US, Britain Urge Russia to Bring Those Behind Nemtsov Slaying to Justice

The United States and Britain urged Russia on Friday to bring to justice all those responsible for the slaying of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov.

A Russian court on Thursday convicted five men of murdering Nemtsov, but allies of the politician have said the investigation was a cover-up and that the people who had ordered his killing remained at large.

“We call once more on the Russian government to ensure that all involved in the killing of Boris Nemtsov, including anyone involved in organizing or ordering the crime, are brought to justice,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement, calling Nemtsov a “champion of democracy and human rights.”

Britain said it wanted Russia to further investigate Nemtsov’s death.

“The Foreign and Commonwealth Office supports Boris Nemtsov’s family in their call for a fuller investigation into who ordered his murder,” a spokesman for Britain’s Foreign Ministry said. “Responsibility for his murder goes further than those already convicted, and we call on the Russian government to bring the perpetrators to account.”

Litvinenko slaying

Russia and Britain have repeatedly clashed publicly over Syria, Ukraine and the 2006 London slaying of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko.

Trump had frequently called during the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign for warmer ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite criticism from lawmakers in his own Republican Party.

Allegations that Russia interfered in the U.S. presidential election last year and colluded with Trump’s campaign have overshadowed the businessman’s unexpected victory and dogged his first five months in office.

Russia and the United States are also at odds over Ukraine, NATO expansion and the civil war in Syria, where Moscow supports President Bashar al-Assad.

Trump and Putin are due to meet next week in Hamburg at the summit of leaders from the Group of 20 major world economies.

Brazil’s 16-year-old Baseball Wonder Turning MLB Heads

A prospect with a 94 mph fastball gets a lot of attention, no matter where he is pitching — even when that prospect is a diminutive 16-year-old from a country with little baseball tradition.

Eric Pardinho’s blazing fastball has brought scouts to this city 50 miles west of Sao Paulo in soccer mad Brazil. The 5-foot, 8-inch tall right-hander could get a lot more attention July 2, when Major League Baseball teams can begin signing international players. Pardinho is No. 5 on MLB.com’s list of 30 world prospects to watch.  

 

Pretty impressive for a kid who was introduced to baseball almost by accident.

“I am only here because at 6 years of age I was playing paddleball on the beach and my uncle thought my control could be good for baseball back in Bastos,” he said.

Also throws change, slider

Bastos is a small town outside of Sao Paulo with a sizeable Japanese population. The Japanese began bringing their love of baseball and sushi to Brazil in the early 1900s.

Pardinho, whose mother’s parents are Japanese, started gaining attention last year when he struck out 12 in a win over the powerhouse Dominican Republic at the under-16 Pan Am Games. In September he got two outs against Pakistan — both strikeouts — in a qualifier for the World Baseball Classic, a 10-0 win played in New York City.

The young Brazilian’s changeup and slider have also earned praise from local coaches, who already see at him as a potential national star for baseball’s return to the Olympics in 2020 at Tokyo. At the moment Brazil has only one player in MLB, the Cleveland Indians catcher Yan Gomes.

Since January, more and more visitors have come to watch Pardinho workout at a new MLB-sponsored training center in Ibiuna, another city influenced by baseball-loving Japanese immigrants.

Eager to sign

Pardinho is eager to sign with a team and move to the United States.

“There is a lot that I will only learn when I go,” said Pardinho.

 

The pitcher said his height should not be an issue, though his family members still hope that he will grow more in the next year.

“Some time ago there was an issue with shorter players, but now there are teams that don’t care. It matters more that I have a safe fastball and two more good options, including a curveball that I control well,” he said.

‘He destroys them all’

Other MLB hopefuls agree: facing Pardinho is a huge challenge.

“Pardinho’s curveball is amazing, he is more than fast. His height doesn’t matter because his arm can do wonders,” said third baseman Victor Coutinho, also 16.  

 

Also a pitcher, Heitor Tokar practices with Pardinho every day and believes in his friend’s future in the sport.

“Pardinho doesn’t feel any difference when he throws against players taller than him, he destroys them all,” Tokar said.

Even Pardinho’s coach, Mitsuyoshi Sato, knows the teen is headed for bigger challenges, and protects his arm. Sato pitches the soon-to-be pro no more than two innings at weekend tournaments.  

Room for improvement

 

Pardinho’s father Evandro makes the hour-plus drive from Bastos to check on his son, and Sato makes sure Pardinho is a priority for Yakult training center medics. Pardinho has the support of an orthopedist, a physiotherapist and a fitness trainer. He also has a technical trainer.

“He still has to improve physically and mentally. I don’t want him to do too many fastballs now because I worry about a possible injury,” said Sato. “No arm is prepared to pitch that fast, much less the arm of a kid.”  

 

Sato believes Pardinho has room for improvement in the control of his changeup so he can spare his arm and shoulder.

Pardinho thinks if he has success, he could change baseball in Brazil.

“If I do well, maybe more and more Brazilians, not only those of Japanese heritage, will think of playing on a diamond, too.”

 

Chilean Scientists Produce Biodiesel From Microalgae

Biodiesel made from microalgae could power buses and trucks and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 80 percent, Chilean scientists said, possibly curbing pollution in contaminated cities like Santiago.

Experts from the department of Chemical Engineering and Bioprocesses at Chile’s Catholic University said they had grown enough algae to fragment it and extract the oil which, after removing moisture and debris, can be converted into biofuel.

“What is new about our process is the intent to produce this fuel from microalgae, which are microorganisms,” researcher Carlos Saez told Reuters.

Most of the world’s biodiesel, which reduces dependence on petroleum, is derived from soybean oil. It can also be made from animal fat, canola or palm oil.

Saez said a main challenge going forward would be to produce a sufficient volume of microalgae. A wide variety of fresh and salt water algaes are found in Chile, a South American nation with a long Pacific coast.

The scientists are trying to improve algae growing technology to ramp up production at a low cost using limited energy, Saez said.

French Far-right Leader Charged with Alleged EU Funds Misuse

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen was charged Friday with allegedly misusing European Parliament funds to pay two parliamentary aides who also work at her National Front headquarters. Her lawyer said she denies the charges and will fight to get the investigation suspended.

 

Investigators suspect some National Front lawmakers used legislative aides for the party’s political activities while they were on the European Parliament payroll. Le Pen is president of the far-right National Front party.

 

 The prosecutor’s office said Le Pen was summoned and handed preliminary charges of breach of trust and complicity in breach of trust concerning two parliamentary aides when she served at the European Parliament.

Misuse of EU funds

 

 Le Pen is suspected of using parliamentary funds to pay Catherine Griset from 2009 to 2016 and bodyguard Thierry Legier from 2014 to 2016 for allegedly working as aides in Strasbourg, seat of the European Parliament, even though they also have roles in her far-right National Front party.  Griset was charged in February for allegedly receiving money through a breach of trust.

 

 Le Pen is also charged with complicity in breach of trust in connection with her role as president of the National Front from 2014-2016. That charge could not immediately be clarified.

Le Pen denies the charges.

 

“It makes no sense,” National Front vice president Florian Philippot, Le Pen’s top lieutenant, said on the BFM-TV station. “She is obviously 24 hours out of 24 both the president of the National Front and a European deputy.”

Le Pen plans to file an urgent demand Monday at the Appeals Court asking that the preliminary charges be annulled due to “the violation of the principle of separation of powers,” her lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut, said in a statement. She will also seek a suspension of the investigation.

His reference to “separation of powers” may relate to a contention that the French justice system should not interfere in the affairs of political parties. Bosselut could not immediately be reached for comment.

Faces prison time, fine

 

The preliminary charges are thrown out if investigators fail to come up with convincing evidence. The case goes to trial if they do. A conviction for breach of trust charge carries a potential penalty of up to three years in prison and a fine of 375,000 euros ($428,000).

 

Le Pen had twice refused summonses from authorities while campaigning, first for the French presidential election which she lost May 7 to Emmanuel Macron, then for a lawmaker’s seat in the French National Assembly which she won on June 18. Due to that win, Le Pen gave up her seat in the European Parliament.

 

Other European parliamentarians, including Le Pen’s father Jean-Marie Le Pen and her companion Louis Aliot, have also been investigated for allegedly misusing parliamentary aides’ wages. Aliot last week refused to respond to a summons by investigators, French media reported.

Cloud of suspicion

Some leading politicians are now living under a cloud of suspicion as to whether they misused funds meant to pay aides’ salaries.

 

The one-time front-runner in France’s presidential race this year, conservative Francois Fillon, was charged over allegations that he paid his wife, who served as his parliamentary aide, and two children for work they did not perform. Fillon suffered a big loss in the first round of the presidential vote.

Macron himself is determined to avoid any possible connection to the lax or corrupt political practices of the past. Three of his ministers bowed out of their jobs shortly after being appointed — the justice, defense and European affairs ministers — over concerns they could be caught in the investigations into the political use of salaries to parliamentary aides.

 

Families of Missing in Kosovo Want to Know Fate of Loved Ones

Families in Kosovo are appealing to national authorities and the international community to learn the fate of their loved ones who went missing during the Kosovo war, fought from March 1998 to June 1999.

At the end of 2002, the International Committee of the Red Cross reported more than 6,000 people from Kosovo were unaccounted for. That number has gradually been reduced to 1,650. At a conference Thursday and Friday in Geneva, the U.N. Mission in Kosovo sought to clarify the fate of these people.  

Families of the missing include members of the Albanian and Serbian communities in Kosovo. They issued a joint appeal to authorities in the Serbian capital, Belgrade; the Kosovar capital, Pristina; and the international community, urging the appointment of a high representative to end their suffering by recovering the remains of their loved ones.

Bajram Qerkinaj, a representative of the families, told VOA the process had stagnated and must be revived and speeded up.

“We have reached the point when we would be happy to find even a single piece of the bodies of our loved ones,” he said. “This is what family happiness could be for us now — so that they at least could know where they could send a flower, or that they now can grieve for their members.”

Among other things, the conference called for greater cooperation between the Serbian and Kosovar authorities to speed up the identification of the missing.  

It said the search for missing persons must be intensified, as must the identification of human remains that have been exhumed. It also said families of missing persons should receive adequate and effective reparation.

UN Chief Urges Rival Cypriot Leaders to Heed Voices for Peace

The leader of the United Nations has joined the reconvened Cyprus negotiations to encourage the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders to grasp the opportunity for peace and end a stalemate that has kept their island divided for more than four decades.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres got off the plane from New York early Friday morning and immediately set to work at the negotiating table.

As cheer leader in chief, Guterres says he is encouraged by the determination and commitment of the participants to find a solution to this thorny problem.  He says the conference offers an historic opportunity to reach a comprehensive settlement to the conflict that has divided Cyprus for far too long.

“The road back to Switzerland has not been easy.  But, the path to lasting peace never is,” Guterres said. “To get to this point, the leaders have overcome significant challenges and are making unprecedented progress. I salute their determination and common vision, which has led them here.”

Alpine village hosts talks

Conference participants include the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, representatives of the three guarantor powers — Greece, Turkey, and Britain, and senior European Union officials.  The talks are taking place in the Alpine village of Crans-Montana, chosen for its seclusion and beauty.  

Guterres says he firmly believes that through determination and political will, it will be possible to clear the final hurdles. He says the participants have declared their readiness to find a solution.

“They have also demonstrated an awareness of this historic opportunity and the responsibility they share for a successful outcome.” Guterres said.  “And, I call on the leaders and the other participants in the conference to heed the call for peace of thousands of Cypriots at rallies on the island this week. The voices in support of a solution are indeed getting louder.”

Turkish troops a sticking point

Guterres notes some sensitive and difficult issues remain to be resolved. Chief among them are guarantees of safety for each of the divided communities.

The major sticking point is the 35,000 Turkish troops stationed in north Cyprus.  The Greek community views them as a danger and wants them to leave.  On the other hand, the Turkish Cypriots see the troops as a guarantee of their safety.

Guterres says compromises will have to be worked out.  But, he adds the security of one community cannot come at the expense of the other.

Watchdog: Sarin Nerve Gas Used in Deadly Syrian Attack

An investigation by the international chemical weapons watchdog confirmed Friday that sarin nerve gas was used in a deadly April 4 attack on a Syrian town, the latest confirmation of chemical weapons use in Syria’s civil war.

 

The attack on Khan Sheikhoun in Syria’s Idlib province left more than 90 people dead, including women and children, and sparked outrage around the world as photos and video of the aftermath, including quivering children dying on camera, were widely broadcast.

 

“I strongly condemn this atrocity, which wholly contradicts the norms enshrined in the Chemical Weapons Convention,” Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Director-General Ahmet Uzumcu said in a statement. “The perpetrators of this horrific attack must be held accountable for their crimes.”

The investigation did not apportion blame. Its findings will be used by a joint United Nations-OPCW investigation team to assess who was responsible.

 

The U.S. State Department said in a statement issued Thursday night after the report was circulated to OPCW member states that “The facts reflect a despicable and highly dangerous record of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime.”

 

President Donald Trump cited images of the aftermath of the Khan Sheikhoun attack when he launched a punitive strike days later, firing cruise missiles on a Syrian government-controlled air base from where U.S. officials said the Syrian military had launched the chemical attack.

 

It was the first direct American assault on the Syrian government and Trump’s most dramatic military order since becoming president months before.

 

Syrian President Bashar Assad has denied using chemical weapons. His staunch ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, said earlier this month that he believed the attack was “a provocation” staged “by people who wanted to blame him (Assad) for that.”

 

Both the U.S. and the OPCW were at pains to defend the probe’s methodology. Investigators did not visit the scene of the attack, deeming it too dangerous, but analyzed samples from victims and survivors as well as interviewing witnesses.

 

The Syrian government joined the OPCW in 2013 after it was blamed for a deadly poison gas attack in a Damascus suburb. As it joined, Assad’s government declared about 1,300 tons of chemical weapons and precursor chemicals, which were subsequently destroyed in an unprecedented international operation.

 

However, the organization has unanswered questions about the completeness of Syria’s initial declaration, meaning that it has never conclusively been able to confirm that the country has no more chemical weapons.

German Parliament Legalizes Same-sex Marriage

German lawmakers voted to legalize same-sex marriage in their last session before the September election.

Lawmakers voted 393 for legalizing “marriage for everybody,” and 226 against with four abstentions. 

 

The measure brought to a vote in Friday’s session was fast-tracked after Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday lawmakers could take up the issue as a “question of conscience,” freeing members of her conservative coalition, which has been against same-sex marriage, to individually vote for the measure.

Merkel said she voted against same-sex marriage because she believes the country’s law sees it as between a man and a woman, but that the opposite view must be respected. 

She said “for me marriage as defined by the law is the marriage of a man and a woman” but she continues to see the interpretation as a “decision of conscience.” 

 

The measure, which is expected to see legal challenges, also opens the door for gay couples to adopt, which Merkel says she supports.

 

Germany has allowed same-sex couples to enter civil partnerships since 2001, but same-sex marriages remained illegal.

 

All of Merkel’s potential coalition partners after the Sept. 4 election, including the center-left Social Democrats of her challenger, Martin Schulz, have been calling for same-sex marriage to be legalized. 

EU Pledges Support, Italy Threatens to Close Ports in Surge of Migrants

The European Union has pledged to support Italy as it continues to admit thousands of migrants who are crossing the Mediterranean every day from North Africa. 

So far this year nearly 80,000 people have made the journey, and more than 2,000 have died

Poor health

Most of the tens of thousands of people plucked from the Mediterranean this week have been taken to ports on the Italian coast. They are severely dehydrated, usually malnourished and suffering from infections and skin diseases. But there are other troubling signs.

Marcella Kraay of Doctors Without Borders spoke to VOA via Skype from the group’s rescue ship, Aquarius, as it disembarked more than a thousand migrants at the Italian port of Corigliano Calabro.

“We also see the results of people actually being physically assaulted, sexually assaulted, tortured,” Kraay said.

Help from EU

Italy’s representative to the European Union has warned the situation is “unsustainable,” and threatened to stop vessels of other countries from bringing migrants to its ports. 

Kraay sympathizes with Italy’s position.

“We have not in any way formally been informed of this by the Italian government. But my first impression of this is that the main thing here is that it is actually a cry for help coming from the Italian government. And it would be actually good for other EU member states to take a bit more responsibility.”

EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos offered Italy his support.

“Italy is under huge pressure and we are not going to leave this country alone.”

Italy legally bound

But Italy is obliged to take in the migrants, says refugee law expert Professor Geoff Gilbert of the University of Essex, also via Skype.

“The law of the sea, international refugee law, and international human rights law are all coming into play together. While I have a lot of sympathy for the Italian situation, I do not believe Italy can send back boats, even boats that are seaworthy, into the Mediterranean.”

Gilbert says Rome is likely trying to force the implementation of the 2015 EU agreement to share refugees across the bloc, which has so far made little progress.

This week more than 400 migrants in Italy clashed with police at the French border, demanding to be allowed through.

EU Pledges Support as Italy Threatens to Close Ports Following Migrant Surge

The European Union has pledged to support Italy as it continues to admit thousands of migrants crossing every day from North Africa across the Mediterranean. Italy has threatened to shut its ports to foreign-registered boats carrying migrants. So far this year nearly 80,000 people have made the journey, and more than 2,000 have died. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.

In the Age of Smart Devices, How to Protect Yourself from Surveillance, Abuse?

As technology has become part of our daily life, it’s increasingly been used to intimidate victims of domestic violence. In Australia, an organization is helping victims discover smart devices abusers might be using to invade their privacy and control them from afar. As Faiza Elmasry has the story. VOA’s Faith Lapidus narrates.

Pell Charges Bring Abuse Scandal to Pope’s Inner Circle

A top adviser to Pope Francis was charged with multiple historical sex crimes in his native Australia on Thursday, bringing a worldwide abuse scandal to the heart of the Vatican.

Appointed Vatican economy minister by Francis, Cardinal George Pell is the highest-ranking Church official to face such accusations. He asserted his innocence and said the pontiff had given him leave of absence to return to Australia to defend himself.

“I am looking forward finally to having my day in court. I repeat that I am innocent of these charges. They are false,” the 76-year-old told a news conference at the Vatican. “The whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me.”

Pell’s high-profile departure, even if temporary, puts pressure on a pontiff who has made compassion for the vulnerable his watchword, and has declared zero tolerance for a child abuse scandal that has beset the Church for decades, but has struggled to overcome resistance in the Church hierarchy and clergy.

Pell was hand-picked by Francis to sit on a panel of nine cardinal-advisers to give a greater voice to the Church’s global flock, and to reform the Vatican’s opaque finances.

But Pell, a former archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney, had come under pressure from an Australian government commission on institutional child abuse, and had himself been under investigation for at least a year.

On Thursday, police in the Australian state of Victoria, where Pell was a country priest in the 1970s, said he faced “multiple charges in respect of historical sexual offenses” from multiple complainants.

They did not detail the charges or specify the ages of the alleged victims or the period when the crimes were alleged to have occurred.

He was originally ordered to appear before Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on July 18, but that date has been pushed back to July 26. Australian police declined to say why the court date was changed.

Pell, who declined to take questions, decried a “relentless character assassination” by the media and said he wanted to “clear my name and then return to my work in Rome.”

Victims angered

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said Pell would not appear in public Church services for the time being.

Pell told the Australian inquiry last year that the Church had made “catastrophic” choices by refusing to believe abused children, shuffling abusive priests from parish to parish, and relying too heavily on the counsel of priests to solve the problem.

But he angered victims by saying he was too ill to fly home, testifying instead from Rome.

He indicated Thursday that he would now go to Australia.

“I have spoken to my lawyers about when I need to return home and to my doctors about how best to do this,” Pell said.

Francis said last year Pell should not undergo trial by media. 

“It’s in the hands of the justice system and one cannot judge before the justice system. … After the justice system speaks, I will speak,” the pontiff said.

The indictment of such a close adviser raised questions about Francis’ choice of personnel and his ability finally to root out the sexual abuse that had been tolerated or ignored in the Church for decades, and act against those who covered it up.

Marie Collins, the top nonclerical member of the commission on abuse that Francis established in 2014, and its last remaining victim of priestly abuse, quit in frustration in March, citing a “shameful” lack of cooperation within the Vatican.

She said the Vatican administration had even ignored a specific request from the pope that all correspondence from abuse victims should receive a response.

“The long, aching scandal that stained the previous two popes — Vatican passivity to clergy abuse cases — is the swamp Pope Francis faces,” said Jason Berry, author of “Lead Us Not Into Temptation,” a book about sexual abuse in the Church.

“Unless the pope engineers systemic change, the crisis will get worse,” Berry told Reuters.

Francis was impressed by Pell when they met in 2013. In meetings among cardinals before the conclave that elected Francis pope that year, the former Australian Rules football player stood out not only for his height and broad shoulders but also for his command of financial matters.

After becoming pope, Francis, hoping to put an end to Vatican financial scandals, moved Pell to Rome to head a new ministry, the Secretariat for the Economy.

After initially giving Pell sweeping powers, the pontiff later clipped his wings when other departments accused him of an overbearing manner and of being condescending to the Italian-dominated Curia, the Church’s central administration.

Thousands of victims

Church sexual abuse broke into the open in 2002, when it was discovered that U.S. bishops in the Boston area had simply moved abusers to new posts instead of defrocking them.

Thousands of cases have come to light around the world as investigations have encouraged long-silent victims to go public, shattering the Church’s reputation in places such as Ireland, and more than $2 billion has been paid in compensation.

Under previous popes, the Vatican, a sovereign state in the middle of Rome, sheltered officials wanted by other countries.

In the early 1980s, the Vatican refused an Italian request to hand over Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, an American who was then head of the Vatican bank and was wanted for questioning about the fraudulent bankruptcy of a private Italian bank.

Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston moved to Rome after a sexual abuse scandal erupted in his diocese, and has been living in the Italian capital for more than 15 years.

Victims’ groups were outraged when Law, now 85 and retired, was given a plum job as chief priest at a Rome basilica by the late Pope John Paul II.

However, Francis was tough in the case of Jozef Wesolowski, a former archbishop who was accused of paying for sex with minors while serving as papal ambassador in the Dominican Republic.

Wesolowski was recalled in 2013, defrocked and arrested in the Vatican in 2014, but died shortly before his trial was to start in 2015. 

Venezuela’s Shield-bearing Protesters Inspired by Ukraine

Drawing inspiration from Ukraine’s 2013-14 revolt, Venezuela’s young protesters are donning Viking-like shields in battles with security forces and eagerly watching a film on the Kyiv uprising.

Foes of Venezuelan socialist President Nicolas Maduro are holding public showings of Netflix’s “Winter on Fire” documentary about the three-month standoff in Ukraine that led to 100 deaths and the exit of then-president Viktor Yanukovich.

In Venezuela’s anti-government unrest, where 80 people have died since April, youths bear colorfully decorated homemade shields akin to those used in Kiev’s Maidan Square.

The young Venezuelans make their shields from satellite TV dishes, drain covers, barrels or any other scraps of wood and metal they can find. Some supporters also make and donate shields.

The protesters use the shields to form walls, or even beat on them in unison, as Roman soldiers and Norsemen used to do going into battle. Fellow demonstrators cheer as the self-styled “Resistance” members link arms to walk to the front lines and face off with National Guard troops and police.

“The shields don’t stop bullets, but they do protect us from tear gas, rubber bullets and stones,” said 20-year-old law student Brian Suarez, wearing a gas mask and carrying a shield depicting Maduro in the sights of a rifle target.

Shields with a point

Other shields carry quotes and images of Venezuela’s constitution, paintings and religious symbols, depictions of the faces of slain protesters, or slogans saying “SOS!,” “No More Dictatorship!” or “Murderer, Maduro!”

While the protesters say they are fighting against tyranny in the South American oil producer, Maduro accuses them of seeking a violent coup with U.S. support.

Manuel Melo said he was on the front line of protests, hurling stones and protecting other marchers with his blue plastic shield, until one day he was caught by a water cannon.

The 20-year-old graphic design student lost his kidney from the impact.

Nevertheless, he wants to go back.

“It’s an important role being a shield-bearer because you know that everything they throw goes straight at you,” he said while recovering from his home in Caracas. “I’m not out there because I like it, but for the common good.”

‘Am I in Ukraine?’

“Winter on Fire,” by Russian director Evgeny Afineevsky, shows tens of thousands of Ukrainian protesters braving snow and baton attacks from riot police to barricade themselves in Maidan Square.

It has been discreetly shown around Venezuela, including at bookshops, a university, a public square and an arts cinema.

Forums and discussions are held afterward.

“Hearing a Ukrainian and seeing the tears in their eyes, you ask yourself: ‘Hold on, am I in Ukraine or in Cafetal?’” said university professor Carlos Delgado, referring to an upper-class part of Caracas that has vigorously supported the protests.

Delgado, 48, recently participated in a screening and forum about “Winter on Fire” at Venezuela’s Catholic University, where opposition to Maduro is also strong.

Many have also spread the word on social media.

“This documentary is unmissable,” Venezuelan actress and author Ana Maria Simon exhorted on her Instagram account. “All Venezuelans should see it, especially those who are tired, especially those close to losing faith.”

In both countries, protesters have opposed presidents they consider repressive, and the clashes turned increasingly violent. But differences abound, too.

Protesters watch weather, clock

While Ukraine’s protesters endured freezing conditions day and night, Venezuela’s thin out quickly when rain starts, and they go home in the evening and enjoy balmy Caribbean weather.

The Venezuelans point out that criminal gangs make the streets dangerous at night. And with their economy in meltdown, they are often short of medicine, food and other needs, whereas the Ukrainians had a good supply line.

Hans Wuerich, who became famous for stripping in front of an armored car with a Bible in Caracas, said “Winter on Fire” made him think Venezuela’s Resistance needed to escalate tactics.

“It’s time to take the protests to another level,” the 27-year-old reporter said in Caracas’ Altamira Square, a focus of the demonstrations. “But we need to be organized if we’re going to take the streets day and night, if it’s really about a point of no return.”

 

The Next Silicon Valley? Head to France  

France is known worldwide for its wine, food and culture, but under its new president, the French are aiming to be the new global hub for tech startups.

President Emmanuel Macron has said he wants to build a version of Silicon Valley in France. His administration has launched pro-business initiatives that are loosening government restrictions and encouraging entrepreneurs to launch their startups in the country.

“The tradition has been in Europe and in France to invest in big, traditional companies and not specifically [in] tech startups. So we will dedicate a €10 billion fund to the investment in tech startups in France,” said Mounir Mahjoubi, France’s Secretary of State for Digital Affairs.

Both public and private investments will factor into Macron’s vision of France as a “country of unicorns” — the term popularly used for tech startups valued at $1 billion or more, said Mahjoubi, who recently was in New York City for “La French Touch” conference, where he discussed France’s strategy for attracting the tech world’s best and brightest.

In the French tech world, all eyes are on the privately financed Station F, which is set to open this summer in Paris. Billed as the world’s biggest startup campus, the 34,000-square-meter space already has major tech companies like Microsoft, Facebook and Ubisoft signed on. The companies will develop their products, as well as host and mentor startup founders in incubator programs. One thousand individual startups are expected to set up shop at Station F.

Seeking global appeal

Silicon Valley has attracted tech talent from all over the world. Now France hopes to do the same for those beyond its borders. Initiatives like the “French Tech Ticket” and more recent “French Tech Visa” are designed to bring startup founders, employees and investors to the country through a combination of mentorships, grants and subsidized work spaces. The French Tech Visa fast-tracks a process for participants to obtain a renewable, four-year residence permit.

Not to be left out are the locals in France’s poorer, outer suburbs, the banlieue. The new administration is aiming for social diversity through inclusion initiatives that foster entrepreneurship, said Mahjoubi.

“We decided to create hubs in the private area[s] of France,” said Mahjoubi. “There might be entrepreneurs over there that believe that it’s not for them, because they couldn’t afford to not having a salary for a year of entrepreneurship … we created the condition so they could receive money from the state, to have a salary during these 12 months [to] push their project to the highest level they can.”

Unemployment at 9.5 percent

The encouragement of entrepreneurship is a novel sentiment in a country where traditional attitudes and strict labor laws have long dominated work culture. With a national unemployment rate of 9.5 percent, venturing out on one’s own to start a business can seem too risky.

But with the success of French unicorns like ride-sharing service BlaBlaCar and network provider Sigfox, attitudes appear to be shifting; 68 percent of French people aged 18 to 25 aspire to run their own business one day, according to a 2015 Ernst & Young survey.

“I think the ecosystem, the government, have done a very good job to do some marketing about entrepreneurship and I think it’s very important because when we compare our situation to the U.S., in the U.S. there is a lot of storytelling, everyone is super enthusiast[ic] and it brings a momentum that is super beneficial,” said François Wyss, co-founder of French startup DataBerries.

Funding available

Wyss and his co-founders recently secured $16 million in their first round of funding for his digital marketing startup.

“There is a lot of funding now in France, so it’s great. We have the chance to have world-class engineers, which are far cheaper than in the U.S. So a lot of companies are developing their core product and R&D in France before exporting it overseas,” said Wyss.

“French tech is all about having roots in France and having a vision for the world,” said Mahjoubi. “The French tech startup scene is an international startup scene.”

Experts: Mexico Opposition Party Targeted by Spyware

Mexico’s scandal of high-tech spying against journalists and human rights defenders widened Thursday, with experts confirming that leading members of a main opposition party were also targeted by Israeli-made spyware sold exclusively to governments.

The conservative National Action Party, or PAN, had asked internet watchdog Citizen Lab to investigate suspicious messages after the University of Toronto-based cybersleuths exposed the scandal last week.

On Thursday, Citizen Lab released a research note saying it had determined that the cellphones of the party president, its chief spokesman and the party’s leader in the Senate were all sent text messages containing links to the same malware.

The spyware, known as Pegasus, is made by NSO Group, which says it sells only to government agencies for use against criminals and terrorists. It turns a cellphone into an eavesdropper with the ability to remotely activate its microphone and camera and access its data.

“This case makes it crystal clear that NSO has been used widely and recklessly across a swath of Mexican civil society and politics,” said John Scott-Railton at Citizen Lab. “Once again we see ‘government-exclusive’ spyware being used for seemingly political ends.”

Probe promised

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto last week dismissed allegations that his government was responsible and promised an investigation. Local media have reported that documents show the Mexican government bought rights to use the spy software.

The PAN is the party of former Mexican Presidents Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderon. The report says its Senate leader, Roberto Gil Zuarth, received three messages in June 2016 with links designed to surreptitiously plant Pegasus on his cellphone.

“As cases continue to emerge, it is clear that this is not an isolated case of misuse, but a sustained operation that lasted for more than a year and a half,” Scott-Railton said.

Like other attempts against journalists and consumer and rights activists, the messages sought to entice the intended victim into clicking on an irresistible message. One message to Gil Zuarth was about a news article mentioning him. Another announced a death. The PAN president, Ricardo Anaya, received one message around the same time. About one month later, party spokesman Fernando Rodriguez Doval got a message.

“This is something an authoritarian regime would do,” Rodriguez Doval said. “It must be investigated thoroughly and those responsible must be punished.”

While the report reached no specific conclusions about who was responsible, it noted that anti-corruption legislation was being debated in Congress around the time the victims’ phones were targeted.

Government critics targeted

Citizen Lab said in a June 19 report that while it had no proof of government involvement in the sending of 76 text messages targeting 12 prominent journalists and rights activists in Mexico, the targets were all investigating or critical of the government. Some had uncovered corruption.

Anaya said at a news conference two days later that PAN politicians also had been targeted. Out of caution, he said, none had clicked on the links.

“What is clear is that they tried to upload spyware onto our phones, to spy on us,” Anaya said.

On Thursday, Anaya placed the blame squarely on the government.

Anaya said in a statement, “It is absolutely unacceptable for the government to spy on people, invading their privacy to this degree.” He added, “We are not going to rest until those responsible resign their posts, are put on trial and are jailed.”

The Centro Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez, a human rights group that has investigated a number of high-profile human rights cases, has said its staff members were targeted. Other targets included well-known journalists Carmen Aristegui and Carlos Loret de Mola.

In February, Citizen Lab and its Mexican partners published a report detailing how Mexican food scientists and anti-obesity campaigners who backed Mexico’s soda tax were also targeted with Pegasus.

Last year, the watchdog group exposed the use of Pegasus to spy on a prominent human rights activist in the United Arab Emirates.

Facebook Says Internet Drone Lands Successfully on Second Test

Facebook Inc. said Thursday that it had completed a second test of an unmanned aircraft designed to someday beam internet access to remote parts of the planet, and unlike in the first test, the drone did not crash.

Facebook plans to develop a fleet of drones powered by sunlight that will fly for months at a time, communicating with each other through lasers and extending internet connectivity to the ground below.

The company called the first test, in June 2016, a success after it flew above the Arizona desert for 1 hour, 36 minutes, three times longer than planned. It later said the drone had also crashed moments before landing and had suffered a damaged wing.

The second test occurred on May 22, Martin Luis Gomez, Facebook’s director of aeronautical platforms, said in a blog post. The aircraft flew for 1 hour, 46 minutes before landing near Yuma, Arizona, with only “a few minor, easily repairable dings,” he said.

Facebook engineers had added “spoilers” to the aircraft’s wings to increase drag and reduce lift during the landing approach, Gomez said.

Venezuela Prosecutor Charges Ex-national Guard Chief with Human Rights Violations

Venezuela’s renegade chief prosecutor charged the former head of the country’s national guard Thursday with systemically violating human rights during three months of anti-government protests that have left nearly 80 people dead.

Luisa Ortega Diaz’s office announced the charges against Antonio Benavides Torres a day after the nation’s Supreme Court declared it was barring her from leaving Venezuela and ordering her bank accounts frozen.

Ortega Diaz, a longtime loyalist of the socialist government who recently broke ranks with President Nicolas Maduro, said police and military officials are responsible for 23 protest deaths to date as well as 853 injuries.

“In a great number of these incidents, there is evidence of excessive use of force in repressing protests,” Venezuela’s Public Ministry said in a statement, citing the use of unauthorized firearms and torture of those apprehended.

Motions challenge Maduro

 

The charges are likely to further escalate tensions between Maduro and Ortega Diaz, who has become one the president’s most vocal critics. She has filed numerous motions to the government-packed Supreme Court challenging Maduro’s call for a special assembly to rewrite Venezuela’s constitution, all of which have been rejected. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is proceeding with a complaint filed against her by socialist party lawmaker Pedro Carreno.

Maduro announced he was replacing Benavides Torres last week and instead assigning him as government head of the capital district.

 

Opposition protests demanding new elections and decrying Venezuela’s triple-digit inflation, food shortages and worsening crime are continuing to rock the nation as Maduro pushes forward with his plan to draft a new constitution.

On a near daily basis, national guardsmen and police have launched tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators, some of whom have responded with rocks and firebombs. The United States, European Union, Canada and others have urged the government refrain from using force against protesters. But protester  deaths and injuries have steadily risen, nearly doubling the number of people killed during Venezuela’s last wave of political unrest in 2014.

‘Colectivos’ blamed

The figures released by Ortega Diaz’s office Thursday indicate police and military officers are responsible for about a quarter of the deaths.

Opposition leaders also blame armed pro-government groups known as “colectivos” for the violence, while Maduro’s administration insists criminal gangs contracted by right-wing political groups are responsible for the bloodshed.

Benavides Torres was one of seven Venezuelan officials sanctioned by then U.S. President Barack Obama in 2015 for allegedly violating human rights against protesters during the 2014 demonstrations that left 43 people dead.

Power of ombudsman expanded

 

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court issued a ruling broadening the powers of staunchly pro-government ombudsman Tarek William Saab, allowing him to carry out criminal investigations that are the exclusive prerogative of Ortega Diaz.

A defiant Ortega Diaz said she wouldn’t recognize the ruling, which she portrayed as a brazen attempt to eliminate her position as Venezuela’s top law enforcement official.

“These rulings are giving the power to investigate human rights abuses to people who possibly are violating those rights,” she said.

The ruling came on the same evening that authorities say police investigator Oscar Perez stole a police helicopter and flew it over the Supreme Court and Interior Ministry while firing at the buildings. Maduro characterized it as a “terrorist attack.”

Helicopter recovered

Witnesses said the helicopter had hanging from its side a large banner referring to article 350 of the country’s constitution, which empowers Venezuelans to disobey any regime that violates human rights.

There was relatively little damage to the buildings and no one was injured.

On his Instagram account, Perez, a police pilot and budding action movie actor, posted a video in which he read a manifesto calling for rebellion. He claimed to speak on behalf of a coalition of renegade members of the security forces, though there was no indication of a larger military involvement.

Authorities found Perez’s helicopter in the northern state of Vargas on Wednesday afternoon and a nationwide manhunt continued for him Thursday.

Mexican President to Meet With Trump at G-20

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto will meet with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump next week at the G-20 summit in Germany, the Mexican foreign ministry said on Thursday via Twitter.

The election of Trump and his early days in office sent U.S.-Mexico relations to a new low due to his threats to slap tariffs on Mexican-made goods and a plan to build a wall on the southern U.S. border to keep out illegal immigrants.

The foreign ministry said the two leaders would review progress in various aspects of the bilateral relationship, and that more details would be published in due course.

In late January, a planned meeting between the presidents was canceled following a Twitter dispute over Trump’s pledge to make Mexico pay for the wall. The American president has since shied away from that demand.

Trump’s administration also moved toward talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), toning down earlier threats to pull out of the pact with Mexico and Canada.

This month, the U.S. and Mexican governments resolved a long-standing dispute over the sugar trade, while agricultural ministers from the three NAFTA countries met and said there were “relatively few” differences over farm trade to resolve in talks.

Pacific Alliance Explores Single Passport for Member Nations

The Pacific Alliance trade group will explore whether to create a single passport for its four member nations in a bid to encourage tourism and trade across the world, Colombia’s migration director said Thursday.

The alliance, which comprises Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru and was formed in April 2011, has already abolished transit visas for the countries’ more than 230 million inhabitants.

Alliance members are among the keenest proponents of free trade in the Americas and have backed Mexico after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement and tightened immigration controls.

“One of the instructions, the commitments you want to achieve in the development of this great Pacific Alliance, is the ease of migratory mobility,” Christian Kruger, head of Colombia’s migration agency, told reporters at the Pacific Alliance summit in Cali.

Such a move would require an improvement in cross-border information to maintain security and prevent crime, he said.

A single passport would allow Colombians, Chileans, Mexicans and Peruvians to travel without a visa to other countries that enter the trade block.

Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Canada are expected to join as associate members during the summit in Colombia.

The integration agreement, which promotes the free movement of goods, services, capital and people, has bolstered the flow of people between the four countries in areas like tourism, Kruger said.

Malawi, UNICEF Launch Africa’s First Humanitarian Drone Testing Corridor

Malawi and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) launched an air corridor Thursday to test the effectiveness of drones in humanitarian emergencies and other development uses, the first project of its kind in Africa.

Landlocked Malawi, which suffers periodic crop failures and is prone to floods, is frequently in need of food and other aid, and limited road access in many of its rural areas makes it difficult to get help to needy communities.

“Drone technology has many potential applications. … One that we have already tested in Malawi is to transport infant blood samples to laboratories for HIV testing,” UNICEF Malawi Resident Representative Johannes Wedenig said at the launch in Kasungu, 100 km (60 miles) from the capital Lilongwe.

The test corridor is centered at the Kasungu Aerodrome, with a 40-kilometer radius and focusing on three areas: generating aerial images of crisis situations, using drones to extend Wi-Fi or mobile phone signals across difficult terrain in emergencies, and delivering low-weight emergency supplies.

“The launch of the testing corridor is particularly important to support transportation and data collection where land transport infrastructure is either not feasible or difficult during emergencies,” Malawian Minister of Transport Jappie Mhango told Reuters.

What Amazon Wants From Whole Foods: Data on Shopping Habits

Why is Amazon spending nearly $14 billion for Whole Foods ? One reason: People who buy yoga mats and fitness trackers on Amazon might also like grapes, nuts and other healthy items at the organic grocery chain.

In short, the deal stands to net Amazon a wealth of data-driven insights into how shoppers behave offline — insights that are potentially very lucrative.

To be sure, there are plenty of other benefits to the combination. Amazon will derive steady revenue from more than 460 Whole Foods stores; it can also introduce robots and other automation technologies to cut costs and improve the bottom line. But ultimately, Amazon wants to sell even more goods and services to both online and offline shoppers — including stuff they might not even realize they need.

Amazon has been quiet on its specific plans so far, but analysts are enthusiastic about the possibilities. “This will be a fun time for Amazon,” said Ryne Misso of the Market Track retail research firm in Chicago. “They are introducing a whole new set of shopper profiles that span grocery stores and durables.”

The tracking

Amazon is a pro at using data on past shopping and browsing to prod you to buy more. The home page, for instance, offers quick access to recently viewed items and suggests products “inspired by your shopping trends.” Amazon sends emails about price cuts on items you’ve searched for but haven’t bought — yet.

Brian Handly, CEO of the mobile analytics firm Reveal Mobile in Raleigh, North Carolina, said that while Amazon doesn’t necessarily have better artificial-intelligence capabilities than its rivals, it has scale in the number of shoppers and variety of businesses it has.

Whole Foods can help by giving Amazon a better understanding of what people do at physical retail stores, where 90 percent of worldwide retail spending still happens, according to eMarketer.

Amazon could learn whether a particular customer tends to come once a month to stock up, or make smaller and shorter visits more frequently. Wi-Fi hotspots in stores might collect unique signals emanating from smartphones to figure out which aisles customers spend the most time in. Same with sensors on product shelves, something Amazon is currently testing at a convenience store in Seattle.

“They will break that data down to build stories about their consumers,” Misso said.

All this might feel creepy, but it’s something Amazon already does and does well online. Larry Ponemon, who runs the Ponemon Institute privacy think tank, said he personally would find tracking of his self-described unhealthy eating habits “very creepy.” But he doesn’t expect any consumer backlash because Amazon and Whole Foods have both earned a high level of trust and loyalty.

Reconfiguring the store

To make stores more profitable, Amazon could push customers to order lower-profit bulk items such as detergent and toilet paper over the internet. That would free up store space for higher-profit items, such as perishables and ready-to-heat prepared meals.

Amazon’s challenge will be to “separate the profitable businesses that can be better done online and the profitable businesses that can be better done at retail,” said Larry Light, CEO of the brand consulting firm Arcature in Delray Beach, Florida.

Amazon might find that some items sell better at some locations than others. It can stock just the most popular items at each location; other items are just a click away for home delivery. It’s an approach Amazon is already taking at its eight physical bookstores.

Handly said that even if Amazon can’t get rid of every lower-profit item on shelves, it can use data to figure out ways to drive more customers to those aisles.

Beyond groceries

Amazon will be able to use grocery data to drive other purchases as well. Say you buy a lot of ingredients typically found in Asian recipes. Amazon might then suggest a Thai or Japanese cookbook. It might also recommend a new rice cooker.

It works the other way, too. If you just watched a Mexican food show on Amazon video, Amazon might point you to deals on avocados and perhaps offer subscriptions for regular deliveries of tortillas and canned beans. Or it might automate a grocery shopping list based on a chosen recipe on your Kindle e-reader.

Just bought some camping equipment? Amazon might offer granola bars and other ready-to-eat meals for your hikes. Likewise, someone who just bought a fitness tracker might be in the market for more produce.

Implications for the industry

Walmart remains the leading retailer overall and has its own huge stake in groceries; its retail revenue is more than three times that of Amazon, even with Whole Foods included. Yet it’s on the defensive. To beef up its online operations, Walmart has gone on a spending spree for e-commerce companies such as Jet, Bonobos, ModCloth and Moosejaw. Analysts say these companies should help Walmart get into the data game as well.

“The real challenge of Walmart is they recognize that technology can be bought and technical expertise can be bought,” Light said.

But playing catch-up is “harder than just building it into your company as a core part of the company’s DNA,” said Brent Franson, CEO of Euclid Analytics, a San Francisco company looking to bring data analysis to physical stores. “Amazon has the benefit from Day One of architecting a business that is data-driven, out of the gate.”

First Gay Woman Elected Serbian PM

Serbian lawmakers voted on Thursday to elect the country’s first gay woman Prime Minister.

The 250-seat Serbian Parliament voted overwhelmingly to elect 41-year-old Ana Brnabic Prime Minister following the proposal by President Aleksander Vucic.

Brnabic’s election as the first openly gay prime minister is of particular note in Serbia, as the Balkan region is known as a hostile place for gays.

She made her entrance into politics last year, serving as a public administration minister, after a career in business and development programs.

Vucic’s nomination of Brnabic was seen throughout Europe as a signal that Serbia is distancing itself from Russia after the country proclaimed its goal of joining the European Union.

Brnabic has said she would make joining the EU one of her top priorities.