NATO says it will draw down troop levels in Afghanistan if the Taliban show they are willing and able to end violence in the country. That announcement followed a tentative deal struck between the U.S. and the Taliban this week. NATO’s secretary-general made the comments at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, where world leaders assembled to discuss the numerous threats facing the world. VOA’s Henry Ridgwell reports from the conference.
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Month: February 2020
Africa Scaling Up Coronavirus Detection, Prevention
African countries are scaling up their ability to detect the coronavirus as fears mount that the continent’s first confirmed case could soon be announced. With more than 64,000 cases of the novel coronavirus confirmed across the globe, officials in Africa are rushing to train health workers, enhance screening at airports and set up laboratories in all 54 African states to detect the virus.”As we speak today, more than 16 countries now have that capacity to test,” John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Friday. “And by the 20th of this month, an additional 20 labs — that is 16 plus 20 — will have the capacity to test. So, we are scaling up very rapidly across the continent in terms of diagnostics. As we speak here now there is a training going on in Nairobi, Kenya, on enhanced surveillance at airports and ports of entry screening. Over 40 countries will be trained in two sets.”Zimbabwe’s health workers wear protective suits during a training exercise aimed at preparing workers to deal with any potential coronavirus cases at a hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe, Feb. 14, 2020.Despite the efforts to prevent the spread of the disease, Nkengasong said there is a possibility the coronavirus has already entered Africa.”I think that should remain a possibility because of our weak surveillance systems that might not be picking up cases,” he said. “But we also know that the entire continent is at a very heightened state of preparedness and alertness.”Several African countries have reported suspected cases in the two months since the virus first emerged in China, but none have been confirmed. Nkengasong underscored the risk, should the coronavirus be found in Africa.”We are seeing what is happening in China, that even with the amount of resources, that in China it has been a struggle,” he said. “This is a fast-evolving and fast-replicating virus. So, if the virus was to hit a fragile state in Africa, the concern is that the consequences would be very, very devastating.”Students in WuhanThe Africa CDC called on African governments to bring back students trapped in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak, after the government locked down the city.Nkengasong said it could easily become a humanitarian crisis if students in China run low on supplies. However, some African governments have been reluctant to evacuate their nationals in Wuhan because of weaker surveillance and health care systems back home.
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Western Democracy Under Threat, Security Conference Warns
The annual Munich Security Conference got underway Friday, with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier issuing a warning that Russia, China and the United States were endangering global security. “Russia … has made military force and the violent shifting of borders on the European continent the means of politics once again,” Steinmeier told the audience of leaders, military chiefs and diplomats at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel in the southern German city.He added that China “accepts international law only selectively where it does not run counter to its own interests.” “And our closest ally, the United States of America, under the present administration itself, rejects the idea of an international community. We fall back into the classical security dilemma: more mistrust, more armament and then less security. These are the inevitable consequences.”List of problemsWorld leaders have descended on Munich with a long list of global flashpoints to resolve, from regional conflicts in the Middle East to rising competition between the U.S. and China. Longtime observers of the conference sense a change of tone. “This enhanced sense of danger seems to be pulling the Americans and the Europeans a bit closer together,” said James Davis, a professor of international politics at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shakes hands with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani as U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper watches during the 56th Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Feb. 14, 2020.U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who is attending the three-day conference along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, hailed the 82-member coalition that had come together to defeat the Islamic State terror group in Iraq and Syria. “But our work is not finished,” Esper told a news conference Friday. “Coalition members are in unanimous agreement on the need to remain vigilant against a weak and yet still dangerous adversary.”Instability in the Middle East tops the Munich agenda. NATO has stepped forward to take over the training mission in Iraq from the United States, for Iraqi forces battling Islamic State.U.S.-Taliban cease-fireMeanwhile, a possible cease-fire between the U.S. and the Taliban was cautiously welcomed by NATO’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg. “NATO currently has around 16,000 troops in Afghanistan and we are ready to adjust that force level if the Taliban is able to demonstrate the will and real ability to reduce violence and we see a path to peace,” Stoltenberg said.On the sidelines in Munich, beyond the big speeches, there is diplomatic progress. Serbia and Kosovo will reopen rail and highway links after a 20-year break, in a deal brokered by the United States.The biggest clash of the conference is likely to come Saturday when U.S. and Iranian representatives take to the stage, just weeks after the U.S. targeted killing of top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani. FILE – Women walk past a banner of Iranian military commaner Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in Iraq in a U.S. drone attack, in Tajrish square in northern Tehran, Iran, Jan. 9, 2020.“I think the Iranians have understood that this [U.S.] president is willing to push to the edge,” said analyst James Davis. “The killing of Soleimani must have been a wake-up call for them. And he is willing to challenge them in the region. And so I think both sides recognize that the potential for conflict is there. And maybe that’s what you need to restart something of a diplomatic process.”The speeches will be watched closely for any sign of shifting positions.NervousnessThere is an inescapable climate of unease at this year’s Munich Security Conference, with fears over the breakdown of the Western liberal order and the alliances that have maintained it, along with the threat of a new global arms race and an erosion of the controls that have averted major conflict.Optimists say it may be a dangerous world, but at least dialogue is still taking place between global rivals. China, Russia, Iran, India and Japan have all sent senior ministers to the Munich conference. French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are also attending the summit for the first time.
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Success of Brief Afghan Truce Could End America’s Longest War
A temporary truce the United States recently sealed with the Afghan Taliban will take effect “very soon” and will require the insurgent group to halt major attacks across Afghanistan for seven days, a senior U.S. official said Friday.The Trump administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, discussed rare details of what is being referred to as the “reduction in violence” deal. It will bind the Taliban not to launch roadside and suicide bombings as well as rocket attacks against both Afghan and U.S.-led foreign troops anywhere in the country, the official told reporters traveling with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Munich.Should insurgents make good on their commitments, the official said, the deal would pave the way for a broader peace agreement that U.S. and Taliban envoys have negotiated over the past year.While the U.S. official declined to say when the reduction in violence deal would take effect, Afghan Taliban sources said the seven-day period would begin February 22 and the peace agreement would be signed on February 29.Insurgent sources say international guarantors such as the United Nations, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Germany, Norway and Qatar, which played host to months of U.S.-Taliban negotiations, would witness the signing ceremony.FILE – U.S. troops wait for their helicopter flight at an Afghan National Army (ANA) base in Logar province, Afghanistan, Aug. 7, 2018.This could immediately lead to a gradual withdrawal of around 13,000 American forces from the country, bringing the force size down to 8,600 personnel in the initial months. The drawdown is expected to continue over 18 months, but the U.S. official would not discuss the issue nor would he confirm reports a residual force would remain in Afghanistan for an indefinite period to undertake counterterrorism missions. For their part, Taliban officials insist the prospective peace agreement would require all U.S. and coalition forces to leave the country within two years.The agreement will require the insurgent group to open negotiations within 10 days with an inclusive Afghan delegation, representing all political and ethnic groups in the country, including the government in Kabul.That intra-Afghan dialogue will discuss a permanent nationwide cease-fire and power-sharing in postwar Afghanistan. Germany and Norway have both offered to host Taliban-Afghan negotiations but no final decision has been made.U.S. drawdown plans, however, will be linked to progress in intra-Afghan negotiations and effective implementation of Taliban undertakings.The latest developments in the peace process came as Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper met Friday with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Munich on the sidelines of an international security conference.FILE – U.S. envoy for peace in Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad speaks during a debate at Tolo TV channel in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 28, 2019.Afghan-born U.S. chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad and General Scott Miller, the commander of U.S.-led foreign troops in Afghanistan, also attended the meeting.Between the signing of the U.S.-Taliban deal and the start of intra-Afghan negotiations, the insurgent group and Afghan authorities would be expected to release prisoners. Taliban officials say they have already given their list of thousands of insurgents being held in Afghan prisons.The U.S. official speaking Friday noted that continued insurgent attacks on Afghan and foreign troops had prompted President Donald Trump to halt the peace dialogue in September, just when the two sides were on the verge of signing the agreement. The peace process resumed in December and achieved substantial progress thereafter.Pakistan’s roleThe Trump administration official said Pakistan, which shares a long border with Afghanistan and maintains close ties with the Afghan Taliban, has been “helpful” in facilitating the U.S.-Taliban peace process. He went on to stress that the Trump administration would like the two neighboring countries to work closely to improve their strained ties for the sake of enhanced economic and trade cooperation.The tensions stem from allegations Islamabad covertly provides military assistance and shelter to the Taliban, and that Kabul harbors anti-Pakistan militants. Both sides deny the charges.The U.S. official said that Washington seeks an understanding between Afghanistan and Pakistan “to the fact that neither side’s territory post-peace agreement could be used against the other.”
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US, Taliban Reach Violence Reduction Agreement, US Official Says
The United States has reached a reduction of violence agreement with the Taliban that could lead to a U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, a senior administration official said on Friday.The official told reporters at a security conference in Munich that the seven-day period of a reduction of violence has yet to begin.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani during the conference on Friday.The announcement came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said there was a “good chance” of reaching an agreement with the Taliban on a reduction of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.An agreement on a major troop withdrawal would be a boost for Trump, who has repeatedly promised to stop “endless wars,” as he seeks re-election to a second term in November.
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Serbia, Kosovo to Reopen Highway, Rail Service
Kosovo and Serbia have signed a deal to reopen a highway and resume rail service between them. The agreement, signed Friday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, was brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina talks, Ambassador Richard Grenell. Grenell said the deal represented “historic progress on economic development. Agreements on air, rail and highway connections will facilitate the flow of people and goods between Kosovo and Serbia.” The move came after a January deal signed in Berlin to launch direct commercial flights between Pristina and Belgrade. Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi, writing on Twitter, called the agreement “another milestone! First, the deal on air traffic and today we signed the deal on railways and highways between Kosovo and Serbia. A great step towards reaching a final peace agreement between two countries.” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that the deal “will create a better future and ensure peace for the coming decades.” Stalled talksEuropean Union-mediated talks between Serbia and Kosovo over normalizing relations stalled after the previous Kosovo government imposed 100% tariffs on Serbian goods to protest efforts by Belgrade to block Kosovo’s accession into international organizations. Belgrade has said it will not return to the negotiating table until the tariffs are lifted. Kosovo authorities have been under relentless pressure from Western allies to remove the tariffs. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appealed for action to new Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti. In a letter to Kurti, Pompeo said, “Now is the time to realize comprehensive normalization with Serbia, centered on mutual recognition, which is essential to Kosovo’s full international recognition.” “Ending tariffs on goods from Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina will be important in bringing parties back to [the] negotiating table,” he added. Kurti has pledged to abolish the tariffs on Serbian imports, but he announced that he would introduce “measures of full reciprocity in trade, politics and economy” with Serbia. On Monday, Kosovo will mark its 12th anniversary of independence, which has been recognized by more than 110 countries including the United States, but not by Serbia and its ally, Russia.
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Bulgarian Journalists Facing ‘Disgraceful Attacks’ By Top Officials
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is calling on the Bulgarian authorities to stop trying to intimidate journalists, who the watchdog says are subjected to “personal and offensive” verbal attacks and threats by very senior officials.In a statement on February 13, Pauline Ades-Mevel, the head of RSF’s EU and Balkans desk, said European Parliament President David Sassoli should “clearly condemn these disgraceful attacks,” saying the bloc “cannot allow journalists to be threatened in such an institutional and systematic manner” in a member state.At a press conference in Sofia on February 4, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov likened journalists to turkeys and, in an attempt to mock them, tried to imitate the gobbling of a turkey for a few seconds, the Paris-based media watchdog said.The next day in Brussels, Prosecutor-General Ivan Geshev turned on the editor of the investigative news website Bivol, whose articles have suggested that the official has been involved in questionable transactions.Instead of responding to Atanas Tchobanov’s questions, Geshev started putting questions to the journalist that showed he had information about his private life.Meanwhile, a Bulgarian member of the European Parliament, Aleksandr Yordanov, called Tchobanov a “little provocateur” when the journalist asked him a about a case of corruption in which one of his colleague is allegedly involved.And on February 11, Bulgarian National Assembly deputy speaker Valeri Simeonov accused two journalists with the commercial TV channel bTV of being “corrupt” and asked prosecutors to investigate them for failing to report alleged links between the owner of online casino Efbet and gambling czar Vasil Bozhkov, who has recently been arrested on charges on charges of tax fraud, attempted bribery, and organized crime.The bTV Media Group defended its reporters, Venelin Petkov and Anton Hekimyan, saying that “the journalist’s role is to report the truth after verifying and investigating.””Bulgaria has been experiencing a serious media crisis for the past decade because many media outlets are owned by just a few oligarchs and journalists are constantly subjected to harassment,” according to RSF.The country ranks 111th out of 180 countries listed on RSF’s World Press Freedom Index — the lowest ranking of any EU member state.
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New York Prosecutor Says Former Movie Producer Weinstein Abused His Power
New York prosecutors told jurors that Harvey Weinstein abused his power and lacked empathy in a closing argument on Friday at the former movie producer’s weeks-long rape trial, a milestone of the #MeToo movement. Setting the stage for the jury to begin deliberating next week, Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi said Weinstein, 67, had counted on his victims never coming forward.“The defendant not only ran roughshod over the dignity and the very lives of these witnesses, but he also underestimated them,” she said.Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 and raping Jessica Mann, a onetime aspiring actress, in 2013.Since 2017, more than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct. Through the #MeToo movement, women have accused powerful men in business, entertainment, media and politics of sexual misconduct.The former producer, who was behind films including “The English Patient” and “Shakespeare in Love,” has denied any nonconsensual sex.On Thursday, Donna Rotunno, one of Weinstein’s lawyers, assailed Weinstein’s accusers as unreliable and said an “overzealous” prosecution was trying to portray consensual sex
as assault.”They are creating a universe in which they are stripping adult women of common sense, autonomy and responsibility,” she said during a nearly five-hour closing argument.Haleyi testified during the trial that Weinstein forced oral sex on her in his home in 2006. Mann testified that Weinstein raped her in a Manhattan hotel room early in what she called an “extremely degrading” relationship with him.Jurors heard from four other women, including actress Annabella Sciorra, who testified that Weinstein came into her apartment one winter night in 1993 or 1994 and raped her. The accusation is too old to be charged as a separate crime, but it could act as an aggravating factor to support the most serious charge in the case, predatory sexual assault, which carries a possible life sentence.The prosecutors called the remaining three women to bolster their evidence of Weinstein’s intent, but did not charge him with any crimes related to them.Justice James Burke was expected to give the jury legal instructions on Tuesday morning, after which they will begin deliberating.
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Rights Groups Demand End to Kenyan Police Extrajudicial Killings
Kenyan police killed 107 people last year, according to a report released Friday from a coalition of Kenyan human rights groups.Most of those killed were young men from slum areas, also called informal settlements.”Sixty-nine percent of those who were killed were youth between ages of 18 and 35,” said Renee Ngamau of Amnesty International. “Twenty percent were below the age of 18 years, that is to say, children. Eighty percent of those who were killed in 2019 are below the age of 35. We are criminalizing youth. We are criminalizing poor youth.”Wanja, who asked to be identified by her first name only, told VOA that police killed her only son late last year in Mathare, an informal settlement in Nairobi. She said she discovered her son and another boy in the street minutes after they were shot, but when she approached the bodies, police cocked a gun at her.Javan Ofula, a human rights activist, said researchers could not find good cause for many of the shootings.”These people who have been killed, from the documentation that has been done in the different spaces, some of them have been killed in circumstances that are not holding water. They were not resisting arrest,” Ofula said.Anne Makori, chairperson of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority, Kenya’s police accountability institution, said of 160 cases of police killings referred to the IPOA in 2019, investigations have been concluded in nine cases. Six have been forwarded to the office of public prosecutions.Demands from rights groupsThe rights groups are demanding reparations for victims and families of extrajudicial killings, and want the inspector general of police to admit extrajudicial killings are a problem that must be stopped.The groups also want implementation of the National Coroners and the Prevention of Torture Acts, passed in 2017. Makori said the IPOA would like to see this, too.”About the coroners act, it is an issue of concern even to us as IPOA, because we know the act is in existence but a coroner has not been appointed, so it becomes difficult to operationalize the act, and same with the Prevention of Torture Act,” she said. “Those are areas we have not only discussed with civil society, but we have also raised concerns within the government structures.”Kenyan police declined to comment.In 2018, then-police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said, “It is a fact that suspects have died while in contact with the police.” But, he said, each killing should be dealt with individually, and the outcome of each case should be determined “on its own merit.”
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Justice Department Declines to Charge Ex-FBI Deputy Director McCabe
Federal prosecutors have declined to charge former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, closing an investigation into whether he lied to federal officials about his involvement in a news media disclosure, McCabe’s legal team said Friday.The decision resolves a criminal investigation that spanned more than a year and began with a referral from the Justice Department’s inspector general, which said McCabe repeatedly lied about having authorized a subordinate to share information with a newspaper reporter for a 2016 article about an FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation.McCabe’s lawyers said in a statement they were told in a phone call and letter that the case is closed and “no charges will be brought against him based on the facts.”McCabe, a frequent target of attacks from President Donald Trump, has denied that he intentionally misled anyone. He has said his 2018 firing _ for what the Justice Department called “lack of candor” _ was politically motivated. He sued the Justice Department in August, saying officials had used the inspector general’s conclusions as a pretext to rid the FBI of leaders Trump perceived as biased against him.In a letter on Friday, prosecutors told McCabe’s lawyers that they decided “not to pursue criminal charges against your client” after careful consideration.”Based on the totality of the circumstances and all of the information known to the government at this time, we consider the matter closed,” said the letter, signed by the chief of the U.S. attorney’s office’s public corruption unit.The decision was revealed at the week of startling tensions between Trump and the Justice Department over the treatment of one of the Republican president’s longtime allies and confidants, Roger Stone. It is likely to further agitate Trump, who has repeatedly and loudly complained that the Justice Department has pursued his former aides and advisers but not prosecuted his perceived political foes. Attorney General William Barr pushed back at Trump in a television interview on Thursday, saying the president’s tweets about ongoing criminal cases are making his job impossible.”The decision to spare McCabe criminal charges eliminates the prospect of a sensational trial that would have refocused public attention on the chaotic months of 2016, when the FBI was entangled in presidential politics through investigations touching both main contenders – Democrat Hillary Clinton and Trump, her Republican opponent.The investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington arose from an October 2016 story in The Wall Street Journal that described internal debates roiling the FBI and the Justice Department weeks before the presidential election about how aggressively the Clinton Foundation should be investigated. The article recounted a particularly tense phone call between McCabe and a senior Justice Department official about the investigation.The inspector general’s report said McCabe repeatedly told internal investigators that he had not authorized anyone at the FBI to speak with the reporter and that he did not know who he did. The report said McCabe ultimately corrected that account and confirmed that he had encouraged the conversation with the reporter to counter a narrative that he thought was false.McCabe has denied any wrongdoing and has said he was distracted by the tumult surrounding the FBI and the White House – one of the interviews took place the same day that former FBI Director FBI James Comey – during the times he was questioned.”During these inquiries, I answered questions truthfully and as accurately as I could amidst the chaos that surrounded me,” McCabe has said in a statement. “And when I thought my answers were misunderstood, I contacted investigators to correct them.”McCabe has been a target of Trump’s attacks since even before he was elected, after news emerged in the fall of 2016 that McCabe’s wife had accepted campaign contributions from a political action committee associated with former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe during an unsuccessful run for the state Senate there.
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Despite Worldwide Decline, Polygamy Still Common in African Communities
As more African societies move toward monogamy, family law experts say those who choose plural marriages often lack the support and structures they need. For many in polygamous families today, the cultural landscape has shifted, raising many challenges. VOA’s Jesusemen Oni has more
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Pompeo to Discuss Trade, Security on Senegal Visit
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to visit three African countries, beginning in Senegal this weekend. The West African nation has remained secure during a time of major unrest in the region and Pompeo is expected to celebrate the country’s legacy of stability and democracy.The United States and West Africa have enjoyed a long relationship based on trade, migration and democracy. But increasingly, security has become a major factor in the partnership.The number of violent attacks perpetrated by Islamist extremist groups in the Sahel has doubled each year since 2016, according to U.S. Department of Defense research group the Africa Center for Strategic Studies.Deaths linked to these attacks have also doubled each year and intercommunal violence has risen dramatically.Senegal, meanwhile, has managed to maintain peace within its borders. In his visit, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to praise the country as an example for the continent, according to a senior State Department official.But reports about U.S. plans to withdraw troops from the region have invited criticism.Hannah Akuiyibo, a program associate with the Wilson Center, a Washington policy group, says she hopes the visit will bring more clarity to the United States’ position.”I think there’s been some mixed messaging given statements about the reduction in military presence in Africa while at the same time, an announcement from Secretary Pompeo about the focus of an anti-ISIS coalition shifting to West Africa and the Sahel,” she said. ” So those two messages don’t quite align.”Tulinabo Mushingi, the U.S. ambassador to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, poses for a portrait at the U.S. Embassy in Dakar, Senegal Feb. 14, 2020. (Photo: Annika Hammerschlag/VOA)Tulinabo Mushingi is the U.S. ambassador to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. He says the U.S. remains committed to West Africa’s well-being.Mushingi notes the U.S. has invested tens of millions of dollars in Senegalese security initiatives alone. Donations have included patrol boats, mobile hospitals and a training center for regional peacekeepers.”What we’re trying to do is make the Senegalese forces capable, so that they can defend their country first, but also contribute to the peace and security, the stability in the region…But I can guarantee you that the engagement of the USA in the Sahel – we are here to stay,” he said.In addition to security talks, Secretary Pompeo is expected to meet with business leaders to discuss the expansion of U.S. trade and investment with Senegal.
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WHO: North Korea Able to Test for Coronavirus, But No Cases Reported
North Korea is able to conduct tests for the new coronavirus, but still has not reported any infections, the World Health Organization told VOA Friday, amid international concerns that Pyongyang is not properly equipped to handle a possible outbreak.North Korea has cut off virtually all links to the outside world in response to the highly contagious virus, which has killed nearly 1,400 people and infected more than 60,000 —almost all in next-door China. Calling the efforts a matter of “national survival,” North Korea has banned foreign tourists, halted flights and train services with its neighbors, and implemented a 30-day quarantine for all arriving foreigners.Citing figures from North Korea’s Ministry of Public Health, the WHO told VOA that 141 travelers entering North Korea have tested negative for the virus, after showing signs of fever. That is out of a group of “as many as 7,281 travelers” that entered the country between Dec. 30, 2019, and Feb. 9, 2020, according to the North Korean figures.FILE – State Commission of Quality Management staff in protective gear and with disinfectant prepare to check the health of travelers arriving from abroad at the Pyongyang Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, Feb., 1, 2020.”The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has the capacity to carry out these tests as they have PCR machines, and their laboratory technicians and experts were trained by WHO in influenza testing in a Hong Kong laboratory last year,” said Dr. Edwin Ceniza Salvador, the WHO Representative to North Korea.The WHO says it is providing North Korea with laboratory testing agents and personal protective equipment including goggles, gloves, masks and gowns, at the request of North Korea.The statement did not specify if those already residing in North Korea had been tested. Several South Korea-based media have published unconfirmed reports the virus already has reached the North.There are concerns North Korea is uniquely unprepared for an outbreak of the virus, which causes a pneumonia-like illness that was recently named COVID-19.The U.S. State Department said Thursday it is “deeply concerned” about North Koreans’ vulnerability to the virus and is prepared to “expeditiously facilitate” efforts by international aid groups to provide help.North Korea is under international sanctions because of its nuclear weapons program. The sanctions prohibit a wide range of cooperation with the North, meaning aid groups wanting to help must first obtain exemptions.FILE – A State Commission of Quality Management staff member carries a disinfectant spray can as checks are done on the health of travelers at the Pyongyang Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, Feb. 1, 2020.The U.N. committee that handles those exemptions told VOA’s Korean Service earlier this week it will consider those requests “as expeditiously as possible.”The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said this week they are seeking an urgent sanctions exemption to provide “life-saving intervention,” including more coronavirus testing kits and personal protective gear.Delay possibleBut the aid may not begin flowing right away, since the U.N. exemptions process is cumbersome, says Kee Park, a faculty member at Harvard Medical School. Instead, Park says the U.N. should proactively offer a special waiver that would allow aid groups to procure and send emergency supplies to North Korea as soon as possible.”When facing a potential public health emergency, asking for permission to deliver medical supplies is absurd,” says Park, who frequently participates in medical exchange trips to North Korea.Daniel Wertz, a program manager at the Washington-based National Committee on North Korea, agrees the exemptions process can be “complex” and “time-consuming.”But Wertz says it is sensible that Washington seems to be treating the issue separately from the issue of stalled nuclear negotiations.”Supporting the lives and health of the North Korean people is a worthwhile objective in itself,” Wertz says.Not transparent?But the extent to which North Korea has invited outside aid groups to help combat the virus is not clear.Choi Jung-hoon, a former North Korean medical doctor who defected to the South in 2012, told VOA’s Korean Service that he thinks Pyongyang may try to conceal any possible infections rather than seek help from international aid groups.”Because North Korea tries to put up an image of having the best ‘self-sufficient’ medical science to treat and prevent infectious diseases through propaganda, the regime is reluctant to announce any outbreak publicly,” he said.Choi, now a research professor at Korea University’s Public Policy Research Institute in Seoul, says North Korea is unequipped to handle a serious outbreak.”When there is an outbreak of an infectious disease in North Korea, only Pyongyang is completely protected [quarantined],” said Choi.”North Korea’s medical system is poor, as the world probably knows,” he added. “It does not have proper medical equipment, let alone reliable electricity or water supply facilities in hospitals and health centers.”
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Chinese, Hong Kong Couples Celebrate Valentine’s Day With Masks, Not Roses
As millions of couples are stranded at home across China and Hong Kong this Valentine’s Day to avoid infection of coronavirus, masks and alcoholic sanitizers have emerged as the most sought after gifts this year, overtaking the more romantic flowers and chocolates.A Chinese delivery company says its top sales on Valentine’s Day this year are surgical masks, protective goggles and alcohol wipes. A Valentine poem circulated on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like microblog, which says, “Stay at home with your family! Use video calls to pass on your words of love! Gifts should be practical and the most precious ones are masks! Masks and roses are sure to earn her love!”A video footage carried by Beijing Time, an online TV station, shows a mask-wearing young man waiting for his bus driver girlfriend with an elegantly wrapped, colorful bouquet of masks and roses. “The epidemic is quite bad, and she is in a high-risk profession. I think nothing is more sincere than masks right now,” he said. After parking her bus and being presented with the bouquet, his girlfriend, also wearing a mask, was clearly delighted. “I am so touched!” she said, before the couple hugged. Flower shop owner Iris Leung wears her protective face mask as she delivers flowers with masks to customers on Valentine’s Day in Hong Kong, Feb. 14, 2020.Many couples in China and Hong Kong are separated on Valentine’s Day this year as officials have been urging individuals to refrain from social gatherings and going out to avoid infection of coronavirus, which has killed more than 1,380 in China and infected nearly 64,000 people.Across China and Hong Kong, florists say business has plunged more than 50 percent compared with last year. The risk of infection has prompted concerts and events to be canceled, while many restaurants and shops close early.Amid widespread anxiety over the epidemic, a survey of 572 men and women in Hong Kong conducted by dating agency HK Romance shows that 31 percent of men and 32 percent of women will stay home this year while only 27 percent say they will go out for dinner. HK Romance says this is in sharp contrast with past years, when 80-90 percent of couples would go out for dinner. The dating agency says masks and alcohol sanitizers are the most wanted Valentine gifts for Hong Kong women this year, with 30 percent desiring those items, compared to 18 percent who want flowers, 14 percent who favor jewelry or watches, and 9 percent who opt for flights and hotel stays. For men, 32 percent want masks and alcohol sanitizers, compared with 11 percent who like electronic products. Hong Kong has been suffering from a severe shortage of basic necessities, from masks, alcoholic sanitizers and disinfectants to toilet rolls and rice, due to panic buying prompted by the coronavirus outbreak. Even public hospitals are now running out of masks and protective gear — anger at government incompetence among staff prompted a partial strike last week.
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Jewish Leaders Seek Better Policing of Online Hate Speech
Jewish leaders called Friday for better policing of hate speech on social media platforms over concerns prompted by recent attacks that people on the margins of society are being incited online to violence.Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis and chief rabbi of Moscow, said online radicalization was giving rise not only to more anti-Semitic incidents, but also hate crimes directed at Muslims and others.“The strength and power given by social media to people on the margins of society is causing chaos,” he said, citing attacks in New Zealand, Germany and the United States.“Last year, 2019, there were quite a few attacks against houses of worship — mosques, synagogues and churches.”The event, sponsored by Goldschmidt’s organization and the World Jewish Congress, came on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, which was being attended by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, though he was not present for the discussion.Goldschmidt said that with legal protections for free speech, it was hard for governments to police hate speech effectively, but that private companies had more flexibility.“A private company that gives a platform, whether it’s a theater or a Facebook page, definitely has the ability and the right to limit speech,” he said.Michel Friedman, a prominent German Jewish leader, said, however, that governments could do more if they made the issue a priority, saying that authorities have been effectively combating online financial crimes.“If we are able when it’s about the economy to react very quickly on cyber crime, why not hate crime?” he said.But regulating what can and can’t be said is a thorny issue, said Alex Samos, former chief security officer of Facebook.“Discussions about what is lawful or not lawful speech are extremely complicated,” he said.He noted that there are many different layers to Facebook — private pages, public groups, private groups and the person-to-person Messenger application which, to monitor, would be akin to listening in on private phone calls.“I don’t think that anybody here would say that Deutsche Telekom should listen in to every phone call in Germany, and if you say something racist someone pops in and tells you you’re wrong,” he said.He also stressed that social media had given voice to far more than just hate speech, saying that the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements in the U.S. were able to address long-standing issues of racism and sexual harassment and sexual assault only because a broader group of people were able to speak out.“Those two problems existed 30 years ago, the difference is that the people who decided what political topics were acceptable in the United States were 40 middle-aged white men,” he said.“People love to focus on the negative impact of new things, but there’s a huge amount of positive impact from allowing a much broader set of people to speak in a democracy.”
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Education Department Probes Foreign Gifts to Yale, Harvard
The U.S. Education Department is investigating foreign gifts made to Harvard and Yale as part of a broader review of international money flowing to American universities, officials said.The department said Wednesday it is reviewing whether the Ivy League schools potentially failed to report hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts and donations from countries including Saudi Arabia, Iran and China.The department previously opened investigations at Georgetown University and Texas A&M as part of a campaign to scrutinize foreign funding and to improve reporting by universities.Unfortunately, the more we dig, the more we find that too many are underreporting or not reporting at all. We will continue to hold colleges and universities accountable and work with them to ensure their reporting is full, accurate, and transparent, as required by the law, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said.A Yale spokeswoman, Karen Peart, said the university was reviewing the department’s request for records of certain gifts and contracts and preparing to respond to it.A Harvard spokesman, Jonathan Swain, said it is reviewing the notice and preparing a response.Federal law requires U.S. colleges to report contracts and donations from foreign sources totaling $250,000 or more.In Yale’s case, the department said it discovered in recent weeks that the university may have failed to report at least $375 million in foreign gifts and contracts. It said in a letter to Yale that the university appeared not to have reported a single foreign source gift or contract in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 despite having a significant presence abroad.At Harvard, a professor was charged last month with lying about his ties to a Chinese-run recruitment program and concealing payments he received from the Chinese government for research. The Education Department noted the arrest in its announcement Wednesday and said it is concerned Harvard may lack appropriate institutional controls over foreign money” and may have failed to report fully all foreign gifts and contracts.The department said its enforcement efforts since July have prompted the reporting of approximately $6.5 billion in previously undisclosed foreign money. It said $3.6 billion of that was reported by 10 schools: Cornell University, Yale, the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania, Boston University, Texas A&M, and Carnegie Mellon University.
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Valentine’s Day Expands from Romance to Love for All
Once considered a lover’s holiday, St. Valentines has extended into a day when people express love for family members, friends, colleagues and community members as well as for spouses, lovers and partners. Sales of flowers and chocolate peak around the mid-February holiday and restaurant business thrives. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke has this report.
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Negotiators from Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt Optimistic on Nile Dam Standoff
Delegations from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan continue to negotiate water usage issues relating to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam being built on the Nile River. Following two days of meetings in Washington, the U.S. Treasury Department issued a statement saying the technical and legal teams from all countries are making progress toward a final agreement that will be reviewed by leaders in the respective countries.“The United States, with technical support from the World Bank, has agreed to facilitate the preparation of the final agreement for consideration by the ministers and heads of state for conclusion by the end of the month,” said Steven Mnuchin, U.S. secretary of the treasury.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, now on a trip that will include stops in Angola, Ethiopia and Senegal, said he is closely monitoring the negotiations.“I went over and saw the Sudanese and the Egyptians and the Ethiopians yesterday to encourage them to make progress on that, to make sure that everyone’s got the water that they need,” he told VOA aboard his aircraft.Electricity and water flow among concernsThe $4 billion dam is one of the largest infrastructure projects in African history. Ethiopia hopes to complete it by 2022 and believes it could produce 6,000 megawatts of electricity, some of which could be exported.But Egypt and Sudan have worried about the dam’s impact on water flow. Egypt relies on the Nile for 90% of its water needs.Sudanese Irrigation and Water Resources Minister Yasser Abbas said his country is leaving the meetings feeling optimistic.“I must say we have made huge progress since then and it dealt mainly with how to fill the dam at the beginning and how to operate the dam,” he told VOA. “And in Sudan, we see the dam as a potential opportunity for regional cooperation.”Abbas said there are both positive and negative impacts of the dam for Sudan. The positive is that it will regulate the flow of water making for a fairly consistent water level on the Blue Nile. The negative, he said, is that it could impact farmers who practice “floodplain agriculture” in the areas where water spills over the banks of the Nile. Filling the damA key point of contention is how quickly Ethiopia will fill the dam. “Our main concern is that we want to see the three countries agree on the initial filling,” Abbas said. “How many years it takes to fill and how the operation would be afterward.”The dam will have a capacity of 10.2 million cubic meters of water. Earlier proposals by Ethiopia had called for it to be filled over four to seven years, but Egypt requested a slower timetable in the event of prolonged droughts or water shortages. In an interview with VOA’s Amharic service, Ethiopian Ambassador to the United States Fitsum Arega said the negotiations have examined different possible scenarios including a drop in water level because of climate change, consecutive dry years or a prolonged, once every 100-year drought. The technical teams are trying to reach agreements on what would be done in each of these cases. Fitsum said recent efforts at negotiating these issues have been derailed by countries bringing up unspecified issues that the Ethiopians consider separate from the dam and water usage.“When we see what is presented from all three countries, the three countries’ expectations are different,” Fitsum told VOA Feb. 1, speaking in Amharic. “From the Ethiopian side, we just wanted to focus on the project, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project. That is the only thing that we want to be discussing.”Power generationAnother source of debate is how much of the power generated by the dam will benefit Sudan and Egypt. Ambassador Mohamed Higazy, a former assistant to the Egyptian foreign minister, said he would like to see the dam be a vehicle for regional integration including integrating the power grids of the three countries.“Egypt and Sudan are very close to completing the power grids,” he told VOA. “Why not with the Renaissance Dam, which electricity can be used in the markets of Sudan and Egypt and then exported to the regional Gulf market or further to Europe through the Egyptian power grid?” Higazy added that he is cautiously optimistic about the talks, but hopes all parties will look at the bigger picture of regional prosperity and environmental stewardship instead of their own, narrow interests.“If we want to help the river ecosystem, if we want to help the people and economies in the three countries, we have to embark on a regional framework where water security will not be decided by national aspiration, only by the region aspiration,” he said. This story originated in the Africa division with reporting contributions from VOA’s diplomatic correspondent Cindy Saine, English to Africa’s Jason Patinkin, Nadia Taha, Mohamed Elshinnawi and Horn of Africa’s Amharic service Habtamu Seyoum.
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Nigeria’s Military Burns Villages in War on Boko Haram, Rights Group Says
Nigeria’s military burned down villages and forcibly displaced hundreds of people in its fight against Islamist insurgents in the country’s northeast, rights group Amnesty International alleged Friday.Nigeria’s military, which has frequently been accused of human rights abuses in its decade-long fight against Boko Haram and more recently Islamic State’s West African branch, did not respond to requests for comment.Three residents interviewed by Reuters confirmed Amnesty’s findings.Previous allegations have sparked investigations by the International Criminal Court in the Hague and hampered Nigeria’s ability to purchase arms, a source of frustration for its military’s leaders. However, convictions of soldiers have been rare and the military has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.Hundreds forced to fleeIn the latest allegations, Amnesty said Nigerian soldiers razed three villages after forcing hundreds of men and women to leave their homes in the northeastern state of Borno in January. The human rights group said it interviewed 12 victims and reviewed satellite images that showed several large fires in the area and almost every structure razed.Residents described soldiers going house to house and rounding people up, then making them walk to a main road and board trucks, it said.“We saw our houses go into flames,” a woman who was about 70 years old told Amnesty. “We all started crying.”The trucks took more than 400 people to a camp for people displaced by the conflict in Maiduguri, the main city in the region.“These brazen acts of razing entire villages, deliberately destroying civilian homes and forcibly displacing their inhabitants with no imperative military grounds, should be investigated as possible war crimes,” said Osai Ojigho, director for Amnesty International Nigeria, in Friday’s statement detailing the group’s investigation.Soldiers also detained six men, beating some of them, and held them for almost a month before releasing them without charge Jan. 30, Amnesty said.It cited Nigerian Army statements from the time that said six Boko Haram suspects had been captured and hundreds of captives freed from the militants.Witness accounts“They say they saved us from Boko Haram, but it’s a lie,” said one man roughly age 65, according to Amnesty. “Boko Haram isn’t coming to our village.”Three residents from two of the affected villages, now living in Maiduguri, described to Reuters the same events as in the rights group’s report.“The soldiers called us Boko Haram and set our houses ablaze, before evacuating all of us,” one of the residents said.Amnesty’s report was published as the military struggles to contain the insurgencies, particularly Islamic State. Last July, troops began to withdraw to larger garrisons, dubbed “super camps,” from smaller bases that were frequently overrun with heavy loss of lives.That has left the military on the defensive and the insurgents able to roam across large swathes of territory and carry out attacks, often on civilians, with few repercussions.
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China Reports 121 More Coronavirus Deaths, Spike in New Cases
China’s National Health Commission said Friday that 121 more people have died from the new coronavirus, bringing the death toll to nearly 1,400.The commission has also recorded 5,090 more confirmed cases of infections.Speaking to reporters, commission Vice Minister Zeng Tixin said 1,716 health workers have also been infected by the coronavirus and six of them have died.With the most recent update, the total number of infected people stands at 63,851 as of Thursday night. World Health Organization spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told Reuters Thursday the increase in the number of new cases reflects a “broader definition” of a coronavirus diagnosis and that his organization wants China to provide “further clarity” about the new methodology.WHO health emergencies program director Michael Ryan told reporters in Geneva Thursday the new, higher numbers do “not represent a significant change in the trajectory of the outbreak,” but rather “a change in how the cases are being reported.” The outbreak has led to the firing of Jiang Chaoliang as the ruling Communist Party chief in Hubei, just days after the province’s top two health officials were removed from their posts. The official Xinhua news agency says former Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong will replace Jiang, who had been criticized by the public for his handling of the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus.The virus is believed to have emerged late last year at a seafood market in the city of Wuhan that was illegally selling wildlife. Wuhan is the capital of Hubei.Workers produce protective suits at a factory in Binzhou in China’s eastern Shandong province, Feb.y 13, 2020.The Vietnamese government ordered the lockdown of a village of 10,000 people Thursday, official media reported, making it the first country except China to impose a mass quarantine. Checkpoints were established in Son Loi, located northwest of the capital of Hanoi. An increase in cases has been reported in Son Loi.In Japan, officials say an 80-year-old woman who died in a hospital on the outskirts of Tokyo has become the nation’s first coronavirus fatality. She was the third person to die of the virus outside of China, with the other fatalities occurring in the Philippines and Hong Kong. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that a 15th case of the coronavirus has been confirmed in the United States. The person, along with other evacuated U.S. citizens, arrived at an Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas, Feb. 7 aboard a State Department-chartered flight from China. The person is being treated at an area hospital. “There will likely be additional cases in the coming days and weeks, including among other people recently returned from Wuhan,” the CDC said in a statement.The outbreak is also wreaking havoc on regional sporting events. World Rugby says the Singapore and Hong Kong rounds of the popular Sevens Series have been moved from April until October. The two events are among the many sporting events that are either being postponed or canceled, including the World Track and Field Championships scheduled for next month in the Chinese city of Nanjing.But Yoshiro Mori, president of the organizing committee of this year’s Tokyo Olympics, told reporters Thursday the committee is not considering postponing or canceling the Games, which begin in July. The death toll from the coronavirus is higher than the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2002-03, which is believed to have killed 774 people and sickened nearly 8,100 in China and Hong Kong.
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Cruise Passengers Stranded by Coronavirus Fears Greeted With Roses in Cambodia
Hundreds of cruise ship passengers long stranded at sea by virus fears cheered as they finally disembarked Friday and were welcomed to Cambodia by the nation’s authoritarian leader who handed them flowers.Prime Minister Hun Sen agreed to let the Westerdam dock at the port of Sihanoukville on Thursday after Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and Guam had barred the ship earlier.“Today, although Cambodia is a poor country, Cambodia has always joined the international community to solve the problems that the world and our region are facing,” he said as the first passengers disembarked.“How wonderful it is to be here. Thank you very much to the prime minister. He has a wonderful heart,” said Anna Marie Melon, from Queensland, Australia. “I’m very excited (to be here),” she said as she waved a rose Hun Sen handed to her.Cambodia ‘did a great job’The passengers cheered as they walked toward waiting buses and waved goodbye to other passengers watching from the ship’s deck.“Your country did a great job. Did a wonderful job. Thank you very much. We appreciate it very much,” Joe Spaziani, 74, from Florida, told reporters. He and many other passengers wore a krama, a traditional Cambodian scarf, around their necks.“Cambodia alone, even the United States, Guam, did not let us land, but Cambodia did, so that’s wonderful. Absolutely wonderful,” Spaziani said. “We appreciate it very, very much. It’s been a long struggle and we appreciate everyone being here.”The Westerdam was unwelcome elsewhere even though operator Holland America Line said no cases of the COVID-19 viral illness have been confirmed among its 1,455 passengers and 802 crew members. Some 20 passengers had reported stomachaches or fever, but tests for the virus done at the Pasteur Institute in Phnom Penh showed none had the illness. Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen, center, gives a flower to a passenger from the Westerdam at the port of Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Feb. 14, 2020. Hundreds of cruise ship passengers cheered as they finally disembarked and were welcomed to Cambodia.Good Samaritan roleHun Sen has said he acted for humanitarian reasons and said at the dock he wanted to allow passengers to return to their home countries. “If Cambodia did not allow this ship to dock here, where should this ship go?” he said. “I want to inform Cambodians and the world that I coming here even for a short time means this is no time for discrimination and to be scared, but a time for everyone to be in solidarity to solve the problems we are facing now.”A strong supporter of China, Hun Sen has downplayed threats from the new virus and unlike other Asian nations, he declined to ban direct flights between Cambodia and China, saying that would disturb bilateral relations and hurt his country’s economy. Cambodia has one confirmed case of the virus, a visitor from China, despite its popularity with Chinese tourists. Acting as a good Samaritan is an unusual role for Hun Sen, who has been in power for 35 years. His party swept 2018 elections that drew sharp condemnation as neither free nor fair after a court dissolved the only credible opposition party.SanctionsThe U.S. has imposed diplomatic sanctions because of Cambodia’s repressive political climate, and the European Union earlier this week declared its intention to do the same, citing human rights and trade union violations.Taking advantage of the opportunity to boost his country’s tourism profile, Hun Sen said the passengers were free to go to the beach, go sightseeing in Sihanoukville or even visit the famous centuries-old Angkor Wat temple complex in the northwest. Mang Sineth, the vice governor in Preah Sihanouk province, told reporters 414 passengers will leave the port Friday and fly to Cambodia’s capital before traveling to their final destinations. Three flights from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh were arranged to take all the ship’s passengers.He said that if the flying arrangements went smoothly, all passengers would probably be leaving Sihanoukville by Sunday.U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia W. Patrick Murphy on Twitter called the disembarking activities “heartwarming sights … with Cambodian hospitality on full display.”He said “joint operation ‘Homeward Bound’ is underway!”The COVID-19 illness has sickened tens of thousands of people in China and a few hundred elsewhere, including 218 on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which made stops in Hong Kong and other ports before arriving in Japan last week.The Westerdam began its cruise in Singapore last month and its last stop before it was refused further landings was in Hong Kong, where 53 cases of the disease and one death have been confirmed.
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Macron Announces Measures to Protect Ice, Biodiversity of French Mountains
French President Emmanuel Macron has unveiled a plan to protect glaciers and biodiversity in the French mountains. During a visit to the Alpine resort town of Chamonix on Thursday, Macron spoke of the importance of fighting climate change and preserving biodiversity to mark the launch of the French biodiversity office. He also visited a shrinking glacier above Chamonix to draw attention to the effects of global warming. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports Macron’s action came a day after the European Space Agency published satellite images of a large iceberg that broke off from a glacier in the Antarctica.
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#MSDStrong: Parkland, Two Years Later
Two years have passed since a gunman shot and killed 17 people on Valentine’s Day in Parkland, Florida. Whether the survivors have taken to activism, moved or continued their lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the event continues to shape the lives of all those affected. Saqib Ul Islam and Esha Sarai traveled to Florida to speak with survivors and families of the victims.
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Barr Blasts Trump Tweets Saying Makes his Job ‘Impossible’
U.S. Attorney General William Barr says U.S. President Donald Trump’s tweets about the Justice Department, its people, and its cases “make it impossible for me to do my job.” VOA’s Michael Brown reports, the comments come as the Justice Department is embroiled in controversy over a sentencing recommendation for a convicted Trump ally.
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