Day: November 8, 2019

The United Nations’ highest court ruled Friday that it has jurisdiction in a case brought by Ukraine that alleges Russia breached treaties on terrorist financing and racial discrimination following its annexation of Crimea by arming rebels in eastern Ukraine and reining in the rights of ethnic Tartars and other minorities. 
 
The decision by the International Court of Justice means the case, which opened a new legal front in the strained relationship between Russia and Ukraine, will go ahead. 
  
It most likely will take many months or years to settle. 
 
The court’s president, Abdulqawi Yusuf, said the ruling was limited to jurisdiction and did not address the merits of Ukraine’s complaints in the case.  

Kyiv filed the case in January 2017, asking the court to order Moscow to stop financing rebels in eastern Ukraine and to pay compensation for attacks, including the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which was shot out of the sky over eastern Ukraine on July 19, 2014, killing all 298 people on board. 

3 Russians, Ukrainian charged

Russia has always denied involvement in the downing of the passenger jet, but an international investigation has charged three Russians and a Ukrainian with murder over their alleged role in the deadly missile strike. 
 
Ukraine also asked the court to order Russia to stop discriminating against ethnic Tartars on the Crimean Peninsula. 
 
At hearings in June, Russia argued that Ukraine was using the two treaties as a way of bringing broader arguments about the annexation of Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine before the world court. 
 
Lawyers for Moscow insisted that the court had no jurisdiction and should throw out the case. 
 
In a preliminary ruling in 2017, the court ordered Russia to stop limiting “the ability of the Crimean Tatar community to conserve its representative institutions.” 

Rejected request

However, in the same ruling, judges rejected Ukraine’s request for measures aimed at blocking Russian support for rebels in eastern Ukraine, saying Kyiv did not provide enough evidence to back up its claim that Moscow sponsored terrorism by funding and arming the rebels. 
 
The case is going ahead as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is attempting to end the conflict in the east of his country that has killed more than 13,000 people and displaced more than a million people. 
 
Rulings by the court, the United Nations’ principal judicial organ, are binding on states. 

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President Donald Trump said Friday his administration will pursue raising the age to purchase electronic cigarettes from 18 to 21 in its upcoming plans to combat youth vaping. 

Trump told reporters his administration will release its final plans for restricting e-cigarettes next week but provided few other details. 
 
“We have to take care of our kids, most importantly, so we’re going to have an age limit of 21 or so,” said Trump, speaking outside the White House.

Currently the minimum age to purchase any tobacco or vaping product is 18, under federal law. But more than one-third of U.S. states have already raised their sales age to 21. 
 
A federal law raising the purchase age would require congressional action.

Administration officials were widely expected to release plans this week for removing virtually all flavored e-cigarettes from the market. Those products are blamed for soaring rates of underage use by U.S. teenagers. 
 
However, no details have yet appeared, leading vaping critics to worry that the administration is backing away from its original plan.

Trump resisted any specifics on the scope of the restrictions.

“We’re talking about the age, we’re talking about flavors, we’re also talking about keeping people working — there are some pretty good aspects,” Trump said.

Mint flavor

Underage vaping has reached what health officials call epidemic levels. In the latest government survey, 1 in 4 high school students reported using e-cigarettes in the previous month.

Fruit, candy, dessert and other sweet vaping flavors have been targeted because of their appeal to underage users. 
 
On Thursday, Juul Labs, the nation’s largest e-cigarette maker, announced it would voluntarily pull its mint-flavored e-cigarettes from the market. That decision followed new research that Juul’s mint is the top choice for many high school students who vape.

With the removal of mint, Juul only sells two flavors: tobacco and menthol. 
 
Vaping critics say menthol must be a part of the flavor ban to prevent teens who currently use mint from switching over.

‘Tobacco 21’ law

Juul and other tobacco companies have lobbied in support of a federal “Tobacco 21” law to reverse teen use of both e-cigarettes and traditional tobacco products. The effort also has broad bipartisan support in Congress, including a bill introduced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The logic for hiking the purchase age for cigarettes and other products is clear: Most underage teens who use e-cigarettes or tobacco get it from older friends. Raising the minimum age to 21 is expected to limit the supply of those products in U.S. schools.

Delaying access to cigarettes is also expected to produce major downstream health benefits, with one government-funded report estimating nearly 250,000 fewer deaths due to tobacco over several decades. 
 
Still, anti-tobacco groups have insisted that any “Tobacco 21” law must be accompanied by a ban on flavors, which they say are the primary reason young people use e-cigarettes.
 

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Mercury is putting on a rare celestial show next week, parading across the sun in view of most of the world.
 
The solar system’s smallest, innermost planet will resemble a tiny black dot Monday as it passes directly between Earth and the sun.
 
Unlike its 2016 transit, Mercury will score a near bull’s-eye this time, passing practically dead center in front of the sun.

The entire 5 -hour event will be visible, weather permitting, in the eastern U.S. and Canada, and all Central and South America. The rest of North America, Europe and Africa will catch part of the action. Asia and Australia will miss out.

Telescopes or binoculars with solar filters are recommended. Mercury’s next transit isn’t until 2032.

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President Donald Trump says he’s weighing an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the May 9 Victory Day parade in Moscow.

Trump tells reporters he appreciates the invitation from Putin, but the parade falls “right in the middle of political season,” so he’s not sure he can make it.

He adds: “I would love to go if I could.”

The event commemorates the May 1945 allied victory over Nazi Germany. Russia uses the annual parade to show off its military might.

Trump says the event, which next year marks the 75th anniversary of the allied victory, is “a very big deal.”

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Two Somali-American women who won local elections this week are calling for full participation of women in Somalia’s politics, peace and development efforts.

Voters on Tuesday elected Nadia Mohamed for an at-large seat in St. Louis Park, a western suburb of Minneapolis, in the Midwestern state of Minnesota, and chose Safiya Khalid to represent a ward in Lewiston, in the northeastern state of Maine.

Both ran as Democrats and will be the first Somali immigrants on their respective councils. Both also are 23 and are black, hijab-wearing Muslims.

The two new city council members are urging women in Somalia to follow their path.

“I was elected with respect being a woman, a young, a Muslim, and hijab-wearing. So that, I would like to see Somalia doing the same because a woman can do sometimes better what a man can do,” said Mohamed.

“I would like to send a call to Somali women in Somalia, saying that they can do whatever they want, regardless of the challenges they face from the men who hold the country’s politics in monopoly,” Khalid told VOA Somali.

In Somalia’s conservative society, women’s participation in politics has have traditionally been low, and a controversial topic.

Khadiijo Mohamed Dirie, Somalia’s minister of youth and sports, said the success of young Somali politicians in the United States and Europe is a reminder of how women can be empowered in Somali society.

Right now, she says, female politicians as young as Mohamed and Khalid would have zero chance of being elected to public office in Somalia.

“Women rarely envision a position of a higher political leadership in our male-dominated social system,” Dirie told VOA.  “Those who are successful in the U.S and Europe politics got an opportunity of living with a developed society in a political maturity.”

Somalia’s provisional constitution gives women 30 percent quota in both houses of the parliament.  However, women currently make up less than a quarter of parliamentarians.

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A group of more than 100 black female activists is endorsing Elizabeth Warren for president, saying her stances on a range of issues speak directly to black voters.

In a letter released Thursday, the group Black Womxn For says its endorsement is an extension of activism that has helped shape a progressive agenda in the 2020 Democratic primary. The group calls Warren a “leader” and “partner” with a proven track record and understanding of structural racism and inequality who is willing to be held accountable.

The group’s director, Angela Peoples, says she hopes the letter will encourage other black women to support the Massachusetts senator publicly.

Warren is scheduled to visit the historically black college North Carolina A&T State University later Thursday.
 

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President Donald Trump wanted Ukraine’s president to stand at a microphone and say three words: investigations, Biden and Clinton, a top State Department official testified.

Democrats looking into whether Trump should be impeached released a transcript of last month’s testimony by deputy assistant secretary of state George Kent.

Kent said the words Trump wanted to hear from Volodomyr Zelenskiy were relayed to Kent by others in the administration who dealt directly with Trump.

“That was the message — Zelenskiy needed to go to a microphone and basically there needed to be three words in the message, and that was the shorthand,” Kent was quoted as saying.

Why was military aid withheld

Democrats want to know if Trump withheld $400 million in military aid to Ukraine unless Zelenskiy publicly committed himself to investigating 2020 Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden for corruption. Trump also insists Ukraine meddled in the 2016 presidential election on behalf of Democrats and their candidate, Hillary Clinton.

Kent said he was concerned about “an effort to initiate politically motivated prosecutions that were injurious to the rule of law, both in Ukraine and the U.S.”

Giuliani attacks

Kent also testified that Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, carried out a “campaign of lies” against U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch before Trump fired her.

“His assertions and allegations against former Ambassador Yovanovitch were without basis, untrue. Period,” Kent testified. “Mr. Giuliani … had been carrying on a campaign for several months full of lies and incorrect information.”

Kent said he was also a target of Giuliani’s attacks and was told to “keep his head down” when it came to Ukraine.

“Giuliani was not consulting with the State Department about what he was doing in the first half of 2019. And to the best of my knowledge, he’s never suggested that he was promoting U.S. policy.”

Democrats and others in the administration have accused Giuliani of a “shadow foreign policy” behind the backs of the State Department by pressuring the Ukrainian government to investigate Biden, his son, Hunter, and Democrats.

No evidence of corruption against the Bidens has surfaced. Accusations that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election are based on unfounded conspiracy theories.

Kent, Yovanovitch and current U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor are scheduled to testify in public next week.

Pence adviser testifies

On Thursday, the impeachment inquiry heard testimony from Jennifer Williams, a special adviser to Vice President Mike Pence.

Williams reportedly testified that the July 25 phone call between Trump and Zelenskiy, in which Trump urged him to investigate the Bidens, was unusual because she said the gist was political, not diplomatic.

She reportedly said she never heard Pence mention anything about investigating the Bidens or Democrats.

Trump has described his telephone call with Zelenskiy as “perfect” and is accusing Democrats of conducting a witch hunt, calling the entire impeachment inquiry a hoax.

He fiercely denies any quid pro quo with Ukraine.

While some of Trump’s Republican supporters are finding it hard to defend his actions, they say they do not believe his request for an investigation into the Bidens is an impeachable offense that could lead to his removal from office.
 

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North Korea on Thursday called Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe an “idiot and villain” who should not even dream of setting foot in Pyongyang, in a media commentary laden with insults in response to his criticism of a North Korean weapons test.

North Korea tested what it called “super-large multiple rocket launchers” on Oct. 31, but Japan said they were likely ballistic missiles that violated U.N. sanctions.

Abe condemned the test at an Asian summit this week, while saying he was eager to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “without conditions” to resolve the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by the isolated state, Kyodo news agency reported citing the Japanese government.

“Abe is an idiot and villain as he is making a fuss as if a nuclear bomb was dropped on the land of Japan, taking issue with the DPRK’s test-fire of super-large multiple rocket launchers,” the North’s KCNA state news agency said, citing a statement by Song Il Ho, its ambassador for ties with Japan.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.

“Abe would be well-advised not to dream forever of crossing the threshold of Pyongyang as he hurled a torrent of abuse at the just measures of the DPRK for self-defense.”

The commentary signals a setback for Abe’s hope of resolving the issue of the abducted Japanese citizens. He has vowed to bring back all of them and has said he was willing to meet Kim without conditions.

In 2002, North Korea admitted that its agents had kidnapped 13 Japanese from the 1960s to the 1980s. Japan says 17 of its citizens were abducted, five of whom were repatriated.

North Korea has said eight of them were dead and another four never entered the country.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Pyongyang in 2002 and met the father of the current North Korean leader, but Abe has never met Kim.

U.S., North Korea

Late on Wednesday, a senior North Korean diplomat blamed a U.S. joint aerial drill with South Korea planned next month for “throwing cold water” over talks with Washington, the state-run KCNA news agency said. Pyongyang opposes U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises, viewing them as a rehearsal for invasion.

In Washington on Thursday, the Pentagon said the joint military exercise was reduced in scope from previous drills.

“It meets all the requirements of the ROK Air Force (and) the U.S. Air Force to ensure readiness,” Rear Admiral William Byrne, vice director of the Joint Staff, told reporters during a briefing.
 

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The U.S. House of Representatives has begun an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump over his efforts to push Ukraine to investigate a political rival. Many of the words and phrases used in the impeachment process are particular to U.S. law and clauses in the U.S. Constitution that govern the impeachment process. 
 
Here are some of the common terms used in an impeachment inquiry and what they mean: 
 
Articles of impeachment: A formal document listing the charges against an official and the reasons why that person should be removed from office. In the United States, the House of Representatives drafts the articles of impeachment, which are then voted on by all members of the House. If a majority of House members vote in favor, the official is impeached — essentially, the equivalent of an indictment — and the articles of impeachment move to the Senate, which then holds a trial. 
 
Bribery: The second offense listed in the Constitution as worthy of impeachment, following treason. Bribery takes place when one person gives something of value to someone in a position of authority in order to influence his or her actions. It often involves cash gifts, although the inducements need not be money and could include, gifts, services or favors.   

Censure: A formal statement of condemnation of a president, Cabinet member, judge or lawmaker passed by a chamber of Congress. Unlike impeachment, censure is not mentioned in the Constitution and would not trigger a trial and possible expulsion. Only one president has ever been censured: Andrew Jackson, by the Senate in 1834.   
  
Civil officers of the United States: The Constitution says that any civil officer of the United States is eligible for impeachment. Civil officers are officials in the U.S. government who are appointed to their positions and serve in any of the branches of government — executive, legislative or judicial. 
  
High crimes and misdemeanors: One of the categories of offenses listed in the Constitution worthy of impeachment. The framers of the Constitution did not define high crimes and misdemeanors, but the phrase has been interpreted to include both violations of criminal statues as well as noncriminal actions that are deemed an abuse of power. 
 
Impeachment: This refers to the U.S. House bringing charges against a government official for alleged wrongdoing. A common misconception is that impeachment means removal from office, but it is more akin to an indictment. If a majority of lawmakers in the House vote in favor of impeachment, the process then moves to the Senate, which holds a trial to determine whether to remove the official from office. 
 
Pardon: Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution grants the president the “power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.” The question of whether a president can pardon himself was raised during the Watergate scandal in the 1970s. At the time, a Justice Department memo sent to President Richard Nixon said: “Under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case,” the president cannot pardon himself. However, the Constitution does not expressly prevent a president from pardoning himself.   

Quid pro quo: The most literal translation of the Latin phrase is “something for something,” and in everyday terms it refers to an exchange of services or things of value. It has meaning in the legal system, finance and politics. It can describe perfectly legal transactions, but it can also apply to shady deals, where something improper or illegal is exchanged for something of value.    
 
Removal vs. disqualification: Once the impeachment proceedings move from the House to the Senate, a trial is held to determine whether to convict the defendant. If the Senate votes to convict, the defendant is removed from office. The Senate may then choose to vote to further punish the defendant by barring him or her from holding future federal office, known as disqualification. The Constitution states that removal and disqualification are the only punishments the Senate can issue. However, a defendant may also be subjected to punishment in regular state or federal courts. 
 
Standard vs. burden of proof: The Constitution says any officer of the executive or judicial branch can be removed from office for “treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”  However, it does not define “high crimes and misdemeanors.”  The determination is left to the members of the House and Senate. The Constitution also leaves it to lawmakers to determine whether there is enough evidence for impeachment. Unlike in criminal cases, there is no need for proof of misconduct “beyond a reasonable doubt.”   

Supermajority: The Constitution requires two-thirds of the Senate to vote to convict an official facing impeachment and removal from office.

Treason: The first offense listed in the Constitution as worthy of impeachment. It is also the only crime specifically defined in the Constitution, which states a person is guilty of treason if he or she goes to war against the United States or gives “aid or comfort” to an enemy. The Constitution says that no one can be convicted of treason “unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or on confession in open court.” 

U.S. Constitution: The document that defines the fundamentals of the government, laws and basic rights granted Americans. It was written in 1787 and ratified the next year by the 13 original states. 

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An 89-year-old Holocaust survivor in Italy has been placed under police protection after receiving hundreds of threats on social media.

Liliana Segre, who was sent to the Auschwitz death camp at age 13, has been receiving as many as 200 threats daily, many against her life. 

In response to the attacks, Segre, who is senator for life, called for the creation of a parliamentary committee to combat hate, racism and anti-Semitism. 

The motion was approved by Italy’s Parliament, even without the support of Italy’s right-wing parties, including former Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini’s Euroskeptic League Party and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia.

Since then, the attacks against Segre have amplified. 

The Milan-based Center of Contemporary Jewish Documents’ Observatory on Anti-Jewish Prejudice says anti-Semitic attacks are on the rise in Italy, particularly online. 

In the first nine months of this year, 190 anti-Semitic incidents were reported to the observatory, compared with 153 incidents for all of 2018, and 91 for all of 2017.

“An 89-year-old Holocaust survivor under guard symbolizes the danger that Jewish communities still face in Europe today,” Israel’s ambassador to Italy, Dror Eydar, tweeted Thursday.
 

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