The White House on Friday announced it will designate the Wagner Group, the Russian private military company supporting Moscow’s war on Ukraine, as a Transnational Criminal Organization, hitting it with sanctions and limiting its ability to do business around the world.

Declaring Wagner a TCO freezes its assets in the U.S. and prohibits Americans from providing funds, goods or services to the group.

“It will give us more flexibility,” John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, said in a Friday interview with VOA.

“We were already sanctioning Russia writ large across the board, and some of those sanctions and export controls we know also tangentially had an effect on private military contractors like Wagner, but this is really targeted towards Wagner specifically,” he said of the sanctions that will be put in effect by the U.S. Treasury Department next week.

Kirby said the U.S. is urging other countries to target the group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch and confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In recent years the group has significantly increased its footprint not only in Ukraine, but also in Syria, Libya, Sudan, Central African Republic, Mozambique and Mali and has been accused of human rights violations in countries where it operates.

The Biden administration also released newly declassified photos of what it says are Russian rail cars delivering infantry rockets and missiles from North Korea in November for use by Wagner forces. The administration submitted the imagery to the U.N. Security Council panel charged with enforcing North Korea sanctions to push for action on what it says is a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions on arms transfers.

“The North Koreans had just been baldly lying about their support to Russia,” Kirby said, adding the U.S. wants to “lay out demonstrable evidence” of Pyongyang’s support.

40,000 Russian convict fighters

Last month the White House confirmed that Wagner deploys about 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, 40,000 of them recruited from Russian jails.

Olga Romanova, executive director of the civil rights movement Russia Behind Bars, told VOA that prisoners who agree to sign the contract with Wagner are paid about $3,000 a month.

“By the end of 2022, the desire to go serve in Wagner group in Ukraine has diminished significantly among the Russian convicts,” she told VOA, citing extrajudicial executions, unfulfilled promises and extremely high casualties.

Experts who study the group say up to 80% of Russian convicts used by Wagner die in Ukrainian battlefields. Out of thousands of Wagner-recruited convicts, only 106 were pardoned and allowed to go home after the fulfillment of their six-month contracts, Romanova said.

Prisoners are deployed without training, organizational capability, or command and control, Kirby said.

“They’re just throwing them into this meat grinder in the Bakhmut and Soledar areas, and they’re paying a heavy price for it,” he said, referencing two Ukrainian towns that are the focus of recent intense fighting.

Kirby spoke of mounting tensions between Prigozhin and the Kremlin, accusing the Wagner founder of making himself “seem more relevant and more viable than even the Russian military” while “trying to fill his own coffers.”

The Wagner group posted a picture of Prigozhin and his fighters in Soledar, which the Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have captured last week without mention of Wagner’s role.

Foreign terrorist organization

Kirby would not confirm whether the U.S. is aiming next to designate the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. In December a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced the Holding Accountable Russian Mercenaries (HARM) Act, bipartisan legislation that would require the Secretary of State to designate Wagner as an FTO. A similar measure has been introduced in the U.S. Senate.

In November, the European Parliament adopted a resolution urging the European Council to place Wagner on the EU terrorist list.

Designating the group as a terrorist organization would not only freeze its assets, ban recruitment, financing and travel of its members said Méryl Demuynck, research fellow at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism.

“It would send a very strong message and has a symbolic function, not only to Russia,” she told VOA. “But also to countries that are already resorting to the group or considering resorting to it.”
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Western defense ministers meeting at the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Germany did not agree on providing tanks to Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s invasion. Still, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the alliance is focused on providing Kyiv with credible combat capability as Ukraine prepares for a spring counteroffensive. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
…

“I feel bad for the Ukrainian people, and for innocent Russians, too, for that matter,” said Jamie Moorman, an independent voter from Fort Walton Beach, Florida. “But my opinion is shifting. I was in favor of the U.S. providing funding to Ukraine at the start of the war, but at this point, haven’t we done enough?”

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden’s administration announced a new $3 billion military assistance package to support Ukraine in its war to repel Russia’s invasion. As the anniversary of the start of the conflict nears, some Americans are growing skittish about what they see as a blank check to fund a never-ending war on foreign soil.

According to a report published in December by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German research institute, the United States sent nearly $50 billion in military, humanitarian and financial aid to Ukraine in 2022. As that number continues to climb, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the U.S. Congress in December to appeal directly to lawmakers and the American people for additional assistance.

“It made me angry, to be honest,” Moorman told Voice of America. “It’s good for us to back Ukraine against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to some degree, but Zelenskyy has become shamelessly greedy. He’s demanding more and more money for a war we have no obligation to.”

Despite some voters’ growing doubt, polls indicate the majority of Americans still back sending some level of aid to Ukraine. In a YouGov/CBS News survey from earlier this month, 64% of respondents said they wanted their representatives to support U.S. aid to Ukraine.

“I feel proud that we are helping them to the extent we are,” James Delawyer, a Democratic voter from Hudson, Wisconsin, told VOA.

“I’m actually more in favor of funding Ukraine’s efforts than I was at the beginning,” he continued. “This is a struggle to preserve the Western world order that’s existed since the end of World War II, and it would be a major blow to democracy and to the autonomy of nations if we let Ukraine fall.”

Mounting criticism

Delawyer said he can see that enthusiasm for continued funding for Ukraine’s defense is waning among some Americans. He is hopeful the Biden administration will give as much as possible before criticism reaches a tipping point and aid is possibly slowed or halted.

Jordan Cohen, a policy analyst at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute, said there are indicators the country is moving in that direction.

“We can see members of the Republican Party in the House [of Representatives] are beginning to signal they do not want to continue with unrestricted aid,” Cohen explained. “Americans that support those politicians and that watch conservative news stations are in turn adopting those talking points.”

In fact, a series of YouGov/CBS News polls found evidence of a growing partisan divide on the issue of U.S. backing for Kyiv. In March, at the beginning of the war, the percentage of Republicans who wanted their representatives to provide military and other support to Ukraine was nearly as high as it was among Democrats (75% for Republicans to 80% for Democrats).

By last month however, the polling outfit found the gap had widened significantly. Eighty-one percent of Democrats now wanted their representatives to provide assistance for Ukraine’s defense, compared with 52% of Republicans.

“What is the end goal here?” asked Chad Daniels, a Republican voter from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. “There’s no oversight for the money we’re giving, and we conservatives know Ukraine is a corrupt country.”

“Should we just piss away $120 billion at a time to Ukraine forever?” he continued. “If we can define what the end goal is, maybe I’d reconsider. But now it just seems like a blank check I can’t support.”

Many still support funding

When Zelenskyy addressed the U.S. Congress in December, he expressed gratitude for the help Americans have provided thus far. At the same time, however, he stressed that the aid the U.S. has sent to his country shouldn’t be viewed as a handout.

“Your money is not charity,” he said. “It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”

That message has resonated for many Americans, particularly among Democratic voters.

“It’s important that Putin sees Ukraine has global support behind them,” said Michele Harrison, a retired business owner living in Portland, Oregon. “I don’t know how people can say this is a waste of money. We’re talking about a sovereign nation and a democracy under threat. We see how hard they’re fighting this evil invasion, and it’s our responsibility to back them — we’d hope for the same if we were invaded.”

Even among many who bristle at the growing price tag of America’s backing of a foreign war, there is an understanding that U.S. involvement has global implications.

“The issue isn’t sending money,” Garrick Willis, a sales manager from Fairfax, Virginia, told VOA. “The issue is the amount of money, and the frequency we’re being asked to send it. We’re giving all of this money to Ukraine, but we have our own issues that need attention at home. We’re making ourselves vulnerable.”

Growing debate

Many who feel the U.S. is spending too much in Ukraine point to domestic causes that could be funded instead.

But some in favor of continuing to fund Ukraine’s defense at current levels feel this is a dubious argument.

“I mean, I can understand people feeling like they’d want that money spent at home,” said Daq Bazzini, a musician and Democratic voter from Santa Monica, California, “but most of the people saying that now are Republicans. Where were they when [former President George W.] Bush raised hell in Iraq and Afghanistan for eight years?”

Dillard University public policy professor Robert Collins said that remembering Americans’ attitudes toward the Afghanistan War can be instructive in understanding shifting opinions regarding the war in Ukraine.

“War fatigue always sets in,” he told VOA. “At the beginning of our war in Afghanistan, for example, sending troops over there to fight was popular. But that didn’t last. Eventually, we didn’t see the point anymore and we wanted our people home.”

“I think we’ll see a similar pattern with our appetite to fund the war in Ukraine,” he added. “Even many of the people who currently support us sending money over there will eventually get tired of it.”

A December poll from Morning Consult found that 41% of American voters were “very concerned” about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That’s down from 58% last March at the beginning of the war.

“Personally, I’m more concerned about solving the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine than in giving them more weapons,” said David Brown, a retired information technology specialist in Seal Beach, California.

“Let’s keep giving money to provide food, shelter and gainful employment to refugees and those in need,” he continued, “but Ukraine doesn’t seem interested in a cease-fire right now and unless we stop sending them weapons and money for security, I don’t think they ever will be. This war will go on forever.”
…

Ukraine’s new media law has divided critics, with journalists warning it gives the government new, expansive powers, and Kyiv arguing that it brings the country closer to the European Union and will help fight propaganda.

Signed into law by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and set to take effect in April, the bill was developed in line with the EU directive on audiovisual media services’ requirements and Council of Europe standards.

While it includes most of the provisions recommended by the EU, the law goes much further and will replace six previous laws related to media. It also increases the government’s regulatory power over TV, radio, and news websites.

Media rights groups are wary, with Gulnoza Said of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) telling Voice of America she sees it as “an attempt to establish an even stricter control of the government over the free flow of information.”

In July and September, the CPJ issued two statements calling on Ukrainian lawmakers to drop the bill over concerns it will restrict press freedom.

Authorities came under criticism in November after journalists had their accreditation revoked for reporting on the liberation of the city of Kherson before government officials arrived. 

The new law will not govern media access, but it will empower the regulatory body, the National Сouncil of Television and Radio Broadcasting, to issue licenses for media companies and impose sanctions on outlets deemed to be in violation of the law.

For registered media, any action would be court approved, but experts have said that the law will make it easier to take action, including fines and temporary suspensions, against unregistered news outlets and without court approval.

“We don’t believe that the framework proposed by this law is that of a totally independent national regulator,” Ricardo Gutierrez, secretary general of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), told VOA.

He expressed concern about the expansion of the broadcasting council’s ability to impose sanctions and fines without independent judicial review.

The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine also voiced concern that the council could act at the behest of the government.

“The key aspects that are fundamental for media legislation include the political independence of the national media regulator. We want the regulator in this case to be independent,” said union director Sergiy Tomilenko.

Government officials defended the law, saying that until recently, media were able to broadcast whatever they wanted, including pro-Russian propaganda.

For a long time, the regulator’s authority was limited, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy Taras Shevchenko told VOA.

“The Ukrainian regulator has been completely impotent for most of its existence. You can see that on the example of the pro-Russian TV channels that no one could do anything about,” Shevchenko said. “The expansion of regulator’s powers is a necessary step to guarantee independence.”

Made up of eight people from media, culture, science and legal sectors, the broadcasting council has four members appointed by the president and four from parliament. But a majority party rule has raised flags among media.

Maksym Dvorovyi, who is part of the task force that started drafting the new media law in 2019, said that his working group worked to include safeguards.

“Two authorities that nominate candidates to the broadcasting council represent one political power. Among the legislation’s provisions, we established as many safeguards as possible to offset the political influence,” said Dvorovyi.

Balancing act

Natalia Ligachova, head of Detector Media, a group founded by Ukrainian journalists to raise national media literacy, agrees the council will probably be more pro-presidential but noted that lawmakers amended the legislation around concerns.

“The latest version of the law has been considerably softened,” she told VOA. “Before, any blogger who posted something online or had a YouTube channel or a Facebook, Instagram or TikTok page could fall under the new regulation. This has been changed, and it’s important.”

Lawmakers made almost 1,000 pages of amendments based on concerns by media groups. They removed highly criticized provisions, such as mandatory registration of media, blocking of some outlets without court decisions, and a proposal that would define bloggers and social media users as media.

But some critics still are concerned it could limit Ukraine from having a truly free press.

“Today, our position is less radical than it was in July, but we still believe that this law is not sufficient to guarantee media freedom,” said Gutierrez of the EFJ.

His organization laid out its remaining concerns in a letter to the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

She replied that the European Commission is following the issue closely and that the EU delegation in Ukraine is working with the Ukrainian government and parliament.

Media reform is one of the European Union’s conditions for negotiations on Ukraine’s membership, and Ukrainian officials say the new law is just one of several statutes passed as part of efforts toward EU membership.

This article originated in VOA’s Ukraine service.
…

A French Irish citizen held in Iran has suspended his dry hunger strike at the request of his family, who fear for his life, his sister told AFP on Friday.

Bernard Phelan, detained in Iran since early October, will accept food and fluids again, Caroline Masse-Phelan said, but remains determined, and will “start again if there is no progress” toward his release.

Phelan, a Paris-based travel consultant and one of seven French nationals held by Iran, was arrested while traveling there and is being held in Mashhad in northeastern Iran.

Iran accuses him of anti-government propaganda, a charge he has denied.

He started refusing food on January 1, and fluids on Monday. Phelan, who suffers from a heart condition and a chronic bone issue, was judged to be in critical condition by Wednesday.

Masse-Phelan said earlier in the week the family had managed to pass messages to her brother through diplomatic channels.

“Bernard has agreed to read our messages and has suspended his hunger and thirst strike,” she said on Friday.

“His life is still in danger,” she said, adding that her brother had received no medical attention, and was suffering from “an enormous drop in blood pressure.”

The Iranian authorities have so far refused to release Phelan on medical grounds despite repeated requests from the French and Irish authorities, a French diplomatic source has said.

Phelan is one of two dozen foreigners who are being held in Iran, according to activists, who describe the detainees as hostages seized to extract concessions from the West.

Fellow French national Benjamin Briere, who was sentenced last year to eight years in prison on spying charges, is being held in the same prison.

“We are extremely worried for Bernard Phelan,” a French foreign ministry official told AFP on Friday.

“We hold Iran entirely responsible for his situation, and for the state of his health,” said the source, who declined to be named.

Diplomats said earlier that Phelan received his first French consular visit only on January 9, after repeated requests.
…

Ireland’s foreign minister said Thursday the government was doing all it could to secure the release of a French-Irish citizen held in Iran after his family urged Dublin to intensify talks because of concerns for his health following a hunger strike.

Micheal Martin told a news conference in Dublin that “we’re going to do everything we possibly can” to help release Bernard Phelan, a 64-year-old Paris-based travel consultant arrested in October while traveling through Iran in the wake of anti-regime protests.

“I think we have been very active in respect of Bernard’s situation,” Martin told reporters. “We’ve sought his release on humanitarian grounds from the Iranian government, and we’re waiting a response from the Minister for Foreign Affairs in Iran. We’ve been engaged with the ambassador here as well.”

Martin’s comments followed a plea from Phelan’s sister Caroline Masse-Phelan for Dublin to step up its negotiations with Tehran.

“Escalate negotiations with the Iranian authorities to get Bernard out of there. His health condition is extremely bad following his hunger and thirst strike,” Masse-Phelan said on RTE radio.

“His health is extremely at risk. And we still do fear for his life. So escalate, escalate, escalate,” she said, explaining that her brother suffers from a heart condition and chronic bone illness.

Innocent pawn

One of seven French nationals held by Iran, Phelan is being held in Mashhad, a city in the northeast, on a number of charges including disseminating propaganda critical of Iran’s clerical leadership. He has denied all the charges.

“He’s a person who loved Iran, and he was involved in travel and tourism, in terms of encouraging people to visit Iran from a tourism perspective,” Martin said.

At the start of the year, the dual national Phelan began a hunger strike and had refused water for the past three days.

Masse-Phelan said the family had managed to pass a message to her brother through diplomatic channels on Wednesday, getting him to end the hunger strike.

Previously, requests for direct communication with the family had been turned down by Iranian authorities.

She said they urged him “to stop, to eat, to drink and that it wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t worth losing his life in this situation.”

Speaking to Agence France-Presse on Wednesday, Caroline Masse-Phelan said under the “dry” hunger strike, her brother would survive no more than a few days.

A diplomatic source said Iranian authorities had so far refused to release Phelan on medical grounds despite repeated requests from French and Irish authorities.

Phelan is one of two dozen foreigners held in Iran, according to activists, who describe the detainees as “hostages” seized to extract concessions from the West.

Fellow French national Benjamin Briere, who was sentenced last year to eight years in prison on spying charges, is being held in the same jail.

Masse-Phelan said her brother was “an innocent pawn in a bigger political game,” explaining he had “worked in tourism and for all his life and was promoting Iran as a destination.”
…

Campaigners from troubled Kashmir, Chad and Venezuela on Thursday won the Martin Ennals Award, one of the world’s most prestigious human rights prizes, with the jury hailing their “courage.”

The winners are Khurram Parvez, a prominent rights activist in restive Indian-administered Kashmir; Delphine Djiraibe, one of Chad’s first female lawyers; and Feliciano Reyna, a rights activist and advocate for access to health care for marginalized LGBTQ people in Venezuela.

“The common denominator between the 2023 laureates … is their courage, passion and determination to bring the voice of the voiceless to the international arena, despite the ongoing, sometimes life-threatening challenges they endure,” prize jury chairman Hans Thoolen said in a statement.

“We are particularly proud to honor these three exceptional laureates who have each dedicated over 30 years of their lives to building movements which brought about justice for victims or delivered medicines to the marginalized,” he said. “They have made human rights real for thousands of people in their communities.”

The award ceremony will take place in Geneva on February 16, the organizers said. The laureates will each receive 20,000 to 30,000 Swiss francs ($22,000-33,000).

The award is managed by the Geneva-based Martin Ennals Foundation. The prize honors individuals and organizations that have shown exceptional commitment to defending and promoting human rights, despite the risks involved. It raises their profile and gathers international support for their work.

‘An inspiration’

The annual Martin Ennals Award, named after the first secretary-general of Amnesty International, was first given in 1994. The jury comprises representatives from 10 leading human rights organizations, including Amnesty and Human Rights Watch.

Parvez, 45, the founder of the widely respected Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, likely will not be able to attend the ceremony, though. He has been detained by India since November 2021.

According to the prize organizers, Parvez was catapulted into nonviolent activism at age 13, when he witnessed the shooting of his grandfather during a demonstration in Kashmir.

Parvez, who is also the chair of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, has traveled to the most remote parts of Kashmir to collect and document stories of abuse.

“Despite continued attacks on his right to freedom of expression by the Indian government, being jailed in 2016 and losing a leg to land mines, Parvez relentlessly spoke the truth and was an inspiration,” the prize jury said, slamming his latest arrest on “politically motivated charges.”

Djiraibe, 62, meanwhile, pioneered the human rights movement in Chad, and was a key figure in bringing former dictator Hissene Habre, who brutally ruled from 1982 to 1990, to justice, the jury said.

As head of the Public Interest Law Center, she has accompanied people seeking justice for rights violations, with a growing focus on gender-based violence.

Reyna, 67, was an architect, who upon the death of his partner from AIDS in 1995 founded Accion Solidaria to provide medication and treatment to Venezuelans living with HIV and AIDS.

He later helped create the first national AIDS help line and has advocated more broadly for health care access for marginalized LGBTQ populations.
…

From Lafayette Park in front of the White House to the streets of London, Toronto and many other cities around the world, activists have been staging small protests to condemn the Taliban’s repressive policies against women in Afghanistan and call for a stronger international response.

While they attract a relatively small number of participants, the protests have increased in frequency over the last year, largely in response to growing Taliban restrictions on women inside Afghanistan.

On January 14, fewer than 100 protesters showed up at Farragut Square Park in Washington to chant slogans against the Taliban’s recent edict banning universities and work for Afghan girls and women. On the same day, about three dozen protesters gathered in heavy rain in Los Angeles, making similar demands.

“In Los Angeles, we called for an end to the gender apartheid instilled by the Taliban,” Arash Azizada, an Afghan American community organizer, told VOA.

The protests take place as women and civil society activists inside Afghanistan have gone silent under Taliban rule.

‘We want to be their voices’

Human rights groups accuse Taliban authorities of forcefully banning protests, detaining and torturing activists, and censoring the media. The Taliban strongly reject the allegations and instead claim they have freed the country from a U.S. invasion.

The protesters outside Afghanistan say they show solidarity with Afghan women whose rights are being crushed under the Taliban’s undemocratic rule.

“We want to be their voices. We want to be their bridge to the world,” said Asila Wardak, a former Afghan diplomat and now a fellow at Harvard University who participated in several protests in the U.S.

The Afghan protesters are part of a widespread global chorus that demands the Taliban immediately reverse restrictions imposed on women’s work and education in Afghanistan.

But the Taliban have remained defiant, giving no clarity about when or whether the will be lifted.

“Anti-government protests outside the country that the government controls (e.g., anti-Iranian government protests that take place in Washington) do not seem to have much impact in the country that the protests concern,” Thomas Carothers of the Global Protest Tracker at the Carnegie Endowment told VOA by email.

“Repressive governments are usually able to control news of such events,” he said.

While U.S. and European officials have often voiced support for Afghan women and have imposed travel and economic sanctions on Taliban leaders and institutions, protesters say the international community should undertake meaningful action to dissuade and disable the Taliban from depriving millions of women of their basic rights.

“Just issuing statements of solidarity with Afghan women is not enough,” said Wardak. “The international community should facilitate opportunities for Afghan women to directly engage the Taliban and demand accountability.”

Azizzada, an activist in Los Angeles, said a meaningful response to the Taliban’s perceived misogyny would be for the U.S. and its Western allies to offer more asylum and educational opportunities for Afghans.

“If Afghan girls cannot learn in Afghanistan, they should be allowed to do so in the United States or elsewhere,” Azizzada said.

Local voices

Since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, more than 150,000 Afghans, among them many women leaders and activists, have been evacuated or given asylum in the U.S., Canada and European countries.

Many evacuees have engaged in high-profile advocacy for change in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Some activists have received prestigious awards and fellowships at elite universities, giving them a bully pulpit from which to write for and appear in prominent media outlets.

Now there are concerns that the activists in the Western countries are given too much attention at the cost of women inside Afghanistan.

“Efforts outside of Afghanistan should complement the activism of those inside the country and not hijack the narrative and present unrealistic solutions,” said Obaidullah Baheer, a Kabul analyst.

Even while women are not allowed to advocate for their rights inside Afghanistan, Baheer said, “it should not mean that their voices be ignored.”

That Afghan women have continued to suffer under the Taliban, despite protests and advocacy outside Afghanistan, is not disputed by some prominent activists.

“I believe that protests have impacts on the situation,” Zarifa Ghafari, a former Afghan official who now advocates for Afghan women’s rights from Germany, told VOA. “But I do not have confidence in the scattered gatherings by Afghans, and you have not seen any positive result over the past one and one-half years.”

Taliban officials have largely ignored the Afghan protests abroad or labeled the protesters as Western puppets.

Inside Afghanistan, however, nearly all Afghans have rated their lives as “suffering,” and a majority have said that women are disrespected under the Taliban, according to a recent Pew survey.

 
…

Greta Thunberg called on the global energy industry and its financiers to end all fossil fuel investments on Thursday at a high-profile meeting in Davos with the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

During a round-table discussion with Fatih Birol on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, activists said they had presented a “cease and desist” letter to CEOs calling for a stop to new oil, gas and coal extraction.

“As long as they can get away with it, they will continue to invest in fossil fuels, they will continue to throw people under the bus,” Thunberg warned.

‘Slight legitimate optimism’

The oil and gas industry, which has been accused by activists of hijacking the climate change debate in the Swiss ski resort, has said that it needs to be part of the energy transition as fossil fuels will continue to play a major role in the energy mix as the world shift to a low-carbon economy.

Thunberg, who was detained by police in Germany this week during a demonstration at a coal mine, joined with fellow activists Helena Gualinga from Ecuador, Vanessa Nakate from Uganda, and Luisa Neubauer from Germany to discuss the tackle the big issues with Birol.

Birol, whose agency makes policy recommendations on energy, thanked the activists for meeting him, but insisted that the transition had to include a mix of stakeholders, especially in the face of the global energy security crisis.

The IEA chief, who earlier on Thursday met with some of the biggest names in the oil and gas industry in Davos, said there was no reason to justify investments in new oil fields because of the energy crunch, saying by the time these became operational the climate crisis would be worse.

He also said he was less pessimistic than the climate activists about the shift to clean energy.

“We can have slight legitimate optimism,” he said, adding: “Last year the amount of renewables coming to the market was record high.”

But he admitted that the transition was not happening fast enough and warned that emerging and developing countries risked being left behind if advanced economies did not support the transition.

‘A need for real money’

The United Nations’ climate conference, held in Egypt last year, established a loss and damage fund to compensate countries most impacted by climate change events.

Nakate, who held a solitary protest outside the Ugandan parliament for several months in 2019, said the fund “is still an empty bucket with no money at all.”

“There is a need for real money for loss and damage.”

In 2019, the then 16-year-old Thunberg took part in the main WEF meeting, famously telling leaders that “our house is on fire.” She returned to Davos the following year.

But she refused to participate as an official delegate this year as the event returned to its usual January slot.

Asked why she did not want to advocate for change from the inside, Thunberg said there were already activists doing that.

“I think it should be people on the frontlines and not privileged people like me,” she said. “I don’t think the changes we need are very likely to come from the inside. They are more likely to come from the bottom up.”

The activists later walked together through the snowy streets of Davos, where many of the shops have temporarily been turned into “pavilions” sponsored by companies or countries.
…

Workers striking in protest of France’s proposed pension overhauls disrupted transportation, schools and electricity supplies Thursday.

President Emmanuel Macron’s government has proposed raising the retirement age for a full pension from 62 to 64, saying the move is necessary to keep the system solvent.

Unions oppose the change and have suggested a tax on the super wealthy as an alternative course.

Train service and some flights were canceled Thursday. Seventy percent of preschool and primary school teachers said they planned to not work, while electricity workers said they would reduce supplies in protest of the proposed changes.

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

Turkey has placed basketball player Enes Freedom on its terrorist wanted list. 

Freedom appears on what the Turkish Interior Ministry calls the “Grey List,” the lowest of its five-tier color-coded system, which offers a reward of up to about $26,600 (500,000 Turkish lira). 

It is not clear when Turkey added Freedom to the list, but he told Fox News on Tuesday that he learned about it while he was at the Vatican for a basketball camp, and that after contacting the FBI, he was told he should return to the United States. 

“This is the first time actually the Turkish government put a bounty on my head and put me on the most wanted terrorist list, just because I talk about some of the human rights violations and political prisoners happening in Turkey,” Freedom told Fox News. “And you know, I’m not the only one. There are so many journalists, academics, professors and celebrities are on that list.” 

Freedom has been a critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the country’s human rights record, and he has called on the Biden administration and other Western and NATO leaders to take action. 

Turkey issued an arrest warrant for him in 2019, accusing him of being a member of a terrorist group for his ties to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. Turkey blamed Gulen for a failed 2016 coup, which Gulen denies. 

Freedom grew up in Turkey and changed his named from Enes Kanter after becoming a U.S. citizen in 2021. Turkey canceled his passport in 2017. 

He played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association, most recently in 2022 with the Boston Celtics. 

In addition to speaking out against the Turkish government, Freedom has also criticized China’s human rights record, including its treatment of Tibet and the Uyghur people.

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

The United States aims to break the dynamic of grinding warfare and near-frozen front lines in Ukraine with newly announced military capabilities it hopes will create momentum for Kyiv’s battle against Russian forces, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday.

But Colin Kahl, the Pentagon’s top policy adviser, said the Pentagon still wasn’t prepared to meet Kyiv’s calls for gas-guzzling M1 Abrams main battle tanks.

“I just don’t think we’re there yet,” said Kahl, who had just returned from a trip to Ukraine. “The Abrams tank is a very complicated piece of equipment. It’s expensive. It’s hard to train on. It has a jet engine.”

Kahl’s remarks came ahead of this week’s gathering of top defense officials from dozens of countries at the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Germany to coordinate military aid for Kyiv.

The U.S. has committed roughly $24 billion to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian forces, including a $3.5 billion package announced this month that includes Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, self-propelled howitzers, armored personnel carriers, surface-to-air missiles and ammunition.

U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said President Joe Biden’s administration is next expected to approve Stryker armored vehicles for Ukraine.

Pressure has been mounting on Germany to send its Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, or at least approve their transfer from third countries.

But Germany appears to want to tie any such contribution to a U.S. decision on Abrams.

A German government source told Reuters that Germany would allow German-made tanks to be sent to Ukraine to help its defense against Russia if the United States agrees to send its own tanks.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is due to meet with Germany’s new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius in Berlin on Thursday.

Kahl noted Britain’s commitment to send 14 of its Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and, without confirming any German conditions on providing the Leopard, said: “I think if there is a concern about being alone in providing this capability, that shouldn’t be a concern.”

“But at the end of the day, you know, the German government is going to make a sovereign decision,” the U.S. defense official said.

Kahl also praised Germany’s contributions so far.

“I think we should give Germany an enormous amount of credit for their generosity toward Ukraine to date,” he told reporters at the Pentagon.

Front lines have hardened in Ukraine since Kyiv wrested back significant territory in the east and south in the second half of 2022. Kahl described brutal, World War I-style engagements, with advances measured in blocks.

“Really what we’re focused on is surging those capabilities to Ukraine for the next phase of the conflict to really try to change that dynamic and continue the momentum that the Ukrainians had in the late summer and early fall,” Kahl said, echoing comments in Washington on Tuesday by British foreign minister James Cleverly.

The U.S. provision of Bradley fighting vehicles, combined arms training, and other new weaponry for the Ukrainians is meant to enable Kyiv to change the dynamic of static defenses “by being able to fire and maneuver through the use of more mechanized forces,” Kahl said.
…

Environmental activist Greta Thunberg is set to meet International Energy Agency executive director Fatih Birol in Davos on Thursday, organizers of a fringe round-table event at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting told Reuters.

Thunberg is to meet Birol along with fellow campaigners Helena Gualinga, Vanessa Nakate and Luisa Neubauer, the organizers said in a statement.

The IEA, which makes policy recommendations on global energy, had no immediate comment.

Thunberg was released by police on Tuesday after being detained alongside other climate activists during protests in Germany.

“Yesterday I was part of a group that peacefully protested the expansion of a coal mine in Germany. We were kettled by police and then detained but were let go later that evening,” she tweeted, adding: “Climate protection is not a crime.”

‘We are not winning’

Former United States Vice President Al Gore said in Davos that he agreed with Thunberg’s efforts in Germany and that the climate crisis was getting worse faster than the world was tackling it.

“We are not winning. The crisis is still getting worse faster than we are deploying these solutions,” Gore told a WEF panel, highlighting a growing gap between those “old enough to be in positions in power and the young people of this world.”

Thunberg, whose current whereabouts are not clear, attended the WEF meeting in Davos in January 2020, when she challenged world leaders, including former U.S. President Donald Trump, to act on climate change, saying that “our house is still on fire.”

She has also participated in previous protests on the fringes of the gathering, which brings business and political leaders together in the Swiss ski resort for a dialogue on topical issues.

Activists protest oil firms’ role

Climate change is one of the main items on the agenda for this year’s meeting, which has already seen protests against the role of big oil firms, with activists saying they are hijacking the debate over how to address global warming.

Representatives of major energy firms including BP, Chevron, Occidental Petroleum Corp., and Saudi Aramco are among 1,500 business leaders gathered there.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called on the WEF attendees to make “credible,” accountable net-zero pledges.

A social media campaign this week added to pressure on oil and gas companies, promoting a “cease and desist” notice sponsored by Thunberg, Nakate, Neubauer and Gualinga through the non-profit website Avaaz.

The call, which has garnered more than 850,000 signatures, demands that energy company CEOs “immediately stop opening any new oil, gas, or coal extraction sites, and stop blocking the clean energy transition we all so urgently need.”

It threatens legal action and more protests if they fail to comply.

The oil and gas industry has said that it needs to be part of the energy transition as fossil fuels will continue to play a major role in the world’s energy mix as countries shift to low- economies.
…

United States law enforcement officials said on Wednesday that they’ve arrested the Russian founder of a China-based cryptocurrency exchange, disrupting an online platform used by criminals on the darknet.  

Anatoly Legkodymov, 40, the majority owner of Hong Kong-registered Bitzlato, was taken into custody in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday evening and charged with conducting an unlicensed money transmitting business, officials said at a press conference at the Justice Department.   

Meanwhile, French authorities working with Europol and other European law enforcement agencies took down Bitzlato’s digital infrastructure and seized its cryptocurrency, officials said.   

Legkodymov was expected to make his first court appearance in Florida on Wednesday. His attorneys did not respond to queries seeking to confirm his arraignment in time for publication. If convicted, he faces a maximum of five years in prison. 

‘A high-tech axis of cryptocrime’

Cybercriminals often operate in the shadows and are rarely caught. Asked why Legkodymov was in Miami at the time of his arrest, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco declined to answer.    

“The charges allege that Legkodymov operated Bitzlato as a high-tech financial hub that, in his own words, catered to ‘known crooks,’” Monaco said. 

Bitzlato openly boasted about its lax identification requirements, telling its users that “neither selfies nor passports [are] required,” the Justice Department said. 

The company’s biggest counterpart in crypto transactions was Hydra Market, a notorious darknet marketplace that sold drugs and stolen financial information before it was shut down by U.S. and German authorities last year.  

Prosecutors say Bitzlato exchanged more than $700 million in cryptocurrency for users of Hydra Market between 2018 and 2022. Bitzlato is also accused of receiving more than $15 million in ransomware proceeds.  

“Hydra and Bitzlato formed a high-tech axis of cryptocrime,” Monaco said. “Hydra buyers funded illicit purchases — of illegal drugs, stolen financial information, and hacking services — from crypto accounts hosted at Bitzlato, and sellers of these illegal goods and services at Hydra sent criminal proceeds to accounts at Bitzlato.” 

A lawyer for Legkodymov did not immediately respond to a VOA request for comment. 

Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said nearly half of all known Bitzlato transactions between 2019 and 2021 involved Russian illicit finance or otherwise risky sources. 

Darknet marketplaces almost always demand virtual currency, according to the Treasury Department. 

“Bitzlato is particularly active in facilitating illicit activity, but it is ultimately part of a larger ecosystem of cybercriminals that are allowed to operate with impunity in Russia,” Adeyemo said. 

In a rare move, the U.S. Treasury Department designated Bitzlato as a “primary money laundering concern” in connection with Russian illicit funds.  

Crackdown on crypto

The charges come as U.S. authorities have stepped up a crackdown on cryptocurrency exchanges used by cybercriminals.  

Illicit cryptocurrency transactions hit a new high of $20 billion in 2022, up from $18 billion in 2021 and $5 billion in 2017, according to Chainalysis. 

U.S. officials say Russia in recent years has emerged as a haven for ransomware actors and other cybercriminals, with Moscow sometimes hiring private hacking groups to carry out international cyberattacks.   

Adeyemo said most ransomware incidents reported to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in the second half of 2021 were conducted by Russia-related ransomware variants. 

“At a time when Russia is waging a brutal and unjust war in Ukraine, and as it seeks to circumvent sanctions and governance controls to fill its coffers and sustain its violence, we have no tolerance for criminal enterprises enriching Russia’s malicious interests,” Adeyemo said. 
…

A French Irish citizen held in Iran since October 2022 and now on a dry hunger strike to protest his detention will survive no more than a few days unless he is freed, his sister said on Wednesday. 

Bernard Phelan, a Paris-based travel consultant and one of seven French nationals held by Iran, was arrested in October while traveling and is being held in Mashhad in northeastern Iran. 

The 64-year-old’s family has said he started a dry hunger strike on Monday, refusing water. He has been refusing food since the start of the year. 

His sister Caroline Masse-Phelan told AFP on Wednesday that her brother was an innocent man detained for reasons “beyond our comprehension.” 

She said his health condition meant he had to be released urgently. 

“It’s a matter of days. He’s an innocent man caught in the middle of I don’t know what. He loves Iran, he is 64, sick, and wants to go home,” she said. 

“He is showing serious signs of physical and psychological exhaustion,” said a French diplomatic source, adding he was in a “critical state.”  

The Iranian authorities have refused to release Phelan on medical grounds despite repeated requests from the French and Irish authorities, the source said. 

“I think he is part of a group of Europeans imprisoned for political reasons … of which I know nothing,” his sister added. “We have nothing to do with this story.” 

Phelan is one of two dozen foreigners held in Iran, according to activists, who describe the detainees as hostages seized to extract concessions from the West. 

Phelan was traveling through Mashhad during the ongoing protests against Iran’s clerical regime when he was arrested. 

He is being held in Vakilabad prison in Mashhad. His sister said he suffers from a heart condition that requires medical treatment. 

The hunger and thirst strikes are putting his life in danger but “he is doing this because he can’t take it anymore,” she said. 

“These are the only weapons,” she added, saying that it was on his urging that she had moved to make the case public. 

Phelan is in contact with the crisis unit of the French foreign ministry, which passes on the messages from his family, but requests for direct communication with the family have been turned down by the Iranian authorities.  

Phelan received his first French consular visit on January 9, after repeated requests, the diplomatic source added. 

Activists fear that the current downgrading of contact between Western governments and Iran over the protest crackdown has lessened the prospect of the foreign detainees being released soon. 

Siamak Namazi, a U.S. citizen of Iranian descent who was arrested in October 2015, this week started a seven-day hunger strike as he implored President Joe Biden to put greater priority on his case. 

“Today the whole world is witnessing how atrociously this regime can respond to those who dare demand their basic rights,” Namazi said. 

 
…

Campaigners have welcomed a decision to remove the skeleton of an 18th century man with gigantism from public display at a London museum.

The remains of Charles Byrne, who was 2.31 meters (7ft 7in), had been on show at the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in central London.

But the museum has said the self-styled “Irish Giant” will not be part of the collection when it reopens in March after a five-year, £4.6-million ($5.7-million) refurbishment.

Thomas Muinzer, a senior law lecturer at Aberdeen University in Scotland, called the decision “wonderful news”.

But he said the development was only a “partial success”, as Byrne himself wanted to be buried at sea, to prevent anatomists using him for study.

In 2011, Muinzer and Len Doyal, a medical ethicist, published a paper in the British Medical Journal, calling for Byrne’s final wishes to be respected.

“Byrne’s remains ought to be buried at sea or at least be withdrawn from public display,” they wrote.

The British writer Hilary Mantel, who died last year and wrote a 1998 fictionalized portrait of Byrne called “The Giant”, had also backed the campaign.

RCS England said last week that trustees of the collection had discussed the “sensitivities” of keeping and displaying Byrne’s skeleton during the closure.

The skeleton was acquired after Byrne’s death aged 22 in 1783 by the eminent surgeon and anatomist John Hunter.

Before he could be buried, Hunter paid Byrne’s friends £500 — the equivalent of £60,000 today — for his body.

The decision comes as museums in the UK and around the world are reassessing the provenance of their collections.

The Hunterian is due to begin a new program later this year “to promote new research and explore issues around the display of human remains and the acquisition of specimens” during the British colonial period.

Hunter and others in the 18th and 19th century “acquired many specimens in ways we would not consider ethical today”, it added.

A decision has been made to only make the skeleton only available for “bona fide medical research” into gigantism.

Muinzer said it had already been extensively studied and its complete DNA extracted, but scientific understanding of the condition remains limited and people still suffer from it today.

As a result, Byrne’s last wishes — which RCS England said are well-documented but anecdotal — should be respected, he added.

“We don’t have to worry about the resurrectionists and grave robbers now thank goodness,” he added.
…

Ukraine says the West must speed up the delivery of weapons as its troops come under increasing pressure from invading Russian forces, ahead of a key meeting of the Ukraine Défense Contact Group of NATO allies in Ramstein, Germany on Friday.

Dozens of civilians have been killed in recent days by Russian missiles. An attack on an apartment block in the city of Dnipro Saturday killed at least 44 people, including several children.

“What happened in Dnipro, the fact that Russia is preparing a new attempt to seize the initiative in the war, the fact that the nature of hostilities at the front requires new decisions in the defense supply, all this only emphasizes how important it is to coordinate our efforts, the efforts of all members of the coalition to defend Ukraine and freedom, and to speed up decision-making,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday.

“A regular meeting in the Ramstein format will be held at the end of the week. We expect fundamental decisions from the coalition of our partners,” he added.

British tanks

The Ukrainian president, meanwhile, praised Britain’s announcement that it will supply 14 “Challenger 2” tanks to Kyiv. “This is exactly what we need,” Zelenskyy said.

The Challenger 2 is Britain’s main battle tank. The squadron of 14 tanks is part of a large package of military aid, which includes AS90 self-propelled artillery, Bulldog armored vehicles, ammunition, Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, Starstreak air defense systems and medium-range air defense missiles.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov Tuesday dismissed Britain’s supply of tanks to Ukraine. “The special military operation will continue, these tanks… will burn, just like the rest. The goals of the special military operation will be achieved,” Peskov told the Reuters news agency.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told lawmakers Monday this was Britain’s most significant package of combat power provided to Ukraine to date.

“”We believe that in 2023, increased supplies improve training and strengthening diplomatic resolve will enable Ukraine to be successful against Russia’s poorly led and now badly equipped armed forces,” Wallace said.

“Today’s package will help accelerate the conclusion of Putin’s occupation and all its brutality and ensure that in 2023 and beyond, if necessary, Ukraine retains its momentum,” he added, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Pressure on Germany

That momentum depends on other allies also stepping up. Germany is under growing pressure to send Ukraine “Leopard 2” tanks and approve requests from other nations to re-export their German-made tanks.

The Leopard 2 tank is seen as the workhorse of many European armies, and analysts say hundreds could be sent to the Ukrainian frontlines with Berlin’s approval.

“Ukraine needs hundreds of light and battle tanks to conduct a successful offensive in the spring. So, it seems that the British offer is more of a political signal – that the red line on tanks is actually gone,” Liana Fix, a defense analyst with the Council on Foreign Relations, told VOA.

“The British political signal might not be enough for Germany to move onto main battle tanks. And Germany is so crucial because the Leopards are really the best and the most numerous tanks available for Ukraine at this point,” Fix said.

‘World War III’

Poland and Finland want to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki offered a warning to Germany.

“Ukraine’s defeat may become a prelude to a World War III. Therefore, today there is no reason to block support for Kyiv, to procrastinate. Thus, I call for decisive actions by the German government on all sorts of weapons to be delivered to Ukraine,” Morawiecki said at an event hosted by the German opposition Christian Democratic Union party in Berlin Tuesday.

European Union Council President Charles Michel voiced his support Wednesday for sending tanks to Ukraine. “The time is now; they urgently need more equipment and I am personally in favor of supplying tanks to Ukraine,” Michel told EU lawmakers.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said Wednesday he expected an announcement that further main battle tanks would be sent to Ukraine.

“Definitely, there is momentum. Unfortunately, that the momentum has formed after we’ve seen, again, horrendous civilian deaths… We could do it right now, but we will be waiting for some other imaginary red lines to be crossed, because this is the modus operandi our allies are choosing,” Landsbergis told Reuters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Divisions

Germany is providing Ukraine with Marder armored personnel carriers, a Patriot air defense missile battery, howitzers, anti-aircraft guns and Iris-T surface-to-air missiles.

There are, however, divisions within Germany’s governing coalition over increasing the supply of weapons. The Green party wants to go further in supplying tanks and other heavy weapons to Kyiv. “We are at a different and a new and a next step. And as we have done in the past, we will join forces (with allies) also in the upcoming future,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, a member of the Greens, said Tuesday.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz appointed Boris Pistorius as his new defense minister Tuesday after the resignation of Christine Lambrecht earlier this week.

In the past, Pistorius has spoken out in favor of helping Ukraine defend itself. Speaking after his appointment Wednesday, Pistorius would not be drawn on any decisions over sending Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv. “The German army must adapt to a new situation which arose due to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine,” Pistorius told reporters.

U.S. lead

Germany is looking to Washington to take the lead, says analyst Fix.

“It’s always step-by-step, it takes a long time until decisions are made. And Germany in any case does not assume a leadership role, but it only acts if the United States acts in parallel. And this reflects Germany’s concerns about escalation with Russia,” Fix said.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is due to host a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group of allies at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Friday. The participants are expected to coordinate further military aid for Ukraine. The group consists of around 50 allies dedicated to helping Ukraine defend itself.

The meeting sends an important signal, says Fix.

“It also demonstrates that the West is not satisfied with a frozen conflict, with a frozen war, with a preliminary cease-fire – but that the Western alliance sees the necessity for Ukraine to make further great gains,” Fix told VOA.

Some of the information in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
…

South Africa plans to conduct joint military exercises with the Chinese and Russian navies off its east coast next month (February 17-26), despite the Kremlin’s ongoing war on Ukraine. The opposition Democratic Alliance has slammed the decision, saying it means that contrary to its “neutral” stance on Russia’s Ukraine war, South Africa’s ruling National Congress Party has effectively sided with Moscow.

The China-Russia-South Africa drills, named Operation Mosi, which means smoke, are to take place off Durban from February 17 to 26.

While South Africa has held joint naval exercises with Russia in the past, in 2019, these latest ones overlap with the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its ongoing war against Kyiv.

Pretoria has officially remained “neutral” on the conflict, refusing to condemn the Kremlin’s invasion in a U.N. vote last year.

But South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, says hosting Russian warships shows the ruling African National Congress, or the ANC, has chosen sides.

Kobus Marais is the party’s shadow defense minister.

“While our government has claimed to be neutral, this is just another of many incidents where the ANC has clearly exposed their favoritism towards Russia and has in fact done nothing but to showcase and prove [the] government’s lack of neutrality in this case,” he said.

Marais says the South Africa of Nelson Mandela, once a beacon of democracy, risks losing its international standing by siding with what he calls “the most despicable autocracies of the world.”

Moscow’s invasion, the biggest in Europe since World War II, has been widely condemned internationally.

Western governments have hit Russia with diplomatic isolation and heavy sanctions and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine to defend itself.

Steven Gruzd, the head of the Russia-Africa program at the South African Institute of International Affairs, says South Africa’s hosting the drills risks its further isolation from the West while playing into Russia’s hands.

“Russia is trying to indicate that it’s not isolated internationally, that it has international military reach. And South Africa, by agreeing to hold these exercises, or going ahead with them, is feeding into that narrative that Moscow’s putting out,” he said.

South Africa’s African National Congress party has close ideological and historical ties to Russia under the Soviet Union, which backed its anti-apartheid struggle against white minority rule.

South Africa and Russia are also members of the BRICS group of leading, emerging economies, which includes Brazil, India, and China.

While many countries have shunned the Kremlin over its invasion, some nations, including those in BRICS, have not.

Ukraine’s Ambassador to South Africa Liubov Abravitova was clear to VOA in her criticism of the scheduled military drills.

“And on South Africa, Russia, China military exercises, let me just ask you, what the army that is killing innocent people, the army of rapists and murderers, what can they bring to [the] South African army as added value?” she said.

Some analysts say the world is in a new cold war, with authoritarian nations China and Russia on one side and Western democracies on the other.

This conflict is increasingly playing out in Africa as both sides scramble for influence on the strategically and politically important continent.

South Africa’s Department of Defense spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini tells VOA they will not reconsider the joint drills.

“I’d like to repeat that the exercise will go ahead with the two countries in South Africa in February. In relation to the military-to-military relations between these two countries and many others, which include the United States, where exercises have been held with each of those countries,” he said.

Despite pressure from Western governments, and visits last year by U.S. officials, Pretoria has continued to improve relations with Moscow.

South Africa in December received a sanctioned Russian ship that officials say was delivering ammunition ordered before the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine.

South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor will on Monday host Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

In August, South Africa will host the BRICS summit and has invited Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to attend.
…

A French nun who was believed to be the world’s oldest person has died a few weeks before her 119th birthday, the spokesperson for her nursing home in southern France said Wednesday. 

Lucile Randon, known as Sister André, was born in the town of Ales, southern France, on Feb. 11, 1904. She was also one of the world’s oldest survivors of COVID-19. 

Spokesman David Tavella said she died at 2 a.m. on Tuesday at the Sainte-Catherine-Laboure nursing home in the town of Toulon. 

The Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people thought to be 110 or older, listed her as the oldest known person in the world after the death of Japan’s Kane Tanaka, aged 119, last year. 

Sister André tested positive for the coronavirus in January 2021, shortly before her 117th birthday, but she had so few symptoms that she didn’t even realize she was infected. Her survival made headlines both in France and beyond. 

In April last year, asked about her exceptional longevity through two world wars, she told French media that “working … makes you live. I worked until I was 108.” 

She was known to enjoy a daily glass of wine and chocolate. 

The oldest living known person in the world listed by the Gerontology Research Group is now American-born Maria Branyas Morera, who is living in Spain, and is 115. 
…

Turkey’s F-16 fighter jet request from the United States and the possibility of another operation by Turkish military in northern Syria are expected to top the agenda during talks in Washington when Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu meets Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday. Analysts say any F-16 deal would be tied to Turkey’s timely support for NATO’s expansion and no military action in northern Syria. 

Turkey made an official request to purchase 40 F-16 jets and nearly 80 modernization kits from the United States in 2021. Biden administration officials have expressed support for the proposed sale, subject to approval by Congress. 

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the administration is preparing to begin consultations with Congress to seek approval for the $20 billion sale. 

James Jeffrey, chair of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center, argues that any prospective support from Congress would depend on cooperation from NATO member Turkey on two issues: No military incursion into northern Syria and not blocking the admission of Finland and Sweden to NATO. 

“The opposition in the Senate will probably require senior levels of the administration weighing in with security arguments. I’m not so sure if they’re ready to go that far, but I cannot imagine them doing a whole lot to help Turkey get F-16s if we don’t see a movement on those two issues,” he told VOA. 

Former head of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) General Joseph Votel, who oversaw the military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria — also known as ISIS or Daesh — agrees. 

Answering VOA’s questions in writing, Votel said the United States must tie any F-16 deal to “Turkish support for NATO expansion and an agreement to not further de-stabilize northern Syria with military action.” 

Twenty-eight NATO members have already ratified Sweden and Finland’s admission to the alliance. Turkey and Hungary have not. Hungary says it will do so in early February, leaving Turkey as the sole holdout. 

Turkey expects Finland and particularly Sweden to do more to crack down on Kurdish militants and members of the Gulen movement, which Ankara accuses of being behind an attempted coup in 2016. 

F-35s for Turkey’s regional rival Greece 

According to the WSJ report, the Biden administration is separately planning to seek congressional approval to sell F-35 jets to Turkey’s regional rival and NATO ally Greece. 

Turkey was removed from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program, where it was once a production partner, due to its purchase of S-400 missile defense systems from Russia. 

U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel declined to comment on the potential sale Friday at the daily press briefing. 

Senate Foreign Relations Commitee Chairman Bob Menendez welcomed news of the proposed sale of F-35 aircraft to Greece, which he referred to as a “trusted NATO ally’’ in a written statement first reported by Reuters and shared with VOA. 

He underlined that the United States and Greece share principles “including collective defense, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.” 

Menendez opposes the proposed sale of F-16s jets to Turkey. 

“Until [President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan ceases his threats, improves his human rights record at home — including by releasing journalists and political opposition — and begins to act like a trusted ally should, I will not approve this sale,” he said. 

Syria agenda 

U.S. military leaders continue to be worried about possible military action by Turkey in northern Syria against the Kurdish YPG, part of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. 

CENTCOM Commander General Michael Kurilla noted that more than two dozen ISIS detention centers are secured by the Syrian Democratic Forces. 

“Anything we can do to de-escalate the situation and prevent that incursion by the Turks would be important,’’ he said last month during a news briefing.

Former head of CENTCOM Votel says the chances of some sort of military activity by Turkey are likely, even though it may be limited in scope. 

He points to previous decisions by Erdogan, saying “this generally plays well with his loyalists.” 

Reconciliation efforts between Turkey and the Syrian government are also expected to come up during the talks in Washington. 

Turkey’s Cavusoglu recently said he could meet his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Mekdad, in February. 

The United States has already made its position clear, saying it does not support countries “upgrading” their relationship with the Assad regime in Syria.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reportedly said last week that “talks with Turkey should be based on the aims of ending the occupation of Syrian land” and halting support for what he called terrorism. 

The Wilson Center’s Jeffrey, who also served as the State Department Special Representative for Syria Engagement until 2020, argues that the Syrian president is unwilling to make any deals and that the talks are being pushed by Russia, “with no compromises on the security situation in Syria or on the return of the refugees,” which are two important concerns from Turkey’s perspective. 

“We shouldn’t read anything into this, particularly given the looming election in Turkey. I would rather wait until after the elections to see what the real Turkish policy is,” Jeffrey told VOA. 
…

In his meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Tuesday at the White House, President Joe Biden appeared to have made no progress to get the Netherlands to support U.S. restrictions on exporting chip-making technology to China, a key part of Washington’s strategy in its rivalry against Beijing. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
…

President Joe Biden hosted Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Tuesday at the White House, where he urged the Netherlands to support new U.S. restrictions on exporting chip-making technology to China, a key part of Washington’s strategy in its rivalry against Beijing.

During a brief appearance in front of reporters before their meeting, Biden said that he and Rutte have been working on “how to keep a free and open Indo-Pacific” to “meet the challenges of China.”

“Simply put, our companies, our countries have been so far just lockstep in what we’ve done in our investment to the future. So today, I look forward to discussing how we can further deepen our relationship and securing our supply chains to strengthen our transatlantic partnership,” he said.

ASML Holding NV, maker of the world’s most advanced semiconductor lithography systems, is headquartered in Veldhoven, making the Netherlands key to Washington’s chip push against Beijing. Ahead of Rutte’s visit, Dutch Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher said the Netherlands is consulting with European and Asian allies and will not automatically accept the new restrictions that the U.S. Commerce Department launched in October.

“You can’t say that they’ve been pressuring us for two years and now we have to sign on the dotted line. And we won’t,” she said.

Rutte did not mention the semiconductor issue ahead of his meeting with Biden, focusing instead on Russia’s invasion on Ukraine, where the NATO allies have been working together to support Kyiv.

“Let’s stay closely together this year,” Rutte said. “And hopefully, things will move forward in a way which is acceptable for Ukraine.”

China is one of ASML’s biggest clients. CEO Peter Wennink in October played down the impact of the U.S. export control regulations.

“Based on our initial assessment, the new restrictions do not amend the rules governing lithography equipment shipped by ASML out of the Netherlands and we expect the direct impact on ASML’s overall 2023 shipment plan to be limited,” he said.

Shoring up allies

Biden has been shoring up allies, including the Netherlands, Japan and South Korea — home to leading companies that play a critical role in the industry’s supply chain — to limit Beijing’s access to advanced semiconductors. Last week he hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who said he backs Biden’s attempt but did not agree to match the sweeping curbs targeting China’s semiconductor and supercomputing industries.

U.S. officials say export restrictions on chips are necessary because China can use semiconductors to advance their military systems, including weapons of mass destruction, and commit human rights abuses.

The October restrictions follow the U.S. Congress’ July passing of the CHIPS Act of 2022 to strengthen domestic semiconductor manufacturing, design and research, and reinforce America’s chip supply chains. The legislation also restricts companies that receive U.S. subsidies from investing in and expanding cutting edge chipmaking facilities in China.

Some information for this story came from AP.
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Climate activist Greta Thunberg was among climate activists detained during protests against the demolition of the coal village of Luetzerath on Tuesday, according to police.

Thunberg was detained while protesting at the opencast coal mine of Garzweiler 2, some 9 kilometers (5.6 miles) from Luetzerath, where she sat with a group of protesters near the edge of the mine.

Thunberg, who joined the protesters on Friday, was seen sitting alone in a large police bus after having been detained, a Reuters witness said.

“We are going to use force to bring you to the identity check, so please cooperate,” a policeman said to the group, according to Reuters footage.

“Greta Thunberg was part of a group of activists who rushed towards the ledge. However, she was then stopped and carried by us with this group out of the immediate danger area to establish their identity,” a spokesperson for Aachen police told Reuters, adding one activist had jumped into the mine.

It was not yet clear what would happen to Thunberg or the group she was detained with, or whether the activist who jumped into the mine was injured, the spokesperson said.

Thunberg was carried away by three policemen and held by one arm at a spot further away from the edge of the mine where she was previously sat with the group.

She was then escorted back towards police vans.
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Belarus has opened the trial of a journalist and prominent member of the country’s sizable Polish minority, the latest in a series of court cases against critics of the authoritarian regime of President Alexander Lukashenko.

Andrzej Poczobut, 49, faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted of the charges of harming national security and inciting discord. Poczobut, a journalist for the influential Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and a top figure in the Union of Poles in Belarus, has been behind bars since his detention in March 2021.

He widely covered major protests that gripped Belarus for weeks in 2020 following a presidential election that gave Lukashenko, in power since 1994, a new term in office, but that was widely regarded by the opposition and Western countries as fraudulent.

The trial in the western city of Grodno was closed to independent journalists and Western diplomats on Monday, but photos from the courtroom suggested that Poczobut has lost significant weight while in custody.

In Poland a spokesman for the government, Piotr Mueller, said that despite “numerous diplomatic efforts, unfortunately, we have no additional tools that could help in this area” of political freedom in Belarus. He said it was a “scandalous situation.”

Mueller told a news conference in Warsaw that Poland will continue diplomatic efforts to change the situation.

“But we know very well that at this point authorities in Belarus are directly linked to Russia and that they are pursuing a defined policy that counters not only Poland but the entire democratic area that holds human rights as top state priorities,” Mueller said.

Poland’s Foreign Ministry said it met the information about Poczobut’s trial with “disappointment” and said the charges are “untrue and politically motivated.”

The ministry appealed for Poczobut’s release and said his imprisonment constituted “another example of the instrumental use of the justice system against any and all democratic standards and an element in the anti-Polish campaign pursued by the authorities of Belarus.”

In the eastern Polish city of Bialystok, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the border with Belarus, a group of protesters representing Belarusian diaspora and human rights organizations gathered before the Belarusian consulate to demand freedom for Poczobut and other political prisoners.

The 2020 protests in Belarus were the largest and most sustained in the country.

Authorities responded to the demonstrations with a crackdown that saw more than 35,000 people arrested, thousands beaten by police and dozens of media outlets and nongovernmental organizations shut.

This month, Belarus put human rights activist Ales Bialiatski, a co-winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, on trial for financing protests. Another trial against two top figures of the now-banned independent news portal TUT.BY began last week.

About 300,000 of Belarus’ 10 million people are ethnic Poles. The Union of Poles came under government pressure after authorities accused Poland of trying to foment an uprising against Lukashenko.
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