes are," Odinga said in a statement Wednesday.

"The system has failed," Odinga said. He added that the election commission "has just said that no parties have disputed the results. How do parties dispute results which they do not even know their origins?"

Election officials acknowledged the opposition objection, but defended their actions. "We believe that by displaying results, we have been doing well to enhance transparency and accountability in the electoral process, consistent with the commitment the commission has made to the Kenya people," said commissioner Consalata Bucha Nkatha Maina, vice chairwoman of the election commission.

The commission's CEO, Ezra Chiloba, also said a results screen at the commission's counting center had frozen because too much data was being received, and that tallies would be updated later Wednesday morning.

A similar situation with a systems failure in the 2013 election led to Odinga's legal challenge at the time, though Kenya's Supreme Court ruled in favor of Kenyatta by validating the results. Kenyatta, the 55-year-old son of Kenya's first president after independence from British colonial rule, campaigned this year on a record of major infrastructure projects, many backed by China, and claimed strong economic growth. Odinga, 72, also the son of a leader of the independence struggle, cast himself as a champion of the poor and a harsh critic of endemic corruption.

However, many voters were expected to vote along ethnic lines. Kenyatta is widely seen as the candidate of the Kikuyu people, the country's largest ethnic group. Odinga is associated with the Luo voting bloc, which has never produced a head of state. There were six other presidential candidates, though they lack the wide support of the top two.

The winner of the presidential race must get more than 50 percent of the votes as well as one-quarter or more votes in at least 24 of Kenya's 47 counties, according to officials. If the front-runner falls short of those benchmarks, the two top contenders will contest a runoff vote.

Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who is the chief election observer for The Carter Center, described Tuesday's vote as "an inspiring day in Kenya watching democracy in action." "Enthusiastic voters not fazed by long lines," he tweeted.

NKorea nukes, missiles top concerns in Japan defense review

August 08, 2017

TOKYO (AP) — The threat to Japan from North Korea has reached a "new stage" now that the country is capable of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile and its nuclear weapons program has advanced, a defense ministry report said Tuesday.

North Korea was the main concern cited as Japan's Cabinet approved the report, less than two weeks after the North test-fired a second ICBM that analysts say has a range that could include more of the U.S. mainland, including Los Angeles and Chicago.

The security review came just a week after Itsunori Onodera, who was defense minister in 2012-2014, resumed that job when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe revamped his Cabinet after a slew of politically costly scandals.

Onodera told reporters Friday he planned to update Japan's defense guidelines to reflect the threat from the North, suggesting he may seek an offensive missile capability. "North Korea's missile launches have escalated tensions both in terms of quality and quantity. I would like to study if our current missile defense is sufficient just with the Aegis destroyers and (surface-to-air) PAC 3," said Onodera, who headed a ruling party study in March that called for beefing up Japan's missile response capability.

The ICBM North Korea tested July 30 flew on a highly lofted trajectory and landed about 200 kilometers (120 miles) off Japan's Hokkaido island. North Korea has been increasing the range, accuracy and versatility of its missiles and diversifying its launch sites and methods. It has conducted two nuclear tests and more than 20 missile launches over the past year alone, exceeding the total of 16 missiles launched over 18 years under former leader Kim Jong Il, the report said.

"North Korea's development of ballistic missiles and its nuclear program are becoming increasingly real and imminent problems for the Asia-Pacific region including Japan, as well as the rest of the world," it said.

The 532-page defense report also raised concerns over China's ongoing assertiveness in air and maritime activity in the regional seas, and raised concerns about the lack of transparency in the country's military buildup with its budget tripling over the past decade.

While North Korea's intentions are mainly to put the mainland U.S. in range, its weapons advancements have furthered Abe's effort to beef up the role of Japan's military and its missile defenses. Joint exercises with its ally the U.S., also, have dramatically increased. The Defense Ministry already plans to acquire upgraded ship-to-air interceptors SM-3 Block IIAs and mobile PAC-3 MSEs, which would double the coverage area of Japan's current defenses.

The defense report was originally meant to be issued Aug. 1, but that was delayed by the Cabinet reshuffle. Days before that, defense minister Tomomi Inada stepped down after admitting that ministry officials had covered up information about dangers faced by Japanese peacekeeping troops while they were stationed in South Sudan.

The rise in regional tensions with both China and North Korea has raised the level of alert in Japan. Despite Onodera's comments, the ministry's report did not mention the possibility of installing more advanced defense systems such as the land-based Aegis Ashore or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missiles, or THAAD, or allowing Japan's self-defense-only troops to conduct retaliatory attacks as proposed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The THAAD system was deployed last year in South Korea, much to the irritation of China, which has opposed the installation of systems that it suspects could be used to conduct surveillance from outside its borders.

In the East China Sea, China has stepped up activity around Japanese-controlled islands claimed by both countries, expanding to the south and also elsewhere along the Japanese coast, the Defense Ministry report said.

Increased Chinese activity in the East China Sea prompted Japanese air defense troops to scramble against Chinese military aircraft a record 851 times during fiscal 2016, up from 571 times the year before.

"China, particularly when it comes to maritime issues where its interests conflict with others, continues to act in a coercive manner," the report said. It expressed "strong concern" over China's behavior and its impact on regional security.