Category: Foreign

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Mike Pence met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Friday and praised “the historic reform efforts” undertaken by Abiy since assuming power in April, the White House said in a statement.

Pence noted Abiy’s efforts at “improving respect for human rights, reforming the business environment, and making peace with Eritrea,” the statement said.

“The two leaders underscored their countries’ shared values and their commitment to building an even stronger partnership in the days ahead,” it said.

Under Abiy, Ethiopia has instituted reforms including releasing political prisoners, diluting state control of the economy and making peace with northern neighbor Eritrea after two decades of hostility.

A 41-year-old former intelligence officer, Abiy came to power after his predecessor resigned earlier this year amid protests against abuses by security forces and public anger over perceived ethnic marginalization of many groups in the racially diverse country.

While in Washington Abiy was also scheduled to meet with members of Ethiopia’s large diaspora community in the United States, whose remittances have helped prop up the economy.

Abiy is also due to visit Minneapolis and Los Angeles.

He met on Friday with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, who said they had “an engaging and productive meeting.”

“I reiterated the IMF’s commitment to work with the Ethiopian authorities to ensure that the economy achieves high rates of sustainable and inclusive growth to reduce poverty,” she said in a statement.

The Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar-led Commonwealth Observer Group has given a pass mark to the Pakistan’s general election, saying the poll has generally strengthened the country’s democracy.

The Commonwealth team said the election marked “important milestone” in the history of the country, following two consecutive democratically-elected civilian governments completing their full terms.

Final results of the elections are yet to be released by the Election Commission of Pakistan, said the Commonwealth Secretariat, in a statement by Josephine Latu-Sanft, its Senior Communications Officer.

In an Interim Statement released on the Group’s observations of the election, the former Head of State of Nigeria commended the people of Pakistan for exercising their right to vote.

More than 50 million Pakistanis came out to exercise their franchise, in spite of terrorists attacks claiming more than 200 lives in the weeks prior and on the election day itself.

Latu-Sanft quoted Abubakar, Chairman of the Commonwealth Observer Group, as saying: “The 2018 General Election was an important milestone in strengthening democracy in Pakistan.

“We commend the voters, the election commission, polling staff, political parties, candidates, their agents, the security forces and all others for their respective roles.”

The Commonwealth Observer Group arrived in Pakistan on July 18.

Members held a wide range of consultations with the electoral commission, political parties, government officials, observers, members of civil society, the media and the diplomatic community.

They also held consultations with the military, before they were deployed to polling stations across the country.

These polling stations included locations in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Karachi and Hyderabad.

Announcing its interim findings, the Commonwealth group noted a clear improvement in election laws since the previous elections.

“For example, the new Elections Act 2017 gave more independence and autonomy for the election commission and new measures to enhance women’s political participation.

“We noted that women responded to these reforms positively and voted in greater numbers compared to earlier elections. Women also played a commendable role in the administration of elections.

“We observed that the election commission was generally well-prepared for the polls in most areas and that the process was, on the whole, well-administered,” Abubakar said on the election day.

However, the former Nigerian leader said there were key areas for improvement, as counting methods, the results transmission system, and inconsistency in applying electoral procedures, were amongst several areas highlighted.

The final report, including recommendations, would be submitted in a final report to the Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland.

Scotland would, in turn, forward the report to the Government of Pakistan, Election Commission of Pakistan, political parties taking part in the elections and all Commonwealth Governments.

Thereafter, the report would then be made public.

The Commonwealth Observer Group was constituted by the Commonwealth Secretary-General to consider the various factors impinging on the credibility of the electoral process as a whole.

It determines, in its own judgment, whether the elections have been conducted according to the standards for democratic elections to which Pakistan has committed itself, with reference to national election-related legislation and relevant regional, Commonwealth, and other international commitments.(NAN)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Thirty-two former U.S. diplomats and 11 aid groups on Monday urged U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to eliminate a key State Department refugee bureau, warning that the move would be “an error of grave proportion.”

In a letter to Pompeo, the former diplomats and national security advisers who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations said eliminating the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) office would impact the U.S. ability to influence global refugee policy.

The letter comes barely a year after 58 U.S. policy experts warned Rex Tillerson, the former secretary of state, against such a move.

“We believe this would be an error of grave proportion, and we would urge close consultation with the U.S. Congress before such a critically important measure is even considered,” the former officials and aid groups wrote.

Since taking office in January last year, the Trump administration has cut the number of refugees it admits into the country, introduced stricter vetting rules and quit negotiations on a voluntary pact to deal with global migration.

“We are convinced that the elimination of PRM’s assistance functions would have profound and negative implications for the Secretary of State’s capacity to influence policy issues of key concern to the United States,” the groups wrote. “It would also be ironic, as this is one of the bureaus at State that has enjoyed strong bipartisan support over many years.”

The State Department did not respond to questions about the possible removal of the refugee office.

Those signing the letter included William Burns, former deputy secretary of state; Rand Beers, former deputy assistant to the president for homeland security; Nicholas Burns, former under secretary of state for political affairs; Ryan Crocker, former ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait and Lebanon; Ellen Laipson, former vice chair of the U.S. National Intelligence Council; Anne Richard, former assistant secretary of state for PRM; and Frederick Barton, a former U.N. deputy high commissioner for refugees.

Among the aid groups that signed the letter was Scott Arbeiter, president of World Relief; David Miliband, president of International Rescue Committee; Eric Schwartz, president of Refugees International and former assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration; Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense; and Neal Keny-Guyer, CEO of Mercy Corps.

BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Nearly four land and environmental activists were killed each week last year, murdered for opposing large-scale agriculture and mining projects in the deadliest year on record, a campaign group said on Tuesday.

In 22 countries surveyed by U.K.-based Global Witness, at least 207 activists were killed, making 2017 the deadliest year since 2002 when the human rights organization started collecting data.

Latin America fared worst, accounting for three in every five murders with the highest recorded death toll in any country reported in Brazil with 57 deaths, followed by 24 in Colombia and 15 in Mexico, the campaign group said in its annual report.

In the fight for land and the environment, communities around the world are locked in deadly struggles against governments, companies and criminal gangs exploiting land, Global Witness said.

Rising conflicts over large-scale agricultural projects from cattle ranching to sugar cane and palm oil plantations led to more deaths of activists than any other sector, overtaking mining for the first time since 2002, the report said.

“There has been an increase in consumer demand for cheap products, particularly food stuffs but also toiletries and other household products that contain things such as palm oil,” Ben Leather, senior campaigner at Global Witness, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“And as businesses have tried to meet this demand they have effectively prioritized quick profit over human life with the complicity of governments who have facilitated their entry in their countries,” said Leather, the report’s author.

The Philippines reported more killings in 2017 than ever recorded in an Asian country with 48 deaths, accounting for a 71 percent rise in the past year.

Of the 19 killings of activists reported across Africa, 12 were in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with most murdered while defending protected areas against poachers and illegal miners, the report said.

Opposition to mining and oil projects, along with logging were also to blame for the growing violence against campaigners.

Behind the killings are criminal gangs and poachers, while 53 killings were linked to government security forces, the report said. (Reuters)

TORONTO (Xinhua)  A 18-year-old female university student and a 10-year-old girl were killed, and 13 others injured when a gunman opened fire in a busy Toronto street Sunday night.

The suspected shooter, a 29-year-old Toronto man, also died. Toronto police said he used a handgun to shoot and and exchanged gunfire with police before he died of a gunshot wound.

Police are investigating to determine whether the suspect was killed by police or died by suicide.

The tragedy happened around 10:00 p.m. Sunday near Danforth and Logan Avenues in Toronto’s east-end Greektown neighborhood.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed condolences on Twitter, calling the shooting a “terrible tragedy.”

Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders told a press conference Monday that it’s too early to say what motivated the shooting.

He said police don’t know what prompted the attack, acknowledging that there are concerns about ongoing gun violence in Toronto.

Media reports said police are investigating whether the gunman was working alone or had accomplices in planning or carrying out the shooting, what he may have been reading or talking about online, and how he obtained his gun.

Toronto Mayor John Tory Monday described the shooting as “an unspeakable act” and further evidence that stricter gun control regulations are needed in the city.

Tory, who has previously called for gun law reform, said he plans to push the provincial and federal governments for action on the issue.

“This city has a gun problem, in that guns are far too readily available to far too many people,” said the mayor.