The head of U.S. military forces in Africa argued Thursday against troop cuts on the vast and booming continent, saying strategic partnerships in combating a growing extremist threat and assertive Chinese and Russian influence cannot be sacrificed. A secure and stable Africa remains an enduring American interest,'' General Stephen J. Townsend told the Senate Armed Services Committee.In the past, maybe we’ve been able to pay less attention to Africa and be OK in America. I don’t believe that’s the case for the future.” It is not clear when Defense Secretary Mark Esper will decide on possible military cuts as part of a global review with the goal of tightening the focus on China and Russia. Esper on Thursday said that we are not going to totally withdraw forces from Africa'' and acknowledged the concerns that have included a rare bipartisan outcry in Congress. The prospect of U.S. military cuts worries allies such as France, especially in the arid Sahel region of West Africa as fighters affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group move into more populated areas. And in East Africa, three Americans were killed this month in the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab's first attack against U.S. forces in Kenya, with several U.S. aircraft destroyed. FILE - An image distributed by al-Shabab after the attack on a military base in Kenya shows the militant group's flag at Manda Bay Airfield in Manda, Lamu, Kenya, Jan. 5, 2020.It'sobvious we were not as prepared there at Manda Bay as we needed to be,he said of the airfield that was attacked. We cannot take pressure off major terrorist groups like al-Qaida and ISIS,” Townsend added. These groups and many others remain an inconvenient reality in Africa.'' Some of the groups threaten the U.S. homeland, the U.S. Africa Command chief warned, including the Somalia-based al-Shabab. The U.S. military has about 6,000 personnel across Africa, with about 4,000 located at the only U.S. permanent military base on the continent in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti — a short distance from China's first overseas military base. Another nearly 1,300 U.S. personnel are in the Sahel, the vast region just south of the Sahara Desert. Call for more European involvementFrance's military is leading efforts in the Sahel and recently committed another 220 troops to its existing force of 4,500. While France is pressing the U.S. not to reduce its presence in Africa, Townsend again called on other European nations to step up. That’s something they can and should do,” he said, saying European countries could take on some of the current U.S. support efforts such as airlifts and air refueling for French fighter aircraft. But he said not a lot of the countries have the exquisite'' level of technological intelligence available to U.S. forces. Townsend warned, however, thatif we were to withdraw our support from the French precipitously, then that would not go in a good direction.” He also stressed that U.S. interest in Africa goes beyond the fight against extremism, highlighting the continent’s economic potential, burgeoning population, vast amount of natural resources, including rare minerals, and its strategic position overlooking a global crossroads.'' FILE - Victor Tokmakov, first secretary of the Russian Embassy, presents diplomas to graduating recruits in Berengo, Central African Republic, Aug. 4, 2018. Russian military consultants set up training for the Central African armed forces.Africa is key terrain for competition with China and Russiawho are aggressively using economic and military means to expand their access and influence,Townsend said. He also pointed out thefirst visible sign of cooperation we’ve seen” in Africa between the militaries of China and Russia, who participated in a joint naval exercise off the coast of South Africa last year. China and Russia are seeking to counter the strategic access that we need for American security and American prosperity,'' he said. Pursuit of resourcesRussia has been pursuing extractive ventures in the continent's rich mineral resources, while China is offering African countriessmart cities” technology equipped with facial recognition technology. Of course we know they are reporting back to China first, before the country where it's established,'' Townsend asserted. He also acknowledged the worries of African countries as the possible U.S. troop cuts are considered in Washington. The thing they always are looking for is: Can we count on you as a partner?” he said.
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Month: January 2020
Man Convicted of Trying to Steal 1215 Magna Carta from UK Cathedral
A man who tried to steal an original copy of the 1215 Magna Carta, considered to be one of the most important documents in the history of democracy, from an English cathedral was found guilty Thursday of criminal damage and attempted theft.Mark Royden, 47, had denied smashing a glass box housing the priceless manuscript in Salisbury Cathedral in southern England in 2018.Salisbury Crown Court heard he had set off a fire alarm in the cathedral cloisters before stunning visitors by hitting the glass case with a hammer, causing three holes in it and damage estimated at 14,000 pounds ($18,400).Failing to break through the safety glass, he tried to run out of the cathedral but was grabbed by maintenance workers and visitors, including an American tourist.The parchment, one of only four original copies still surviving, was not damaged.A key manuscript in English history, the Magna Carta is a charter of citizens’ rights curbing the arbitrary power of medieval kings which among other things guaranteed the right to a fair trial.King John agreed to place his seal on the document in June 1215 at Runnymede near Windsor, west of London, as a means of ending an uprising by rebel barons.Prosecutors said when questioned by police Royden had appeared to question the authenticity of the document.”The historical importance of the Magna Carta in establishing the right to justice cannot be overstated – which is somewhat ironic given Mark Royden’s repeated denials of his crime in the face of overwhelming evidence,” said Rob Welling of the Crown Prosecution Service.”Had he succeeded in taking it, Royden would have deprived the nation of what is said to be the most beautiful surviving copy from 1215.”Royden was released on bail and will be sentenced at a later date. The charter is back on display in Salisbury cathedral.
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With Shrug and Some Sorrow, Europeans bid ‘Adieu’ to EU Member Britain
As Europe’s political establishment bids farewell to Britain and its EU membership with a mix of sorrow and some jubilation, many Europeans are not paying much attention this latest chapter of the very long process popularly known as “Brexit.” Lisa Bryant took the pulse of some Parisians, and filed this report for VOA from the French capital.
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Security Improves, Fishing Resumes on River Nile
Authorities and residents in South Sudan’s Eastern Lakes and Jonglei states say, as security has improved along the River Nile, fishing activities have resumed and locals are once again using the Nile as a regular mode of transportation. Two months ago, several people were killed on the disputed island of Cuet-Akwet after clashes erupted between rival communities.Twenty-eight year-old Teng Buol said Thursday he resumed fishing on the Nile after staying away for about a month due to the threat of violence. Buol said he now travels regularly to Cuet-Akwet in his canoe and catches plenty of fish which he later sells in Bor town. “We used our nets to catch fish from the Nile but there were some areas that we used not to access because of insecurity. And those areas have more fish including tilapia, catfish and Nile perch. In the last few days, my friends and I could fill our canoe with fish,” Buol told South Sudan in Focus.Buol says he can afford to sell fish at lower prices because his catch is bigger than before. One Nile perch or tilapia used to cost 1,000 South Sudanese Pounds two months ago but now sells for 700 South Sudanese Pounds, according to Buol.Motorboat operator 35-year old John Tai, who often moves between Bentiu, Bor and Juba, said the presence of government soldiers on the disputed island makes it safe once again to travel along the Nile. “We want the transport route along the Nile to be clean so that nobody touches another. If the government has decided like it has done then we have no problem. We can now do our business without fear of being robbed along the Nile like what happened in past years,” Tai told South Sudan in Focus.Elijah Thongbor, who heads Jonglei Boat Traders Union, affirms it’s now safe to travel along the Nile.“There is no more doubt or complaints. Nobody’s money has been robbed. Traders take their goods to Malakal, Renk and other areas; they are now willing to travel,” Thongbor told South Sudan in Focus.Eastern Lakes state information minister Marial Awuok said deploying national forces to the area changed everything.“Organized forces have been dispatched to the River Nile and they have already arrived to the areas of Joor-wach, Cuet-Akwet, Lietbuoi and their base will be in Shambe. All those areas are now in the control of the national government. Definitely the security situation is normal and the boats [are] moving freely up to the border of South Sudan with the Sudan,” Awuok told South Sudan in Focus.Major General Lul Ruai Koang, spokesman for the South Sudan People’s Defense Force, said a large number of security forces were dispatched to the island to maintain law and order.“That one now is a federal territory and they must be there to maintain peace and order until administrative solution is found to this disputes so that these communities who have been fighting over it are convinced about who owns what part of that island,” Koang told Sout Sudan in Focus.It is not clear when an administrative solution will be found to determine whether Sudan or South Sudan owns the island of Cuet-Akwet.
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Pentagon Chief Defends Trump After Traumatic Brain Injury Comments
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Thursday defended President Donald Trump’s response to American troops being diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries from Iran’s missile strike, saying he cared about the service members.Last week, Trump appeared to play down the injuries, saying he “heard that they had headaches and a couple of other things,” prompting criticism from lawmakers and a U.S. veterans group.The Pentagon has said that 50 U.S. service members have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and that number could rise.”I’ve had the chance to speak with the president; he is very concerned about the health and welfare of all of our service members, particularly those who were involved in the operations in Iraq, and he understands the nature of these injuries,” Esper said during a news conference.Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the service members suffering from traumatic brain injuries had been diagnosed with mild cases. He added that the diagnosis could change as time went on.Pentagon officials have said there had been no effort to minimize or delay information on concussive injuries, but its handling of the injuries following Tehran’s attack has renewed questions over the U.S. military’s policy regarding how it deals with suspected brain injuries.”[Traumatic brain injury] manifests itself over time. … I still believe that morning there were no casualties reported,” Esper said.Since 2000, about 408,000 service members have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury, according to Pentagon data.Iran fired missiles at the Ain al-Asad base in Iraq in retaliation for the U.S. killing of a top Revolutionary Guard general, Qassem Soleimani, in a drone strike at Baghdad airport on Jan. 3.The missile attacks capped a spiral of violence that had started in late December. Both sides have refrained from further military escalation.
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Kenyan Students Among Foreigners Stuck in Coronavirus-Hit Chinese City
In an effort to contain the coronavirus, Wuhan, the Chinese city of about 11 million people, has locked down thousands of foreigners, including African students, most on scholarships. They are now trapped in the city where the virus was first detected and continues to spread.Twenty-eight-year-old Michael Njomo arrived in Wuhan city last September.
He applied for a competitive scholarship to study administrative management and was awarded it after several attempts.
The new coronavirus emerged just when he was settling in at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. The WhatsApp group for Kenyan students in China stopped talking about academics, and started checking on each other and sharing information about the disease.
He says the death toll kept rising and before he knew it, the city was under lockdown. He says he and his colleagues are afraid to circulate in the city.
“Some of them are very scared here in their rooms, like the whole day they remain indoors,” he said. “Those are the directions we have been given by the authorities here, to avoid much interaction. If you pay much attention on that [the death toll], I don’t know what will happen to you because there is so much information from different people. The more you listen to them, the more you pay attention, the more scared you become.”People wearing face masks walk down a deserted street in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei Province, Jan. 28, 2020.Njomo and his colleagues spoke to VOA via a WhatsApp call from a room they said they shared.
Some countries have started evacuating their many thousands of citizens stranded in Wuhan. Njomo and other Kenyans are still not sure of their fate but are hopeful.
“If a situation comes that we can be evacuated from Wuhan to a safer place, everybody will accept that. Maybe somewhere like the embassy, somewhere like Beijing is ok. It’s not that far from Wuhan to Beijing, but I don’t know what plans our ambassador has for us,” he said.
John (not his real name), a final year student of engineering at Huazhong University, was meant to come home in the next couple of months.He questions Kenya’s capacity to deal with the virus if it made its way to the country and said he preferred they stay in China.”Of course everyone would love to go back home, but again you look at where your home is, and you are also not sure of your status regarding the disease,” he said. “To me, I think its better just to stay here and ensure that I am safe wherever I am because you might go back home and take it to everyone and as you know, at home, facilities are not that good to handle the situation.”Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says 85 Kenyans are stuck in Wuhan.
In a press statement, the ministry said the Kenyan Embassy in Beijing is in touch with the Kenyan citizens who have been affected by the lockdown in Wuhan.FILE – Kenya Airways planes are seen parked at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport near Nairobi, Kenya, Nov. 6, 2019.The Foreign Ministry warned Kenyans not to travel to China unless it was absolutely necessary.
As some airlines suspended flights to China, Kenya Airways, the national carrier, said it will not suspend its flights to China. The announcement came just after Kenyan Ambassador to China Sarah Serem called on the airline to stop flights to the country until the virus is contained.
At a briefing for journalists this week, Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director John Nkengasong said that if the virus makes its way to African countries, it would be hard to contain.
“The surveillance system is as good as the health system in member states, and we all know that we are at very different levels of strength in the member states. Some countries have very strong surveillance systems, some have weak surveillance systems and some, we are working with them to strengthen their systems there,” he said.Kenya reported Tuesday the first suspected case of coronavirus infection in January. The Ministry of Health said Thursday it sent samples to South Africa for further tests.
Sudan, Ethiopia and Ivory Coast are the other African countries that reported suspected cases.
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Brain Injuries in Iraq Put Attention on Invisible War Wounds
The spotlight on brain injuries suffered by American troops in Iraq this month is an example of America’s episodic attention to this invisible war wound, which has affected hundreds of thousands over the past two decades but is not yet fully understood.Unlike physical wounds, such as burns or the loss of limbs, traumatic brain injuries aren’t obvious and can take time to diagnose. The full impact — physically and psychologically — may not be evident for some time, as studies have shown links between TBI and mental health problems. They cannot be dismissed as mere “headaches” — the word used by President Donald Trump as he said the injuries suffered by the troops in Iraq were not necessarily serious.Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a veteran of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, told reporters Thursday that the number of service members diagnosed with TBI from the Jan. 8 Iranian missile attack in Iraq has now grown beyond the 50 reported earlier this week, although he provided no specific number. Milley said all are categorized as “mild” injuries, but in some cases the troops will be monitored “for the rest of their lives.”Speaking alongside Milley, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the Pentagon is vigorously studying ways to prevent brain injuries on the battlefield and to improve diagnosis and treatment. Milley said it’s possible, in some cases, that symptoms of TBI from the Iranian missile attack on an air base in Iraq on Jan. 8 will not become apparent for a year or two.“We’re early in the stage of diagnosis, we’re early in the stage of therapy for these troops,” Milley said.William Schmitz, national commander for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, last week cautioned the Trump administration against taking the TBI issue lightly.“TBI is known to cause depression, memory loss, severe headaches, dizziness and fatigue,” sometimes with long-term effects,” he said, while calling on Trump to apologize for his “misguided remarks.”Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr., a New Jersey Democrat and founder of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, faulted Trump for displaying “a clear lack of understanding of the devastating impacts of brain injury.”When it announced earlier this week that the number of TBI cases in Iraq had grown to 50, the Pentagon said more could come to light later. No one was killed in the missile attack, which was an Iranian effort to avenge the killing of Qassem Soleimani, its most powerful general and leader of its paramilitary Quds Force, in an American drone strike in Baghdad.Details of the U.S. injuries have not been made public, although the Pentagon said Tuesday that 31 of the 50 who were diagnosed with traumatic brain injury have recovered enough to return to duty. The severity of the other cases has not been disclosed.The Pentagon did not announce the first confirmed cases until more than a week after the Iranian attack; at that point it said there were 11 cases. The question of American casualties took on added importance at the time of the Iranian strike because the degree of damage was seen as influencing a U.S. decision on whether to counterattack and risk a broader war with Iran. Trump chose not to retaliate, and the Iranians then indicated their strike was sufficient for the time being.The arc of attention to TBI began in earnest, for the U.S. military, in the early years after it invaded Iraq in 2003 to topple President Saddam Hussein. His demise gave rise to an insurgency that confounded the Americans with crude but devastatingly effective roadside bombs. Survivors often suffered not just grievous physical wounds but also concussions that, along with psychological trauma, became known as the invisible wounds of war.“For generations, battlefield traumatic brain injuries were not understood and often dismissed,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat.The injuries have often been dismissed in part because the problem is not fully understood, although the Pentagon began focusing on the problem in the early 1990s when it established a head injury program that grew into today’s Defense and Veteran’s Brain Injury Center. Among its work, the center provides published reviews of research related to TBI, including links between severe TBI and behavioral issues such as alcohol abuse and suicide.A study published this month by University of Massachusetts Amherst health services researchers concluded that military members who suffered a moderate or severe TBI are more likely than those with other serious injuries to experience mental health disorders.Concern about TBI has recently given rise to questions about whether military members may suffer long-term health damage even from low-level blasts away from the battlefield, such as during training with artillery guns and shoulder-fired rockets.“We’re finding that even a mild blast can cause long-term, life-changing health issues,” said Riyi Shi, a professor of neuroscience and biomedical engineering at Purdue University.A 2018 study by the federally funded RAND Corp. found a dearth of research and understanding of potential damage to the nervous system from repeated exposure to these lower-level blasts. That same year, the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank, released a study urging the Pentagon to conduct a blast surveillance program to monitor, record, and maintain data on blast pressure exposure for “any soldier, in training or combat, who is likely to be in a position where he or she may be exposed to blasts.” It said this should include brain imaging of soldiers who have been exposed to blasts as part of the study to better understand how blasts affect the brain.
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Burundi Court Sentences 4 Private Journalists to Prison
A court in Burundi on Thursday sentenced four journalists to two and a half years in prison after they were convicted on charges of trying to undermine state security.One of their lawyers, Martin Ndayisaba, told journalists they will appeal the decision of the court in Bubanza Province. They have 30 days to do so.The journalists are with Iwacu, one of the few remaining private media organizations in the East African nation.They were arrested in October in Musigati district in the western province while covering the aftermath of clashes between the army and a rebel group from South Kivu in neighboring Congo.President Pierre Nkurunziza’s government has cracked down on the media ahead of this year’s election in May. Several local radio stations and media houses have been closed and many journalists have fled the country.The government suspended broadcasts in Burundi by Voice of America and the BBC. Jean Bigirimana, a journalist with Iwacu, has been missing since July 2016.Burundi has been plagued by political violence since 2015, when Nkurunziza announced he would seek a disputed third term. He won re-election despite widespread protests, and the United Nations says more than 1,200 people have been killed in the ensuing crackdown.Nkurunziza has said he will not run again and the ruling party recently named an army general as its candidate for the election.Amnesty International said the conviction and jail sentences for the journalists “on trumped-up charges marks a sad day for the right to freedom of expression and press freedom in Burundi,” said Seif Magango, Amnesty International’s deputy director for East Africa.”The authorities must quash the conviction and sentences, and the four journalists must be immediately and unconditionally released. … The Burundian authorities must ensure that every journalist in the country can work freely, without fear of arrest, harassment or intimidation, particularly ahead of upcoming elections.”
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Serving Equality With A Cup of Coffee
Coffee is one of the most popular hot beverages in the world and is drunk almost daily by about a third of the world’s population. At a coffee shop in Jakarta, Indonesia, the owners want to promote communication, understanding and tolerance by employing people who can’t hear. VOA’s Rendy Wicaksana reports
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EU: Russia, China Use ‘Digital War’ to Undermine Democracies
Russia and China are waging a “digital war” with fake news and disinformation to undermine democracy in Europe, and the European Union must develop tools to fight back, a top EU official said Thursday.European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova, who leads efforts to preserve democratic principles across the bloc, said the two countries have “weaponized information” and won’t back down until Europe stands up to them.”There are specific external actors, namely Russia and increasingly China, that are actively using disinformation and related interference tactics to undermine European democracy,” Jourova told a conference of disinformation experts and policymakers in Brussels.The two countries “will feel comfortable doing so until we demonstrate that we will not tolerate this aggression and interference,” she said.She said that “digital war” is a favored method of Russia and China because “they see that it’s efficient, it’s cheap, and I am not naive enough to believe that some talk will discourage them from doing that.”Jourova cited as examples the fake news reports from Russia surrounding the shooting down of a Malaysian airlines flight over eastern Ukraine in 2014 and in the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in Salisbury, England in 2018.Europe must find the best way to “defend ourselves and our territory and use the most efficient tools to do that,” including funding and new policies, she said.Experts at Thursday’s conference said Russia’s aim is to sow confusion and to undermine western organizations like the EU and NATO, while China uses more subtle methods, combined with a lot of money, to persuade decision-makers and influence policy.
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AP-NORC Poll: GOP More Fired up for 2020, Democrats Anxious
When it comes to the 2020 presidential election, Democrats are nervous wrecks and Republican excitement has grown.That’s according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research as Americans look ahead to a high-stakes election that is 10 months away but still very much top of mind. While emotions could change in the coming months, the findings give Democrats one more worry to add to the list: Will anxiety or enthusiasm be a bigger motivator come November?On the verge of the first votes being cast in a primary contest with no clear leader , 66% of Democrats report anxiety about the election, compared with 46% of Republicans. Democrats are also more likely to feel frustration. Republicans, meanwhile, are more likely than Democrats to declare excitement about the race, and the share of enthusiastic Republicans appears to be rising.The findings aren’t surprising to anyone who’s talked to an undecided Democrat about the crowded primary field. Behind an intense desire to oust President Donald Trump, Democrats often describe deep uncertainty about what sort of candidate has the best chance and whether the party will be able to win the votes. There’s also hard division over policy and whispers about a contested convention. It can all feel a bit too much for some.“I’m anxious and not really in a good way,” said James Horinek, 32, a Democrat in Lawton, Oklahoma, who works in marketing. “There’s division across the board — there’s too much on the Democratic side and too little on the Republican one.”Republicans, meanwhile, appear to share less of that angst, while their party hangs together on impeachment, the economy and other major issues on Trump’s agenda.“I am not nervous at all. I think Donald Trump will win it in a landslide,” said Clinton Adams, a 39-year-old custodian in the Florida Panhandle.The poll found that 43% of Republicans say they’re excited about the election, up 10 percentage points from October. Meanwhile, 33% of Democrats reported excitement.About three-quarters of both Democrats and Republicans say they are highly motivated to cast ballots this year. But that only raises the question of which emotion will be stronger in turning out the vote around the margins.A party usually wants its voters excited rather than anxious, said George Marcus, a political scientist at Williams College who has studied the role of emotion in politics and polling. Marcus found that voters who report fear and anxiety are more likely to be confused and split their vote.“It creates the possibility for persuasion,” Marcus said of voter worry. “If I’m an anxious Democrat, I may stay home, I may vote Republican. … You want your base to be either really angry at the other side or really enthusiastic.”Still, Marcus noted Democrats have a long way to go before Election Day. The selection of a nominee could calm jitters and stir up excitement for a candidate. Events could also shift GOP voters’ confidence.Anna Greenburg, a Democratic pollster, said the contrast between GOP excitement and Democratic anxiety and frustration is not a surprise.“In general, supporters of the party in power are going to be more optimistic and hopeful, while supporters of the party out of power are going to be frustrated and angry,” Greenburg said.She also noted that Democrats have been stressed since Trump won the White House.“Since Trump was elected, Democrats have been particularly anxious about both the idea of disinformation and election interference in 2020 and what could happen in a second Trump term,” Greenburg said. However, she added, “ there is no evidence that Democrats are any less enthusiastic about voting in 2020, and the results of the 2018 election would suggest that they are highly motivated to vote.”Indeed, the poll suggests that the feeling among Democrats might be a driver: About 9 in 10 anxious Democrats say they feel very motivated to vote this November, compared with about half of those who are not anxious.Tim Farrell is one of those stressed-out Democrats who have been worried since Trump won in 2016. The 58-year-old social worker in Watertown, New York, says he’s been “ill for the last three years.”He has little faith that voters will turn on Trump, but it’s the ongoing impeachment trial in the Republican-controlled Senate that’s raised his anxiety about November. “I’m dreading the expected outcome. He won’t be convicted. He’ll feel he’s invulnerable, and he’s an idiot with his finger on the button,” Farrell said of the president.Farrell expects to donate to whomever the party nominates, and indeed, that’s one way Democratic anxiety may help their party. Eighteen percent of anxious Democrats say they’ve donated, compared with 5% of those who are not anxious.Still, the stress doesn’t feel good to Kathy Tuggle, a retired administrative assistant in Richmond, Indiana. She also dreads the implications of a Trump acquittal — that the president can recruit other countries to help his reelection — and worries about relaxed standards for truth in political ads on Facebook.“I’m just not sure we can have a fair election right now,” the 65-year-old Democrat said. “That’s probably my biggest anxiety right now.”Domingo Rodriguez thinks these worries are ridiculous. The 75-year-old retired translator lives in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, and, though he’s not affiliated with either party, supports Trump. “I think Trump will win again. I’m not nervous,” Rodriguez said, chuckling as he thought about Democrats’ view of the election.“They’re absolutely anxious. For them it’s a matter of life and death,” said Rodriguez, who emigrated from Uruguay decades ago. Not for him, though. “I know I’m going to be living and existing and being in the great United States even if the Democrats win.”
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Biden Under Pressure to Prove He Can Thwart New Republican Attacks
With five days until the Iowa caucuses, Joe Biden is fending off a new onslaught of Republican attacks over his son’s business overseas and facing piling pressure to show Democratic voters he can handle the incoming.As Republicans amplified their allegations against the former vice president, accusing him of nepotism and worse in a series of charges stemming from the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, the Biden campaign promised an aggressive and direct counterstrategy ahead of Monday’s first nominating contest. Biden plans to speak Thursday in Iowa on the same day Trump plans a rally in Des Moines.The Biden campaign was mindful that the last-minute Republican meddling in the Democratic race provides something of a preview of the election ahead should Biden be the party’s nominee. As such, it was a test of whether Iowa voters would see strength or weakness in Biden’s response.Biden made his case Wednesday by openly mocking Florida Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican, for running a digital ad in Iowa that repeats Trump’s discredited theories about Biden’s work in Ukraine as vice president and his son’s private business dealings there. The ad came a day after Trump’s impeachment defense team repeatedly framed Hunter Biden’s tenure on an energy firm’s governing board as the real corruption in need of investigation.“A senator from Florida, sitting in Washington, has decided to start running negative ads against Joe Biden just days before the Iowa caucus,” the elder Biden told several hundred Iowa voters in Sioux City. “What do you think that’s about? Look, it’s simple,” he said, returning to an oft-used line: “They’re smearing me … because they know if I’m the nominee, I’m going to beat Donald Trump like a drum.”Biden adviser Anita Dunn was even more pointed, saying of the Scott ad: “We’ll pay him to keep it up.” Biden campaign manager Greg Schultz said, “This is all a help to us” because it valid Trump’s fear.That’s quite a turn from October, when the Biden campaign sent letters to Facebook, Google and Twitter pressuring the online platforms to block ads from Trump’s reelection campaign that contained similar debunked allegations against the Bidens. But Dunn and Schultz suggest that their new posture could be the better path to turning a potentially damaging story line into an electoral asset.“We are going to call out the lies. We are going to confront him,” Dunn said of how Biden will handle Trump going forward. “If Joe Biden has proven one thing in this race, it’s that he’s the person to stand up to Donald Trump.”Yet there are Democrats who see the Biden controversy as a replay of 2016. In that campaign, Trump deflected myriad stories of his own conflicts of interests and business dealings by hammering away at Democrat Hillary Clinton, her use of a private email server as secretary of state and the foreign contributions to the Clinton Foundation created after her husband Bill Clinton’s presidency.“Whether there’s anything to it or not, there’s going to be a lack of trust and doubt that we could end up like we did four years ago,” said Iowa Democrat Emma Thompson, 63, who is considering caucusing for Biden, but is also considering Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg and Andrew Yang.These aren’t perfect parallels. During the Trump-Clinton campaign, the FBI was actively investigating whether Clinton or her aides subjected classified material to disclosure, and the agency did not close the case — without any criminal charges — until well after Trump was in office. There has been no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden or his son. The elder Biden’s efforts to oust a Ukrainian prosecutor reflected the consensus of the U.S. government and its Western allies. And there’s no evidence the U.S. government has ever actively investigated Hunter Biden’s dealings at Burisma, even under Trump’s Justice Department.Still, Vicky Rossander, an Iowa caucus precinct captain for Sen. Amy Klobuchar, said she’s wary: “I don’t want to spend the whole election hearing about Burisma and Ukraine.”Republicans appear eager to have the fight.Besides Scott, Republican senators including Sen. Lindsey Graham have argued that Hunter Biden or the former vice president himself should be called as impeachment trial witnesses. Joe Biden has said he’d comply if called, but sees his testimony as irrelevant to the charges that Trump abused his power and obstructed Congress. Biden aides said Wednesday that they see “no indication of serious movement” toward calling Hunter Biden or his father.Trump’s 2016 campaign architect, Steve Bannon, confirmed in a recent Bloomberg News interview a deliberate strategy: “Isolate and amplify the most damaging charge against the strongest Democratic candidate and hammer [it] into voters’ minds until Election Day.”And Iowa’s Republican Sen. Joni Ernst joined the chorus this week, emerging from the Senate proceedings to wonder aloud to reporters “how this discussion today informs and influences Iowa caucus voters. … Will they be supporting Vice President Biden at this point?”In Sioux City, Biden thanked Ernst for “screaming the quiet part into the bullhorn.”“She spilled the beans, didn’t she?” Biden said, laughing. “The whole impeachment trial is about whether or not the president tried to interfere in the choice of a nominee for the Democrats.” Outlining his preferred outcome, he continued: “Now all caucus-goers can have a twofer. One, you can not only ruin Donald Trump’s night if I win the caucus — you can ruin Joni Ernst’s night, as well.”
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Europe Evacuation Flight off to China, Cruise Ship Checked
European countries on Thursday stepped up efforts to contain the virus infecting central China, sending a plane to evacuate hundreds of Europeans from the country and halting even more flights to China. Italian authorities kept some 7,000 people on a cruise ship while they checked for a possible infection.An A380 plane took off from a former military airport at Beja, 200 kilometers (120 miles) southeast of Lisbon carrying just its pilots and crew.Captain Antonios Efthymiou said the flight was going first to Paris, to pick up a team of doctors and extra crew, before heading to Hanoi and then China. He told Portuguese media it would bring back about 350 Europeans. He said the crew would take special medical precautions but did not elaborate on them.Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said the flight was coordinated between European Union countries and Chinese authorities.China has reported 170 deaths and at least 7,800 infections from the virus that emerged in the central city of Wuhan. More people have now been infected by this coronavirus in China than were sickened there during the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic. Sports, transport and cultural events have been cancelled across the country, and over 50 million people are under a government lockdown in central China.In Europe, there have been 10 confirmed cases of the virus: five in France, four in Germany and one in Finland.Italian health authorities, meanwhile, were screening 6,000 passengers and 1,000 crew aboard a cruise ship docked north of Rome after a passenger from Macao came down with flu-like symptoms, officials said Thursday.The Costa Crociere cruise line said the 54-year-old woman and her partner, who has no symptoms, were immediately put into isolation Wednesday and the case reported to Italian maritime authorities. Passengers of the Costa Smeralda were being kept on board Thursday pending checks to determine the type of virus.The ship had sailed from Mallorca, Spain, to Civitavecchia on a weeklong Mediterranean cruise but no passengers were allowed off for a planned walk in sunny Rome on Thursday.”All the planned mechanisms were activated. Health authorities are on board, doing checks,” Italian Coast Guard Cmdr. Vincenzo Leone said at the port of Civitavecchia. “The situation is under control. There’s a security cordon on the dock.”The Czech Republic, meanwhile, announced it was stopping issuing visas to Chinese citizens due to the outbreak. More than 600,000 Chinese tourists are estimated to have visited the Czech Republic last year, especially its old-world capital city of Prague.On the retail front, Swedish furniture and home goods retailer IKEA announced all its stores in mainland China would remain closed to protect its customers and staff from the outbreak. The stores are a favorite haunt of Chinese city dwellers both for shopping and for hanging out.Scandinavian Airlines announced it was halting all its flights to Beijing and Shanghai due to the virus beginning Friday until Feb. 9th. SAS, which has 12 regular weekly flights from Scandinavia to China, said Thursday that ”the safety of our passengers and employees is our highest priority.”Spain’s Iberia national airline halted the three return flights a week it runs between Madrid and Shanghai because of the virus, a move it said would continue through the month of February.Those announcements followed earlier moves to halt or reduce flights to China by other European airlines, including British Airways, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Air France and KLM.
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Cameroon Rebels Attack Reporters, Torch Media Offices
Journalists in Cameroon’s troubled English-speaking regions say separatists are attacking them because of critical reporting and refusal to broadcast rebel propaganda. Media organizations say separatist intimidation is intensifying as Cameroon prepares for local and parliamentary elections, which the rebels have vowed to stop.
Community radio station Stone FM, in Cameroon’s northwestern town of Ndop, stopped broadcasting Monday.
Manager and presenter Mbuotna Zacks Anabi says armed men stormed the station late Sunday night, firing shots into the air before setting the building on fire.Speaking via a messaging application, he said the suspected separatists left nothing. “Before burning, they first of all looted radio equipment. Then on the 27th of January 2020, they burned the radio house [station] as well as my own personal house – maybe because I have been against broadcasting their messages. I have been campaigning for schools to go back [reopen],” Anabi said.Cameroon’s separatists consider the French-speaking majority’s state schools and teachers to be legitimate targets in the English-speaking west and attack those that refuse to close. Anabi said after the attack, he fled to the English-speaking town of Bamenda, 60 kilometers away, and the station staff in 13 villages went into hiding. Rebels have not claimed responsibility for the attack. However, on social media, they have threatened anyone supporting Feb. 9 elections in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions.The separatists are fighting for an independent English-speaking state, and have vowed to stop any elections held by Cameroon’s French-majority authorities. Twenty-four-year-old teacher Antoinette Melo, a Ndop resident, says without Stone FM, people in the town have little access to news and information. “That was the only radio station that informed us and for the past days we have not been having any information. It is difficult because we are preparing for elections and we want to hear what candidates are saying,” Melo said.’Attack on democracy’Jude Viban, president of the Cameroon Association of English-Speaking Journalists, notes that Stone FM is not the first station targeted by the rebels. He said separatists have been attacking reporters and media in the English-speaking regions for refusing to broadcast their propaganda. “We are calling on the authorities of the country to make sure that they investigate and bring the culprits to book and we also want to let those who are attacking journalists as well as those who are attacking media houses to know that it is sad for our democracy. One of the core values of democracy is press freedom and each time a journalist or a media house is attacked, it is an attack on democracy,” he said.Viban said journalists are reporting separatist intimidation for simply asking people to vote in the elections.The government has repeated that it will protect all of citizens and is calling on the population to report any suspected rebels.Stone FM is the third radio station to be attacked in Cameroon’s restive English-speaking regions in recent weeks.The others were community radio stations in the northwestern town of Oku and the southwestern town of Kumba.Since the separatist conflict broke out in 2017, journalists in Cameroon have complained of abuses from both rebels and state security. Close to 30 Cameroonian journalists say they have been detained or threatened while reporting on the conflict. Several were charged with terrorism before the charges were later dropped. Journalist Macmillan Ambe was abducted by separatist fighters in the city of Bamenda in February 2019 after he criticized their call for families to keep their children out of school. He was released a day later unharmed. Police last March detained the president of the Cameroon Community Media Network, Geraldine Fobang, for leading a peaceful protest for press freedom. She said police intimidated her before she was released after a few hours. Military police arrested TV journalist Mimi Mefo in 2018 and charged her with publishing false information and terrorism. The charges were dropped only after Cameroonian President Paul Biya intervened. Former Guardian Post reporter Amos Fofung fled to the United States in 2017 after he was arrested with three other journalists for allegedly supporting the rebels. He remains in the U.S.The Reporters Without Borders 2019 World Press Freedom Index ranked Cameroon 131st globally, a two-position drop since 2018.
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WHO: World Needs to Be on Alert for Dangers Posed by Coronavirus
For the third time in one week, a World Health Organization Emergency Committee will meet to decide whether the new coronavirus poses a global health threat. The latest number of confirmed cases has risen to 7,700, including 170 deaths. The two previous emergency meetings ended inconclusively. WHO experts were split on whether the spread of the coronavirus was large enough to constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. But this quickly evolving disease may change some of the doubters’ minds.FILE – Tedros Adhanom, WHO director-general meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping before a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Jan. 28, 2020.WHO Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praises the strong response taken by the Chinese government to try to stop the epidemic. This includes the lockdown of Wuhan city, the epicenter of the disease and other cities in the country where the virus has been identified.But he acknowledges that events on the ground in China and abroad are moving too quickly to be ignored. He says the emergence of any new pathogen with the potential to cause severe illness and death is of grave concern and must be taken with utmost seriousness.”The continued increase in cases and the evidence of human-to-human transmission outside China, are, of course, both deeply concerning. Although the numbers outside China are still relatively small, they hold the potential for a much larger outbreak,” he said. So far, at least 70 cases of coronavirus have been found in more than a dozen countries, including the United States. All of these cases are being imported by travelers from China. An increasing number of countries are screening arriving passengers for infections and isolating them for the two-week incubation period.FILE – Chinese family wearing face masks walk in a pedestrian crossing in Bangkok, Thailand, Jan. 29, 2020.Executive director of WHO health emergencies program, Michael Ryan, says the situation is very fluid and changing by the hour. He says the whole world needs to be on the alert now and take whatever action is needed to stop transmission of this deadly virus.”We are at an important juncture in this event,” he said. “We, as WHO believe that these chains of transmission can still be interrupted. This disease is spreading from person-to-person through personal contact between individuals.” Ryan says the epidemic can be stemmed through proper hygiene, proper identification of cases, isolation and social distancing. He says the Emergency Committee will consider the merits of declaring a global public health emergency.He says the WHO experts are likely to recommend a series of temporary actions for countries to undertake in a coordinated, measured fashion. He says efforts to end an epidemic are always more effective when countries work together.
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China Counts 170 Virus Deaths, New Countries Find Infections
China counted 170 deaths from a new virus Thursday and more countries reported infections, including some spread locally, as foreign evacuees from China’s worst-hit region returned home to medical observation and even isolation.
India and the Philippines reported their first cases, in a traveler and a student who had both been in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the new type of coronavirus first surfaced in December. South Korea confirmed a case that was locally spread, in a man who had contact with a patient diagnosed earlier.
Locally spread cases outside China have been a worrying concern among global health officials, as potential signs of the virus spreading more easily and the difficulty of containing it. The World Health Organization is reconvening experts on Thursday to assess whether the outbreak should be declared a global emergency.
The new virus has now infected more people in China than were sickened there during the 2002-2003 outbreak of SARS, another type of coronavirus.
Thursday’s figures for mainland China cover the previous 24 hours and represent an increase of 38 deaths and 1,737 cases for a total of 7,711. Of the new deaths, 37 were in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, and one was in the southwestern province of Sichuan.
Three of Japan’s confirmed cases were among a group of evacuees who returned on a government-chartered flight from Wuhan on Wednesday. Japan’s foreign ministry said a second flight carrying 210 Japanese evacuees landed Thursday at Tokyo’s Haneda airport. Reports said nine of those aboard the flight showed signs of cough and fever.
India’s health ministry said a student in Kerala state who had been studying in Wuhan was confirmed to have the virus after returning home during the Lunar New Year break. Philippine health officials say a woman who traveled to the country from Wuhan via Hong Kong had tested positive.
Passengers wear masks to prevent an outbreak of a new coronavirus in a subway station, in Hong Kong, Jan. 22, 2020.A flight arranged between the European Union and China departed Portugal en route to China to bring back 350 Europeans from the affected area. The U.S. said additional flights were being planned for around Monday, after it evacuated 195 Americans from Wuhan on Wednesday. They are being tested and monitored at a Southern California military base.
New Zealand, Australia, India, Singapore and other countries are also trying to get out their citizens. Taiwan, the self-governing republic China considers its own territory, has also asked to be able to repatriate its passport holders from Wuhan, but it and the United Kingdom said they were awaiting approval from Beijing.
Airlines reduce service
Israel’s El Al , Spain’s Iberia and Korean Air joined the growing list of airlines suspending or reducing service to China.
In South Korea, residents in two cities where quarantine facilities are being prepared threw eggs and water bottles at government officials to protest plans to isolate in their neighborhoods 700 South Koreans the government plans to evacuate from China.
Amid reports of shortages in food and daily necessities in hot-spot areas, Chinese authorities are “stepping up efforts to ensure continuous supply and stable prices,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
It cited Ministry of Commerce data showing current reserves in Wuhan can ensure a secure supply of rice and cooking oil for more than 15 days, pork and eggs for more than 10 days and vegetables for about five days.
China’s highly developed online shopping and home delivery businesses were important in ensuring those confined to home by choice or by order could get food and other essentials.
“I’d just like to ask that folks don’t order anything other than the daily necessities,” Hou Yanbo, deputy director of market supervision from the National Post Administration, told reporters at a daily briefing.
China extended its Lunar New Year holiday to Sunday to try to contain the virus, but the wave of returning travelers could potentially cause the virus to spread further.
Transport ministry spokesman Wu Chungeng outlined a series of rigorous temperature checks and other “severe measures” to detect possibly infectious passengers. Transport restrictions such as those isolating Wuhan and suspending inter-provincial bus services would remain in place, Wu said.
“It’s definitely very challenging, but we’re confident we can exert effective control,`”Wu told reporters at the briefing.
School closings in Hong Kong, Beijing and other regions have been extended by at least two weeks.
The WHO emergencies chief, Michael Ryan, spoke in Geneva after returning from Beijing. He said China was taking “extraordinary measures in the face of an extraordinary challenge’ posed by the outbreak.A man wearing a surgical mask makes a child wear one outside the government general hospital where a student who had been in Wuhan is kept in isolation in Thrissur, Kerala state, India, Jan. 30, 2020.Most cases in China To date, about 99% of the cases are in China. Ryan estimated the death rate of the new virus at 2%, but said the figure was very preliminary. With fluctuating numbers of cases and deaths, scientists are only able to produce a rough estimate of the fatality rate and it’s likely many milder cases of the virus are being missed.
In comparison, the SARS virus killed about 10% of people who caught it. The new virus is from the coronavirus family, which includes those that can cause the common cold as well as more serious illnesses such as SARS and MERS.
Scientists say there are many questions to be answered about the new virus, including just how easily it spreads and how severe it is.
Chinese authorities have demanded anyone who traveled from or through Wuhan report to health authorities and self-quarantine themselves for 14 days, the maximum incubation period during which patients can be infectious even if they don’t show symptoms.
China has been largely praised for a swift and effective response to the outbreak, although questions have been raised about the police suppression of what were early on considered mere rumors, a reflection of the one-party Communist state’s determination to maintain a monopoly on information in spite of smart phones and social media.
That stands in stark contrast to the initial response to SARS, when medical reports were hidden as state secrets. The delayed response was blamed for allowing the disease to spread worldwide, killing around 800 people.
This time, in addition to working with WHO, China’s health minister Ma Xiaowei has been in touch with foreign colleagues, including U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar.
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EU Parliament Votes Overwhelmingly in Favor of Brexit
The European Parliament gave the green light for Britain’s departure from the European Union Wednesday evening, hours before Brexit becomes reality. The vote was overwhelming, 621 to 49, but it was an emotional departure.After being part of some sort of a European union for nearly half a century, it took only a few seconds for Britain to see its departure overwhelmingly approved by the European Parliament.The next step promises to be difficult, as Britain negotiates its future relationship the EU, especially on trade matters. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had this message for London:“It’s very clear the tradeoff is simple: The more united the United Kingdom does commit to uphold our standards for social protection and workers’ rights, our guarantees for the environment and other standards and rules ensuring fair competition, the closer and better the access to the single market,” she said.Emotional splitBut many lawmakers stuck to the emotional part of the split.“To all of you, I will say that I will miss you,” a French lawmaker said. “The EU will not be the same without you. My deep feeling is there is no good Brexit.”“If the British people ever decide to come back, our arms will be open,” a Spanish lawmaker said.Others warned that Britain’s departure should spark soul-searching about what is broken with the EU.“We European decisionmakers must realize that an increasing number of fellow citizens have turned their backs against the European projects, it’s for a reason,” a Belgian lawmaker said. “It’s because many believe that too often policies adopted at the European level have served the few rather than the many.”Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage along with other MEPs wave British flags ahead of a vote on the Withdrawal Agreement at the European Parliament in Brussels, Jan. 29, 2020.Leave vs RemainFor British Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage and other populist lawmakers, it was a time for victory.“We love Europe, we just hate the European Union. … I’m hoping this begins the end of this project. It’s a bad project,” he said.But Britain’s Remain camp at the EU parliament vowed they would be back. Among them, Aileen McLeod, of the pro-independence Scottish National Party. “Scotland is a European nation,” she said. “And I look forward to an independent Scotland rejoining the EU, and we will, soon…”Britain’s last day as an EU member is Friday. The British flag will be lowered at EU institutions. But in many ways, the farewell — with EU lawmakers locking arms and singing an old Scottish song — has already happened.
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Second Day of Questions in Impeachment Trial, Then a Decision on Witnesses
The U.S. Senate will spend a final day Thursday questioning President Donald Trump’s defense team and the House lawmakers prosecuting his impeachment case, as a decision looms about allowing witnesses.How quickly the proceedings come to a close will be determined by whether the Republican-majority will approve a request from Democrats to hear from key administration officials. The issue dominated Wednesday’s first session, during which senators submitted written questions.The spotlight was on John Bolton, the former national security adviser who wrote in a yet-to-be-published book that Trump told him he was withholding $391 million in military aid to Ukraine until President Volodymyr Zelenskiy publicly announced a corruption investigation into Democratic presidential challenger Joe Biden.Democrats insist Bolton and others must be called as witnesses. Most Republicans, who say Trump did nothing wrong in freezing the aid to Ukraine, do not want Bolton or anyone else subpoenaed or any new evidence entered.WATCH: Senators Take Turns Asking Questions at Trump Impeachment TrialSorry, but your player cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
FILE – Former National Security Adviser John Bolton listens to U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement on Syria at the White House in Washington, April 13, 2018.“When you have a witness as plainly relevant as John Bolton who goes to the heart of the most serious and most egregious of the president’s misconduct, who has volunteered to come and testify, to turn him away … is deeply at odds with being an impartial juror.”But a Trump lawyer, deputy White House counsel Patrick Philbin, accused the Democrat-controlled House of approving two articles of impeachment against Trump in a “hurried, half-baked, partisan fashion” and that to call witnesses now “could drag (the Senate trial) on for months.”“The real question is what is the precedent that is going to be set for what is an acceptable way for the House of Representatives to bring an impeachment of a president of the United States to this chamber?” Philbin asked.NSC: Book can’t be publishedA top official at the National Security Council wrote a letter to Bolton’s attorney last week that the book cannot be published in its current form because she says it contains a significant amount of classified information, including some that is top secret. She said the NSC is still reviewing the manuscript.Bolton’s lawyer released an e-mail response to the NSC Wednesday, disputing its assessment.The Senate plans to vote Friday whether to allow Bolton and other relevant witnesses to testify. Fifty-one votes are needed, which means at least four Republicans would have to join the 47 Democrats and independents. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell conceded Tuesday that he may not have the votes to prevent the subpoenas.The Senate will decide whether to convict Trump on two articles of impeachment and remove him from office — abuse of power and obstructing Congress.Alan Dershowitz, an attorney for President Donald Trump, speaks during the Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 27, 2020.Reelection in ‘public interest’Trump attorney Alan Dershowitz argued that even if Trump did ask President Zelenskiy for a political favor in exchange for aid, it is not impeachable.“Every public official that I know believes that his election is in the public interest … and if a president did something that he believes will help him get elected, in that public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment,” he said.Several legal scholars called his argument nonsense.Trump has steadfastly insisted he did nothing wrong. Republicans say he released the aid to Ukraine without Zelenskiy launching the Biden investigation, proving there was no reciprocal quid pro quo deal with Kyiv.The president’s lawyers say he had the authority to hold up the aid because of concern about corruption in Ukraine and the insistence that Europe pitch in more to help Ukraine fight Russian-backed separatists.However the debate plays out over witnesses, Trump remains almost certain to be acquitted.A two-thirds vote in the 100-member Senate is needed to convict Trump and remove him from office. But with Republicans holding a 53-47 majority and no Republican calling for his ouster, Trump is all but assured of being exonerated.
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Three Attorneys General to Launch ERA Lawsuit
The Democratic attorneys general in the three states that ratified the Equal Rights Amendment long after a deadline set by Congress expired are set to unveil litigation over the proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution.Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring’s office announced Wednesday that he was partnering with fellow Democratic attorneys general Kwame Raoul of Illinois and Aaron Ford of Nevada on “landmark civil rights litigation concerning the Equal Rights Amendment.”A spokeswoman for Herring declined further comment on the lawsuit ahead of a press conference scheduled for Thursday.The press conference will come after Virginia earlier in the week became the critical 38th state to ratify the measure, which would prohibit discrimination based on sex. Herring has previously said he would go to court if necessary to see that the measure is adopted in the Constitution.On Tuesday, the National Archives and Records Administration confirmed it had received Virginia’s ratification documentation but said the archivist would “take no action to certify the adoption of the Equal Rights Amendment.”Typically, constitutional amendments must be ratified by three-quarters of the states, or 38. But the ERA’s future is uncertain, in part because of a 1982 deadline for ratification that Congress enacted decades ago. Many legal observers expect its future to be determined in the courts.Nevada and Illinois were the next-most recent states to ratify the ERA: Nevada in 2017 and Illinois in 2018.
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Foreign Students Afraid, Frustrated in Wuhan
For the foreign students on lockdown in China where a deadly flulike coronavirus has emerged, days are marked by fear, frustration and boredom.“I wear a mask all the time,” said Redwan Mohamed Nur, an accounting student who told VOA he is one of 14 Somalis at Wuhan University and among 5,000 Africans studying in China. “I [am] so scared that I didn’t dare to open the window because I’m afraid the wind would blow the virus in.”Wuhan is home to dozens of universities and colleges. On Jan. 23, China closed off Wuhan, the center of a deadly outbreak of the coronavirus; 16 cities are locked down, more than 6,000 cases worldwide have been confirmed and at least 132 people are dead.Stuck in his dorm, he said he has left only once, and that was to walk to where school authorities distribute food to foreign students every other day. Elsewhere in China, An empty street is seen in Wuhan, Hubei province, China January 25, 2020, in this picture obtained from social media. Picture taken January 25, 2020.Chaniago said she’d received a week’s allowance from Indonesia’s embassy in Beijing, but added that shops and drugstores are closed. She and her friends are surviving on homemade chicken soup. “We understand that it’s hard for supplies to be sent in as the city is still in lockdown,” she said. “But we are puzzled as how to survive and protect ourselves from getting infected while at the same time being in the center of the outbreak, without enough food, water and medications.”She said she and her friends are wearing two masks at once.“There are masks handed out by the campus to survive, but they’re too thin,” she said. “It’s not the prescribed masks to prevent (the spread of) the virus.”At the Hubei University of Technology in Wuhan, “They have closed the dormitory doors so that nobody can go out,” Yusuf Abdullah, a Bangladeshi student told VOA. “If you order the food in the canteen, they will cook it for you and then they’ll send. But you can’t go outside.” Abdullah said the Bangladeshi Embassy had opened a chat group on the Chinese WeChat platform to share information and concerns. On the group chat, Abdullah told VOA that participants asked the embassy to “evacuate us as soon as possible.”Sithu Htun is one of 57 students, and three parents, living in isolation in the international students’ dormitory on the Wuhan University campus. All the students all are scholars under the educational and cultural exchange program between China and Myanmar.The environmental engineering graduate student at the Wuhan University of Technology said everyone was in good health but worried about the supply of food and medicines. He told VOA that the Myanmar Embassy keeps in touch with them about possible evacuation.He said it would be great if developed countries offered assistance to evacuate them, as Japan and U.S. sent aircraft to evacuate its citizens from Wuhan. He said Burmese students are helping each other avoid feeling depressed about negative comments on social media that reflect a widespread distrust of China among Burmese. “My parents are very worried about my safety because I am an only child, an only son,” said Keat Pocheang, 24, a Cambodian student at Wuhan University. “They video call me about 10 times a day.” He said he is “disappointed” that his government has not taken steps to evacuate its nationals.Another Cambodian student, Tang Chivhour, 20, a native of Phnom Penh, is a student at Hubei University in Wuhan. He has lived in China for three years and speaks fluent Chinese. For the past week, Tang Chivhor said boredom has been the biggest challenge. “I have a few Korean friends who are stuck here. So, I hang out with them, chatting and reading together.”Shipon Hussein, a Bangladeshi doctoral student studying at East China Normal University in Shanghai, said university authorities are not allowing outside people to enter foreign students’ residential quarters. “There has been talk about evacuation process,” he said. He added he knew some Bangladeshi students stranded in Wuhan “wanted to go back to Bangladesh.”In China’s capital, Francisco Sithoi Jr., 22, a Mozambican student at the Beijing University of Technology, echoed what students trapped in Wuhan said, that it was becoming hard for him to get the food he needed, having to “go from supermarket to supermarket.”Jannatun Nahar, a Bangla student at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, echoed that the university officials were “taking care of us” and offering free meals and basic items like sanitizer. And while she, too, feels isolated, she says, she doesn’t want to go home.”I don’t want to go back … because in my country, the population density is huge,” she said. “If the virus is in my body … if I come back to my country, it might effect my family, my relatives, my country. In my personal opinion, I want to stay in China, I don’t want to spread the virus in my country.”Reporters from VOA’s Bangla, Burmese, Indonesian, Khmer, Portuguese and Somali services contributed to this report, which was written in the Mandarin service.
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Kobe Remembered for his Legacy in Africa
The death of American basketball great Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter in a Calabasas, California, helicopter crash, Jan. 26, 2020, sent shockwaves throughout the world, especially in Africa where many looked up to him. VOA spoke with fans in Kenya and a basketball official in Ivory Coast about the NBA star’s sudden death. Salem Solomon has the story.
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Wuhan Building Two Hospitals in Just Days
A massive mobilization is underway in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Officials are racing to build two new medical centers from the ground up in a matter of days. A new coronavirus spreading from the city is flooding the country’s health care system. Hospitals are overcrowded with sick people and those who think they may be infected. The new facilities aim to help carry the load. But experts say China’s health care system faces long-term challenges. VOA’s Steve Baragona has more.
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Trump’s State of the Union Under Cloud of Impeachment
This Friday the Senate is expected to vote on whether to call witnesses to testify in the impeachment trial of U.S. President Donald Trump. If they vote yes, it would mean that next week Trump will deliver his annual State of the Union speech while being tried for his removal from office. Two American presidents have delivered state of the union addresses under threat of impeachment: Democrat Bill Clinton and Republican Richard Nixon. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara looks at how the two presidents handled their speeches and what Trump might learn from them.
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As Coronavirus Outbreak Expands, Airlines Suspend Flights to China
The World Health Organization will decide Thursday whether to designate the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency, but countries are taking action. New travel warnings advise people to avoid nonessential travel to China, and airlines have begun suspending flights to cities in mainland China. For the millions of people now under lockdown in the outbreak zone, the immediate future remains uncertain. VOA’s Mariama Diallo has more. VOA’s Tatiana Vorozhko also contributed to this report.
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