Islamist Rebels Kill at Least 15 in Eastern DR Congo

Monday, January 30, 2023

Melanie Gouby | AFP

Bunia, DR Congo  

A wave of attacks on villages in eastern DR Congo attributed to Islamic State-affiliated ADF rebels killed at least 15 people Sunday, local officials said.

These latest killings come a week after a similar attack left more than 20 dead.

"There were simultaneous attacks this Sunday between 4:00 and 5:00 am on three villages...," said local official Dieudonne Malangai.

"In Manyala village we found seven bodies... at Ofay, there were eight dead, including seven women," Malangai told AFP, and indicated that the final toll might be higher.

A humanitarian source confirmed seven fatalities in Manyala and "at least eight" in Ofay.

"These ADF rebels also attacked Bandibese village but ran into resistance from soldiers who intervened and so there were no civilian deaths," Malangai said after the raids on three villages in Ituri province bordering Rwanda.

"We are tired of giving the death toll day after day," he added.

ADF fighters were also blamed for last week's raids in the neighbouring province of North Kivu cost at least 23 lives while in the same province at least 14 people were killed in a bomb blast at a pentecostal church.

Islamic State portrays the ADF, which has its roots in Rwanda, as its central African incarnation.

In an attempt to stem the violence the government in May 2021 declared a state of alert in North Kivu and Ituri, replacing civil administrators with police and troops.

Memphis Police Disband Unit That Beat Tyre Nichols

By ADRIAN SAINZ

Protesters march down the street Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn., as authorities release police video depicting five Memphis officers beating Tyre Nichols, whose death resulted in murder charges and provoked outrage at the country's latest instance of police brutality. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Memphis police chief on Saturday disbanded the city’s so-called Scorpion unit, reversing an earlier statement that she would keep it intact and citing a “cloud of dishonor” from the officers who beat Tyre Nichols to death.

Police Director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said she listened to Nichols’ relatives, community leaders and uninvolved officers in making the decision.

Referring to “the heinous actions of a few” that dishonored the unit, Davis said it was imperative that the department “take proactive steps in the healing process.”

“It is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the Scorpion unit,” she said in a statement. She said the officers currently assigned to the unit agreed “unreservedly” with the step.

The unit is composed of three teams of about 30 officers who target violent offenders in areas beset by high crime. It had been inactive since Nichols’ Jan. 7 arrest.

Scorpion stands for Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace in our Neighborhoods.

Protestors marching though downtown Memphis cheered when they heard the unit had been dissolved. One protestor said over a bullhorn “the unit that killed Tyre has been permanently disbanded.”

In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, Davis said she would not shut down a unit if a few officers commit “some egregious act” and because she needs that unit to continue to work.

“The whole idea that the Scorpion unit is a bad unit, I just have a problem with that,” Davis said.

She became the first Black female chief in Memphis one year after George Floyd was killed at the hands of police. At the time, she was the Durham, North Carolina, police chief and responded by calling for sweeping police reform.

Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, lawyers for the Nichols family, said the move was “a decent and just decision for all citizens of Memphis.”

“We must keep in mind that this is just the next step on this journey for justice and accountability, as clearly this misconduct is not restricted to these specialty units. It extends so much further,” they said.

The disbanding was announced as the nation and the city struggled to come to grips with video showing police pummeling Nichols, a Black motorist who was pulled over near his home.

The footage released Friday left many unanswered questions about the traffic stop and about other law enforcement officers who stood by as he lay motionless on the pavement. The video also renewed doubts about why fatal encounters with law enforcement continue to happen after repeated calls for change.

The five disgraced former Memphis Police Department officers, who are also Black, have been fired and charged with murder and other crimes in Nichols’ death three days after the arrest.

The recording shows police savagely beating the 29-year-old FedEx worker for three minutes while screaming profanities at him in an assault that the Nichols family legal team has likened to the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King. Nichols calls out for his mother before his limp body is propped against a squad car and the officers exchange fist-bumps.

The five officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — face up to 60 years in prison if convicted of second-degree murder.

Davis has said other officers are under investigation, and Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner said two deputies have been relieved of duty without pay while their conduct is investigated.

Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather, said the family would “continue to seek justice” and noted that several other officers failed to render aid, making them “just as culpable as the officers who threw the blows.”

A Memphis police spokeswoman declined to comment on the role played by other officers who showed up at the scene.

Cities nationwide had braced for demonstrations, but the protests were scattered and nonviolent. Several dozen demonstrators in Memphis blocked the Interstate 55 bridge that carries traffic over the Mississippi River toward Arkansas. Protesters also blocked traffic in New York City, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon.

Blake Ballin, the lawyer for Mills, told The Associated Press in a statement Saturday that the videos “produced as many questions as they have answers.”

Some of the questions will focus on what Mills “knew and what he was able to see” and whether his actions “crossed the lines that were crossed by other officers during this incident,” Ballin said.

Davis acknowledged that the police department has a supervisor shortage and said the lack of a supervisor in the arrest was a “major problem.” City officials have pledged to provide more of them.

Questions swirled around what led to the traffic stop in the first place. One officer can be heard saying that Nichols wouldn’t stop and then swerved as though he intended to hit the officer’s car. The officer said that when Nichols pulled up to a red light, the officers jumped out of the car.

But Davis said the department cannot substantiate the reason for the stop.

“We don’t know what happened,” she said, adding, “All we know is the amount of force that was applied in this situation was over the top.”

After the first officer roughly pulls Nichols out of the car, Nichols can be heard saying, “I didn’t do anything,” as a group of officers begins to wrestle him to the ground.

One officer is heard yelling, “Tase him! Tase him!”

Nichols calmly says, “OK, I’m on the ground” and that he was just trying to go home. Moments later, he yelled at the officers to “stop.”

Nichols can then be seen running as an officer fires a Taser at him. His mother’s home, where he lived, was only a few houses away from the scene of the beating, and his family said he was trying to get there. The officers then start chasing Nichols.

Other officers are called, and a search ensues before Nichols is caught at another intersection. The officers beat him with a baton, and kick and punch him. The attack continued even after he collapsed.

It takes more than 20 minutes after Nichols is beaten and on the pavement before any sort of medical attention is provided.

During the wait for an ambulance, officers joked and aired grievances. They complained that a handheld radio was ruined, that someone lost a flashlight and that multiple officers had been caught in the crossfire of the pepper spray used against Nichols.

Throughout the videos, officers make claims about Nichols’ behavior that are not supported by the footage or that the district attorney and other officials have said did not happen. In one of the videos, an officer claims that during the initial traffic stop Nichols reached for the officer’s gun before fleeing and almost had his hand on the handle, which is not shown in the video.

After Nichols is in handcuffs and leaning against a police car, several officers say that he must have been high. Later an officer says no drugs were found in his car, and another officer immediately counters that Nichols must have ditched something while he was running away.

During a speech Saturday in Harlem, the Rev. Al Sharpton said the beating was particularly egregious because the officers were Black, too.

“Your Blackness will not stop us from fighting you. These five cops not only disgraced their names, they disgraced our race,” Sharpton said.

___

Associated Press reporters Aaron Morrison in New York, Travis Loller in Nashville, Tennessee, and Rebecca Reynolds in Lexington, Kentucky, contributed to this report.

In 67 Minutes of Video, Brutality Followed by Nonchalance

By MATT SEDENSKY

The image from video released on Jan. 27, 2023, and partially redacted by the City of Memphis, shows Tyre Nichols seated leaning against a car during a brutal attack by five Memphis police officers on Jan. 7, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn. Nichols died on Jan. 10. The five officers have since been fired and charged with second-degree murder and other offenses. (City of Memphis via AP)

If you stumbled on the scene too late, you might have missed him there, bloodied and beaten.

The officers’ demeanors seem untroubled and their work nonurgent as they mill at this quiet corner trading battle tales, a fist bump and a back pat. The police ranks have ballooned, but everyone seems to agree there’s nothing to see here. They tie their boots and fret over their glasses and carp about knee pain, so you might have missed him there among the phalanx that towers above, the ones who wear a smile and spurt laughter and will go home safe.

Look past the men who punched, kicked, shocked, sprayed, dragged and now stand in seeming indifference. Let your eyes drift downward and the crumpled body comes into view. Hands behind his back, one shoe off, he writhes helplessly on the pavement. His screams seem to have ended, his cries for his mother have stopped and his voice has weakened so much his words are hard to discern.

“You can’t go nowhere,” the officer bent over him responds. “You can’t go nowhere.”

In harrowing video of this Memphis night, all eyes are drawn to the chaotic moments of brutality that preceded this and would leave another Black man dead at the hands of police. But alongside the attacks themselves the footage captures another excruciating reality: Minute after minute of officers’ jocular nonchalance as Tyre Nichols lay critically hurt, their behavior seemingly affirming just how ordinary this sort of thing is.

“The cops who murdered Tyre Nichols are not some aberration. They’re not an outlier,” cultural critic Touré wrote on Twitter. “That’s normal police procedure it’s just usually they get away with it.”

The 67 minutes of body camera and surveillance footage released in the case are a muddled and messy picture of the night that would lead to Nichols’ death and murder charges for five officers, all also Black. The views are at times obscured and the story incomplete, but the video also offers stunning clarity of what happened.

It starts at about 8:24 p.m. on a Saturday evening, Jan. 7. What roused officers to pull Nichols over is unseen, but for the routine traffic stop they claimed it was, the escalation appears to be immediate and baffling.

At least three officers surround Nichols’ car as he is yanked from his blue sedan. At least one of them approaches with a gun extended. Nichols can be heard for the first time, saying “I didn’t do anything,” and is pushed to the ground. He voices compliance, repeating “all right” over and over as the officers scream and curse.

“Tase him! Tase him!” one officer barks.

He has been wrestled to the ground, but officers keep yelling for him to lay down, an order that seems to confuse Nichols, who is already lying on his right side. Still, he responds calmly, his voice cracking just a hint as he tries to appease them.

“You guys are really doing a lot right now,” Nichols says. “I’m just trying to go home.”

Nichols finally appears rattled as officers continue to shout for him to lie down.

“I am on the ground!” he yells back, before suddenly, he is up and has broken free.

From the time officers opened his car door, only a minute has passed.

Someone fires a stun gun as Nichols runs away. At least two officers go after him, but they give up after about 15 seconds. One officer pants as he radios in for backup and makes his way back to the street where Nichols’ car is left.

About eight minutes later, word comes that the suspect was apprehended.

“I hope they stomp his ass,” one officer says to another. “I hope they stomp his ass.”

It’s 8:33 p.m. now and officers have clustered at the corner of Castlegate and Bear Creek, less than a half-mile from where this started. Nichols’ capture turns brutal with such speed that it’s hard to comprehend.

From a security camera perched above, Nichols is seen lying in the street. Two officers pin him down as a third appears to kick him in the head once, then again.

“Mom! Mom!” he cries.

He’s allowed to sit up, only to have an officer use his baton to beat him on his back. He wobbles up again, then absorbs a series of punches to the face and head. He’s doused in pepper spray.

Nichols seems nearly unable to stand now. He is held up by officers as more blows land. Then, after about five minutes of attacks, he is dragged a short distance, his lifeless body propped against a car.

It’s 8:38 p.m., just 14 minutes after the initial traffic stop. You can’t see Nichols’ face, but hospital photos released later will show his nose bent at an unnatural angle and his face bloodied and bruised, almost unrecognizable.

Nichols’ moans have been silenced and the night’s action has largely stopped. Left in its wake is the ever-growing number of officers who wander, chit-chat and, most of all, just stand by with such nonchalance you’d think nothing had ever happened. Paramedics arrive a few minutes later and, still, Nichols appears unattended to.

He was only a minute or two from the home he shared with his mother, RowVaughn Wells. The officers’ voices capture them calling him “bitch,” “bastard” and worse.

His mom knows the truth. He was 29 and imbued with California mellow, a FedEx worker, amateur photographer, skateboarder and “damn near perfect” mama’s boy. He did no drugs, Wells said, and had no guns. He went out to take pictures of the sky and never made it home.

The footage runs more than 20 minutes more until an ambulance blocks the shot. Wells can’t bear to watch it anyway.

Fatal Memphis Police Beating Heralds 'Culmination of Racial Conflicts' as US Presidential Election Nears

By GT staff reporters

Jan 28, 2023 11:14 PM

The fatal Memphis police beating, which led to the death of 29-year-old Black man Tyre Nichols, has not only further unstitched the already loose fabric of US society, it weakens its internal cohesion and heralds a culmination of the racial conflicts of the last two years, as the 2024 presidential election approaches, with racial problems doomed to be hyped by rabble rouser politicians, said Chinese observers.

US society was on edge over a display of police violence caught on video, as the city of Memphis released on Friday evening body camera and surveillance footage of police officers kicking and punching the Black man who later died. The man, Tyre Nichols, ran after being pepper sprayed by officers, but shows no signs of fighting back as the police beat him with a baton, according to the footage.

"They had beat him to a pulp," Nichols' mother RowVaughn Wells told CNN, sobbing as she described him in hospital. "He had bruises all over. His head was swollen like a watermelon. His neck was bursting because of the swelling."

On Thursday, the five now-former Memphis police officers involved in Nichols' arrest, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr, and Justin Smith, who are all Black, were charged on seven counts, including second-degree murder and aggravated assault.

It has been described by US media as one of the most high-profile police killings in the US since the death of George Floyd in May 2020. In Memphis, demonstrators began marching shortly after the video was released, and activists have planned demonstrations in Memphis and at least seven other major American cities: New York City, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Boston and Portland, according to the Guardian.

The US is proud of being a "racial melting pot," yet without effective legislation to prevent excessive policing, a just system to guarantee minority groups' rights, the racial problem now becomes a growing tumor that is splintering social cohesion and will further divide the country, Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times.

The social issues, adding to minority groups' identity crisis, recognition of the country and their memories of unfair treatment, make racial problems unsolvable in the US. The best the politicians can do is ease the tension, but even that is harder to achieve given the country's poisonous political system that seeks to exploit racial problems to win only votes, not provide solutions, according to Li. 

US President Joe Biden, anticipating protests after the Memphis video's release, called for calm, saying "outrage is understandable, but violence is never acceptable." Yet it was the same politician who vowed in 2020 to address "institutional racism" in his first 100 days, right after the country was outraged by the police killing of George Floyd.

But critics say the president has made little progress in solving racism since his election, including on voting rights and police reform, two major concerns for Black voters. Hate crimes against ethnic minorities only intensified during the recent years, including the mass shooting in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo last year, which led to death of 10 people. 

A report from the Pew Research Center published in August 2022 showed that two-thirds of Black Americans say that recent increased focus on race and racial inequality in the US has not led to changes that improve the lives of Black people. "Overall, Black Americans are clear on what they think the problems are facing the country and how to remedy them," write Kiana Cox and Khadijah Edwards, the report's authors. "However, they are skeptical that meaningful changes will take place in their lifetime."

With the deteriorating racial problem further unstitching US society, this problem will also be a focal point of the 2024 presidential election, with racial conflicts likely to climax in the next half of this year up to the election period in late 2024, under US rabble rousers' manipulation, Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

He predicted that conflict will not only be sparked between white and Black communities, it will also ferment between other minority groups, such as the Hispanic community. 

If the Republicans nominate someone such as former US president Donald Trump, who has a repertoire of tricks to fan divisions, confrontation and hatred, the already intense racial problem will be more prominent, said Li, echoing Lü's opinion that racial problems will be intensified in the US.

Trump will be making his debut on the campaign trail this weekend in the pivotal early primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina, amid signs of polling momentum for his 2024 presidential campaign, Axios reported on Wednesday.

Civil Society Leaders Call for French Army Withdrawal from Burkina Faso

A boy stands with a placard during a protest to support the Burkina Faso President Captain Ibrahim Traore and to demand the departure of France's ambassador

Africa News

BURKINA FASO

With anti-France feelings running high in many of its former colonies in West Africa, Paris is being forced to retreat ever further from the increasingly unstable region and re-think its presence, experts say.

After Mali forced French troops out last year, neighbouring Burkina Faso followed suit this week, asking Paris to empty its garrison in the next month.

France was already drawing down its troops across the Sahel region, who just a few years ago numbered more than 5,000, backed up with fighter jets, helicopters and infantry fighting vehicles.

Around 3,000 remain, but the forced departures from Mali and Burkina Faso -- as well as the Central African Republic to the south last year -- underline how anti-French winds are gathering force.

"France is paying for its desire to maintain a very significant political and military presence in its former dominions," said Jean-Herve Jezequel, a region specialist from the International Crisis Group (ICG), a conflict-focused think tank.

After the independence movement in the 1950s and 60s, Paris still intervened regularly in the domestic affairs of its former colonies and for decades retained sway through business and political ties under an unofficial policy known as "Francafrique".

Today its influence has shrunk and it faces growing competition from Russia, but its permanent military presence and the existence of common regional currencies underpinned by the French central bank are targets for populist politicians.

"The idea that the former colonial power can retain such a strong military presence is hard to stomach for many people," Jezequel told AFP, adding that there remained a "post-colonial hangover that has not been resolved".

Gilles Yabi, founder of the Senegal-based WATHI think-tank, told AFP there was a "desire from some sections of society to enter a new phase, to grasp a 'new independence'."

- Popular France-bashing -

The biggest source of anti-French feeling is Paris's military intervention in Mali in 2013 to beat back jihadists who were advancing from the north and threatening to overrun the government in the capital Bamako.

Though the operation was a success and the elected government saved, any credit has long since disappeared.

A heavy French presence afterwards failed to stop the insurgency spreading, with the violence spilling over into neighbouring countries and now threatening communities all over the Sahel region beneath the Sahara desert.

"It is clear that it (France) has not managed to stop the continued worsening of the security crisis, which has many, many different causes," said Paul Melly, an expert on the Sahel and consulting fellow at the Chatham House, a London-based think tank.

"People say 'if they're here, what use are they?'", he said.

Social media posts have also fanned stories about French exploitation of minerals and gold in the region, or even French support for jihadist groups.

"When you're a fragile military regime that has taken power quite recently, standing up to the French or telling them to get out is one way of keeping a bit of the base on side," Melly added.

But France-bashing is not limited to coup leaders in Mali or Burkino Faso.

In Senegal, President Macky Sall is regularly accused by his opponents of taking instructions from his "master" in Paris ahead of elections next year, with top rival Ousmane Sonko backing a reset in relations.

- Allies under pressure -

For the time being, France can still count on support in the region -- in Senegal, Ivory Coast, Niger and Chad -- where leaders still welcome the low-key presence of French troops and their firepower.

Niger, where the United States also has a major base for special forces and drones, is likely to play an increasingly important role in hosting French troops for anti-terror operations.

But Niger President Mohamed Bazoum faces a delicate balancing act, needing to sell the benefits of French support to his sometimes sceptical population.

Melly from Chatham House said Bazoum and his ministers were "constantly giving media interviews and making local visits to say to people 'just to the northwest is Mali and to the west is Burkina Faso and both of these are bandit country now'."

"Mohamed Bazoum is taking a political risk," said Amadou Bounty Diallo, a professor at the University of Niamey in Niger's capital.

"You have to be extremely careful when people are very concerned about their own sovereignty. They won't accept everything."

Mali Defends Russian Ties and Opposes Options for UN Force

By EDITH M. LEDERER

FILE - Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop attends a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, on May 20, 2022. Diop defended the military government’s cooperation with Russia on Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, and rejected three options proposed by the U.N. chief to reconfigure the U.N. peacekeeping force in the west African country where Al-Qaida and Islamic State extremist groups are driving insecurity. (Yuri Kadobnov/Pool Photo via AP, File)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Mali’s foreign minister defended the military government’s cooperation with Russia on Friday and rejected three options proposed by the U.N. chief to reconfigure the U.N. peacekeeping force in the west African country where Al-Qaida and Islamic State extremist groups are driving insecurity.

Abdoulaye Diop told the U.N. Security Council that security is the country’s top priority and Mali will not continue to justify its partnership with Russia, which is providing training and equipment to the military. He did not mention Russia’s Wagner Group, the private military contractor with ties to the Kremlin.

But Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ internal review released this week of the 17,500-strong U.N. mission, known as MINUSMA, noted that Mali’s longstanding security partnership with France and others deteriorated over concerns about Wagner Group personnel operating in support of the Malian armed forces, which he said Russian officials have publicly acknowledged.

U.S. deputy ambassador Richard Mills said the United States welcomes the U.N.’s acknowledgement in the internal review of the Wagner Group’s presence in Mali.

He called Wagner “a criminal organization that is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses in Mali and elsewhere.” The U.S. has slapped several waves of sanctions on Wagner and its owner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, a rogue millionaire with longtime links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Last year, France pulled its troops out of Mali, where they had been helping drive Islamic extremists from the country for nine years, following tensions with the ruling junta and the arrival of Wagner mercenaries.

“Their presence is equated to regular abuse against Malian civilians and increasing obstruction of MINUSMA,” France’s deputy U.N. ambassador Nathalie Broadhurst told the Security Council on Friday. “This is not acceptable.”

Mali has struggled to contain an Islamic extremist insurgency since 2012. Extremist rebels were forced from power in Mali’s northern cities with the help of a French-led military operation, but they regrouped in the desert and began launching attacks on the Malian army and its allies. Insecurity has worsened with attacks on civilians and U.N. peacekeepers in central Mali as well.

In August 2020, Mali’s president was overthrown in a coup that included Assimi Goita, then an army colonel. In June 2021, Goita was sworn in as president of a transitional government after carrying out his second coup in nine months.

Foreign minister Diop told the council that Goita is “resolutely committed” to holding a referendum on a draft constitution in March, electing deputies to the National Assembly in October and November, and holding presidential elections in February 2024.

He said the government remains committed to defending its territory, protecting its people and implementing a 2015 peace agreement.

The peace agreement was signed by three parties — the government, a coalition of groups called the Coordination of Movements of Azawad that includes ethnic Arabs and Tuaregs who seek autonomy in northern Mali, and a pro-government militia known as the Platform – but the movements suspended participation in December.

Diop called their decision “regrettable” but said “we hope soon to reach a common understanding with our brothers from the signatory movements.”

Secretary-General Guterres’ internal review of MINUSMA called Mali “one of the most difficult operating environments for peacekeeping,” citing significant air and ground restrictions imposed by Malian security authorities. The restrictions have exposed peacekeeping personnel “to security risks in an already dangerous environment in which 165 peacekeepers have been killed and 687 injured by hostile action since July 2013,” he said.

The secretary-general said the mission’s operations will come under additional pressure because four countries that have contributed troops are pulling them out, which will mean a loss of over 2,250 troops.

Guterres said MINUSMA’s ability to deliver on its mandate — protecting civilians, supporting improvement of the security and political situation and monitoring human rights — will hinge on advances in the political transition, progress in implementing the peace agreement and freedom of movement for peacekeeper and their intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets.

The secretary-general said expansion of MINUSMA’s mandate in 2019 without additional manpower overstretched the mission and “the current situation is unsustainable.”

He proposed three options: increasing the force by either 3,680 or 2,000 uniformed personnel; reconfiguring the force to support its existing priorities or to focus primarily on supporting the peace agreement; or ending the peacekeeping mission and transforming it into a political mission.

Mali’s Diop said the U.N. chief’s proposals don’t meet Mali’s aspirations for a more robust security operation which would include engaging in offensive actions and patrols, especially as part of its mandate to protect civilians.

On human rights, he said, the government “will staunchly oppose any and all instrumentalization and politicization of this issue,” but will strive to protect rights.

Diop said the government participated in the internal review in the hope it would “respond to the deep aspirations of the Malian people.”

“That has not come to pass,” the foreign minister said. “However, the government of Mali remains open to dialogue with the United Nations in the coming months to ultimately identify the way ahead.”

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called security “the overriding priority” during Mali’s transition “owing to the security vacuum resulting from a hasty withdrawal of French and European military units.”

Nonetheless, he said, Malian forces over the last few months “have demonstrated that they can indeed achieve results in the fight against terrorism,” adding that the Russian training “is bearing fruit.”

When it comes to the options for reconfiguring MINUSMA, Nebenzia said, Mali’s needs and opinion are “an overriding priority.”

By contrast, U.S. envoy Mills expressed serious concern at the transitional government’s restrictions on MINUSMA which make its extremely volatile operating environment more dangerous for peacekeepers and civilians.

He demanded that the government lift all restrictions, reiterating the internal review’s conclusion that MINUSMA’s success will hinge on the support it gets from the transitional authorities.

Mills said continued obstructions “should force this council to seriously reconsider its support for MINUSMA in its current form.”

Challenge for Tunisian Democracy: Getting Voters to Show Up

By BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA

FILE- Members of the Independent Higher Authority for Elections count the votes one day after the parliamentary elections in Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. Tunisia was once the Arab world's hope for a new era of democracy — but now it's in the midst of an election that's more of an embarrassment than a model. (AP Photo/Hassene Dridi, File)

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia was once the Arab world’s hope for a new era of democracy. Now it’s in the midst of an election that’s more of an embarrassment than a model.

Barely 11% of voters turned out in the first round of parliamentary elections last month, boycotted by opposition Islamists and ignored by many Tunisians disillusioned with their leaders.

Ten candidates secured seats in the North African country’s legislature even though not a single voter cast a ballot for them, simply because they ran unopposed. In seven constituencies, no candidate bothered to run.

President Kais Saied is pinning his hopes on Sunday’s second round of voting, which will wrap up his sweeping redesign of Tunisian politics that began when he suspended the previous Parliament in 2021.

The new body will have fewer powers than its predecessor and risks being little more than a rubber stamp for Saied. The president and many Tunisians blamed the previous parliament, led by the Islamist party Ennahdha, for political deadlock seen as worsening the country’s protracted economic and social crises.

Some Ennahdha officials have been jailed, and the party is refusing to take part in the parliamentary elections and has held repeated protests.

In last month’s first-round voting, 23 candidates secured seats outright in the 161-seat parliament: 10 of them because they ran unopposed and 13 because they won more than 50% of the vote, according to election officials.

In Sunday’s second round, voters are choosing among 262 candidates seeking to fill the 131 remaining seats. In the seven constituencies with no candidate, special elections will be held later to fill the seats, likely in March.

Since Saied was elected president in 2019 with 72% of the vote, his support among Tunisians has dulled.

The lack of enthusiasm was evident in a low-profile visit he paid this month to a cafe in Tunis captured on a video that was widely shared online.

As he stood speaking to a group of young people, the president said, “God willing, we will provide you with everything you need ... as long as you have hope.”

A young man retorted, “We don’t have hope.”

Analysts note a growing crisis of confidence between citizens and the political class since Tunisia’s 2011 revolution unleashed Arab Spring uprisings across the region, and led Tunisians to create a new democratic political system celebrated with a Nobel Peace Prize in 2015.

Daily life for Tunisians seems to keep getting worse. At a Tunis food market, vendors struggled to sell strings of dates, fish heaped on ice, piles of eggplants and herbs as shoppers lamented rising prices. Few seemed to think Sunday’s vote would solve their problems.

Successive elections “have brought me nothing,” sighed Mohamed Ben Moussa, an employee of a private company.

Meanwhile, the economy is teetering.

According to the latest figures from the National Institute of Statistics, unemployment has reached more than 18% and exceeds 25% in the poor regions of the interior of the country, while inflation rate is 10.1%.

Tunisia has suffered for several years from record budget deficits that affect its ability to pay its suppliers of medicines, food and fuel, causing shortages of milk, sugar, vegetable oil and other staples.

Polls open at 8 a.m. Sunday except in restive regions near the Algerian and Libyan borders where authorities are limiting voting hours for security reasons. The turnout rate is expected to be announced Sunday evening, and the election results in the ensuing days.

___

Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.

Alarm Bells Ring for US Infested with Hate Speech: Global Times Editorial

By Global Times

Jan 29, 2023 12:43 AM

People take part in a protest against Asian hate in New York, the United States, on March 21, 2021. (Photo by Winston Zhou/Xinhua)

At the International Holocaust Remembrance Day event held at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York on January 27, UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a speech. While reviewing this terrible history, he expressed serious concerns about the reality of today's world. "The alarm bells were already ringing in 1933," he declared, but "too few bothered to listen, and fewer still spoke out." He warned that antisemitism, hate speech and misinformation are ever-present. In addition, continued Guterres, there is a growing disregard for human rights and disdain for the rule of law, "surging" white supremacist and Neo-Nazi ideologies, and rising antisemitism - as well as other forms of religious bigotry and hatred. The world must beware "siren songs of hate."

The date marks the liberation of the Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau by Soviet troops, and commemorates the victims of the Holocaust. Although nearly a century has passed since that sad history, hatred and prejudice have taken on new forms and threaten the peace and tranquility of the world in new ways. "When there is hoarfrost underfoot, solid ice is not far off." If hate speech is allowed to fester and spread, human society will sooner or later face a more painful consequence.

On this topic, many people can't help but think of the US. It can be said that Guterres' alarm bells are mainly ringing for Washington. This is not because people have any prejudice against the US, but because they have a certain understanding and awareness of it. On the same day as Guterres' speech, President Joe Biden, at a Lunar New Year reception in the White House, acknowledged the increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in response to two recent mass shootings in the Asian American community, stating that the community has experienced "profound hate, pain and violence and loss," with the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes caused in part by inflammatory rhetoric related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is not difficult to make two basic judgments. First, the US has become the country with very serious hate phenomenon, the most important source of hate speech and mindset. Second, in the US, the main target of hatred has shifted from Jews to Asians, which is related to the various versions of the "China threat theory." According to statistics, from March 2020 to March 2022, there were nearly 12,000 violent incidents against Asians across the US, and hate crimes against Asians increased by 177 percent in 2022. These data are shocking.

The Biden administration's attitude against hate crimes is comparatively clear-cut. However, the strength and effectiveness of its actions against hate crimes cannot even be described as barely satisfactory, but bad. The momentum of rampant hate speech and hate crimes has not been curbed, but has become stronger. Why is that? The force of inertia is one of the reasons, but it is fundamentally because the political elites in Washington are stuck in a huge misunderstanding on this issue. Anti-hate crime moves are extremely incomplete, and the crackdown on hate speech and hate crimes is half-hearted, full of selectivity or opportunism.

Although Biden admitted the facts, he did not reflect further, yet instead praised the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act passed by the current administration. The US mainstream media also interpreted the meaning of Biden's speech as absorbing the rapidly growing ballots of Asians, which greatly weakened the already limited reflection on American society. Racism, hate speech and gun crime are chronic systemic diseases in the US. The ambiguous attitude of Washington elites is an important reason why this problem has not been cured and has even intensified.

Not only that, under the background that being tough on China has increasingly become a bipartisan consensus, and exaggerating the "China threat theory" has become a universal tool to attract votes, how can it be possible to reduce the hatred and conspiracy theories against Asians or Chinese? Washington has made a lot of gestures to appease Asians on the surface, but it is dedicated to creating a soil for the breeding of hate, and keeps watering and fertilizing it. In addition to the flowers of evil, can other things be expected to grow from this soil?

If the US does not end hate attacks in international politics, it will not end hate attacks at home; the phenomenon of hate crimes in the US cannot be reduced while political demagogues continue their words and deeds unrestrained in Washington. Today, US authorities are still slandering China's image and intentions based on false information. Going against China has even become a kind of political correctness in Washington. A large-scale hatred storm is brewing on American soil. When it really blows up, at that time, it will be impossible to control where it targets like a precision-guided missile. The US is the hardest-hit area by hurricanes, and Americans should understand the violent power of hurricanes to destroy everything.

China's State Council Urges to Promote Steady Economic Recovery at Beginning of 2023

By Global Times

Jan 28, 2023 10:53 PM

A view of Shanghai, China's major financial hub and destination for foreign investment Photo:VCG

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang presided over a State Council executive meeting on Saturday, calling for sustained efforts to grasp the current economic and social development work and promote the steady rebound of economic operations at the beginning of 2023. 

The meeting noted that China's economy is continuously recovering and rebounding, stressing efforts to further stabilize economic growth, employment and prices and keep economic operation within a reasonable range. It also vowed to promote the fast resumption of enterprises after the Spring Festival holidays.

The meeting also called for efforts to accelerate the recovery of consumption as it's the main driver of the economy, while continuously promoting opening-up and stabilizing foreign trade and investment. 

For instance, the meeting urged to promote the implementation of policies aimed at boosting consumption along with other measures to accelerate the recovery of contact-based consumption. 

China's consumption posted a remarkable rebound during the Spring Festival holidays. A total of 308 million domestic trips were made in China during the holidays, recovering to 88.6 percent of the level seen in the same period of 2019, and domestic tourism revenue generated during the holiday totaled 375.8 billion yuan ($55.4 billion), according to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism released on Friday.

As for the continuous deepening of opening-up, the meeting vowed to come up with more actual supportive measures to stabilize foreign trade, encourage Chinese firms to participate in domestic and international exhibitions, and implement relevant policies.  

In order to actively attract foreign investment, the meeting proposed measures such as revising the new Catalogue of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment and implementing measures to facilitate cross-border personnel exchanges.  

China's economy is forecast to see a major improvement in 2023. For example, according to a UN report released on Wednesday, China's GDP growth could accelerate to 4.8 percent in 2023, while the world output growth is projected to decelerate from an estimated 3 percent in 2022 to 1.9 percent in 2023.

The State Council meeting on Saturday also urged to deploy the preparation work for spring plowing to lay a solid foundation for grain harvest and stable supply of important agricultural products with measures to support the planting of soybeans. 

Global Times

US Chip Ban to Spur China's Tech Breakthroughs: Experts

Companies call for stability, reliability to avoid disturbances in global industry

By GT staff reporters

Jan 28, 2023 11:13 PM

Production of semiconductor chip File photo: VCG

The US has reportedly secured a deal with the Netherlands and Japan on chip export controls against China, using stepped-up pressure on its allies. However, experts said that the latest US move and more potential containment won't beat down China, as Chinese semiconductor firms are making all efforts to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies for self-reliance.

The US has reached an agreement with the Netherlands and Japan to restrict exports of some advanced chipmaking machinery to China, including advanced lithography tools, Bloomberg reported on Saturday, citing sources.

The deal would extend some export controls the US adopted in October 2022 to companies in the two countries, including ASML Holding NV, Nikon Corp and Tokyo Electron Ltd, according to the report. The actual implementation of those restrictions could take months as the two countries finalize legal arrangements, it said.

Despite mounting US pressure on export curbs, Netherland's leading lithography firm ASML said these measures would not have a material effect on the company's announced expectations for 2023.

"Our business in China is predominantly directed at mature nodes," ASML said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Saturday. "Meanwhile, ASML's business activities globally will continue. What we need now is stability and reliability in our industry to avoid further disturbances in the global semiconductor industry," it said.

ASML will continue to engage with the authorities to inform them about the potential impact of any proposed rule in order to assess the impact on the global semiconductor supply chain, the company said.

Nikon and Tokyo Electron didn't reply on Saturday.

The Biden administration has repeatedly claimed steps for its so-called chip alliance over the past year, but little progress had been made. In terms of the deal with the Netherlands and Japan, no details have yet been announced.

The latest US moves are unlikely to have any significant additional long-term impact on the Chinese semiconductor industry, which has withstood the US' multi-year unilateral crackdowns, Ma Jihua, a veteran telecom analyst, told the Global Times on Saturday.

Given their massive revenue from the Chinese market, the Netherlands and Japan as well as their companies like ASML are unlikely to comply with the US' order to curb sales of chip machinery to China, Ma said.

The global semiconductor industrial chain is one that embodies broad collaboration and global division of labor, and China is already the world's largest semiconductor consumption market. According to data from industry body SEMI, sales of semiconductor equipment in the Chinese mainland reached $29.62 billion in 2021, accounting for almost 29 percent of the global market. In the second quarter of 2022, the sales in the Chinese mainland recorded $6.56 billion and that of the global market totaled 26.43 $billion, data from China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) showed.

However, the US is pushing forward "tech decoupling" with China at a speed faster than many anticipated, and it's aiming to draw all allies to join its tech war against China. In this regard, experts said China should continue to improve its own tech capabilities to deal with the possible deterioration arising from the US' containment.

"The US' continuous moves send a sober warning to Chinese semiconductor makers that the US won't stop its chip war against China. It's time for domestic firms to concentrate their resources and efforts to seek technological breakthroughs," Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Beijing-based Information Consumption Alliance, told the Global Times on Saturday.

"There is no mystery to lithography tools. Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (Group) Co has developed a machine with limited capital investment and already has market demand. I believe we will definitely make tech breakthroughs with nationwide resources," Xiang said.

"It won't take years for China to independently develop lithography tools," he said. The US' push toward tech decoupling has greatly boosted the application of domestically made chips by Chinese smart device manufacturers, which incentivizes local chip firms to make technological improvements. Meanwhile, China has been ramping up efforts in nurturing chip talent.

China's semiconductor sector has been developing fast despite the US pressure, especially in terms of the mass production of 28-nanometer chips. Ma said domestic semiconductor firms have been able to independently produce the widely used 28-nm chips and are ramping up efforts to make breakthroughs in advanced 14-nm chips.

Chinese tech giants are constantly making breakthroughs in chip technology. 

Take Huawei as an example. Its goal has been very clear, which is to address the existing chip supply problems by increasing input in research and development based on the actual conditions of the domestic chip sector.

China’s COVID Response Withstands Test for Spring Festival Holidays

By Chen Qingqing and Yu Xi

Jan 28, 2023 11:15 PM

This photo taken on Jan. 27, 2023 shows a view of the waiting hall at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station in east China's Shanghai. Railway stations, highways and airports across China are bracing for a fresh travel peak as a growing number of travelers hit the road and return to work after a week-long Spring Festival holiday which ends on Friday. Photo: Xinhua

China is poised to withstand the hard COVID test for the Spring Festival holidays as most cities and regions have already passed their infection peaks, and adequate preparations and contingency plans put in place by authorities at all levels, the hard work of medical workers as well as enhanced vaccinations have allowed residents to enjoy a safe and warm Spring Festival without triggering a large-scale resurgence of infections so far.    

Unlike some Western media outlets that predicted China's small cities and rural areas would see tsunami-like infections following the Spring Festival travel rush, not only the country witnessed a warm and joyful Spring Festival with its airports, bus and train stations fully crowded - images that have not been seen in the past three years, it also gradually reopens to the world with a total of 2.45 million trips crossing the border during the Spring Festival travel peak. 

During the Spring Festival holidays, Global Times reporters visited different localities from North China's Shanxi to Southwest China's Chongqing to Central China's Hubei. In these regions the number of positive cases has been largely declining during the holidays and only limited number of patients was hospitalized. The pressure on local fever clinics has also eased. 

According to data released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) on Saturday, as of Thursday, 1.31 billion people in the Chinese mainland have been vaccinated, among them 1.28 billion have been fully vaccinated. Among those above 60 years old, 241.6 million have been vaccinated while 230 million are fully vaccinated. 

The CDC's report on Wednesday also said the number of COVID infections and visits to fever clinics across the country reached their peak with the new infections surpassing 7 million and visits to fever clinics reaching 2.87 million on a daily basis. Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist of China's CDC, also said that the likelihood of a large nationwide rebound or a second wave in the next two to three months is small, as this wave of the epidemic has already infected about 80 percent of the population.

The country has passed the infection peaks so quickly, which helped enhance the herd immunity in an unprecedented way, Zeng Guang, former chief epidemiologist of China's CDC, told the Global Times on Saturday. 

The CDC report also pointed out that based on the reported positive cases through mass testing, the number of infections reached the peak on December 22 with 6.94 million, and dropped to the lowest point of 15,000 on January 23. 

Fang Bangjiang, director of the institute of critical care and severe illness of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, was quoted as saying in media reports on Saturday that the transmission of COVID has been gradually weakened not because the virus itself has undergone important changes but because there has been low level of transmission in society thanks to the herd immunity. 

The curves of infections from the peak to low ebb then to the peak show a cyclical development, which is also in line with the development of the virus, Qiao Shubin, director of respiratory and critical care department of Fengtai District Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine in Beijing, was quoted as saying in media reports on Saturday. "In countries like the US and Japan, they also experienced several infection peaks." 

In 2023, we'll see the people-to-people exchange largely resume domestically and internationally, and there's low possibility that the imported variants will trigger another large-scale infection like we experienced in the past month, an expert close to China's CDC who preferred not to be named told the Global Times on Saturday. 

"Meanwhile, the number of severe cases and deaths will both drop in the next waves," he said, referring to the rule of virus transmission and other countries' experiences. 

Better position? 

As China is experiencing the test of the world's largest human migration amid the COVID waves, there have been discussions about whether the world is prepared to lower the COVID response. The WHO's emergency committee on COVID held its 14th meeting since the start of the pandemic on Friday -- the panel meets every three months, according to media reports. 

During an interview with China Newsweek - a Beijing-based magazine, Gao Fu, former director of China CDC said there are two key words when talking about ending the pandemic: tolerance and resilience. 

When we can tolerate the virus with some resilience, live a normal life and survive together, the pandemic is over, Gao was quoted as saying in the media report. "When COVID-19 only prevails in some areas, it becomes endemic." 

"It's likely that the WHO will announce that the pandemic is over in the summer or autumn, but it does not mean the fatality caused by COVID will be lower than that of flu given the infection of large population," Gao predicted. 

Chen Xi, associate professor of health policy & economics at Yale University, told the Global Times on Saturday that the WHO is likely to make the accurate judgment in the next meeting and it's not the time to announce the end of the pandemic now. 

"It is still the winter in the northern hemisphere and many countries are still seeing rapid increases in infections or have just passed the infection peaks. The overall infection and fatality rates are still higher than other infectious diseases," he said. 

Also, once the announcement is made, countries may further reduce the investment in the public health, which will pose a threat to local authorities in monitoring the new variants and in sharing information timely, Chen said. 

There are some requirements to be met in terms of lowering the COVID response globally, including further lowering the fatality rate and increasing accessibility of vaccines and antiviral drugs, experts said. 

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing on Friday that the global response remains hobbled because in too many countries, these powerful, life-saving tools are still not getting to the populations that need them the most - especially older people and health workers.

"While we are clearly in better shape than three years ago when this pandemic first hit, the global collective response is once again under strain," Tedros was quoted as saying in media reports last week. 

Tyre Nichols Remembered as Beautiful Soul with Creative Eye

By ADAM BEAM, TRAVIS LOLLER 

This photo provided by the Nichols family shows Tyre Nichols, who had a passion for photography and was described by friends as joyful and lovable. Nichols was just minutes from his home in Memphis, Tenn., on Jan. 7, 2023, when he was pulled over by police and fatally beaten. Five Memphis police officers have since been charged with second-degree murder and other offenses. (Courtesy of the Nichols family via AP)

On most weekends, Tyre Nichols would head to the city park, train his camera on the sky and wait for the sun to set.

“Photography helps me look at the world in a more creative way. It expresses me in ways I cannot write down for people,” he wrote on his website. He preferred landscapes and loved the glow of sunsets most, his family has said.

“My vision is to bring my viewers deep into what I am seeing through my eye and out through my lens,” Nichols wrote. “People have a story to tell, why not capture it.”

Nichols, a 29-year-old father, was on his way home from taking pictures of the sky on Jan. 7, when police pulled him over. He was just a few minutes from the home he shared with his mother and stepfather, when he was brutally attacked by five Memphis police officers.

He died three days later at a hospital, and the officers have since been charged with second-degree murder and other offenses.

“Nobody’s perfect, nobody. But he was damn near,” his mother, RowVaughn Wells, said at a news conference this week, moments after she watched the video of her son being beaten. “He was damn near perfect.”

He was the baby of their family, born 12 years after his closest siblings. He had a 4-year-old son and worked hard to better himself as a father, his family said. He was an avid skateboarder from Sacramento, California, and came to Memphis just before the coronavirus pandemic and got stuck. But he was fine with it because he was with his mother, and they were incredibly close, Wells said. He had her name tattooed on his arm.

Friends at a memorial service this week described him as joyful and lovable.

“This man walked into a room, and everyone loved him,” said Angelina Paxton, a friend who traveled to Memphis from California for the service.

Growing up in Sacramento, Nichols spent much of his time at a skate park on the outskirts of the city. It could be a rough place sometimes for younger kids. But when Niko Chapman was 10 years old, his parents would let him walk to the park alone as long as they knew Nichols was there.

“You remember people that are really kind to you, and Tyre was just a really kind person,” Chapman said. “He just always made me feel really welcome.”

Chapman’s dad, Curtis Chapman, ran a youth group at a local church that would often meet at the skate park for pizza. Nichols quickly became a regular, bringing his energetic spirit and quick wit. But away from the group, Nichols would often show up at the Chapman house to talk about life — including coming to grips with being a young parent.

“What drew me to Tyre was just — he’s real,” Curtis Chapman said. “He would talk about being a dad and wanting to be a good dad and seeking advice.”

There was a Bible study on Thursdays that Nichols would attend with his friend Brian Jang. One day, the group watched a sermon about how the world is filled with distractions. Jang said Nichols was so moved by it that he pulled out his flip phone and dropped it in a cup of water.

“I thought it was awesome, just seeing his growth and his commitment,” Jang said.

The last time Jang saw Nichols was in 2018 at the food court in a local mall. The two hadn’t seen each other in awhile, but Jang said Nichols came up behind him and gave him a big hug as the two caught up.

“It’s honestly pretty devastating to see such a good human go through such unnecessary brutality, such unnecessary death,” Jang said.

His mother said she raised him to love everyone openly — until they give you a reason not to. So Nichols was quick to make friends.

In Memphis, Nichols went to Starbucks every morning, and Nate Spates Jr. would hang out with him there. They chatted about sports or life. Spates was with his wife once when they ran into Nichols there, and they all talked for a couple of hours. Afterwards, Spates said his wife commented, “He’s got such a good spirit and soul and calm presence.”

Nichols worked second shift at FedEx with his stepfather. Every day, they’d come home together on their break at 7 p.m., and his mother would have a meal waiting for them.

Wells said she’d offered to buy her son Jordans, the popular athletic shoes, but he didn’t want them.

“He was just his own person,” she said. “He didn’t follow what anyone else was doing.”

When he wasn’t working, he went to the park to skateboard and take pictures. His website, called This California Kid, starts with an invitation: “Welcome to the world through my eyes.”

He included a gallery of what he considered his masterpieces: bridges and railroad tracks rendered in black and white, the neon lights of Beale Street at night. He took pictures of pink flowers, sunsets over the Mississippi River, fields of grass, statues of Elvis. He highlights a quote from another photographer: “A good photographer must love life,” it begins.

After she watched the video of her son’s death, she stood with her family and their lawyers at a lectern, shaking, to convey what the world lost.

A lawyer described the beating shown in the video — “he was a human pinata” — and Wells turned her head away, burying her face into her hands.

In the video footage, which was released Friday to the public, Nichols is heard saying he just wants to go home, family lawyers said. He was less than 100 yards from his mother’s house.

Lawyers described the last words Nichols is heard saying — calling for his mom, three times.

“Oh my God,” she wailed as they spoke. “Oh my God.”

She still finds herself waiting for him to walk in the door every day at 7 p.m.

“It’s not even real to me right now. I don’t have any feelings right now,” she said. “I know my son Tyre is not here with me anymore. He will never walk through that door again.”

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AP reporter Adrian Sainz contributed from Memphis, and AP researcher Rhonda Shafner from New York. Loller reported from Nashville, Beam from Sacramento, California, and Galofaro from Louisville, Kentucky.

Video of Vicious Beating of Tyre Nichols Released by City of Memphis

The image from video released on Jan. 27, 2023, by the City of Memphis, shows Tyre Nichols leaning against a car after a brutal attack by five Memphis police officers on Jan. 7, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn. Nichols died on Jan. 10. The five officers have since been fired and charged with second-degree murder and other offenses. (City of Memphis via AP)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Authorities released video footage Friday showing Tyre Nichols being beaten by five Memphis police officers who held the Black motorist down and repeatedly struck him with their fists, boots and batons as he screamed for his mother.

The video is filled with violent moments showing the officers, who are also Black, chasing and pummeling Nichols and leaving him on the pavement propped against a squad car as they fist-bump and celebrate their actions.

The footage emerged one day after the officers were charged with murder in Nichols’ death. The chilling images of another Black man dying at the hands of police renewed tough questions about how fatal encounters with law enforcement continue even after repeated calls for change.

Protesters gathered for mostly peaceful demonstrations in multiple cities, including Memphis, where several dozen demonstrators blocked the Interstate 55 bridge that carries traffic over the Mississippi River toward Arkansas. Semi-trucks were backed up for a distance. In Washington, dozens of protestors gathered in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House and near Black Lives Matter Plaza.

The recording shows police savagely beating the 29-year-old FedEx worker for three minutes while screaming profanities at him throughout the attack. The Nichols family legal team has likened the assault to the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King.

After the first officer roughly pulls Nichols out of a car, Nichols can be heard saying, “I didn’t do anything,” as a group of officers begins to wrestle him to the ground.

One officer is heard yelling, “Tase him! Tase him!”

Nichols calmly says, “OK, I’m on the ground.”

“You guys are really doing a lot right now,” Nichols says. “I’m just trying to go home.”

“Stop, I’m not doing anything,” he yells moments later.

Nichols can then be seen running as an officer fires a Taser at him. The officers then start chasing Nichols.

Other officers are called, and a search ensues before Nichols is caught at another intersection. The officers beat him with a baton, and kick and punch him.

Security camera footage shows three officers surrounding Nichols as he lies in the street cornered between police cars, with a fourth officer nearby.

Two officers hold Nichols to the ground as he moves about, and then the third appears to kick him in the head. Nichols slumps more fully onto the pavement with all three officers surrounding him. The same officer kicks him again.

The fourth officer then walks over, draws a baton and holds it up at shoulder level as two officers hold Nichols upright, as if he were sitting.

“I’m going to baton the f--- out you,” one officer can be heard saying. His body camera shows him raise his baton while at least one other officer holds Nichols. The officer strikes Nichols on the back with the baton three times in a row.

The other officers then appear to hoist Nichols to his feet, with him flopping like a doll, barely able to stay upright.

An officer then punches him in the face, as the officer with the baton continues to menace him. Nichols stumbles and turns, still held up by two officers. The officer who punched him then walks around to Nichols’ front and punches him four more times. Then Nichols collapses.

Two officers can then be seen atop Nichols on the ground, with a third nearby, for about 40 seconds. Three more officers then run up, and one can be seen kicking Nichols on the ground.

As Nichols is slumped up against a car, not one of the officers renders aid. The body camera footage shows a first-person view of one of them reaching down and tying his shoe.

It takes more than 20 minutes after Nichols is beaten and on the pavement before any sort of medical attention is provided, even though two fire department officers arrived on the scene with medical equipment within 10 minutes.

Throughout the videos, officers make claims about Nichols’ behavior that are not supported by the footage or that the district attorney and other officials have said did not happen. In one of the videos, an officer claims that during the initial traffic stop Nichols reached for his gun before fleeing and almost had his hand on the handle, which is not shown in the video.

After Nichols is in handcuffs and leaning against a police car, several officers say that he must have been high. Later an officer says no drugs were found in his car, and another officer immediately counters that Nichols must have ditched something while he was running away.

Authorities have not released an autopsy report, but they have said there appeared to be no justification for the traffic stop, and nothing of note was found in the car.

The video raised questions about the role and possible culpability of the other officers at the scene, in addition to the five who were charged. The footage shows a number of other officers standing around after the beating.

Memphis Police Director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis has said other officers are under investigation for their part in the arrest.

Davis described the five officers’ actions as “heinous, reckless and inhumane.”

During the traffic stop, the video shows the officers were “already ramped up, at about a 10,” she said. The officers were “aggressive, loud, using profane language and probably scared Mr. Nichols from the very beginning.”

“Police are trained to understand that people might flee just because they are scared,” said Geoffrey Alpert, a criminologist at the University of South Carolina who studies use of force.

Cities across the country braced for demonstrations. Protests were planned Friday night in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New York City and Portland, Oregon.

Nichols’ relatives urged supporters to protest peacefully.

“I don’t want us burning up our city, tearing up the streets, because that’s not what my son stood for,” Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, said Thursday. “If you guys are here for me and Tyre, then you will protest peacefully.”

Christopher Taylor was one of the protesters at the Interstate 55 bridge on Friday. He said he watched the video. The Memphis native said it was horrible that the officers appeared to be laughing as they stood around after the beating.

“I cried,” he said. “And that right there, as not only a father myself but I am also a son, my mother is still living, that could have been me.”

Speaking at the White House, President Joe Biden said Friday that he was “very concerned” about the prospect of violence and called for protests to remain peaceful.

Biden said he spoke with Nichols’ mother earlier in the day and told her that he was going to be “making a case” to Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act “to get this under control.” The legislation, which has been stalled, is meant to tackle police misconduct and excessive force and boost federal and state accountability efforts.

Court records showed that all five former officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — were taken into custody.

The officers each face charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. Four of the five officers had posted bond and been released from custody by Friday morning, according to court and jail records.

Second-degree murder is punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison under Tennessee law.

Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner said in a statement late Friday that two deputies who appeared on the scene after the beating have been relieved of duty pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

Patrick Yoes, the national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, condemned the alleged actions of the Memphis officers.

“The event as described to us does not constitute legitimate police work or a traffic stop gone wrong. This is a criminal assault under the pretext of law,” Yoes said in a statement.

As state and federal investigations continue, Davis promised the police department’s “full and complete cooperation.”

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Associated Press reporters Aaron Morrison in New York; Travis Loller in Nashville, Tennessee; and Rebecca Reynolds in Lexington, Kentucky, contributed to this report.

Man Sentenced to Death in Mali for UN Peacekeeper Killings

By BABA AHMED

January 26, 2023

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — A Mali court sentenced a man to death for the killings of three United Nations peacekeepers almost four years ago, the U.N. mission in Mali said Thursday.

The court in Bamako imposed the death sentence for a February 2019 attack on five peacekeepers, three of whom died, the mission reported in a tweet. The slayings happened in the rural Siby area, which is about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the West African nation’s capital city.

The death penalty hasn’t been carried out in Mali since 1980 due to a moratorium on executions, according to the U.N.

Thousands of United Nations peacekeeping troops have been in Mali for nearly a decade to protect civilians from extremist violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group that nonetheless has killed thousands.

The country is one of the world’s most dangerous places with a peacekeeping mission. For the ninth consecutive year, it had the most peacekeeper killed while deployed there, 14, the U.N. reported this month. The U.N. mission in Congo was next with 13, followed by the Central African Republic with four peacekeepers killed, the U.N. said.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric, asked for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ reaction to the Mali court ruling, said: “This is the second time that attacks against U.N. peacekeepers have been the focus of judicial prosecution, resulting in trials and convictions.”

“I think this week’s trial, from where we stand, was a part of the efforts of Mali to improve their judicial response to attack against peacekeepers,” he said. “We welcome the accountability … but our position against the death penalty remains.”

In March 2021, the court in Bamako tried and convicted nine people for an attack on peacekeepers six years earlier.

Since mutinous soldiers ousted Mali’s government in 2020 and again the following year, the relationship between the junta and the peacekeeping mission has become strained. The government has constrained the peacekeepers’ ability to operate, and countries such as Benin, Germany, Sweden, Ivory Coast and the United Kingdom have announced troop withdrawals.

Conflict analysts say the verdict is a sign of a better partnership between the two.

“During uncertain times in terms of relations between the mission and the Malian government, it’s good to see results of joint collaboration which led to bringing those responsible to justice and holding them accountable,” said Rida Lyammouri, senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a Morocco-based think tank focused on economics and policy.

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Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Tanzania Squeezes Maasai by Seizing Livestock, Report Says

By WANJOHI KABUKURU

Cattle belonging to Maasai ethnic group graze in the highlands of Ngorongoro Conservation Area, west of Arusha, northern Tanzania on Jan. 17, 2015. The Tanzanian government is seizing livestock from Indigenous Maasai herders in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in its latest attempt to clear way for tourism and trophy hunting, a report released Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, said. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy, File)

MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) — The Tanzanian government is seizing livestock from Indigenous Maasai herders in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in its latest attempt to clear way for tourism and trophy hunting, a report released Thursday said.

The update from the Oakland Institute, a U.S.-based environmental think tank, found that the government forcefully confiscated some 5,880 cattle and 767 goats and sheep from the Maasai in November and December last year and is demanding that owners pay heavy fines. Those failing to pay have their livestock auctioned and moved away.

“Livestock is central to the Maasai culture and livelihoods,” Anuradha Mittal, executive director, The Oakland Institute told The Associated Press. “Losing cattle is therefore catastrophic for them. With this new tactic the government’s goal is clearly to drive them away from their ancestral lands.”

The government has remained adamant that the relocations will pave the way for safari tourism, conservation and trophy hunting for lions, elephants and other famous large species, aiding the country’s environment and economic development. It termed the Maasai’s displacement as “voluntary,” adding it would suit the lives of the semi-nomadic pastoralists.

But Mittal said the government’s assertions that the relocations would better the lives of the Maasai are “a blatant lie.” She added that the government “continues to prioritize tourism revenues over everything else, including lives.”

Previously the government has been accused of denying access to essential health services, grazing lands, water points and salt licks to compel the Maasai to move out of the area.

Salangat Marko, a herder from Ololosokwan village in Loliondo where pastures are being cleared, is worried for the future of his family.

“We are in a bowl of economic suicide,” he said. “A community depending on livestock without grazing land. I have cows with no grass and water. Herders intimidated and beaten ... where do we go and what do we feed our children?”

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Maasai villages occupy a small fraction of the site, within the Loliondo commune.

In June last year the Tanzanian government was accused of using violence against Maasai people protesting their eviction, attracting heavy international criticism. But the Maasais suffered a setback when a regional court ruled in favor of the evictions.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, normally based in Gambia, is currently in Tanzania to seek information on the human rights situation for Indigenous peoples in the Loliondo and Ngorongoro areas.

Several Tanzanian human rights agencies have urged the commission to be impartial and organize confidential private hearing sessions with victims of the displacement and civil society organizations well away from ongoing state-sponsored efforts.

Storm Cheneso Picks Up in Madagascar, More Flooding to Come

By WANJOHI KABUKURU

MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) — A severe tropical storm which devastated parts of Madagascar this week is set to continue to wreak havoc on the country as it strengthens over the weekend, the United Nations regional weather monitoring service said.

The storm has killed 8 people and ten are still missing, according to Madagascar’s National Bureau of Risk and Disaster Management. It has displaced over 60,000 people and damaged 13,000 houses in northern and central Madagascar.

An alert issued by local authorities on Friday warned of heavy rainfall in central and western parts of the country with an imminent risk of flooding and landslides. Flash floods are expected in the western coastal town of Morombe, raising fears of further destruction and displacement.

Over the next few days Cheneso could dump in some areas of Madagascar more than 200% of their average January rainfall, the U.K.’s meteorological office warned.

Storm Cheneso, currently classed as a severe tropical storm, is expected to be upgraded to a cyclone by the U.N.’s regional weather center. The weather system is also likely move in a southeasterly direction and away from inhabited land, but meteorologists remain cautious.

“Cyclones can shift direction at any moment depending on wind directions and other prevailing conditions. That is why alerts are issued with caution,” said Evans Mukolwe, a retired meteorologist. “It can alter course anytime.”

Storm Cheneso first made landfall as a moderate storm nine days ago in the Sava region in northeastern Madagascar. Cheneso weakened as it stalled over the country for much of the week and is now strengthening.

Cyclones are typical in southern Africa from December to March, but scientists say climate change has caused storms to be wetter, more frequent and more intense.

Israeli Bloodshed in Jenin Draws Condemnation from Palestine, Other Nations

Friday, 27 January 2023 7:13 PM

Thousands of people in various Palestinian attended rallies to condemn the brutal crime of the Israeli regime in killing nine Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp on Thursday.

Footage shows Palestinian people chanting slogans against the Israeli occupation after Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied al-Quds.

Furthermore, hundreds of people in Gaza and Rafah took to the streets to slam the Israeli atrocities.

A similar demonstration was also held in the Jordanian capital of Amman after Friday prayers with hundreds of people in attendance.

Nine Palestinians lost their lives following a raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the northern part of the West Bank. At least 20 Palestinians were wounded, including unarmed civilians.

During the raid, more than 70 Israeli armed vehicles and hundreds of Israeli soldiers stormed the flashpoint city and the neighboring refugee camp, leaving the residents and popular resistance groups with no choice but to defend themselves and confront the occupation forces.

Among those killed by Israeli forces in Jenin was a Palestinian 61-year-old woman identified as Majeda Obeid who was killed in her home while performing prayers.

Jenin resident Umm Youssef Al-Sawalmi said homes were hit during the raid. "Windows, doors, walls and even the refrigerator, everything was damaged by the bullets," she said.

UNSC set to hold meeting on Jenin carnage

The Palestinian ambassador to the UN announced that the UN Security Council is set to hold a "closed door" session on Friday to confer on Israeli escalation against the Palestinian people, including the Jenin carnage.

Riyad Mansour added that the UAE, China, and France have supported the call to discuss the issue.

This is while the Israeli regime enjoys the support of western countries, especially the US, which observers believe has further emboldened the regime to continue its decades-long crimes against the Palestinian people.

Meanwhile, three UN experts, including Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory, Francesca Albanese, deplored the Israeli violence.

"None of this violence would occur if Israel were to end its illegal, half-century-old occupation immediately and unconditionally as required by international law," they said.

"The international community cannot and should not tolerate what appears to reflect Israel’s deliberate policy and practice of using lethal force without regard for limits set by international law," added the experts.

Various countries have also slammed the Jenin massacre, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, and Bangladesh.

The Israeli regime also launched airstrikes against the besieged Gaza strip on Friday. In retaliation, the Palestinian resistance responded to the aggression by firing rockets at illegal Israeli settlements surrounding the besieged Gaza Strip. Israeli media confirmed that at least eight rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip.