Bouteflika, Bashir... will other strongmen fall?

Yahoo – AFP, Stuart WILLIAMS, April 11, 2019

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a former army general, came to power
after the ousting of Islamist Mohamed Morsi, who himself was elected after the
uprising that felled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak (AFP Photo/ISSOUF SANOGO)

Paris (AFP) - Strongmen in the Middle East and North Africa will be eyeing warily popular protests, fed by frustration with living standards and an elite perceived as corrupt, that helped push veteran Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika and now Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir from power.

While recent events in Algeria and Sudan have been unique to those countries, analysts say the rapid downfall Bouteflika and Bashir are a warning to authoritarian leaders in the region that they will ignore popular anger, especially over economic grievances, at their peril.

The Sudanese army said Thursday that Bashir had been removed from power and detained after 30 years in power following four months of protests. Last week, mass protests led Algeria's ailing Bouteflika to step down last week after 20 years.

In both situations, longtime rulers were pushed aside by existing security structures on the back of mass protests, in a sign for authoritarian leaders that an army can be a foe as well as a friend.

But this also dashed popular hopes for a true revolution, leaving a potential for further instability.

And as populations surge in the region, with the demographic switching towards a younger, more digitally savvy generation, discontent may deepen further.

Protests persisted in Algeria after lawmakers appointed a regime stalwart as the 

country's first new president in two decades (AFP Photo/RYAD KRAMDI)

'Lesson for autocrats'

"The Algerian and Sudanese contexts are very different indeed. But at the same time, there is a lesson here for autocrats and dictators, that the craving for justice, democracy, and equal opportunities is universal," said Marc Pierini, visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe.

"In both countries, people are fed up by seeing the people sitting in power, calling all the shots, and pocketing the money," said Pierini, a former EU ambassador to Tunisia and Libya, Syria, Morocco and Turkey.

"It is also interesting that armed forces are not necessarily solidly behind these autocrats anymore and perhaps have a longer view," he told AFP.

Algeria's neighbour Morocco is run by a monarchy while heavyweight Egypt is headed by strongman President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a former army general.

He came to power after the ousting of Islamist Mohamed Morsi who himself was elected into power after the uprising that felled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose ruling party lost control of Turkey's 

two biggest cities in March polls, will be watching events in Sudan particularly closely 

after hosting Bashir on multiple occasions despite an ICC arrest warrant (AFP 

Photo/Alexander NEMENOV)

'Looking on with worry'

Sharan Grewal, a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, said it was difficult to predict whether the latest convulsions would trigger a repeat of the 2010-11 Arab Spring protests that ousted regimes in Egypt and Tunisia and led to war in Syria and Yemen.

"That said, revolutions do tend to occur in waves," he said, citing the Arab Spring and the so-called colour revolutions in post-Soviet states like Ukraine and Georgia in the previous decade as well as the fall of Communism in eastern Europe in 1989.

Noting that the demands of the protesters to beat corruption and improve living standards resonate beyond Sudan and Algeria, he added: "You can be sure that dictators across the region are looking at these uprisings with worry."

Haim Malka, senior fellow and deputy director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said regimes have been "slow to grasp and adjust to a combination of demographic, technological and economic shifts".

"The region will face more turbulence as citizens and regimes attempt to renegotiate the contours of the social contract," he told AFP, adding: "It will take years" for a new equilibrium to emerge.

Organisers of protests for the ouster of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir rejected 

his toppling by the army Thursday as a "coup conducted by the regime" and vowed 

to keep up their campaign (AFP Photo/AHMED MUSTAFA)

'Between a rock and a hard place'

The tremors in Algiers and Khartoum will reverberate well beyond the Middle East.

Another strongman to leave the stage this spring was Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev, who stepped down in what analysts saw as a bid to ensure a controlled power transition at a time of increased economic uncertainty.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose ruling party lost control of Turkey's two biggest cities in March polls and is now contesting the results in Istanbul, will be watching events in Sudan particularly closely after hosting Bashir on multiple occasions in defiance of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant.

And even when a leader is removed from power it's far from the end of the story.

Anthony Skinner, director at Verisk Maplecroft risk assessment firm, said Bouteflika’s interim successor Abdelkader Bensalah was "between a rock and a hard place" as he sought to cater to the demands of protestors while ensuring stability.

"I expect protestors to sustain pressure on the political elite," he said, even as police resort more to water cannon, tear gas and truncheons.

"The administration wants to stick to the current roadmap without having to make further concessions," he said.

Related Articles:

"The Great Escape" - Mar 11, 2017 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

“… The Fall of Many - Seen It Yet?

You are going to see more and more personal secrets being revealed about persons in high places of popularity or government. It will seem like an epidemic of non-integrity! But what is happening is exactly what we have been teaching. The new energy has light that will expose the darkness of things that are not commensurate with integrity. They have always been there, and they were kept from being seen by many who keep secrets in the dark. Seen the change yet?

In order to get to a more stable future, you will have to go through gyrations of dark and light. What this means is that the dark is going to be revealed and push back at you. It will eventually lose. We told you this. That's what you're here for is to help those around you who don't see an escape from the past. They didn't get their nuclear war, but everything else is going into the dumper anyway. … “

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once),Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

"The End of History"- Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) - (Text-Version)

" .... Africa

Let me tell you where else it's happening that you are unaware - that which is the beginning of the unity of the African states. Soon the continent will have what they never had before, and when that continent is healed and there is no AIDS and no major disease, they're going to want what you have. They're going to want houses and schools and an economy that works without corruption. They will be done with small-minded leaders who kill their populations for power in what has been called for generations "The History of Africa." Soon it will be the end of history in Africa, and a new continent will emerge.

Be aware that the strength may not come from the expected areas, for new leadership is brewing. There is so much land there and the population is so ready there, it will be one of the strongest economies on the planet within two generations plus 20 years. And it's going to happen because of a unifying idea put together by a few. These are the potentials of the planet, and the end of history as you know it.

In approximately 70 years, there will be a black man who leads this African continent into affluence and peace. He won't be a president, but rather a planner and a revolutionary economic thinker. He, and a strong woman with him, will implement the plan continent-wide. They will unite. This is the potential and this is the plan. Africa will arise out the ashes of centuries of disease and despair and create a viable economic force with workers who can create good products for the day. You think China is economically strong? China must do what it does, hobbled by the secrecy and bias of the old ways of its own history. As large as it is, it will have to eventually compete with Africa, a land of free thinkers and fast change. China will have a major competitor, one that doesn't have any cultural barriers to the advancement of the free Human spirit.. ...."

Global executions at lowest level in a decade: Amnesty

Yahoo – AFP, April 10, 2019

Nooses hang at Pul-e-Charkhi prison on the outskirts of Kabul, Afganistan (AFP
Photo/WAKIL KOHSAR)

Executions fell worldwide by nearly a third last year to their lowest levels in at least a decade, but several countries recorded a rise, Amnesty International said Wednesday.

Use of the death penalty dropped in Iran -- by an eye-popping 50 percent, following a change to its anti-narcotics laws -- Iraq, Pakistan and Somalia, the rights group found in its annual review.

But it rose in Belarus, Japan, Singapore, South Sudan and the United States, while Thailand resumed executions for the first time in a decade and Sri Lanka threatened to follow suit.

"Despite regressive steps from some, the number of executions carried out by several of the worst perpetrators has fallen significantly," said Kumi Naidoo, Amnesty International's Secretary General.

He added the "dramatic" drop globally proved that "even the most unlikely countries are starting to change their ways and realise the death penalty is not the answer".

"This is a hopeful indication that it's only a matter of time before this cruel punishment is consigned to history, where it belongs," Naidoo said.

In total, death penalty figures fell around the world from at least 993 in 2017, to at least 690 last year.

Amnesty's count excludes China -- the world's top executioner -- where the numbers are classified as a state secret.

The organisation estimates thousands of people are sentenced to death and executed there every year.

Graphic on executions worldwide, according to a 2018 report by Amnesty 

International (AFP Photo/Gal ROMA)

Iran (253), Saudi Arabia (149), Vietnam (at least 85) and Iraq (at least 52) were the other countries that resorted to the death penalty most in 2018.

Vietnamese authorities' decision to release figures for last year was "unprecedented" for the southeast Asian nation, Amnesty noted.

Elsewhere Japan, Singapore and South Sudan reported their highest levels of executions in years.

Naidoo said these three countries "now form a dwindling minority" and challenged them "to act boldly and put a stop to this abhorrent punishment".

Amnesty also noted concern over a sharp spike in the number of death sentences imposed in some countries -- particularly Iraq and Egypt -- over the course of 2018.

But its annual review found the global trend towards abolition of the death penalty had gathered steam.

Burkina Faso adopted a new penal code effectively banning executions, while Gambia and Malaysia both declared an official moratorium.

Meanwhile, courts in the US state of Washington declared the death penalty unconstitutional there.

Amnesty highlighted a December vote by the United Nations General Assembly that saw 121 countries support a global moratorium on the death penalty, with only 35 states opposed.

"Slowly but steadily, global consensus is building towards ending the use of the death penalty," Naidoo said.

Women open historic round at once all-male Augusta National

France24 – AFP, 6 April 2019

Mexico's Maria Fassi, left, plays in Saturday's final pairing at the Augusta National
Women's Amateur, with LPGA legend Nancy Lopez, right, serving as one of the
ceremonial starters at the famed home of the Masters GETTY IMAGES NORTH
AMERICA/AFP/File

Augusta (United States) (AFP) - Striking blows for gender equality with every swing at former men-only enclave Augusta National Golf Club, women golfers competed for a trophy for the first time Saturday at the home of the Masters.

In a club that opened in 1933 but didn't admit its first women members until 2012, LPGA legends Pak Se Ri, Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa and Nancy Lopez hit ceremonial shots off the first tee to launch the historic final round of the inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur.

"It's just exciting to be a part of history," Lopez said. "A day of history for us, for the amateurs that are here and for Augusta National."

A field of 72 played the first 36 holes at nearby Champions Retreat before the event moved to the famed Masters layout, with everyone having a practice round Friday but only the top 30 advancing to compete in the last 18 holes of the tournament.

"It's a dream come true. I'm so happy for them," Sorenstam said. "This has huge potential to not just inspire young girls but golfers, other women in sports and women in business."

American Anna Redding, a University of Virginia senior, was the first competitor to tee off, but she was eight strokes adrift of US leader Jennifer Kupcho. The Wake Forest University senior led after 36 holes on 5-under par 139 with Mexico's Maria Fassi, a University of Arkansas senior, one stroke behind.

"To play here for the first time is going to be just a great motivation and it's beautiful. They know how special it is," Ochoa said. "Hitting that first tee shot is probably going to be the highlight of their career."

Augusta National's all-male status led to a 2003 protest across the street from the club but it was not until August 2012 when businesswoman Darla Moore and former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were named the club's first women members.

Another move was 2014's debut of the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship, where young girls and boys won titles with a decisive putt on Augusta National's famed 18th green -- three Women's Amateur players having taken part as youths.

Pak struck the first ceremonial tee shot followed in order by Ochoa, Lopez and Sorenstam, handling the duties in a similar fashion to how Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and the late Arnold Palmer have done at the Masters.

"First time in a long time I get nervous," Pak said. "I have honor to lead."

"For them to kind of make us like Arnold, Jack and Gary, it's a real big honor to be here and hit that first shot," Lopez said.

Oman calls on Arabs to ease Israel's 'fears for its future'

Yahoo – AFP, April 6, 2019

Oman's minister of foreign affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah (C) caused a stir in
Jordan when he told a panel that Arabs must help ease Israel's "fears for its
future' (AFP Photo/Khalil MAZRAAWI)

Suweimeh (Jordan) (AFP) - A top Omani government official on Saturday said Arabs must take initiatives to make Israel overcome "fears for its future" in the region, drawing criticism from Jordan.

The remarks by Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, the minister responsible for foreign affairs in Oman, came on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum hosted by Jordan on the shores of the Dead Sea.

"The West has offered Israel political, economic and military support and it now holds all the means of power... but despite that it fears for its future as a non-Arab country surrounded by 400 million Arabs," he said.

"I believe that we Arabs must be able to look into this issue and try to ease those fears that Israel has through initiatives and real deals between us and Israel," he told a panel discussing geopolitics.

The panel's moderator, journalist Hadley Gamble, interrupted him to ask if the best solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict is "recognising Israel and its right to exist".

The minister said no.

"Not recognising, but we want them themselves to feel that there are no threats to their future."

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, whose country is the only Arab nation along with Egypt to have a peace treaty with Israel, dismissed the remarks saying "the issue is that there is an occupation" of Arab land.

"The Arab world has recognised Israel's right to exist. The Palestinians themselves recognised the Israeli right to exist... that is not the issue," Safadi told the panel.

"The issue is that there is an occupation. Is this occupation going to end or not?

Israel, Safadi said, must "withdraw from Arab lands occupied since 1967 and allow" the creation of a Palestinian state. "This is the issue," he said.

"If they (Israel) say they are not comfortable, that is not my problem," said Safadi.

"The problem is not with Arabs giving assurances... the problem is with Israel doing what is right for peace," he added.

"Israel... is not doing the right thing. Actually it is doing more of the wrong things by suffocating Palestinians," the Jordanian foreign minister said, referring to the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip.

"Gaza, is probably as you heard many times, the world's largest prison," he added.

In recent months, Israel has been courting Gulf Arab states.

In February, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met one-on-one with Bin Alawi at an international conference in Warsaw, attended by officials from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

In October last year, Netanyahu held surprise talks with Oman's Sultan Qaboos in Muscat -- raising Palestinian fears of a normalisation of ties.

Last year Bin Alawi told a regional conference in Bahrain it might be "time for Israel to be treated the same (as states in the Middle East) and also bear the same obligations".

Bahrain endorsed the remarks which at the time were said to be aimed at moving the Israeli-Palestinian "narrative from intractability to a new focus of pragmatism".

Related Articles:

Thousands of Israelis rally for peace talks with Palestinians

Pea-sized gesture: Arabs, Jews who share hummus get discount

"Peace in Israel"

The Israel Channelings (13) - Sep/Oct, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

Tel Aviv - ISRAEL (2) - Oct 8, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)
The PEACE choir - Pineal tones - Oct 10, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

The Final 2015 Kryon Tour - Oct 11, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)




"THE BRIDGE OF SWORDS"– Sep  29, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… What have we told you about the bridge? Actually, not much except that in crossing the bridge, the old energy ones were not going to like it. Old energy does not want you to escape! Old energy doesn't want you to cross the bridge because it can't cross. Did you know that? It can't cross. The old paradigms of Human nature that you've known all of these millenniums have to stay on the old side of the bridge. It cannot cross, for the bridge rejects all that is not in love, compassion and light. Those things that are dark, including Human nature of the past, will not be able to go. But the ones I speak to right now are already on the bridge. That was your design, old soul, and those are the words that are ringing in your ears to this day and the ones given at the wind of birth, that this might happen in your lifetime. So what's going to happen next?

Swords

Let us talk about the swords: When you hear the word sword, the first thing that occurs to you is battle. The Bridge of Swords is a battle and we told you that as well. Swords are metaphoric and they mean many things, so let us describe the things we mean them to say to you.

Number one: They are indeed a weapon in a battle. There is a battle coming. "Kryon, does that mean there's going to be a war?" Potentially, yes. Right now we will tell you that the Middle East cooks itself. You've noticed, haven't you? What do you know about the Middle East, dear one? Let's start examining things for a moment. What energy did you grow up in? What was the energy of the Middle East? In the '40s, what was the energy? With the establishment of the state of Israel, you built a wall of hate, both sides. The wall was so thick that the children of both sides were taught to hate one another as soon as they were able to understand the language. They were told who their enemies were. Now, where were you then?

Some of you weren't here yet. By the time you arrived, in your youth, were you aware of the Middle East? Not particularly. "What's the hatred about?" you might ask. What if I told you it's about a family feud? Two sons of a Jewish master are involved. One founded the Arabs and one remained a Jew. They don't want to hear this, but they are all Jews. (Don't tell them this.)

If you look at the lineage, it's pretty obvious and yet it's a complete and total set-up for either solution or war. The set-up would have this world ending in a conflagration that would have been brought about by this hatred. That's in the prophecy of Nostradamus and your scripture, but it is no longer the prophecy of the planet. Yet the hatred still exists. The hatred is as great today as it was then, but where was all the terrorism 40 years ago? It was isolated.

Those in Israel and Palestine and surrounding areas took the brunt of it, but now it's seemingly everywhere - and you're worried. Why would this be? The answer is that the old energy was happy to have this hatred contained, for it would keep it going and never involve outsiders. Outsiders tend to bring unwanted light to the party. Suddenly, the whole earth is involved and can see the entire scenario before them. The old guard wants war, just like all the eons before them. The ones on the bridge are holding the light and showing the earth how to cross. Even many younger ones in Israel and Palestine and Iran are holding light! It's all around the old guard and they are furious, for they are losing the "battle of hatred." …”

US citizens among nine held in Saudi crackdown: activists

Yahoo – AFP, April 5, 2019

A file photo taken in September 2016 of Saudi activist Aziza al-Yousef, temporarily
 released last week but who remains on trial with other women's rights campaigners
(AFP Photo/FAYEZ NURELDINE)

Dubai (AFP) - Saudi Arabia has arrested at least nine writers and academics, including two US citizens, in an apparent crackdown on supporters of detained women activists whose trial has drawn global censure, campaigners said Friday.

News of the arrests came the morning after US lawmakers voted to end military support for a Saudi-led war in neighbouring Yemen, which has triggered what the UN describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

It also marks the first major crackdown since the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October, which sparked unprecedented international scrutiny of the kingdom's human rights record.

Campaigners identified the US-Saudi dual nationals as writer and doctor Bader al-Ibrahim and Salah al-Haidar, the son of Aziza al-Yousef -- a high-profile activist who was temporarily released last week but remains on trial along with other women campaigners.

The latest round up started on Thursday, a day after the 11 women -- some of whom accused interrogators of torture and sexual abuse in detention -- returned to court to face charges that include contact with foreign media, diplomats and human rights groups.

London-based rights group ALQST identified eight arrested writers, bloggers and academics -- including a pregnant woman -- adding that the crackdown was linked to their support of female activists on trial.

Another public intellectual, university lecturer Anas al-Mazrou, was detained last month after he expressed solidarity with the detained women during a panel discussion at the Riyadh book fair, it added.

Prisoners of Conscience, a Saudi group that tracks political prisoners, put the number of people arrested at 10.

A State Department official confirmed that two US citizens were arrested, but refused to give more details due to "privacy considerations".

"When a US citizen is arrested abroad, the Department of State works to provide all appropriate consular assistance and seek access to the citizen without delay," the official said.

"We have already engaged the Saudi government in this regard."

Many of those arrested face travel bans, campaigners said.

The murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has left the oil-rich Gulf kingdom

facing increased scrutiny over human rights (AFP Photo/MOHAMMED AL-SHAIKH)

"Saudi authorities seem to be hell-bent on silencing anyone who dares to speak up or even voice their opinions privately and publicly," Amnesty International's Middle East campaigns director Samah Hadid told AFP.

"This goes beyond just attacking activists and now seems to target different segments of society. This is a dangerous pattern."

Pressure to stay silent 

"What is disturbing about new Saudi arrests is that waves of arrests keep moving from most-known to successively lesser knowns," Saudi-American activist Nora Abdulkarim said on Twitter.

"Another confusing aspect is timing, leaves one asking: 'why now?'"

Riyadh has faced pressure from major Western powers to release the women on trial, most of whom were detained last summer in a wide-ranging crackdown against activists just before the historic lifting of a decades-long ban on female motorists.

Three of them -- activist Aziza al-Yousef, blogger Eman al-Nafjan and preacher Rokaya al-Mohareb -- were granted temporary release last week.

Before their provisional release, the three freed women and their bail guarantors were made to sign a pledge that they will stay away from the media, according to multiple people with access to the trial.

The siblings of one of the prominent detainees, activist Loujain al-Hathloul, this week said they were being pressured by people close to the Saudi state to stay silent over her treatment in detention.

People close to the Saudi establishment have warned that public criticism by family members could prolong their detention.

"A reminder: we are not going to stay silent," Loujain's sister Alia al-Hathloul tweeted on Friday.

At an emotionally charged hearing last week, some women broke down as they accused interrogators of subjecting them to electric shocks, flogging and groping in detention, two people with access to the trial told AFP.

A Saudi prosecutor roundly rejected the accusations in the latest court hearing on Wednesday, witnesses said, reiterating the government's stance.

The next hearing in the trial, which foreign media and diplomats are barred from attending, is scheduled for April 17, activists say.

Amal Clooney named UK media freedom envoy

Yahoo – AFP, April 5, 2019

Lebanese-British human-rights lawyer Amal Clooney was named special envoy
for the media by the British government (AFP Photo/Damien MEYER)

Dinard (France) (AFP) - Prominent human rights lawyer Amal Clooney said it had "never been more dangerous to report the news" on Friday as she was appointed special envoy for media freedom by the British government.

Clooney has been tasked with heading a new panel of legal experts who will advise the British government on how to encourage other countries to promote transparency and protect media workers.

"We are here because it's never been more dangerous to report the news," Clooney told a press conference on the sidelines of a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Dinard, northern France.

"According to the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, in the last five years, we've seen the highest number of journalists imprisoned since their records began over three decades ago," she added.

Clooney said her legal panel could propose reforms to repressive laws in countries and she raised the idea of sanctions that could be used on regimes "that have abused journalists."

Her experience defending journalists in countries such a Egypt and Myanmar "has shown me how easily vague laws and corrupt courts can be used to silence dissent and muzzle the media."

In December last year, Clooney blasted US President Donald Trump for giving a "green light" to regimes to persecute journalists through his anti-press rhetoric.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Friday that "democratic countries need to stand together to make it an international taboo of the highest order to order the arrest or detain journalists for doing their job."

Algerian prosecutors ban corruption suspects from leaving country

France24 –AFP, 01 April 2019

Huge protests have been held across Algeria demanding ailing President Abdelaziz
Bouteflika leave power AFP

Algiers (AFP) - Algerian state prosecutors on Monday said they had banned corruption suspects from leaving the country after launching probes into graft and illegal money transfers abroad targeting unnamed individuals.

The moves come amid nationwide protests against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and follow the arrest of one of the incumbent's key backers, business tycoon Ali Haddad.

Haddad, who Forbes magazine describes as one of Algeria's wealthiest entrepreneurs, was detained overnight Saturday to Sunday at a border post with neighbouring Tunisia, a security source said, without giving a reason for the arrest.

On Sunday, the Algerian authorities also banned all private aircraft from taking off and landing until the end of the month.

The North African state has been rocked by weeks of mammoth protests sparked by Bouteflika's decision in February to seek a fifth term in office.

The veteran leader, who has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, said last month he would pull out of the race but postponed elections which were due in April.

The concession has done little to halt public ire and hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of the capital Algiers on Friday demanding the president and his entourage go.

Faced with the persistent anger, a succession of veteran Bouteflika loyalists have sought to distance themselves from the president in recent days.

On Tuesday, armed forces chief of staff Ahmed Gaid Salah called for him to step down or be declared medically unfit.

#UPDATE Algeria's ailing leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika submitted his resignation with immediate effect, ceding power in the face of massive street protest after two decades at the helm https://t.co/BdRyTIy9Yu

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 2 april 2019

Chicago to elect first black female mayor

Yahoo – AFP, Nova SAFO, April 2, 2019

Lori Lightfoot, in a run-off election for mayor of Chicago with Toni Preckwinkle,
greets commuters on election day (AFP Photo/SCOTT OLSON)

Chicago (AFP) - Chicago residents went to the polls Tuesday to elect the US city's first black female mayor -- and potentially its first openly gay mayor -- in a historic vote centered on issues of economic equality, race and gun violence.

Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle, both African-American women, are competing for the top elected post in the city -- the former casting herself as an outsider and reformer, and the latter as an experienced, steady hand.

The election is an inflection point in America's third largest city. Since 1837, Chicago has chosen only one other black mayor and one other female mayor. If Lightfoot wins, she would also become the city's first openly gay chief executive.

Analysts said voters were looking to shake up city politics -- fed up with gun violence that claims more lives here than in other major American cities, and years of political corruption in the Democratic stronghold.

"This is one of the most significant elections in Chicago history," Evan McKenzie, political science professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago, told AFP.

"Chicago voters seem to be in a 'throw the bums out' frame of mind," he said.

The initial field consisted of 14 contenders, but most moderates and establishment figures were sidelined in a February vote.

The two highest vote-getters are competing in Tuesday's run-off election and are running as progressive reformers, promising to clean up city government and reduce economic inequality.

While the two are alike in many ways, they have sought to differentiate themselves with their backgrounds.

Chicago mayoral candidate Toni Preckwinkle is a veteran of city politics and 

currently serves as chief executive of Cook County (AFP Photo/Kamil Krzaczynski)

Lightfoot has never held elected office. She is a former federal prosecutor who headed a panel investigating the city's policing problems.

Preckwinkle is currently the chief executive of Cook County in which Chicago is located, and has held elected office in the city for decades.

Local media reported that Lightfoot appeared to have more support in pre-election polling.

"It's change versus the status quo," Lightfoot said at a recent debate.

'New ideas'

Voters have left little doubt they want the eventual victor to tackle the major issues vexing the city of 2.7 million people.

"The message is that (voters) want new ideas and cleaner government," McKenzie said.

Community groups have for years complained about disparities in living conditions among the sprawling city's diverse communities.

Gun violence, fueled by gangs and the drug trade, plagues economically-depressed neighborhoods in the South and West, which are majority African-American.

The downtown business district, and areas to the North and along the city's famed lake shore, have enjoyed an economic boom even as more than 550 people were murdered last year alone.

Reforming the police department, which has a sordid history of abusive tactics, and city hall, which currently is mired in a federal corruption probe of one of its members, are also top of mind, McKenzie said.

"(Voters) are tired of corruption, federal investigations of city officials, police misconduct, and a budget crisis," he said.

Once a rising star in national Democratic politics, departing Chicago Mayor Rahm 

Emanuel was hurt by police abuse scandals and surging gang violence on

his watch (AFP Photo/SCOTT OLSON)

The Laquan McDonald case

The two candidates are vying to replace outgoing mayor Rahm Emanuel -- once a rising star in the Democratic Party and former President Barack Obama's first White House chief of staff.

Emanuel sustained political damage for his handling of the Laquan McDonald case and declined to run for a third term.

McDonald was a 17-year-old black teenager shot dead by police in a 2014 encounter caught on police dash cam video.

The video -- showing officer Jason Van Dyke firing 16 bullets into the knife-wielding teen even after he fell to the ground -- was not released for more than a year.

Emanuel faced accusations of an attempted cover-up. He fired the police chief and brought in a reformer who has instituted changes, worked to rebuild public trust, and reduced gun violence.

But as Van Dyke was about to go on trial for murder in September, Emanuel announced he would not run for re-election.

Van Dyke was convicted and sentenced to nearly seven years in prison.

Chicago's first black and gay woman mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot (L) kisses her wife Amy Eshleman while celebrating her election victory https://t.co/jGdnQhyKcr pic.twitter.com/drxMHfv02j

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 3 april 2019