Hamza, Son Of Osama Bin Laden, Is Confirmed Dead

Hamza bin Laden, the son of Osama bin Laden and heir to al Qaeda leadership, is dead, according to media reports.

Officials confirmed to The New York Times that the younger bin Laden was killed in the past two years, but that it took time to confirm his death. The United States reportedly had a role in the killing, though details of the death are still unknown, according to the Times.

NBC first reported the news earlier Wednesday that the U.S. had obtained intelligence that bin Laden is dead, though President Donald Trump declined to comment to the network whether the information is true.

A composite image showing Osama bin Laden, left, and a young Hamza bin Laden

Bin Laden’s exact date of birth has been disputed, but The Associated Press said most put it in 1989, a time when his father, Osama, was already forming al Qaeda. Osama bin Laden moved to Afghanistan in 1996 and declared war against the U.S., and sometimes had Hamza appear in al Qaeda propaganda videos.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks carried out in the U.S. by al Qaeda, Hamza bin Laden and other members fled to Iran, where other al Qaeda leaders hid them in safe houses. In April 2003, Iranian intelligence officials detained as many al Qaeda members as they could, according to the AP. Since then, bin Laden had been reported to be in the Afghanistan and Pakistan border region, and in Syria, the Times reported.

The last known public statement from bin Laden was a video released last year by al Qaeda’s media arm denouncing Saudi Arabia and calling on people in the Arabian peninsula to overthrow the monarchy.

In February, the United Nations Security Council listed bin Laden as being associated with al Qaeda, and the State Department announced a $1 million reward for information on his location. Bin Laden likely had already been killed by then, though his death was not confirmed at the time by military and intelligence officials.

Osama bin Laden died in 2011 in a U.S. Navy SEAL team raid in Pakistan, which led two of his top lieutenants to begin grooming Hamza bin Laden to take his father’s place, the Times reported.

North Korea says missile test was ‘solemn warning’ to South

File photo, 2017: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches the launch of a Hwasong-12 missile in a photo released in September.

TOKYO (AP) — A day after two North Korean missile launches rattled Asia, the nation announced Friday that it had tested a “new-type tactical guided weapon” that was meant to be a “solemn warning” about South Korean weapons development and its rival’s plans to hold military exercises.

The message in the country’s state media quoted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and was directed at “South Korean military warmongers.” It comes as U.S. and North Korean officials struggle to set up talks after a recent meeting on the Korean border between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump seemed to provide a step forward in stalled nuclear negotiations.

Although the North had harsh words for South Korea, the statement stayed away from the kind of belligerent attacks on the United States that have marked past announcements, a possible signal that it’s interested in keeping diplomacy alive.

It made clear, however, that North Korea is infuriated over U.S.-South Korean plans to hold military drills this summer that the North says are rehearsals for an invasion and proof of the allies’ hostility to Pyongyang.

The message was gloating at times, saying the test “must have given uneasiness and agony to some targeted forces enough as it intended.”

South Korean Defense Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyunsoo on Thursday urged the North to stop acts that are “not helpful to efforts to ease military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.”

The North’s firing of what the South called a new type of short-range ballistic missile in two launches into the sea Thursday was its first weapons launches in more than two months.

The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were fired from near the eastern coastal town of Wonsan and flew about 430 kilometers (270 miles) and 690 kilometers (430 miles), respectively, before landing off the country’s east coast.

A South Korean defense official, requesting anonymity because of department rules, said an initial analysis showed both missiles were fired from mobile launchers and flew at a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (30 miles).

The North’s statement Friday said the weapons had “rapid anti-firepower capability” and “low-altitude gliding and leaping flight orbit … which would be hard to intercept.”

Kim was paraphrased as saying that the North “cannot but develop nonstop super powerful weapon systems to remove the potential and direct threats to the security of our country that exist in the south.”

North Korea is banned by U.N. Security Council resolutions from engaging in any launch using ballistic technology. While the North could face international condemnation over the latest launches, it’s unlikely that the nation, already under 11 rounds of U.N. sanctions, will be hit with fresh punitive measures. The U.N. council has typically imposed new sanctions only when the North conducted long-range ballistic launches, not short-range ballistic launches.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the swift resumption of talks between the United States and North Korea following the new missile launches.

North Korea has been urging the U.S. and South Korea to scrap their military drills. Last week, the North said it may lift its 20-month suspension of nuclear and long-range missile tests in response.

Seoul said Wednesday that North Korea was protesting the drills by refusing to accept its offer to send 50,000 tons of rice through an international agency.

North Korea also may be trying to get an upper hand ahead of a possible resumption of nuclear talks. Pyongyang wants widespread sanctions relief so it can revive its dilapidated economy.

U.S. officials demand North Korea first take significant steps toward disarmament before they will relinquish the leverage provided by the sanctions.

“North Korea appears to be thinking its diplomacy with the U.S. isn’t proceeding in a way that they want. So they’ve fired missiles to get the table to turn in their favor,” said analyst Kim Dae-young at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy.

A senior U.S. official said the Trump administration knew about the launches. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide a response, said the administration had no further comment.

“If they were ballistic missiles, they violate the U.N. resolutions, and I find it extremely regrettable,” Japan’s Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters in Tokyo.

China, the North’s last major ally and biggest aid provider, said both Washington and Pyongyang should restart their nuclear diplomacy as soon as possible.

It was the first missile launch since Seoul said North Korea fired three short-range missiles off its east coast in early May. At the time, many experts said those missiles strongly resembled the Russian-designed Iskander, a short-range, nuclear-capable ballistic missile that has been in the Russian arsenal for more than a decade.

Analyst Kim Dong-yub at Seoul’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies said the latest missiles could be Scud-C ballistic missiles or KN-23 surface-to-surface missiles, a North Korean version of the Iskander.

Trump vetoes Senate to push through $8B in Saudi arms sales

President Donald Trump has vetoed a trio of resolutions aimed at blocking his deal with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The action is the third time Trump has vetoed a congressional measure.

“This resolution would weaken America’s global competitiveness and damage the important relationships we share with our allies and partners,” Trump said in his veto messages Wednesday.

Last month, the Senate passed 22 resolutions designed to halt the administration’s pending sale of $8.1 billion in arms. Senators cited Saudi Arabia’s role in the death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the war in Yemen and the administration not seeking congressional approval for the transaction as their reasons. RELATED U.S. Air Force expands operating base in Saudi Arabia

The sales would include mortar bombs, missiles, drones, repair and maintenance services, and precision-guided munitions. Trump approved the sales under the Arms Export Control Act, which typically requires congressional review.

“The United States is very concerned about the conflict’s toll on innocent civilians and is working to bring the conflict in Yemen to an end,” Trump added.

“But we cannot end it through ill-conceived and time-consuming resolutions that fail to address its root causes. Rather than expend time and resources on such resolutions, I encourage the Congress to direct its efforts toward supporting our work to achieve peace through a negotiated settlement to the conflict in Yemen.” RELATED Lockheed awarded $1.4B contract for Saudi THAAD system

The Senate would need 67 votes to override Trump’s veto.

“I condemn the president’s decision and I’ll continue using every tool at my disposal to bring accountability to his foreign policy, including closing the loopholes that led to this arms sale fiasco in the first place,” Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., tweeted.

UK gets a “Trump” as Boris Johnson becomes the new Prime Minister

LONDON (AP) — Boris Johnson, Britain’s blustering Brexit campaigner, was chosen as the U.K.’s next prime minister on Tuesday, with a resounding mandate from the Conservative Party but conflicting demands from a politically divided country.

Johnson is set to become prime minister on Wednesday after winning an election to lead the governing Conservatives. He will have just over three months to make good on his promise to lead the U.K. out of the European Union by Oct. 31.

Famed for his bravado, quips in Latin and blond mop of hair , Johnson easily defeated Conservative rival Jeremy Hunt, winning two-thirds of the votes of about 160,000 party members across the U.K. He will become prime minister once Queen Elizabeth II formally asks him to form a government, replacing Theresa May.

The embattled May announced her resignation last month after Parliament repeatedly rejected the withdrawal agreement she struck with the 28-nation bloc, leaving Britain stranded in Brexit limbo. The U.K.’s departure from the EU was delayed from its long scheduled exit in March.

Johnson radiated optimism in a brief victory speech to hundreds of party members and lawmakers, pledging to “deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn,” leader of the opposition Labour Party.

“I say to all the doubters: ‘Dude, we are going to energize the country, we are going to get Brexit done,’” said Johnson, a former London mayor and British foreign secretary.

In a sign he hopes to move beyond the largely white, male and affluent Conservative Party members who chose him as their leader, Johnson’s office said he will put together a “Cabinet for modern Britain,” with a record number of ethnic-minority lawmakers.

Hunt, a stolid politician compared to the flamboyant Johnson , said he was sure his rival would “do a great job.”

“He’s got optimism, enthusiasm, he puts a smile on people’s face and he has total, unshakable confidence in our amazing country,” said Hunt, who is likely to be removed as foreign secretary by the new prime minister.

Johnson wooed Conservatives by promising to succeed where May had failed and lead the U.K. out of the EU — with or without a divorce deal.

Johnson insists he can get the EU to renegotiate, something the bloc insists it won’t do. If not, he says Britain must leave the EU by the Oct. 31 deadline, “come what may.”

The EU is adamant that the deal with May will stand, saying Britain has to take it or leave it.

Michel Barnier, the bloc’s chief Brexit negotiator, said he looked forward “to working constructively” with the new Conservative leader “to facilitate the ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement.”

Economists warn that a no-deal Brexit would disrupt trade and plunge the U.K. into recession . Fears that Britain is inching closer to crashing out of the bloc weighed on the pound once again Tuesday. The currency was down another 0.3 percent at $1.2450, nearly a two-year low.

Carolyn Fairbairn, director of the Confederation of British Industry, said businesses needed a withdrawal agreement with the EU to restore confidence that has been badly shaken by uncertainty about the terms of Brexit.

“On Brexit, the new prime minister must not underestimate the benefits of a good deal,” she said.

Johnson faces a host of other challenges, from dealing with Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker to forging a relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, but Brexit is his overriding problem.

Trump was scathing about May’s inability to achieve a Brexit deal and has said Johnson will do a better job.

On Tuesday he said Johnson “is going to do a good job” and “will get it done.”

“We have a really good man is going to be prime minister of the U.K. now, Boris Johnson,” Trump told a youth conference. “Good man. He’s tough and he’s smart. They say ‘Britain Trump,’ they call him Britain Trump, and people say that’s a good thing.”

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow described Johnson as “a breath of fresh air. I think he’ll complete the Brexit process.”

More than three years after Britain narrowly voted to leave the EU, the country remains divided over whether to leave, and on what terms.

Johnson won the leadership contest by persuading Conservative members, who are strongly pro-Brexit, that Britain will leave the bloc “do or die.”

Opponents say Johnson is reckless on Brexit and unrepentant about offensive and racist comments, such as calling Papua New Guineans cannibals and comparing Muslim women who wear face-covering veils to “letter boxes.”

Opposition Liberal Democrat lawmaker Chuka Umunna tweeted: “I cannot think of a Tory leadership candidate more unfit to become the Prime Minister of this country than Boris Johnson,” adding that his election was “a dark and depressing time for the U.K.”

Tony Travers, professor of government at the London School of Economics, said Johnson might moderate his Brexit stance now that he has secured the premiership.

“I would expect once he’s in government to begin to nuance his position somewhat, because he’ll now be appealing to a different set of voters: that’s the U.K. electorate as a whole, not just the Conservative members, who are much more pro-Brexit.”

The first clues to Johnson’s plans are likely to come when he begins appointing his Cabinet on Wednesday and Thursday.

British lawmakers are due to start a six-week summer break on Friday. When they return in September, Johnson looks set for a fight with Parliament, where most members oppose leaving the EU without a deal, and where the Conservative Party lacks an overall majority.

Several government ministers have already announced they will quit so they can resist any push for a no-deal Brexit.

“We’ll have to see what Boris can muster,” said Conservative lawmaker Margot James, who resigned last week as digital minister. “The default position is leaving without a deal, and there is a significant majority in Parliament who will work very hard to be sure that doesn’t happen. And I will be among that number.”

Outside the London conference center where the Conservative result was announced, pro-Brexit and pro-EU demonstrators waved rival Union Jacks and EU flags — and both sides had their doubts about Johnson.

“In the referendum, we were told that our vote would be honored, and (politicians) have spent three years trying to thwart Brexit,” said retiree Sally Wright, who was not confident Johnson would deliver where others had failed.

Anti-Brexit demonstrator Kasia Verissimo was equally skeptical.

“I think Boris Johnson is a person who will always say whatever gives him better career choices,” she said. “He tells you what you want to hear.”

___

Associated Press writers Renata Brito in London and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed.

US immigration system approved thousands of child marriages in past decade

In one case, a 71-year-old requested entry for a 17-year-old spouse, and in another, a 68-year-old petitioned for a 16-year-old to come into the country, according to the Senate report. Both requests were approved. Other approvals include a person age 55 petitioning for a 13-year-old and several people well into their 40s requesting spouses as young as 14 or 15.

When Fraidy Reiss took on stopping child marriages in the United States, she thought the issue would be disturbing enough for lawmakers to legislate an immediate fix.

She started her organization, Unchained at Last, in 2011 to push for an end child and forced marriages after defying and then escaping her insular religious community, which she says forced her to wed a violent man at age 19. Heart-wrenching tales from women and girls from around the country poured in about their forced or arranged child marriages, leaving Reiss overwhelmed but determined.

But Reiss said her concerns fell on deaf ears when she took the issue to lawmakers.

“I thought legislators were going to give me a hug me and give me a high five and we were all going to go home happy,” Reiss told NBC News.

Since then, however, loopholes in federal immigration law and lack of action at the state level have allowed the practice to continue, she said.

Now, lawmakers have revealed the extent to which the U.S. immigration system unintentionally encourages child marriages. A Senate Homeland Security Committee report released last week says the federal government approved thousands of requests by men to bring child brides or fiancées into the U.S. over the past decade.

Reiss and other activists seeking to end the practice told NBC News that they hope the report could serve as a catalyst for Congress to address the issue once and for all. But they also say they worry lawmakers could continue to slow-walk efforts to pass legislation.

“Everywhere we go, legislators, staffers, domestic violence professionals are surprised we allow child marriages in almost every U.S. state,” Amanda Parker, senior director at the AHA Foundation, which advocates against forced marriages, told NBC News. “We think of this as a problem that happens somewhere else, and I think that’s where we get the disconnect.”

“The bigger question is: Why is this happening for something that seems like such a simple fix?” Parker added. “How is it that our United States government is essentially facilitating child marriages?”

The issue starts with federal law. The Immigration and Nationality Act does not set minimum age requirements for a minor to request a visa for an adult spouse or fiancée, or vice versa. Petitions are first considered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security.

If the petition is approved, the State Department then decides whether to issue a visa. Since USCIS considers only whether the age at marriage “violates the laws of the place of celebration or the public policy of the U.S. state in which the couple plans to reside,” according to the Senate report, advocates say this is where the disconnect occurs.

New Jersey and Delaware are the only states that prohibit marriages to those under the age of 18. Both states passed the bans in 2018. Most states have laws that allow citizens under 18 to marry, but often with judicial or parental consent.

Between 2007 and 2017, USCIS approved more than 5,500 petitions by adults to bring minor spouses or fiancées to the U.S. and nearly 3,000 approvals for minors trying to bring in older spouses or fiancés, according to the Senate report. Girls were the minors in 95 percent of the cases, according to the data.

In one case, a 71-year-old requested entry for a 17-year-old spouse, and in another, a 68-year-old petitioned for a 16-year-old to come into the country, according to the Senate report. Both requests were approved. Other approvals include a person age 55 petitioning for a 13-year-old and several people well into their 40s requesting spouses as young as 14 or 15.

“The United States condemns child marriages overseas, but we are not taking the steps to condemn it within our own borders,” Parker said. “It’s an awareness problem first.”

The Senate report cited date entry errors and faulty processes at USCIS, particularly its reliance on a paper-based immigration benefits system, as the reason applications are not more thoroughly reviewed. It also noted that the State Department rarely rejects petitions approved by USCIS.

Brett Bruen, a former official in President Barack Obama’s White House and foreign service officer, told NBC News in an interview that lapses also happen at the embassies and consulates where many of the requests are reviewed.

“What ends up happening is a lot of these embassies are told to just approve it and move on,” Bruen said. “Your bosses expect you to push these things through. They don’t want to deal with letters from Congress or calls from family members.”

Michael Bars, a spokesman for USCIS, said the agency “has taken steps to improve data integrity and has implemented a range of solutions that require the verification of a birthdate whenever a minor spouse or fiancé is detected.”

“Ultimately, it is up to Congress to bring more certainty and legal clarity to this process for both petitioners and USCIS officers,” Bars added.

In a statement to NBC News, a State Department spokesperson said the department “takes this issue very seriously.”

“We are committed to protecting the rights of children and combatting forced marriage,” the spokesperson said. “We will not issue a visa until an applicant has proven that he or she is legally eligible to receive one. If an applicant needs additional screening or review for whatever reason, we will not issue the visa until that screening or review is complete.”

Reiss says she thinks “simple, plain old sexism” is one reason that the issue isn’t taken as seriously as it should be, adding, “these are mostly male legislators we are going to.”

Parker also highlighted some of the pushback advocates get from lawmakers.

“You would be surprised at political responses when we have meetings with them,” she said. “It seems like everyone had a great grandpa and grandma who were married at 13 and they were married for many years, and they say, ‘I don’t think that my constituents will support raising the marriage age to 18.”

She added, “There will be a little more scrutiny on each of the cases just because of the report coming out, but it doesn’t go far enough. We are incredibly hopeful Congress will take action to make this simple fix so that adults can only sponsor visas.”

Last year, Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Illinois, introduced legislation to end child marriages in the United States, but the bill never made it out of committee.

Rush said in a statement to NBC News that he will continue to work with his colleagues to take on the issue during this session of Congress.

“Like so many others, I was shocked to learn the extent of this issue and how our immigration system is complicit in perpetrating this atrocity,” he said. “I am committed to working with my colleagues to end this objectionable practice.”

Reiss said that as long as lawmakers fall behind in addressing the issue, she will continue to press them.

“I’m going to continue pushing and insisting that every state do what New Jersey and Delaware did, and that the federal government take basic steps to address the problem and to stop being complicit and actually encouraging child marriage,” she said.

“I’m going to keep screaming until the federal government is not complicit in child marriages anymore,” she continued. “It’s 2019 for crying out loud. Child marriage is an ancient relic from our sexist past, and it doesn’t have any place in our society.”

Melania Trump Slammed for Visiting Kenya Wearing a Hat Commonly Associated with Colonialism

First Lady Melania Trump is catching heat yet again over her clothing choice.

Last Friday, while visiting a safari in Nairobi National Park in Kenya — a stop on her first solo trip to Africa — FLOTUS was photographed wearing a white pith helmet, a hat most commonly associated with colonialists.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, European military personnel often wore pith helmets as they sought out colonies in Africa and Asia. The hats remained popular with those who moved to colonized countries and are seen by many as symbolic of the oppression of colonization.

Shortly after the sighting, several people called Melania out on Twitter. “Melania Trump wearing a pith helmet on her trip to ‘Africa’ is more than a silly sartorial choice. It’s a reflection of her outdated understanding of Africa,” Kim Yi Dionne, a political-science professor who specializes in African politics at the University of California, Riverside wrote.

“Also, she was photographed in safari attire multiple times on this trip,” Dionne added.

Matt Carotenuto, a historian and coordinator of African Studies at St. Lawrence University wrote, “Melania completes the stereotype trifecta– elephants, orphans and even the pith helmet.”

FLOTUS’ accessory of choice came just one day after she was greeted in Malawi with a crowd of protestors, including two carrying a sign that read: “Welcome to Malawi #NOTAS—HOLE!,” according to the Associated Press.

The hashtag was a reference to her husband Donald Trump’s remarks in January in which he reportedly referred to some African nations, along with Haiti and El Salvador, as “s—hole countries.”

Malawi was the first lady’s second stop on her four-nation tour of Africa.

While there, she reportedly toured outdoor classrooms at Chipala Primary School in Lilongwe, before giving remarks as the U.S. ambassador passed out 1.4 million books paid for through a national reading program funded by the U.S.

“I wanted to be here to see the successful programs that [the] United States is providing the children and thank you for everything you’ve done,” Melania said.

The first lady arrived in Ghana on Tuesday and stayed in the capital city of Accra, where she met over tea with Ghana’s first lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, at the presidential palace.

On Wednesday, she visited Cape Coast Castle, a former slave holding fort on Ghana’s coast.

After Kenya, FLOTUS will travel to Egypt before returning to Washington, D.C., on Sunday.

Melania Trump
Melania Trump

In June, Melania ruffled feathers once more when she visited McAllen, Texas, to visit migrant children who were separated from their parents as they were held at detention centers on the Mexico-U.S. border. For the trip, FLOTUS wore a green Zara jacket featuring the words “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?”\\

After many slammed the First Lady for being insensitive, her communications director, Stephanie Grisham came to her defense. “It’s a jacket. There was no hidden message,” Grisham said in a statement. After today’s important visit to Texas, I hope the media isn’t going to choose to focus on her wardrobe (Much like her high heels last year).”

Spectacular Photos – First Lady Melania Trump in Africa

First Lady Melania Trump walks with children as she visits the Nest Childrens Home Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. Saul Loeb / AFP

Melania Trump took part in a baby elephant feeding on Friday as she visited a national park in Kenya to highlight conservation efforts. The US First Lady is on a four-leg tour of Africa promoting her children’s welfare programme. Kenya was the third stop on her Africa tour, which began Tuesday in Ghana and continued in Malawi on Thursday. Her first-ever visit to Africa is also her first extended solo international trip as first lady in what some see as ‘fence-mending’. She took part in a quick safari later on Friday. Egypt was her final stop of the continent that focuses on child welfare, education, tourism and conservation.

US First Lady Melania Trump goes on a safari with Nelly Palmeris, right, Park Manager, at the Nairobi National Park. Saul Loeb / AFP

 

US First Lady Melania Trump waves to children at the Chipala Primary School in Lilongwe in Malawi. Saul Loeb / AFP

 

US First Lady Melania Trump receives flowers from a young girl alongside the First Lady of Malawi, Gertrude Mutharika, as she arrives at Lilongwe International Airport.

 

First Lady Melania Trump visits the Giza Pyramids on Oct. 6

 

First lady Melania Trump visits with mothers and their babies at Greater Accra Regional Hospital in Accra, Ghana, Oct. 2, 2018.

First lady Melania Trump in Ghana. She was later presented with gifts by Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, the chieftain of the Cape Coast Fante, during a cultural ceremony at the Emintsimadze Palace in Cape Coast, Ghana, on Oct. 3, 2018. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

See how this elephant charged at Melania Trump during her ‘Be Best’ tour of Africa

First lady Melania Trump was almost knocked down by a baby elephant on Friday while on safari in Nairobi National Park in Kenya. As she was visiting with and feeding baby elephants, one of them charged at her. The elephant seemed to come at her in a playful way, however, and after momentarily losing her balance, Trump laughed off the brief incident. Stephanie Grisham, Trump’s spokeswoman, told Business Insider the first lady was not injured by the elephant and that she “enjoyed the visit so much.”

Trump is on her first extended solo trip abroad as first lady. The first lady began her trip in Ghana and then visited Malawi before heading to Kenya. The trip is part of her “Be Best” initiative, which focuses on improving the lives of children. Trump on Friday also met with Kenyan first lady Margaret Kenyatta for tea and visited with orphans, dancing with them as they guided her into the orphanage they live in known as The Nest.  President Donald Trump tweeted about Melania’s big trip on Thursday, stating, “Our country’s great First Lady, Melania, is doing really well in Africa. The people love her, and she loves them! It is a beautiful thing to see.”

Trump Claims ‘Large Scale Killing’ of South Africa Farmers, Without Evidence

President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa promised that land expropriation would not threaten economic stability or agricultural output, although his government has yet to give details of the process.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — President Trump waded into South Africa’s proposal to seize land from white farmers, saying in a post on Twitter late Wednesday that he had asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to “closely study” the “the large scale killing of farmers” — a claim disputed by official figures and the country’s biggest farmer’s group.

Mr. Trump’s comment that the “South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers” came after the Fox News host Tucker Carlson presented a late-night program on South Africa, including land seizures and homicides, and described President Cyril Ramaphosa as “a racist.”

The tweet gives prominence to a false narrative pushed by some right-wing groups in South Africa that there have been numerous seizures of white-owned land and widespread killings of white farmers. Some of those groups have brought their claims to the United States on lobbying trips.

On Thursday, the South African minister of international relations, Lindiwe Sisulu, described the tweet as “regrettable” and “based on false information.” The government said it would seek clarification from the United States Embassy, and Ms. Sisulu planned to “communicate with Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on the matter through diplomatic channels.”

The government has said expropriating farms is necessary to deal with longstanding inequities and that only unused land would be subject to seizure, suggesting that land that is being actively farmed would be safe.

In a country still struggling with the effects of apartheid and widespread economic inequality decades after Nelson Mandela became the country’s first black president, Mr. Trump’s tweet was likely to inflame the divisive landownership debate.

Here’s an explanation of the issues.

Are there widespread killings of farmers?

The number of killings of farmers is at a 20-year low, 47 in 2017-18, according to research published in July by AgriSA, a farmers’ organization in South Africa. That is down from 66 the year before. The figures were consistent with a steady decline of violence since a peak in 1998, when 153 were killed.

South Africa recorded 19,016 murder cases from April 2016 to March 2017, according to the South Africa Police Service. The national murder rate last year was 34.1 per 100,000 people, but the number of people living on farms is not fully known, which makes comparisons difficult.

Most official statistics do not break down homicides by race, and they include farmers as well as employees who live on the land.

“There is no official crime category called ‘farm attack’ or ‘farm murder,’ ” according to Africa Check, a local fact-checking organization.

Some white South Africans say they believe that farm killings are underreported, politically motivated and part of a conspiracy to rid the country of white residents. AfriForum, a right-wing minority rights group, has lobbied internationally — including in Washington — to draw attention to farm homicides and what it calls the “racist theft” of land.

“Nobody is disputing that people living and working on farms and small holdings are the victims of violent and often brutal attacks and murders,” said Kate Wilkinson, a senior researcher at Africa Check. “What is disputed is whether they face an elevated risk versus average South Africans.”

Does the South African government want to seize land?

Yes.

Mr. Ramaphosa announced on Aug. 1 that the governing African National Congress (A.N.C.) would move ahead with a proposal to change the country’s Constitution and allow the expropriation of some land without compensation.

Land reform is a highly divisive issue in South Africa, where white residents, who make up 9 percent of the population, own 35 percent of the land, according to official figures, a legacy of colonial and apartheid-era dispossession.

A government land audit last year reported that black South Africans directly owned less than 9 percent of the country’s land, despite making up 79 percent of the population.

What is its argument for doing so?

Mr. Ramaphosa has said that speeding up what he described as land reform will bolster economic growth and agricultural production.

More fundamentally, the government has argued, returning land to black South Africans would make the country — which has one of the largest income gaps in the world — more just. Resolving to support land redistribution without compensation was “a call to action to decisively break with the historical injustice of colonial, apartheid and patriarchal patterns of land ownership, and to build a South Africa that belongs to all,” the A.N.C. said in a statement in May.

In an op-ed article published by The Financial Times on Thursday, Mr. Ramaphosa wrote: “As the World Bank has observed, ‘South Africa’s historical, highly skewed distribution of land and productive assets is a source of inequality and social fragility.’ ”

He also said in January, “We can make this country the Garden of Eden.”

Within the A.N.C., a faction aligned with former President Jacob Zuma has strongly pushed for land seizures. Mr. Ramaphosa, a former businessman regarded as more moderate, has promised that land expropriation will not threaten economic stability or agricultural output, although the government has not specified how the process will work.

A series of hearings on the subject has been held in the provinces in the past couple of months, as Parliament weighs changing the law. The issue is expected to loom large in national elections next year.

Has the government changed the Constitution?

Not yet.

During Wednesday’s broadcast, Mr. Carlson said Mr. Ramaphosa had started “seizing land from his own citizens without compensation because they are the wrong skin color.” But that is not true. Mr. Ramaphosa’s proposal requires a parliamentary motion and has not yet become law although some version is expected to pass.

South Africa’s Constitution already allows for land expropriation below market value, “perhaps even at zero value,” noted Andries du Toit, the director of the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape.

“Why has the state not already used these provisions? The answer in part seems to be that expropriation is very difficult — you are heading for a process where the final decision will be made by a court, not the government,” Mr. du Toit said.

A campaign by right-wing groups bears fruit

Some right-wing groups in South Africa, like AfriForum, have pushed the false narrative that there have already been numerous seizures of white-owned land.

The groups have drawn support from conservative American commentators such as Alex Jones, Ann Coulter and Mike Cernovich, who in 2016 tweeted that “white genocide” was “real” in South Africa.

Leaders of AfriForum visited Washington in May and met with Senator Ted Cruz and members of the Cato Institute. A representative of AfriForum also appeared on Mr. Carlson’s show in May, generating much chatter among the group’s supporters on social media.

Mr. Carlson, who has often used inflammatory language on issues of race on his show, has become one of Mr. Trump’s favorite Fox News hosts. Mr. Trump himself has made many racially explosive remarks, and political analysts say they expect him to continue using that language to firm up support among his conservative voter base, which includes vocal white nationalists and white supremacists.

Mr. Trump apparently singled out Mr. Pompeo in the tweet because Mr. Carlson had read aloud what Mr. Carlson called an “unbelievable statement” from what he called “Mike Pompeo’s State Department.” The statement was a long and nuanced explanation of the department’s perspective on land ownership in South Africa, and it said that the country had a “strong democracy” and was engaged in an “open process” over the land tensions.

After reading it, Mr. Carlson mocked the statement.

Another rightwing group from South Africa, the Suidlanders, toured the United States last year, meeting with David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, among others.

Mr. Trump’s own relations with African countries have been fraught. He drew condemnation in January for using a vulgar term to describe Haiti and some African countries. Mr. Trump later met President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, the first leader from sub-Saharan Africa to visit him at the White House. And Rex W. Tillerson, then secretary of state, sought to mend fences during a five-nation of Africa, promising $533 million in new aid.

In reaction to Mr. Trump’s tweet this week, Patrick Gaspard, a former American ambassador to South Africa, said on Twitter: “The President of the US needs political distractions to turn our gaze away from his criminal cabal, and so he’s attacking South Africa with the disproven racial myth of ‘large scale killings of farmers.’ This man has never visited the continent and has no discernible Africa policy.”

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul and ‘greatest singer of all time,’ dies at 76

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