US, Russia to Hold Security Talks about Nuclear Arms and Ukraine Border in January 2022

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - The United States and Russia will hold talks in January about nuclear arms control and tensions along the Russia-Ukraine border.

A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council told reporters the two sides would meet January 10, followed by Russia-NATO talks on January 12 and a meeting on January 13 with Russia, the United States and other members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

"When we sit down to talk, Russia can put its concerns on the table, and we will put our concerns on the table with Russia's activities as well," the spokesperson said.

"There will be areas where we can make progress, and areas where we will disagree. That's what diplomacy is about."

Western governments have been alarmed by the buildup of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine, expressing concern about potential plans for a Russian invasion.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has denied any such plans and has demanded guarantees against NATO expansion close to its territory.

The National Security Council spokesperson said in respect to Ukraine’s own interests, the U.S.-Russia talks will not reach any decisions about Ukraine.

"President Biden's approach on Ukraine has been clear and consistent: unite the alliance behind two tracks -- deterrence and diplomacy. We are unified as an alliance on the consequences Russia would face if it moves on Ukraine," the spokesperson said.(VOA)

Typhoon Rai (Odette) Damages South China Sea Outposts of Philippines, Vietnam

MANILA, LELEMUKU.COM - Typhoon Rai (Odette), the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines and Vietnam this year, caused severe damage to some of their major outposts in the South China Sea, according to the Philippine Coast Guard and Vietnamese media.

The hardest hit were Thitu, an island under the Philippines’ control and known to Filipinos as Pag-asa, and Southwest Cay, a maritime territory held by Vietnam.

Satellite images taken before and after the category-5 super typhoon struck show that the islands changed in color from green to brown, as winds and rains knocked down trees and destroyed plants.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) posted several photos of Pag-asa on social media after the typhoon, known as Odette in the Philippines, slammed the island last week.

The island is the only Philippine-controlled outpost in the South China Sea with a civilian population of around 200. It’s also the largest and most important feature in the Kalayaan Island Group, hosting a naval port and an air strip.

The island is also claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Aerial photos show “almost all the buildings and structures on the island were destroyed by the typhoon,” said the coast guard, adding that “no fishing boats were found to have survived” either.

The ABS-CBN news channel quoted a PCG spokesman, Commodore Armand Balilo, as saying that the newly-built coast-guard station on Pag-asa was “totally washed out.”

Residents on Pag-asa were evacuated before the typhoon and there have been no reporst of fatalities. However, the coast guard is calling for relief supplies to be delivered and damaged structures to be reconstructed or repaired.

Vietnamese outposts affected

Meanwhile Vietnam, while being spared the brunt of the typhoon, which didn’t strike the mainland directly, had to evacuate thousands of people from central coastal areas.

Local media said some of the outposts in the Spratlys Islands, including Southwest Cay and Sin Cowe Island, were badly affected.

On Southwest Cay, the typhoon known in Vietnam as Typhoon Number 9 destroyed 90 percent of the trees and many houses as well as solar panels. The cay and Sin Cowe Island had sheltered hundreds of Vietnamese fishing boats operating nearby, the Voice of Vietnam said.

Southwest Cay is the second largest of the Vietnamese-occupied features after Spratly Island. It’s also claimed by China, the Philippines and Taiwan.

North Vietnamese forces took the island from the Saigon regime’s troops in 1975.(benarnews)

Indonesia Air Force Will Acquire US F-15s, French Rafales

JAKARTA, LELEMUKU.COM - Indonesia has abandoned a deal to purchase Sukhoi fighter-jets from Russia and has narrowed its acquisition choice to U.S.-made F-15s and French-made Rafales, the Indonesian air force chief said Wednesday.

Air Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo’s revelation followed recent visits to Jakarta by senior officials from France and Russia to boost ties and show their commitment to countries in the Indo-Pacific.

“Regarding the Sukhoi Su-35, with a heavy heart, yes, we have abandoned that plan. We can’t just keep talking about it,” Fadjar told reporters.

Fadjar said Indonesia was no longer interested in Russia’s Sukhois because of a protracted acquisition process, and a fear of U.S. sanctions, although Moscow’s envoy to Jakarta said Wednesday that the deal was not dead yet.

Russia and France, which have territories and a military presence in the Asia-Pacific, had both voiced concern about AUKUS, a newly signed, American-led regional defense pact. France, in particular, was furious about being shut out of the trilateral deal, through which a French deal to sell nuclear-powered submarine to Australia collapsed.    

“The F-15 EX team has come to me and they told us if we signed an agreement today, we will receive the first units around 2027,” Fadjar said.

The Indonesian air force chief did not give details about its potential purchases or indicate whether its acquisitions would include both F-15XS warplanes and Rafales. He said his force had proposed adding a maximum of three squadrons – that is, 12 to 24 planes per squadron – of F-15EXs and/or Rafales.

Officials at the Ministry of Defense, meanwhile, have repeatedly refused to comment on the fate of the Sukhoi deal. On Wednesday, they could not be immediately reached to confirm the news announced by Fadjar.

Earlier this year, Indonesia said it planned to acquire eight of Boeing’s F-15EXs. The Indonesian Air Force currently has 33 F-16s. In June, Indonesia also signed a letter of intent to buy 36 Dassault Rafale fighter-jets.

So when the French foreign minister visited Jakarta last month, the country was hoping for a Rafale sale after Australia dumped a deal it had signed to purchase submarines from France.

After Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom signed the AUKUS pact in August – a move that also infuriated China – some analysts predicted Indonesia might ditch its Sukhoi purchase plan in favor of France.

“Indonesia will likely settle on those fighter jets least likely to incense either China or the U.S., giving France’s Rafale bid an advantage over the others, unless a new contender appears on the horizon,” Indonesian analyst Johannes Nugroho wrote in an article published by the Lowy Institute, an Australian think-tank.

Worry about US sanctions?

Lyudmila Vorobieva, the Russian ambassador to Indonesia, said there was still a chance the Sukhoi deal would materialize.

“I have no new information about that. We still hope that Sukhoi deal will come through,” she told reporters. “It’s up to the Indonesian side to go on with it.”

In March, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto visited Russia but he did not say whether the Sukhoi deal came up during talks with Russian officials.

In 2018, Indonesia reached an agreement to acquire 11 Sukhoi Su-35s worth U.S. $1.14 billion.

Under the deal, Indonesia agreed to pay for the warplanes through a barter agreement in which Jakarta would exchange a $570 million (8.3 trillion rupiah) package of Indonesian commodities including crude palm oil, rubber and coffee.

But the purchase never happened amid concerns that Indonesia could face U.S. sanctions for buying weapons from Moscow.

A year earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump had signed into law the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions (CAATSA), which imposed sanctions on Iran, Russia, and North Korea.

Under the legislation, countries that engage in “significant transactions” with North Korea, Iran, or Russia through the purchase of military equipment could be placed under U.S. sanctions.

Upgrading military

According to a draft presidential decree that circulated in June 2021, the Indonesian government planned to spend U.S. $125 billion during the next three years to upgrade and modernize its military arsenal.

The government proposed spending $79.1 billion on military equipment, $13.4 billion in interest on 25-year loans from foreign sources, and $32.5 billion on contingencies and maintenance.

Many in the country criticized the plan to spend so much money on the military during a time of pandemic, when so many people had lost their jobs or seen their salaries slashed. The decree’s fate is not yet known.

Since taking office in 2019, Defense Minister Prabowo has visited weapons-producing countries including the U.S., Russia, China and France to secure defense deals.

In addition to plans to buy Rafale and F-15Xs, the Indonesian Defense Ministry earlier this year also unveiled plans to acquire 15 C-130J transport aircraft made by Lockheed Martin in the U.S., and two French Airbus 330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) planes.

Last month, Indonesia also ordered two Airbus A400M transport aircraft in an agreement signed on the sidelines of the Dubai Airshow. (Ronna Nirmala| BenarNews)

US Senate Parliamentarian Deals Democrats Blow on Immigration

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Democrats must drop an effort to let millions of immigrants remain temporarily in the U.S. from their expansive social and environment bill, the Senate parliamentarian decided Thursday, dealing the latest blow to a longtime priority of the party, migrant advocates and progressives.

The opinion by Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate's nonpartisan arbiter of its rules, all but certainly means Democrats will ultimately have to pull the proposal from their 10-year, roughly $2 trillion package. The measure carries health care, family services and climate change initiatives, mostly paid for with higher taxes on corporations and the rich, that are top priorities for President Joe Biden.

When the Senate considers the overall legislation — which is currently stalled — Democrats are expected to try reviving the immigration provisions, or perhaps even stronger language giving migrants a way to become permanent residents or citizens. But such efforts would face solid opposition from Republicans and probably a small number of Democrats, which would be enough for defeat in the 50-50 chamber.

MacDonough's opinion was no surprise — it was the third time since September that she said Democrats would violate Senate rules by using the legislation to help immigrants and should remove immigration provisions from the bill. Nonetheless, it was a painful setback for advocates hoping to capitalize on Democratic control of the White House and Congress for gains on the issue, which have been elusive in Congress for decades.

MacDonough's finding was the second defeat of the day inflicted on Democrats' social and economic package. Biden was also forced to concede that Senate work on the massive overall bill would be delayed until at least January after his negotiations stalled with holdout Senator Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who wants to further cut and reshape the legislation.

"We will advance this work together over the days and weeks ahead," the president said in a statement.

Democrats' latest immigration proposal would have let an estimated 6.5 million immigrants in the U.S. since at least 2010 without legal authorization apply for up to two five-year work permits. The permits would let them hold jobs, avoid deportation and in some instances travel abroad without risking their residency here. Applicants would have to meet background checks and other requirements.

Immigration advocates and their Democratic Senate allies have said they will continue seeking a way to include provisions helping migrants in the legislation, but their pathway is unclear.

"Disappointed. And we're considering what options remain," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, told reporters about the parliamentarian's ruling.

'Substantial policy changes'

Democrats are using special rules that would let them push the overall bill through the Senate by a simple majority vote, not the 60 votes legislation usually needs to end debate and move forward. GOP opposition means the immigration provisions Democrats want would not survive as a free-standing bill.

But under those same rules, such bills can't have provisions that are driven more by policy changes than by cuts or increases in the federal budget.

The parliamentarian makes that call. Her opinion said Democrats had failed that test because the disputed language would have changed a program that currently awards work permits sparingly into one where it would be mandatory to issue the permits to migrants who qualify for them.

"These are substantial policy changes with lasting effects just like those we previously considered and outweigh the budgetary impact," MacDonough wrote. Earlier this year, she rejected two Democratic proposals that would have each created a chance for permanent legal status for 8 million migrants.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the bill's immigration provisions would end up costing the government around $111 billion over 10 years, largely because of federal benefits immigrants would qualify to receive by gaining legal status.

The rejected plan would have created no new pathway for those getting work permits to remain in the U.S. permanently. But the budget office estimated last month that of 6.5 million migrants who would ultimately get the temporary permits, around 3 million would later gain permanent residency because their new status would remove some obstacles in that process.

Many progressives and migrant supporters have long urged Democrats to vote to overrule the parliamentarian, whose opinion is advisory and whose decisions senators seldom overturn. Advocates resumed pressuring the party to do so after MacDonough's ruling.

"This is a fight about racial justice," said Greisa Martinez Rosas, executive director of United We Dream, an immigrantrights group. Citing the strong support Democrats usually receive from Hispanic voters, she said advocates would accept no excuses for inaction.

"It's time for Democrats to deliver on their promises; they must disregard today's recommendation" by the parliamentarian and add citizenship provisions to the bill, she said.

Overturning the ruling

It seems unlikely that Democrats would have the unanimous support they would need to overturn MacDonough's opinion. Manchin, one of Congress' more conservative Democrats, has said he would not vote to overturn a ruling of the parliamentarian "on every issue."

Even so, top Democrats signaled Thursday evening that they would try.

"We strongly disagree with the Senate parliamentarian's interpretation of our immigration proposal, and we will pursue every means to achieve a path to citizenship" in the social and environment bill, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Durbin and four Latino Democratic senators said in a statement. They added, "We stand with the millions of immigrant families across the country who deserve better and for whom we will not stop fighting."

The latest proposal fell well short of Biden's initial plan this year to give the 11 million immigrants in the U.S. without legal authorization a way to seek permanent residency and even citizenship.

Even so, it would have been Congress' most sweeping move in decades to help migrants in this country. A 1986 immigration overhaul helped an estimated 2.5 million immigrants win permanent residency. (VOA)

O'Neil, Hodges, Minoso, Kaat, Oliva, Fowler Get Into Baseball Hall of Fame

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Buck O'Neil, a champion of Black ballplayers during a monumental, eight-decade career on and off the field, joined Gil Hodges, Minnie Minoso and three others in being elected to the baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.

Former Minnesota Twins teammates Tony Oliva and Jim Kaat also were chosen along with Bud Fowler by a pair of veterans committees.

Oliva and Kaat are the only living new members. Dick Allen, who died last December, fell one vote shy of election.

The 16-member Early Days and Golden Days committees met separately in Orlando, Florida. The election announcement was originally scheduled to coincide with the big league winter meetings, which were nixed because of the MLB lockout.

The six newcomers will be enshrined in Cooperstown, New York, on July 24, 2022, along with any new members elected by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

First-time candidates David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez join Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling on the ballot, with voting results on Jan. 25. (VOA)

Pope Francis Visiting Migrant Camp on Greek Island of Lesbos

VATICAN, LELEMUKU.COM - Pope Francis will travel to Lesbos on Sunday to meet asylum-seekers at a migrant camp there on his second visit to the Greek island that was at the forefront of Europe's refugee crisis.

Francis is on a five-day trip to Cyprus and Greece during which he has highlighted the struggles of refugees and migrants, an issue that has become the cornerstone of his papacy.

On his previous visit to Lesbos in 2016, at the height of Europe's migration crisis, Francis walked through the squalid and dangerously overcrowded Moria camp and famously brought 12 Syrian refugees back to Rome with him.

Moria, at its worst point the size of a town of 20,000 people, burned down last year after becoming a symbol of Europe's stumbling response to a crisis that left much of the burden to be carried by small islands like Lesbos.

On Sunday, the pope will visit the temporary camp that was hastily set up after the blaze, in an old army firing range, home to around 2,300 mostly Afghan asylum-seekers.

Dozens of police officers were deployed inside and migrants were queuing up to enter the tent where the pope was due to speak.

"The issue of migration cannot disproportionately affect the countries on the borders of the European Union," Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said on Sunday.

Greece, like other Mediterranean countries Italy, Spain and Cyprus, has long been the gateway into the European Union for people fleeing war, poverty or persecution in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

While the number of people crossing to Greece from Turkey has fallen dramatically in recent years, the government, fearing a possible wave of refugees from Taliban-conquered Afghanistan, is hardening its migration policy. Public attitudes toward migrants have also become increasingly hostile.

Greece has come under fire from rights groups for building "prison-like" closed holding centers for migrants on five islands close to Turkey, including Lesbos, and for intercepting migrant boats at sea.

Ahead of the pope's visit, about two dozen asylum-seekers, some of whom have been in limbo on Lesbos for years, gathered for Mass in a small Roman Catholic church.

"We hope that by this visit, maybe something can change," said Landrid, a 42-year-old man who fled a separatist insurgency in Cameroon. (VOA)

Fugitive Parents of US Teen Accused in Deadly School Shooting Arrested

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Police in the Midwestern U.S. state of Michigan say they have arrested the parents of a teenager charged with four counts of first-degree murder in a shooting Tuesday at his high school.

Jennifer and James Crumbley were arrested early Saturday in Detroit, according to police.

A prosecutor had filed involuntary manslaughter charges against the parents in connection with the deaths.

The parents, however, failed to appear in court Friday, causing police to issue a fugitive warrant for the couple who were charged with four counts of manslaughter for ignoring warning signs ahead of the school shooting and giving their son access to a gun.

The couple’s lawyer, Shannon Smith, told authorities they left town earlier in the week for their own safety, according to the Associated Press.

U.S. marshals had issued wanted posters for the parents, offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the couple’s arrest.

The Crumbleys were charged three days after their 15-year-old son, Ethan, allegedly opened fire at Oxford High School in the town of Oxford, Michigan, killing four students and wounding seven other people.

Karen McDonald, the chief prosecutor in Oakland County, Michigan, said in an interview with WJR-AM radio in Detroit, Michigan that the Crumbleys' actions prior to the killings went "far beyond negligence."

Prosecutors said Ethan Crumbley had displayed several warning signs before the school shooting, including drawing a picture of a handgun and a bleeding figure with the words "Blood everywhere" and "The thoughts won't stop — help me" written on the sheet.

They also said a teacher had seen the teenager searching online for ammunition on his phone and alerted school officials.

James and Jennifer Crumbley were summoned to the school a few hours before the shooting but "resisted" the idea of taking their son home from school, according to McDonald.

Parents in the U.S. are seldom charged in school shootings involving their children, experts say. If convicted, the Crumbleys could face up to 15 years in prison.

Ethan Crumbley has been charged as an adult with two dozen crimes, including first-degree murder and terrorism, for allegedly killing the students with a semiautomatic gun that investigators said Crumbley's father had bought legally last week.

Michigan law does not require gun owners to keep weapons locked away from children.

Tuesday's attack was the deadliest shooting in a U.S. school this year, according to Education Week. It was also the latest in a series of mass shootings at U.S. schools that span decades. (VOA)

Multiple Cases of Omicron Variant Detected In New York City

NEW YORK, LELEMUKU.COM - Multiple cases of the omicron coronavirus variant have been detected in New York, health officials said Thursday, including a man who attended an anime convention in Manhattan in late November and tested positive for the variant when he returned home to Minnesota.

In addition to the conventioneer, tests showed five other people recently infected with COVID-19 had the variant, health officials said. They included a person in the city's Long Island suburbs who had recently traveled to South Africa, residents of Brooklyn and Queens, and another case possibly linked to travel.

"No cause for alarm. We just want to make sure that the public is aware of information when we receive it," said Governor Kathy Hochul.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the geographic spread of the positive tests suggested the variant was undergoing "community spread" in the city and wasn't linked to any one event.

The news came a day after the U.S. announced its first case of the variant had been detected in California, in a person who had recently traveled to South Africa.

Officials reported another case Thursday in a Colorado woman who had recently traveled to southern Africa.

The Anime NYC 2021 convention Nov. 19-21 drew about 50,000 people, according to event organizers, and attendees were required to wear masks and show proof of having received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Officials in New York said they were working to trace attendees of the convention, which was held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center as New York City prepared to host the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and braced for throngs of tourists to return after the U.S. opened up to vaccinated international travelers.

Infections were expected

Officials in the city of 8.8 million said they expected it would be only a matter of time before the new variant was reported in the city. City Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi urged people who attended the event to get tested.

"We should assume there is community spread of the variant in our city," de Blasio said in a statement.

The Minnesota man began experiencing mild symptoms Nov. 22. He had been vaccinated and received a booster shot in early November, according to health officials in his home state. He sought COVID-19 testing Nov. 24, and his symptoms have subsided, officials said.

Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said the man had not traveled outside the U.S. recently.

"Just given the timing ... it seems quite possible, perhaps the most likely, that this transmission happened at the arena convention in New York City, but that's not definitive," Malcolm said.

Nov. 22 was the same day the person infected in the California case returned to the U.S. from South Africa. The California traveler, who was vaccinated, developed mild symptoms and tested positive Monday.

Much remains unknown about the new variant, including whether it is more contagious, as some health authorities suspect, whether it makes people more seriously ill, and whether it can thwart the vaccine.

Omicron is classified by the World Health Organization as a "variant of concern" as scientists work to determine how it may compare with the predominant delta variant in terms of transmissibility and severity. Scientists also are studying the degree to which existing vaccines and therapies protect against omicron.

Scientists in South Africa first reported it, but the samples came from several countries in southern Africa. And health officials in the Netherlands now say it was found there prior to the South Africa detection.

'Get vaccinated'

As comfort over air travel returns, it's inevitable that new variants like omicron will spread from country to country and state to state, said professor Danielle Ompad, an epidemiologist at New York University's School of Global Public Health.

"We shouldn't panic, but we should be concerned," she said.

Hochul said the case involving the Minnesota visitor underlined the need for everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or receive a booster shot if they have not already.

"There is one way to address this — New Yorkers, get vaccinated, get boosted, and get ready," the Democrat said.

Japan's consul general in New York, Kanji Yamanouchi, delivered the opening remarks at the convention.

A spokesperson for the consulate said Yamanouchi was vaccinated and received a booster shot about three weeks ago. He said staffers at the consulate underwent testing as a precaution.

"He had absolutely no problem in his health condition," said the consulate's spokesperson, Kenju Murakami, noting Thursday it had been nearly two weeks.

A website for the convention says that Anime NYC is mounted by Leftfield Media, an event company based in Shelton, Connecticut. A company spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

Peter Tatara, its founder and event director, referred questions to company spokespeople. He said he had been tested "multiple times" since the event.

New York City Council Ben Kallos, who appeared at the event with the Japanese ambassador, said a rapid antigen test taken Thursday showed he was negative for the virus.

"I can attest to the fact that my vaccine was checked and I got a wristband, and the person who tested positive for omicron was also fully vaccinated," Kallos said, urging his "fellow anime fans" to get tested. "So it goes to show you, even when you follow all the precautions, we're still seeing breakthrough cases." (VOA)

UN General Assembly Urged to Investigate Yemen's Seven-Year Conflict

GENEVA, LELEMUKU.COM - More than 60 organizations urged the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday to establish an investigative body to gather and preserve evidence of serious human rights violations during Yemen's seven-year conflict, including possible war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, said the matter is urgent, particularly after the U.N. Human Rights Council voted in October to shut down its investigation into atrocities in Yemen. The Group of Eminent Experts had reported that potential war crimes have been committed by all sides. The Geneva-based council's vote was a stinging defeat for Western nations and a victory for Russia, China, Bahrain and other countries.

Yemen has been convulsed by civil war since 2014, when Iran-backed Houthi rebels took control of the capital, Sanaa, and much of the northern part of the country. That forced the internationally recognized government to flee to the south, then to Saudi Arabia.

A Saudi-led coalition entered the war in March 2015, backed by the United States, to try to restore President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to power. Despite a relentless air campaign and ground fighting, the war has deteriorated largely into a stalemate and has spawned the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The more than 60 organizations said the Human Rights Council vote in October was the result of an aggressive lobbying campaign by Saudi Arabia, backed by the United Arab Emirates, a key coalition partner, and other allies.

"The international community cannot stand by and allow that vote to be the last word on accountability efforts for abuses and war crimes in Yemen," the organizations said.

Amnesty International's Secretary-General Agnès Callamard told a virtual press conference that parties to the conflict, including the Saudis and Houthis, "have committed atrocities with impunity, and there is seemingly no end in sight for this war." That's why, she said, "we have to act now."

Every day, Callamard said, more people are being harmed and killed and the General Assembly "could save millions of lives" by taking action.

In their joint statement to the General Assembly's 193 member nations, the rights groups and other organizations said the suffering inflicted on Yemeni civilians demands an investigative body "address impunity in the ongoing conflict and send a clear warning to perpetrators on all sides that they will be held accountable for war crimes and other serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law."

U.N. members should approve an investigative "mechanism" to demonstrate to the Yemeni people that the United Nations will not turn a blind eye to their suffering and that they support international accountability for crimes and abuses committed in Yemen, the statement said.

Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth said the organizations will be going to capitals "to explain that, in light of the Saudi arm-twisting that killed the investigation by the U.N. Human Rights Council, the integrity of the U.N. human rights machinery, as well as many Yemeni lives, are at stake."

"We are guardedly optimistic that we will have the votes in the General Assembly to create an investigative mechanism for Yemen," Roth said. "So far, 45 governments have pronounced in favor, 34 against. Of the 114 that have abstained or have yet to take a position, we believe many of them can be persuaded to support an investigation for Yemen, much as they overwhelmingly supported an investigative mechanism for Syria in 2016."

The General Assembly and the Security Council have previously taken similar action against widespread human rights abuses.

In December 2016, the assembly created an "International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism" to collect, preserve and analyze evidence and promote accountability for possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed by Islamic State extremists in Syria.

In September 2017, the Security Council established an investigative team to support Iraqi efforts to collect and preserve evidence of possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed by Islamic State extremists to be used in domestic courts or in investigations in third countries.

The Human Rights Council established a similar investigative mechanism for Myanmar following a military crackdown against Rohingya Muslims and allegations that government security forces committed mass rapes and killings and burned houses amounting to possible crimes against humanity and genocide. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh. (VOA)

Aariel Maynor Arrested for Shooting Dead of Philanthropist Jacqueline Avant

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - A 29-year-old man has been arrested in the death of philanthropist Jacqueline Avant, who was fatally shot this week at the Beverly Hills home she shared with her husband, legendary music executive Clarence Avant, police said Thursday.

Aariel Maynor, who was onparole,was taken into custody early Wednesday by Los Angeles police at a separate residence after a burglary there, Beverly Hills Police Chief Mark Stainbrook said.

Police recovered an AR-15 rifle at that home that was believed to have been used in the shooting of Jacqueline Avant. Maynor accidentally shot himself in the foot with the gun, police said, and was being treated before he could be booked into jail.

Authorities said they did not believe there were any other suspects in the Avant case, and Stainbrook said there were no outstanding threats to public safety.

Police had not yet determined a motive or whether the Avant home was targeted. It was not immediately known if Maynor had an attorney.

Maynor has previous felony convictions for assault, robbery and grand theft.

Police were called to the Avants' home early Wednesday after receiving a call reporting a shooting. Officers found Jacqueline Avant, 81, with a gunshot wound. She was taken to the hospital but did not survive.

Clarence Avant and a security guard at their home were not hurt during the shooting.

Reported shooting

An hour later, Los Angeles police were called to a home in the Hollywood Hills — about 7 miles (11.27 kilometers) from the Avant residence — because of a reported shooting. They found Maynor there, as well as evidence of a burglary at that home, and took him into custody.

Jacqueline Avant was a longtime local philanthropist who led organizations that helped low-income neighborhoods including Watts and South Los Angeles, and she was on the board of directors of the International Student Center at the University of California-Los Angeles.

Grammy-winning executive Clarence Avant is known as the "Godfather of Black Music" and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year. The 90-year-old was also a concert promoter and manager who mentored and helped the careers of artists including Bill Withers, Little Willie John, L.A. Reid, Babyface, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

Tributes to Jacqueline Avant poured in from across the country. She was remembered by former President Bill Clinton, basketball icon Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Democratic Representative Karen Bass of California and music star Quincy Jones. (AP/VOA)