The United States is bracing for news that the recent Thanksgiving holiday will result in more cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Michelle Quinn reports.Produced by: Mary Cieslak
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Month: November 2020
WHO: Coronavirus Threatens to Reverse Gains Made in Malaria Control
On World Malaria Day, the World Health Organization is calling on countries to step up the fight against malaria, saying the coronavirus pandemic threatens to reverse important gains made in efforts to control this deadly disease. Since 2000, the U.N.’s World Health Organization reports 1.5 billion malaria cases and 7.6 million deaths have been averted globally. Some of the greatest achievements were made in sub-Saharan Africa, which bears the brunt of this deadly disease spread by mosquitos. Additionally, the director of the WHO’s Global Malaria Program, Pedro Alonso, said 21 countries have eliminated malaria over the last two decades. Of these, he says 10 have been officially certified as malaria-free by the WHO. “That means that more than half of all the world’s endemic countries are within reach of elimination,” Alonso said. “In the beginning of the century, three countries had less than 10 cases per year. Now, we have 24 countries, which are literally one step away from elimination.” Despite remarkable progress, however, the World Health Organization reports global gains have leveled off in recent years. This is because of insufficient funding and a lack of access to proven malaria control tools, such as insecticide-treated mosquito nets and preventive medicines for children. The emergence of the coronavirus pandemic is now posing an additional challenge to the malaria response. WHO’s regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, said the gains made in Africa over many years against poverty and disease risk being reversed by the virus responsible for the COVID-19 disease. “Already, malaria causes a 1.3 percent loss in Africa’s economic growth every year,” Moeti said. “And we know that the COVID-19 pandemic is projected to push sub-Saharan Africa into recession for the first time in 25 years. This incredibly challenging situation requires renewed commitment to sustained and accelerate the gains that have been made in the fight against malaria.” Moeti noted malaria continues to kill many more people than diseases like COVID-19 and Ebola. In 2019, the WHO reported the global tally of malaria cases was 229 million, including more than 400,000 deaths. It said 90 percent of these cases and deaths were in the African region. Most of the victims were children. The U.N. health agency reports global funding for malaria last year totaled $3 billion. This falls far short of the $5.6 billion needed to roll back malaria.
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Biden Fractures Foot While Playing With His Dog
Over the years, White House pets have played a role – making the occupants a little more human. President-elect Joe Biden’s dog Major may have overdone that duty. On Saturday, Biden slipped while playing with 2-year-old German shepherd. On Sunday, Biden was diagnosed with hairline fractures of two bones in his midfoot and will likely wear a walking boot for the next several weeks, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, director of executive medicine at George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, told reporters.Biden adopted Major, a rescue, in 2018. He adopted his other dog, Champ, in 2008 shortly after the presidential election. Champ is also a German shepherd.The Bidens have said they plan to bring both dogs with them to the White House. They are also rumored to be adding a cat to the family.“I love having animals around the house,” Jill Biden told Washington’s Fox 5 earlier this year. Not everyone has felt a need for a furry White House companion.President Trump has not had any pets in the White House during his time in office, the first president without resident animals in roughly 100 years, according to White House historians.At a rally last year, Trump dismissed dogs in the White House as no more than a prop.”I don’t know. Feels a little phony, phony to me. A lot of people say, ‘Oh, you should get a dog,’ ‘Why?’ ‘It’s good politically.’ I said, ‘Look, that’s not the relationship I have with my people.’”The Biden campaign launched a website Dog Lovers For Joe, with the slogan “Choose Your Human Wisely.” There’s a long tradition of presidential pets. President Barack Obama had two Portuguese water dogs, Bo and Sunny. President George W. Bush had a number of pets during his eight years in office, including Spot, an offspring of Millie, his father and former president’s dog. President Bush also had a cat, India. Those past First Dogs and First Cats may have some advice for the next White House resident: Play nice.
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Australia’s Largest Winery to Redirect Wine, Cut Costs After China Tariffs
Treasury Wine Estates Ltd said Monday it would redirect some wine intended for China and cut costs after Beijing imposed anti-dumping tariffs on Australian wine, dealing a significant blow to the world’s largest listed winemaker. The company said it would relocate its Penfolds Bin and Icon luxury range of wines from China to other markets such as Australia, the United States and Europe. It added that future vintage intakes from 2021 would also be reduced. Over the weekend, China imposed temporary anti-dumping tariffs of 107.1% to 212.1% on wine imported from Australia, with Treasury Wine facing a rate of 169.3%, the highest of any of the named wine companies. Nearly a third of Treasury Wine’s earnings in fiscal 2020 came from China, where it enjoys strong demand for its higher-margin luxury wine. It said demand in China would be extremely limited because of the tariffs. “We are extremely disappointed to find our business, our partners’ businesses and the Australian wine industry in this position,” Tim Ford, chief executive officer, said. China began an anti-dumping probe in August of Australian wine imports as relations between Beijing and Canberra deteriorated. China accounts for near 40% of Australian wine exports. “There is no doubt this (tariffs) will have a significant impact on many across the industry, costing jobs and hurting regional communities and economies, which are the lifeblood of the wine sector,” Ford added. The tariffs are yet another blow to Treasury Wine this year, as global curbs on travel and social gatherings have hit sales hard, especially at its non-retail channels that include bars and restaurants.
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Thai Protesters March on Elite Military Unit Carrying Inflatable Rubber Ducks
Thousands of protesters, carrying yellow inflatable rubber ducks over their heads, descended on an elite military unit in Thailand Sunday as they called for limits to the power of the monarchy. With chants of “my tax, my tax,” demonstrators massed outside the headquarters of the 11th Infantry Regiment — an elite unit placed under the control of Thailand’s immensely rich and powerful King Maha Vajiralongkorn. “The army in this country was never here to protect the people, but they’ve always been here to protect the royal family,” 27-year-old Bom, a protester, said. “Thor had his hammer,” said 25-year-old graphic designer Angkana, referring to the movie, “Hammer of the Gods.” “We have our ducks. At least they protect us,” Angkana added. The rubber duck has become an emblem of the protest movement. Breaking a taboo, protesters are targeting all areas of the king’s power — from his $2.3 billion holding in one of the country’s top banks to his preferred army units and status in his overseas sanctuary in Germany. They are turning up the pressure on the monarch to pull his support for unpopular Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-O-Cha. They are demanding Prayuth’s resignation and a new constitution to excise the army from politics once and for all, in a country which has had 13 coups in less than a century. But they also want reform of the monarchy to keep it within the constitution, outside of politics with its spending and influence restrained. Thailand’s monarchy is protected by a tough royal defamation law which carries up to 15 years in prison per charge of insulting, defaming, or threatening the palace. At least a dozen protest leaders were hit with the charge over the last week after anti-monarchy graffiti was sprayed across downtown Bangkok. The monarch commands the loyalty of the army top brass, the business elite and many mainly older conservatives across the country. A generation gap has subsequently opened, with the youth-driven protesters refusing to moderate their demands for reform of the monarchy and royalists enraged that the protesters have taken aim at the palace. “Their demands are never ending… and the kids are ‘acting up,’ getting bored of one thing, then moving onto another,” Somchai Sawangkarn, one of the 250 senators appointed by Prayuth, said. Violent clashes between pro-democracy protesters and “yellow shirt” royalists — so called for wearing the king’s colors — left scores injured on November 17 outside parliament, as legislators voted against constitutional reforms demanded by the street movement. Thailand has a history of violent political convulsions. Pro-democracy movements dating to the 1970s have ended in bloodshed on Bangkok’s streets. But the open anti-monarchy sentiment and near-daily occupation of key parts of the capital are also wearing on the government, which is already struggling with a flatlining economy caused by the collapse of tourism during the coronavirus. “The government hasn’t done a great job in controlling the protesters. They arrest them and let them out on bail, that’s why things have escalated. Tougher measures are needed,” said Senator Somchai. Meanwhile, a hearing has been set for Wednesday at the constitutional court to determine whether Prayuth committed an illegal act by staying in an army residence after he retired from the military. The court could ultimately remove him from office as it has done to several prime ministers before in times of political crisis — although they were aligned to the pro-democracy camp. Experts say a Prayuth exit after six years, by order of the courts, could be a face-saving way for the establishment to meet one of the protesters’ three demands without being seen as bending to pressure. But in the unlikely event the court removes a key establishment player, it is far from certain that would defang an increasingly angry protest movement. “I’ve gone to almost every protest,” said Angkana. “I will fight as long as it takes to get all three demands answered. I won’t budge.” There are fears of a military intervention if the crisis drags on, prompting the army chief to say that would not be the case.
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Hospitals in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region Running Low on Supplies, Says Aid Group
Local hospitals in Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray region, were running out of medical supplies to treat the injured, aid workers said Sunday, a day after the prime minister declared “victory” in the embattled region and the army announced it had taken control of the area. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Saturday that Mekelle had been “captured,” after giving forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, a 72-hour ultimatum to surrender to the national government. Abiy announced a military offensive against the regional government in Tigray on November 4, saying it was in response to an attack by Tigray forces on a federal military base. Authorities have not confirmed whether there were any deaths in an offensive Saturday, but the International Committee of the Red Cross noted that the Ayder Referral Hospital in Mekelle was lacking body bags for the deceased According to the ICRC, roughly 80% of patients at the hospital were suffering from trauma injuries. “The hospital is running dangerously low on sutures, antibiotics, anticoagulants, painkillers and even gloves,” Maria Soledad, the head of operations for the ICRC in Ethiopia, was quoted as saying in a Sunday press release from the ICRC. “The influx of injured comes more than three weeks after supply chains were disrupted into Mekelle,” she added. Telecommunication and internet services in the Tigray region have been cut for weeks, making it nearly impossible for journalists and aid workers to confirm reports of violence. Tens of thousands have fled the area for neighboring Sudan. Some reports say thousands have been killed since violence broke out earlier this month. “God bless Ethiopia and its people!” Prime Minister Abiy said in a statement. “We have entered Mekelle without innocent civilians being targets.” But the leader of the TPLF forces told the Reuters news agency they were not giving up. “Their brutality can only add [to] our resolve to fight these invaders to the last,” TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael said in a text message. Asked by Reuters if that meant his forces would continue fighting, he replied, “Certainly. This is about defending our right to self-determination.”
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Monolith Mystery Deepens as Utah Desert Object Vanishes
No word as to whether Star Trek’s Scotty beamed it up, but the mysterious, shiny monolith that was spotted in a remote southeastern Utah desert two weeks ago is gone. A state crew that buzzed through the wilderness, counting bighorn sheep from a helicopter, found the alien-looking object on November 18 and touched off international sci-fi speculation, harkening to the classic Stanley Kubrick 1968 film, “2001: A Space Odyssey.” In the Kubrick movie, an alien monolith is a recurring symbol that appears to play a role in the development of human evolution. The riddle in the desert, twice as tall as an average adult, drew scores of the curious to see it, even though its exact location was not made public, according to accounts on social media. No one seems to know where it went. Neither the federal Bureau of Land Management nor the state’s Department of Public Safety said they had any idea. “We have received reports that the illegally installed structure, referred to as the ‘monolith,’ has been removed from Bureau of Land Management public lands by an unknown party,” the state agency posted on Saturday on its website. It said the object was reportedly removed Friday evening. A representative was not immediately available for comment Sunday. Guesses as to what happened ran wild online, with one person postulating, “The space aliens returned to remove it.” The art world has speculated that the object was the work of John McCracken, a sculptor who died in 2011. His son, Patrick McCracken, told The New York Times his father told him in 2002 that “he would like to leave his artwork in remote places to be discovered later.”
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New York City Elementary Schools to Reopen With Increased Testing
New York City schools will reopen for in-person learning of elementary school children with increased testing, the city’s mayor announced Sunday.
With 1.1 million students, the largest public school system in the country closed two weeks ago as confirmed cases of the coronavirus spiked in the city.
“Upon reopening, weekly #COVID19 testing will be in effect and testing consent forms will be required for our students to return,” Mayor Bill de Blasio wrote on Twitter. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus.Upon reopening, weekly #COVID19 testing will be in effect and testing consent forms will be required for our students to return.Families, you can fill out the form TODAY on your @NYCSchools account — go to https://t.co/kGFODNomzx.— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) November 29, 2020In-person instruction resumed for New York’s children between late September and early October, when a seven-day positivity rate was at under 2% In-person learning was shut down again very suddenly earlier this month when the positivity rate remained at more than 3% for seven days.
City officials came under fire as many New York residents criticized the decision to close the schools while restaurants and bars remained open.
The city’s school positivity rate reported Sunday stood at 3.9%.
Medical experts have noted that schools are not main areas of transmission.
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US Health Experts: Coronavirus Vaccines on the Way, but Precautions Still Paramount
Two top U.S. coronavirus experts assured Americans Sunday that vaccines against the pandemic would soon become available but warned that not taking precautions against the spread of the virus before then could prove disastrous. “We should have enough vaccine by the end of the year to immunize 20 million Americans and we have to immunize for impact,” Admiral Brett Giroir, the White House virus testing chief, told CNN. “But the American people have to do the right things until we get that vaccine widely distributed.” FILE – Adm. Brett Giroir, director of the U.S. coronavirus diagnostic testing, testifies at a Senate committee hearing, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, June 30, 2020.Giroir described two prospective vaccines, which are now under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as “lifesaving,” saying, “This puts an end to the pandemic.” But until then, he said, “The American people have to do the right things until we get that vaccine widely distributed, wear a mask, avoid indoor crowded spaces, all the things you know.” Giroir said he believes there will be a “smooth, professional transition” in handling the vaccine distribution from the administration of outgoing President Donald Trump to that of President-elect Joe Biden when he is set to be inaugurated on January 20. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, speaking to ABC’s “This Week” show, said, “Help is on the way,” and that the initial supply of vaccines might be available by mid-December. Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, listens during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Hearing on the federal government response to COVID-19, Capitol Hill, Sept. 23, 2020.Fauci said health experts are “empathetic about the fatigue” of Americans being careful about becoming exposed to the virus. But he said wearing face masks and people physically distancing themselves from others “do make a difference.” Millions of Americans curtailed their traditional family gatherings for last Thursday’s annual Thanksgiving holiday, yet millions of others ignored warnings from health care experts against traveling to visit far-flung relatives for fear of spreading the virus. “I don’t see how we’re not going to have the same thing” happen with people traveling — and potentially spreading the virus — for Christmas visits with their families, Fauci said. He said there is “a considerable risk” for people getting together. FILE – Travelers wait to check in for flights at LaGuardia Airport, Nov. 25, 2020, in Queens, New York.Fauci called on state and municipal officials to “close the bars, keep the schools open,” to keep “the community level of spread low.” “Let’s try to get the kids back, and let’s try to mitigate the things that maintain and just push the kind of community spread that we’re trying to avoid,” Fauci said. “And those are the things that you know well – the bars, the restaurants where you have capacity seating indoors without masks.” “Those are the things that drive the community spread — not the schools,” he said. Teresa Nguyen, a respiratory therapist, treats a patient inside a room for people with COVID-19 at a hospital in Hutchinson, Kan., Nov. 20, 2020.The assessments came as the United States topped 13 million confirmed cases on Friday, just six days after it reached 12 million cases. The highly contagious virus that causes the COVID-19 disease has killed more than 266,000 Americans, more than in any other country, according to the Johns Hopkins University. More than 91,000 infected individuals are currently hospitalized in the U.S., an all-time high, with more than 18,000 in intensive care units.
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Dozens Reported Detained in Anti-Lukashenko Marches in Belarus
Authorities in Belarus have detained dozens of protesters amid ongoing demonstrations aimed at ousting strongman Alexander Lukashenko from the presidency.
At least 130 people were reported detained in Minsk and Barauliany, according to the Vyasna human rights group. Other detentions were reported across the country. This is the second week in which the Belarus demonstrations have been held under the rubric March of Neighbors. The opposition has adopted the strategy as a way of decentralizing the protests and making it more difficult for police to round up activists. RFE/RL’s Belarus Service reported that law enforcement used tear gas and stun grenades against some demonstrators. Mobile Internet services were not available in Minsk and the central metro stations were closed.
It was unclear how many people participated in the demonstrations.
Belarus has seen nearly continuous protests since a disputed presidential election on August 9 gave Lukashenko a sixth presidential term. The United States and the European Union have not recognized Lukashenka’s reelection.
The opposition has been calling for Lukashenko’s resignation, the release of all political prisoners, and a new election.
During a visit to a Minsk hospital on November 27, Lukashenko implied that he would resign if a new constitution was adopted.
“I will not work as president with you under the new constitution,” state media quoted him as saying.
Lukashenka has called several times for a new constitution, but the opposition has dismissed the statements as a bid to buy time and stay in power.
A former collective farm manager, Lukashenka, 66, has ruled Belarus since 1994. Demonstrations were reported in almost all districts of the capital.
One video posted on social media appeared to show police in Minsk dragging away an unconscious person near the Pushkin metro station. It was unclear how many people participated in the demonstrations.
Belarus has seen nearly continuous protests since a disputed presidential election on August 9 gave Lukashenko a sixth presidential term. The United States and the European Union have not recognized Lukashenko’s reelection.
The opposition has been calling for Lukashenko’s resignation, the release of all political prisoners, and a new election.
During a visit to a Minsk hospital on November 27, Lukashenko implied that he would resign if a new constitution was adopted.
“I will not work as president with you under the new constitution,” state media quoted him as saying.
Lukashenko has called several times for a new constitution, but the opposition has dismissed the statements as a bid to buy time and stay in power.
A former collective farm manager, Lukashenko, 66, has ruled Belarus since 1994.
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Court Orders France to Rethink 30-Person Limit on Worship
France’s highest administrative court on Sunday ordered a rethink of a 30-person attendance limit for religious services put in place by the government to slow down the spread of coronavirus.The measure took effect this weekend as France relaxes some virus restrictions, but it faced opposition by places of worship and the faithful for being arbitrary and unreasonable. Even before the ruling, several bishops had announced they would not enforce the restrictions and some churches were expected defy it.The Council of State has ordered that Prime Minister Jean Castex modify the measure within three days.French churches, mosques and synagogues started opening their doors again to worshippers this weekend — but only a few of them, as France cautiously starts reopening after its latest virus lockdown.Many people expressed irritation outside several Paris churches where priests held services for groups that numbered over 30.“People respected social distancing perfectly, each to his place and with enough space so I don’t think there’s anything to worry about here,” Laurent Frémont told The Associated Press on his way home after Mass.To attend Mass, they had to book tickets online and give their names on their way in. However, the church’s protocol didn’t seem to help limit the number of people inside the building.Asked whether they would stay if the crowd was too large, most said they would. “I really think you couldn’t do better from a sanitary point of view,” said Humbline Frémont.For some, the new rules stirred up fears. French Catholics were sharing rules and recommendations on social media for how to behave if the police arrive at a church for a head count.Farid Kachour, secretary general of the group running the mosque of Montermeil, a heavily immigrant suburb northeast of Paris, says that his mosque simply wouldn’t open with too few people permitted.“We can’t choose people” allowed to enter for prayer. “We don’t want to create discontent among the faithful,” he said.Kachour noted that Muslims pray five times a day, further complicating the situation. To respect the rules, the mosque would need 40 services a day to allow all the faithful to pray, he said.Places of worship were allowed to continue during France’s latest nationwide lockdown, which is coming to an end in December, but regular prayer services were banned due to health concerns. Around the world, some religious services have been linked to coronavirus clusters, including superspreading events.France has reported over 52,000 virus-related deaths, the third-highest pandemic death toll in Europe after Britain and Italy.“Non-essential” shops reopened in France on Saturday, but bars and restaurants will not reopen before Jan. 20.
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Opposition Calls on Hungary’s Orban to Sack Museum Head for Likening Soros to Hitler
A leading Hungarian opposition party joined calls on Sunday for Prime Minister Viktor Orban to sack the head of a state-funded museum for making extreme anti-Semitic comments likening U.S. financier George Soros to Adolf Hitler.Nationalist Orban has long vilified Soros, a Hungarian Jew who emigrated after World War II, as part of a general campaign against immigration. Orban accuses Brussels of trying to force Hungary to accept migrants under the influence of Soros. In an op-ed published on Saturday, Szilard Demeter, who heads the Petofi Literary Museum and serves as a government cultural commissioner, called Soros “the liberal Fuhrer” and wrote that Europe was Soros’ “gas chamber” with “poisonous gas” flowing from the capsule of multicultural open society. Demeter issued a statement on Sunday that he would withdraw the article, saying his critics were right that “the Nazi parallel could unintentionally hurt the memory of the victims.” Earlier Hungarian Jewish groups including the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities called his op-ed “unforgivable” and “an ugly provocation”. The main leftist opposition party the Democratic Coalition called for Demeter’s immediate dismissal. “The Democratic Coalition expects from the government that Szilard Demeter should be unemployed by the end of today. A man like him has no place in public life, not just in a European country but anywhere in the world,” it said. The government has not replied to emailed Reuters questions on whether they shared Demeter’s views. FILE – Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrive ahead of a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels, Belgium Sept. 24, 2020.Referring to a budget row between Poland and Hungary and the European Union, Demeter said Poles and Hungarians were the “new Jews” who were targeted by liberals who tried to expel them from the bloc. Poland and Hungary have said they would block a new European Union budget and coronavirus recovery fund if rule-of-law conditions are attached. Israel’s embassy tweeted that it utterly rejected “the use and abuse of the memory of the Holocaust for any purpose… There is no place for connecting the worst crime in human history, or its perpetrators, to any contemporary debate, no matter how essential.” Soros has been at odds with Orban’s government for years for pouring funds into liberal organizations and institutions in Hungary. In 2019 the Central European University he founded said it was being forced out of the country by the nationalist government and moved most of its operations to Vienna.
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Nigeria Buries Scores of Farmers Killed by Militants, Some Beheaded
Villagers in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state on Sunday buried 43 farmers killed in an attack by suspected Islamist militants while security forces searched for dozens of people who are still missing. Roughly 30 of the men killed were also beheaded in the attack, which began on Saturday morning in Zabarmari village in northeast Borno state. Residents said a total of 70 people are feared dead. While no group claimed responsibility, such massacres have been carried out in the past by Boko Haram or the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). They are both active in the region, where Islamic militants have killed at least 30,000 people in the past decade. President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the killings and said, “the entire country is hurt.” In Zabarmari, dozens of mourners surrounded the bodies, which were wrapped in white burial shrouds and placed on wooden pallets, as clerics led prayers for the deceased. One resident and Amnesty International said 10 women were among those missing. Borno state governor Babagana Zulum, speaking at the burials, called on the federal government to recruit more soldiers, Civilian Joint Task Force members and civil defense fighters to protect farmers in the region. He described desperate choices facing people. “In one side, they stay at home they may be killed by hunger and starvation, on the other, they go out to their farmlands and risk getting killed by the insurgents,” he said. Food prices in Nigeria have risen dramatically over the past year, driven by flooding, border closures and insecurity in some food-producing areas.
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Allies of Burkina Faso’s Kabore Retain Control of Parliament
The ruling coalition of Burkina Faso President Roch Kabore, who was re-elected to a second term last week, has retained its majority in parliament, the electoral commission said on Sunday.Kabore’s People’s Movement for Progress (MPP) and allied parties won about 90 of 127 seats in the Nov. 22 vote, official results showed.The Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) party of former president Blaise Compaore, who was ousted from power by an uprising in 2014, has become the largest opposition party in parliament with 20 seats, according to the results.Kabore was declared the provisional winner of the presidential election on Thursday, setting up a second term in which he will face familiar challenges, including battling Islamist groups that have made large areas of the country ungovernable.
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Darth Vader Actor Dave Prowse Dead at 85, Agent Says
Dave Prowse, the British actor behind the menacing black mask of Star Wars villain Darth Vader, has died, his agent Thomas Bowington said Sunday.”It’s with great sadness that we have to announce that our client Dave Prowse… passed away yesterday morning at the age of 85,” Bowington wrote on Facebook.”May the force be with him, always!” the agent told the BBC.Bowington added that Prowse’s death was “a truly and deeply heart-wrenching loss for us and millions of fans all over the world.”A former bodybuilder turned actor, Prowse’s towering stature at almost two meters clinched him the role of the instantly recognizable antagonist in the original Star Wars trilogy.But while he donned the glossy black armor and cape, the Bristol native’s strong western English accent meant the filmmakers turned to James Earl Jones for the chilling voice that would emerge from behind the mask.Prowse nevertheless remained attached to the character, telling AFP in 2013 that he was “the greatest big-screen villain of all time.”Since the original Star Wars trilogy was released in the late 1970s and early 80s, Prowse had travelled the world meeting hardcore fans.
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Mike Tyson Returns to Ring, Draws in Exhibition with Jones
Mike Tyson stepped through the ropes in his signature black trunks and heard the opening bell in a boxing ring for the first time in 15 years.The former heavyweight champion of the world traded lively punches with Roy Jones Jr. for eight entertaining rounds that ended with two middle-aged legends wearily hugging each other in mutual admiration.Their fight was only an exhibition, and it ended in a draw. But for Tyson, the experience evoked the joy and excitement he felt so long ago at the start of his boxing career — and it was likely the start of a new chapter in his epic life.“I’m happy I’m not knocked out,” Tyson said. “I’ll look better in the next one.”Tyson showed glimpses of his destructive prime Saturday night during the 54-year-old boxing icon’s return to the ring against the 51-year-old Jones.Tyson had the most impactful punches, showing off versions of the footwork and combinations that made him the world’s most feared fighter. After eight two-minute rounds, both Tyson and Jones emerged from Staples Center smiling and apparently healthy.“This is better than fighting for championships,” Tyson said of the heavyweight exhibition, which raised money for various charities. “We’re humanitarians now. We can do something good for the world. We’ve got to do this again.”Tyson’s return to the ring for this show attracted international attention, and Iron Mike did his best to demonstrate his months of work to recapture a measure of the form that made him a legend to a generation of boxing fans.Tyson tagged Jones with body shots, head shots and a particularly nasty uppercut during a bout that was required by the California State Athletic Commission to be a reasonably safe, glorified sparring session.Tyson was exhausted two hours afterward, but also clearly energized as he recounted his emotions with his wife and team looking on.Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. pose with their belts after a split draw during a heavyweight exhibition boxing bout for the WBC Frontline Belt at the Staples Center on Nov. 28, 2020. (Photo: Joe Scarnici/Handout Photo via USA TODAY Sports)“I took my youth for granted,” Tyson said. “This event made me find out what I was really made of. … My body feels splendid. I want to beat it up some more.”Tyson intends to fight in more exhibitions next year, perhaps heading to Monte Carlo next to challenge a European fighter. He didn’t close the door on the possibility of a full-fledged comeback, although that would be many fights in the future.For one night, Tyson and Jones were back at the center of the sports world, and they reveled in it.“I’m happy to scratch that off my bucket list and move on with my life,” said Jones, the former four-division world champion widely considered the most skilled boxer of his generation. “He hit harder than I thought. Everything hurt. His hands hurt. His head hurts. Everything hurt when I made contact. He’s an exceptional puncher still. He can do anything he wants next.”Neither fighter was deceived by the quality of the bout. While both came out throwing punches that evoked echoes of their glorious primes, they also tied up frequently on the inside, and their occasionally labored breathing could be heard on the microphones in the empty arena.Hip hop star Snoop Dogg’s witty television commentary was among the loudest noises inside Staples, and he had a handful of zingers: “This is like two of my uncles fighting at the barbecue!”But Tyson and Jones were the headliners in the most improbable pay-per-view boxing event in years, engineered by social networking app Triller and featuring fights interspersed with hip hop performances in an empty arena.The event was derided as an anti-sporting spectacle by some critics, yet both Tyson and Jones appeared to handle themselves capably and safely. Their fans were clearly enthralled, with the show getting enormous traction on social media.Some of that success was due to the co-main event, in which YouTube star Jake Paul knocked out former NBA player Nate Robinson in the second round of Robinson’s pro boxing debut. Paul, in his second pro fight, recorded three knockdowns against Robinson, the three-time NBA Slam Dunk contest champion, before an overhand right put Robinson flat on his face and apparently unconscious.
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Australians Warned of Floods, Storms as Summer Approaches
Australia’s approaching summer is forecast to be wet with an increased risk of floods and tropical cyclones, according to the national Bureau of Meteorology’s climate outlook. It predicts conditions will be wetter and cooler than recent years but warns there is still a risk of bushfires for southern Australia.The nation is used to the extremes of nature. Last summer was scarred by some of the worst fires ever recorded in Australia. This year is expected to be wetter and cooler.The influence of La Niña, the periodic cooling of the ocean surface in parts of the Pacific, is expected to result in more rainfall across much of Australia. The Bureau of Meteorology’s climate outlook is predicting a greater number of tropical cyclones, and there is a good chance the annual monsoon will start early.“In contrast to last summer, wetter conditions are likely across much of the country,” said Andrew Watkins, manager of Climate Prediction Services at the Bureau of Meteorology. “This means the chance of widespread flooding is raised in eastern Australia. However, we will still see some heat waves and some fires at times. Abundant grass growth during spring has led to increased grass fire risk in parts of New South Wales. However, bushfires are always a risk in any summer.”The updated summer bushfire outlook from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Center has identified grassfires as the main danger this summer in eastern Australia.There is a warning that regions that suffered from intense bushfires last summer are also at risk of flash flooding, erosion and landslides if there is heavy rain.Summer in Australia starts officially Dec. 1, but extreme heat wave conditions are expected across much of southeastern and eastern parts of Australia in the coming days. Temperatures in South Australia have reached 47 degrees Celsius.In Queensland, a bushfire has closed Fraser Island, one of Australia’s most famous tourist destinations. Visitors and residents have been told they cannot leave the World Heritage-listed island north of Brisbane. The authorities in Queensland say conditions are expected to worsen over the next few days.Last year was Australia’s hottest and driest year on record.
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Britain, France in Pact to Stop Illegal Migrant Crossings
Britain and France on Saturday signed an agreement aimed at ending illegal migration across the English Channel.Starting Dec. 1, patrols on French beaches will be doubled, and technology, including drones and radar, will be used detect the would-be migrant crossings, British Home Secretary Priti Patel said.Patel said the agreement would help the two countries “make channel crossings completely unviable.”She said in the past 10 years Britain had given France nearly $200 million to tackle immigration.More than 6,000 people tried to cross the Channel from Jan. 1 through August of this year.French authorities have said that in September they had intercepted more than 1,300 people attempting to reach Britain.Seven people have died so far this year trying to cross to Britain, and four died last year.
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Washington’s Kennedy Center Opens for Public Amid Pandemic
COVID cases are exploding across the US and it’s unclear how long the pandemic will last. But in Washington, the Kennedy Center is cautiously working on a comeback, as Karina Bafradzhian reports.
Camera: Andrey Degtyarev
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Ethiopian Army Takes Control of Tigray Capital
The Ethiopian army announced Saturday that it had taken full control of Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region.”God bless Ethiopia and its people!” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a statement. “We have entered Mekelle without innocent civilians being targets.”But the leader of Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces told Reuters they were not giving up.”Their brutality can only add [to] our resolve to fight these invaders to the last,” TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael said in a text message. Asked by Reuters if that meant his forces would continue fighting, he replied: “Certainly. This is about defending our right to self-determination.”’Heavy bombardment’Earlier, Gebremichael told Reuters that Mekelle, a city of about 500,000, was under “heavy bombardment” in the final push of the four-week offensive.In a statement, Abiy outlined the future.“We now have ahead of us the critical task of rebuilding what was destroyed; repairing what was damaged; returning those who have fled, with the utmost priority of returning normalcy to the people of the Tigray region,” he said.Federal police will now arrest the TPLF leaders, who will face trial, he said.FILE -[ Ethiopian refugees wait in lines for a meal at the Umm Rakouba refugee camp, which houses Ethiopian refugees fleeing the fighting in the Tigray region, on the Sudan-Ethiopia border, Nov. 28, 2020.It was not clear if any of the TPLF leaders had surrendered. Debretsion said in a text message to Reuters that their forces were withdrawing from around Mekelle.The TPLF ran the Tigray regional government and dominated the federal government for more than a quarter-century until Abiy was elected in 2018. His reforms won him the Nobel Peace Prize for ending a two-decade standoff with Eritrea but sidelined the TPLF leaders.Zadig Abraha, Abiy’s minister in charge of democratization, told The Associated Press in a phone interview that the Ethiopian government didn’t yet know the number of people killed in the conflict.”We have kept the civilian casualty very low,” he told the AP.Humanitarian corridorZadig said that “once we’ve made sure there’s no security threat,” a humanitarian corridor will be allowed within days. As for restoring communications to Tigray, “it depends on the kind of damage sustained,” he said.Asked about allowing independent investigations into alleged abuses during four weeks of fighting, Zadig replied, “We have nothing to hide.””One of the reforms we introduced was transparency. But it depends on the situation,” he said.Humanitarians and human rights groups have reported at least several hundred dead, including combatants, since fighting began.Ethiopia’s Human Rights Commission on Tuesday issued a preliminary report alleging at least 600 people had been killed in the Tigray region town of Mai-Kadra on November 9, echoing similar findings by a November 12 Amnesty International report.FILE – Filippo Grandi, U.N. high commissioner for refugees, visits Umm Rakouba refugee camp, which is sheltering people who fled the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, in Qadarif, Sudan, Nov. 28, 2020.”I invite everyone to pray for Ethiopia where armed clashes have intensified and are causing a serious humanitarian situation,” Pope Francis tweeted Saturday.”Fighting and shelling in the Mekelle area are a very grave concern. We urge an immediate end to conflict and restoration of peace in Tigray,” the top U.S. diplomat for Africa, Tibor Nagy, tweeted.Abiy announced a military offensive against the regional government in Tigray on November 4, saying it was in response to an attack by Tigray forces on a government military base.Massive displacementNearly 1 million people have been displaced, including more than 43,000 refugees who fled to Sudan.The International Rescue Committee said Friday that it was extremely concerned about an impending humanitarian disaster, noting that a half-million people live in Mekelle.U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed Friday the need to ensure the protection of civilians, human rights and aid access, according to U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq.Abiy accuses Tigrayan leaders of starting the war by attacking federal troops at a base in Tigray. The TPLF says the attack was a pre-emptive strike.
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Ex-Trump Campaign Aide Sues Over Russia Probe Surveillance
A former Trump campaign associate who was the target of a secret surveillance warrant during the FBI’s Russia investigation says in a federal lawsuit that he was the victim of “unlawful spying.”The suit from Carter Page alleges a series of omissions and errors made by FBI and Justice Department officials in applications they submitted in 2016 and 2017 to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to eavesdrop on Page on suspicion that he was an agent of Russia.”Since not a single proven fact ever established complicity with Russia involving Dr. Page, there never was probable cause to seek or obtain the FISA Warrants targeting him on this basis,” the lawsuit says, using the acronym for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.Page has received death and kidnapping threats and has suffered economic losses and “irreparable damage to his reputation,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed Friday in federal court in Washington.The lawsuit to some extent echoes the conclusions of a Justice Department inspector general report that found significant problems with the four applications. Former FBI and Justice Department leaders who were involved in signing off on the surveillance have since testified they wouldn’t have done so had they known of the extent of the issues, and the FBI has initiated more than 40 corrective steps aimed at improving the accuracy and thoroughness of applications.In the complaint, Page accuses the FBI of relying excessively for information on Christopher Steele, a former British spy whose research during the 2016 campaign into Donald Trump’s ties to Russia was funded by Democrats. It says the FBI failed to tell the surveillance court that Steele’s primary source had contradicted information that Steele had attributed to him, or that Page had denied to an informant for the FBI having “any involvement with Russia on behalf of the Trump campaign.”The complaint also accuses the FBI of having misled the surveillance court about Page’s relationship with the CIA, for whom Page had been an operational contact between 2008 and 2013. A former FBI lawyer, Kevin Clinesmith, pleaded guilty in August to altering an email to say that Page had not been a source for the CIA.The suit names as defendants the FBI and the Justice Department, as well as former FBI Director James Comey, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and additional officials who were involved in the Russia investigation.Despite the problems with the warrant applications, the scrutiny of Page, who was never charged with any wrongdoing, accounted for only a narrow portion of the overall investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.The same inspector general report that detailed problems in the applications also concluded that the FBI had a legitimate basis for opening the Russia investigation, and did not find evidence that any of its actions were influenced by political bias.
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Indonesian Police Seek IS-linked Suspects in Deadly Attack
Four people have been killed in an attack on a remote community in Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi province, and police are searching for suspects believed to be members of a group associated with Islamic State.Authorities said four residents died and six houses were burned, including a house that was used as a place of worship by a church congregation.Central Sulawesi Police Chief Abdul Rakhman Baso told VOA on Saturday that the incident took place Friday in Lembatangoa village, in Sigi, Central Sulawesi, around 9 a.m. local time. He said one victim was decapitated and another was burned to death.Based on witness statements, investigators think eight members of the East Indonesia Mujahideen (MIT) carried out the assault.“I condemn this barbaric and inhumane action. I hope our community is not provoked by this. Our police will provide security to them. It is a purely barbaric act of the MIT terrorist group,” the chief added.He also said security forces were pursuing the perpetrators. “Two of them have long-barreled and short-barreled firearms,” he said. Police were trying to maintain security in the area while healing the trauma of the attack.In the capital, Jakarta, Indonesian National Police spokesman Awi Setiyono told reporters, “We’re on the ground now. There are about 100 personnel chasing them.”Shootings in Parigi MoutongThe motive for the attack was not clear, but two suspected terrorists were shot dead recently in Parigi Moutong in Central Sulawesi during an arrest by National Police Special Detachment 88 and the Tinombala Task Force.“At the time of the arrest, the two suspects fought back, and we took firm and measured action, which resulted in the death of the two suspects,” police said during a November 17 news conference, confirming the deaths.Officials did not comment on a possible connection between the two incidents.The chief of Lembatangoa village, Deki Basalolu, told VOA that at least 150 families had fled to another village.“All people in our village, around 150 head of families, have left,” Deki said. “Local government and local police helped them reach a safer area around four kilometers from Lembatangoa, and their basic needs such as food, et cetera, [were being met].”The SETARA Institute for Democracy and Peace, a leading rights group that focuses on freedom of religion and expression, told VOA that it condemned the attack and urged the Tinombala Task Force “to optimize the hunting of dozens of MIT members, who are still roaming the forest and mountains around Central Sulawesi. The terrorist group cannot be underestimated, let alone considered weak.”Tinombala’s operations have recently been extended to December 31.The SETARA Institute also stressed that “terrorism and violent extremism have no religion. Therefore, we encourage interfaith leaders to jointly condemn violence used by certain groups in the name of religion.”Parliament urges probeThe Indonesian parliament strongly condemned the deaths and urged the Indonesian government to investigate the case thoroughly.“I’m really concerned about this incident and strongly condemn the barbaric murder and the burned-down houses, including the one that was used for a Christian service,” Herman Hery, chairman of the Commission on Law, Human Rights & Security, told reporters in Jakarta.The East Indonesia Mujahideen is one of dozens of radical groups in the Southeast Asia archipelago that have pledged allegiance to IS. Indonesia has struggled with Islamic militancy and terror attacks, including in Central Sulawesi, where Christians and Muslims has been involved in violence based on religion.Yoanes Litha contributed to this report.
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UK, EU Resume Face-to-face Trade Talks With Time Running Out
Teams from Britain and the European Union resumed face-to-face talks on a post-Brexit trade deal Saturday, with both sides sounding gloomy about striking an agreement in the little time that remains.EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier returned to London to meet his U.K. counterpart, David Frost. Talks have been held virtually for the past week as Barnier completed a spell of self-isolation after a member of his team tested positive for the coronavirus.COVID-19 is just one complication in negotiations that remain snagged over key issues including fishing rights and fair-competition rules. Barnier said Friday that the remote talks had made little progress and the “same significant divergences persist.”The U.K. left the EU early this year but remained part of the bloc’s economic embrace during an 11-month transition as the two sides tried to negotiate a new free-trade deal to take effect January 1. Talks have slipped past the mid-November date long seen as a deadline to secure a deal in time for it to be approved and ratified by lawmakers in Britain and the EU.If there is no deal, New Year’s Day will bring huge disruption, with the overnight imposition of tariffs and other barriers to U.K.-EU trade. That will hurt both sides, but the burden will fall most heavily on Britain, which does almost half its trade with the EU.While both sides want a deal, they have fundamental differences about what it entails. The 27-nation EU accuses Britain of seeking to retain access to the bloc’s vast market without agreeing to abide by its rules and wants strict guarantees on “level playing field” standards the U.K. must meet to export into the EU.The U.K. claims the EU is failing to respect its independence and making demands it has not placed on other countries with whom it has free-trade deals, such as Canada.To reach a deal the EU will have to curb its demands on continued access to U.K. fishing waters, and Britain must agree to some alignment with the bloc’s rules — difficult issues for politicians on both sides.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Irish leader Micheal Martin on Friday that he remained committed “to reaching a deal that respects the sovereignty of the U.K.,” Johnson’s office said.
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Boko Haram Kills at Least 43 Farmworkers in Nigeria, Militia Says
Boko Haram fighters killed at least 43 farmworkers and injured six in rice fields near the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Saturday, anti-jihadist militia told AFP.The assailants tied up the agricultural workers and slit their throats in the village of Koshobe, the militia said.”We have recovered 43 dead bodies, all of them slaughtered, along with six others with serious injuries,” said militia leader Babakura Kolo, who helped the survivors. “It is no doubt the handiwork of Boko Haram, who operate in the area and frequently attack farmers.”Maiduguri NigeriaThe victims were laborers from Sokoto state in northwest Nigeria, roughly 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) away, who had traveled to the northeast to find work, said Ibrahim Liman, another militiaman who gave the same toll.”There were 60 farmers who were contracted to harvest … the rice fields. Forty-three were slaughtered, with six injured,” Liman said.Eight others were missing, presumed to have been kidnapped by the jihadists, he said.The bodies were taken to Zabarmari village, two kilometers away, where they would be kept ahead of burial Sunday, said resident Mala Bunu, who took part in the search-and-rescue operation.Last month, Boko Haram militants slaughtered 22 farmers working in their irrigation fields near Maiduguri in two separate incidents.Boko Haram and ISWAP, its IS-linked rival, have increasingly targeted loggers, herders and fishermen in their violent campaign, accusing them of spying and passing information to the military and the local militia fighting them.At least 36,000 people have been killed in the jihadist conflict, which has displaced around 2 million people since 2009.The violence has also spread into neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition to fight the militants.The attack took place as voters went to the polls in local elections in Borno State.The elections had been repeatedly postponed because of an increase in attacks by Boko Haram and ISWAP.
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