Feed aggregator

WASHINGTON — Media watchdogs are appealing to the Supreme Court of the Philippines to drop a long-standing cyber libel case against Nobel Peace laureate and journalist Maria Ressa.  Ressa, who founded the news website Rappler, and one of her colleagues, Reynaldo Santos Jr., are appealing a conviction for cyber libel. Charges were first filed in the case in 2017 and relate to an investigative story first published in 2012.  “If Ressa's conviction is not set aside, she could be jailed for up to seven years, and that remains unthinkable," Julie Posetti, of the International Center for Journalists, or ICFJ, told VOA via email.  The ICFJ, along with the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, collaborated on an amicus brief filed earlier in June. In it, the media watchdogs argue that the case breaches the international obligations of the Philippines. They also say the case betrays the press freedom legacy the court has reaffirmed for more than a century. The brief adds that both the case against Ressa and Santos Jr. and the country’s criminal defamation laws go against legal best practice and international law.  That in turn affects the ability of media to act as a public watchdog, the brief says.  “The prospect of facing criminal liability for allegedly misreporting facts — or worse yet, being punished for accurate reporting — will have a profound chilling effect, discouraging journalists from wading into the sensitive topics that often are the subjects of greatest public concern,” the brief states. The cyber libel conviction is one of nearly two dozen legal cases filed against Ressa and Rappler in what media analysts say is retaliatory action by the government.  At one point, the award-winning journalist was facing a combined prison sentence of more than 100 years.  The Philippine government has previously denied the cases are in retaliation for Rappler’s investigative journalism. Several of the cases have since been dismissed or seen Ressa acquitted. But the journalist still faces a prison term in the libel case. "The conviction of Maria Ressa and her former Rappler colleague on a criminal cyber libel charge about a 12-year-old piece of investigative reporting must be urgently overturned in the interests of justice,” Posetti told VOA.   "We urge the court to carefully consider the expert legal opinions submitted in the case, which is in its final stage of appeal."  Press freedom organizations say that the case risks undermining the public’s right to access information and takes away freedom of expression.   The Supreme Court has already accepted amicus briefs in Ressa’s case from the U.N. Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression and the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute.  

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Yoav Gallant, the Israeli Defense Minister is in Washington for a series of meetings with U.S. officials as talks on a ceasefire in Gaza have stalled and as tension with Hezbollah is on the rise. Also in Israel, the families of some of the hostages held by Hamas have released video showing their loved ones being taken. A synagogue and multiple churches have been badly damaged in attacks in Dagestan, in southern Russia and the offices of a prominent Jewish member of Australia’s parliament has also been vandalized. We’ll get an update from Kyiv and a look at the deadly fire in South Korea.

TV personality Rachael Ray is a U.S.-based chef, author and celebrity. But Ukrainians know her better thanks to her charity work to help the war-torn country. Omelyan Oshchudlyak reports. Camera: Yuriy Dankevych.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Paris, France — The U.N.'s cultural organization said Monday it recommended adding Stonehenge, the renowned prehistoric site in England, to its world heritage list of sites in danger, in what would be seen as an embarrassment for London.   The site has been in the U.N. organization's sights because of British government plans to construct a controversial road tunnel near the world heritage site in southwestern England.   In a written decision seen by AFP, the World Heritage Committee recommended that Stonehenge be added to the U.N. list of world heritage sites in danger "with a view to mobilising international support."   The decision will have to be voted upon by the member states of the World Heritage Committee at a meeting in New Delhi in July.   One diplomat told AFP that the decision will likely be approved.    Stonehenge has had UNESCO world heritage status since 1986.  Placement on the U.N. body's world heritage list of endangered sites is seen as a dishonor by some countries.   Last July the British government approved the construction of a controversial road tunnel near Stonehenge despite efforts by campaigners to halt the £1.7 billion ($2.2 billion) project.   The diplomat pointed out that London had decided to approve the project "despite repeated warnings from the World Heritage Committee since 2017."   The planned tunnel is intended to ease congestion on an existing main road to southwest England that gets especially busy during the peak holiday periods.    Experts have warned of "permanent, irreversible harm" to the area.   Druids have held protests against the tunnel at a site they consider sacred and where they celebrate the summer and winter solstice — the longest and shortest days of the year.   Built in stages between around 3,000 and 2,300 B.C.E., Stonehenge is one of the world's most important prehistoric megalithic monuments in terms of its size, sophisticated layout and architectural precision.   UNESCO runs a list of sites with World Heritage status around the world, a prestigious title that countries compete to bestow on their most famous natural and man-made locations.   A listing can help boost tourism — but it comes with obligations to protect the site.   The port city of Liverpool in northwest England lost its World Heritage status for its docks in 2021 after UNESCO experts concluded that new real estate developments in the city had taken too much of a toll on its historical fabric.

State Department — The United States is carefully studying a new mutual defense pact between Russia and North Korea, which Washington believes could aid Pyongyang in its nuclear and long-range missile development programs. There are also signs of tensions between North Korea and its longstanding ally, China, following the signing of the agreement. China anxious In a keynote address on sustaining U.S. strategy in the Indo-Pacific at the Council on Foreign Relations Monday, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said China is probably worried that North Korea will be encouraged to take provocative steps that could lead to a crisis in Northeast Asia. “I think it is fair to say that China is somewhat anxious about what's going on between Russia and North Korea. They have indicated so in some of our interactions, and we can see some tension associated with this,” Campbell said. Campbell said he had a call with South Korean officials Sunday night to discuss next steps to enhance deterrence more clearly. "We believe that that there are discussions about what North Korea gets in exchange [from the deal with Russia] and they could be associated with its nuclear, long range missile development plans," he said. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Pyongyang for the first time in more than 20 years. U.S. officials have said while there are limits to their partnership, it cannot be ignored. The State Department's second-ranking diplomat also voiced concerns over China and North Korea's support for Russia's efforts to rebuild its defense industrial base since the start of its war on Ukraine. South China Sea tensions Campbell said Washington has “significantly démarched Chinese interlocutors” following what he called “Beijing's military provocations” in the South and East China Sea and near the waters around the Second Thomas Shoal, known as Rénài Jiao in China and Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines. According to an international tribunal's legally binding decision issued in July 2016, the Second Thomas Shoal is located within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, and China has no lawful maritime claims to the waters around this low-tide feature. Beijing has rejected the ruling. “The Philippines are very cautious at this juncture. They do not seek a crisis with China. They are seeking dialogue,” Campbell said. “They're seeking discussion, and they want the United States to be purposeful with other allies and partners about our goals to maintain peace and stability and to send a very clear message of deterrence and reassurance.” However, he stopped short of stating whether Washington would invoke a mutual defense treaty with Manila. "I'm not going to speculate in public. I will say we have continually reaffirmed its significance and relevance to these situations at the highest level," he said. In a phone call with Philippine Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Maria Theresa Lazaro last week, Campbell reaffirmed that Article IV of the 1951 United States-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft — including those of its coast guard — anywhere in the South China Sea, according to the State Department.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Gori, Georgia — Fresh flowers lie at the feet of an outsized statue of Josef Stalin. His mustachioed face overlooks the wide, marble entrance hall of the museum in the city of Gori, Georgia dedicated to the life of the Soviet dictator. Groups of tourists — a mixture of Western, Russian and Chinese — jostle for position to take perfect selfie photographs alongside the pallid carving.  Stalin was born in Gori in 1878. The city still celebrates its local hero. The vast museum — built in 1957, four years after his death — encapsulates Georgia’s struggle to reconcile a contested and turbulent twentieth-century history, as the country tries to forge a new future aligned to the West.  Stalin shrine  The museum appears to have changed little over the past seven decades. One of the most popular displays recreates Stalin’s office in the Kremlin, complete with original furniture and telephone. Canvases depict him holding aloft smiling children or holding Soviet committees in rapt attention with apparent oratorical flair. The gift store at the exit sells Stalin-branded wine, cigarette lighters bearing his beaming face, or mini bronze-cast busts.  One of the most jarring displays shows Stalin’s death mask on a spotlit plinth in the middle of a temple-like, circular atrium. It feels more like a shrine than a museum.   Stalin is lauded for helping to lead the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. He is also blamed for the deaths of an estimated 30 million people.   A small room under the stairs — added only in 2010 — sketches over Stalin’s crimes: the gulag prison camps, the forced famines, the killing of millions of citizens, including Georgians.  Russian occupation  Seventy-one years after Stalin’s death, Russia is still trying to exert power over the former Soviet republic.  A few kilometers north of Gori lies the Russian occupation line. Its troops still occupy 20 percent of Georgian territory after the civil war in the early 1990s and the Russian invasion of 2008, when Moscow’s troops briefly occupied the city before retreating toward the mountains.  The Russian troops still pose a danger for residents. “The key is to avoid crossing the occupation line. If you cross it, you will be detained,” local farmer Gela Bolatashvili told VOA.  Those past and present troubles form the backdrop for Georgia’s current political turmoil, as its people prepare for a crucial election in October. The government is led by the ‘Georgian Dream’ party, founded and backed by the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made billions of dollars in the chaos of 1990s post-Soviet Russia.   Critics accuse Ivanishvili and his party of turning away from Georgia’s constitutionally stated aim of joining the European Union and seeking to rekindle ties with Moscow. The party denies this, and insists it wants to join the EU by 2030.  Nevertheless, a stream of anti-Western government propaganda is accompanied by warnings that the United States and NATO are seeking to drag Georgia into Russia’s war on Ukraine. A recent ‘foreign agent’ law is widely seen as an attempt to silence critical Western-funded nongovernmental organizations and independent media ahead of the election, prompting Washington to impose sanctions earlier this month on some Georgian Dream MPs.  Recent polls suggest more than 80 percent of Georgians are in favor of joining the EU – and it’s likely to be a key issue in the lead up to October’s poll.  EU hopes  East from Gori, along the foothills of the Caucasus mountains, an ancient industry is hoping for a new future inside the EU. Archaeological evidence suggests wine has been made in Georgia’s Kakheti region for around 8,000 years, longer than anywhere else in the world, earning it the moniker ‘the birthplace of wine.’   The Nekresi wine estate makes 50,000 bottles a year for domestic and international markets, including the United States, France and South Korea. It aims to increase production to 250,000 bottles in the coming years.  “We are targeting foreign markets, particularly in Europe, to sell our products,” said Nara Silagadze, the manager of the Nekresi estate. “Georgia’s potential European Union membership would be a significant advancement for our business,” she told VOA.  The EU has invested over $2 billion of public and private money in Georgia under its ‘Global Gateway’ strategy. The bloc says the investment is aimed at strengthening "digital, energy, and transport connections in Georgia and between Georgia and the EU” and supporting small and medium-sized businesses.   Nekresi wine estate is among those to benefit.  “Until now, we have relied on our own resources. But as we have grown, we have acquired additional support. EU funds have provided this assistance. The hotel we are constructing is energy-efficient and the EU has decided to collaborate with us and support its development,” Silagadze said.  Geopolitical tensions  Both Europe and the United States have invested heavily in Georgia’s economy and democracy since it gained independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Amid renewed geopolitical tensions between east and west, the country’s political path is under renewed focus.  As the crucial October election approaches, Georgians are caught between contested histories and future hopes, overshadowed by a propaganda-fueled fear of renewed conflict. 

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Nairobi, Kenya — Kenyan police officers may be set for deployment to Haiti on Tuesday, according to local reports and the French news agency, AFP. Multiple inquiries to the government of Kenya for confirmation of such reports were not answered. This development comes after numerous delays and court challenges, including the newest lawsuit that accused Kenyan President William Ruto of contempt of court. Last year, a United Nations Security Council resolution approved the Kenyan-led mission, but earlier this year the High Court of Kenya ruled against the deployment, saying it was unconstitutional. Issues cited by the court include the lack of a "reciprocal agreement" between the countries. The Kenyan government eventually secured that agreement but the same people who sued the government in the first place filed another lawsuit seeking to block the deployment. From a legal perspective, the legitimacy of the agreement is still in question, lawyer Wallace Nderu told VOA. "The ground for this application is that when the then-prime minister of Haiti was signing this agreement with Kenya, there was no known government in Haiti. The president had been assassinated; there were no elected leaders in Haiti. So where does he drive the mandate to negotiate an agreement on behalf of his country Haiti comes into question," said Nderu, a lawyer and a program officer at ICJ Kenya, the International Commission of Jurists, a non-governmental, non-profit, member-based organization. Nderu also said Kenyans feel the agreement was hastily put together, noting its content has not been shared with the population. "Part of the provisions in the law … indicates that these agreements, after being signed, have to be gazetted in the official Kenya Gazette,” Nderu said. “So, concern is raised that this particular agreement is very secretive. We are not aware of the content of the agreement … it raises the legitimacy of the government deploying the police to Haiti." The Kenya Gazette is an official government publication that contains legal notices, government appointments, and other official announcements. A new commander for the police force was appointed Monday by the inspector general. President Ruto has maintained that stabilizing the troubled Caribbean nation is "a mission for humanity … a mission for solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Haiti." In addition to Kenya, other nations including Benin, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados and Chad said they will join the mission. While some Kenyans support the mission in Haiti, others have wondered why their country wants to lead the multinational force, given that nations more powerful and better equipped have not been willing to step forward. The reported deployment will take place on the same day that protests against proposed tax increases that have rocked Kenya in the past week are to resume.

ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan's Taliban are touting a United Nations invitation to an international conference in Qatar later this month, viewing it as an acknowledgment of their administration's growing significance globally. The two-day U.N. meeting between the Taliban and international envoys on Afghanistan is set for June 30 in Doha, the capital of the Gulf state, amid sharp criticism from human rights groups for excluding Afghan women representatives. It will be the third session of what is known as the “Doha process,” and the fundamentalist de facto Afghan rulers have agreed to attend for the first time. “The Doha meeting will be held in the coming days, and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has been officially invited to attend,” Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi announced in a video statement released by his office on Monday. The Taliban returned to power nearly three years ago and established their hardline male-only government in Kabul, named the Islamic Emirate, which has yet to be recognized by the international community. “We have developed good relations with neighboring and regional countries and are also actively pursuing positive and cordial ties with Western and U.S. governments,” Muttaqi said while addressing his ministry staff in the Afghan capital. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched the Doha process a year ago to establish a unified international approach to engagement with the Taliban, who have banned Afghan girls from education beyond the sixth grade and many women from public and private workplaces. Guterres did not invite de facto Afghan rulers to the first Doha conference in May 2023, and they refused to take part in the second this past February, citing the participation of Afghan civil society representatives and human rights activists. U.N. officials have defended the upcoming rare dialogue with the Taliban, promising that special envoys from about 25 countries at the meeting will “forcefully” raise restrictions on women’s and girls’ rights, among other human rights concerns. On Friday, Roza Otunbayeva, the head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, emphasized the importance of the world community opening a direct dialogue with the Taliban, suggesting it could create opportunities for Afghan women to participate in future talks. “They would tell them [the Taliban] that, 'Look, it doesn’t work like this, and we should have women around the table and also provide them with access to the business,'” she told reporters in New York after briefing a U.N. Security Council meeting on the Afghan situation. Speaking at the meeting, Otunbayeva said that her mission had met with hundreds of Afghans, especially women, around the country in the run-up to the third Doha meeting. “These consultations revealed a broad agreement that it was important for the de facto authorities to attend the meeting but that there should also be no recognition of the de facto authorities until the issues of women’s rights, girls’ education, and an acceptable constitution were broadly addressed,” the UNAMA chief said. Otunbayeva stated that the U.N. would consult Afghan civil society and rights representatives in Afghanistan and abroad before the June 30 meeting. She noted that U.N. political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo and envoys from various countries will meet separately with Afghan rights activists in Doha on July 2, a day after the meeting with the Taliban ends. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have sharply criticized the U.N. for inviting the Taliban to the Doha talks rather than holding them accountable for “crimes” against Afghan women and girls. "Excluding women risks legitimizing the Taliban's abuses and triggering irreparable harm to the U.N.’s credibility as an advocate for women's rights and women's meaningful participation," Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch, said of the third planned Doha meeting. Otunbayeva said the Doha meeting would mainly focus on private sector business, the Afghan banking sector, and counternarcotics, issues she attributed to women's rights in the country. The Taliban have vehemently defended their governance, claiming it is aligned with Afghan culture and their harsh interpretation of Islamic law. The hardline group seized power in August 2021 as U.S.-led NATO troops withdrew from Afghanistan after nearly two decades of engagement in the war with the then-insurgent Taliban. Guterres chaired the previous Doha meetings, but the coming session will be hosted by DiCarlo. She traveled to Kabul in May and invited Muttaqi to attend the talks. The Taliban have not yet confirmed whether their foreign minister will lead the delegation at the meeting. "We are trying to establish a process and preserve an important mechanism of consultation. We must be realistic about how much each meeting in this process can deliver, especially at this early stage where confidence and trust are insufficient,” stressed Otunbayeva in her speech to the U.N. Security Council on Friday.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Diyarbakir, Turkey — The death toll from last week's massive wildfire that ripped through Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast has risen to 15, hospital sources said on Monday with experts pointing to faulty wiring as a possible cause.    The blaze, which broke out on Thursday between the cities of Diyarbakir and Mardin, killed 12 people outright and left five more fighting for their lives.   Three succumbed to their injuries on Sunday, hospital sources said on Monday, while two others remained in intensive care.   Agriculture ministry figures showed more than 1,000 sheep and goats perished as a result of the blaze with locals in Koksalan village in Diyarbakir province telling AFP some victims died trying to save their animals.   The government said "stubble burning" was the cause but the Diyarbakir branch of the Chambers of Turkish Architects and Engineers (TMMOB) ruled that out and pointed to faulty electric cables as the likely trigger.    "The fire could have been caused by the power cables," it said in a report released late on Sunday, indicating that there was "no stubble" in the area and that electric wires there were in a state of disrepair.    "The cause of the fire was not the stubble. The electricity cables and poles were unmaintained and dangerous," it said, pointing to the absence of "fire prevention measures around the poles." It also accused private electricity distributor DEDAS, which is responsible for maintaining the area's power lines, of "replacing and repairing the poles the day after the fire, thus obscuring the evidence.” Faulty power cables in Koksalan village The findings came two days after an expert report sent to the local public prosecutor's office said conductive wire "broke and ignited the grass on the ground and it spread to a wide area due to the effect of strong wind."    The faulty wiring was on a pole in Koksalan village, in an area where the fields had not yet been harvested, the experts said.   They calculated the blaze had ravaged between 1,650 and 2,000 hectares (4,080 and 4,940 acres) of farmland, forest and residential areas.   In a post on X, Agriculture Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said the fire destroyed nearly 1,500 hectares of land and that "924 sheep and goats perished in Koksalan." He said nearly 200 sheep and goats in the area were treated for burns, and another 83 "with severe injuries that could not be treated" were sent for slaughter.    Last June, a fire that broke out in the same area destroyed 68 hectares of land, with residents pointing to faulty wiring, and an expert report identifying DEDAS as "primarily" responsible.    The villagers filed a legal complaint and won, with a Diyarbakır court finding DEDAS guilty of not properly maintaining the infrastructure and ordering it to pay compensation. It was not clear how much.   The pro-Kurdish DEM party, which criticized the government's slow response to the fire, called for a parliamentary inquiry to determine responsibility and hold public bodies accountable for the blaze.    Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya on Friday had blamed the fire on "stubble burning" with the justice ministry saying it opened a probe.   Turkey has suffered 81 wildfires so far this year that have ravaged more than 15,000 hectares of land, according to the latest figures from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).   Experts say human-driven climate change is causing more frequent and more intense wildfires and other natural disasters, and have warned Turkey to take measures to tackle the problem.

Dakar, Senegal — Senegal said Monday it had implemented voluntary COVID-19 screening tests and reimposed the wearing of masks at Dakar's international airport for returning pilgrims fearing the virus was linked to the deaths of some Mecca pilgrims.   Dakar suspects that a number of the some 1,300 deaths -- according to a Saudi tally -- are down to a respiratory syndrome ailment such as Covid-19, Health Minister Ibrahima Sy said on Sunday.   "Initially, we thought it was related to heatwaves because the temperature was excessively high, but we realized that there is a respiratory syndrome with the cases of death," Sy said of the deaths during the hajj pilgrimage, which took place during intense heat.   "We told ourselves that, probably, there is a respiratory epidemic, and it was our duty to be able to monitor the pilgrims on their return by putting in place a screening system for everything COVID-19 related," said Sy in remarks carried by Senegalese broadcasters.   The health ministry said it had "strengthened the health surveillance system" by deploying a team at the airport to provide voluntary screening tests and identify pilgrims suffering from flu-like illnesses.   The ministry also urged the population "to be vigilant, to show restraint and to be more serene to avoid an epidemic."   Out of 124 rapid diagnostic tests, 78 proved positive for the COVID-19 virus, 36 of which were later confirmed by PCR tests, the ministry said.   Charles Bernard Sagna, chief medical officer for the airport, said the alert was raised when the Senegalese medical team based in Jeddah had reported "a significant number" of passengers with respiratory problems.   "There is no cause for alarm but there also has to be prevention," the ministry said Sunday. Senegalese daily L'Observateur reported that five of the dead at the hajj were Senegalese nationals. They were among an around 12,000-strong officially registered Senegalese contingent.   Saudi Arabia's official SPA news agency earlier reported 1,301 deaths at the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, where temperatures climbed as high as 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the country's national meteorological center.   More than 80 percent of pilgrims attending mainly outdoor rituals were "unauthorized" and walked long distances in direct sunlight, according to SPA.   The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam that all Muslims with the means must complete at least once in their lives.   Saudi officials have said 1.8 million pilgrims took part this year, a similar number to last year, and that 1.6 million came from abroad.