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Kremlin Critic Alexei Navalny’s Spokeswoman Leaves Russia

Zoe Maven
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6
Kremlin Critic Alexei Navalny’s Spokeswoman Leaves Russia

Kira Yarmysh, the spokeswoman for jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, has left Russia, the Interfax news agency reported on Monday, citing two anonymous sources.

One of the sources said Yarmysh has flown to the Finnish capital Helsinki. Yarmysh did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

A Russian court imposed 18 months of restrictions on her freedom of movement earlier this month, after finding her guilty of breaching COVID-19 safety rules.

Russian authorities have cracked down hard on the opposition before a parliamentary election next month, and many of Navalny’s most prominent allies have left Russia rather than face restrictions or jail at home.

The court ruling banned Yarmysh from leaving her home at night, from taking part in rallies, and from changing her home address without first notifying prison authorities.

She was found guilty of breaching COVID-19 safety rules over what police said was an illegal protest in support of Navalny last winter. She has said the charge was politically motivated and has appealed.

Navalny is serving 2-1/2 years in jail for parole violations in an embezzlement case he says was trumped up. Navalny’s allies accuse the authorities of using the law to crush dissenting voices.

Haiti’s Hunger Crisis Bites Deeper After Devastating Quake

Zoe Maven
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0
Haiti’s Hunger Crisis Bites Deeper After Devastating Quake

In a tent encampment in the mountains of southern Haiti, where hundreds of villagers sought shelter after a powerful earthquake flattened their homes this month, a single charred cob of corn was the only food in sight.

In Nan Konsey, the earth’s convulsions tore open the village’s cement cisterns used to store drinking water and triggered landslides that interred residents’ modest subsistence farms.

Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has long had one of the world’s highest levels of food insecurity. Last year, Haiti ranked 104 out of the 107 countries on the Global Hunger Index. By September, the United Nations said 4 million Haitians – 42% of the population – faced acute food insecurity.

This month’s earthquake has exacerbated the crisis: destroying crops and livestock, leveling markets, contaminating waterways used as sources of drinking water, and damaging bridges and roads crucial to reaching villages like Nan Konsey.

The number of people in urgent need of food assistance in the three department’s hardest-hit by the earthquake – Sud, Grand’Anse and Nippes – has increased by one-third since the quake, from 138,000 to 215,000, according to the World Food Programme (WFP).

Haiti was largely food self-sufficient until the 1980s, when at the encouragement of the United States it started loosening restrictions on crop imports and lowered tariffs.

A subsequent flood of surplus U.S. crops put droves of Haitian farmers out of business and contributed to investment in the sector tailing off.

Former Ambassador Joins State Department’s Iran Team

Zoe Maven
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0
Former Ambassador Joins State Department’s Iran Team

Former US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro has joined the State Department’s Iran team as a senior adviser, according to a senior State Department official.

The appointment is significant given that Israel is pressing the Biden administration to start discussing a “Plan B” in case diplomacy with Iran fails.

Shapiro, who has a personal relationship with many Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, is equipped to play a key role in any such talks

His portfolio will be the regional aspects of the Iranian issue and coordination with Israel, according to Ravid’s report.

Shapiro was in Washington ahead of the Biden-Bennett meeting and advised the State Department on several issues, though he did not meet the Israeli delegation, a source familiar with the issue said.

State Department officials say Shapiro will spend half of his time in Washington and half in Israel, where he’ll work out of the US embassy.

One of his main missions will be to engage in discussions with the Prime Minister’s office, foreign ministry and ministry of defense to enhance coordination and allow a more intimate dialogue about Iran.

Iran has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 deal in response to Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement in May of 2018, but has been holding indirect talks with the US on a return to the deal.

While the Islamic Republic has been holding indirect talks with the Biden administration on a return to the agreement, it recently paused the talks and announced they will not resume before the new Iranian government takes office.

New Orleans Loses Power As Hurricane Ida Batters Louisiana

Zoe Maven
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0
New Orleans Loses Power As Hurricane Ida Batters Louisiana

Powerful Hurricane Ida battered the southern US state of Louisiana, leaving at least one dead and knocking out power for more than a million people, including the whole of New Orleans.

Ida slammed into the Louisiana coast as a Category 4 storm on Sunday, 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, but had weakened to a tropical storm early Monday.

The storm knocked out power for all of New Orleans, with more than a million customers across Louisiana without power, according to outage tracker PowerOutage.US.

New Orleans mayor LaToya Cantrell said on Twitter that they have now lost power, citywide! This is the time to continue to remain in your safe places. It isn’t a time to venture out.

Electricity provider Entergy said it was providing back-up power to New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board, which operates the pumping stations used to control flooding.

The National Weather Service issued warnings of storm surges and flash floods for several areas, including the town of Jean Lafitte, just south of New Orleans, where mayor Tim Kerner said the rapidly rising waters had overtopped the 7.5-foot-high (2.3-meter) levees.

Several residents of LaPlace, just upstream from New Orleans, posted appeals for help on social media, saying they were trapped by rising flood waters.

President Joe Biden, who described Ida as “a life-threatening storm,” declared a major disaster for Louisiana, which gives it access to federal aid.

Throughout Sunday showers and strong winds swept New Orleans’ deserted streets, buffeting boarded-up windows at businesses and homes surrounded by sandbags.

France, UK Seek Kabul ‘Safe Zone’ For Humanitarian Aid

Zoe Maven
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0
France, UK Seek Kabul ‘Safe Zone’ For Humanitarian Aid

The five permanent members of the United Nation’s Security Council – France, Britain, the United States, Russia and China, on Monday meet to discuss the creation of a “safe zone” in Kabul to be put in place after the US completes its withdrawal on August 31.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced the proposal on Sunday, saying it “would provide a framework for the United Nations to act in an emergency”, and allow the international community “to maintain pressure on the Taliban”, who are now in power in Afghanistan.

Macron’s comments came as international efforts to airlift foreign national and vulnerable Afghans draw to a close.

France ended its evacuation efforts on Friday, Britain did so on Saturday and the United States is set to complete its withdrawal on Tuesday.

But News Analysts say there are no practical details, the Airport to be used is not known, which regional countries would be used, and crucially, who will guarantee security?”

Another big issue is how the UN will be able to persuade the Taliban to agree to such a safe zone.

Many of the same people that worked with the West and who now feel threatened by the Taliban “are exactly the people that the Taliban wants to keep in Afghanistan, because they don’t want a brain-drain”.

However, the “safe zone” proposal has already been rejected by the Taliban’s spokesperson Suhail Shaheen.

Shaheen told Newsmen on Sunday that there was no need for a safe zone as Afghans in possession of a passport and a visa would be able to travel freely after August 31.

EU Seeks To Stop Mass Afghanistan Migration Flows

Zoe Maven
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0
EU Seeks To Stop Mass Afghanistan Migration Flows

European Union states are determined to prevent uncontrolled migration from Afghanistan following the takeover of the country by the Taliban, a draft statement prepared for a meeting on Tuesday says.

EU governments are eager to avoid a repeat of the chaotic influx of refugees and migrants in 2015 that caught the bloc unprepared and sowed divisions among them, fuelling support for far-right parties as camps in Greece, Italy and elsewhere swelled.

The Draft statement says, “Based on lessons learned, the EU and its member states stand determined to act jointly to prevent the recurrence of uncontrolled large-scale illegal migration movements faced in the past, by preparing a coordinated and orderly response.’

The position emerged as the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR warned that up to half a million Afghans could flee their homeland by the end of the year.

Thousands of Afghans have been evacuated in a massive airlift mounted by Western forces following the Taliban’s seizure of the capital Kabul on Aug.15. But as the operation winds down, many have been left behind to an uncertain fate under the rule of the hardline Islamist group.

The UNHCR appealed for support on Monday, saying “a larger crisis is just beginning” for Afghanistan’s 39 million people.

Filippo Grandi, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, reiterated a call for borders to remain open and for more countries to share responsibility with Iran and Pakistan, which already host 2.2 million Afghans.

At Tuesday’s emergency meeting in Brussels, the EU ministers will also reiterate the bloc’s promise to give more money for Afghanistan as well as surrounding countries, although delivering aid had become more complicated since the Taliban took control, EU officials said.

Lawyers Seek ICC Probe Into Alleged War Crimes In Yemen

Zoe Maven
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0
Lawyers Seek ICC Probe Into Alleged War Crimes In Yemen

Human rights lawyers representing hundreds of victims of Yemen’s civil war are calling on the International Criminal Court to open an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition during the devastating conflict.

British lawyer Toby Cadman filed the request Monday, highlighting three separate incidents which include an August 2018 airstrike that destroyed a school bus and killed dozens; a missile attack in October 2016 that killed at least 110 people; and allegations of torture and murder of civilians being held in prisons in the south of Yemen.

The filing came a day after a missile and drone attack, blamed on the Houthi rebels, on a key military base in Yemen’s south killed at least 30 troops.

The civil war in Yemen erupted in 2014, when the Iranian-backed Houthis swept across much of the north and seized the capital, Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government into exile.

The Saudi-led coalition entered the war the following year on the side of the government. All sides are accused of atrocities in the yearslong conflict.

Lawyer Almudena Bernabeu, representing victims of the school bus attack, said that the coalition said it would investigate the deadly strike and bring those responsible to justice.

Yemen is not a member state of the court and nor are key coalition members Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. However, in a 212-page written submission, the lawyers argue that the court should exercise jurisdiction because some members of the coalition are ICC member states.

A written submission filed by the lawyers says Jordan deployed fighter jets to the coalition, Senegal provided troops, while the Maldives supported it diplomatically.

Trial Of Olympic Sheikh On Forgery Charges Opens In Geneva

Zoe Maven
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0
Trial Of Olympic Sheikh On Forgery Charges Opens In Geneva

The trial opened Monday of an influential Olympic official accused of forgery in an alleged plot that implicated political rivals in Kuwait in a coup attempt.

Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah has been publicly sidelined as an IOC member and president of the global group of national Olympic bodies, known as ANOC, after he was indicted in November 2018.

The sheikh attended court Monday alongside three of the other four defendants: a Kuwaiti former aide and Geneva-based lawyers from Bulgaria and Ukraine. A fifth defendant, an English lawyer, was not in court.

They face charges relating to arranging an arbitration case in Geneva in 2014 to authenticate video evidence that was allegedly manipulated.

Prosecutors in Geneva — a hub for international arbitration cases — accuse Sheikh Ahmad of being key to staging a false hearing to create the impression that video footage circulating on social media was genuine.

If proven authentic, the video would have implicated a former prime minister of Kuwait, Sheikh Nasser al-Sabah, in financial and political wrongdoing.

Long known as the kingmaker of Olympic elections, Sheikh Ahmad’s influence grew when winning the ANOC leadership election in 2012 and a year later he was an ally helping Thomas Bach win the IOC presidency.

Sheikh Ahmad denied wrongdoing ahead of a trial postponed in February that is now scheduled for seven days at Geneva’s Tribunal Correctionnel.

The verdict of three judges is expected Friday week and the defendants face jail sentences of up to five years.

The trial opened six years after a criminal complaint was filed on behalf of Sheikh Nasser, the former prime minister, and Jassim al-Kharafi, the former speaker of the Kuwaiti parliament, who has since died.

Merkel’s Would-Be Heir Seeks Rebound After Election Debate

Zoe Maven
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0
Merkel’s Would-Be Heir Seeks Rebound After Election Debate

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s struggling would-be heir on Monday hit back at suggestions that a center-left rival is better qualified for the job after a televised debate four weeks ahead of Germany’s election failed to give him a clear breakthrough.

Armin Laschet, the chancellor candidate from Merkel’s center-right Union bloc, insisted that he was “not at all” frustrated by a poll following Sunday night’s debate.

It showed most viewers picking center-left Social Democrat Olaf Scholz as the winner of the event, followed by environmentalist Green contender Annalena Baerbock and then Laschet.

The mass-circulation Bild daily’s front page proclaimed it a “clear victory for Scholz on TV” and a “debate debacle for Laschet.”

The race for Germany’s Sept. 26 parliamentary election, which has been marked by missteps first by Baerbock and then Laschet, is too close to call.

Recent polls show Laschet’s Union bloc, which long enjoyed a lead, level with or even slightly behind Scholz’s long-moribund Social Democrats, with the Greens a few points back.

Merkel, Germany’s leader since 2005, chose not to run. She said nearly three years ago that she wouldn’t seek a fifth term.

The experienced and unflappable Scholz, the vice chancellor and finance minister in Merkel’s outgoing coalition government, has seen his personal ratings rise in surveys that suggest many voters aren’t impressed with the choices for chancellor that they face.

When asked at a news conference about the positive reviews of Scholz’s performance Laschet said, “Let’s let voters decide what they think is chancellor-like,”.

UN Hails End Of Poisonous Leaded Gas Use In Cars Worldwide

Zoe Maven
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0
UN Hails End Of Poisonous Leaded Gas Use In Cars Worldwide

The U.N. environment office on Monday said leaded gasoline has finally reached the end of the road, after the last country in the world to use it stopped selling the highly toxic fuel.

Algeria halted the sale of leaded gas last month, prompting the U.N. Environment Agency to declare the “official end” of its use in cars, which has been blamed for a wide range of human health problems.

UNEP’s executive director, Inger Andersen, said in a statement that the successful enforcement of the ban on leaded petrol is a huge milestone for global health and our environment.

Petroleum containing tetraethyllead, a form of lead, was first sold almost 100 years ago to increase engine performance. It was widely used for decades until researchers discovered that it could cause heart disease, strokes and brain damage.

UNEP cited studies suggesting that leaded gas caused measurable intellectual impairment in children and millions of premature deaths.

Most rich nations started phasing out the fuel in the 1980s but it was still widely used in low- and middle-income countries until 2002, when the U.N. launched a global campaign to abolish it.

Leaded gas is still used in aviation fuel for small planes.

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