Michigan’s largest county reversed course and unanimously certified its presidential election results Tuesday night after Republicans first blocked the move in a party-line vote that threatened to temporarily stall official approval of Democrat Joe Biden’s win in the state.The Wayne County Board of Canvassers acted after the 2-2 tie was condemned by Democrats and election experts as a dangerous attempt to overthrow the will of voters.The board met after days of unsuccessful litigation filed by Republican poll challengers and President Donald Trump’s allies. They claimed fraud during absentee ballot counting at a Detroit convention center, but two judges found no evidence and refused to stop the canvassing process.Biden crushed Trump in Wayne County, a Democratic stronghold, by more than a 2-1 margin and won the state by 146,000 votes, according to unofficial results.The canvassers first rejected certification of the Detroit-area vote with a tie. Monica Palmer, a Republican on the board, said poll books in certain Detroit precincts were out of balance. In response, Jonathan Kinloch, a Democrat, said it was “reckless and irresponsible” to not certify the results.”It’s not based upon fraud. It’s absolutely human error,” Kinloch said of any discrepancies. “Votes that are cast are tabulated.”The board then listened to a parade of spectators blasting Palmer and fellow Republican William Hartmann during the meeting’s public comment period over Zoom.The Rev. Wendell Anthony, a well-known pastor and head of the Detroit branch of the NAACP, called the Republican county canvassers a “disgrace.””You have extracted a Black city out of a county and said the only ones that are at fault is the city of Detroit, where 80% of the people who reside here are African Americans. Shame on you!” Anthony said on Zoom, his voice rising during a public comment period.Certification of the Nov. 3 election results in each of Michigan’s 83 counties is a step toward statewide certification by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers.
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Month: November 2020
Asian Markets Mostly Higher as Euphoria Over Potential COVID-19 Vaccine Cools
Asian markets are mostly higher Wednesday as worries about the growing number of coronavirus infections in the United States and Europe has tempered optimism about a potentially safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. The S&P/ASX index in Australia finished 0.5% higher. The Shanghai Composite index and South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index both finished up 0.2%, while the TSEC index in Taiwan gained 1.3% Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index lost 1.1%. In late afternoon trading, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is 0.4% higher, and Mumbai’s Sensex is up 0.3%. In commodities trading, gold is down 0.2%, selling at $1,880.00 per ounce. U.S. crude oil is selling at $41.56 per barrel, up 0.3%, and Brent crude is selling at $44.00 per barrel, up 0.5%. In futures trading, all three major U.S. indices are trending negatively.
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China Condemns Historic Australia-Japan Defense Pact
Australia and Japan have agreed on a historic defense pact that would allow both countries to strengthen military ties in the face of rising tensions with China. This is Japan’s first agreement covering the presence of foreign military forces on its soil since a deal in 1960 that permitted the United States to base troops, aircraft and warships in Japan. The pact allows Japanese and Australian personnel to visit each other’s countries to carry out training and joint operations. Officials have spent six years negotiating the accord. Australian officials said it was a “pivotal moment in the history of Japan-Australia ties.” The in-principal agreement has been made between Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and his Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison, who has flown to Tokyo. The pact needs to be approved by the Japanese parliament.Australian PM Morrison visits Japan, meets with counterpart Suga, Nov. 17, 2020.Morrison, who is the first world leader to be hosted by Mr. Suga since he became Japan’s new leader in September, says bilateral ties are crucial. “Japan has a very special relationship with Australia. It is not just an economic one, it is not just a trade one, it is not just a cultural and social one. Importantly, it is a strategic one. We play a very important role together in working in the Southwest Pacific together,” Morrison said. Analysts have said that China’s increased assertiveness, including territorial disputes in the South China Sea and the treatment of pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong, would dominate private talks between the Australian and Japanese leaders. Chinese state media has criticized the Australia-Japan accord, insisting it “clearly targets China” and “further accelerates the confrontational atmosphere in the Asia-Pacific region.” Canberra’s relations with Beijing have deteriorated after allegations of Chinese interference in Australia’s domestic politics and calls for a global investigation into the source of the coronavirus, which was first identified in China almost a year ago. A damaging consequence is the sanctions imposed by China on a growing list of Australian imports, including wine, barley and other agricultural products. China is Australia’s biggest trading partner, while Japan is its second.
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Pompeo Expresses Support for Georgia’s Sovereignty in Tbilisi Talks
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Georgian leaders Wednesday in Tbilisi where he expressed support for Georgia’s sovereignty and strengthening of democratic institutions. On the latest stop of his multi-nation tour visiting allies in Europe and the Middle East, Pompeo held talks with Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, followed by a session with Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia and Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani. Gahkaria called U.S.-Georgia relations his country’s “most important partnership” and said Georgia appreciates U.S. support of its territorial integrity.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with civil society leaders in Tbilisi, Georgia, Nov. 18, 2020.Russia has occupied Georgia’s two breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia since a brief 2008 war. The State Department said Pompeo’s focus included urging further progress in democratic reforms in Georgia. At the start of his meeting with Gakharia and Zalkaliani, Pompeo cited the need for free and fair elections, as well as the opportunity for robust debate. From Georgia, Pompeo is due to travel to Israel where he will discuss with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Israel’s recent agreements normalizing relations with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. The rest of the trip includes stops in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
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Michigan County Fails to Certify Vote, Stalling Outcome
Republicans in Michigan’s largest county blocked the certification of local election results in a 2-2 vote along party lines that could temporarily stall official approval of Joe Biden’s win in the state. The practical effect of the move may be a delay in ultimately blessing Biden’s victory, with unofficial returns showing he defeated President Donald Trump in Michigan by 146,000 votes. Still, the failure to certify by the Wayne County Board of Canvassers is a boost for Trump. It could also embolden Republicans in key states to take similar measures on the way to the Electoral College’s final vote on the presidential race on Dec. 14. Monica Palmer, a Republican on the canvassing board, said absentee poll books in certain Detroit precincts were out of balance. But Jonathan Kinloch, a Democrat, said it was “reckless and irresponsible” to not certify the results. “It’s not based upon fraud. It’s absolutely human error,” Kinloch said of any discrepancies. “Votes that are cast are tabulated.” The board met after days of unsuccessful litigation filed by Republican poll challengers and Trump allies. They claimed fraud during absentee ballot counting at a Detroit convention center, but two judges found no evidence and refused to stop the canvassing process.Protesters rally outside the State Capitol building after former Vice President Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, in Lansing, Michigan, Nov. 8, 2020.Biden crushed Trump in Wayne County, a Democratic stronghold, by more than a 2-1 margin, according to unofficial results. The Michigan Board of State Canvassers is meeting Wednesday, but statewide certification of the election is not on the agenda. That board, too, has an even number of Republicans and Democrats. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, said Republicans in Wayne County put partisan politics above their duty. “Under Michigan law, the Board of State of Canvassers will now finish the job and I have every expectation they will certify the results when the job is done,” she said. But Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis called the development a “huge win” for the president and said it could clear the way for the Republican-controlled Legislature to select electors if the state elections board, too, fails to certify the results. That extraordinary step, which would overturn the will of the voters in Michigan, is all but certain to not happen. Republican leaders in Lansing have expressed no appetite for it. The Rev. Wendell Anthony, a well-known pastor and head of the Detroit branch of the NAACP, called the Detroit-area Republican canvassers a “disgrace.” “No matter what you do, the president of the United States will be Joseph Biden and the vice president of the United States will be for the first time in our nation’s history a Black woman by the name of Kamala Harris,” Anthony said on Zoom, his voice rising during a public comment period. “Put that on your ballot and cast that as a vote. Shame on you!” At least six lawsuits have been filed in Michigan, the latest one landing Sunday in federal court. But there is no evidence of widespread fraud in the U.S. election. The issues that Trump’s allies have raised are typical in every election: problems with signatures, secrecy envelopes and postal marks on mail-in ballots, as well as the potential for a small number of ballots miscast or lost.
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Mardi Gras Canceled as US States, Cities Tighten Coronavirus Restrictions
Mardi Gras parades have been canceled in New Orleans, the city said Tuesday, as the coronavirus continues to surge in much of the United States. City spokesman Beau Tidwell told a news conference the celebrations, which were scheduled to take place on February 16, 2021, cannot happen with current limits on outdoor gatherings. “None of this should be a surprise to anybody,” Tidwell said. “The guidelines have been in place for some time.”A view of Bourbon Street amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. March 25, 2020.In California, Los Angeles has ordered restaurants and bars that have outdoor operations to limit their number of customers to 50% capacity and to close by 10 p.m. Indoor, non-essential stores can operate at only 25% capacity, while businesses such as hair salons can provide services only by appointment. The new rules go into effect Friday. Leaders are also ready to impose a three-week lockdown with people allowed out only for essential trips if the number of new cases and hospitalizations continue to rise. Daily case numbers have more than doubled in the past two weeks. The White House coronavirus task force warned in a weekly report that there is “aggressive, unrelenting, expanding broad community spread across the country, reaching most counties” in the United States. The surge in cases comes amid worries that the November 28 Thanksgiving Day holiday will further worsen the situation with people traveling and gathering with family and friends. Also Tuesday, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley announced that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. “I’m feeling good + will keep up on my work for the ppl of Iowa from home,” the 87-year-old Senator from Iowa wrote on Twitter, adding that he would continue to quarantine according to CDC guidelines.I’ve tested positive for coronavirus. I’ll b following my doctors’ orders/CDC guidelines & continue to quarantine. I’m feeling good + will keep up on my work for the ppl of Iowa from home. I appreciate everyone’s well wishes + prayers &look fwd to resuming my normal schedule soon— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) People stand in line to be tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a test center at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal in Staten Island, New York, Nov. 12, 2020.During the past week, the United States has recorded an average of nearly 150,000 new cases per day, according to Johns Hopkins University. The country has registered more than 11.3 million total cases during the pandemic, the most in the world. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced late Tuesday it gave emergency use authorization to the first at-home COVID-19 test kit. A prescription is required to get the kit, made by Lucira, which the FDA says can provide results in 30 minutes or less. It cautions, however, that a negative test does not preclude a person from infection. “Making it possible for Americans to do their own rapid COVID-19 self-test at home by prescription is the latest addition to our constantly expanding arsenal of COVID-19 testing options,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement.
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China Pushes Xi Jinping Thought as Part of College Education
As Chinese leader Xi Jinping continues to consolidate power, the Chinese Communist Party is working to include more of his writings and opinions as a mandatory part of country’s university curriculum. Beginning in the fall 2020 semester, 37 key colleges and universities across the country offered a course, “An Overview of Socialist Thought with Chinese Characteristics in Xi Jinping’s New Era,” according to the CCP’s theoretical journal, Seeking Truth. These institutions include top universities such as Peking University and Tsinghua University. Smaller universities across China have since echoed the call. A local news website reported on November 10 that Yantai Vocational College in Shandong province has built three teams for adding the readings to its curriculum (teaching Xi’s theory). In many cases, the new content, commonly called “Xi Jinping Thought,” are being added to courses that already study his writings on “the four self-confidences” that he proposed in 2016. They outline core beliefs in Xi’s socialist theory, social system, culture and road, which refers to “socialist road with Chinese characteristics.” For decades, China’s Communist Party emphasized collective leadership as power changed hands from one chosen Communist Party leader to the next. Xi has changed this approach since becoming China’s paramount leader in 2012, concentrating power and encouraging a personality cult around himself by inserting his political writings into Communist Party and government constitutions. The government even released a smartphone app teaching “Xi Jinping Thought” that it claims is one of the most popular in China. Along with the focus on more ideological education, western news organizations are reporting that internal documents from Chinese universities show there are new efforts to track public opinion on university campuses. In one set of documents, the Heilongjiang Institute of Architecture and Vocational Technology summarized “eight risks” for political education in universities. These eight risks include foreign non-governmental organizations stepping up contacts with students, foreign “hostile elements” promoting “street politics” activities, as well as what it called weaknesses in students’ ideology and difficulties in controlling the content of teachers’ training outside the school. Qin Weiping, a political analyst, told VOA that taken together, these measures show how the Communist Party lacks self-confidence, and students and teachers on these campuses are not firm believers of the Communist Party’s doctrines. “In a sense, if the CCP is really confident, it won’t spread the four confidences in the form of documents and movements across the country,” Qin said. “It reflects the deep insecurity, the urgent crisis of governance within the ruling party’s high-level ruling group. There is also doubt within the party and in society about the party’s policies and the future direction of the country.”Undergraduate students and university staff wearing face masks attend a graduation ceremony in Tsinghua University, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, in Beijing, China, June 23, 2020.New curriculum for liberal arts degrees Another new Communist Party initiative at Chinese universities is aimed at modifying the current liberal arts curriculum to spread more “Xi Jinping Thought” and to “improve students’ ideological awareness and moral standards.” On November 3, the Ministry of Education issued a Declaration on the Construction of New Liberal Arts. The declaration proposed creating a new approach for teaching philosophy and social sciences that it argues would enhance the country’s cultural soft power. This includes incorporating more of Xi’s writings and ideology into the liberal arts curriculum. In recent years, Chinese Communist Party officials have emphasized removing “western values” from Chinese curriculum, without explicitly defining which foreign writers or ideas are objectionable. In China’s universities, this has led some school administrators to say that some entire departments need to be restructured. According to Chinese media reports, Xu Xianming, an official at the Ministry of Education, stressed that “liberal arts should be shifted to be under the leadership of the Chinese discourse system and out from under the leadership of the western discourse system. China’s new liberal arts doesn’t exist if the shift is not completed.” Jia Huixuan, a retired liberal arts professor at Peking University, disagrees with this guidance. “We at Peking University have always advocated inclusiveness and science and academic freedom,” Jia said. “Trying to put restrictions on academic activities is not wise.” Others are more critical of the proposed changes. “Strengthening liberal arts education may be a kind of political propaganda because the Communist Party of China’s liberal arts has been used by the regime … to strengthen the loyalty of the king’s (leadership’s) thought,” Qin said. Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
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Taiwan Grounds F-16s After Second Fighter Accident in Less Than a Month
Taiwan’s air force has grounded its F-16 fleet after losing a plane on a training mission, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Wednesday, the second loss of a fighter jet in less than a month at a time of increased missions to intercept Chinese aircraft. While Taiwan’s air force is well trained and well equipped, mostly with U.S.-made equipment, it is dwarfed by China’s. Beijing claims the democratic island as its own and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under Chinese control.Last month, Taiwan’s defense minister said nearly $900 million had been spent this year on scrambling the air force against Chinese incursions, describing the pressure they are facing as “great.” Late Tuesday, Taiwan’s air force said a U.S.-built F-16 vanished shortly after taking off from the Hualien air base on the east coast on a routine training mission. That followed the crash of an F-5 — a jet which first entered service in Taiwan in the 1970s — in late October. Speaking to reporters, Tsai said the air force had already grounded the F-16 fleet for checks.Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, center left, poses for photos with airmen near a Taiwan Indigenous Defense Fighter jet displayed during a visit to the Penghu Magong military air base in outlying Penghu Island, Taiwan, Sept. 22, 2020.”I have asked the defense ministry not to relax a bit on defense and combat readiness to ensure national security,” she added. The defense ministry called on media not to speculate on what happened to the F-16, adding that missions needed to continue considering the ongoing threat from China. “In response to the increasingly severe situation in the Taiwan Strait, the military has continued to strengthen combat readiness training to ensure national security,” it said. The loss of the F-16 is Taiwan’s fourth military crash this year. In January, Taiwan’s top military official was among eight people killed after a helicopter carrying them to visit soldiers crashed in a mountainous area near the capital Taipei. The United States last year approved an $8 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, a deal that would take the island’s F-16 fleet to more than 200 jets, the largest in Asia.
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Security Tops Concerns as Burkina Faso Prepares to Vote
Worsening security dominates the list of concerns in Burkina Faso, where voters will go to the polls Sunday to elect a president and national legislators.Militant Islamist insurgencies and internal ethnic conflicts plague the West African nation of nearly 21 million, displacing more than 1 million and killing at least 1,600 Burkinabè since 2015.Among the dead are at least 14 Burkina soldiers killed when suspected jihadists ambushed a military convoy November 11 in the northern province of Oudalan, near the borders with Mali and Niger, Reuters news service reported the government’s information minister as saying.Of the displaced Burkinabè, more than 400,000 will be Supporters hold placards and cheer Burkina Faso’s presidential candidate Zephirin Diabre during a rally in Ouagadougou on Nov. 15, 2020.Who’s running?President Roch Marc Kaboré, who took office in December 2015 and is seeking a second five-year term, has pledged that his ruling People’s Party Movement for Progress will continue fighting terrorism.Zephirin Diabré, one of 12 other Security is the main issue for Burkina Faso’s 2020 elections.Potential regional impactThe insurgent attacks are fueling growing instability in the Sahel region, where security forces from West Africa, France and the United States have been combating the terrorist insurgency since 2013.That insecurity has strained food resources in the Central Sahel border region between Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, which the World Food Program describes as “the epicenter of one of the world’s fastest-growing humanitarian crises.”More than 10,000 people in parts of northern Burkina Faso are “one step short of famine,” Chris Nikoi, WFP’s regional director for West Africa, said in a mid-October plea for humanitarian access to vulnerable communities there.At a U.N. Security Council briefing Monday on the Sahel, U.S. diplomat Richard Mills noted that the United States in September had earmarked $152 million in humanitarian aid to the Sahel countries of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. That amount builds on a $61 million appropriation for foreign aid to Burkina Faso in 2020, supporting health initiatives, military training, democracy-building and other efforts toward stabilization, as well as a $111 million contribution to the Joint Force.Mills, the U.S. deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, called upon Burkina Faso to conduct free and fair elections. He also said the United States expected the Burkinabè government to conduct “a full investigation” into five alleged cases of human rights violations by the G-5 battalion operating in northern Burkina Faso earlier this year.This report originated in VOA’s Africa Division. Alidou Ouedraogo reported from Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, for the Bambara Service. Its chief, Bagassi Koura, contributed from Washington, as did Nathalie Barge of the French Service. Henry Wilkins also provided information.
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‘Wreaths Across America’ Back On, 24 Hours After Cancellation
U.S. officials confirmed Tuesday an annual event honoring fallen American soldiers will take place in December, despite having canceled the event 24 hours prior. Organizers of Wreaths Across America – an event in which tens of thousands of volunteers lay wreaths on the graves of fallen soldiers – announced Monday that they were canceling the event due to the coronavirus pandemic. But U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy on Tuesday instructed Arlington National Cemetery to prepare to host the event safely. I have directed Arlington National Cemetery to safely host Wreaths Across America. We appreciate the families and visitors who take time to honor and remember those who are laid to rest at our nation’s most hallowed ground.— SecArmy (@SecArmy) November 17, 2020Arlington National Cemetery posted a version of McCarthy’s statement on its website Tuesday. President Donald Trump later tweeted that he had “reversed the ridiculous decision” to cancel the event. I have reversed the ridiculous decision to cancel Wreaths Across America at Arlington National Cemetery. It will now go on!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 17, 2020Karen Worcester, executive director of Wreaths Across America, said in a statement Tuesday that her organization had been coordinating with Arlington National Cemetery for months to plan a safe way to hold the event. “I am pleased to report that today, we were able to have these discussions with the Cemetery’s leadership team, and they have informed us of their willingness to work with us to develop other options to allow for the safe placement of veterans’ wreaths this December,” Worcester wrote. The event, scheduled for December 19, will take place not just at Arlington National Cemetery, but at over 2,000 locations nationwide and overseas.
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Germany Accuses Russia, China of Stalling Over North Korea Fuel Sanctions
Germany accused Russia and China on Tuesday of preventing a United Nations Security Council committee from determining whether North Korea has breached a U.N. cap on refined petroleum imports by the isolated Asian state. The Security Council has ratcheted up sanctions on North Korea since 2006 in a bid to choke funding for Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. In 2017, it imposed an annual cap of 500,000 barrels on refined petroleum imports. China and Russia are the only countries to have notified the Security Council’s North Korea sanctions committee of refined petroleum exports to Pyongyang, but they did so in tonnes instead of barrels, and the committee has been unable to agree on a conversion rate so it can determine when the cap was reached. “Despite numerous attempts — the issue has been on the agenda for no less than three years — to find an agreement on a conversion rate, Russia and China have been stalling the process,” German U.N. Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, chairman of the sanctions committee, told reporters. “While this shouldn’t be a complicated matter to solve, it has become clear that the two delegations are politicizing this topic,” Heusgen said after raising the issue behind closed doors in a formal Security Council meeting. The Russian and Chinese missions to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment. For the past three years, the United States and dozens of allies have accused North Korea of breaching the fuel cap through illicit imports and called for an immediate halt to all deliveries. However, Russia and China repeatedly prevented the sanctions committee from issuing such a statement.
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UN: Ethiopia-Tigray Fighting Triggers Biggest Refugee Flight in Decades
An average of 4,000 women, children and men are crossing the Ethiopian border into eastern Sudan every day. The United Nations refugee agency reports those fleeing the fighting continue to arrive exhausted from the long trek to safety, frightened by their experience.Conditions in Tigray have deteriorated since the Ethiopian government launched a military offensive two weeks ago. The government said this was in response to an alleged attack by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front on a government defense post.UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch said a full-scale humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the region. One established fact, he said, is that every war creates refugees.“We have seen that repeatedly that civilians are affected as soon as conflict starts. So, people are really worried. They are fleeing,” Baloch said. “There are stories of family separation, people not coming with anything. So that is why we are ramping up our assistance to help them.”Ethiopian refugee children who fled fighting in Tigray province, rest in a hut at the Um Rakuba camp in Sudan’s eastern Gedaref province, on Nov. 16, 2020.While helping the refugees in Sudan, the UNHCR also is caring for nearly 100,000 Eritrean refugees living in four camps in Tigray. Baloch said the UNHCR is particularly worried for the safety of some 6,500 Eritrean refugees in a camp close to the combat zone. He said there is fear that Eritrean refugees could flee from there and become displaced again within Ethiopia.He tells VOA of his concern about civilians inside Ethiopia, many of whom may have fled their homes and are internally displaced.“Access and insecurity continue, and clashes make it very, very difficult to come up with an exact number of people displaced,” Baloch said. “Our colleagues do raise their fears that there is displacement. We do not know what the scale is.”What is known, said Baloch, is that people are on the run — both inside and outside the country.Baloch said the huge number of refugees arriving in Sudan is rapidly overwhelming the capacity of humanitarian agencies to respond. He said the UNHCR and its partners are doing their best to provide food, clean water, health care and other essential relief items.He said it is critical to identify new sites so refugees can be relocated away from the border where they will be safer and able to receive assistance and services.
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Al-Qaida ‘On the Ropes’ After 2 Decades of War
Key U.S. officials are not backing down from their assessment that core al-Qaida, while still a threat, is in decline, brushing aside intelligence suggesting the terror organization remains entrenched in Afghanistan and may be growing stronger. For months, tensions have been growing between the United States and its allies over the status of al-Qaida, with some counterterrorism officials arguing Washington is in danger of underestimating the threat posed by the terror group. But the State Department’s top counterterrorism official on Tuesday said al-Qaida has been significantly degraded as a result of U.S. efforts. FILE – State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Ambassador Nathan Sales, speaks during a press conference at the State Department, June 24, 2020, in Washington.”I think al-Qaida’s on the ropes, no doubt,” Counterterrorism Coordinator Ambassador Nathan Sales told the virtual Global Security Forum in a pre-recorded interview. “We have decimated their senior leadership cadre over the past 20 years leaving core al-Qaida leadership really a remnant of its former self,” he said. Sales’ comments come just a day after U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien similarly downplayed al-Qaida core’s capacity to do harm. “Al-Qaida’s been incapable of directing a complex, large-scale attack against the U.S. because of the pressure that we’ve kept on them,” he said. “And there’s more to come.” Just how big of a blow al-Qaida’s leadership has suffered of late, though, remains a question. Neither Sales nor O’Brien addressed recent rumors that al-Qaida’s long-time leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, may have finally succumbed to illness. Nor did they speak to the alleged assassination of Zawahiri’s likely successor, Abu Muhammad al-Masri, in an Israeli operation this past August in Tehran, as first reported by The New York Times. But Sales argued no matter who might be in charge, their influence has waned. “There’s a sense in which the question of who leads al-Qaida core matters is a little bit less today than it did a decade ago, certainly two decades ago,” he told the virtual forum. “What we have seen is a sort of devolution of authority from al-Qaida core to the branches and affiliates,” Sales said. “Those branches, I think, have an increasing amount of organizational autonomy to develop attack plans to set strategic objectives.” Contrasting assessments But international counterterrorism officials and Afghanistan’s own security officials argue their intelligence suggests al-Qaida core remains relevant and has been growing stronger. Concerns Mount as US Seen Downplaying Al-Qaida Threat in AfghanistanInternational counterterrorism officials fear the White House, bent on bringing troops home from 19 years of war, is failing to recognize al-Qaida’s strength and influence “Senior figures remain in Afghanistan, as well as hundreds of armed operatives,” Edmund Fitton-Brown, coordinator of the United Nations monitoring team for Islamic State, al-Qaida and the Taliban, warned in a webinar last month. Recent U.N. reports, based on member state intelligence, also warn that the group’s core leadership appears to be assembling a growing cadre of fighters, perhaps as many as 600, while operating in 12 Afghan provinces. Such remarks stand in stark contrast to statements by key U.S. officials, which put the number of fighters available to al-Qaida’s core leadership at as little as “a few dozen fighters who are primarily focused on their survival.” The pushback against such rosy assessments, however, is not just coming from U.S. allies and countries with interests in the region. Afghan Taliban & al-Qaida ties A new report on Afghanistan from the Defense Department’s inspector general, released Tuesday, also raised questions about al-Qaida’s staying power, citing Washington’s reliance on the Taliban to sever all ties with the terror group. “It is unclear at this point whether the Taliban is upholding its commitments,” Acting Inspector General Sean O’Donnell wrote, adding, “it is difficult to discern the extent to which it is meeting the requirement that Afghanistan not serve as a haven for terrorists who threaten the United States.” The report also noted that al-Qaida leadership has generally welcomed February’s deal between the U.S. and the Taliban. “It does not require the Taliban to publicly renounce al-Qaida and the deal includes a timeline for the United States and coalition forces to withdraw — accomplishing one of al-Qaida’s main goals,” the report noted. But Sales, who spoke prior to the report’s release, said the terms of the deal signed this past February, “are perfectly clear.” “We are going to be watching very closely to verify,” he said. “We expect them to live up to their obligations.” Al-Qaida affiliates in Africa In the meantime, Sales said the U.S. intends to focus on what it sees as the more pressing danger from al-Qaida’s network of affiliates in Africa, including al-Shabab, Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQOM). “These groups are continuing to fight with a fair degree of operational autonomy, without getting the message that al-Qaida has been eviscerated,” he said, calling the U.S. effort to degrade and defeat al-Shabab “a top priority.” Concerns about the reach of al-Shabab have grown considerably over the past year, escalating sharply after a deadly attack this past January on the Manda Bay Airfield in Kenya, which caught U.S. forces unprepared. US, Europe Split Over Terror Threat from AfricaWhile American officials increasingly talk of a threat to the homeland, allies caution, as of now, there’s nothing to suggest imminent attacks in Europe or the USThere has also been concern that al-Shabab may be interested in the idea of carrying out attacks on the U.S. and the West. In 2019, for example, Philippine authorities arrested a Kenyan national they said was connected to al-Qaida, Cholo Abdi Abdullah, who had been trying to get expedited certification as a pilot. As part of its ongoing campaign against al-Shabab, the U.S. has relied heavily on drone strikes targeting senior leaders. US Drone Strike Kills High-ranking al-Shabab Bomb-maker in SomaliaSeparately, Somali leaders sign pact outlining model for election in which security will be an issueBut Sales said the U.S. is also ramping up efforts on other fronts. “Nobody is making movies about counterterrorism designations or financial sanctions. Nobody is making movies about the hard work of training cops and training judges on how to handle terrorism prosecutions,” he told the Global Security Forum. “But I can tell you, those really are the front lines of the counterterrorism fight in Somalia.”
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US Cutting Troop Numbers in Afghanistan, Iraq by January
The Pentagon is making plans to bring home more American troops in the coming weeks, leaving 2,500 troops in Afghanistan and 2,500 troops in Iraq by mid-January, a U.S. official has confirmed to VOA. The drawdown, which would remove about 2,000 troops currently in Afghanistan and 500 now in Iraq, is similar to a plan laid out by National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien in October, which the Pentagon would not confirm at the time. News of the potential military changes began circulating Monday and brought swift criticism from experts, former officials and even some of President Donald Trump’s biggest allies, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. FILE – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., responds to a reporter’s question during a press conference in Louisville, Ky., Nov. 4, 2020.”There is no American who does not wish the war in Afghanistan against terrorists and their enablers had already been conclusively won. But … a rapid withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan now would hurt our allies and delight the people who wish us harm,” McConnell said. McConnell called on the president to continue applying pressure “until the conditions for the long-term defeat of ISIS (Islamic State) and al-Qaida have been achieved.” Without that, he warned an exit would be reminiscent of “the humiliating American departure from Saigon,” Vietnam, in 1975 and would be worse than the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq in 2011, which he said fueled the rise of Islamic State. Congressman Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican, told VOA an Afghanistan drawdown without the right conditions on the ground was “a mistake,” adding that it would destroy leverage that could be used in peace negotiations designed to end the fighting between the Afghan government and the Taliban. “There’s negotiations ongoing; you always negotiate from a position of strength,” he said. American troops toppled the Taliban in 2001 following an invasion that had strong public support following the September 11 terrorist attacks. But as the conflict has continued, American public opinion has split, and Trump won office in 2016 promising to withdraw from foreign conflicts. FILE – Soldiers attached to the 101st Resolute Support Sustainment Brigade, Iowa National Guard and 10th Mountain, 2-14 Infantry Battalion, load onto a Chinook helicopter to head out on a mission in Afghanistan, Jan. 15, 2019.Former senior military officials said a proposed troop drawdown from Afghanistan under the current conditions was worrisome, especially during a presidential transition period. One former senior official raised concern about what missions would need to be cut and how those cuts could negatively affect the military’s Afghan partners. “This is a very odd time — it is hard to see the true strategy behind these machinations,” another former senior military official told VOA Monday. FILE – Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller speaks during a meeting at the Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia, Nov. 13, 2020.Trump abruptly fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper one week ago and replaced him with Christopher Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Esper sent a classified memo to the White House earlier this month expressing concerns about a precipitous withdrawal in Afghanistan as violence remains high and peace talks drag on, according to the Washington Post. Miller’s newly appointed senior adviser, retired Army Col. Douglas McGregor, has called for a complete withdrawal of U.S forces from Afghanistan, along with shutting down the U.S. embassy in Kabul. Anthony Tata, who has been performing the duties of Under Secretary of Defense for Policy since Tuesday, also has called for a full withdrawal from Afghanistan. “The conspiracy theorist in me would have to say that now we seem to understand why the president purged the civilian leadership at the Pentagon,” a former senior military official said on the condition of anonymity Monday. In a memo to the Department of Defense on Monday, Acting Secretary of Defense Miller listed bringing “the current war to an end in a responsible manner” among his top three goals. Days earlier he had struck a contradictory tone about the U.S.-led global war on terror in his first letter to the department, writing, ”This war isn’t over. We are on the verge of defeating al-Qaida and its associates, but we must avoid our past strategic error of failing to see the fight through to the finish.” However, in the next paragraph, Miller wrote, “We met the challenge; we gave it our all. Now, it’s time to come home.” #Breaking In initial letter to troops, Acting #SecDef Christopher Miller strikes contradictory tone:”The war isn’t over…we must avoid our past strategic errors failing to see the fight through” followed by, “we met the challenge. We gave it our all. Now it’s time to come home.” pic.twitter.com/J3XX4V3qyv— Carla Babb (@CarlaBabbVOA) November 14, 2020About 4,500 American troops are serving in Afghanistan, where the U.S. has been fighting for nearly two decades to prevent al-Qaida and other terror groups from establishing a safe haven from which they can carry out attacks on the U.S. and its allies. About 3,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq to advise Iraqi partners as they root out remnants of Islamic State. A speedy, hastened withdrawal from Afghanistan in a few weeks would be “costly and much more dangerous,” than a slower, more deliberate withdrawal based on the security conditions on the ground, according to military officials. “U.S. national security interests and conditions on the ground—and not the political calendar—should determine U.S. military posture in Afghanistan and Iraq,” said Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Michael O’Hanlon, a senior defense fellow at the Brookings Institution, expressed less concern, pointing out that president-elect Joe Biden could raise the numbers in Iraq and Afghanistan back up “fairly easily” once he takes office on January 20. “It’s not smart, but it’s also not the end of the world. … It’s a lot better than (going to) zero,” O’Hanlon told VOA on Monday. Last month, Trump tweeted that the U.S. should have all its troops who are serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas. We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2020Shortly afterward, Trump’s national security adviser said the president’s tweet that U.S. troops should be home from there by December 25 was a “desire” rather than a military order. “Right now we’re on a path with our European allies — we went into Afghanistan together; we’re going to come out together — we’re on a path right now that looks like about 4,500 this fall and a smaller number in January and February,” national security adviser Robert O’Brien said on October 16. Average daily enemy-initiated attacks in Afghanistan were up 50% from July 1 to Sept. 30 of this year, compared to between April 1 and June 30, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, also known as SIGAR, said earlier this month. U.S. Forces-Afghanistan has characterized overall enemy-initiated attacks this quarter as “above seasonal norms.” Katherine Gypson and VOA Afghan Service contributed to this report.
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UN Releases $100M in Bid to Prevent Famine in 7 Countries
The United Nations released $100 million from an emergency fund Tuesday in a bid to avert famine in seven at-risk countries. “Famine can be prevented, but we have to act in time to make a difference,” U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said in a statement announcing the disbursement. Before the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe, bringing socio-economic shocks with it, there were already 135 million people facing serious food insecurity in 55 countries, according to U.N. data. Those numbers have grown this year, and the U.N. is raising the alarm on the situations in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen. These six countries will share $80 million of the emergency funding, with $20 million set aside for Ethiopia. “No one should view a slide into famine as an inevitable side effect of this pandemic,” Lowcock said. “If it happens it is because the world has allowed it to happen.” Conflict, climate, displacement crisesOf the six countries, all are dealing with conflict, climate shocks and displacement crises. Ethiopia has also experienced below-average rainfall this year and a massive locust infestation, and in recent weeks has added the threat of civil conflict as tensions explode in the northern Tigray province. “There’s a risk of this becoming a grave, grave humanitarian crisis,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday of the situation in northern Ethiopia. In South Sudan, food prices have risen sharply since the start of coronavirus. The World Food Program (WFP) says basic ingredients cost 186 percent of a person’s daily income, meaning if people in New York had to pay the equivalent of their income for a meal, it would cost $393. In Burkina Faso, conflict has been on the rise, and the country is coping with the fastest-growing displacement crisis on the planet. Famine currently threatens about 11,000 people in two northern provinces. “The prospect of a return to a world in which famines are commonplace would be heart-wrenching and obscene in a world where there is more than enough food for everyone,” Lowcock said. He and WFP chief David Beasley warned in a joint opinion piece in The Times of London Tuesday that, “when more than a quarter of a billion people teeter on a cliff edge, it’s no time to look away, much less walk away.” “By the time a famine is declared, it’s too late, because people have already started dying,” they wrote. “Famines are a stain on humanity. Now is the time to act.” The U.N.’s World Food Program feeds some 100 million people a year across the planet. It was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last month for its work to combat hunger and help contribute to better conditions for peace.
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Missile Launched from US Warship Destroys Mock Long-Range Missile
The U.S. Department of Defense said Tuesday an American warship “intercepted and destroyed” an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) target in a test conducted Monday northeast of Hawaii.A destroyer equipped with an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) System destroyed the mock long-range missile in flight with an SM-3 Block IIA missile, according to the Defense Department’s Missile Defense Agency.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 10 MB480p | 13 MB540p | 18 MB720p | 37 MBOriginal | 186 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioWATCH: A missile launched from the USS John Finn intercepts and destroys an intercontinental ballistic missile target during a flight test demonstration northeast of Hawaii, Nov. 16, 2020, in this video released by the US Missile Defense Agency.“We have demonstrated that an Aegis BMD-equipped vessel equipped with the SM-3 Block IIA missile can defeat an ICBM-class target,” said Vice Admiral and MDA Director Jon Hill.The Pentagon has previously conducted tests against ICBM targets by launching interceptors from underground silos in the United States. The ship-based approach could bolster the existing U.S. missile defense system if more challenging tests in the future are successful. The success of Monday’s test is especially likely to draw interest from North Korea, whose development of ICBM’s and nuclear weapons is the primary reason the Defense Department has worked to hasten the development of missile defense systems over the past decade.Additionally, China and Russia have voiced concern that the U.S. could use its missile defense capabilities to weaken the deterrent value of their nuclear forces.Carla Babb contributed to this report.
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For Turkey, Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Provided a Boost
Azerbaijan’s Turkish-supported victory over Armenian forces in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave has provided Ankara an opportunity to expand its influence in the Caucuses at the expense of Russia. That’s the conclusion of some observers – as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.Camera: VOA
Producer: Rod James
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Thai Police Fire Water Cannons and Tear Gas at Pro-Democracy Protestors
Thai police used water cannons and tear gas Tuesday to push back pro-democacy protestors near the parliament compound in Bangkok. Demonstrators demanding changes to the Thailand’s constitution were pushed back by police as they tried to penetrate barriers on the perimeter of the compound. Police blasted hundreds of protestors with water cannons as they tried to cut through razor-wire barricades before firing tear gas at them. The Erawan Medical Center in Bankok said five people were hospitalized for teargas exposure and others were treated at the scene. FILE – Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, top, talks to Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan during the special session at the parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, Oct. 26, 2020.The student-led protestors are also calling for the removal of Prime Minister and former army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha, who led a 2014 coup against the elected government, and enacted reforms to limit the powers of King Maha Vajiralongkorn.Lawmakers were mulling proposals to amend the constitution during the unrest outside parliament. They are expected to vote on seven proposed constitutional amendments before the end of a two-day joint session of the House and Senate. Parliament is not expected to agree on specific changes. Instead, lawmakers are expected to create a constitution drafting committee to write a new charter. The protesters support a draft that would retract parts of the constitution, enacted in 2017 under military rule that ceded more powers to the Senate and other unelected branches of government.
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Africa Spared Worst of Pandemic by ‘Coordinated, Collaborative’ Approach
As COVID-19 infections soar in the United States, the African continent is bracing for a smaller surge, defying predictions that it would be hardest hit.According to Africa’s top medical official, that’s because the continent behaved as one indivisible unit in fighting the virus, with leaders working together to impose lockdowns, enforce mask requirements and work with continental officials to improve testing and treatment. “The key, unifying leadership of the continent very early on in February has been a very critical factor in moderating the spread of the virus on the continent,” Dr. John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said to a collection of global health experts during a virtual meeting this week. “As a matter of fact, if the continent didn’t go into a massive shutdown early on in March, with the rates in South Africa, for example, doubling every two days, I think that would have been a severe pandemic in South Africa.”FILE – A store assistant gives people hand sanitizer as shoppers stock up on groceries ahead of a nationwide 21 day lockdown in an attempt to contain the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Durban, South Africa, March 24, 2020.South Africa remains the continent’s epicenter, with 750,000 known cases, according to World Health Organization statistics, since the virus first landed in early March.The reason that number is not greater, Nkengasong says, is that the continent acted swiftly. When Egypt discovered its first coronavirus case in mid-February, he said, African public health officials sprang into action. A week later, experts from the African Union’s 55 member states convened at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, where Nkengasong is based, to come up with a plan.Nine months later, he says that coordinated response spared the continent the worst of the pandemic, with 1.9 million recorded cases — fewer than expected for a continent with such low levels of infrastructure and social safety nets.And, he said, this fact merits recognition. “COVID-19 really needs to be a catalyst for the continent to really argue for a new public order, where we truly focus on developing diagnostics on the continent, developing more clinical trials on the continent and developing the development of therapeutics on the continent,” he said, adding, “partnerships matter, and that has to be a very clear fundamental principle, guiding our ability to fight this virus using a cooperative approach, a collaborative approach, a coordinated approach and a communicative approach.”Fauci laments U.S. approachAcross the ocean, Dr. Anthony Fauci heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in the country hit hardest by the pandemic, the United States. Fauci, addressing the same group of medical experts by videoconference late Monday, reiterated the five steps everyone must take to avoid the respiratory virus: wear a mask; keep a two-meter distance from others; avoid crowds; conduct any gatherings outdoors instead of indoors and regularly wash hands. “If those five public health measures were adhered to, universally and consistently over the country, it is clear from our previous experience with other nations and even regions in our own country, we would not be having the degree of surging of cases that we are currently seeing,” he said. In some U.S. states, political leaders have embraced those measures. In others, state governors have contested the importance of masks or declined to impose restrictions they say would hurt businesses.FILE – Restaurant workers and supporters gather to protest new measures stating restaurants must close their indoor seating to combat the rise in coronavirus cases, July 10, 2020 in Miami. Fauci said this is the result of these divergent policies.“Around June 19th, we had the beginning of a resurgence of cases due to the attempts to so-call ‘reopen the economy,’ or ‘reopen the country,’ which was done variably with regard to adhering to the guidelines which came out, different states did it differently, and we had a resurgence back up to close to 70,000, went back down, stayed around 40,000 for a while, and now is going up to 86,000 with a mean, I say, an average of weekly, somewhere around 80,000,” he said. “Unfortunately…on November the 4th, we hit 100,000 cases in a single day.” According to Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. currently has more than 11 million confirmed cases and is approaching 250,000 deaths. Meanwhile, Nkengasong notes that Africa’s leaders are pushing the prevention measures anew as the continent braces for another coronavirus wave that seems to be emerging, concentrated in Algeria, Tunisia, Kenya and South Africa.Kenya Reimposes COVID-19 Measures Amid Surging Cases President Uhuru Kenyatta reintroduces measures to curb virus’s spread, just weeks after lifting some restrictions “A tail, a very worrying tail, is beginning to emerge, and we are recording now about 10,000 cases per day, very clearly showing that if something is not done, we’ll be getting a second sooner than later,” he said. Still, he vowed that if Africans stick together — in spirit, not physically – the continent will show the world how it can beat the virus.
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Conflict in Ethiopia Dividing Diaspora Communities Abroad
The conflict in Ethiopia is sparking a lot of discussion among the country’s diaspora, and those who share their views online have noticed they often get strong pushback from people who hold opposing opinions. In some cases, the division is ruining friendships. When the fighting started between the Ethiopian army and forces in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray, London-based Melat Tesfay was worried for her family, stuck in Tigray. She started sharing her opinion about the conflict on her social media accounts. Ethiopians check newspapers and magazines reporting on the current military confrontation in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, at a news stand on a street in the capital Addis Ababa, Nov. 7, 2020.Tesfay said people from the British Ethiopian diaspora community would send her messages. They said her online posts offended them, as she does not support the attack on the Tigray region. Tesfay says she was taken back by the response from some people she had considered to be friends. “It’s a real-life situation that affects me and my family. So, a lot of those people that were pushing for the war to go ahead, a lot of them I’ve either deleted or unfriended on a lot of my social media platform. I’m becoming very withdrawn from the people that I usually used to associate myself with and stuff like that. So, I feel like it’s having a domino effect on me without realizing it,” she said.Despite the backlash, Tesfay hasn’t stopped posting and sharing online. More than 2.5 million Ethiopians live abroad. Besides sending home billions of dollars in remittances, the diaspora has for years been actively involved in organizing and leading online campaigns. Seray Delnissaw considers herself an active member of the Ethiopian diaspora community in Britain. But the intensity of the debates on social media has left her much more careful about what she shares online. “Sometimes I posted things, and straight away in my inbox, I’m getting messages. And it’s like, well, actually, you shouldn’t really say this, you shouldn’t say that. With posts that I have put up personally I’ve had people contact me with positive messages and negative so it’s been 50-50,” she said. People posting messages that support Tigray are often seen by others as denying the dominant role the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) played in Ethiopian politics for many years, while opposition to the TPLF is often seen as endorsing the army’s offensive. FILE – People walk in front of the head office of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the ruling party in the region, in the city of Mekele, northern Ethiopia, Sept. 6, 2020.Azeb Madebo is a PhD candidate at the University of Southern California focusing on Ethiopia diaspora and media. Madebo says the diaspora can bring awareness to problems, but that these social media campaigns often rely on simplified narratives misrepresenting complex realities. “What we find online is more and more division and politicization of ethnic identities. The diaspora has to find a way out of the quagmire of ethnic politics to help create a country that is reflective of our collective identities, our struggles and our hopes. Otherwise, the diaspora’s current social media engagement will just help incite and justify further trauma,” she said. Ethiopian refugees who fled fighting in Tigray province lay in a hut at the Um Rakuba camp in Sudan’s eastern Gedaref province, Nov. 16, 2020.Tensions between the central government and the northern region escalated two weeks ago after forces from the TPLF attacked an army base in what it called an act of self-defense. Neighboring countries are now also involved after the TPLF fired missiles on Eritrea’s capital city, Asmara. More than 20,000 people have fled to Sudan seeking safety.
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Trade Deal Raises Questions About China’s Dominance
Several leaders from 15 Asia Pacific countries, who signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on Sunday, have praised what is being regarded as the world’s biggest trade pact. RCEP members, which include 10 ASEAN members plus China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, represent 30% of world’s population and 28% of its economy. The purpose of the partnership is to reduce taxes on the trade in goods and remove nontariff barriers. Japanese trade minister Hiroshi Kajiyama said the deal will create a set of “free and fair economic rules.” Chinese Premier Li Keqiang described the pact as “a ray of light and hope amid the clouds.”The RCEP is widely regarded as a China-backed alternative to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which covers 11 countries around the Pacific, but not China. The agreement is a culmination of “eight years of negotiating with blood, sweat and tears,” Mohamed Azmin Ali, Malaysia’s international trade and industry minister, said. Huge Asian Trade Pact Signed in Coup for China ASEAN members and five other Asian countries are included, but not USAfter years of deep suspicion that China would dominate the trade club, intense squabbling over trade rules, and India dropping out of the negotiations, in the end, the RCEP is a rather simple agreement focused on the trade of goods. But will the agreement enhance China’s global image at a time when Beijing is engaged in a trade war with the U.S.? “The RCEP allows China to cast itself as a champion of globalization and multilateral cooperation. It also puts China in a better position to determine the rules governing regional trade,” said Gareth Leather, Senior Asia Economist, at Capital Economics. Beijing is relieved that the new pact does not commit members to a significant opening up of services, liberalization of government procurement, or rollback of industrial policy, demands imposed on CPTTP members, Leather suggested.The CPTPP replaced the U.S.-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership after the Trump administration walked out of it. Its members are Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The RCEP signing has raised questions about whether it would prompt the United States, under a President Joe Biden, to return to an international trade agreement like the CPTPP instead of remaining isolated. “Given the massive challenges on the domestic front and preexisting concerns about the unequal benefits of free trade agreements, it’s not obvious Biden will choose to join the revised CPTPP,” Matt Ferchen, head of Global China Research at the Berlin based think tank, Merics, told VOA. “Yet the signing of RCEP will be a further spur to the U.S., and presumably to India, to not be left outside looking in at the largest trade agreements in the Indo-Pacific region,” he added. Though signed with much fanfare, the RCEP leaves many thorny issues unsolved. It does not deal with trade disputes among its member countries, such as China and Australia. It focuses on the exchange of goods but does not address trade in the services sector, which is growing faster worldwide than trade in goods. “It does not address such major trade barriers as IP protection and state subsidies,” said Lester Ross, a partner in an international law firm, WilmerHale.“It is also unclear whether RCEP will have any impact on coercive trade barriers imposed by a member state against another member state, like China’s recent restrictions on certain categories of goods from Australia,” he said. Australia’s Trade Minister Simon Birmingham sees the RCEP as an opportunity to open the trade doors that China has shut. The deal puts the ball in China’s court to abide by not only the terms but the spirit of the new trade pact, he said. Australia hopes China will relax restrictions it has imposed on imports of certain Australian goods.Australian Exporters Brace for More China Trade PainCanberra’s trade war with Beijing is intensifying with state media in Beijing reporting that seven categories of imports are to be restrictedThough RCEP had helped reduce tariffs, smaller countries in the pact, like the 10 ASEAN members, have different reasons to worry. For instance, their dependence on China might increase although it is not clear if China will buy more of their products.“Laos and Cambodia are already part of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area, so RCEP won’t necessarily imply a major change in trade barriers with China,” Ferchen said. The ASEAN members are Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. “Their bigger challenges are being overly dependent both economically and geopolitically on China, especially at a time when U.S.-China strategic competition is rising in Southeast Asia and countries are being asked to choose sides,” he explained. Chinese state media has seen in this an opportunity to pat the government’s back. “The RCEP includes multiple U.S. allies; their agreement to the deal is an affirmation that China will remain an intrinsic economic partner for them and that the region will ultimately work and cooperate together,” CGTN, the state-owned broadcaster, said. It would take some time before any country sees the benefits of the deal because nine of the 15 member nations have to ratify it before it takes effect.”The economic benefits of the deal might only be marginal for South East Asia, but there are some interesting trade and tariff dynamics to watch for North East Asia,” said Nick Marro at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).”Ratification will likely be tricky in national parliaments, owing to both anti-trade and anti-China sentiment,” he said.
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More Universities to Close After Thanksgiving
As COVID-19 cases surge around the U.S., more universities and colleges plan to move all classes online after Thanksgiving break in late November, while others say they will allow students to return to campus. FILE – Students wait in line at a testing site for the COVID-19 set up for returning students, faculty and staff on the main campus of New York University (NYU) in Manhattan in New York City, Aug. 18, 2020.”By requiring all students to test negative before leaving, we are implementing a smart, sensible policy that protects students’ families and hometown communities and drastically reduces the chances of COVID-19 community spread,” said SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras in a press release. Indiana University (IU) will require its 48,514 students to have exit testing as they head home for the Thanksgiving break. Last week (November 11), some IU students were suspended for celebrating in the streets after a football win. The week before, the university shut down its Delta Upsilon fraternity house through summer 2021, for hosting a large, unmasked Halloween party.“Students will leave a state with skyrocketing new COVID-19 cases and some might sit next to grandparents a few days later,” tweeted Matt Cohen, enterprise reporter for the Indiana Daily Student news outlet.The University of Missouri, another large Midwestern state university, changed its plan last week to online learning for its 29,843 students. The decision, announced November 12, came after a surge in COVID-19 cases in Missouri, according to University of Missouri System President Mun Y. Choi. Until the surge, Missouri considered limited internet access at home, finances, and their COVID-19 case count when deciding to keep the campus open after the break, said University of Missouri Spokesperson Christian Basi. “We have many students who rely on on-campus work to provide them with a source of income and if we were to close the campus not only would many of the students not be able to return, but there are some of those jobs that simply would stop,” said Basi.FILE – University of Illinois student Sarah Keeley, right, poses for a portrait on the college campus in Urbana, Ill., Oct. 6, 2020.The American College Health Association issued an advisory in October to help colleges and universities navigate the end of the semester. The U.S. does not have a national plan for higher education and COVID-19. Four sources are compiling information about colleges and COVID-19, including case-tracking maps: The New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Davidson College’s College Crisis Initiative (C2i), and Inside Higher Education. Most international students face holidays alone or without family. Some schools are encouraging all their students not to go home for the break, and are offering alternative activities and turkey meals, the typical centerpiece on most American dinner tables for Thanksgiving. Iuliia Rychkova is an international doctoral student at the University of Mississippi, which will end its fall semester before the Thanksgiving break. “I’m going to stay in Oxford,” where the university has its main campus, she said. “Honestly, I’m an international student, right? So it’s kind of pricey to go home for a month,” said Rychkova, who is from Novokuznetsk, Russia, which lies east of Kazakhstan and west of Mongolia.
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Fears Over New COVID-19 Cluster in Australia
Australian officials are warning they face a “dangerous situation” in the coronavirus pandemic after reporting about 20 newly detected infections in the state of South Australia, its first outbreak since April. After seven months with no community transmission of the new coronavirus, South Australia is fighting to contain a cluster of new cases. Most of the recently detected infections are within the same family. The source is thought to have been a hotel in Adelaide where Australian travelers are placed in mandatory quarantine after returning from overseas. An infected cleaner is believed to have passed on the virus to his or her large family, including a prison worker. Health authorities have been working to trace all known contacts of those within the Adelaide cluster. Thousands of people have been tested since it was discovered. Just one new case was detected Monday, but South Australian premier Steven Marshall says vigilance is needed.“This is a very dangerous situation. If we work cooperatively with SA (South Australia) Health and SA (South Australia) Police on this one we should get on top of it. But it is really a very worrying situation, and we must act very swiftly,” Marshall said.People are seen at a cafe after the state of Victoria saw COVID-19 case numbers drop in Melbourne, Nov. 17, 2020.The state government has brought in new emergency restrictions in South Australia, including the closure of gyms, while international flights carrying returning Australian citizens and permanent residents have been suspended for seven days. The outbreak could hamper Australia’s efforts to reopen state and territory borders by Christmas. Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory are reintroducing quarantine measures on South Australian residents. But other jurisdictions, including New South Wales, have no plans to refuse entry to visitors from South Australia. New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian. “What this does is reinforce for us how contagious the disease is and how unexpectedly cases and outbreaks can arise. But it is how you deal with those outbreaks, and we are confident that if that happened in New South Wales, we would get on top of it and similarly that South Australian authorities are getting on top of it and that is our understanding from our health officials here in New South Wales,” Berejiklian said.New South Wales has recorded its 10th consecutive day without any community transmission of COVID-19, while Victoria state officials say they have now gone 18 days in a row without a new case following the easing of a strict lockdown in the city of Melbourne. Since the pandemic began, Australia has diagnosed 27,750 coronavirus infections. More than 900 people have died. Australia closed its international borders to foreign nationals in March.
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After Sudan Peace Deal, Refugees in Israel Fear Deportation
Along with peace agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Israel signed a normalization agreement with Sudan. As Linda Gradstein reports from Tel Aviv, many Sudanese asylum seekers living in Israel fear the deal could lead to their deportation back to Sudan.
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