The latest polls show Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders surging in the Democratic primary race, both in national surveys and in Iowa, where the first contest of the 2020 campaign kicks off Monday. Sanders is among several top Democratic contenders competing for support in the Iowa presidential caucuses and the outcome is seen as crucial in what could be a long battle for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.
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Month: January 2020
British MP Saw Immediate Aftermath of Abyei Attack
A member of the British House of Lords says she witnessed the immediate aftermath of a massacre in the disputed Abyei region last week, and will raise the issue of the U.N. peacekeeping force there in the British parliament.Caroline Cox, formally known as the Baroness Cox of Queensbury, said the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNIFSA) did not protect the people of Abyei when armed men killed dozens of civilians in the village of Kolom last week.The oil-producing Abyei region sits on the border between Sudan and South Sudan and is claimed by both countries.Cox, who is CEO of an organization called Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust, gathered with Abyei lawyers, officials and citizens in Juba Monday to mourn the victims in the Kolom attack. More than 30 people were killed, according to Abyei’s chief administrator, Kuol Alor Kuol, who accused armed Misseriya nomads of attacking the mainly Dinka village.“We were there in the tragic time with the burning homes, the burning bodies and their homes, the mass graves already and the burning huts, and I think perhaps one of the worst things is that so many children were abducted into slavery and that is terrible for their families,” Cox told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus.Abyei regionShe said it is the responsibility of officials like herself to “tell the story and to try and get more help and justice for the people of Abyei.”Deng Arok Kuol, a lawmaker in South Sudan’s legislative assembly and co-chair of the Abyei oversight committee, said the presence of Cox in Abyei will help verify that a massacre took place.“Because the Baroness Cox was in Abyei when the incident happened and she had seen every bit of it and she lived it and knowing her role and knowing at least the importance of the country she comes from, we thought it is important for us to interact with her,” Kuol told South Sudan in Focus.Mony Luak Alor, chairman of the Abyei Lawyers Network, said Cox agreed that UNIFSA did not protect the people of Abyei.“She knew the weaknesses of UNIFSA and she said to the people that she witnessed how UNIFSA let the people down, how UNIFSA failed to prevent the massacre that happened and our people have been pointing this out all the time,” Alor told South Sudan in Focus.Tier Tong, president of the Abyei Community in Juba, said after a string of deadly attacks in Abyei region, the international community must act.“We think that unless proper measures are taken, this suffering will continue. … Many villages were affected before, and therefore the focus of our people is to mourn our deaths, but we want their souls not just to go cheap. We want their souls to be rewarded with the final resolution on the issue of Abyei,” Tong said.South Sudan’s minister of Gender, Child and Social Welfare in Abyei, Nyanwut Mayen Kuol Deng, said the people there need humanitarian assistance.“We have really been displaced from the area of Kolom and some came inside Abyei. They don’t have homes; they have just been gathered in one of the places inside Abyei and some are suffering in the hospital,” Deng said.Under the UNIFSA mandate, revised in November 2019, the U.N. Security Council authorized it to “protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence; and protect the area from incursions by unauthorized elements and ensure security.”
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Somali Students in Wuhan Speak of Fear, Loneliness, Hunger
Somali students in coronavirus-stricken Wuhan say they are trapped in their university rooms feeling frightened and lonely, and are appealing for the Somali government to help them leave the besieged Chinese city.”The situation in Wuhan is very, very dangerous,” said Yassin Abdi Said, one of several Somali students who spoke to VOA’s Somali service via Skype. “The city is on lockdown, most shops are closed. Authorities are not allowing anyone to go out or come in.” Wuhan is the epicenter of the epidemic.Said added that no taxis are operating, and the hospitals are filling up as the potentially deadly virus spreads.Like Said, accounting student Redwan Mohamed Nur, 22, has remained holed up in his university dormitory room for the past five days. One of 14 Somali students at Wuhan University, he says he has left his room only to walk to the university’s front gate, where school officials have been delivering food to foreign students every second day.”I did not leave my room, I can only go as far as the gate to receive the food,” Nur said. “I’m scared to even open the window because I’m afraid the wind may carry the virus in. I use a mask but it’s difficult to get it now.”FILE – A medical staff member tends to a patient with pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, Jan. 22, 2020.The university had been expected to reopen in February after shutting down for the Chinese New Year holiday, but authorities have told the students they should now expect it to remain closed for another month.”We want the Foreign Ministry of Somali government to evacuate us, we need emergency support,” Nur said.Altogether, about 34 Somalis, most of them students, are trapped at universities in Wuhan, keeping in touch with one another through a small community organization. So far, none has been infected by the still mysterious disease which has killed more than 100 people.Another member of that community is 23-year-old Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdi, one of four Somali students at China University of Geosciences. Abdi, who is studying petroleum engineering, says he too has remained inside for five days trying to avoid becoming infected.”You can get infected without showing the symptoms,” he said. “Therefore you are safe to be indoors.”Abdi says he has run out of food and plans to venture outside in search of an open supermarket within the next couple of days.”Traffic has been stopped,” Abdi said, “and unless they are transporting patients or have a reason to move around, people have been told to stay indoors.”He also appealed to the Somali government for help to get out of Wuhan, even if only to be evacuated to another location in China.Abdulaziz Osman and Hussein Aden contributed to this report.
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US Calls on Beijing to Allow More Public Health Experts into China
The coronavirus that started in Wuhan, China, last month has spread to more than 18 countries, as governments work to stop it. China has a mixed record on transparency during public crises, but President Xi Jinping, in a meeting with the director of WHO, said his country is ready to work with the organization and international community. This as Washington calls on Beijing to allow more public health experts into China to help halt the spread of the virus. More from VOA’s Mariama Diallo.
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Australia to Help Some Citizens Leave China
Australia will help some citizens leave Hubei province in China, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, and quarantine them on Christmas Island, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Wednesday following a briefing by the Chinese government.“We have taken a decision this morning to prepare a plan for an operation to provide some assisted departures for isolated and vulnerable Australians in Wuhan and the Hubei province,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra.Morrison did not say how many of the 600 Australians registered in the Hubei region the government would be able to help, adding Australia would also be working to help New Zealand and Pacific island citizens in Hubei.“But I stress there is rather a limited window here and we are moving very, very swiftly to ensure we can put this plan together and put the operation together,” he said.The evacuations will be done on a last in-first out basis, Morrison added.Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean 1,500km (900 miles) from the mainland, is home to a controversial immigration detention center.Australia, which has five confirmed cases of coronavirus, Wednesday upgraded its travel advice to “reconsider all travel to China,” and warned its citizens not to travel to Hubei province and to avoid crowded areas.
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Barr Vows ‘Zero Tolerance’ for Anti-Semitic Violence
The Trump administration will boost its efforts to fight anti-Semitism and get more involved in prosecuting hate crimes against Jews, Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday.Barr met with Jewish leaders in Brooklyn, New York, a city that reported a record-high number of crimes against Jews in 2019.”This administration is going to have zero tolerance for this kind of violence,” Barr said. He announced federal charges against a Brooklyn woman accused of slapping three Orthodox Jewish women last month.”These are the kinds of cases that maybe in the past would have been treated locally,” Barr said. “But I think it’s important for the federal government to plant its flag and show zero tolerance, and this will not be an isolated case. We will move aggressively when we see this kind of activity.”Recent violence against Jews, including the deadly shooting at a New Jersey kosher supermarket and the Hanukkah party attack in which five people were stabbed, has shaken New York’s Orthodox community.Some say they are afraid to let their children walk to and from neighborhood schools, and others say they are reluctant to wear their skullcaps in public.An Orthodox Jewish representative who met with Barr on Tuesday says the community is grateful to the Trump administration.”Not only a recognition of the problem and a resolve to bring the resources of the federal government to bear, but the very fact that he (Barr) came to Brooklyn to do that … conveyed a very powerful message,” Orthodox Union executive vice president Allen Fagin said.
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Turkish Court Defies Europe, Leaves Philanthropist Behind Bars
An Istanbul court has defied the European Court of Human Rights, ruling in favor of the continued detention of prominent philanthropist Osman Kavala. In December, the European Court demanded the immediate release of Kavala, who is on trial for sedition.Kavala and 15 other civil society activists are accused of supporting anti-government protests in 2013 against then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is now president. The protest action came to be known as the Gezi movement, named after an Istanbul park where the unrest started. Prosecutors are calling for life imprisonment without parole.The ECHR condemned the case, calling for an end to Kavala’s more than two years in prison and describing it as “arbitrary” and “politically motivated.”The Istanbul court ruled Tuesday the ECHR decision was provisional because Ankara was appealing the verdict and that Kavala should remain in jail.”The court’s decision is flawed because the European Court ruling was clear in its call for Kavala’s immediate release,” said Emma Sinclair Webb, Turkey researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch.”We saw multiple signs of how unfair this trial is,” said Webb, speaking after attending Tuesday’s court hearing. “The lawyers for Kavala raised many objections to the way witness evidence is used in this case. The court turns a deaf ear to all objections. It’s a shocking indication that once again, Turkey’s judiciary seems to be under heavy pressure of the executive.”Tuesday’s court hearing was marred by chaos, with Kavala’s lawyers challenging the judge’s decision to hear some witnesses without their presence, prompting the lawyers to walk out of the room. Ankara strongly rejects the ECHR verdict, maintaining that the judiciary is independent. But observers note the case has strong political undertones. Three months ahead of Kavala’s prosecution, Erdogan accused him of “financing terrorists” and that Kavala was a representative for “that famous Jew [George Soros,] who tries to divide and tear up nations.” Erdogan did not elaborate on the comments about George Soros, who is an international philanthropist.Erdogan’s allegations against Kavala resemble the prosecution case against the jailed activist.Kavala is a pivotal figure in Turkey, using his wealth to help develop the country’s fledgling civil society after a 1980 military coup.
“Osman Kavala is very prominent within the civil society in this country,” said Sinan Gokcen, Turkey representative of Swedish-based Civil Rights Defenders. “He is not a man of antagonism; he is a man of preaching dialogue, a man of building bridges.”FILE – Lawyers for jailed philanthropist Osman Kavala hold a press conference in Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 31, 2018.Gokcen works to support Turkish human rights defenders and says Kavala’s prosecution has far-reaching repercussions for civic society.”It means that they [the Turkish government] can detain any member of civil society in Turkey regardless of what this person is defending or advocating and can keep this person as long as they want despite any legal mechanism. We feel unprotected. In a way, we feel powerless to end such a situation. We feel powerless and intimidated,” added Gokcen.Turkey is in the grip of a legal crackdown following a 2016 failed coup blamed by the president on dissident military elements with links to Turkish-Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen. Gulen lives in self-imposed exile in the United States and is a staunch opponent of Erdogan.Hundreds of journalists, human rights defenders and members of the wider Turkish civic society have been prosecuted and jailed. The government says it is defending democracy, but critics argue the crackdown is more about silencing critics.Human Rights Watch Monday called on the United Nations to review Turkey’s “human rights crisis and the dramatic erosion of its rule of law framework.” On Tuesday, Turkey faced its third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.Ankara claims it remains committed to human rights and cites its plans to introduce a package of legal reforms. But critics cite the ongoing prosecutions as evidence of the government’s real intentions.”The huge number of journalists, politicians, and perceived government critics in prison and on trial flies in the face of the Turkish government’s public statements about the state of human rights in the country,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.With the U.N. having few tools to sanction Turkey, the European Union is seen as offering the best hope by human rights advocates of applying pressure on Ankara.Turkey’s EU membership bid is already frozen, in part due to human rights concerns. But Ankara is seeking to extend a customs union, along with visa-free travel for its citizens with the EU. “It’s time all European countries should be speaking out very loud and clear on cases like this [Kavala],” said Sinclair-Webb.But even high-profile cases like Kavala’s have seen Brussels offer only muted criticism of Ankara. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Istanbul Friday for talks with Erdogan saw little criticism of Turkey’s human rights record. Instead, discussions focused on Ankara’s recent deployment of soldiers to Libya and the upholding of an EU-Turkish agreement controlling migrants entering Europe.”There are many issues to talk about with Turkey,” said Sinclair Webb. “Syria, Libya, Turkey, hosting so many refugees from Syria, and this often takes priority over Turkey’s domestic human rights crisis. This means there isn’t sufficient clarity on cases like this. What we are seeing is Turkey defying Europe’s human rights court.”
Some analysts suggest Brussels could yet be lobbying behind the scenes for Kavala’s release, tying Ankara’s calls for extra financial assistance for refugees to gestures on human rights.
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Coronavirus Fears Affect Africa’s Most Mature Economy
South African officials say they’re ready for the possible spread of coronavirus to African shores. The pneumonia-like virus, which has sickened more than 4,500 people in China since it was identified in the city of Wuhan on Dec. 31, has African governments on alert.Professor Cheryl Cohen of South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases says the nation is taking precautions at the continent’s busiest airport, in Johannesburg.”We have noted the four cases of novel coronavirus that have recently been confirmed in Australia,” she said. “These were anticipated due to the proximity of Australia to Asia. We would like to assure South Africans that South Africa is prepared for any eventuality of an outbreak. We have put in place systems to rapidly identify, detect and respond to any imported cases that may reach our borders.”Some 21 million travelers came through Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport in 2018. It is the only airport in South Africa with direct flights to and from China.The airport has previously implemented temperature testing and health screening during previous outbreaks of Ebola, Zika and other viruses.While no cases of the virus have been reported in Africa, China is South Africa’s biggest trading partner, and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange slumped as news of the outbreak spread. That is normal, says economist Lara Hodes of Investec Bank, pointing to one study showing that the 2002 SARS epidemic cost global markets as much as $40 billion.”So it’s definitely had an effect, a mild effect,” she said. “The JSE has been down. It will generally affect financial markets and, in turn, impact commodity prices and the exchange rate. But it’s very early days and there’s a lot of hype around it because of … SARS a few years ago, they’re worried about the extent it will spread.”Hodes called the situation a “wait and see,” both in terms of the economy and the virus.
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US Health Officials Urge More Cooperation from China on Virus
U.S. health officials are urging China to share more information on how the novel coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan is spreading.The virus has sickened more than 4,500 people in 18 countries, mostly in China. More than 100 have died.Chinese experts have reported the virus can spread from patients who are not showing symptoms. But U.S. health officials say they are withholding judgment.”CDC has not been given the opportunity to review that data,” said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield at a press conference Tuesday. “The Chinese believe they have that data. This is our hope, to be able to review and be more definitive.”If patients are spreading the virus without showing symptoms, that calls for different screening procedures, added National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease Director Anthony Fauci.Fauci said asymptomatic patients are unlikely to have much impact on the spread of the disease.”In all the history of respiratory borne viruses of any type, asymptomatic transmission has never been the driver of outbreaks,” he said. Health officials have identified five cases in the United States and no person-to-person transmission so far. Redfield said the risk to Americans currently is low, but he expects more cases are coming.Passengers wear protective face masks arrive at the high speed train station in Hong Kong, Jan. 28, 2020. Hong Kong’s leader has announced that all rail links to mainland China will be cut starting Friday.Ready, willing and ableThe United States has offered to send experts to China to assist with the outbreak, but Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Beijing has not accepted the offer.”CDC experts are standing by, ready, willing and able, to go to China either on a bilateral basis or under the auspices of the World Health Organization,” he said.Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, left, wears a protective face mask speaks during a press conference held in Hong Kong, Jan. 28, 2020.CountermeasuresThere is no approved treatment for coronavirus infection, but Fauci said several are under study, including drugs that have shown some effectiveness against Ebola and HIV.A vaccine is in the works, as well. Fauci hopes to begin initial tests within the next three months.He cautioned, however, that “going into a Phase One trial does not mean that you have a vaccine that’s ready for deployment.” It will take several months to determine whether the vaccine is safe and can proceed to further tests. He noted that by the time results came in from a Phase One SARS vaccine trial, the outbreak was already under control.Health officials are now screening travelers from China at 20 U.S. airports.
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Trump Praises Pompeo for Doing ‘Good Job on’ NPR Reporter
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for his handling of a National Public Radio reporter who Pompeo shouted at, cursed, and called a liar after a contentious interview.”That reporter couldn’t have done too good a job on you yesterday,” Trump said to Pompeo, the chief U.S. diplomat, during a presentation of his Middle East peace plan, prompting laughter from the crowd of officials and dignitaries gathered at the White House.”I think you did a good job on her actually,” he added.Pompeo was interviewed on Friday by NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly, and was asked repeatedly about Ukraine and how he had supported ousted U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch to Kyiv during a testy nine-minute exchange.US State Department Bars NPR Reporter from Pompeo Trip After Testy InterviewMike Pompeo was interviewed on Friday by NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly, and was asked repeatedly about Ukraine and ousted US Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch during a testy nine-minute
exchangeFollowing the interview, Kelly said that Pompeo cursed at her and repeatedly “used the F-word” and asked her: “Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?”In a statement on Saturday, Pompeo said the reporter had lied in setting up the interview and in agreeing to conduct the post-interview conversation off the record. His statement did not dispute what she said about the content of the post-interview encounter. Kelly said Pompeo’s staff did not stipulate that the post-interview meeting was to be off the record.The U.S. State Department on Monday removed another NPR reporter from the press pool for Pompeo’s upcoming foreign trip, a move the State Department Correspondents’ Association (SDCA) said could only be seen as retaliation for the colleague’s interview.
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Energy Giant Total Taken to French Court for Climate Inaction Â
In a groundbreaking case in France, energy giant Total is being sued for allegedly failing to adequately fight climate change.The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday by environmental groups and local authorities who feel it has potential global implications.The legal action against Total will be the first use of a 2017 French law to sue for climate inaction. The legislation requires major French companies to draft so-called “vigilance plans” to prevent environmental damage, among other areas. The plaintiffs said Total has not done so when it comes to climate change. “We’re filing a lawsuit against them because they’re still not making the energy transition necessary to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees,” said Paul Mougeolle, who represents Notre Affaire a Tous, an environmental NGO that has filed a separate climate action case against the French government. “Total has 1% of greenhouse gases worldwide — more than the carbon footprint of France,” Mougeolle said. “So, we think Total has a special responsibility towards this energy transition.”Fourteen local authorities and five civil society groups have joined the Total lawsuit, which reflects a broader grass-roots uprising on climate in Europe and elsewhere. This alliance said companies that contribute to climate change should help pay the price for mitigating it and dealing with the consequences.France’s central Val de Loire region is part of the lawsuit.Regional councilor Benoit Faucheaux describes last summer’s devastating drought, which dried up rivers in his region of central France. Experts said climate change will make such droughts longer, more frequent and more devastating. “We hope Total will change its business model, that it will shift from that situation where it produces energy and fossil energies (to) another model where they are involved in energy transition,” Faucheaux said.Sebastien Mabile of Seattle Advocates law group, which has taken on the case, is uncertain about its chances — because it’s a legal first. But if it succeeds, he said, its impact could be big. “Because Total … operates in 130 countries,” Mabile said. “So, this case can have implications all over the world, such as the U.S., Africa, in all of the oil and gas basins.”Total faces a separate but somewhat similar lawsuit for allegedly failing to plan for potential human and environmental impacts of an Ugandan oil project. The company did not respond VOA’s requests for comment.
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US Beefs Up Screening of Travelers for New Virus from China
U.S. health officials are expanding their checks of international travelers for signs of a worrisome new virus from China, even as they say the risk to Americans so far is very low.For “the individual American, this should not be an impact on their day-to-day life,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters Tuesday.So far, there are five confirmed cases of this new virus in the U.S., and no sign that they have spread the respiratory illness to anyone around them.While reports from China suggest that people there may have spread the illness before showing symptoms, there is no evidence of that in the U.S., stressed Dr. Robert Redfield.And while some other viruses are known to occasionally spread before symptoms are obvious — such as the flu — health officials say that’s far less of a concern than the obviously contagious patients.The CDC already has been checking arrivals at five U.S. airports that once had direct flights from the hardest-hit section of China. While China has instituted broad travel bans, people who had been in other parts of China still may be arriving via other countries.The CDC is now beefing up screening at 15 more “quarantine stations” around the country, airports and other places where health workers regularly check arriving travelers for signs of illness.But travelers may not be sick right then, CDC’s Dr. Nancy Messonnier said. The screenings also are an opportunity to educate travelers that if they develop symptoms — such as fever or a cough — after returning from the outbreak zone, they should contact their doctor, she said. That’s exactly what the first two U.S. patients did.
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Puerto Rico Opens Only 20% of Schools Amid Ongoing Quakes
Puerto Rico opened only 20% of its public schools on Tuesday following a strong earthquake that delayed the start of classes by nearly three weeks as fears linger over the safety of students.Only 177 schools were certified to open after engineers inspected them for damage caused by the magnitude-6.4 earthquake that killed one person and damaged hundreds of homes on Jan. 7. But the inspections were not to determine whether a school could withstand another strong earthquake or had structural shortcomings such as short columns that make it vulnerable to collapse, further worrying parents.”Of course I am afraid,” said 38-year-old Marien Santos, who attended an open house Monday at her son’s Ramon Vila Mayo high school in the suburb of Rio Piedras where officials gave her a copy of the inspection report and evacuation plans.Her concerns were echoed by the director of the school, Elisa Delgado. While she believes engineers did a thorough inspection of the school, built in the early 1900s, they warned her not to use the main entrance in an evacuation because it leads to an area filled with gas lines. The problem is that the other exits are too narrow to handle the school’s 450 students, she told The Associated Press.”It’s not ideal,” she said.Overall, engineers have inspected 561 of the island’s 856 public schools, finding at least 50 too unsafe to reopen, leaving some 240,000 students out of school for now. Ongoing tremors also are forcing crews to automatically re-inspect schools following any quake of 3.0 magnitude or higher, according to Puerto Rico’s Infrastructure Financing Authority.Since the 6.4 quake, there have been several strong aftershocks, including a 5.9 magnitude one that hit Jan. 11 and a 5.0 that struck Saturday. The biggest quake flattened the top two floors of a three-story school in the southern coastal city of Guanica on Jan. 7, two days before classes were scheduled to start.Overall, experts say that some 500 public schools in Puerto Rico were built before 1987 and don’t meet new construction codes. A plan to retrofit all schools that need it, an estimated 756 buildings, would cost up to $2.5 billion, officials have said, noting those are preliminary figures.Education Secretary Eligio Hernandez noted that another 51 schools are scheduled to start classes on Feb. 3 and that his department is reviewing recommendations on how best to proceed with the other schools.”The Department of Education is going to take the time it needs and will take all necessary actions so that parents … feel satisfied,” he told reporters Monday.Alternatives for studentsGov. Wanda Vazquez said Tuesday that her administration is still trying to find appropriate options for the roughly 28,000 students who have been unable to return to schools.”It’s not that easy,” she said, adding that holding classes outdoors under tarps poses problems including how bathrooms, meals and transportation will be handled. She said hotels and convention centers in the area are being considered.Meanwhile, Elba Aponte, president of Puerto Rico’s Association of Teachers, told the AP that she has received complaints and pictures from parents and school employees of at least 10 schools that have reopened but that they feel are still unsafe.Most of the pictures are of cracks in the walls and roofs of those schools, she said.”Their concerns are quite valid,” Aponte said, adding that she would share them with the island’s education secretary.Meanwhile, school and government officials are trying to figure out what to do with the roughly 240,000 students who aren’t able to go to school yet, either because their building was deemed unsafe or has not yet been inspected. No schools in the island’s southern and southwest region will reopen for now, officials say.Options include placing students in other schools with revised schedules or holding classes in refurbished trailers or outdoors under tarps, Aponte said as she lamented the situation.”It’s terrible,” she said. “If there was one place where they could feel safe, it was at school.”
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Global Companies Find Themselves Ensnared in Angolan Corruption Case
WASHINGTON – As he faces charges of misusing more than $1 billion in state funds, the husband of Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos defended himself by pointing to the couple’s accounting firm. Sindika Dokolo said if people do not trust his version of events, they should just ask the renowned global accounting firm PwC, which handled the couple’s accounting and gave them tax advice.”We’ve been working with only Triple-A partners, including our auditors — and our auditors, in this case, are PwC,” said Dokolo in a recent studio interview with VOA in Washington.Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of former Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, similarly maintains her innocence, saying she ran businesses that operated on the world stage and abided by the highest standards. “When you are a child of the president, you can’t hide. The lights are just too bright. You have a lot of attention, a lot of scrutiny. So I took the decision to be transparent,” she said in a Skype interview with VOA.But PwC and other firms are now distancing themselves from the couple, who have had their assets frozen inside Angola. After the senior dos Santos left power in 2017, his successor, Joao Lourenco, announced a crackdown on corruption. Part of this effort was bringing charges against the dos Santos family, which Angola’s attorney general believes looted more than one billion dollars in state funds.’Tremendously shocked’PwC, which Dongala said, historically, U.S. prosecutors are selective about which cases like this they choose to pursue. “If the U.S. government wants to get involved in corruption cases, there are precedents and precedents set,” he said. “I think when assets are brought into the U.S. legal system, the U.S. has grounds to get involved because, now it involves American dollars.”More recently, a new legal tool has emerged to use against non-U.S. citizens believed to be involved in corruption.
The so-called Magnitsky Act was named after a murdered Russian tax accountant and signed into law in 2012. It allows the government to impose sanctions and freeze the assets of those involved in corruption or human rights abuses. The law’s range was later expanded.Dongala worked on the implementation of global Magnitsky sanctions while working with the House. Since it became law, the act has been used against numerous people including Russian oligarchs, former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who is accused of embezzlement, and Saudi officials suspected of playing a role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.Dongala said the law was designed to be easy to implement against offenders, but for that reason, it should be used judiciously.”That law was intentionally made that way so that it could be a powerful tool so that we would have very low legal barriers to sanctioning people,” said Dongala, who founded Accountable Africa, a consulting group promoting good governance and fiscal responsibility. “So that’s why we have to be very careful in the usage where we’re allowing governments to use it against others. Because it could become a bullying tool for foreign governments if we don’t discern that.”He also said, in general, when it comes to prosecuting corrupt leaders and their families, it is best done in courtrooms inside the countries themselves.”For the U.S. to venture off into using Global Magnitsky, even though it has the reach to do so, I think would be at this stage uncalled for because of the domestic nature of the allegations,” he said. “You don’t want a sense where Africans are kind of outsourcing their ability to judge themselves.”
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New Pressure on Prince Andrew to Help Epstein Investigation
The pressure on Britain’s disgraced Prince Andrew increased Tuesday after the revelation by U.S. authorities that he has failed to cooperate with the FBI’s investigation into his ties with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Lawyer Lisa Bloom, who represents five of Epstein’s alleged sexual trafficking victims, said Tuesday that it’s time for Andrew “to stop playing games and to come forward to do the right thing and answer questions.”
Bloom said her clients were “outraged and disappointed at Prince Andrew’s behavior.”
Andrew remained out of the public eye Tuesday. Buckingham Palace and his legal team maintained a “no comment” policy one day after U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said Andrew has provided “zero cooperation” to the FBI and the U.S. prosecutors seeking to speak with him about Epstein.
The statement Monday by Berman, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, was the first official confirmation that the leading U.S. law enforcement agency had sought — and failed — to obtain evidence from Andrew, third child of Queen Elizabeth II, despite his pledge in November that he would cooperate with legitimate law enforcement agencies.
The U.S. decision to make the 59-year-old prince’s silence public may be part of a strategy to increase public calls for him to cooperate.FILE – Financier Jeffrey Epstein looks on during a bail hearing in his sex trafficking case, in this court sketch in New York, July 15, 2019.Andrew is being sought for questioning as a witness who may be able to shed light on the illegal activities of Epstein, who died in a New York prison in August while awaiting trial on sexually abusing teenage girls. There’s no indication that U.S. officials are pursuing criminal charges against the prince.
The FBI only has limited ways to try to convince Andrew to give evidence.
U.S. officials have not provided details, so it’s not clear if the FBI made an informal request through Andrew’s lawyers or went through formal police channels, which if successful would have led to an interview conducted by U.K. police, possibly with an FBI agent present.
“They can’t compel him to do any of those things,” said British lawyer Ben Keith, a specialist in extradition and law enforcement. “The next stage after that is to issue a formal Mutual Legal Assistance Request, which would go through the Foreign Office and be dealt with in the court system.”
That could lead, Keith said, to the prince giving evidence via video link to U.S. investigators.
Andrew has been accused by a woman who says that she had several sexual encounters with the prince at Epstein’s behest, starting when she was 17.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre says after meeting Epstein as a teenager in Florida in 2000, he flew her around the world and pressured her into having sex with numerous older men, including Andrew, two senior U.S. politicians, a noted academic, and the attorney Alan Dershowitz, who is now part of President Donald Trump’s impeachment defense team.
Giuffre has said she had sex with Andrew three times, including once in London in 2001 at the home of Epstein’s girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. Giuffre claims that she was paid by Epstein for her sexual encounters.
Andrew and Dershowitz have denied any wrongdoing. But the royal family forced Andrew to step down from his royal duties and charity patronages in November after giving a disastrous television interview in which he defended his friendship with Epstein and failed to express sympathy for the girls and women who Epstein abused.
Andrew is also being pursued by several lawyers representing Epstein victims who are pushing civil suits against Epstein’s estate.
Those lawyers could choose to bring their request to a British high court, seeking to have an examiner take a statement from Andrew or pursue other ways to obtain his evidence. So far they are only making public calls for him to make himself available and threatening to subpoena Andrew if he travels to the U.S.
The complex legal situation may make Andrew reluctant to visit the U.S., where his evidence is sought on both criminal and civil cases, but lawyers say it’s unlikely to restrict his travel to other countries.
New York criminal defense lawyer Ron Kuby says it’s unlikely the prince will ever voluntarily agree to an interview and said the FBI doesn’t have the means to force him to.
“The likelihood of him participating is very, very small,” Kuby said. “Why would he? The last time Prince Andrew spoke on the relevant topic he was yanked from public life and universally ridiculed.”
Andrew, eighth in line to the throne, has been seen at occasional royal family events since November but has not commented on Epstein since his TV interview backfired.
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Turkey Journalists Protest Press Pass Cancellations
Members of Turkey’s largest journalism trade union rallied outside Ankara’s Communications Directorate on Monday to protest the government’s mass cancellation of state-issued press credentials.According to the Journalist’s Union of Turkey, known by its Turkish acronym TGS, and international press advocacy groups, such as the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), up to 1,400 press cards have been canceled in recent months.Most of the journalists targeted for cancellation, observers say, report for independent news outlets or publications critical of the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Although journalists are permitted to work without press cards, the passes are the only documents that allow reporters to access Parliament and other government buildings.”As journalists, we don’t need permission from anyone,” Esra Koçak, Ankara-branch chairman of TGS, told independent Turkish news agency Bianet. “We want to protect people’s right to receive information, which is our only motto.”Indefinite reviewIn 2019, Turkish communications officials announced plans to change the traditionally yellow press card to turquoise and require all reporters to submit applications for the new cards no later than Jan. 26, 2020.FILE – Journalists are seen during a stake-out in Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 31, 2018.Since that announcement was made, hundreds of applications for renewal have remained under indefinite review without explanation, and journalists left in bureaucratic limbo have been instructed to await a ruling on the status of their individual applications.Although some reporters were told they could continue using their old yellow cards in the meantime, Ankara officials invalidated all yellow cards on the Jan. 26 deadline.Officials with Turkey’s Communications Directorate did not respond to requests for comment, but the agency’s director, Fahrettin Altun, took to Twitter Monday to deny allegations of mass decredentialing.”Reports regarding the cancellation of press passes is not accurate,” he wrote, appending a diagram showing several phases of the press card application process.Turkish communications officials, he wrote in further posts, must first determine whether applicants are “professionally engaged in journalistic activity, whether he/she is affiliated with a terrorist organization and whether he/she has been engaged in any action or conduct that tarnishes the integrity of the profession.”Altun put the number of the unconcluded applications at 894.Some cards reactivatedAfter several hours of protests on Monday, some journalists found that their cards were at least partially reactivated, suddenly indicating a “still in use” status on government web portals, leading some to questions whether the government had begun walking back the restrictions.”It appears that the Directorate decided to correct the mistake,” said a TGS spokesperson. “We call on the officials to issue the new press passes that have been put on hold for the past year with no reason provided.”Ankara’s Communications Directorate has reported to President Erdogan’s office since June 2018, when Turkey scrapped its parliamentary system for an executive presidential system of governance.FILE – Journalists work on a hilltop in Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey, covering Ankara’s incursion into Syria, Oct. 20, 2019.According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, 15 reporters and the top editor of Istanbul-based Evrensel have been denied reporting credentials, as have journalists working for other left-leaning dailies such as BirGün and Cumhuriyet.”Turkey’s decision to cancel the press cards for hundreds of journalists is yet another attack on independent reporting and is absolutely unacceptable,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Authorities should immediately restore the journalists’ press credentials, and should ensure that passes are granted in an impartial process.”Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, known by its French acronym RSF, ranked Turkey 157 out of 180 countries in its 2019 annual World Press Freedom Index.”After the elimination of dozens of media outlets and the acquisition of Turkey’s biggest media group by a pro-government conglomerate, the authorities are tightening the vice on what little is left of pluralism – a handful of media outlets that are being harassed and marginalized,” said the RSF report, which identifies Ankara as the world’s second largest jailer of journalists.The 2019 RSF index ranked the United States 48 out of 180, a three-slot drop from 45th place in 2018, as “rhetorical attacks from the government and private individuals alike grew increasingly hostile.”CPJ reported that Turkey revoked press credentials of some 900 journalists after the attempted coup in 2016.
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Kenya Hospital Quarantines Student with Coronavirus-like Symptoms
A student who arrived in Kenya from China Tuesday has been quarantined in Nairobi after exhibiting coronavirus-like symptoms. Kenya Airways, the airline that the patient flew, said the decision to quarantine him was made by health authorities at Nairobi’s Jommo Kenyatta International Airport.A Kenyan student who returned home from China Tuesday is currently being held in an isolation ward at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH). There are fears he may have been infected with the deadly coronavirus that has claimed more than 100 lives in China.Kenya Airways released a statement Tuesday saying the passenger was given clearance to fly by Chinese health authorities at Guangzhou Airport. But upon arriving in Nairobi, Kenyan health authorities decided to quarantine the traveler, who exhibited coronavirus-like symptoms. The decision, they said, was a precautionary measure.As China scrambles to contain the virus, countries in Africa and around the world are on high alert.Dr. John Nkengasong, Africa Director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said the virus may have already made its way to Africa.”It is very possible that we have cases that are going on in the continent, that have not been recognized, we have to admit that,” he said. “We cannot certainly be so fortunate that so far we do not have cases in Africa but we have it all over the world. So we have to admit that there are certain things we do not know.”He said there may be false rumors of suspected cases because the initial coronavirus symptoms are similar to those of a common cold, such as fever and coughing.Nkengasong said the virus will present “a test case” of Africa Union members’ health surveillance systems.”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,” he said. “Some countries have very strong surveillance systems, some have weak surveillance systems and some we are working with them to strengthen their systems there.”Suspected coronavirus cases have also been reported in Ethiopia and Ivory Coast.In Nairobi Tuesday, Kenyans such as Moffat Maina waited to hear the status of the student who was quarantined.”The issue concerning the coronavirus is an issue not only for the Ministry of Health but for all Kenyans to have that safety,” he said. “Wherever we are, we have to report if there are any signs, you don’t have to panic but report it immediately to the relevant authorities so that they can counter it and control it.”Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that cause disease in animals. Some strains of the virus can infect humans.So far, the death rate of those infected with the Wuhan coronavirus is about 2 percent.
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WHO Warns Visitors Evacuated from China Could Spread Coronavirus
The World Health Organization warns the evacuation of nationals from China to their home countries carries the risk of spreading the deadly coronavirus. The WHO reports 4,428 cases of the disease in China, including 106 deaths. Another 45 cases are confirmed in 13 countries. WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is wrapping up several days of talks with China’s President Xi Jinping and other high-level officials in Beijing. They have been discussing measures to protect the health of Chinese citizens and foreigners during the coronavirus outbreak.WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier says officials also have considered possible alternatives to the evacuation of foreigners from China to ensure no infections are imported back to their home countries. He calls that a real possibility as the incubation period of the coronavirus is between one and 14 days. That means people can transmit the virus during that period.”There are possibilities that also asymptomatic people, people showing no symptoms at all, could be infectious, are definitely interesting and concerning and have to be closer looked at,” he said. “That is all I can say so far… It is one of the big unknowns about this virus, which has to be solved.” Lindmeier tells VOA that the WHO does not yet have a position on the pros and cons of quarantining nationals upon their return. He says the WHO is waiting for clarification on the dangers of transmitting the disease during the incubation period before issuing advice.”Closely monitoring or even isolating people who are coming back might be a measure yet if we see symptoms,” he said. “Monitoring, closely monitoring or, as some countries refer to isolating them even for a certain amount of time is a measure possible. It could help the scenario… prevent the further spread of the virus.” The good news says Lindmeier is that there has not been any major spread of the infection outside of China. The WHO’s latest risk assessment of the coronavirus rates the regional and global risk level as high, and that of China as very high. While the virus is not rapidly spreading outside of China, the WHO urges countries to remain vigilant and be prepared.
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EU Slaps Sanctions on 7 over Elections in East Ukraine
The European Union on Tuesday slapped sanctions on seven people accused of undermining Ukraine’s sovereignty for their role in organizing Russian local elections in the Crimean Peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014.The seven, who will see their assets frozen and face travel bans in Europe, include a top official in Crimea and senior electoral commission officers in the city of Sevastopol whom the EU blame for running the elections on Sept. 8.”Through their involvement in the elections, these people actively supported actions and implemented policies which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” EU headquarters said in a statement.The move means that 177 people and 44 “entities” – organizations, associations or companies – are now under EU sanctions over allegations of undermining Ukraine’s territorial integrity.The EU imposed sanctions on Russia after it annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and the bloc refuses to recognize Moscow’s authority there. It has separate sanctions targeting the Russian economy which are due to remain in place until at least July 31.
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‘Like I’m Trapped’: Africans in China Lockdown See No Escape
The normally bustling supermarket in Wuhan was deserted, looking more foreign than ever. Khamis Hassan Bakari walked the aisles and saw just two other shoppers, and fear sank in.
“Everybody is scared. Scared of seeing anyone,” the 39-year-old Tanzanian doctor said, as authorities around the world scramble to contain the new virus that began in the industrial Chinese city of 11 million. “You don’t even want the supermarket to touch the products you buy.”
Bakari spoke with The Associated Press this week from his university housing in Wuhan as China’s astonishing lockdown of more than 50 million people continues. Transport links have been cut. Streets are largely empty. Lunar New Year festivities have fallen flat.
With thousands of foreigners stranded in Wuhan, and with richer countries like the United States and Japan preparing to evacuate some citizens, the PhD student has become a leader for hundreds of African peers with little chance of a similar escape.
“I’m feeling like I’m trapped here,” said one Ethiopian student at Wuhan University of Science and Technology, who gave only his first name, Abel. He, like other students, cited worries that angering Chinese or their country’s authorities could lead to retaliation, like loss of scholarships.
Beijing’s push to expand its influence on the youthful African continent means Africans now make up the second-largest population of foreign students in China, behind those from elsewhere in Asia, according to China’s education ministry. In 2018 African students numbered more than 80,000.
More than 4,000 are estimated to be in Wuhan alone.
None of them expected this. No one knows how long the lockdown will last, or all the ways the virus can spread. The southern African nation of Botswana has openly worried about its students’ supplies of water and food. Kenya’s government has had to defend itself against accusations it was not helping its students.
So Bakari and a small committee of fellow doctors from his East African country regularly send updates on social media about the outbreak to the more than 400 Tanzanian students in Wuhan, as well as hundreds of countrymen elsewhere in China.
“They don’t have a clue what is going on,” Bakari said. And, because the updates are largely in Swahili, the lingua franca of East Africa, many beyond his country can follow them, too.
“Together we are one family,” the association tweeted Tuesday, encouraging fellow Africans to follow precautionary measures.
The concerns are real. Even Africa’s most developed economy, South Africa, has signaled it will not evacuate citizens. On Sunday it told students in China to adhere to university instructions, warning that leaving without permission “can have far-reaching consequences.” Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, however, has ordered his government to repatriate 100 nationals of the north African nation from Wuhan.
Speaking by phone, Bakari sounded remarkably relaxed, even chuckling, as he described life under lockdown.
“For me as a doctor, I know how to cope with the stress,” the specialist in nuclear medicine said. “So we have initiated a way of going through this ordeal.”
To help keep people calm, the Tanzanian committee has recommended this: Exercise at least 20 minutes a day, and don’t spend too much time online. The committee looked into an online video showing an ill Congolese student at a Chinese hospital that quickly led to fears he had the virus.
“But that guy, he actually had kidney stones,” Bakari said. “We don’t have a foreign student here in Wuhan suffering from the virus, we haven’t heard of any case.”
A Ghanaian student said campus authorities at Wuhan University of Science and Technology had warned students against sharing videos, photos or messages about the virus on WeChat, the popular Chinese messaging app, threatening to cut their WiFi connections if they do.
Students were only trying to learn about the situation, said the student, adding that he wants to leave China the moment transport links are restored.
“This is not the time to be adventurous,” Ghana’s ambassador to China, Edward Boateng, has warned. “Let’s not panic in the process.” The African diplomatic corps in Beijing has been exploring options to help students, reaching out to the U.N. migration agency and others.
Another Tanzanian on the grassroots committee, Dr. Hilal Kizwi, described a situation “full of panic” especially for newer African students who don’t yet speak Chinese.
The new virus started out like a flu, he said. Then authorities told him and others doing their residency at a local hospital to be careful and cover their mouths. Patients started dying, and the number of patients soared. Supplies of masks and other items ran low. Finally, students were told to no longer report to work.
“It’s like I’m locked up in a cell,” Kizwi said shortly after his evening prayers. “The only thing I have is to talk to my family:” I’m safe, I’m doing fine.’” And he was, until he heard a local doctor had died of the virus. When he ventured outside after the death, he wore two face masks instead of one.
Students have reached out to Tanzania’s embassy about leaving Wuhan and were told authorities were working on it, Kizwi said. “But I don’t expect it.”
There is little to do. Police are constantly monitoring people who are out and about, his countryman Bakari said. Most supermarkets and pharmacies are closed. The one shop at his and Kizwi’s school, Tongji Medical College, quickly sells out every day.
Bakari said the Tanzanian committee has begun collecting phone numbers of international representatives for all universities in Wuhan so students can report on any shortages or which campuses are being especially helpful.
Some students are given thermometers and visited every day for a temperature check, Bakari said. At his school, they are given face masks daily.
“Our university gave us supplies the day before yesterday,” he said, including two boxes of chocolate, cookies, sugar, cooking oil and bottles of water. “Today there’s new information that if we want to go around the city, we have to ask the local community. They have provided us with a phone number and we call them to ask for transport or supplies, if possible.”
He complimented Chinese authorities on their response: “We really appreciate what they’re doing.”
But Bakari said he has no plans to go out again.
With his new stash from his supermarket visit of fruit, vegetables, legumes and milk powder – to help combat protein deficiency now that eating eggs, fish or meat is not an option since the virus jumped from animals to humans – he has settled into his role as an investigator, semi-therapist and amateur media outlet.
This new reality can be tiring. But “actually we don’t sleep these days,” he said.
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UN: Clashes in Sudan’s West Darfur force 11,000 into Chad
Tribal clashes in Sudan’s West Darfur province forced more than 11,000 people to flee into neighboring Chad over the past month, the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday.Clashes between Arabs and non-Arabs erupted late in December in the West Darfur town of Genena, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the border with Chad. At least three dozen people, including women and children, were killed and around 60 others were wounded.Babar Baloch, a spokesman for the U.N. human rights agency, said 4,000 of the 11,000 have fled during the last week alone.Baloch estimated the clashes have displaced some 46,000 inside the country. Most of those were already internally displaced people, and when the attacks happened in West Darfur, including on displacement camps, people fled and found temporary refuge in schools, mosques and other buildings in Genena, he said.The UNHCR said the refugees who crossed the border were scattered in several villages in Chad’s Ouddai province, already hosts 128,000 Sudanese refugees.“The conditions are dire. Most are staying in the open or under makeshift shelters, with little protection from the elements. Food and water are urgently needed, while health conditions are a concern,” said Baloch.Clashes in West Darfur have posed a challenge to efforts by Sudan’s transitional government to end decades-long rebellions in areas like Darfur.Negotiating an end to the rebellions in Sudan’s far-flung provinces including West Darfur has been a crucial goal for the transitional government. It’s looking to revive the country’s battered economy through slashing military spending, which takes up much of the national budget.The transitional military-civilian Sovereign Council took power in August, just months after a pro-democracy uprising led Sudan’s military to overthrow former autocratic President Omar al-Bashir in April.
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Mali’s 2012 Coup Leader Released on Bail Amid Trial Delays
Former military Gen. Amadou Haya Sanogo, who overthrew Mali’s president in 2012, was released on bail Tuesday as he awaits a long-delayed trial on charges he had 21 soldiers killed after a failed counter-coup that same year.Human rights groups have decried the long quest for justice for the victims, whose bodies were found in a mass grave. The government of the West African nation, though, has expressed concern that the trial could inflame tensions at a time when discontent is on the rise in the military.Sagara Bintou Maiga, president of the victims’ association, acknowledged that risk in saying “we only want stability for our country” after learning of Sanogo’s release on bail.
Sanogo and his co-defendants did not go on trial until late 2016 and then the case was swiftly adjourned. The trial was supposed to start up again earlier this month, but it was again put on hold.
No date has been set for his trial to resume, and Sanogo is free to move without restrictions, according to his lawyer, Cheick Oumar Konare.
“Malian authorities have justified the decision on the grounds of consolidating social cohesion and concord within the army,” Amnesty International has said in a statement.
Witnesses have told Human Rights Watch that they last saw the soldiers — bound and blindfolded — being loaded onto a truck in the middle of the night. One witness later provided the group with a handwritten list of the victims’ names.
Malian authorities have expressed concerns that Sanogo’s trial could undermine stability in the country wracked by Islamic extremism and growing resentment of the military’s inability to contain the spread of violence. Sanogo still has support within the beleaguered military, and some had called for his release.
The political upheaval of the 2012 coup and the ensuing power vacuum paved the way for Islamic extremists to further their grip on northern Mali, a crisis that now plagues central Mali and has spilled over into neighboring Burkina Faso.
At the time of the coup, Sanogo was backed by the rank-and-file soldiers who marched on the presidential palace and toppled President Amadou Toumani Toure. Sanogo, though, was opposed by the elite paratroopers known as the Red Berets who made up the ousted president’s guard. When they attempted to lead a counter-coup the following month, human rights groups say Sanogo responded with force.
The counter-coup ultimately failed, though Sanogo later handed over power to a transitional civilian government and left after negotiating a salary given to former heads of state.
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Tears Shed, Joyful Times Recalled at Kobe Bryant Memorial
Fans call it The House that Kobe Built, and since Kobe Bryant’s shocking death in a helicopter crash mourners by the thousands have gathered outside the glistening steel-and-glass edifice where the Los Angeles Lakers legend made so much basketball history.The arrivals at downtown Staples Center began soon after word spread that Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were among nine people killed in Sunday’s crash. They continued unabated Monday as people took off from school or work to pay respects to a man with whom many felt a kinship.“The memories that he gave us as a family were great memories,” said Lawrence Perez or North Hollywood, who arrived with his wife, Maureen, and 15-year-old daughter, Desiree. “We could have been at home, but we wanted to be with other people who are kind of going through the same thing.”The Lakers had a game scheduled Tuesday night against the LA Clippers at Staples Center but the NBA postponed it “out of respect” for the Lakers. The next Lakers home game is Friday night against Portland.The Staples Center, home to the Lakers and Clippers, opened for the 1999-2000 season, just as a 21-year-old Bryant was blossoming. That season the team would win the first of five championships over the next 10 years.Although the mood there Monday was often somber as people hugged and wiped away tears, many couldn’t help but grin at times as they recalled joyful moments Bryant brought to their lives.“The greatest moment was when I got his autograph his rookie year,” Perez said, recalling how he told the teenage Bryant he was destined for greatness. Bryant smiled, shook his hand and said he hoped he’d just break into the team’s starting lineup sometime soon.Perez had planned to bring that ball to Bryant’s Hall of Fame induction, expected later this year, and ask him to sign it again.“But that’s not going to happen now,” he said softly as his wife hugged him and said, “He cried when he heard the news.”As people arrived at the arena they were greeted by a gigantic display of flowers, balloons, votive candles (some with Bryant’s photo on them), hats, jerseys, statuettes of angels and photos and paintings of Bryant and his daughter circling the entire area. Some showed father and daughter with angel’s wings. Others contained personal messages written in English, Spanish and Chinese, showing the international impact Bryant’s career had.“I left my shoe for him,” said Louie Guerrero of Los Angeles, who arrived at the memorial pushing a stroller with his 2-year-old daughter, Lexie, decked out in her own little Lakers uniform. He spontaneously decided to add one of his official Lakers basketball shoes to the memorial after scribbling on it, “We Love You, Kobe.”NBA’s Kobe Bryant Scores 60 Points in Farewell Game
Kobe Bryant played the final game of his legendary 20-year career with the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday night. The 37-year-old Bryant scored a season-high 60 points to rally the Lakers from a 15-point deficit to a 101-96 victory over the visiting Utah Jazz at Staples Center in front of thousands of fans -- including Oscar-winning actor Jack Nicholson -- who paid thousands of dollars a ticket for a chance to witness Bryant's last game wearing the Lakers's purple-and…
He walked away with only a sock on his left foot.Nearby, Michelle Rodriguez of Los Angeles wiped away a tear as she gazed at photos of Bryant with his daughter and his teammates. The 30-year-old emergency room nurse had arrived with her 12-year-old bulldog, Canelle, after working an overnight shift. Both were wearing Lakers jerseys.“I think everyone could say we loved the team as a whole, but it was different when you saw Kobe play,” she said.“And he was such an awesome man outside of basketball too,” she added. “All the work he did in the community, he’s a hero to this city.”
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Report: Coronavirus Outbreak May Disrupt Apple’s iPhone Production Ramp-Up Plans
Apple Inc’s plan to ramp up iPhone production by 10% in the first half of this year may hit a roadblock as the coronavirus outbreak spreads across China, the Nikkei Asian Review reported on Tuesday.The company has asked its suppliers, many of whom have manufacturing centers in China, to produce up to 80 million iPhones in the first half of 2020, the Nikkei reported, citing people familiar with the company’s plans. Apple has booked orders for up to 65 million of its older iPhones and up to 15 million units of a new cut-price model that it plans to unveil in March, according to the report.However, the mass production which is due to start in the third week of February might be delayed due to the virus outbreak, the Nikkei reported.The coronavirus outbreak has so far killed more than 100 people and infected over 4,500 in China, stranded tens of millions during the Lunar New Year holiday and rattled global markets.Apple’s shares rose about 86% in 2019, outperforming a 29% rise in the S&P 500 index. The stock closed down nearly 3% at $308.95 on Monday as coronavirus fears dragged down high-flying U.S. chip and technology stocks.Cupertino, California-based Apple, which raked in more than $142 billion in iPhone sales in fiscal 2019, has introduced lower priced smartphone variants to woo budget conscious shoppers and check declining sales of its biggest product category.Last October, Nikkei reported that Apple asked its suppliers to increase production of iPhone 11 models by up to 8 million units, or about 10%, hinting that demand for the recently launched versions of its flagship phone was picking up.The iPhone maker is set to report its first-quarter earnings after markets close on Tuesday.Apple did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
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