Category: Politics

President Emmanuel Macron was named the winner of France’s runoff election against far-right rival Marine Le Pen on Sunday.

The two candidates held sharply different views, not only on domestic issues, but also on France’s role in Europe, NATO and the rest of the world.

During his acceptance speech, Macron said, “Many in this country voted for me not because they support my ideas but to keep out those of the far-right. I want to thank them and know I owe them a debt in the years to come.”

With 97% of votes counted, Macron was on course for a solid 57.4% of the vote, interior ministry figures showed, Reuters reported.

U.S. President Joe Biden tweeted congratulations to Macron, saying he looked forward to “continued close cooperation” with the French leader.

Other European leaders sent good wishes, too, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who tweeted in French, saying, “I’m convinced that we will advance together toward new joint victories. Toward a strong and united Europe!”

Sunday’s presidential election runoff may have been decided in towns like Pantin, which didn’t vote for either Macron or Le Pen in the first round. Nearly six in 10 voters instead backed far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who didn’t endorse either finalist for this second round, although he told supporters not to vote for Le Pen.

“I think we have to save the country, so I went for Macron,” said 38-year-old marketing consultant Fatime.

Like many French, she was underwhelmed by the two finalists.

“I’m not especially happy about Macron and not so happy about Le Pen… if Marine do[es] pass, I’m scared it’s going to cause a civil war or something like that,” she said.

This was the second presidential runoff pitting Macron against Le Pen. But when he ran against the far-right candidate five years ago, Macron was a newcomer who promised change. Now, he’s a known quantity who has received mixed reviews from the electorate over his handling of issues like the environment and the economy.

Pantin resident Emmanuel Codjia says he voted for Le Pen. He says there are fundamental things he believes in — like French culture and heritage and the country’s future. Codjia says this is the first time he has voted far-right, and he doesn’t agree with all of Le Pen’s platform. He also says he doesn’t think she’ll be elected. It’s more a vote, he says, to make a point.

Codjia says since his family, coming from West Africa, fought hard to become French, he believes it’s important to vote rather than abstain.

This was Le Pen’s third presidential bid. She had softened her image, emphasizing cost-of-living issues and walking back on previous positions like a call to ban Muslim headscarves from public spaces.

Le Pen and Macron offered sharply different positions on domestic and foreign policy during their only debate last Wednesday. Le Pen wants to move away from renewable energy and reduce France’s participation in bodies like the European Union and NATO.

“I voted for our actual president, Mr. Macron,” said retiree Benedicte Tardivo. She said she was afraid of a Le Pen presidency, and she’s positive about Macron.

Pantin resident Jean-Emmanuel Sanchez said, “I’m not an expert, but in several aims he did a very good job for France having an important place in the world, among Europe. Our voice is listened to all over the world. And for France he has to do more than he did during five years. For all difference and inequalities between people… but… I’m confident he could improve and go further in his job he did until now.”

He won’t say whom he voted for — only that he made what he called a “strategic” choice. He describes Macron’s term in office, marked by crises like the yellow vest protests over economic issues, as a very violent period. He says Le Pen represents a danger. He feels he hadn’t been given much choice.

So, this election’s winner faces a tough road ahead. Even before the votes are counted, many French were already disappointed in the outcome.

Source: Voice of America

Every year on Earth Day — April 22 — people come together to raise awareness about environmental problems. And this year they will focus on accelerating the transition to a prosperous green economy.

During the event, also known as International Mother Earth Day, some 1 billion people in 190 countries take part in activities that often include planting trees, removing litter from land and water sites, and educating others about the environment.

As curtailing climate change remains at the forefront of the global environmental agenda, Earth Day this year focuses on a business aspect of that goal: investing in our planet.

More businesses need to be pulled into the effort to safeguard the planet, especially to fight climate change, according to the Washington-based nonprofit Earthday.org.

According to the Earthday.org website, “Smart companies are discovering that they no longer have the choice between going green and growing long term profits — sustainability is the path to prosperity.”

“If you want to solve climate change, follow the money, because the money is overwhelmingly moving into technological solutions, research and development, all of which are green,” Earthday.org President Kathleen Rogers told VOA in an interview.

Oil and gas companies that rely on fossil fuels are feeling the pressure.

Companies that don’t go green face a “giant risk,” Rogers cautioned, because the outcry to curb fossil fuels continues to grow.

Climate scientist Michael Mann at Pennsylvania State University agreed, saying that “the transition towards clean energy is already happening.”

“The great revolution of this century is clean energy, and those energy companies that embrace clean renewable energy are going to prosper in the long term,” he told VOA.

Rogers noted, however, that while some companies “may not be extracting oil for carbon,” they are using fossil fuels to make plastic, another environmental hazard.

Most plastic — bags, bottles, containers, etc. — is not recycled, Rogers said. Instead, it ends up taking space in landfills or floating in the oceans.

“There are devastating impacts from the use of plastic,” Rogers said. Wildlife sometimes mistake it for food, and research has shown that tiny plastic particles have been found in human blood, she added.

“Today we are as aware of the dangers of plastic as we are of climate change,” Rogers said, so it is important to find a substitute for plastic.

Earth Day comes on the heels of a United Nations climate panel report, released earlier this month, that said worldwide carbon emissions increased by 12% over the past decade. Despite that gloomy picture, it’s possible to curtail climate change if governments act now, the report said.

But many people wonder when that will happen, as many governments have stalled on the issue.

“Stop placing the burden on individuals to solve the problem, and put more of the burden where it belongs, on governments and companies,” Rogers said.

And that includes Africa, which suffers from environmental problems such as air pollution, water scarcity and the loss of biodiversity.

“Every country is facing the effects of the climate crisis” even though the continent’s global emissions only range between 2 to 3 percent, explained Derrick Mugisha, an environmental scientist and regional director in Africa for Earthday.org. African leaders must step up and “minimize excuses to reverse the trends of environmental degradation.”

“In Asia, increased global warming due to climate change can no longer be ignored,” noted Karuna Singh, Earth Day’s regional director for Asia. The changing weather patterns can cause food insecurity and loss of biodiversity and compel people to become “environmental refugees,” she said.

India, with its dependence on fossil fuels, creates some of the worst air pollution in the world, she said. And the Indian government has recognized the gloomy findings and initiated a process to have experts suggest strategies that will accelerate solutions.

For Mann, Earth Day is also a reminder that polluters who deny climate change are no longer credible.

There has been a carefully orchestrated “deflection campaign by polluters to convince us that it’s all on us,” he said. But “70% of carbon pollution comes from just 100 polluters like fossil fuel companies and oil companies,” he added.

Denis Hayes, the organizer of the first Earth Day in 1970, told VOA the event is just as viable today as it was 52 years ago.

“It’s not just about picking up litter, but finding various remedies to combat climate change, including more efficient renewable power and greener transportation methods. It’s about building a world that is livable for our children.”

Source: Voice of America

The French military has accused Russian mercenaries of creating a mass grave and falsely blaming it on the French.

The French Army says it has drone video, seen by news agencies Associated Press and Agence France-Presse, of Russian mercenaries burying bodies near Gossi, Mali, where the French army withdrew from a military base this week.

Video of what appears to be a similar location circulated Thursday on Twitter, showing a blurred image of what are alleged to be bodies buried in the sand. The accompanying Twitter message says the departing French army left that scene behind in Gossi.

Speaking to AFP and AP, the French Army said the mercenaries created the site to circulate images and blame the French army to stoke anti-French sentiment in Mali.

The drone video was reportedly captured Thursday morning, but the French army left Gossi on Tuesday. France recently said it would withdraw its troops from Mali in a operation expected to take four to six months.

A Twitter account named “Dia Diarra” posted a video Thursday, including what appears to be bodies partially buried in the sand, with the caption, “This is what the French left behind when they left the base at Gossi. These are excerpts from a video that was taken after they left! We cannot keep silent about this!”

“Dia Darra” claims to be a Malian veteran and “patriot” and posts mostly pro-Malian military and pro-Russia content. The original profile photo used for the account could also be seen on the Russian social media website VK on an account of a man believed to be located in Colombia.

After that was pointed out by several Twitter users, the profile picture was changed to a photo of Malian President Assimi Goita. The account has been active since January 2022.

Many governments have accused the Malian army of working with mercenaries from the Russian company the Wagner Group which, critics say, has close ties to the Russian government.

Mali’s government denies the allegation, saying it works only with “Russian instructors.”

In March, Human Rights Watch reported that residents of Moura, in central Mali, said that hundreds of civilians were killed by the Malian army while working with “white soldiers,” who spoke a language not familiar to them.

VOA spoke to a man who saw 12 to 15 men killed and witnessed both Malian and white soldiers in the village during the five-day operation.

Source: Voice of America

Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble declared Ambassador Francisco Madeira, the African Union chair’s special representative for Somalia, persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within 48 hours.

In a late-night statement, Roble accused Madeira of “engaging in acts that are incompatible with his status.”

Roble requested that the AU Commission recall Madeira and “comply with this request.”

But Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, also known as Farmaajo, immediately rejected the expulsion in what appears to be another dispute between the country’s top leaders. In a statement, the president said that he had not authorized any action against Madeira. He also had not received any reports from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Madeira committing acts against the sovereignty of the country, he said.

The president said the decision to expel Madeira was issued by an office that didn’t have sole responsibility for making such a crucial decision. Madeira could not be immediately reached for comment.

Madeira, who is from Mozambique, was appointed to the office in October 2015. He is not the first foreign diplomat to be expelled from Somalia.

Simon Mulongo, Madeira’s deputy, was expelled in November.

In January 2019, the Somalia government declared former United Nations envoy to Somalia Nicholas Haysom persona non grata for “violating protocols” and interfering in Somalia’s affairs.

Haysom’s expulsion from Somalia came after he had asked the government whether U.N.-supported forces were involved in the shooting of demonstrators in Baidoa in December 2018.

The shooting, which led to the death of about a dozen people, occurred as violence broke out following the arrest of former deputy al-Shabab leader Mukhtar Robow, also known as Abu Mansour, to block him from seeking election for regional leadership.

Before his expulsion, Haysom demanded answers from the Somali government on the legal basis for the arrest of Robow, who remains in detention. In an exclusive interview with VOA in October last year, Robow said he was being held for political reasons and to prevent him from seeking office.

New AU mission

The move to expel Madeira came just days after the U.N. Security Council authorized a new AU Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) to operate in the country until the end of 2024. ATMIS replaces the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

The U.N. mandate gives ATMIS forces to reduce the threat posed by al-Shabab, support the capacity-building of the integrated Somali security and police forces, and conduct a phased handover of security responsibilities to Somalia, according to the resolution.

ATMIS will have 19,626 troops, including at least 1,040 police personnel. It will operate in the country until December 2022, when it be reduced by 2,000 troops. The reduction of troops will continue in September 2023 and again in June 2024 by 2,000 troops each time until the mission ends in December 2024.

Under the new arrangement, the Somali government also commits to assuming security responsibilities from AU forces. The Somali government is required to generate more than 22,825 forces by June 2024 to take over from ATMIS.

In the first official statement by the Somali government, Roble announced Wednesday night that he welcomed the new ATMIS mission and looked forward to working with the new mission head.

But security experts say there is little difference between AMISOM and ATMIS.

“To me, (it’s) just a name change exercise,” said Samira Gaid, who oversaw Somali security reform under former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire. “Nothing substantive has changed, meaning the troop numbers, the composition of countries, and the sectors they are located at, their mandate remains largely the same, fighting AS (al-Shabab) and supporting FGS (Federal Government of Somalia).”

Gaid, now the executive director of Hiraal Institute, a security think tank, said that she believed the Somali government could generate forces before the ATMIS withdrawal but that there was uncertainty over equipping the forces.

“The Somali government does not have an issue with force generation. It has an issue with force sustainment, and that remains the main issue,” she said. “The forces can be generated, but without the required lethal and nonlethal support, transition will still be unlikely.”

Source: Voice of America

SAN FRANCISCO — The presidents of China and the United States discussed Taiwan during a video call last week, prompting suggestions that Beijing may be seeking a trade-off in response to U.S. President Joe Biden’s demand that his counterpart Xi Jinping withhold material support for Russian’s war effort in Ukraine.

The subject of appeared in public summaries of the discussion released by both sides. The U.S. readout mentioned Taiwan once, whereas the Chinese readout brought it up four times.

“To put it together, it somewhat shows that the United States wants to please China in exchange for something – literally [the] Ukraine situation and try to convince China not do anything stupid with Russia,” said Alexander Huang, strategic studies professor at Tamkang University in Taiwan.

China has claimed self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s, when Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists lost to Mao Zedong’s Communists and rebased their government in Taipei. Beijing has not dropped the threat of force, if needed, to unite the two sides.

Since mid-2020, it has flown military planes over part of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone almost daily. The Chinese Navy has been passing ships through a widening swath of the world’s waterways, especially in Asia and in the strait west of Taiwan.

Biden said the U.S. government “does not support ‘Taiwan independence’” or intend to seek conflict with China, according to Xi’s summary of remarks from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “I take these remarks very seriously,” Xi was quoted as saying.

“What’s worth noting in particular is that some people in the U.S. have sent a wrong signal to ‘Taiwan independence’ forces,” Xinhua added. Xi called the signals “very dangerous.”

Former U.S. president Donald Trump had stepped up sales of weapons to Taiwan and increased the frequency of high-level visits to the island as he challenged China on issues from trade to military expansion around Asia.

Any U.S. “mishandling” of Taiwan will “have a disruptive impact on the bilateral ties,” Xi added.

Biden said U.S. policy on Taiwan had not changed and that the United States “continues to oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo,” according to a White House statement.

That statement repeats a standing U.S. policy of supporting Taiwan’s current self-rule without declaring formal independence from China. The policy discourages China from unilaterally forcing its goal of unifying the two sides.

“Their differences are here, and it’s obvious, but the fact that they’re talking — it’s actually good, and I think they can find some common ground despite the differences,” said Eduardo Araral, associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s public policy school.

Biden warned Xi on the call not to provide material support to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, after the U.S. president’s top diplomat said Washington believed Beijing was willing to offer support to Moscow.

“Of course, the starting point for America’s interests was hoping that China will not help Russia, but this does constitute Biden’s main rationale,” said Chao Chien-min, dean of social sciences at Chinese Cultural University in Taipei.

Biden may be trying to cement a stronger long-term relationship with old Cold War foe China, Chao said.

Sino-US relations

The China and U.S. statements both say Biden and Xi asked their teams to follow up after the video call but did not give specifics about how they should do that.

More senior-level dialogue is likely, analysts say, pointing to the call last Friday that followed a Biden-Xi video meeting in November.

While the calls signal stability in Sino-U.S. ties, experts see low odds of the two countries advancing toward any stronger friendship. Both are minding their domestic political landscapes, Huang said, and they lack conditions for further easing of tensions between the two countries.

It’s not clear yet whether China will distance itself from Russia in the month-old war that Moscow launched against Ukraine almost a month ago, some note.

“I do not think [the Friday call] will have any impact on current Sino-U.S. relations,” said Nguyen Thanh Trung, director of the Center for International Studies at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City. He forecast that “China is not willing to sacrifice benefits from possible warm-again Sino-U.S. ties for Russia.”

Source: Voice of America

Maputo, At least seven people died as Tropical Cyclone Gombe made early morning landfall in Mozambique on Friday packing wind speeds exceeding 200 kmh (125 mph) that pummelled north and central areas of the country, President Filipe Nyusi said.

The southern African country has been struggling to recover from a series of devastating cyclones that have killed scores of people and displaced thousands, Reuters said.

Nyusi, speaking to reporters during a visit to South Africa, said: “I have briefed President Ramaphosa on the Gombe tropical storm affecting Mozambique since 2 a.m. today. Seven people were killed across Nampula province due to fallen houses and other infrastructure (collapsing).”

He said the storm’s initial damage was in Nampula in Mozambique’s northeast. The World Meteorological Organisation said Gombe made landfall as an intense category-3 cyclone, predicting “devastating winds, rainfall and storm surge”.

“Winds have weakened but the heavy rains bring a threat of flooding in Mozambique and southern Malawi for several days,” the WMO said in a tweet.

According to the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, category 3 denotes cyclones with one-minute, maximum sustained winds of between 178 kmh and 207 kmh.

State broadcaster TVM and private channels aired footage showing fallen trees and poorly built clay adobe homes with roofs ripped off by fierce winds. Heavy rains were also causing flooding in low-lying areas, authorities said.

Tropical Storm Ana killed at least 88 people across southern and eastern Africa in January, the most recent severe storm to hit a southern African region where millions of impoverished people are facing volatile weather conditions blamed on rising temperatures and climate change.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Manama, National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR)’s President Ali Ahmed Al Derazi received the International Peace Institute Middle East and North Africa Region (IPI,MENA) Director Najib Friji.

The meeting discussed issues of common interest, and ways to enhance cooperation in education and training related to human rights, and exchanging expertise to support the efforts to strengthen the human rights system in Bahrain.

Friji valued the institution’s efforts to promote and develop a culture of human rights in the Kingdom and stressed the IPI’s readiness to cooperate to support their efforts and achieve desired goals.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Iran is “in a hurry” to strike a new nuclear accord as long as its national interests are protected, its foreign minister said on Monday as Tehran and the United States resumed indirect talks on salvaging Tehran’s 2015 agreement with world powers.

The talks, with European intermediaries shuttling between the two, have been held in Vienna since April amid growing Western fears about Tehran’s accelerating nuclear advances, seen by Western powers as irreversible unless a deal is struck soon.

The 2015 deal limited Iran’s enrichment of uranium to make it harder for Tehran to develop material for nuclear weapons, in return for a lifting of international sanctions against Tehran.

But it has eroded since 2018 when then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States and reimposed far-reaching sanctions on Iran. The Islamic Republic has since breached the deal’s limits and gone well beyond, rebuilding stockpiles of enriched uranium, refining it to higher fissile purity and installing advanced centrifuges to speed up output.

“Iran is in a hurry to reach agreement in Vienna…, but this should be within the framework of our national interest,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told a news conference in Tehran.

He urged Western powers to stop “playing with time.”

Western leaders say time is running out for a viable accord and have accusing Iran of stalling to increase its leverage.

Parties involved in the talks, which resumed last week after a 10-day break, have voiced hope about restoring the pact despite what Tehran has said are “key outstanding issues that require political decisions by the West.”

“Talks are not at a dead end…Iran has already taken its political decision by staying in the deal despite the U.S. withdrawal,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.

Remaining gaps

A senior Iranian official told Reuters that “some 30% of difficult issues remain to be resolved but it is possible to reach a deal by early March.” A Western diplomat said “reaching a deal is possible around early March, if all goes well.”

After eight rounds of talks, key bones of contention include Iran’s demand for a U.S. guarantee of no more sanctions or other punitive steps in future, and how and when to restore verifiable restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activity.

A second Iranian official said Tehran was also insisting on being able to seal and store its advanced centrifuges inside Iran, rather than dismantling and sending them abroad, as Western powers have called for.

He said Iran further wants the removal of some 300 extra sanctions on Iranian entities and individuals not related to the nuclear deal.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has said it will remove curbs inconsistent with the 2015 pact if Iran resumes compliance with it, implying Washington would leave in place sanctions imposed under terrorism or human rights measures.

U.S. officials have said the Biden administration cannot guarantee that a U.S. government would never renege on the agreement because it is classified as a non-binding political understanding, not a legally binding treaty.

 

Source: Voice of America

JAQUEVILLE, IVORY COAST — Burkina Faso’s junta leader Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba has been sworn in as president Wednesday, less than a month after mutinous soldiers seized control of the West African country in a coup.

The inauguration ceremony at the Constitutional Court was broadcast nationally. Addressing the nation on state television after taking the oath, Damiba paid tribute to the security forces and the country’s population who he said have been facing threats from extremism for more than six years.

“I swear in front of the people of Burkina Faso and on my honor, to preserve and respect, to uphold and defend the constitution, fundamental acts and the law, to do everything to guarantee justice for all the inhabitants of Burkina Faso,” he said. “Our country has always been strong during storms. That’s why these tough times must be for us an opportunity to get to better horizons.”

Damiba seized power promising to secure the war-torn country from growing jihadi violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group that’s killed thousands and displaced more than 1.5 million people. Since taking control, Damiba has met with security forces, civil society, diplomats and politicians, but hasn’t set a timeline for the transition to elections, something the international community has said must be done as soon as possible.

When military regimes take power the return to democratic, civilian rule can be lengthy and uncertain, say conflict experts.

“Military regimes will often delay the transition back to civilian rule and will work to retain some form of political influence in the background in order to ascertain that their interests are maintained,” said Alexandre Raymakers, senior Africa analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a risk consultancy.

“Considering the deteriorating security situation in Burkina Faso, the new military led government will likely argue that the security situation will not allow for a comprehensive electoral process to be held, thus delaying a return to civilian rule,” he said.

Even though Damiba’s had wide popular support since taking control, some locals say they don’t support the Constitutional Council’s decision to let him assume the presidency because he wasn’t democratically elected. “We don’t understand this at all, how things can go like this? The Constitutional Council inaugurates presidents who come to power through elections … It’s like they’re saying it’s legal to have a coup in Burkina Faso,” said Oumar Cisse a resident in the Sahel’s hard-hit Dori town, speaking to the AP by phone.

One European diplomat who was not authorized to speak to the media, told the AP that if they had been invited to the ceremony, European countries would have sent lower ranking officials rather than ambassadors to make a point that the constitution wasn’t respected. The international community has condemned the coup.

The United States paused $450 million in assistance for its Millennium Challenge Corporation, an independent U.S. agency that provides grants and assistance to countries that meet standards for good governance. Within the continent, the West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS and the African Union have suspended Burkina Faso, but stopped short of imposing sanctions. They’re calling for the immediate release of former President Roch Marc Christian Kabore who’s been under house arrest in the capital, Ouagadougou, since his ouster.

Still most people, worried by the conflict with extremists, are hoping Damiba will be able to stem the violence. But the 41-year-old leader has yet to articulate a plan for how he will secure Burkina Faso better than the previous regime. Some mutinous soldiers not authorized to speak to the media said the junta is willing to work with anyone who can help in their fight against the jihadis, which could also include negotiating with the groups but only after military gains are made.

Recently there have been some successes. Earlier this month more than 40 jihadis were killed during joint operations with France and Burkina Faso’s army, the French military said in a statement. France has several thousand troops in West Africa’s Sahel region, but until now has had minimal involvement in Burkina Faso compared with Niger or Mali.

Source: Voice of America