Environmental protesters blocked roads in Serbia for a third consecutive weekend to oppose plans for lithium mining, despite a bid by the country’s populist government to defuse the demonstrations by agreeing to the key demands of organizers.

Several thousand people braved rain and cold weather Saturday to halt traffic in the capital, Belgrade, and in other cities and towns in the Balkan nation.

The protesters want the government to fully remove any possibility of companies initiating mining projects. Environmentalists argue that extracting lithium, a key component in electric car batteries, causes huge damage to mined areas.

Serbian authorities withdrew two key laws that activists said were designed to help multinational mining company Rio Tinto open a mine in the country’s lithium-rich west. Fewer people showed up at Saturday’s demonstration compared to the two previous weekends, reflecting a rift among protest leaders over how to proceed.

“There will be no peace until exploitation of lithium is banned and Rio Tinto sent away from Serbia,” Aleksandar Jovanovic, one of the organizers, said.

Serbia’s autocratic president, Aleksandar Vucic, described continued protests as “political” after the government gave up on the two proposed laws, which involved property expropriation and referendum rules. Vucic said people would have a chance to express their preferences during the next election in April.

Serbia must tackle its environmental problems to advance toward European Union membership. Vucic has said he wants the country to join the EU, but he has also fostered close ties with Russia and China, including Chinese investments in mines, factories and infrastructure.

Environmental issues have come into focus recently in Serbia and other Balkan nations because of accumulated problems from air and water pollution. Protesters argue that authorities favor the interests of foreign investors and profit over environment protection.

 
…

First, a steady crawl. Then a short clumsy slide across the slick stone floor at their home at the Beauval Zoo near Paris. Then finally the big show as the twin giant panda cubs took their first steps in public Saturday.

The female twins were born in August. Their mother, Huan Huan, and father, Yuan Zi, are at the Beauval Zoo, south of Paris, on a 10-year loan from China aimed at highlighting good ties with France. The twin cubs, named Huanlili and Yuandudu, are their second and third cubs after the first panda ever born in France, Yuan Meng, in 2017.

In a video, released by the zoo on Saturday, the twin cubs are seen clumsily making their way around the territory. At some point both attempt to climb nearby rocks as a caretaker looks on and films them with a smartphone.

The cubs will spend a few years in France before being sent to China.

France’s soccer star Kylian Mbappe and the Chinese Olympic champion in diving, Zhang Jiaqi, are the twins’ godparents after the athletes announced the female cubs’ names during a ceremony in November.

There are about 1,800 pandas living in the wild in China and about 500 in captivity worldwide.

China for decades gifted friendly nations with its unofficial national mascot in what was known as “panda diplomacy.” More recently the country has lent pandas to zoos on commercial terms. 
…

British police say a man was shot dead during a confrontation with firearms officers on Saturday near the Kensington Palace royal residence in London. 

The Metropolitan Police force said officers were called to reports that a man with a firearm had entered a bank and bookmakers in the Kensington area of west London.

He fled in a vehicle, which was stopped by officers nearby in an area that is home to several embassies and the palace, which is the official London residence of Prince William, his wife, Kate, and their three children. It is also home to several other members of the royal family. 

The force said “shots were fired and a man sustained gunshot wounds.” He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Police say the incident is not being treated as terrorism. 

The force said the police standards body has been called in, as is usual for shootings involving the police. 
…

The United States will send its top diplomat for Europe to Russia and Ukraine to discuss Russia’s troop buildup and reiterate U.S. commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, the State Department said Saturday.

“Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Dr. Karen Donfried, will travel to Kyiv, Ukraine and Moscow, Russia December 13-15 to meet with senior government officials to discuss Russia’s military buildup and to reinforce the United States’ commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity,” the department said.

“Donfried will emphasize that we can make diplomatic progress on ending the conflict in the Donbas through implementation of the Minsk agreements in support of the Normandy Format.”

 
…

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is attending talks that began Saturday among Group of Seven foreign ministers in Liverpool, with a call from British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to unite against authoritarianism.

The appeal from Truss came as ministers from the world’s wealthiest democracies, informally known as the G-7, discuss Russia’s build-up of troops along the border it shares with Ukraine, containing Iran’s nuclear ambitions and addressing the military’s seizure of Myanmar.

“We need to come together strongly to stand up to aggressors who are seeking to limit the bounds of freedom and democracy,” Truss said as she opened the two-day session without mentioning specific countries.

The top U.S. diplomat met Friday with Truss and their counterparts from France and Germany and discussed how to advance the Iran nuclear talks. Blinken meets separately Saturday with the foreign ministers of Japan, Italy and Australia.

Blinken will also have a series of in-person meetings with foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as part of a December 9-17 trip that also will take him to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Hawaii. 

Blinken’s trip is part of a U.S. effort to further advance its “strategic partnership” with ASEAN as President Joe Biden’s administration aims to begin a new “Indo-Pacific economic framework” in early 2022. 

This marks the first time ASEAN countries were included in the G-7 foreign and development ministers’ meeting, being held in Liverpool.

The top diplomats are discussing China’s efforts to increase its influence in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as Russia’s troop buildup in Ukraine and the global coronavirus pandemic.

In Jakarta, Indonesia next week, Blinken will deliver remarks on the significance of the Indo-Pacific region and underscore the importance of the U.S.-Indonesia Strategic Partnership. 

“The secretary will have an opportunity to discuss the president’s newly announced Indo-Pacific economic framework,” Daniel Kritenbrink, the State Department’s assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told reporters in a call briefing. “President Biden is committed to elevating U.S.-ASEAN engagement to unprecedented levels,” he added. 

Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim majority nation. Kritenbrink told VOA on Wednesday that Blinken will attend a vaccine clinic hosted by the largest faith-based nongovernmental organization in Indonesia. 

Blinken then heads to Malaysia and Thailand, where he will attempt to advance U.S. ties and address shared challenges, including fighting COVID-19, building resilient supply chains, dealing with the climate crisis, and ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific region. 

The State Department said Blinken will “address the worsening crisis” in Myanmar in each country during his lengthy trip. The military in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, seized power in a February coup, overthrowing the civilian government. 

U.S. officials had indicated the new Indo-Pacific economic framework would include broad partnerships with nations in the region in critical areas such as the digital economy and technology, supply chain resiliency, and clean energy. 

“The Indo-Pacific region is a critical part of our economy. It’s not just that it accounts for over half of the world’s population and 60% of global GDP” (gross domestic product), Jose Fernandez, undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment, said in a recent briefing. 

“Seven of the top 15 U.S. export markets are in the Indo-Pacific. Two-way trade between the U.S. and the region was over $1.75 trillion,” he added.  

There are, however, concerns that the U.S. is lagging behind China in deepening economic and strategic ties with ASEAN. 

“ASEAN countries want more from Washington on the economic side, but the Biden administration’s proposed Indo-Pacific economic framework is likely to fall short of their expectations,” said Susannah Patton, a research fellow in the foreign policy and defense program at the United States Studies Center in Sydney. 

“After RCEP enters into force, there will be two megatrade pacts in Asia: RCEP and CPTPP, and the United States is in neither,” said Patton, referring to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. 

“China’s application to join CPTPP, a vehicle that was designed to promote U.S. economic ties with Asia, highlights Washington’s absence,” Patton told VOA Wednesday. Signed in 2018, the CPTPP is a free-trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam.  

In November 2020, 10 ASEAN member states and five additional countries (Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand) signed the RCEP, representing around 30% of the world’s GDP and population. RCEP will come into force in January. 

Others said the new Indo-Pacific economic framework appears to be not just about traditional trade, as Washington is signaling strategic interests in the region.  

Wayne Lee contributed to this report. Some information for this report was provided by Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press and Reuters.
…

In Oslo, Norway, on Friday, dignitaries from around the world gathered to celebrate the awarding of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to Filipina journalist Maria Ressa and Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov. But as speeches were delivered and medals presented, voices outside Oslo City Hall were asking whether the most prestigious prize in the world, as many believe it to be, has lost its shine.

In recent decades, the prize has sometimes gone to individuals who, many believe, have failed to live up to the standard articulated by the founder of the prize, Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel. His instruction was that it should go to “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

Perhaps most notably, that includes Abiy Ahmed, the prime minister of Ethiopia, who was awarded the prize in 2019 for helping to end his country’s long-running war with Eritrea. The prize committee cited his “efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea.”

Today, Abiy is conducting a brutal war in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region, in which both sides have been accused of a wide range of war crimes.

Controversial awards

In 2019, the same year Abiy won the prize, a fellow laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, appeared before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands. Suu Kyi, who was the head of Myanmar’s civilian government at the time, was there to insist that the widespread killing and displacement of the ethnic Rohingya people in her country was not a genocide.

Another controversial laureate is former U.S. President Barack Obama, who was nominated for the prize before he had been in office for a month and received the award before he had served even a year. Obama went on to increase U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan during part of his presidency, and he accelerated the use of drone strikes against individuals and groups seen as enemies of the United States.

Controversial awards are nothing new to the Nobel committee. Two members resigned in 1973 when the award was given to then-U.S. national security adviser Henry Kissinger for supposedly helping to arrange a cease-fire in the Vietnam War. Kissinger offered to return the prize two years later, after the fall of Saigon.

In 1994, when Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin were given the prize for efforts to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians, one member of the committee denounced Arafat, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, as a terrorist and resigned.

Opaque selection process

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is made up of five members selected by the Norwegian parliament. For generations, the committee has been made up primarily of retired politicians. They collect nominations at the beginning of each year and typically announce a winner in October.

All documents and records of the selection process are sealed for 50 years, making it difficult to know exactly what the committee members were thinking during recent deliberations.

This has not made the committee immune from criticism, however.

“The prize is losing credibility,” Unni Turrettini, author of the book Betraying the Nobel: The Secrets and Corruption Behind the Nobel Peace Prize, told VOA. “And when it loses credibility, it loses the potential impact that the prize can have on world peace.”

Turrettini said that populating the prize committee with politicians has led to the impression that its choices are sometimes meant to further the interests of the Norwegian government and its relations with other nations.

“For our country, and as a Norwegian myself, it is in everyone’s interest that we keep the committee independent from Norwegian politics, and that we restore the trust that has been eroded,” she said.

Dispute over Nobel’s intentions

Some believe that the committee has, too often, strayed from Nobel’s original intent.

Norwegian attorney and peace activist Fredrik Heffermehl has been pressuring the committee for well over a decade, insisting that many of its selections have departed so far from Nobel’s instructions, as laid out in his will, that they are effectively illegal.

Heffermehl told VOA that this year’s awarding of the prize to Ressa and Muratov, two journalists who have courageously fought to overcome government repression of the media in their respective home countries, is yet another such departure. While they may be doing admirable work, neither is directly involved in efforts to further what Heffermehl believes to have been Nobel’s ultimate goal: widespread disarmament.

“I’m more disappointed than I’ve been for a very long time,” Heffermehl said. “Very few prizes, particularly the last 20 years, have met Alfred Nobel’s intention.”

Officials associated with the prize committee have vigorously disputed Heffermehl’s interpretation of the instructions for awarding the prize. Olav Njølstad, director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, has taken to the pages of the country’s largest newspaper, Aftenposten, to accuse Heffermehl of misreading the historical record.

“The Nobel Committee has never accepted this interpretation of the will,” Njølstad wrote. “It does not see that Alfred Nobel has anywhere stated that work for disarmament should be given greater weight than the other forms of peace work to which the will refers.”

An ‘aspirational’ prize

Ron Krebs, a professor of political science at the University of Minnesota, told VOA that it is important to understand that, particularly in the past 50 years, the Nobel Peace Prize has often had an “aspirational” quality to it. That is, it is sometimes awarded to people who are taking early steps toward goals that the Nobel committee sees as furthering the cause of peace in the world.

That could be said of the prizes awarded to individuals working to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, and even the selection of Barack Obama, whose campaign rhetoric had focused on reducing conflict.

“These are the Nobel prize committee saying, ‘We wish to encourage them along this path. We wish to bolster their chances, and we will put our moral weight behind them,'” Krebs said.

Krebs said that can lead people to mistakenly believe that the prize is an endorsement of everything the recipient does or, effectively, will do.

“We need to remember that people who are granted the Nobel Peace Prize are granted it for particular accomplishments, or even particular aspirations,” he said. “But that does not mean that they share all those values that the Nobel prize committee espouses.” 
…

A month after the U.N. climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, known as COP26, politicians, analysts and climate action advocates are taking stock of what was agreed to. And the consensus is that while substantial progress was made in a number of areas, there wasn’t enough.

The world still remains off track to avert a climate crisis and is falling short of limiting global warming to 1.5 Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a goal set at previous talks in Paris in 2015.  And it remains off track despite deals to cut carbon and methane emissions, end deforestation, reduce the use of coal, and a renewed pledge of financing for poorer countries most vulnerable to extreme weather.

Britain’s own Climate Change Committee, an independent, statutory body established to advise the UK government on emission targets, says COP26 “marked a step forward in global efforts to address climate change.”

It says there was an increase in ambitions to reduce emissions across the world and it lists as achievements the “finalization of rules on reporting emissions and international carbon trading, and the launch of a range of new initiatives and sector deals.”

However, the committee added, “How far this can be considered a success will depend on follow-up actions over the coming year and beyond.”

Activists unimpressed

For many climate activists, the two-week summit was just more noise. Teenage activist Greta Thunberg dubbed COP26 “a global north greenwash festival.”

But some serious analysts also agree the summit should be marked a failure, because it didn’t reach the goals it set itself.

“Was COP26 a failure? If we evaluate this using the summit’s original stated goals, the answer is yes, it fell short. Two big ticket items weren’t realized: renewing targets for 2030 that align with limiting warming to 1.5℃, and an agreement on accelerating the phase-out of coal,” Robert Hales and Brendan Mackey, academics from Australia’s Griffith University, concluded in a commentary for The Conversation website.

Because of a last-minute intervention by India, an agreement to accelerate the phasing-out of coal was watered down in the final communique to the much vaguer “phasing-down” of coal.

But Hales and Mackey also say at COP26 “there were important decisions and notable bright spots.” They say COP26 may well be seen later as the moment the world took “an unambiguous turn away from fossil fuel as a source of energy,” and they highlight COP26’s emphasis on the importance of mitigating damage to nature and ecosystems, including protecting forests and biodiversity.

In a side deal at Glasgow, 124 other countries pledged to end deforestation by 2030.Other analysts praise the final pact urging countries to deliver on an outstanding promise to deliver $100 billion per year for five years to developing countries vulnerable to climate damage to help them with adaptation and to develop resilient infrastructure. Many developing nations are already seeing dwindling crop yields and are experiencing devastating storms.

Rob Stavins, professor of Energy and Economic Development at Harvard University, remains cautiously optimistic and says assessing COP26’s success and failure is “both simplistic and obscures much of the purpose and function of these annual negotiations.”

“This is a marathon, not a sprint,” he told the Harvard Gazette. “To continue that metaphor: It’s a relay race and the fundamental thing about an individual Conference of the Parties in any given year is that you don’t drop the baton when you pass it off to the next one. And this was a reasonable pass off to the next Conference of the Parties.” The next global climate talks are scheduled next year in Egypt.

Stavins says before the 2015 Paris talks, the world was heading for 3.7 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of this century. After COP21, the trajectory was reduced to 2.7 degrees of warming. The updated emission reduction targets agreed to at Glasgow cut the trajectory further to 2.4 degrees Celsius.

“And then, if you add in all of the statements from countries about net zero emissions by the year 2050, as well as private industry statements, we could be at about 1.8 degrees centigrade,” he says.

That keeps the 1.5 Celsius goal within reach, the chairman of COP26, Alok Sharma, said in his concluding remarks in Glasgow, although he noted, its “pulse remains weak.”

Who will pay?

Weak or not, some worry that governments, especially Western ones, may be going too fast with decarbonizing and risk losing the support of their own populations by failing to take into account the economic impact of the monumental shifts envisaged.

Opinion polls suggest that across the globe, overwhelming majorities of people see climate change as an emergency requiring radical action. But some polls in recent weeks have also suggested that when people are told what the costs to them may be to curb global warming, they are reluctant to shoulder the financial burden.

COP26 saw plenty of discussions about how to fund the transition away from fossil fuel dependency to renewable, sustainable energy and how to finance projects to make countries more resilient to extreme weather. But there was little clarity about how the costs should be shared among governments (via taxation), consumers, households and the private sector.

At Glasgow, major banks, investors and insurers pledged trillions in green funding in a coordinated commitment to incorporate carbon emissions into their investment and lending decisions. The commitment was made by more than 450 financial institutions across 45 countries managing assets valued at $130 trillion.”

These seemingly arcane but essential changes to the plumbing of finance can move and are moving climate changes from the fringes to the forefront and transforming the financial system in the process,” Mark Carney, a former head of the central banks of England and Canada, said when announcing the pledge. “The architecture of the global financial system has been transformed to deliver net zero,” he added.

But some industry analysts and economists cautioned the private sector plans are far from concrete, and that significant problems remain on how to measure the carbon footprint of investment portfolios and align those measurements across international financial markets. Of particular concern is how to verify the accuracy of what banks and investors report.

Others worry that financial firms are there to maximize profits for clients and shareholders and that they risk losing customers or breaching their fiduciary obligations if they fail to maintain good returns. It remains unclear at this stage how profitable green investments will be.
…

When Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and threw its support behind separatists in the country’s east more than seven years ago, Kyiv’s underfunded and disorganized armed forces struggled to mount a credible response.

Now, amid fears that a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine’s border could signal a possible attack, military experts say Moscow would face stronger resistance this time. But they emphasize that Ukraine would be well short of what it needs to counter Russia’s overwhelming land, sea and air superiority.

Still, years of fighting the separatists have given Ukrainian veterans such as Colonel Viacheslav Vlasenko the battlefield experience for such a fight.

“In case of Russian aggression, I will have no choice — every Ukrainian is ready to die with arms in hands,” said the highly decorated 53-year-old Vlasenko. “Ukraine will never become a part of Russia. If we have to prove it to the Kremlin that Ukraine has the right for freedom and independence, we are ready for it.”

While Western military assistance has remained limited, Ukraine still received state-of-the-art foreign weaponry, including sophisticated U.S. anti-tank missiles and Turkish drones to provide a heavier punch than it had in years past.

Vlasenko, who spent 4½ years battling the rebels in the east in a conflict that has killed more than 14,000 people, said the country now has thousands of highly motivated and battle-hardened troops.

“We Ukrainians are defending our land, and there is no place for us to retreat,” he said, adding that he takes his 13-year-old son to target practice so that he knows “who our enemy is and learns to defend himself and fight back.”

Earlier this week, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised Ukraine’s soldiers during a visit to an area near the conflict zone to mark a military holiday.

“Ukrainian servicemen are continuing to perform their most important mission — to protect the freedom and sovereignty of the state from the Russian aggressor,” Zelenskiy said.

Russian troop movements

U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russia has moved 70,000 troops near Ukraine’s border and has prepared for a possible invasion early next year. Moscow has denied any plans to attack Ukraine, rejecting Western concerns as part of a smear campaign.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin in a videoconference that Moscow would face “economic consequences like you’ve never seen” if it invades Ukraine, although he noted that Washington would not deploy its military forces there.

Putin reaffirmed his denial of planning to attack Ukraine but emphasized that NATO’s possible expansion to Ukraine was a “red line” for Moscow.

If Russia attacks its neighbor, the 1 million-member Russian military would inevitably overwhelm Ukraine’s armed forces, which number about 255,000. But in addition to a promised heavy economic blow from Western sanctions, Russia would also stand to suffer significant military losses that would dent Putin’s image at home.

Ukrainian veterans and military analysts say the country won’t surrender territory without a fight this time, unlike seven years ago in Crimea, where Russian troops in unmarked uniforms faced virtually no resistance in overtaking the Black Sea peninsula.

“Ukraine will not become easy prey for the Russians. There will be a bloodbath,” Vlasenko said. “Putin will get hundreds and thousands of coffins floating from Ukraine to Russia.”

Weeks after annexing Crimea, Russia began supporting the separatist uprising in Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland, known as the Donbass. Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of supplying the rebels with troops and weapons — accusations that Moscow has denied, saying that any Russians fighting there were volunteers.

A series of bruising military defeats forced Ukraine to sign a 2015 peace agreement brokered by France and Germany that envisaged broad autonomy for the separatist regions and a sweeping amnesty for the rebels. The deal was seen by many in Ukraine as a betrayal of its national interests. While it has helped end large-scale fighting, frequent skirmishes have continued amid a political deadlock as Ukraine and Russia have traded accusations.

Western aid to Ukraine

Mykola Sunhurovskyi, a top military analyst for the Kyiv-based Razumkov Center independent think tank, said the Ukrainian military has made much progress in recent years, thanks to Western equipment and training.

“The army today is much stronger than it was in early 2014, and Russia will face serious resistance,” he said.

The Western aid included Javelin anti-tank missiles and patrol boats supplied by the United States. The U.S. and other NATO forces have conducted joint drills with the Ukrainian military in exercises that have vexed Russia. Last month, Ukraine signed an agreement with the U.K. for building naval bases on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

Still, Sunhurovskyi argued that the Western assistance was not enough.

“The military aid given by the West is far from what Ukraine needs,” Sunhurovskyi said, adding that its slow pace was also a key problem. “The assistance is needed within two months, not two or three years. There are huge gaps in the Ukrainian military potential that need to be taken care of.”

He pointed to Ukraine’s air defenses in particular.

“The air defense system isn’t ready for repelling massive airstrikes by Russia,” Sunhurovskyi said, adding that Ukraine also lacks advanced electronic warfare systems and has a shortage of artillery and missiles.

Morale is not a problem, he said.

“From the point of view of combat spirit, Ukraine is ready for war, but there are issues with the technological level of the Ukrainian military, which is below what is needed to deter Russia from launching an attack,” he said.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s military “has come a difficult way to the creation of a highly capable and highly organized combat structure that is confident of its potential and capable of derailing any aggressive plans by the enemy.” On Thursday, he spoke with Biden, who briefed him on the discussion with Putin.

The analysts also said Russia would have to be prepared for a nationwide resistance campaign from Ukrainian veterans after any invasion.

“If it launches an aggression, Russia will face a large-scale guerrilla war in Ukraine, and the infrastructure for it has already been set,” said Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Kyiv-based Penta think tank. “Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers served in the east, and there is a local hero in every courtyard who fought the separatists and the Russians.” 

 
…

President Joe Biden is seeking to reassure Ukraine that his strategy to prevent a Russian military invasion will work, amid continued tensions over a massive Russian troop buildup along their common border. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
Camera: Nike Ching
…

An independent, unofficial panel of British lawyers, academics and businesspeople has concluded that China’s government committed genocide against Uyghurs, a ruling denounced by China as a “farce.” 

A Chinese spokesperson for the government of Xinjiang region, Xu Guixiang, Friday called the verdict “extremely despicable” as well as illegitimate. 

“The so-called final pronouncement is a piece of wastepaper,” he said at a virtual press briefing.

The London panel, called the Uyghur Tribunal, ruled Thursday that Chinese government policies of forced birth control and sterilization targeting Uyghurs constituted genocide. The tribunal’s chair, prominent British barrister Geoffrey Nice, said the policies were “intended to destroy a significant part” of the Uyghur population. Uyghurs are a largely Muslim ethnic group based in China’s western Xinjiang region. 

The tribunal does not have any government backing or ability to sanction China.

It was set up at the request of the World Uyghur Congress, the largest group representing exiled Uyghurs. Organizers of the tribunal hope the process of publicly presenting evidence about China’s actions toward Uyghurs will boost international pressure on Beijing to change its policies.

The tribunal spoke to 30 witnesses and experts during a series of public hearings in central London this year and reviewed Chinese documents on government policies toward Uyghurs. 

It concluded that hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs, and possibly more than 1 million, had been detained in camps without cause. 

In addition to genocide, the panel said that China’s government carried out crimes against humanity and torture on the Uyghurs and that President Xi Jinping bore primary responsibility. 

China’s foreign ministry said in a statement Thursday, “This so-called tribunal has neither any legal qualifications or any credibility,” and accused it of telling lies as part of a “political farce” to “smear China.” 

China denies any allegations of human rights abuses against Uyghurs. 

The United States has called China’s treatment of Uyghurs genocide and announced this week that it would not send diplomats or official representatives to the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing. Britain, Canada, Australia and Lithuania have also joined the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics. 

Under the boycott, the countries will still send athletes to participate in the Games. 

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. 
…

France announced Friday that it would soon declassify some of the most secret sections of its national archives concerning the Algerian war of independence, opening the door for citizens to explore some of bloodiest parts of the country’s history.

The Algerian war of independence lasted from 1954 to 1962, as the National Liberation Front fought against France for independence in a violent conflict that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Algerians. Over the course of the war, historians have found that French forces and their proxies used torture against their enemies.

French Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot said that opening the records to the public was necessary to increase transparency surrounding the country’s history, according to Reuters.

“We need to have the courage to look the historical truth in the face,” Bachelot said.

The war in Algeria had serious political repercussions in France, prompting a failed coup attempt against former President Charles de Gaulle to prevent him from terminating French rule in the colony.

Although the war ended almost 60 years ago, it is still a sensitive subject within French society.

Chain of ‘repressive measures’

Reuters quoted Benjamin Stora, a top French historian on Algeria, who said the records will shed light on aspects of the war that have long been hidden, such as many unexplained deaths.

“You can know which people were under surveillance, followed, arrested,” Stora said. “It’s the whole chain leading up to repressive measures that can be unveiled.”

The Anadolu news agency reported that an Algerian presidential adviser, Abdelmadjid Cheiki, said the records’ declassification was “positive and important.”

A former representative in the Algerian Parliament, Kamal Belarbi, was hesitant to fully welcome France’s decision. Belarbi said it was difficult to accept that the country would completely expose the nature of its colonial rule, given that it has kept it secret for so many years.

“France will continue to tamper with the archives. The most important thing is that we remain committed to our demands to hold France accountable for crimes it committed in Algeria for 132 years,” he said.

The records’ declassification will likely have major repercussions for both nations and their citizens.

France’s announcement came two days after French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s trip to Algiers. While there, he conducted talks with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to revive the two countries’ rocky relationship.
…

Officials in Switzerland Friday presented two sets of restrictions they are considering to address surging COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations that are threatening the nation’s health system. 

Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health recorded 10,163 new cases and 51 deaths in the previous 24 hours – the largest spike in deaths since January. The office reported the nation’s intensive care units are 82% full.

At a news conference in Bern, Swiss Health Minister Alain Berset said the country is sliding back to a place it does not want to be in and presented the two alternative proposals the government is considering.

Under the first, access to indoor public venues – restaurants, bars, concert halls, theaters – would be limited to those who are either fully vaccinated or recovered. It would eliminate the “negative test” option that currently exists. Masks indoors would also be required unless a patron was sitting and eating.

The second alternative would go further and temporarily close those places where wearing a mask is not possible all the time, including bars, restaurants, gyms and nightclubs. Indoor sports and cultural activities like theatres would still be allowed to open, but with a mask requirement. 

Berset told reporters the second alternative was not pleasant, but the intention was to avoid broader closures and lockdowns. 

The officials said the federal government will consider the proposals in coordination with local leaders and others to decide which path to take in coming days. 

Berset said, “We already succeeded in getting on top of this situation a year ago, and we will get on top of it again, together, in the coming weeks.” 

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters. 
…

Russia’s influence in the Central African Republic is growing as the country grapples with insurgents, according to the International Crisis Group. The CAR government hired the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary contractor for security. But Wagner’s alleged rights violations against killing civilians, aid workers, and journalists have caused tensions with CAR’s western supporters and uproar at home.

In the CAR, the civilian population continues to suffer at the hands of armed groups in parts of the country. Last week a rebel attack in the northwest killed at least 30 people.

And from January to November, there were 387 violent incidents against humanitarian workers, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The central African nation is seeing an increase in violence as government forces supported by Russian fighters battle rebel groups who oppose President Faustin-Archange Touadera rule.

The CAR hired the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary contractor for security.

Pauline Bax, a senior editor and policy advisor at the International Crisis Group, says the mercenaries and other fighters have helped keep the current government in power.

“A lot of the fighters are not necessarily Russians. There is a Libyan contingent. There are Syrian fighters, people from Ukraine and Chechnya fighters as well. It’s hard to get any clear idea what exactly they do in the countryside, but they have been very successful in repelling rebels from most of the major towns. And this Wagner force together with the national army has managed to secure a lot of mining zones as well as major towns in the country which was unprecedented; this hasn’t happened in the Central African Republic in the last 20 years,” she expressed.

In January, the government forces and Russian soldiers carried out a counteroffensive against armed groups known as the Coalition of Patriots for Change, pushing them out of the capital, Bangui.

But reports of civilian abuses by the Russian mercenary group and government forces have overshadowed successes.

In a June report, UN investigators highlighted human rights abuses and excessive force committed by the Russian mercenaries.

The human rights researchers report showed six civilians were killed inside a mosque in Bambari and three others were killed in Ippy town. Two of them were individuals with disabilities.

The Russians arrived in the Central African Republic in 2017 after the meeting between President Faustin-Archange Touadera and Russia’s foreign minister.

Russian donated weapons to CAR’s weak military and provided 175 military instructors. Since then, the number of Russian instructors has grown to 1,200.

Tobias Wellner is a sub-Saharan Africa senior intelligence analyst with Dragonfly Intelligence, a group that works on global security and political risks. He says that Wagner group records in other countries show they work with Russia’s security systems.

“For some of Wagner’s actions, for example, in Ukraine and Syria, there has been certain support between Wagner’s mercenary forces and Russian troops. To a certain degree, we can say Russia is probably using Wagner as a foreign policy tool; it allows Russians to deepen connections and defense resource sectors where Wagner is operating,” he pointed out.

The group’s security service has attracted some African governments like Mali and Sudan.

Wellner says governments who lack proper governance structure will attract mercenary groups who are accountable to no one.

“Mercenaries companies work for money and don’t ask questions about democracy like military training and support missions paid by western governments would. Wagner’s vagrant as the Russian company is probably also that within Russia there are less questions asked about the company, so there is less scrutiny for Wagner as a private company back at home in Russia,” he said.

The group was deployed in Mozambique to combat the Islamic State terror group operating in the country’s north. The Wagner group evacuated its fighters in November 2019, after dozens of them were killed.

In the Central African Republic, rebel groups are gathering again to fight the government troops and Russians.

Bax of ICG says the existence of rebels in the country poses a threat to the government.

“Now the rebels are gathering more in strength and launching ambushes on army forces and mercenaries’ troops as well and increasingly using Improvised Explosive Devices. So, a lot of the fighting continues to this day in areas that are very remote and hard to access, and the general understanding is that if the mercenary force would no longer be there, there will be a clear threat to the government and President Touadera,” he noted.

Some experts say Russia’s influence in Africa is limited, unlike the Chinese, who are involved in infrastructure projects and trade, and Western governments that help fund many governments projects. 
…

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday arrived in Liverpool, England, to begin a series of in-person meetings with foreign ministers regarding the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as part of a December 9-17 trip that also will take him to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Hawaii.

The top U.S. diplomat will meet Friday with G-7 leaders, including British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

Blinken’s trip is part of a U.S. effort to further advance its “strategic partnership” with ASEAN as President Joe Biden’s administration aims to begin a new “Indo Pacific Economic Framework” in early 2022.

For the first time, ASEAN members are invited to participate in a two-day G-7 foreign and development ministers’ meeting being held in Liverpool beginning Friday. The G-7 is the grouping of the world’s wealthiest democracies, known more formally as the Group of Seven.

Blinken is scheduled to meet with some of his counterparts from the southeast Asian bloc during the G-7 gathering before heading to the Asia-Pacific rim next week.

In Jakarta, he will deliver remarks on the significance of the Indo-Pacific region and underscore the importance of the U.S.-Indonesia Strategic Partnership.

“The Secretary will have an opportunity to discuss the president’s newly announced Indo-Pacific economic framework,” State Department’s Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink told reporters in a call briefing. “President Biden is committed to elevating U.S.-ASEAN engagement to unprecedented levels,” he added.

Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim majority nation. Kritenbrink told VOA on Wednesday that Blinken will attend a vaccine clinic hosted by the largest faith-based NGO in Indonesia.

Blinken then heads to Malaysia and Thailand where he will attempt to advance U.S. ties and address shared challenges, including COVID-19, building resilient supply chains, the climate crisis, and ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

The State Department said Blinken will “address the worsening crisis in Burma” in each country during the lengthy trip. Burma is also known as Myanmar, where the military seized power in a February coup, overthrowing the civilian government.

U.S. officials had indicated the new “Indo Pacific Economic Framework would include broad partnerships with nations in the region on critical areas, including the digital economy and technology, supply chain resiliency and clean energy.

“The Indo-Pacific region is a critical part of our economy. It’s not just that it accounts for over half of the world’s population and 60% of global GDP,” Jose Fernandez, undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy, and the environment, said in a recent briefing.

“Seven of the top 15 U.S. export markets are in the Indo-Pacific. Two-way trade between the U.S. and the region was over $1.75 trillion,” he added.

There are, however, concerns that the United States is lagging behind China in deepening economic and strategic ties with ASEAN.

“ASEAN countries want more from Washington on the economic side, but the Biden administration’s proposed Indo-Pacific economic framework is likely to fall short of their expectations,” said Susannah Patton, a research fellow in the foreign policy and defense program at the United States Studies Center in Sydney.

“After RCEP enters into force, there will be two mega-trade pacts in Asia: RCEP and CPTPP, and the United States is in neither,” said Patton, referring to a trade agreement known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, as well as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

“China’s application to join CPTPP, a vehicle that was designed to promote U.S. economic ties with Asia, highlights Washington’s absence,” Patton told VOA Wednesday. The CPTPP is a free trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam that was signed in 2018.

In November 2020, 10 ASEAN member states and five additional countries (Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand) signed the RCEP, representing around 30% of the world’s gross domestic product and population. RCEP will come into force in January.

Others said the new Indo-Pacific economic framework appears to be not just about traditional trade, as Washington is signaling strategic interests in the region.

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.
…

Germany’s Bundestag – the lower house of parliament – approved a measure Friday requiring health care workers to be vaccinated, the first step by the country’s new government to fight the latest surge of COVID-19.

The measure passed 571 to 80 and was expected to be approved by parliament’s upper house later Friday.   

The legislation would also force state governments to implement other restrictions, such as closing bars and restaurants, or banning large events, if infection rates get too high. It also expands who can deliver vaccinations to include veterinarians, dentists and pharmacists.

The government of Germany’s new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has made fighting the pandemic a priority and Scholz has indicated his support for vaccine mandates. A broader vaccine mandate could be debated by parliament in coming weeks.  

Prior to the lower house vote Friday, new German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, an epidemiologist, told lawmakers there was no time to lose in protecting the population from the coronavirus pandemic.  

He said a vaccine mandate for health workers was necessary because, as he sees it, “it’s completely unacceptable… that after two years of pandemic, people who have entrusted their care to us are dying unnecessarily in institutions because unvaccinated people work there.”

The legislation would require healthcare workers at hospitals, doctor’s offices and nursing homes to prove that they are vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 by mid-March.

Germany’s Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases ((RKI)) reports as of Friday, 69.4 percent of the country’s population has been fully vaccinated. 

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse
…

The Kremlin and Chinese Communist Party are learning from each other in shaping and conducting information warfare aimed at exacerbating political divisions in the West and undermining trust in democracy, according to a new study.

While there’s only limited evidence of explicit cooperation, there are instances of narrative overlap, said the Center for European Policy Analysis, a Washington-based research organization.

According to the report, which focuses on disinformation campaigns since the late-2019 discovery of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China, Beijing’s information warriors largely began by following the Russian “disinformation playbook,” copying disinformation narratives, tools and techniques, but now some simultaneous learning is taking place.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spread disinformation about the efficacy of vaccines and the virus’s origins, a shift from Beijing’s previous disinformation campaigns, which had a narrower focus on China-specific issues such as Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan,” said researchers Ben Dubow, Edward Lucas and Jake Morris.

“Narrative overlap and circular amplification of disinformation show that China is following a Russian playbook with Chinese characteristics. Russia is simultaneously learning from the Chinese approach,” the authors said.

“The largest difference between China’s and Russia’s information warfare tactics remains China’s insistence on narrative consistency, compared with Russia’s firehose-of-falsehoods strategy,” they added. “Even with substantially greater resources, this largely prevents Chinese narratives from swaying public opinion or polarizing societies.”

Thousands of websites

For the study, CEPA’s researchers assembled thousands of website articles and social media messaging from Russian and Chinese government officials and state-backed media from March 2020 through March 2021. That was complemented by an overview of research conducted by other groups and academic institutions into Russian and Chinese disinformation, which is defined as narratives based only partially on truth and purposefully meant to mislead.

“Russia largely followed its preexisting playbook of using crises to inflame tensions in foreign societies. China borrowed some tools from Russia but used them for different ends, sanitizing its own record and spreading conspiracy theories on a global scale,” said the study, “Jabbed in the Back: Mapping Russian and Chinese Information Operations During COVID-19,” which was released last week.

The day before the report was published, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced it had removed more than 600 social media accounts linked to a Chinese influence operation that claimed the United States was pressuring the World Health Organization to blame COVID-19 on the Chinese government.

CEPA authors said China and Russia have used the pandemic as an excuse to try to further erode faith in democracy and wage information warfare against the West, opening another propaganda front in the growing competition between democratic and authoritarian governments.

Speaking Thursday in Washington on the first day of a virtual Summit for Democracy, U.S. President Joe Biden said it was a critical moment and called for democratic leaders to “lock arms” to show the world that democracies are far better vehicles for societies than autocracies.

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken warned Wednesday that the pandemic has heightened the challenges for democratic states, and he blamed “unscrupulous leaders” for spreading misinformation and disinformation.

The report said China continues to reject any Western blame for its handling of the outbreak. The Kremlin routinely denies accusations that it creates or perpetuates disinformation campaigns of any kind.

Designed to exploit divisions

Western officials say Russia and China have long aimed to weaken the United States, blunt the appeal of democratic institutions and exploit divisions, adding to polarization in the West. They say these governments have seized on the pandemic to enhance their international influence through disinformation operations.

Russian and Chinese information campaigns — using fake social media accounts and platforms such as Twitter to promote conspiracy theories amplified by state-run media outlets — are having a mutually reinforcing effect, they say.

According to the CEPA report, China and Russia have played a central role in spreading COVID-related disinformation. China has attempted to sanitize its record by promoting itself as the most effective global partner in combating the ailment, while Russian disinformation networks have focused on trying to undermine faith in Western efforts to curb the infection.

The report found that Chinese disinformation campaigns intensified in response to former President Donald Trump’s accusations that the coronavirus may have escaped from a Chinese lab in Wuhan, and then again after the U.S. intelligence community reported that same possibility to President Joe Biden.

Russia has innovated in spreading vaccine disinformation throughout Europe, CEPA said. In May 2021, it said, social media influencers in France and Germany were approached by a London-based group controlled from Moscow that offered to pay them to spread disinformation about the Pfizer vaccine.

The CEPA researchers also noted there are likely limits on any Sino-Russian convergence in the information environment. China information warriors follow more consistent and rigid narratives, presumably directed to do so by their bosses. While that gives the CCP more control over messaging, it leaves Beijing less successful than the Kremlin at tailoring content for specifically targeted audiences.
…

The United States is seeking to reassure Kyiv that Washington’s strategy to prevent a Russian military invasion will work, despite Washington’s refusal to send ground troops to help defend Ukrainian soil.

U.S. President Joe Biden spent nearly an hour and a half on the phone Thursday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, updating Ukraine’s leader on his discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week.

Biden also sought to “underscore our support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity … and his commitment to respond with strong measures in the event of a Russian military escalation,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.

Zelenskiy, posting on Twitter, said the conversation also covered “possible formats for resolving the conflict in Donbas and touched upon the course of internal reforms in Ukraine.” 

Biden also spent 40 minutes Thursday on the phone briefing leaders of the Bucharest Nine group — Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia — U.S. allies on NATO’s eastern flank.

Ukraine and Washington’s Eastern European allies have been asking the U.S. for defensive aid and other help in the event Russia decides to invade Ukraine after massing forces along the border.

Ukrainian intelligence officials have said there are at least 90,000 Russian troops along the border. The Washington Post reported last week that U.S. intelligence thought that number could swell to 175,000 ahead of a multifront offensive set to kick off, potentially, early next year.

U.S. defense officials on Thursday declined to comment directly on the numbers but said Russia’s troop presence appeared to be holding steady.

“We’re monitoring it closely, and there still is a very sizable military presence in western Russia, near Ukraine, near Ukraine’s borders,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters. “There’s been no major changes to that posture.”

Biden on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of sending additional U.S. troops to Ukraine to counter a possible Russian invasion, telling reporters, “That is not on the table.”

Pressed Thursday on whether anything less than a show of U.S. military force could get Russia to pull its forces back from the border with Ukraine, the White House expressed cautious optimism that its current strategy and the discussions with Putin were helping.

“Our objective is to make clear the significant and severe economic consequences if Russia were to invade Ukraine, not just from us but from the global community,” Psaki said.

“You would know if they had made the decision to invade. They have not,” she said. “But, again, the ball is in his [Putin’s] court.”

For its part, Russia on Thursday accused the West of exaggerating the importance of its troop movements and warned Ukraine of trying to take matters into its own hands.

“NATO countries pay excessive attention to troop movements on Russian territory,” Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, was quoted as saying by Russia’s Tass news service.

“The media reports on Russia’s alleged preparation for an invasion into Ukraine is a lie,” Gerasimov said. “The deliveries of helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and aircraft to Ukraine are pushing the Ukrainian authorities towards abrupt and dangerous steps.”

Despite such warnings, U.S. officials have committed to providing Ukraine and other allies with help, if needed.

“There are options to expand security assistance to assist in Ukraine’s self-defense,” Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl told a virtual security summit Wednesday, pointing to the ongoing provision of ammunition, Javelin anti-tank systems, counter mortar radar and other capabilities.

Other officials said that the final elements of a $60 million security assistance package to Ukraine were being delivered this week.

“We are working with them across the board, and that does include the kinds of anti-armor, defensive weaponry that is central to their planning for how they would try to resist a substantial incursion,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.

In the meantime, there is also a possibility for additional, higher-level talks between the U.S., Russia and other NATO countries, something the U.S. president said could happen by the end of the week.

Some analysts said they did not see a lessening of tensions along the Russian-Ukraine border anytime soon.

“What Russia really wants is to have its security interests and its geostrategic interests respected,” Andrew Lohsen, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told VOA.

“The current Russian government is quite sensitive to the NATO threat and is clearly demonstrating a willingness to take extreme measures to address that threat,” Lohsen said. “I think we’re in for a process of very complicated and long negotiations to find where there might be some way to find a diplomatic off-ramp.”

VOA’s Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report.
…

The United Nations marked the day of remembrance of victims of genocide with a warning that the crime has not been relegated to the history books but remains a threat today.

The U.N. set the tone for its observance of the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime with a video of scenes of violence and devastation in Rwanda, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iraq — countries that have experienced the horrors of genocide. The video also contained scenes of reconciliation and the voices of young people calling for a peaceful and inclusive world.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a virtual global audience that history tends to repeat itself. He urged people to remain vigilant and to understand the early warning signs of genocide. 

“Today, we face the highest number of violent conflicts since 1945,” he said. “They are lasting longer and are increasingly complex. Impunity is rife, and human rights and the rule of law are regularly ignored. Identity-based hate speech, incitement and discrimination continue to spread and are increasingly being used for political manipulation and gain.” 

The U.N. chief said these are alarming warning signs that should prompt action. 

U.N. experts and human rights organizations have produced numerous reports of gross violations, many amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria, Yemen, South Sudan, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Some reports allege genocide is being committed in Myanmar, China and Ethiopia, among other nations. 

The president of the 76th session of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, said the body has a responsibility to protect populations from genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. 

“Genocide does not happen overnight or without warning. It is preceded by a buildup of human rights violations, bigotry, hatred and division,” Shahid said. “It culminates in bloodshed. … That is why we must always meet the forces of bigotry and hatred with tolerance and inclusion. That is why we must celebrate diversity.”

Genocide is a term used to describe violence against members of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group with the intent to destroy the entire group.

In 1948, three years after the end of World War II when the full extent of the Holocaust was revealed, the United Nations declared genocide to be an international crime. The term was coined in recognition of the massive crimes committed by the Nazis, who killed 6 million European Jews and also targeted Roma people and sexual minorities. 

The International Day of Commemoration honors the memories of the millions of victims killed in targeted genocide and presses for action to prevent future genocide from occurring. 
…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has until now been able to maintain good relations with his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts, but now analysts warn that escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine could mark the end of that balancing act. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
…

To mark “International Anti-Corruption Day,” the Biden administration announced a raft of sanctions Thursday on 15 foreign government officials and companies it says are involved in corruption.

The announcement of sanctions covering people and companies in Central America, Africa and Europe came as Biden opened a virtual “democracy summit.”

Among those targeted by the U.S. Treasury Department measures are officials from El Salvador and Guatemala whom the Biden administration accuses of corruption in the procurement of COVID-19-related medical supplies.

It said Salvadoran Chief of Cabinet Martha Carolina Recinos De Bernal allegedly was involved in “suspicious procurements” of medical supplies. A Guatemalan official, Manuel Victor Martinez Olivet, was accused of “misappropriation, fraud, and abuse of authority” regarding contracts.

“Corrupt acts take resources from citizens, undermine public trust, and threaten the progress of those who fight for democracy,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.

Sanctions were also levied on two South Sudanese construction companies for allegedly receiving preferential treatment by officials.

Additionally, sanctions were imposed on Ukrainian Andriy Portnov, the former deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration under former President Viktor Yanukovych. Portnov is accused of buying influence in Ukraine’s court system.

Also sanctioned were former Angolan officials accused of embezzling billions of dollars.

Some information in this report came from Reuters.
…

More than one thousand people, many of them young children, are living in a makeshift refugee camp amid freezing temperatures in eastern Belarus, a humanitarian crisis that critics say is political. Europe nations accuse the disputed president Alexander Lukashenko of using migrants as a weapon against Poland. For VOA, Jamie Dettmer narrates this report from Ricardo Marquina in Belarus.
…

A small but influential group of Western nations has announced diplomatic boycotts of the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, citing its record of human rights abuses.

The boycott allows the nations to send athletic delegations to the Games while refusing to send any high-ranking officials or dignitaries as an official delegation.

The nations involved in the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games include:

United States: White House spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters Monday that the U.S. “will not be contributing to the fanfare of the Games, but said the nation will be behind the members of Team USA “100% as we cheer them on from home.”

Australia: Relations between Canberra and Beijing have deteriorated in recent years over several issues, especially Australia’s push for an independent probe into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was first detected in late 2019 in central China.China has retaliated by imposing heavy tariffs on Australian commodities.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Wednesday “there has been no obstacle” on Australia’s side to hold talks with China to resolve the issues, but said his country “will not step back from the strong position we’ve had standing up for Australia’s interests.”

Britain: Prime Minister Boris Johnson made the announcement Wednesday during a session in Parliament, adding that athletes would still participate as he did not believe “sporting boycotts are sensible.”

Canada: “We are extremely concerned about the repeated human rights violations by the Chinese government,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday in announcing his country’s diplomatic boycott.

Lithuania: Education, Science and Sport Minister Jurgita Šiugždinienė said in a press release last Thursday — days before the United States officially announced its diplomatic boycott — that she and other senior ministry officials will not travel to the Beijing Games. Relations between Vilnius and Beijing have worsened since Taiwan opened an unofficial embassy in Lithuanian capital last month.

Human rights groups have called on nations to fully boycott the Beijing Winter Games over China’s human rights abuses, including the detention of millions of Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang province and the crackdown on pro-democracy forces in Hong Kong.

Beijing has denounced the boycotts as “posturing” and has vowed to retaliate with unspecified “countermeasures” against the United States over its decision to stage a diplomatic boycott of the Games, which run Feb. 4-20.

Some information for this report came from the Associated Press and Reuters.

 
…

Two journalists from Russia and the Philippines will receive the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo Friday. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it was honoring the pair for their efforts to safeguard press freedom. Henry Ridgwell reports.
…

Two journalists, one from the Philippines and the other from Russia, will receive the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo Friday. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it was honoring the pair for their efforts to safeguard press freedom.

The Nobel Peace Prize is the latest accolade for Filipino American journalist Maria Ressa, who has received numerous awards for her fight for press freedom in the Philippines.  “There’s a part of me that is happy (to accept the Nobel Peace Prize), yes, but also angry, and hoping for a better future,” Ressa told reporters at the Manila airport Tuesday on her way to the Norwegian capital, Oslo.

Arrests

Ressa founded the news website Rappler, which has had its license suspended by Philippine authorities. She is an outspoken critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, and her scrutiny of the government’s often deadly war on drugs has seen her clash with authorities.   

She has been arrested several times, most recently in 2020 when she was convicted of “cyber-libel” and sentenced to six years in jail. She is currently out on bail.   

Further libel charges were filed against her and six other news organizations Wednesday by the Philippine government’s energy secretary, Alfonso Cusi. In total, Ressa is facing seven separate legal cases brought by the Philippine state.

Earlier this week, a Manila court gave Ressa permission to travel to Oslo, ruling she was not a flight risk. 

“It feels like it’s really a small price to pay to keep doing our jobs, but we shouldn’t have to worry about this,” Ressa said. “I shouldn’t have 10 arrest warrants. I shouldn’t be out on bail. There are so many ‘shouldn’ts,”… but, you know, what can you do? You deal with what it is. It’s like pollution in the environment, and you keep doing your job.”

Russia

Ressa is sharing the 2021 prize with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Novaya Gazeta. He is a frequent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Since 2000, six Novaya Gazeta journalists have been killed in connection with their work, including top investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya. She wrote extensively on the wars in Chechnya, including abuses by Russian military forces. She was murdered in Moscow in 2006.

Novaya Gazeta was co-founded by former Soviet leader and fellow Nobel Peace laureate Mikhail Gorbachev. Gorbachev called Muratov a “courageous” journalist. 

Muratov spoke to reporters in October after learning of his win. “For us, this prize means the recognition of the memory of our late colleagues,” he said.

Putin

Putin was asked about Muratov’s Nobel prize in October.

“If he tries hiding behind the Nobel Prize, using it as a shield to violate Russian law, then he will be doing it deliberately to attract attention to himself or some other reason,” Putin said.

It is the first time since 1935 that the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to journalists. Press freedom campaigners have warmly welcomed the decision.

Free press

“If you care about being able to shape the society in which you live, if you care about being able to hold leaders accountable, if you care about solving problems like climate change or figuring our way out of this pandemic, then you need to be informed, and you can’t be informed if journalists can’t do their job,” said Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, in an October interview with the Reuters news agency.

Both the Philippine and Russian governments deny targeting journalists or stifling a free press.  

Arriving in Oslo Wednesday, Ressa told reporters the Nobel Prize would give encouragement to others. 

“It’s a lift not just for journalists and international journalists, as well as Filipino journalists who continue to hold the line. It’s also for our people. We have elections coming up, right? And when facts are under threat, when you don’t have integrity of facts, you cannot have integrity of elections. So, it begins with us. We must keep getting the facts and serving the people.”
…