Germany’s federal officials are being buffeted by accusations that they failed to heed a string of warnings from scientists ahead of last week’s devastating flash floods — the worst to strike the country since 1962, when a North Sea storm surge left 315 Germans dead.

The latest floods, which impacted Germany’s prosperous Rhineland region, caught many local authorities, residents and businesses by surprise, despite the first alarm about the likelihood of floods being raised on July 10 — three days before a deluge caused the swollen tributaries of the Rhine and Meuse to break their banks.

German authorities on Sunday had confirmed 155 deaths, but they expected the death toll to rise as rescuers continued their search in wrecked buildings for hundreds of missing residents.

Both the German and Belgian governments were warned of the likelihood of flooding, say scientists with the Copernicus Emergency Management Service and the European Flood Awareness System. Belgium has confirmed 27 casualties.

Hannah Cloke, hydrology professor at Britain’s Reading University told AFP: “For so many people to die in floods in Europe in 2021 represents a monumental failure of the system.”

She added: “The sight of people driving or wading through deep flood water fills me with horror, as this is about the most dangerous thing you can do in a flood. Forecasters could see this heavy rain coming and issued alerts early in the week, and yet the warnings were not taken seriously enough and preparations were inadequate. These kinds of high-energy, sudden summer torrents of rain are exactly what we expect in our rapidly heating climate.”

As a huge rescue operation continued Sunday in the worst affected the German regions of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, chancellor Angela Merkel visited stricken areas, pledging to build back better. She held the hand of one grieving local politician and later said: “I’ve come here today to symbolize that we’re standing together in solidarity. We will fix everything one step at a time in this beautiful area. We have to act fast.”

Questions

Nonetheless Germany’s media has begun to question whether the federal government should have acted faster ahead of the storms and are focusing on the possible political repercussions of the flooding, which has left homes and businesses wrecked. Thousands of people have been left without access to electricity or clean drinking water.

The Federal Office for Citizen Protection and Disaster Assistance did issue alerts on its app about coming floods, say officials. But critics say that a very small fraction of the German population has downloaded the app on their smartphones and that a much louder warning should have been sounded to allow local communities to better prepare for the deluge of midweek rain.

The influential tabloid newspaper Bild has accused the agency of a massive failure.

“The tidal waves came in the night — and surprised hundreds of thousands of people,” the paper editorialized. It said: “The force of the water trapped them in their cellars, tore them on the run or even with their houses. More than 100 dead and countless missing people are to be mourned. Forewarnings? Sirens? Loudspeaker announcements?”

The tabloid concluded warnings were “often not available or much too late.”

Other German media outlets have pointed out that hundreds of people sought refuge in their basements, the worst place to seek sanctuary.

Hundreds of towns and villages in the western regions of Germany have been destroyed. And the images of the destruction aired by the country’s broadcasters and posted on social media sites have startled Germans.

The flooding has come just two months before federal elections, which will determine Merkel’s successor. She is stepping down after 16 years in office.

An immediate $354 million aid package is being prepared by the federal government. Officials say the cost of rebuilding will be in the billions. Rebuilding costs in 2013 after floods on the Elbe and Danube amounted to more than $9 billion.

Ruling Christian Democrat lawmakers hope a quick federal response will limit any political damage from the mounting accusations of insufficient preparedness ahead of the flooding — and they will be scrutinizing post-flood opinion polls to see if their ratings are slipping ahead of September’s federal elections.

Caught laughing

Armin Laschet, the Christian Democrats’ electoral candidate to succeed Merkel, has added to the worries of the ruling party. His electoral campaign has not been gaffe-free and on Saturday he was forced to apologize for being seen laughing with aides in the background when accompanying President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on a tour of stricken towns.

Laschet is the state premier of North Rhine-Westphalia.

He tweeted later his regrets, saying, “This was inappropriate and I’m sorry. The fate of those affected is close to our hearts, and we have heard of it in many conversations,” he wrote. Photographs of him joking with aides in the background as Steinmeier delivered a somber statement have been carried in most of Germany’s main newspapers.

Laschet’s apology has failed to placate critics. “This is all apparently a big joke,” tweeted Maximilian Reimers of the far-left Die Linke opposition party. “How could he be a chancellor?” “I’m speechless,” tweeted Lars Klingbeil, secretary general of the center-left Social Democrats, who govern in a coalition with the Christian Democrats.

Laschet, like most of Germany’s mainstream politicians, have linked the floods to climate change, but the Green Party, which has been running strongly in opinion polls, albeit with slippage in recent weeks, has been critical of the Christian Democrats’ climate action plans, saying they don’t go far enough.

This report includes information from AFP.
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Monday is Freedom Day in England. The day has received the moniker because all social restrictions, like mask wearing and maintaining social distancing, that have been imposed to fight against COVID-19 have been lifted.  

The reversal of the restrictions happens amid a rise in COVID cases and hospitalizations in England, largely driven by the delta variant of the virus.

Freedom Day is also happening as Sajid Javid, Britan’s health minister, is self-isolating because he tested positive for COVID. The National Health Service notified British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, the finance minister that they had been exposed to someone who had tested positive for COVID. 

People who have been notified by the NHS of an exposure are expected to self-isolate. Johnson and Sunak, however, were expecting to participate in a pilot program that would have allowed them to work at Downing Street but decided against it after a public uproar.  

“Whilst the test and trace pilot is fairly restrictive, allowing only essential government business,” Sunak posted on Twitter, “I recognize that even the sense that the rules aren’t the same for everyone is wrong. To that end I’ll be self-isolating as normal and not taking part in the pilot.” 

In Thailand, protesters demonstrating against the government’s handling of the COVID outbreak clashed with police Sunday in Bangkok, the capital. The protests in the capital and in other locations around the country were in defiance of a ban on public gatherings of more than five people that was recently announced by the government.  

U.S. teenaged tennis sensation Coco Gauff has tested positive for COVID and will not be part of the Tokyo Olympics. The 17-year-old athlete posted on Twitter that “It has always been a dream of mine to represent the USA at the Olympics, and I hope there will be many more chances for me to make this come true in the future.” It was not immediately clear if Gauff had been vaccinated. The Olympic games were canceled last year, but the Olympic committee’s decision to continue with the games this year has received much criticism as the world continues to grapple with the handling of the COVID pandemic.  

190.4 million global COVID cases and more than 4 million deaths from the virus were recorded worldwide early Monday, according to the coronavirus resource center of Johns Hopkins University. The center’s data shows that over 3.6 billion vaccines have been administered so far.  
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The leader of the Belarusian opposition, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, is on her first official tour of the United States. Her in-person talks with high-ranking U.S. officials will be closely watched not only in Belarus, but also in Moscow, which views its eastern neighbor as part of its “sphere of influence.” VOA’s Igor Tsikhanenka sat down for an exclusive interview with Tsikhanouskaya in Washington.

Produced by: Igor Tsikhanenka, Mary Cieslak  
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Tens of thousands of vaccinated Muslim pilgrims circled Islam’s holiest site in Mecca on Sunday but remained socially distanced and wore masks as the coronavirus takes its toll on the hajj for a second year running.

The hajj pilgrimage, which once drew about 2.5 million Muslims from all walks of life around the globe, is now almost unrecognizable. It is being scaled back for the second year in a row because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The pared-down hajj prevents Muslims from outside Saudi Arabia from fulfilling an Islamic obligation and causes financial losses to Saudi Arabia, which in pre-pandemic years took in billions of dollars as the custodian of the holy sites.

The Islamic pilgrimage lasts about five days, but traditionally Muslims begin arriving in Mecca weeks ahead of time. The hajj concludes with the Eid al-Adha celebration, marked by the distribution of meat to the poor around the world.  

This year, 60,000 vaccinated citizens or residents of Saudi Arabia have been allowed to perform the hajj because of continued concerns around the spread of the coronavirus. Last year’s largely symbolic hajj saw fewer than 1,000 people from within the kingdom taking part.

It’s unclear when Saudi Arabia will play host again to millions of Muslims. The kingdom has no clear standard for a vaccine passport, vaccination rates are uneven in different countries and new variants of the virus are threatening the progress made in some nations.

The kingdom’s Al Saud rulers have staked their legitimacy in large part on their custodianship of hajj sites, giving them a unique and powerful platform among Muslims around the world. The kingdom has gone to great lengths to ensure the annual hajj continues uninterrupted, despite changes caused by the pandemic.  

Robots have been deployed to spray disinfectant around the cube-shaped Kaaba’s busiest walkways. The Kaaba is where the hajj pilgrimage begins and ends for most.  

Saudi Arabia is also testing a smart bracelet this year in collaboration with the government’s artificial intelligence authority. The touchscreen bracelet resembles the Apple Watch and includes information on the hajj, a pilgrim’s oxygen levels and vaccine data and has an emergency feature to call for help.  

International media outlets already present in the kingdom were permitted to cover the hajj from Mecca this year, but others were not granted permission to fly in as had been customary before the pandemic.

Cleaners are sanitizing the vast white marble spaces of the Grand Mosque that houses the Kaaba several times a day.  

“We are sanitizing the floor and using disinfection liquids while cleaning it two or three times during (each) shift,” said Olis Gul, a cleaner who said he has been working in Mecca for 20 years.  

The hajj is one of Islam’s most important requirements to be performed once in a lifetime. It follows a route the Prophet Muhammad walked nearly 1,400 years ago and is believed to ultimately trace the footsteps of the prophets Ibrahim and Ismail, or Abraham and Ishmael as they are named in the Bible.

The hajj is seen as a chance to wipe clean past sins and bring about greater unity among Muslims. The communal feeling of more than 2 million people from around the world — Shiite, Sunni and other Muslim sects — praying together, eating together and repenting together has long been part of what makes hajj both a challenging and a transformative experience.

There are questions around whether the hajj will be able to again draw such large numbers of faithful, with male pilgrims forming a sea of white in white terrycloth garments worn to symbolize the equality of mankind before God and women forgoing makeup and perfume to focus inwardly.  

Like last year, pilgrims will be drinking water from the holy Zamzam well in plastic bottles. They were given umbrellas to shield them from the sun. They have to carry their own prayer rugs and follow a strict schedule via a mobile app that informs them when they can be in certain areas to avoid crowding.  

“I hope this is a successful hajj season,” said Egyptian pilgrim Aly Aboulnaga, a university lecturer in Saudi Arabia. “We ask God to accept everyone’s hajj and for the area to be open to greater numbers of pilgrims and for a return to an even better situation than before.”

The kingdom, with a population of more than 30 million, has reported over half a million cases of the coronavirus, including more than 8,000 deaths. It has administered nearly 20 million doses of coronavirus vaccines, according to the World Health Organization. 
 
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Syrian regime artillery fire killed seven civilians including three children in the country’s last major rebel bastion of Idlib, a Britain-based war monitor said Sunday.  

The shelling hit in the village of Ehsim late Saturday, in the south of the Idlib region, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.   

A family member told AFP that visitors had gathered to congratulate a male relative on getting married when the shelling struck their home.   

Earlier in the day, rockets fired by pro-government forces killed six civilians in the village of Sarja, including three children and a rescue worker, meaning at least 13 were killed in total in Idlib on Saturday.   

The shelling in Ehsim came hours after President Bashar al-Assad took the oath of office for a fourth term, pledging to “liberate” areas still beyond government control.   

The deaths are the latest violations of a ceasefire deal agreed by rebel backer Turkey and government ally Russia in March 2020 to stem a regime offensive on the jihadist-dominated stronghold.   

An AFP photographer in Ehsim saw rescue workers under floodlights cut through a collapsed ceiling to retrieve the body of a woman.   

Bundling her body up in a blanket, they then gently lowered it down a ladder and carried it into an ambulance.   

The Observatory said she was among four women and three girls killed in the bombardment.   

Bordering Turkey, the northwestern Idlib region is home to around three million people, more than half displaced by fighting in other parts of war-torn Syria. Many rely on humanitarian aid to survive.   

The region is dominated by Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, but other rebel groups are also present.   

Syria’s war has killed around half a million people and forced millions more to flee their homes since starting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.   
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Germany’s Olympic soccer team walked off the field during a preparation match for the Tokyo Games on Saturday in response to alleged racist abuse from an opposing Honduras player toward German defender Jordan Torunarigha. The players left the field together with five minutes remaining in the game after Torunarigha was “racially insulted,” the German soccer federation said on Twitter. “If one of our players is racially abused, it’s not an option for us to keep playing,” Germany coach Stefan Kuntz said. “It was hard to get him in, he was terribly upset because he said he was repeatedly racially abused,” Kuntz continued. “For us it’s clear, this violates our values, we cannot tolerate it. We’ll take our player completely under our protection.” Torunarigha’s club, Hertha Berlin, responded by saying “that’s the only correct decision!” The score was 1-1 when the German players walked off. “After the situation calmed down a bit, the whole Honduras team came over to us on the bench and apologized,” Kuntz said. “That was the end of the matter for us.” The Honduran soccer federation said on Twitter that the game was abandoned in the 87th minute “due to the fact that a German player alleged a supposed racist insult on the part of a Honduran national team player.” The Honduran federation said the “situation occurred due to a misunderstanding on the field of play.” Germany captain Maximilian Arnold said the team discussed taking the matter further but decided against it. “We made a correct statement, we made the right decisions and acted correctly. It was also Jordan’s wish. He said that we should leave it at that,” Arnold said. The friendly game in Wakayama, Japan was Germany’s last preparation match before it plays Brazil in Yokohama on Thursday. Kuntz’ team also plays Saudi Arabia on July 25 and Ivory Coast on July 28 in Group D. The 23-year-old Torunarigha, who is the son of former player Ojokojo Torunarigha of Nigeria, has faced racist abuse before. He was targeted with monkey chants by some Schalke fans in a German Cup game on Feb. 4, 2020. Schalke was fined $54,600 for its supporters’ abuse.  
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For the next six months Slovenia will preside over the European Union, a body dedicated to the highest democratic values. But critics say that when it comes to upholding press freedom ideals, Slovenia is not up to scratch.

Two separate organizations, including the Council of Europe, released findings on what they say is a deteriorating situation for journalism.

In a memorandum on freedom of expression and media freedom in Slovenia, the COE’s commissioner for human rights, Dunja Mijatovic, said she was concerned about steps by authorities “that risk undermining the ability of critical voices to speak freely.”

The COE platform that documents threats and harassment of media registered 13 violations in the past year, compared with one the year before, the report said. The memo also cited physical attacks on journalists; a rise in hate speech, both online and from political representatives; polarization of public debate; and stigmatization of independent voices.

The Media Freedom Rapid Response group, a Europe-wide coalition that monitors violations, reported similar issues based on findings from conversations with journalists, academics and government officials.

“Over the last 14 months, independent journalism has come under sustained pressure on multiple fronts from the coalition government led by the Slovenian Democratic Party,” the MFRR said.

Slovenia’s center-right government dismissed the criticisms as “fake news.”

Prime Minister Janez Jansa responded to the COE report on Twitter, saying Mijatovic is “part of fake news network” and “spreading lies.”

Many journalists and academics who spoke with VOA believe that a hostile environment and uneven access to government officials and information is hurting audiences and presenting a threat to journalists.

Although most agree that conditions are better in Slovenia than in fellow EU member states Poland and Hungary – where media are under a significant clampdown – they say the country is declining along a similar path.

Renate Schroeder, director at the European Federation of Journalists, which contributed to the MFRR report, told VOA: “Is Slovenia becoming another Poland or Hungary? … No, not yet.”

There appears to be a drive to follow the same pattern as Hungary, “slowly but surely, and that I find very, very frightening,” added Schroeder, whose organization was involved in the MFRR research.

Findings that Schroeder said surprised her included the government’s decision to stop financing the national news agency STA, which receives about half its income from the state budget; polarization among journalists; and smear campaigns against critical journalists, which she says in some cases are led by the prime minister.

“This attack on the press agency is unprecedented, we do not have that in other countries,” said Schroeder. She added that Jansa is the first prime minister in Europe who “is doing smear campaigns …  in such a way by using Twitter.”

Some journalists have said Slovenia’s media are laboring under the harshest conditions since independence in 1991.

“The media situation has worsened very much under this government. I have been a journalist for 27 years, and we have never seen something like that,” Evgenija Carl, a prominent journalist with the state broadcaster RTV Slovenia, told VOA.

“We can see that many journalists are scared. They do reporting but are afraid to voice their own opinions. They have stopped participating in the social media for fear that as soon as they write something critical about the government they will be attacked,” Carl added.

Online attacks can be prompted by coverage of politics and alleged corruption, or even the amount of space given to specific articles. Jansa in October described STA as a “national shame” on Twitter after it gave more space to an article on a rapper’s album than Jansa’s meeting with his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orban.

Carl is one of two female journalists whom Jansa called “prostitutes” on Twitter in 2016, while leader of the opposition. The journalists filed a defamation suit against him.

Since 2018, Carl said, she has received three envelopes containing white powder and threatening letters mentioning the lawsuit.

Commissioner Mijatovic said in her memorandum that anonymous threats online and via phone, email and in letters, as well as in graffiti sprayed on media buildings, leave some journalists fearful for their safety.

Mijatovic’s office told VOA the commissioner could not comment on relations between the EU and the Slovenian presidency, but that she stood fully by her assessments and was “hopeful the government will use it in order to improve the situation related to media freedom and freedom of expression.”

In a response to the Council of Europe’s memorandum, the Ministries of Justice, Interior and Culture said that the current climate “cannot in any way be considered as an attack on the freedom and independence of journalistic work but represents a normal democratic process.”

Their response stressed that journalists should “not be exempt from criticism, particularly when they [sic] reports are untrue and they deliberately spread lies.”

The statement cited a potential “erosion of journalistic freedoms exclusively in private media,” and said owners of large media companies have an influence on journalists’ reporting.

Government officials have stated previously they believe large media companies are overly critical of the government.

The Ministry of Culture told VOA in a written statement that it explained to MFRR why the group’s findings were “a result of incorrect information,” but did not elaborate.

Some experts in Slovenia also believe that the COE and MFRR reports are not credible.

Matevz Tomsic, a professor of sociology and the president of the Association of Journalists and Publicists – one of three large journalist groups in the country – told VOA he was interviewed for both reports but that his views were not represented.

MFRR lists Tomsic’s name among those interviewed. The Council of Europe did not immediately confirm whether it had interviewed the academic.

“The media freedom has not worsened under the current government. The situation is similar to what it was under previous governments,” Tomsic said.

“It is possible that media which are favorable to the government get more advertising of state firms, but that has also been happening under the previous governments and is not unique to this one,” he added.

Schroeder, of the European Federation of Journalists, believes the EU should do more to prevent attacks on media freedom in its member states. But, she added, “legally speaking that is very difficult as they do not have the means, the tools.”
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Ethiopia’s media regulator is warning foreign news outlets that publishing specific references that it says mischaracterize the country’s war-torn northern Tigray region will be met with legal consequences.

“In reviewing and monitoring the news reports, the Ethiopian Media Authority [EMA] has found that some foreign media are repeatedly characterizing [the Tigray People’s Liberation Front – TPLF] as a national army by calling it the Tigray Defense Force or TDF,” said an official statement issued on agency letterhead Friday that was sent to VOA.

An earlier warning had been sent to at least two foreign media outlets.

The statement sent to VOA, signed by agency chief Yonatan Tesfaye Regassa, comes one day after the EMA revoked the license of the Addis Standard’s publisher, accusing the monthly magazine and news website of advancing the agenda of a “terrorist group,” without providing more specifics.

That “terrorist group” was thought to be the TPLF, which Addis Ababa has been battling in Ethiopia’s north since November, Reuters has reported. The TPLF is a former member of the coalition that ruled Ethiopia for more than 30 years. In May, Ethiopia designated the group a terrorist organization.

EMA officials on Thursday said they revoked the license over complaints that the Addis Standard was advancing “the terrorist group’s agency,” including by “legitimizing a terrorist group as a ‘Defense Force.’” The suspension drew outrage from global press freedom watchdogs, who’ve accused the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of taking an increasingly hard line against domestic news outlets covering the conflict.

‘A grave violation of Ethiopian law’

Friday’s warning directed at foreign outlets appeared to escalate TPLF coverage restrictions.

“Bearing in mind that Tigray is one of the federation units of Ethiopia that cannot have a force with that nomenclature [such as ‘Defense Force’] and as the country’s parliament has labeled TPLF a terrorist organization, the [EMA hereby] informs that use of such terminology violates Ethiopia’s territorial integrity, national interest and security,” Friday’s statement said.

Warning all foreign media against “using such characterization,” the statement said, “further use of the same terminology by any foreign media will be a grave violation of Ethiopian law, which will lead to stringent measures.”

When Prime Minister Ahmed came to power in 2018, it appeared that Ethiopia would shake off its reputation as having a repressive media environment, but conditions for journalists have worsened in the face of new political challenges, according to reports by multiple press freedom advocates.

Friday’s new coverage guidelines for the Tigray conflict come two weeks after police in the capital arrested about 20 journalists and staff from the independent broadcaster Awlo Media Center and YouTube-based broadcaster Ethio-Forum, both of which have been critical of the government.

The state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission on Sunday said federal police had since released three of the journalists. 
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Martine Moise, the wife of Haiti’s assassinated president who was injured in the July 7 attack at their private home, returned to the Caribbean nation on Saturday following her release from a Miami hospital.Her arrival was unannounced and surprised many in the country of more than 11 million people still reeling from the assassination of Jovenel Moise in a raid authorities say involved Haitians, Haitian Americans and former Colombian soldiers.Martine Moise disembarked the flight at the Port-au-Prince airport wearing a black dress, a black bulletproof vest and a black face mask. Her right arm was in a black sling as she slowly walked down the steps of what appeared to be a private plane. She was greeted by interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph and other officials.Earlier this week, she tweeted from the Miami hospital that she could not believe her husband was gone “without saying a last word. This pain will never pass.”On Friday, government officials announced that Jovenel Moise’s funeral would be on July 23 in the northern Haitian city of Cap-Haitien and that his wife was expected to attend.Group: Let chosen PM form governmentEarlier Saturday a key group of international diplomats issued a statement urging Ariel Henry, the designated prime minister, to form a government following Moise’s killing.Joseph has been leading Haiti with the backing of police and the military even though Moise had announced Joseph’s replacement a day before he was killed.Joseph and his allies argue that Henry was never sworn in, though he pledged to work with him and with Joseph Lambert, the head of Haiti’s inactive Senate.The statement was issued by the Core Group, which is made up of ambassadors from Germany, Brazil, Canada, Spain, the U.S., France, the European Union and representatives from the United Nations and the Organization of American States.The group called for the creation of “a consensual and inclusive government.””To this end, it strongly encourages the designated Prime Minister Ariel Henry to continue the mission entrusted to him to form such a government,” the group said.U.S. officials could not be immediately reached for comment. A U.N. spokesman declined comment except to say that the U.N. is part of the group that issued the statement. An OAS spokesman said: “For the moment, there is nothing further to say other than what the statement says.”Henry and spokespeople for Joseph did not immediately return messages for comment.Robert Fatton, a Haitian politics expert at the University of Virginia, said the statement was very confusing, especially after the U.N. representative had said that Joseph was in charge.The question of who should take over has been complicated by the fact Haiti’s parliament has not been functioning because a lack of elections meant most members’ terms had expired. And the head of the Supreme Court recently died of COVID-19.
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Former Haitian justice ministry official Joseph Felix Badio may have ordered the assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise, the head of Colombia’s national police has said, citing a preliminary investigation into the killing. Moise was shot dead at his private residence in a suburb of Port-au-Prince before dawn on July 7.An investigation by Haitian and Colombian authorities, alongside Interpol, into Moise’s killing has revealed that Badio appeared to have given an order for the assassination three days before the attack, General Jorge Vargas said Friday at a news conference and in an audio message sent to news outlets by the police.It was not immediately possible to reach Badio for comment. His whereabouts are unknown.According to Vargas, the investigation found that Badio had ordered former Colombian soldiers Duberney Capador and German Rivera to kill Moise. The men had initially been contacted to carry out security services.”Several days before, apparently three, Joseph Felix Badio, who was a former official of [Haiti’s] ministry of justice, who worked in the anti-corruption unit with the general intelligence service, told Capador and Rivera that they had to assassinate the president of Haiti,” Vargas said.Vargas did not provide proof or give more details about where the information came from.Capador was killed and Rivera was captured by Haiti police in the aftermath of Moise’s killing, authorities have said.Alleged mastermindOn Sunday, Haitian authorities detained Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 63, widely described as a Florida-based doctor, and accused him of being one of the masterminds behind the killing.Former Haitian Senator John Joel Joseph is being sought by police after Haiti’s National Police Chief Leon Charles identified him as a key player in the plot, while Dimitri Herard, the head of palace security for Moise, has been arrested.”This is a big plot. A lot of people are part of it,” Haiti’s Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph said in a news conference. “I am determined to move the investigation forward.”The group of assassins included 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans, according to Haitian authorities. Eighteen of the Colombians have been captured, while five are on the run and three were killed.Many of the Colombians accused of involvement in the assassination went to the country as bodyguards, Colombian President Ivan Duque said Thursday. That has been confirmed by relatives and colleagues of some of the detained Colombians.”We are assisting in all the support tasks for the interviews that are being carried out with the captured Colombians,” Vargas said.Colombia will send a consular mission to Haiti as soon as it is approved by the Caribbean nation, Colombian Vice President and Foreign Minister Marta Lucia Ramirez told journalists on Friday, to meet with the detained Colombians, ensure their rights are being respected, and move ahead with the repatriation of the remains of the deceased Colombians.The ministry is in daily contact with the families of the dead and detained, Ramirez added.
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Raul Castro was among thousands who attended a government-organized rally in Havana on Saturday to denounce the U.S. trade embargo and reaffirm their support for Cuba’s revolution, a week after unprecedented protests rocked the communist-run country.Government supporters gathered on the city’s seafront boulevard before dawn to wave Cuban flags and photos of late revolutionary leader Fidel Castro and his brother Raul. The latter retired as Communist Party leader in April but promised to continue fighting for the revolution as a “foot soldier.”The rally was a reaction to demonstrations that erupted nationwide last Sunday amid widespread shortages of basic goods, demands for political rights and the island nation’s worst coronavirus outbreak since the start of the pandemic.The government admitted some shortcomings this week but mostly blamed the protests on U.S.-financed “counter-revolutionaries” exploiting economic hardship caused by U.S. sanctions.President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who also heads the Communist Party, told the crowd that Cuba’s “enemy has once again thrown itself into destroying citizens’ sacred unity and tranquility.”He said it was no small matter to call a rally as the country saw increasing numbers of COVID cases: “We convened you to denounce once more the blockade, the aggression and terror.”‘Revolution will continue’Authorities said similar rallies were held nationwide.”This revolution will continue for a long time,” said Margaritza Arteaga, a state social worker who attended the rally in Havana.Workers had been convened by neighborhood block committees, known as the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, she said, and a state bus had picked her up at 4 a.m.Shortly before the rally in Havana officially began, authorities removed a man shouting anti-government slogans including “freedom” from the crowd.The number of those detained during or after protests has grown as new reports trickle in amid irregular outages in internet and messaging applications on the island, where the state has a monopoly on telecommunications.The latest tally from exiled rights group Cubalex put those detained at 450, although some have since been released. Activists have accused authorities of repression as some videos have emerged on social media of police beating protesters.The government has not yet given official figures for those detained although it has said it arrested those it suspected of instigating unpatriotic unrest or of carrying out vandalism. State television has broadcast images of people looting Cuba’s controversial dollar stores and overturning empty police cars.
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Afghanistan said Saturday the daughter of its ambassador to neighboring Pakistan was briefly abducted and “severely tortured” by unknown assailants.

A foreign ministry statement issued in Kabul condemned the incident, saying Silsila Alikhil was on her way home in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, when she was taken captive “for several hours” by unknown individuals.

“After being released from the kidnappers’ captivity, Ms. Alikhil is under medical care at the hospital,” the statement added.

Kabul urged the Pakistani government to immediately “identify and prosecute the perpetrators.” It demanded full security and protection for Afghan diplomatic missions, along with their staff and their families.

The ministry later said it summoned the Pakistani ambassador in Kabul and formally lodged “a strong protest” over the incident.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said the Afghan embassy had informed it that Alikhil “was assaulted while riding in a rented vehicle.” He noted in his statement that police immediately launched an investigation into “this disturbing incident,” and law enforcement agencies are trying to “trace and apprehend the culprits” to bring them to justice.

“Such incidents cannot and will not be tolerated,” Chaudhri said, adding that security of the Afghan ambassador and his family has been increased.

Traditionally strained diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have deteriorated in the wake of stepped-up attacks by Taliban insurgents against Afghan government forces amid the drawdown of U.S.-led forces in region.

Kabul has long accused Islamabad of allowing the Taliban to use Pakistani soil for directing insurgent attacks on the other side of the long border between the two countries.

Pakistani officials accuse the neighboring country of sheltering fugitive militants and allowing them to plot cross-border attacks in Pakistan.
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U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet is calling on Cuban authorities to release those arrested during mass demonstrations protesting the government’s failed economic policies.  These are the biggest anti-government demonstrations Cuba has seen for decades.  Thousands of people have come out to vent their anger at government policies, which have led to the economic collapse of this Caribbean island state.  Anti-government activists in Cuba estimate more than 100 protesters have been arrested during the weeklong demonstrations.  U.N. rights chief Michelle Bachelet is calling for the prompt release of those detained.Her spokeswoman, Liz Throssell, says Bachelet deplores the government arrest of people for exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, or freedom of opinion and expression.   “It is particularly worrying that these include individuals allegedly held incommunicado and people whose whereabouts are unknown,” Throssellsaid. “We are also very concerned at the alleged use of excessive force against demonstrators in Cuba and deeply regret the death of one protester in Havana.  It is important that there is an independent, transparent, effective investigation, and that those responsible are held accountable.”   Miguel Diaz-Canel became president of Cuba in 2018.  He is the first person other than the Castro brothers, Fidel, and Raoul, to rule this communist state in almost 60 years.  The economy under his guidance has taken a battering. People have come out en masse to show their displeasure at high food prices, shortages of medicine and other commodities, and at what they perceive to be government mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The government blames Cuba’s economic crisis on the decadeslong U.S. embargo. However, experts agree the government’s Soviet-style, centrally planned economy and lack of market reforms must share the blame for stifling the country’s economic growth.     Bachelet is urging the Cuban government to address the protesters’ grievances through dialogue and to respect peoples’ rights to protest peacefully.  She is calling for the Internet and social media, cut off by the government to quell dissent, to be restored.  Bachelet reiterates her appeal for the lifting of unilateral sectoral sanctions, which she says harm human rights, including the right to health.
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A commission composed of representatives of all sectors of Haitian civil society plans to meet Saturday, saying they want to begin the process of naming a new president.Organizers say the group plans to meet with 10 Haitian senators whose terms have not expired. Haiti’s parliament is currently out of session because the terms of most of its members ended before elections could be held to reelect or replace them.One of the organizers of the commission, Ted Saint Dic, said earlier this week that the commission’s effort would not be rushed.“We’re not in a hurry. We want to allow the country to find a way to enter into dialogue and agree on solutions that fundamentally address the biggest preoccupations of the Haitian people,” Saint Dic said.Haiti is facing a power vacuum following the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moise.Several politicians have claimed the right to lead the country, including acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph and Prime Minister-designate Ariel Henry.Joseph assumed power after the death of Moise, however as an acting prime minister he was only in the position temporarily and was set to be replaced by Henry the week of the assassination. That transition did not take place because of Moise’s death.In addition, Haiti’s Senate has nominated Senate President Joseph Lambert to be interim president.Joseph told VOA Creole that “After the president was killed, someone in authority had to step in to take over. Nine days have passed and here we are. That is why I stepped up as interim prime minister to move forward along with the other government ministers.”Referring to himself along with Henry and Lambert, he said, “we have three leaders plus the other sectors — we have to put our heads together to find a solution. That’s what’s important. I am appealing to all sectors of society to unite to resolve this political crisis.”A U.S. delegation that traveled to Haiti earlier this week met with all three politicians claiming the right to lead Haiti.Laura Lochman, the State Department’s acting deputy assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs was part of the U.S. delegation, and told VOA in an exclusive interview Wednesday that the United States will support an inclusive, credible Haitian government.“It’s up to the Haitians to come up with the solution to this political process at this point, so we rely on them and give them all the support that we can to work conclusively, to work together, to form a consensus government,” Lochman said.She said the United States would like to see elections held in Haiti this year.Haiti’s parliament has been out of session since January 2020 when the terms of most of the legislature expired. Elections have not been held to select new members due to mass protests, the coronavirus pandemic and uncontrolled gang violence.Sandra Lemaire, Nike Ching and VOA Creole contributed to this report. 
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Haitian President Jovenel Moise will be buried on July 23 in the northern city of Cape Haitian, a member of the official funeral organization committee said Friday.”We have a logistical team who will evaluate the site where the funeral will be held,” Minister of Culture and Communication Pradel Anriquez, a member of the committee, told reporters during a news conference in Port-au-Prince. A schedule of events will be published soon, he said.Funeral planning committee members include interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph; the ministers of defense, culture and communication, and interior; the director of the Cabinet (chief of staff); the secretary-general of the presidency; and the director-general of the MUPANAH (Musée du Panthéon National Haitien).Anriquez said there are three events planned. On July 20, an official ceremony honoring the life of Moise will be held at the MUPANAH. He said the national palace protocol team is organizing that event.On July 22, the president’s wake will be held, Anriquez said. But he did not provide further details, adding only that “the public funeral of the president of the republic will be held in accordance with the wishes of the Moise family and also in accordance with the law.”First lady Martine Moise is being treated in Miami, Florida, for injuries suffered during the attack that killed her husband.Joseph said Friday that Martine Moise plans to return to Haiti for the funeral. He said that the first lady is in good condition and has been in constant contact with him since she arrived in Miami.Joseph also confirmed that a video message posted earlier this week on Martine Moise’s official Twitter account is authentic, along with subsequent tweets she posted this week of herself lying in a hospital bed.The interim prime minister said the slain president had expressed a desire to be buried next to his father in Haiti’s north. The details were included in an official government decree issued on March 11, 2020, pertaining to the burial of heads of state, Anriquez told reporters.”The Haitian government in its entirety is committed to giving the president a proper funeral,” he said.Ex-president Aristide back in HaitiElsewhere in the capital, a group of supporters of former President Jean Bertrand Aristide took to the streets to welcome him back to Haiti after undergoing treatment for an undisclosed illness in Cuba.Aristide fans waved Haitian flags, white flags, freshly picked tree branches, homemade signs and played traditional festive “rara” music as they waited to see him.”Welcome back, king. We have always said that Haiti is now paying for what happened in 1990, and as long as the constitutional order is not reestablished, the wound will remain. It is time to repair the divisions that exist,” a man who did not give his name told VOA Creole. “We are standing out here in front of the airport to extend our greetings.””The president who truly loved us and was the most capable leader to lead us was removed by the colonists in a coup d’etat. Hopefully, the Haitian people now see clearly what is going on,” another Aristide supporter, who stood on the side of the airport road to welcome the former president back to Haiti, told VOA.Aristide was Haiti’s first democratically elected president after dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier was removed from power in 1986.He governed Haiti from Feb. 7-Sept. 30, 1991, when he was deposed in a military coup. After living in exile in the United States for three years, he returned to lead Haiti in October 1994 until 1996.A year later, he created the Fanmi Lavalas (Lavalas Family) political party. He ran for president as its candidate and won in 2000. (Haiti’s constitution bars heads of state from holding consecutive terms.)In July 2001, Aristide was ousted in another military coup and lived in exile in South Africa until spring 2011, when he was allowed by then-President Michel Martelly to return to Port-au-Prince. He has mostly stayed out of the limelight, but his party remains active in politics.Matiado Vilme in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, contributed to this story.
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At least seven Colombian nationals who were arrested by Haitian authorities in connection with the assassination of President Jovenel Moise received U.S. military or police training.A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation, told VOA Friday that all seven had been members of the Colombian military at the time they received the training.“Individuals had been approved for a variety of training activities held both in Colombia and the United States between 2001-2015,” the official said. “Examples of the types of training received were various types of military leadership and professional development training, emergency medical training, helicopter maintenance, and attendance at seminars on counternarcotics and counterterrorism.”BREAKING: US gvt official tells @VOANews that 7 of 25 individuals alleged to have been involved in the assassination of #Haiti’s President #Moise “previously participated in past US military training & education programs, while previously serving in the #Colombia|n military”— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) July 16, 2021The official said both the State Department and the Department of Defense are continuing to review their records to see if any additional suspects in the assassination have ties to the U.S.“Their alleged involvement in this incident stands in stark contrast to outstanding conduct and performance of hundreds of thousands of foreign military students that have benefitted from U.S. education training programs over the past 40 years,” the official said.Word that a “small number” of the Colombian nationals in Haitian custody had gotten U.S. training first came Thursday, though a Pentagon spokesperson told VOA that any such training “emphasizes and promotes respect for human rights, compliance with the rule of law, and militaries subordinate to democratically elected civilian leadership.”Moise was shot and killed in the predawn hours of July 7 at his private residence in a wealthy suburb of Port-au-Prince. His wife, Martine, was injured in the attack and is recovering from surgery at a Miami, Florida, hospital.Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph told reporters that he has spoken to the first lady several times and that she is doing well.Haitian National Police Chief Leon Charles said 18 Colombians have been arrested in connection with the assassination.Colombia’s president told a local radio station Thursday that most of the detained Colombians had been duped into thinking they were to provide bodyguard services for the Haitian leader.“Once they were over there,” Ivan Duque said, “the information they were given changed,” and the men ended up as suspects in an assassination plot.New investigation detailsPolice Chief Charles said five Haitian police officers are currently in isolation because of their alleged involvement in the assassination plot. Investigators are questioning all police officers who were on duty when the attack occurred, he said.”We have 18 assailants under detention. Three were killed during the attack, and there are five Haitian Americans who we are taking a close look at,” the chief told reporters during a Friday press conference.”We are working both internally and externally with the assistance of our international partners to move the investigation forward. There are Interpol and FBI agents here on the ground to help us analyze evidence that will help us trace and identify the masterminds,” Charles said.The chief thanked civilians who had been helping law enforcement find those involved in the assassination. Police have received a lot of helpful tips every day so far, he said.Matiado Vilme in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, contributed to this story.
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