Month: August 2019

Nigeria’s government for years has been seeking a lasting solution to the conflict between farmers and herders over grazing lands, a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives. The country’s middle belt region is most affected by the dispute, but recently the government introduced a settlement plan for herders aimed at ending the clashes. But the settlements, known as RUGA in Hausa, are meeting some resistance. For Haruna Isah, it’s a daily struggle to keep his father’s herd well-fed. He gets up early to find a few good grazing spots around the city center of Nigeria’s capital. When he ventures …

READ MORE

Almost two dozen Polish former ambassadors are telling U.S. President Donald Trump that Poland’s democracy is at risk, and urging him to use an upcoming visit to pressure the country’s populist government to respect human rights and stop flouting the constitution. “Mr. President, you are coming to a country where the rule of law is no longer respected,” the Conference of Ambassadors of the Republic of Poland wrote in an open letter posted on its website late Monday. Trump is to arrive Saturday in Warsaw to attend ceremonies Sunday marking the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II, …

READ MORE

Consumer confidence dipped slightly in August after a big rebound in July. The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index edged down to 135.1 in August, slightly below a July reading of 135.8, which had been the highest since November. Economists had been looking for a bigger drop in August. The reading on consumers’ assessment of current conditions improved and now stands at its highest level in nearly 19 years. Conference Board economists say that while other parts of the economy have shown some weakness, consumers have remained confident and willing to spend. The …

READ MORE

More than 800 Namibian refugees in Botswana have vowed to stay put despite a court ruling saying they must return to their country, 20 years after fleeing following a secessionist uprising. Felix Kalula and hundreds of other Namibian refugees fled to Botswana in 1999, after violent clashes with Namibian government forces broke out over the disputed Caprivi strip, which wanted to secede from the rest of the country. The Namibian and Botswana governments say it is safe for the refugees to return home, and the migrants have until Aug. 31 to leave. But Kalula says the issues that made them …

READ MORE

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton says there is no need for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to “rush” into any course of action regarding Russia’s involvement with separatist forces in eastern Ukraine. “I think, from the perspective of a new government in Ukraine, President Zelenskiy would be well-advised to look at how to unfold a strategy of dealing with the Russians very carefully,” Bolton told RFE/RL in a wide-ranging interview on August 27 in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. “I don’t think there is any reason to rush it into one course of action or another…. I think working this through over …

READ MORE

President Donald Trump is fuming over mainstream U.S. news coverage of his attendance at the G-7 in France and defending his preference to host the leaders’ summit next year at one of his private resorts in the state of Florida. Much of the news and editorial coverage of the U.S. president at the summit in Biarritz, which ended Monday, has not cast Trump in a good light, spotlighting misstatements, perceived gaffes and lack of cooperation with the other world leaders on critical issues such as the environment. “The pity of the entire Group of 7 show was that it was …

READ MORE

A collection of 27 outfits worn by Hollywood legend Olivia de Havilland is going up for auction next month, some of which she  wore on screen during her acting career more than 50 years ago. The Sept. 17 online auction at Chicago-based Hindman also includes haute couture designs by Christian Dior that de Havilland, who turned 103 in July, wore at movie premieres and galas between 1954-1989. De Havilland, a double Oscar winner who is best known for playing Melanie Wilkes in “Gone with the Wind,” sold the bulk of her Dior collection at a London auction in 1993. FILE …

READ MORE

The U.S. government plans to launch a program in roughly one month that narrowly focuses on protecting voter registration databases and systems ahead of the 2020 presidential election. These systems, which are widely used to validate the eligibility of voters before they cast ballots, were compromised in 2016 by Russian hackers seeking to collect information. Intelligence officials are concerned that foreign hackers in 2020 not only will target the databases but attempt to manipulate, disrupt or destroy the data, according to current and former U.S. officials. “We assess these systems as high risk,” said a senior U.S. official, because they …

READ MORE

A Brazilian Supreme Court justice believes jailed ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva deserves a retrial after leaked social media conversations appeared to show the judge hearing Brazil’s largest-ever corruption case collaborated with prosecutors. Justice Gilmar Mendes said in an interview with Reuters that the so-called Car Wash investigation was a success in battling the “metastasis of corruption” in Brazil but it became politicized and prosecutors went too far. Lula is serving a 12-year prison sentence for taking bribes, and the judge who convicted him, Sergio Moro, is now Brazil’s justice minister in right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro’s cabinet. Mendes’ views …

READ MORE