Mugabe resigns: Zimbabwe celebrates end of an era - BBC News

Mugabe resigns: Zimbabwe celebrates end of an era

22/11/2017

Zimbabwe's day of celebration

Jubilant Zimbabweans have celebrated late into the night after Robert Mugabe resigned as president.

He held power for 37 years and once said "only God" could remove him.

His ally turned rival, former Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, is expected to return from neighbouring South Africa and could be appointed as the new president within hours.

Mr Mugabe's shock resignation came in the form of a letter read out by the speaker of parliament.

Robert Mugabe: Hero or villain?

Mugabe's long career in pictures

How Zimbabwe is celebrating

In it, Mr Mugabe - who had so far resisted pressure from the public, the army and his own party to step aside - said he was resigning to allow a smooth and peaceful transfer of power, and that his decision was voluntary.

The announcement abruptly halted an impeachment hearing that had begun against him on Tuesday.

'I'm so happy'

Lawmakers from the ruling party and opposition roared with glee, and spontaneous scenes of joy erupted in the streets with people dancing, singing, honking car horns and waving flags.

"I'm so happy, wonderful, feeling so much excited, this is the greatest moment for our country," Julian Mtukudzi told the AFP news agency.

"We have been having sleepless nights hoping and waiting and we are so happy. It's over and it's done."

Media captionActivist and political candidate Vimbaishe Musvaburi breaks down in tears of joy

Activist and political candidate Vimbaishe Musvaburi broke down in tears of joy speaking to the BBC.

"We are tired of this man, we are so glad he's gone. We don't want him anymore and yes, today, it's victory," she said.

Zimbabwe's next president

The ruling Zanu-PF party says former Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa will succeed Mr Mugabe.

Mr Mnangagwa's sacking earlier this month triggered a political crisis.

It had been seen by many as an attempt to clear the way for Grace Mugabe to succeed her husband as leader and riled the military leadership, who stepped in and put Mr Mugabe under house arrest.

Emmerson Mnangagwa: The 'crocodile' who snapped back

The polarising Grace Mugabe

Mr Mugabe, 93, was until his resignation the world's oldest leader.

According to the constitution his successor should be the current Vice-President, Phelekezela Mphoko, a supporter of Grace Mugabe.

But a ZANU-PF official Larry Mavhima told Reuters Mr Mnangagwa is to return home for 11:30 GMT, where he is later expected to be sworn-in.

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A city sings

Fergal Keane, BBC Africa editor, Harare

Driving through Harare, the cheers and the blaring of car horns signalled the end of the Mugabe era.

The man who dominated Zimbabwe for so long has already begun to fade into history here. It is a city singing with the noise of joy.

Exactly a week after the military first moved against President Mugabe, I was standing in parliament as legislators debated the motion to impeach him.

Suddenly, there was cheering.

An usher approached the speaker and handed him a letter. He stood to speak and we strained to hear his words. They were muffled but momentous. Robert Mugabe had resigned.

On the floor of the parliament I met jubilant MPs. Some danced. Celebrations spilled into the hallways and out into the street.

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Notes of caution

Despite welcoming the news, Zimbabwean opposition and civil society figures have warned that the political culture needs to change.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai told the BBC he hoped that Zimbabwe was on a "new trajectory" that would include free and fair elections.

He said Mr Mugabe should be allowed to "go and rest for his last days".

Media captionMorgan Tsvangirai told the BBC he hoped that Zimbabwe was on a "new trajectory"

Prominent Zimbabwean opposition politician David Coltart tweeted: "We have removed a tyrant but not yet a tyranny."

African Union president Alpha Conde said he was "truly delighted" by the news, but expressed regret at the way Mr Mugabe's rule has ended.

"It is a shame that he is leaving through the back door and that he is forsaken by the parliament," he said.

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Robert Mugabe - Timeline of a political life

Grace and Robert Mugabe togetherImage copyrightAFP

Image caption

President Mugabe was accused of preparing the presidency for his wife Grace

1924: Born in Kutama

1964: Imprisoned by Rhodesian government

1980: Wins post-independence elections

1996: Marries Grace Marufu

2000: Loses referendum, pro-Mugabe militias invade white-owned farms and attack opposition supporters

2008: Comes second in first round of elections to Morgan Tsvangirai who pulls out of run-off amid nationwide attacks on his supporters

2009: Amid economic collapse, swears in Mr Tsvangirai as prime minister, who serves in uneasy government of national unity for four years

2017: Sacks long-time ally Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, paving the way for his wife Grace to succeed him. Army intervenes and forces him to step down

Google Is Filtering News for the Wrong Reason - Bloomberg

Google Is Filtering News for the Wrong Reason

If the standard is corporate safety, democracy has a problem.

By Leonid Bershidsky

November 22, 2017

We've known for a long time that Google makes content decisions, but recent moves in the direction of censorship are going too far. Unfortunately, it's hard to imagine a regulatory backlash given Google's victims: websites that no mainstream politician will defend.

Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google's parent company, Alphabet, told a conference on Monday the company was working to engineer RT and Sputnik, the Russian propaganda channels, out of the Google News aggregator. "We don’t want to ban the sites,” Schmidt said. "That’s not how we operate. I am strongly not in favor of censorship. I am very strongly in favor of ranking. It’s what we do."

Schmidt's words are a riff on an April post by Google Vice President of Engineering Ben Gomes, who teased changes to how Google searches for news. New instructions targeted "deceptive webpages" that look like news but seek to "manipulate users" with conspiracy theories, hoaxes and inaccurate information. "We’ve adjusted our signals to help surface more authoritative pages and demote low-quality content," Gomes wrote.

I'm not going to claim RT and Sputnik are real news media (in fact, I've argued they're not). But do I want Google to "engineer it out" of news searches or the Google News aggregation service? Absolutely not, and I want my fringe and alternative websites, too, regardless of their political coloring.

I am, of course, a media professional. I know these sites are frequently wrong, and wrong on purpose. I know they push conspiracy theories and propaganda. But the spin they put on the news is immensely illuminating to my work. Last year, U.S. psychologist Robert Epstein published an article on Sputnik alleging Google's search suggestions were slanted toward candidate Hillary Clinton. In response, I wrote a column that voiced serious doubts about Epstein's evidence. That process -- an important one in democracies -- would've never played out had Google downgraded Sputnik and left me blind to the existence of Epstein's article.

Of course, it can be argued that the average news consumer shouldn't be fed the fakes and the spins because she lacks the time and the engagement necessary to filter through it all. But that's not really why Google censors the news through its ranking system.

Google is trying to minimize threats to its business, to avoid any kind of criticism that could lead to regulation. In the April post, Gomes referred to an incident from last December: Those asking Google “Did the Holocaust happen?” received a clear, embarrassing answer: no. Google wanted to make such situations less likely, Gomes wrote.

The same logic applies to its recent moves. Google decided to downgrade links to RT and Sputnik just as members of Congress investigate whether U.S. technology platforms helped facilitate a Russian disinformation campaign during the presidential election. Until the possibility of regulation arose, the company was fine with those links, even though RT's and Sputnik's content was always as pungent as it is today.

The bottom line is that Google will downgrade any kind of content that can cause a backlash against it. That's important to understand even if you don't want to see alt-right, alt-left, pro-Russian, pro-Iran or any other biased "news stories." What you do want can end up being censored, too, if Google's finely tuned corporate nose smells complications.

Sure, there are applications, such as Feedly, Nuzzel or Flipboard, that let you build your own news aggregator. But they're less convenient to use than Google News, which is attached to the Google function everyone uses -- search. Google is a monopoly that regulators have mostly allowed to bundle various products with the main one. If that were not the case, competitors might arise that offer different degrees of filtering and different ranking models. That would be bad for business and good for consumers, who are now stuck using Google's mainstream filter bubble. As someone who works in the mainstream media, I should probably welcome that -- but I'd rather have fair competition for the inquisitive reader's mind, and for traffic.

Trump administration to end protected status for Haiti - CNN Politics

Trump administration to end protected status for Haiti

Sophie Tatum

By Sophie Tatum

November 21, 2017

(CNN)The Trump administration has announced it will end the Temporary Protected Status designation for Haiti by July 2019, potentially forcing tens of thousands of Haitian immigrants to either leave the US or live in the shadows.

TPS is an immigration status allowed by law for certain countries experiencing dire conditions, such as a natural disaster, epidemic or war. It protects individuals from deportation and authorizes them to work in the US.

In May, former Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who now serves as White House chief of staff, extended the protection from deportation for Haitians for an additional six months. When Kelly temporarily extended the status for Haiti, which had received the designation after an earthquake devastated the island in 2010, he warned the nearly 58,700 recipients living in America to prepare their affairs for going back to Haiti or to find another way to apply to stay in the United States.

"Based on all available information, including recommendations received as part of an inter-agency consultation process, Acting Secretary Duke determined that those extraordinary but temporary conditions caused by the 2010 earthquake no longer exist," a statement from the Department of Homeland Security said. "Thus, under the applicable statute, the current TPS designation must be terminated."

According to DHS, the department can designate a country for Temporary Protected Status when it has been affected by "conditions in the country that temporarily prevent the country's nationals from returning safely, or in certain circumstances, where the country is unable to handle the return of its nationals adequately."

This can include situations like civil wars or natural disasters. Individuals who are already in the United States from the designated countries are eligible and are then protected from deportation.

When their protected status expires, individuals living in the US under those protections will revert to the status they would have had otherwise or the status they applied for in the interim, meaning thousands could become undocumented overnight if they do not leave or qualify for residency another way.

According to Monday's announcement by DHS, "the termination of TPS for Haiti will be delayed 18 months," in order to ensure a smooth transition.

Earlier this month, DHS announced that acting Secretary Elaine Duke had decided to end the Temporary Protected Status for Nicaragua but was unable to come to a decision on Honduras.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez blasted the Haiti move on Twitter, saying that "Donald Trump's cruelty knows no bounds."

"As the proud son of two immigrants who fled an oppressive regime, I'm disgusted at the President's heartlessness," Perez said in a statement shared by the DNC. "With this decision, Trump is tearing families apart and turning his back on the values that have made our country great."

CNN's Tal Kopan contributed to this report.

Trump declares North Korea 'sponsor of terror' - BBC News

Trump declares North Korea 'sponsor of terror'

21/11/2017

Trump: "N Korea supported acts of international terrorism"

President Trump has announced that the US is re-designating North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism, nine years after it was removed from the list.

In a cabinet meeting, he said the move would trigger "very large" additional sanctions to be announced on Tuesday.

But Secretary of State Rex Tillerson later admitted that "the practical effects may be limited".

Mr Trump blamed the country's nuclear programme, and support for what he called international acts of terrorism.

While announcing the decision at the White House, the US president said it "should have happened a long time ago".

North Korea crisis explained in 300 words

How advanced is North Korea's nuclear programme?

How should Trump handle North Korea?

In September, the US proposed a range of United Nations sanctions against North Korea, including an oil ban and a freeze on leader Kim Jong-un's assets.

It followed the North's sixth nuclear test and repeated missile launches.

North Korea joins Iran, Sudan and Syria on a list of countries that are deemed to have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism.

The country has been on the list before but was removed in 2008 by the administration of George W Bush as part of negotiations on the North's nuclear programme.

The campaign to reinstate it intensified after the American college student Otto Warmbier died shortly after he was released from North Korean custody.

Move makes talks even less likely

By Barbara Plett Usher, State Department correspondent, BBC News

Secretary Tillerson hasn't given up on a negotiated solution to the stand-off with North Korea.

He told journalists he still hoped for diplomacy. But the decision to put Pyongyang back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism will almost certainly set back the possibility of any opening for talks, at least in the short term.

The chances of that happening were slim anyway. And it might prompt a backlash from North Korea, perhaps by way of another missile test.

The Americans have had some success in getting other countries to tighten the noose on Pyongyang, including from China.

Mr Tillerson's goal remains to eventually force the regime to back down and agree to negotiations aimed at giving up its nuclear weapons programme, something Pyongyang has refused to do.

China on the other hand, is pushing for talks now, alongside the pressure. It won't be happy about anything that makes that less likely

Speaking to reporters at a White House press briefing, Mr Tillerson, the top US diplomat, said the designation was meant to hold North Korea accountable for recent actions it has taken "including assassinations outside of their country" and "using banned chemical weapons".

He admitted that given existing sanctions it was "very symbolic" but also said new measures could "disrupt and dissuade some third parties from undertaking certain activities with North Korea".

"The practical effects may be limited but hopefully we're closing off a few loopholes with this," he said.

Will we ever know what happened to Otto Warmbier?

Warmbier coroner queries torture claim

Mr Kim continues to pursue nuclear weapons and missile programmes in defiance of UN Security Council sanctions.

Media captionNuclear North Korea: What do we know?

He has made no secret of Pyongyang's plans to develop a missile capable of reaching the US mainland and has claimed to have developed a hydrogen bomb.

Last month, US Defence Secretary James Mattis said that the threat of nuclear attack from North Korea was increasing.

Monday's announcement comes after the president returned from an extensive tour of Asia last week.

Trump's Oklahoma campaign chair to plead guilt to child sex trafficking - NBC News

Trump's Oklahoma campaign chair to plead guilt to child sex trafficking by John Paul Brammer / Nov.21.2017

Ralph Shortey, a former Oklahoma state senator who last year served as Donald Trump's campaign chair in the state, was meticulous about keeping up his reputation as a pious man, according to several fellow Oklahomans. That reputation, however, has all but disappeared. According to Shortey's attorney, the former Republican lawmaker will plead guilty to one count of child sex trafficking on Nov. 30.

Ralph Shortey is facing felony child prostitution charges after police say he solicited sex from a 17-year-old boy. Cleveland County Sheriff's Office Via AP

Shortey, a 35-year-old married father of three, resigned from the state Legislature in March after being charged with several felonies, including engaging in child prostitution, after police found him in a hotel room with a 17-year-old male. Shortey's attorney, Ed Blau, confirmed that his client will plead guilty to a charge of child sex trafficking in exchange for U.S. prosecutors' dropping three child pornography charges against him.

"Mr. Shortey feels this is a necessary step in putting this painful and humiliating ordeal behind him, for both himself, his family and for the state of Oklahoma," Blau told local news site NewsOK on Friday.

Blau did not respond to NBC News' requests for comment.

While the age of consent in Oklahoma is 16, child prostitution statutes apply to anyone under 18. Shortey faces a minimum of 10 years in prison on the child sex trafficking charge.

According to court documents, Shortey and the unnamed teen, referred to as John Doe, connected on Craigslist in or around February 2016. From then until March, the documents state, Shortey "obtained at least one image of John Doe's penis." Then, on or around March 8, the teen messaged Shortey saying, I need money for spring break." The then-lawmaker asked if the teen would be interested in "sexual stuff."

Following a tip from John Doe's father, police went looking for the teen at a Super 8 Motel in Moore, Oklahoma, on March 9, at a room rented with Shortey's driver's license and credit card. When officers knocked, Shortey told them he and the teen were getting dressed.

"When Shortey opened the door, Doe left the room with his backpack, which contained a bottle of lotion," the police report stated. "Inside the room, Moore Police offers found Shortey's backpack. Shortey's backpack contained an open box of condoms and a laptop computer."

The report also stated Shortey was in possession of child pornography that "depicts a man engaging in sexually explicit conduct with a prepubescent girl."

For LGBTQ advocates in the heartland, Shortey's fall from grace exposed the "family values" politician as a hypocrite. Troy Stevenson, executive director of the LGBTQ organization Freedom Oklahoma, said he knew Shortey as a person who cared a great deal about maintaining his image as a good Christian lawmaker.

Stevenson described one encounter with Shortey ahead of a vote on an anti-transgender "bathroom bill" in which the lawmaker allegedly told Stevenson that while he couldn't vote against the measure because it would inflame his Christian base, he would abstain.

"Then, not 12 hours later, he sits in the committee and voted in the bill," Stevenson lamented.

This was not the first time Shortey voted against the state's LGBTQ community because of his Christian beliefs. He routinely voted with his Republican colleagues on bills targeting gay and transgender people, including a measure passed earlier this year that would allow business owners to discriminate against gay people.

Shortey is not the only social conservative who has taken a recent fall from grace either. Wesley Goodman, a Republican and first-term state representative in Ohio, resigned on Nov. 14 because of "inappropriate behavior." Several local news outlets, including The Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Columbus Dispatch, reported Goodman — a vocal proponent of "natural marriage" — was caught engaging in sexual activity with a male visitor in his legislative office. The New York Times and The Washington Post also reported on Goodman's alleged inappropriate behavior with young men.

"I've seen it in both parties, but there are these ultra right-wing politicians trying to prove their piety and running on issues of moral superiority while having behind-the-scenes lives," Stevenson said. "They don't think anyone is going to catch them."

Stevenson said he does not believe Shortey's sexual orientation is worth delving into.

"We've made it very clear that this isn’t about him being gay. It’s about him being a child predator and a sex trafficker and a hypocrite," Stevenson said. "He was also caught with child pornography of both males and females of a much younger age. He's an equal opportunity predator."

What is the extent of China's influence in Zimbabwe? - BBC News

What is the extent of China's influence in Zimbabwe?

By Dr Alex Vines

Chatham House

20 November 2017

General Chiwenga was welcomed to China by military leaders

A trip to Beijing by Zimbabwe's military chief was a "normal military exchange", China's foreign ministry said after the army seized power in Harare. How deep are relations between China and Zimbabwe really?

The news that General Constantino Chiwenga had visited China only a few days before the military takeover in Zimbabwe was a coincidence that did not go unnoticed.

There was also speculation after China said it was closely watching developments, but stopped short of condemning President Mugabe's apparent removal from power.

China is Zimbabwe's fourth largest trading partner and its largest source of investment - with stakes worth many billions of pounds in everything from agriculture to construction.

Zimbabwe is the dependent partner - with China providing the largest market for its exports and much needed support to its fragile economy.

China's relations with Zimbabwe are deep, starting during the Rhodesian Bush War.

Robert Mugabe failed in 1979 to get Soviet backing, so turned to China, which provided his guerrilla fighters with weapons and training.

Both countries formally established diplomatic relations at Zimbabwean independence in 1980 and Robert Mugabe visited Beijing as prime minister the following year.

He has been a regular visitor since.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Chinese President Xi JinpingImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES

Image caption

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has met Chinese leaders a number of times

For years, Zimbabwe's officials have tried to play off China against the West, advocating the country's "Look East" strategy, particularly following the introduction of EU sanctions in 2002.

Indeed, a decade ago, Mr Mugabe told a packed rally at the Chinese-built national sports stadium in Harare: 'We have turned east, where the sun rises, and given our back to the west, where the sun sets."

China's military engagement also deepened during Zimbabwe's "Look East" era.

Significant purchases were made, including Hongdu JL-8 jet aircraft, JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft, vehicles, radar and weapons.

However, following a controversy about a shipment of arms in 2008, Beijing decided to list Zimbabwe for "limited level" military trading.

Despite Zimbabwe's efforts, the "Look East" strategy did not bring the investment flood hoped for and a decade later, in August 2015, Mr Mugabe openly asked for Western re-engagement in his "state of the nation" address.

Five things you should know about Zimbabwe

Robert Mugabe - hero or villain?

How can you tell a coup is happening?

Now, the reality is that increasingly Chinese and Western interests - particularly those of the UK - have become aligned.

Not far from each other in the outer suburbs of Harare, two of the biggest embassies in Zimbabwe are the British and the Chinese.

As other embassies scaled down or closed, Beijing's expanded.

Whereas British diplomats were well connected with business, civil society and opposition figures, the Chinese invested in "technical support" of the party of government Zanu-PF, including state security and the presidency.

When it came to Zanu-PF politics and factionalism, Chinese diplomats were well connected and insightful and, like their Western colleagues, concerned about stability, a better investment climate and adherence to the rule of law.

President Xi Jinping visited Zimbabwe in 2015 and President Mugabe visited Beijing in January 2017.

In public, the Chinese leader said his country is willing to encourage capable companies to invest in Zimbabwe.

But in private, the message was that there would be no more loans until Zimbabwe stabilised its economy.

Military spokesman speaking on ZBC, 15 November 2017

Image caption

Maj Gen Sibusiso Moyo said the military was not staging a coup

In 2016 trade between the two countries amounted to $1.1bn (£0.8bn), with China the biggest buyer of Zimbabwean tobacco and also importing cotton and various minerals.

In return Zimbabwe imported electronics, clothing and other finished products.

Chinese state construction firms have also been active, building infrastructure including Zimbabwe's $100m (£75m) National Defence College.

And last year China agreed to finance a new 650-seat parliament in Harare.

But Chinese diplomats and many businesses are waiting for better days in Zimbabwe.

Some companies have found the investment climate challenging - being burned on diamonds, for example - and have looked for alternative markets.

A couple of weeks ago I was in China, attending a meeting on China-Africa relations and Zimbabwe was not mentioned once.

Unlike Ethiopia, Sudan, or Angola that are strategic partners, or big markets like Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, Zimbabwe is far from being Beijing's new priority.

So, Beijing's interest is in a better investment climate in Zimbabwe.

A clear transitional arrangement resulting in elections for a legitimate government in Harare is as much in Beijing's interest as London's.

The "Look East" and the "Re-engagement with the West" strategies have not brought about the confidence and investment that Zimbabwe needs.

What Zimbabwe requires is stable and accountable government - then investors from Asia, America and Europe will seriously consider that Zimbabwe has an investment future.

This was the message that Mr Mugabe received in Beijing in January.

And the one which Zimbabwe's military chief also was given last week.

About this piece

This analysis piece was commissioned by the BBC from an expert working for an outside organisation.

Dr Alex Vines OBE is Head of Africa Programme, Chatham House, and a Senior Lecturer at Coventry University.

Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, describes itself as an independent policy institute helping to build a sustainably secure, prosperous and just world.

Edited by Duncan Walker