Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met in Tokyo Tuesday with his Japanese counterpart to discuss a variety of issues including the COVID-19 pandemic, its effect on their respective economies and regional concerns over China’s growing influence.
Wang’s talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi are the first high-level discussions since Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga took office in September. In-person diplomacy between the two countries, has been hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
At a news conference following their talks, while the two diplomats apparently found agreement on a variety of issues, it became clear regional security involving the East China Sea remains contentious.
Responding to a question regarding disputed islands in the area, Wang referenced “some Japanese fishing boats that do not have knowledge about the truth have repeatedly entered sensitive waters” near the islands. He indicated he intended to stand his ground on the issue, saying “We will certainly continue to safeguard our sovereignty.”
But he quickly took a more conciliatory tone, saying it would serve both nations’ long-term interests to continue a dialogue on the issue, adding, “China hopes that with joint efforts from both sides, we can build the East China Sea the sea of peace, friendship and cooperation.”
Diplomatic relations between the two countries have been strained over the disputed islands. But the two nations have improved economic ties in recent years, as trade issues between the U.S. and China have heated up.
The two leaders agreed to “fast track” a resumption of business travel between the two nations by the end of the month. Restrictions had been put in place as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wang is to meet with Prime Minister Suga Wednesday, the first meeting with a Japanese leader by a top Chinese official since the February visit of Chinese foreign policy chief Yang Jiechi.
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Month: November 2020
NYC’s First African American Mayor, David Dinkins, Has Died
David Dinkins, who broke barriers as New York City’s first African American mayor, but was doomed to a single term by a soaring murder rate, stubborn unemployment and his mishandling of a riot in Brooklyn, has died. He was 93.
Dinkins died Monday, the New York City Police Department confirmed. The department said officers were called to the former mayor’s home in the evening. Initial indications were that he died of natural causes.
Dinkins’ death came just weeks after the death of his wife, Joyce, who passed away in October at the age of 89.
Dinkins, a calm and courtly figure with a penchant for tennis and formal wear, was a dramatic shift from both his predecessor, Ed Koch, and his successor, Rudolph Giuliani — two combative and often abrasive politicians in a city with a world-class reputation for impatience and rudeness.
In his inaugural address, he spoke lovingly of New York as a “gorgeous mosaic of race and religious faith, of national origin and sexual orientation, of individuals whose families arrived yesterday and generations ago, coming through Ellis Island or Kennedy Airport or on buses bound for the Port Authority.”
But the city he inherited had an ugly side, too.
AIDS, guns and crack cocaine killed thousands of people each year. Unemployment soared. Homelessness was rampant. The city faced a $1.5 billion budget deficit.
Dinkins’ low-key, considered approach quickly came to be perceived as a flaw. Critics said he was too soft and too slow.
“Dave, Do Something!” screamed one New York Post headline in 1990, Dinkins’ first year in office.
Dinkins did a lot at City Hall. He raised taxes to hire thousands of police officers. He spent billions of dollars revitalizing neglected housing. His administration got the Walt Disney Corp. to invest in the cleanup of then-seedy Times Square.
In recent years, he’s gotten more credit for those accomplishments, credit that Mayor Bill de Blasio said he should have always had. De Blasio, who worked in Dinkins’ administration, named Manhattan’s Municipal Building after the former mayor in October 2015.
“The example Mayor David Dinkins set for all of us shines brighter than the most powerful lighthouse imaginable,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James, who herself shattered barriers as the state’s first Black woman elected to statewide office.
“I was honored to have him hold the bible at my inaugurations because I, and others, stand on his shoulders,” she said.
Results from his accomplishments, however, didn’t come fast enough to earn Dinkins a second term.
After beating Giuliani by only 47,000 votes out of 1.75 million cast in 1989, Dinkins lost a rematch by roughly the same margin in 1993.
Giuliani, now President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, tweeted his condolences to Dinkins’ family. “He gave a great deal of his life in service to our great City,” the former mayor said. “That service is respected and honored by all.”
Political historians often trace the defeat to Dinkins’ handling of the Crown Heights riot in Brooklyn in 1991.
The violence began after a Black 7-year-old boy was accidentally killed by a car in the motorcade of an Orthodox Jewish religious leader. During the three days of anti-Jewish rioting by young Black men that followed, a rabbinical student was fatally stabbed. Nearly 190 people were hurt.
A state report issued in 1993, an election year, cleared Dinkins of the persistently repeated charge that he intentionally held back police in the first days of the violence, but criticized him for not stepping up as a leader.
In a 2013 memoir, Dinkins accused the police department of letting the disturbance get out of hand, and also took a share of the blame, on the grounds that “the buck stopped with me.” But he bitterly blamed his election defeat on prejudice: “I think it was just racism, pure and simple.”
Born in Trenton, New Jersey, on July 10, 1927, Dinkins moved with his mother to Harlem when his parents divorced, but returned to his hometown to attend high school. There, he learned an early lesson in discrimination: Blacks were not allowed to use the school swimming pool.
During a hitch in the Marine Corps as a young man, a Southern bus driver barred him from boarding a segregated bus because the section for Blacks was filled.
“And I was in my country’s uniform!” Dinkins recounted years later.
While attending Howard University, the historically black university in Washington, D.C., Dinkins said he gained admission to segregated movie theaters by wearing a turban and faking a foreign accent.
Back in New York with a degree in mathematics, Dinkins married his college sweetheart, Joyce Burrows, in 1953. His father-in-law, a power in local Democratic politics, channeled Dinkins into a Harlem political club. Dinkins paid his dues as a Democratic functionary while earning a law degree from Brooklyn Law School, and then went into private practice.
He got elected to the state Assembly in 1965, became the first Black president of the city’s Board of Elections in 1972 and went on to serve as Manhattan borough president.
Dinkins’ election as mayor in 1989 came after two racially charged cases that took place under Koch: the rape of a white jogger in Central Park and the bias murder of a Black teenager in Bensonhurst.
Dinkins defeated Koch, 50 percent to 42 percent, in the Democratic primary. But in a city where party registration was 5-to-1 Democratic, Dinkins barely scraped by the Republican Giuliani in the general election, capturing only 30 percent of the white vote.
His administration had one early high note: Newly freed Nelson Mandela made New York City his first stop in the U.S. in 1990. Dinkins had been a longtime, outspoken critic of apartheid in South Africa.
In that same year, though, Dinkins was criticized for his handling of a Black-led boycott of Korean-operated grocery stores in Brooklyn. Critics contended Dinkins waited too long to intervene. He ultimately ended up crossing the boycott line to shop at the stores — but only after Koch did.
During Dinkins’ tenure, the city’s finances were in rough shape because of a recession that cost New York 357,000 private-sector jobs in his first three years in office.
Meanwhile, the city’s murder toll soared to an all-time high, with a record 2,245 homicides during his first year as mayor. There were 8,340 New Yorkers killed during the Dinkins administration — the bloodiest four-year stretch since the New York Police Department began keeping statistics in 1963.
In the last years of his administration, record-high homicides began a decline that continued for decades. In the first year of the Giuliani administration, murders fell from 1,946 to 1,561.
One of Dinkins’ last acts in 1993 was to sign an agreement with the United States Tennis Association that gave the organization a 99-year lease on city land in Queens in return for building a tennis complex. That deal guaranteed that the U.S. Open would remain in New York City for decades.
After leaving office, Dinkins was a professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
He had a pacemaker inserted in August 2008, and underwent an emergency appendectomy in October 2007. He also was hospitalized in March 1992 for a bacterial infection that stemmed from an abscess on the wall of his large intestine. He was treated with antibiotics and recovered in a week.
Dinkins is survived by his son, David Jr., daughter, Donna and two grandchildren.
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Visitors to Britain Could Shorten Quarantine With Negative Test
Britain announced Tuesday that travelers from abroad could face a shorter isolation period with a negative COVID-19 test days after their arrival.Current rules require 14 days of quarantine. Starting December 15, travelers will have the option to pay for a test after five days, and if the test comes back negative, they will be free to end their self-isolation.In Germany, officials in 16 states are looking toward next months Christmas holiday and ways to make it safer for families to gather.The states have agreed among themselves on a proposal to tighten restrictions in the weeks ahead of the holiday in order to hold down the spread of the coronavirus, and then relax the rules to allow small gatherings.Officials are due to discuss the plan with Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday.Here’s How the Three COVID-19 Vaccines Compare Main differences seem to be in cost, storage and number of early doses available, but information is limited Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte expressed his own concerns about Christmas, saying Tuesday people should not plan to go on ski trips.Conte said it would not be possible “to allow holidays on the snow. We cannot afford it.”Italy was one of the hardest-hit nations in the early stages of the pandemic and on Monday became the sixth country in the world to surpass 50,000 deaths.Spain, another early hotspot, has seen a sharp decline in tourism like in many areas. It’s national statistics office reported Tuesday the number of hotel nights booked in October was down 83% from the same time last year.There are concerns in the United States this week as the country celebrates its Thanksgiving holiday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has urged people not to travel and hold large family gatherings amid a surge in COVID-19 infections across the country.More than 59 million people around the world have been infected with the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University statistics. The United States continues to lead the world in infections with more than 12.4 million cases, followed by India with more than 9.1 million infections and Brazil with 6 million. The virus has killed about 1.4 million people. More than 257,000 of those deaths were in the United States.
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Biden, Like Trump, Embraces Presidential Executive Orders
U.S. presidents often change government policy through presidential actions, issuing executive orders, proclamations or memoranda, bypassing Congress and the legislative process. Mike O’Sullivan reports, President Donald Trump has relied heavily on the tactic, and President-elect Joe Biden has promised to do the same.
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Indonesia Considers Broad Ban On Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages
Indonesian lawmakers have renewed discussions about banning alcohol in the country, amid a rise in fatalities due to the consumption of illegally made liquor. But critics of a proposed bill say a broad prohibition could worsen the use of sometimes dangerous bootleg liquor. The Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) included the controversial Alcohol Prohibition Bill among a list of prioritized legislative initiatives for next year, the so-called 2021 Prioritized National Legislation Program (Prolegnas). The bill was first introduced in 2015 but was put on hold amid wide criticism. Eighteen lawmakers from three parties, including Islam-based United Development Party (PPP), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the nationalist Gerindra Party, pushed for the bill to again be considered. Illiza Saaduddin Djamal, one of the lawmakers from PPP who spearhead the Alcohol Prohibition Bill, says the bill aims to protect the public from the negative effects of alcohol. “We want to raise awareness on the danger of alcohol for health. This bill is also aimed at creating orderliness in the society and prevent incidents caused by drunk people who roam the street harassing people,” she told VOA. A more narrow focus But some critics say the proposed bill may be too broad. Pingkan Audrine, a researcher from the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS), a Jakarta-based policy research organization, says most alcohol related deaths are caused by illegal, homemade liquor. According to the data compiled by CIPS, from 2014 to 2018, 546 people died after consuming bootleg liquor. Audrine says the highest number was in 2018, with more than one hundred deaths. In more recent cases this year, three people died in Malang, East Java, in May, and two people also fell victim to bootleg alcohol in Depok, West Java, in October.The researcher says most of consumers of illegal liquor are from lower economic backgrounds because of the price and accessibility of bootleg alcohol.In this Monday, April 9, 2018, photo, family move the body of a victim who died from drinking poisonous bootleg liquor at a hospital in Cicalengka, West Java, Indonesia.In Indonesia, alcoholic beverages are only sold in very few stores and the price is considered high due to the alcohol tax. “Our analysis shows that people turn to bootleg liquor because they do not have access to legal ones because it’s expensive or hard to obtain, but they still want to get the effect of alcoholic drinks,” she said. “If the government is serious about preventing negative effect of alcohol in the community, they should have addressed this problem. But in the draft bill they generalize all alcoholic beverages,” said Audrine. She added the government could have used the high number of fatalities from illegal liquor consumption in 2018 as a case study. Over Criminalization of Alcohol Consumption Meanwhile, Maidina Rahmawati, a researcher from the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR), an organization that focuses on criminal law, believes the Alcohol Prohibition Bill, if it is passed as the law, could lead to over-criminalization. Based on the draft released by the House last week, every person who consumes alcohol can be subjected to a maximum of two years in prison or a fine of $3,500. “We do not agree with the prohibitionist approach of the bill. In the draft it is also stated the law will forbid every form of possession, production and consumption. The DPR says there are problems related to alcohol, such as health problem or drunk driving. It’s the same in other countries, but an approach like this will never solve the problem,” Rahmawati explained. If anything, she believes such law will only cause the black market, where people sell illegal liquor and alcohol, to thrive. Rahmawati adds by simply prohibiting alcohol, the state basically relinquishes all control of alcohol production and distribution to the black market. “Then it will be more difficult to monitor the distribution of bootleg alcohol and more people will fall victim,” she said. Rahmawati also says it can potentially put more burden on the Indonesian prison system. “We need to look at our strict drug law, because of it the prison is overcrowded. Now the government is trying to find a solution to ease the burden on the prison, but with a prohibition on alcohol the problem will only get worse,” she told VOA. According to the Directorate General of Correctional at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, 48 percent of the inmates were convicted of drug-related activities.
An Agenda to Protect the Public PPP lawmaker Illiza Saaduddin Djamal says the Alcohol Prohibition Bill will be able to cut down on the distribution of dangerous homemade liquor, though there is no mention of bootleg or illegal alcohol in the draft released by the House. Djamal says the draft legislation includes some exceptions, such as consumption of alcohol for traditional ritual or religious procession. Moreover, tourist areas and certain entertainment venues are also exempted in the draft bill. Indonesia already imposes high tax on alcoholic drinks, the government set a 150% import duty for products with less than 80% alcohol content. The sale of alcohol is also limited to selected stores and big supermarkets. In 2015 the country banned small convenience stores from selling alcohol, except for Bali province.
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Biden Chooses Antony Blinken for Secretary of State
President-elect Joe Biden has announced several of his top cabinet picks, naming his long-time close adviser and former deputy secretary of state Antony Blinken as his choice to be the next secretary of state. VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine has more on Blinken, who is known as a staunch supporter of international alliances, human rights and refugees.Produced by: Barry Unger
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China Launches Lunar Probe
China successfully launched an unmanned spacecraft to the moon Monday to land, gather soil and rock samples, and return them to Earth. If successful, it will be the first mission by any nation to retrieve samples from the lunar surface since the 1970s, and the third nation, after the United States and Russia, to retrieve such samples. The Chang’e 5 probe, named after the ancient Chinese goddess of the moon, will seek to collect material that can help scientists understand more about the moon’s origins and formation. U.S. space agency NASA says the mission’s goal is to land in a previously unvisited area of the moon known as Oceanus Procellarum and operate for one lunar day, which lasts 14 earth days, and return a 2-kilogram sample of lunar soil, possibly from as deep as 2 meters. Matt Siegler, a research scientist at the Arizona-based Planetary Science Institute who is not part of the Chang’e 5 mission, told Reuters the area where the spacecraft is to land is 1 to 2 billion years old. “That is very young for the moon — most of our samples are 3.5 billion years old or more,” Siegler said in an email. “We want to find out what is special about these regions and why they remained warm longer than the rest of the moon,” Siegler added. The sample will travel to Earth in the return capsule and land in the Siziwang Banner grassland of the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia in China. During a brief government-organized visit to the launch center, reporters were taken to a place where they could see in the distance the Long March 5 rocket that carries the Chang’e 5 probe. The launch took place between 4:30 a.m. Beijing time Tuesday (2030 GMT Monday). The Reuters news service reports that China made its first lunar landing in 2013. In January 2019, the Chang’e 4 probe touched down on the far side of the moon, the first by any space probe. Within the next decade, China plans to establish a robotic base station to conduct unmanned exploration in the south polar region.
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Lockerbie Bomber Appeal Set to Begin at Scotland’s High Court
Scotland’s High Court will begin hearing an appeal Tuesday of the conviction of a Libyan man found guilty of the 1988 Lockerbie aircraft bombing, the deadliest militant attack in British history. Pam Am Flight 103 was blown up over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988 en route from London to New York, an attack that killed 270 people, mostly Americans on their way home for Christmas. In 2001, Libyan intelligence officer Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was jailed for life after being found guilty of the murder of 243 passengers, 16 crew and 11 residents of Lockerbie who were killed in the attack. He is the only person to be convicted in the bombing.Megrahi, who denied involvement, died in Libya in 2012 after being released three years earlier by Scotland’s government on compassionate grounds following a diagnosis of terminal cancer. FILE – Libyan Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, who was found guilty of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing but released from his Scottish prison on compassionate grounds, is seen below a portrait of Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi, Sept. 9, 2009.In March, an independent Scottish review body ruled his family could launch an appeal after concluding there might have been a miscarriage of justice. “Overturning of the verdict for the Megrahi family and many of the families of British victims also supporting the appeal, would vindicate their belief that the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom stand accused of having lived a monumental lie for 31 years,” the family’s lawyer Aamer Anwar said in a statement. Five judges will hear the appeal, including the head of Scotland’s judiciary, Lord Justice General Colin Sutherland. Megrahi first appealed in 2002 but this was refused by Scotland’s High Court. A second appeal was abandoned in 2009 just before his return to Libya. In 2003, then-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi accepted his country’s responsibility for the bombing and paid compensation to the victims’ families but did not admit personally ordering the attack. However, Megrahi’s family and some relatives of the Scottish victims have always doubted his guilt.
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UN, Rights Groups Urge Ethiopia to Protect Civilians
International rights groups urged Ethiopian forces to prioritize the safety of civilians in the Tigray region Monday as a 72-hour deadline for regional forces to surrender loomed. On Sunday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed gave a 72-hour deadline to Tigrayan forces to surrender or face a military offensive from the central government, escalating a weeks-long conflict that has left hundreds of people dead. FILE – Ethiopian refugees who fled fighting in Tigray province lie in a hut at the Um Rakuba camp in Sudan’s eastern Gedaref province, Nov. 18, 2020.”Our humanitarian colleagues also stress that it is urgent that all parties to the conflict enable the free and safe movement of affected people in search of safety and assistance, including across international and within national borders, regardless of their ethnic identification,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily briefing Monday. A blackout of internet and phone communications in the region has made it difficult to confirm a death toll and reports of violence. Tigray is the northernmost of Ethiopia’s nine regional states. Tensions have been building in the region since September 9 when Tigray defiantly held a regional election after Abiy postponed the polls, citing the coronavirus pandemic.
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Report: Mobile Fingerprinting a Core Tool in US Deportations
A mobile fingerprinting app U.S. immigration agents use to run remote ID checks in the field has become a core tool in President Donald Trump’s deportation crackdown, a pair of immigration rights groups say in a new report based on a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The 2,500 pages of documents obtained through the 2017 lawsuit show that the app, known as EDDIE, has helped Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents ramp up deportations of migrants not intentionally targeted for removal, the report states. Such people are often detained in operations aimed at others, the activists say in Monday’s report. They say that field use of the app exacerbates racial profiling in immigrant communities. For instance, an internal agency newsletter released with the documents described immigration agents using the app during traffic stops in collaboration with local police in Escondido, California, in 2017. That report credited the operation with “333 illegal alien arrests” in a 12-month period, although it provided scant additional context. Used routinely by U.S. immigration and border agents, mobile fingerprinting figures into the collection of biometric data that the Trump administration is seeking to broadly expand in its final weeks. A regulation proposed by the Department of Homeland Security on September 11 would formalize the collection of face, iris and palm prints of noncitizens, as well as their DNA, in addition to the fingerprint data now collected. A fingerprint scanner is seen during a tour of U.S. Customs and Border Protection temporary facilities in Donna, Texas, May 2, 2019.”EDDIE is a way to bypass oversight and accountability,” said Paromita Shah of the nonprofit Just Futures Law, which produced the report with the immigrant rights group Mijente. “It allows agents to do the booking, to do the interrogations out of sight, out of the public’s view,” she said. “And in those places, abuse is most likely to occur.” ICE spokesman Mike Alvarez rejected those allegations. He said field use of the mobile app, which is paired with Bluetooth-enabled fingerprint readers, does not replace detention booking at a local office. “There is no way to know” whether its use increases collateral arrests, he said, because the agency doesn’t collect such data. The app allows field agents to remotely check fingerprints they collect against those registered in DHS and FBI databases. Courts have questioned federal databases’ reliability when used as the sole basis for detention decisions. Under extraordinary pandemic-related powers beginning in March, Border Patrol agents have used mobile fingerprinting devices to assist in immediate expulsions to Mexico without giving migrants a chance to seek asylum. The FOIA lawsuit was brought by the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild and Mijente, who say the collection and sharing of biometric data by DHS leaves noncitizens vulnerable to both civil rights and data privacy abuses. The EDDIE app accesses a person’s immigration history, any outstanding arrest warrants and previous encounters with U.S. law or immigration officers. It collects location data and time stamps and has been used in all U.S. immigration field offices as well as abroad, the documents show.FILE – An Apple employee instructs a journalist on the use of the fingerprint scanner technology built into the company’s iPhone 5S during a media event in Beijing, September 11, 2013.Becca O’Neill, a Charlotte, North Carolina, immigration lawyer, said ICE agents routinely use the app when pulling over vehicles linked to deportation orders, trying to fingerprint everyone inside. Agents do the same at targeted homes, she said. O’Neill tells migrants they have a constitutional right not to submit to mobile fingerprinting. Alvarez, the ICE spokesman, said it is voluntary. But activists say immigration agents’ behavior often contradicts that claim. Immigration officers cannot force their way into homes without a court-issued warrant, so they often use such deceptive tactics as identifying themselves only as “police,” immigration activists say. Such behavior can be seen in the Netflix documentary miniseries “Immigration Nation,” where EDDIE is seen being used. In its platform, the campaign of President-elect Joe Biden vowed to “undo the damage” of Trump’s anti-immigration policies but did not address data-collection issues. Biden’s transition team did not reply to requests for comment. Sarah Pierce of the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute think tank is worried the Trump administration will rush into place the proposed expanded biometric collection rule before leaving office January 20. The rule could effectively place noncitizens — including children — under a continuous surveillance regime that would be complicated for the Biden team to dismantle, she said.
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Michigan Certifies Biden Win Despite Trump’s GOP Overtures
Michigan election officials on Monday certified Democrat Joe Biden’s 154,000-vote victory in the state amid President Donald Trump’s attempts to subvert the results of the election.The Board of State Canvassers, which has two Republicans and two Democrats, confirmed the results on a 3-0 vote with one abstention. Allies of Trump and losing GOP Senate candidate John James had urged the panel to delay voting for two weeks to audit votes in heavily Democratic Wayne County, home to Detroit.The move is another setback in Trump’s efforts to use unconventional means to undermine the results of the November 3 election and comes even after he made direct overtures to Republican officials in the state by inviting them to the White House last week.Under Michigan law, Biden claims all 16 electoral votes. Biden won by 2.8 percentage points — a larger margin than in other states where Trump is contesting the results, like Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.Demonstrators in a car caravan demand the Board of State Canvassers to certify the results of the election in Lansing, Michigan, Nov. 23, 2020.Some Trump allies had expressed hope that state lawmakers could intervene in selecting Republican electors in states that do not certify. That long-shot bid is no longer possible in Michigan.Trump’s efforts to stave off formal recognition of his defeat faced increasingly stiff resistance from the courts and fellow Republicans with just three weeks to go until the Electoral College meets to certify Biden’s victory. Time and again, Trump’s challenges and baseless allegations of widespread conspiracy and fraud have been met with rejection as states move forward with confirming their results.Michigan’s Board of State Canvassers, which has two Republicans and two Democrats, certified the results despite calls by Trump and allies to the GOP members to block the vote to allow for an audit of ballots in heavily Democratic Wayne County, home to Detroit, where Trump has claimed without evidence that he was the victim of fraud.”The board’s duty today is very clear,” said Aaron Van Langevelde, the Republican vice chair. “We have a duty to certify this election based on these returns. That is very clear. We are limited to these returns. I’m not going to argue that we’re not.”Mary Ellen Gurewitz, an attorney for the state Democratic Party, told the canvassers that attacks on the election results “are part of a racist campaign, directed by soon-to-be former President Trump, to disparage the cities in this country with large Black populations, including Detroit, Philadelphia and Milwaukee.””It sometimes feels like officials are attempting to tear up my ballot right in front of me by stalling and recounting until they find a way to change the results,” said Wendy Gronbeck, a resident of Douglas. “I’ve been a voter for over 50 years, and I’ve never had to think about whether canvassers will certify an election.”Biden crushed the president by more than 330,000 votes in Wayne County, where two local GOP canvassers who certified the results unsuccessfully tried to reverse course last week after being called by Trump. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, has said an audit must wait until after statewide certification because only then would officials have legal access to documentation needed to conduct such a review.Michigan’s elections bureau has recommended that the November 3 results be certified.Norm Eisen, a constitutional law expert and former counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, said there was no legal basis to do anything other than certify the election.”That is the clear mandate of state law,” he said. Eisen dismissed various claims for why a delay might be necessary, including the need for an audit or time to investigate so-called “out of balance” precincts.”The reasons that they have advanced for doing anything other than (certify) is totally spurious. They carry no legal or factual weight whatsoever under the law,” Eisen added.Trump has tried to defy the results of the election through the courts but has found no luck there. Some Trump allies have expressed hope that state lawmakers could intervene in selecting Republican electors in states that do not certify, as the president and his attorneys have pushed baseless allegations of fraud that have been repeatedly rejected in courtrooms across the country. Trump met with top Michigan GOP legislators at the White House on Friday and tweeted over the weekend: “We will show massive and unprecedented fraud!”Had the board delayed a vote or opposed certification, a lawsuit was expected. Legal experts have said the canvassers’ role is limited and courts would order them to confirm the results. Under state law, it has the narrow responsibilities of reviewing vote numbers from Michigan’s 83 counties and certifying them. It does not have the power to audit returns or investigate complaints of irregularities.In Pennsylvania, a conservative Republican judge shot down the Trump campaign’s biggest legal effort in Pennsylvania with a scathing ruling that questioned why he was supposed to disenfranchise 7 million voters with no evidence to back their claims and an inept legal argument at best.But the lawyers still hope to block the state’s certification, quickly appealing to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, which ordered lawyers to file a brief Monday but did not agree to hear oral arguments.The campaign, in its filings, asked for urgent consideration so they could challenge the state election results before they are certified next month. If not, they will seek to decertify them, the filings said.And they insisted that they did not want to invalidate all of the 6.8 million ballots cast in the state — as Brann concluded based on their arguments in court last week. Instead, they said, they are taking aim only at seven Democratic-leaning counties where they take issue with how mail-in ballots were handled.Biden won Pennsylvania by more than 80,000 votes. The other litigation has failed to change a single vote.In Wisconsin, a recount in the state’s two largest liberal counties moved into its fourth day at a slow pace, with election officials in Milwaukee County complaining that Trump observers were hanging up the process with frequent challenges. Trump’s hope of reversing Biden’s victory there depends on disqualifying thousands of absentee ballots — including the in-person absentee ballot cast by one of Trump’s own campaign attorneys in Dane County.
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France at Odds with Mali Plan to Dialogue with Jihadists
The eight-year Islamist insurgency in the West African nation of Mali shows no sign of ending and after an August coup toppled President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. The country’s transitional government has indicated it is willing to open dialogue with all armed groups. France, which has more than 5,000 troops in the country, has warned against any discussions with jihadists. “With terrorists, we do not discuss. We fight.” The statement made recently by French President Emmanuel Macron in an interview is — to some analysts — a clear rebuke of the strategy initiated by transitional Malian authorities who are willing to open discussions with jihadists. “This is at odds with the Malian, with the desire of the Malian opinion, to undertake a dialogue with Iyad Ag-Ahly, Amadou Koufa,” said Nicolas Normand, a former Ambassador of France to Mali. “Actually, there is nothing to negotiate because jihadists leaders do not ask for a pardon or reintegration in the Malian society. They want to impose a totalitarian regime. Of course, Bamako resists to such a will. I think the population is not really aware of what it is at stake with its own liberty.” Following the signature of the so-called Algiers Peace Agreement, armed groups were supposed to join the national army.FILE – Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra (C) speaking during a meeting for a peace agreement between the Malian government and some northern armed groups on Jan. 18, 2016, in the Algerian capital, Algiers.Five years after that agreement, little progress has been made toward its implementation according to Thierry Vircoulon, a researcher with the French Institute of International relations. “If the dialogue that the new authorities in Bamako want to start is about the implementation of the Algiers agreement, this is actually a very good development,” he said. “So far, the implementation of the Algiers agreement has been blocked by the previous Malian president who was opposed to it and did not make any progress. The only way to make a progress in the Malian conflict is actually to implement this agreement.” Macron’s comments about the dialogue contrast with the pro-French sentiment in Mali in early 2013 when French forces stopped jihadists from going to seize Bamako, the capital. FILE – A light armored vehicle (LAV) of the French force of the counter-terrorism Barkhane mission in Africa’s Sahel region Barkhane is parked at the roadside crossing of the town of Gossi, center Mali, March 25, 2019.Nicolas Normand says Macron’s remarks show a growing gap between the Malian population and the former colonial power. “In 2013, when the French army intervened in Mali to combat the armed groups, they supported the separatists and fought only the jihadists,” he said. “After eight years, there is no real improvement in the security situation despite many jihadists killed. Eight years is too long for the former colonial power’s army to stay in the country. The population does not understand.” Macron also said he would make decisions in the coming months on how to develop the French force, known as Barkhane, in the Sahel. FILE – French Defense Minister Florence Parly pays tribute to the two French soldiers with the Barkhane force in Mali killed when their armored vehicle hit an improvised explosive device, during a tribute ceremony in Tarbes, Sept. 9, 2020.With more than 50 French troops killed and little progress to report since the deployment, observers say France is considering pulling back its forces and encouraging other European nations to commit more forces to the region.
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Biden Taps Veteran US Diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield as UN Ambassador
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has named veteran diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield to join his forthcoming Cabinet as his pick for U.N. ambassador, his transition team announced Monday. The post requires Senate confirmation.Thomas-Greenfield has worked in both Democratic and Republican administrations during her 35-year State Department career. An Africa specialist, she served as U.S. ambassador to Liberia, and held posts in Kenya, The Gambia and Nigeria. Under President Barack Obama, she served as the assistant secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs (2013-2017), developing and managing Washington’s policy toward sub-Saharan Africa. She has also worked in Geneva at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. Thomas-Greenfield was a senior manager at the State Department, where she served as director general of the Foreign Service and director of Human Resources from 2012 to 2013, handling matters related to the State Department’s 70,000 employees. She took to Twitter on Tuesday saying she was “blessed for this opportunity.” “I’ve had the privilege to build relationships with leaders around the world for the past thirty-five years. As U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, I’ll work to restore America’s standing in the world and renew relationships with our allies,” the longtime diplomat tweeted. I’ve had the privilege to build relationships with leaders around the world for the past thirty-five years. As U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, I’ll work to restore America’s standing in the world and renew relationships with our allies. Blessed for this opportunity.— Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@LindaT_G) November 23, 2020Earlier, Thomas-Greenfield tweeted her mother taught her to lead with kindness and compassion and she would bring that ethos to her mission at the United Nations if she is confirmed.
My mother taught me to lead with the power of kindness and compassion to make the world a better place. I’ve carried that lesson with me throughout my career in Foreign Service – and, if confirmed, will do the same as Ambassador to the United Nations.— Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@LindaT_G) November 23, 2020Former colleagues also responded to her selection alongside long-time Biden foreign policy aide Anthony Blinken as the president-elect’s choice for secretary of state.
The choices for the two jobs I know best are outstanding. @ABlinken understands how @joebiden sees the world and will lead @StateDept with vision and respect.@LindaT_G is a valued colleague and veteran diplomat who will restore US leadership and cooperation at the @UN— Madeleine Albright (@madeleine) November 23, 2020I have worked with @ABlinken and w/ Linda Thomas-Greenfield since the Clinton years. What a perfect team – intellect, humanity, decency, care for others, patriots, wisdom. With brilliant Jake Sullivan NSA, US back better.— Wendy R. Sherman (@wendyrsherman) November 23, 2020
Former U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman told VOA that the choice of the “highly respected” Thomas-Greenfield is “brilliant” and would be a big morale booster for career foreign service officers. Feltman, who was also the United Nation’s political chief from 2012 to 2018, said he saw Thomas-Greenfield in action many times. “I saw Linda work the room at African Union summits, and she is amazingly effective and efficient at pushing her agenda with 54 African leaders,” he said. “She leavened her diplomatic approach with real human empathy and warmth. I think she will be perfect for restoring U.S. leadership at the U.N. and sort of rebooting the U.N. and our multilateral alliances for meeting today’s challenges.” President-elect Biden is elevating the post of U.N. ambassador to Cabinet level. In recent Democrat administrations the position has been part of the Cabinet. President Donald Trump chose to make his first U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, a Cabinet member, but did not elevate his current envoy, Kelly Craft. Early life Born in 1952 in the southern state of Louisiana, Thomas-Greenfield, who is African-American, was one of eight siblings. She said her father left school in the third grade to help support his family. “He couldn’t read or write, but he was the smartest man I knew,” she said of him in a TED talk last year. Thomas-Greenfield said her mother also had limited education, but a big heart. In addition to raising her own children, she took in eight siblings who lost their mother so they would not be separated. “I didn’t have successful, educated role models in my life, but what I did have – I had the hopes and dreams of my mother, who taught me at a very early age that I could face any challenge or adversity put in my path by being compassionate and being kind,” Thomas-Greenfield said. The former assistant secretary of state grew up during the civil rights era and graduated from a segregated high school. She then went on to Louisiana State University, which had to be forced to accept Black students by a court order. Thomas-Greenfield said she faced harassment there and noted that David Duke, the former leader of the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan, was an LSU student at the same time she was, and had already started to preach hatred. In 2012, LSU asked her back to speak at graduation. “I thanked the university for giving me the experiences that made me into the successful person that I had become,” she said. “Adversity is a source of strength.” Life-changing experience In April 1994, Thomas-Greenfield arrived in Kigali, Rwanda, as ethnic Hutu extremists began their 100-day genocide against minority Tutsis. She very nearly became a causality of the atrocities, confronted by a “glaze-eyed man” who was ready to kill her. She remained calm and spoke to the man and survived. But of the genocide, she said, “It changed my life forever.” FILE – United States Secretary of State John Kerry, center, reacts as Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari shakes hands with Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Linda Thomas-Greenfield at the presidential villa in Abuja, Aug. 23, 2016.Thomas-Greenfield’s deep knowledge of Africa will serve her well at the United Nations, where more than half the peace and security operations the Security Council authorizes are based on the continent. She has a traditional diplomatic style, said Ambassador Ronald Neumann, president of the American Academy of Diplomacy, of which Thomas-Greenfield is a member. “She puts a lot of attention on listening, on understanding where the other person is coming from, and therefore ensuring that she can prepare the best way of persuading them to do what she wants,” Neumann told VOA. He added that she will also be ready to build alliances. Thomas-Greenfield will need to employ her diplomatic style in coping with challenges to U.S. influence at the United Nations, where the Trump administration has cut funding, withdrawn from agencies and international accords, and pursued an “America first” policy. “The United States is going to have to compete for influence far more assertively than we are accustomed to doing at the U.N.,” Feltman said. “China has become far more assertive at the U.N. than it was, say at the beginning of Obama administration. You have a lot of middle powers that are not willing to defer to the great powers – they have their own interests in their own region.” There will also be a long list of other issues awaiting her attention if she is confirmed: COVID-19, climate change, Iran’s nuclear program, the changing Middle East, and the growing refugee and migrant crisis.
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Seven Sudanese Doctors Die from COVID-19 in 10 Days
Sudanese health authorities said Sunday that seven medical doctors died from COVID-19 in 10 days, a development that reflects Sudan’s sharp rise in cases in recent weeks. Nearly 100 deaths were recorded in the past month.A statement issued by Sudan’s ministry of health said the seven doctors “worked tirelessly” to treat COVID-19 patients, prevent the spread of the ailment, and protect the lives of the Sudanese people. COVID-19 is the illness caused by the coronavirus.The government called their deaths a huge loss for the country as it continues to fight the pandemic and described the doctors as “true heroes,” who died defending their people.According to the ministry:— Dr. Kamil Mohammad Abdullah, a consultant ophthalmologist, died November 11.— Dr. Iman Ahmed Al Bashir, director of Khartoum state’s Department of Mother and Child Health at the Ministry of Health, died November 13.— Dr. Naeem Abdurrahman, an ophthalmologist in Jazeera state, died November 16.— Dr.Izzeddeen Mahmoud Abdo, a consultant in medical laboratories, died November 18.— Professor Al-Tom Surajaddeen, a medical laboratories consultant, died November 18.— Dr. Mohammad Ibrahim Al-Tahir, a radiologist, died November 19.— Professor Ahmed Ahimer, a World Health Organization immunization expert and former director of child immunization in Blue Nile State, died November 19.Late last week, Sudanese education authorities postponed the reopening of schools for two weeks, due to a steep rise in cases.Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking cases globally, says on its coronavirus dashboard that Sudan currently has 16,052 confirmed cases and 1,197 deaths.Acting Health Minister Dr. Osama Ahmed Abdurrahim told reporters in Khartoum Sunday that the coronavirus is still spreading in communities across Sudan. The minister said everyone, including top government officials, should practice social distancing, wear face masks, and adhere to all other preventive measures.“All levels of government in the country, being the Sovereign Council, councils of ministers, corporations or government institutions, they should show a serious commitment towards following the precautionary measures because the government is [taking] the lead in fighting this pandemic,” said Adurrahim.He said his ministry is still weighing whether to call for a national lockdown.Khartoum state Governor Ayman Khaled Nimer directed all public and private institutions in Khartoum state to operate at 50 percent of their normal workforce, except for essential sectors such as medical facilities.The order bans all large public gatherings, including wedding parties, graduations and other social events.
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Vaccine Breakthrough Raises Hopes of Rapid Global Rollout
A coronavirus vaccine developed by Britain’s University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca has shown successful results in early trials. If it is approved by regulators, the vaccine appears suitable for a fast rollout around the globe. Early analysis of trials involving 20,000 volunteers in Britain and Brazil show the vaccine is at least 62% effective after two doses. In volunteers given a different dosing regimen — a half dose, followed by a full dose — that figure rose to 90%. The average efficacy of the two dosing methods is 70%. None of those given the vaccine developed severe COVID-19 illness. Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said the recent successful trials of three different vaccines by Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, represent a scientific breakthrough. “It really feels like a great moment that we’ve got now multiple vaccines. If we can get them rolled out as soon as possible, we’re going to have a big impact,” Pollard said. Differences from other vaccinesAstraZeneca plans to begin supplying hundreds of millions of doses by the end of the year, subject to regulatory approval. Several properties of the vaccine make it suitable for global rollout, according to Peter Drobac, a global health expert at the University of Oxford, who did not work on the development of the AstraZeneca vaccine. “The first is cost,” Drobac said. “So, this vaccine has been priced at about one-fifth to one-tenth of the cost reportedly being sought by Pfizer and Moderna, some of the other leading vaccine candidates.” AstraZeneca has pledged it will not make a profit on the vaccine during the pandemic. Secondly, “in 10 countries, it’s already being manufactured, including a very large manufacturing partner in India. So, we hope to see very large numbers of doses become available very quickly. And then thirdly, this vaccine only required kind of fridge-temperature storage,” Drobac told VOA. By contrast, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine requires storage at minus 70 degrees Celsius. Many health systems in developing nations lack refrigeration facilities to store medicines at such ultra-cold temperatures. COVAXSo far, 188 countries have signed up to an initiative called COVAX, where richer countries invest in the development of several vaccines and the infrastructure required for rolling them out across the globe. “The goal in a perfect world would be that each of the countries that signs up for COVAX would receive enough vaccine for 20% of their populations by the end of 2021,” Drobac said. “Now, that’s an aspiration of course, not a guarantee. But that would allow every country to at least begin to cover the most vulnerable, front-line workers, etc.” The human rights organization Amnesty International praised Oxford University. “However, much more needs to be done to ensure that everyone, everywhere can benefit from these life-saving products, and without further action, vaccine supply for lower-income countries will remain perilously low,” Amnesty said in a statement Monday. It is possible the leading vaccine candidates will be given emergency approval by regulators in the coming weeks, raising hopes that the world is on the brink of a major breakthrough in the fight against the pandemic.
In the meantime, doctors say it is vital that people follow measures to suppress the transmission of the virus.
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China Set to Launch Lunar Probe
China is scheduled to launch an unmanned spacecraft to the moon Monday to land, gather soil and rock samples, and return them to Earth.
If successful, it will be the first mission by any nation to retrieve samples from the lunar surface since the 1970s, and the third nation, after the United States and Russia, to retrieve such samples.
The Chang’e 5 probe, named after the ancient Chinese goddess of the moon, will seek to collect material that can help scientists understand more about the moon’s origins and formation.
U.S. space agency NASA, says the mission’s goal is to land in a previously unvisited area of the moon known as Oceanus Procellarum and operate for one lunar day, which lasts 14 earth days, and return a 2-kilogram sample of lunar soil, possibly from as deep as 2 meters.
The sample will travel to Earth in the return capsule and land in the Siziwang Banner grassland of the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia in China.
During a brief government-organized visit to the launch center, reporters were taken to a place where they could see, in the distance, the Long March 5 rocket that carries the Chang’e 5 probe. The launch is expected to take place between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. (2000-2100 GMT) on November 24.
The Reuters news service reports China made its first lunar landing in 2013. In January 2019, the Chang’e 4 probe touched down on the far side of the moon, the first by any space probe. Within the next decade, China plans to establish a robotic base station to conduct unmanned exploration in the south polar region.
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British PM Lays Out Post-Lockdown Restrictions
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has unveiled an updated plan for handling Britain’s COVID-19 infection after the country’s partial national lockdown is lifted December 2.In video message to Parliament Monday, Johnson said the lockdown will be lifted next Wednesday as promised. He said although Britain will return to the regional system that was in place prior to the lockdown, he has received scientific advice indicating the tiers need to be tougher to adequately reduce the infection rate.In the new tier 1, people will be required to work from home if they can. In tier 2, pubs will only be able to serve drinks with a “substantial meal.” And in tier 3, indoor entertainment and hotels will close, and restaurants and pubs will only be allowed to open for take-out.As before, Johnson said the tiers will be determined based on the rate of COVID-19 infections in each area, with the toughest measures implemented where the disease is most prevalent. The government will announce which areas will be under which tier later this week.A woman walks through the Burlington Arcade adorned with Christmas decorations, amid the coronavirus disease outbreak, in London, Nov. 23, 2020.Johnson said more regions will fall, at least temporarily, into higher levels than before. But, he said, with tougher restrictions and more rapid coronavirus testing, it should be possible for areas to move to lower levels of restrictions fairly quickly.The prime minister said people should not expect a normal Christmas holiday this year, saying, “This virus is obviously not going to grant a Christmas truce, it doesn’t know it’s Christmas.” He did say his government was working to develop “a special time-limited Christmas dispensation” plan that would allow families to come together, while minimizing the risk.Britain has recorded 18,662 new cases and 398 deaths in the last 24 hours. Of these, 16,668 are in England, 844 in Scotland, 808 in Wales and 342 in Northern Ireland. There are now more than 1.5 million cases recorded in total, and deaths have crossed 55,000.
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Millions of Americans Flying, Despite CDC Guidance
The CDC has urged Americans not to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday this week as COVID-19 cases continue to surge, but millions are ignoring recommendations. Roughly 1 million Americans passed through airport security nationwide Sunday, according to the Transportation Security Administration, which cited similar numbers throughout the weekend. The United States continues to record the highest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 as well as resulting deaths, having surpassed a quarter of a million fatalities last week. According to a Reuters tally, the seven-day average number of U.S. COVID-19 deaths rose for a 12th straight day, reaching 1,500 as of Monday. Healthcare workers across the country have reported overflowing hospitals and staffing shortages, urging the public to avoid large gatherings indoors. “I’m asking Americans, I’m begging you: hold on a little bit longer,” Surgeon General Jerome Adams told the ABC News show Good Morning America on Monday. “We want everyone to understand that these holiday celebrations can be superspreader events.” But some state lawmakers have spoken out against the recommendations of scientists. Presumably in response to calls to “cancel” Thanksgiving, Texas Senator Ted Cruz tweeted a graphic of a turkey with the caption “come and take it”. pic.twitter.com/HSCSdXkst9— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) November 22, 2020Even the White House is reportedly planning events, with ABC News and Axios reporting first lady Melania Trump is hosting a November 30 holiday celebration celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah. Chief of staff to the first lady Stepanie Grisham detailed to Axios precautions being taken by the White House for the celebration, including smaller guest lists, mask requirements, and social distancing “encouraged.” Several White House staffers have recently tested positive for COVID-19. Donald Trump Jr. also recently tested positive.
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Biden Names His Diplomatic, National Security Team
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden named his top diplomatic and national security team for his incoming administration on Monday, including one of his closest foreign affairs advisers, Antony Blinken, to be secretary of state.Biden also named a former top U.S. diplomat, one-time Secretary of State John Kerry, to a new position as special presidential envoy for climate while holding a seat on the National Security Council. It was a reflection, the Biden transition said, of the incoming president’s commitment to addressing climate change as an urgent national security issue.Biden is set to become the 46th U.S. president, and at 78, its oldest, at his inauguration on January 20, even as President Donald Trump continues his long-shot legal attempt to upend the Democrat’s November 3 election victory.Biden, overseeing his transition to power in Washington from his home in Wilmington, Delaware, selected Alejandro Mayorkas as head of the Department of Homeland Security. A Cuban American lawyer, he is a former deputy secretary at the agency, and if confirmed by the Senate, would be its first Latino and immigrant leader.The incoming U.S. president picked an African American, former Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a 35-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service who has served on four continents, to serve as the U.S. envoy to the United Nations. Biden elevated her role to a seat in his Cabinet, a rank past presidents have also occasionally given the high-profile position.FILE – Then-Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield, right, testifies during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 9, 2014.Biden picked another woman, Avril Haines, as director of national intelligence. She is a former deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency and a deputy national security adviser, She will be the first woman to lead the U.S. intelligence community.Jake Sullivan, a Biden foreign affairs adviser, was named as his national security adviser.In announcing the appointments, Biden said, “We have no time to lose when it comes to our national security and foreign policy. I need a team ready on Day One to help me reclaim America’s seat at the head of the table, rally the world to meet the biggest challenges we face, and advance our security, prosperity, and values.”“This is the crux of that team,” Biden said. “These individuals are equally as experienced and crisis-tested as they are innovative and imaginative. Their accomplishments in diplomacy are unmatched, but they also reflect the idea that we cannot meet the profound challenges of this new moment with old thinking and unchanged habits — or without diversity of background and perspective. It’s why I’ve selected them.”Biden appears set to re-engage the United States in an array of global alliances that Trump abandoned over the last four years.The 58-year-old Blinken is a veteran of U.S. foreign affairs decision-making for two decades, and according to multiple news accounts, agrees with Biden on the need for the U.S. to play a leading role again in world affairs, a change from Trump’s “America First” credo that at times left the United States at odds with other long-time Western allies.In his first days in office, Biden has said he plans to overturn Trump policies and rejoin the Paris climate agreement, stop the U.S. exit from the World Health Organization and attempt to again join other nations in the international pact to curb Iran’s nuclear weapons development.Blinken, if confirmed by the Senate, would become the face of U.S. diplomacy. He served first under former President Bill Clinton, then later as deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser under former Democratic President Barack Obama when Biden was vice president. And while Republican former President George W. Bush was in power, Blinken was the Democratic staff director for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.Biden could announce other Cabinet-level nominations on Tuesday even as Trump continues to contest Biden’s election and tries to avoid becoming the third U.S. leader in the last four decades to be ousted after a single term in the White House.Virtual meeting with MayorsBiden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Monday are meeting virtually with the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The non-partisan organization includes the mayors of more than 1,400 cities, each with a population of 30,000 or more.The conference has pushed for more federal aid to state and local governments as the number of coronavirus cases surges in the U.S. But negotiations for more relief have stalled between Congress and the White House. Biden has called for a new aid deal before he takes office but prospects for its passage by the end of December are uncertain.Trump is continuing to claim he won the election despite Biden’s unofficial 306-232 majority vote in the Electoral College. The electoral vote determines U.S. presidential elections, not the national popular vote, although Biden leads there, too, by more than 6 million votes.Trump’s legal fight against the election results has been fruitless so far, with his campaign losing or withdrawing 34 lawsuits claiming vote and vote-counting fraud in key battleground states Biden was projected to win to claim a four-year term in the White House.Trump is pursuing other lawsuits and appeals of decisions he has lost, attempting to upend Biden’s win.
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Biden, New Zealand’s Ardern Discuss COVID-19, Other Issues in Congratulatory Call
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has spoken by phone with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, adding to the list of world leaders who have congratulated him on his election even as President Donald Trump refuses to concede and challenges the outcome.
The Biden-Harris transition issued a statement late Sunday, saying Biden thanked the prime minister for her congratulations, offered his own on her re-election and expressed his intent to strengthen the U.S.-New Zealand partnership. Ardern was re-elected in October.
The statement also said Biden looks forward to working closely with Ardern on common challenges, including containing COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, reinforcing multilateralism, strengthening democracy, and maintaining a secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.
Prime Minister Ardern later said she offered to share her nation’s expertise on dealing with the coronavirus. Trump has refused to authorize his administration to cooperate with Biden as the former vice president transitions to power.
Speaking to reporters in Wellington after the call, Ardern described the conversation as warm and said Biden spoke very favorably about how New Zealand was handling the pandemic.
New Zealand is widely heralded as one of the most successful countries in suppressing the infection. It has recorded just over 2,000 cases and 25 deaths, a feat achieved through strict lockdowns and closing of its borders.
Ardern said Biden wanted to pursue the discussion on New Zealand’s response further. But she cautioned that replicating the nation’s model everywhere may not be possible.
She said, “While New Zealand has a number of natural advantages that have assisted us in managing the virus, I do absolutely believe that international cooperation continues to be key to getting the virus under control and we are happy to work with any country to share our knowledge and data if it’s helpful.”
Ardern said she and Biden also discussed trade issues.
In the statement released by the Biden team, he praised Ardern’s “extraordinary leadership” following a 2019 mass shooting at two Christchurch mosques, and as a working mother and role model.
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Swift Wins Top Prize At AMAs, Says She’s Re-Recording Music
Taylor Swift won her third consecutive artist of the year prize at the American Music Awards, but she missed the show for a good reason: She said she’s busy re-recording her early music after her catalog was sold.
In a video that aired during Sunday’s awards show, the pop star said “the reason I’m not there tonight is I’m actually re-recording all of my old music in the studio where we originally recorded it. So it’s been amazing. And I can’t wait for you to hear it.”
Last year music manager Scooter Braun — who manages Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande — announced that his Ithaca Holdings company had acquired Big Machine Label Group, the home to Swift’s first six albums. This month Braun said he has sold the master rights to Swift’s first six albums to an investment company; Swift acknowledged the sale on social media and said she would not work with the new buyers because Braun was still involved.
Instead, she headed back to the studio.
Swift beat out Bieber, Post Malone and Roddy Ricch to win the top award. She also won favorite music video and favorite pop/rock female artist, winning three honors and tying Bieber, Dan + Shay and the Weeknd for most wins Sunday.
The Weeknd lost artist of the year, but he still kicked off his all-star week as a big winner: Days before he’s expected to land multiple Grammy nominations, he won favorite soul/R&B male artist, favorite soul/R&B album for “After Hours” and favorite soul/R&B song for “Heartless” two days before the 2021 Grammy nominations are announced.
“The last time I received this award it was given to me by the late, great Prince,” he said after winning favorite soul/R&B album. “And, you know, he’s the reason I get to constantly challenge the genre of R&B and yeah, I’d like to dedicate this to him.”
The Weeknd didn’t break character throughout the three-hour show with his gauze-wrapped face, which matched the vibe of his recent album and music videos where he appears blooded and bruised. He accepted his awards and performed with his face wrapped in gauze.
Kenny G joined the Weeknd for his performance, playing the sax in downtown Los Angeles as the Weeknd walked across a bridge singing “In Your Eyes.” He finished the performance singing “Save Your Tears.”
The Weeknd was one of several artists who appeared live at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles for the fan-voted awards show. Others recently taped their performances because of the coronavirus pandemic, though host Taraji P. Henson — who appeared live from the venue — said the few audience members sitting in the mezzanine practiced social distancing, wore masks and were tested for the virus.
Henson joked that A-list celebrities were in the audience, including Beyoncé, though cardboard cut-out of the singer, Jay-Z and other stars appeared in seats.
But a good number of chart-toppers were in the building. Breakthrough singer-rapper Doja Cat performed and won new artist of the year and favorite soul/R&B female artist. Grammy-winning country duo Dan + Shay beautifully performed “I Should Probably Go to Bed” and won favorite country duo or group, collaboration of the year and favorite country song for “10,000 Hours,” the latter two shared with Bieber. And Megan Thee Stallion — won favorite rap/hip-hop songs for “WAP” with Cardi B — performed “Body” from her recently released debut album “Good News.”
Bieber and Shawn Mendes kicked off the AMAs with a pre-taped performance of their new duet “Monster,” marking the first time they performed the song together. It began with a stripped-down Bieber singing his recent hit “Lonely,” with songwriter-producer Benny Blanco on piano, and “Holy,” where background dancers wearing masks joined him.
Mendes, strumming his guitar, then appeared for “Monster,” which featured the twentysomethings singing lyrics about about fame and growing up as celebrities who attracted massive public attention. Mendes later sang his song “Wonder” during the show, which aired on ABC.
Katy Perry, in her first performance since giving birth to her first child, gave a strong performance of the emotional and hopeful song “Only Love,” which featured a surprise guest appearance from Darius Rucker, who sang and played guitar. With flaming red lights glaring behind her, Billie Eilish sang her new song “Therefore I Am,” as her brother-songwriter-producer Finneas backed her on guitar. Jennifer Lopez and Maluma teamed up to perform their new songs “Pa’ Ti” and “Lonely” from the film “Marry Me,” which both of them star in, while Dua Lipa — who won favorite pop/rock song — floated in the air during her performance of “Levitating.”
24kGoldn and Iann Dior — who currently have the country’s No. 1 song with the smash hit “Mood,” also performed. The multi-genre track is the rare song that has reached No. 1 on both the rap and rock charts.
Other performers included BTS, Lewis Capaldi, Machine Gun Kelly, Lil Baby, Bell Biv DeVoe and Nelly, who performed hits from his diamond-certified debut album “Country Grammar,” which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.
This year the AMAs, which typically awards one Latin honor, launched more categories in the genre. Becky G — who burst on the music scene in 2014 with the pop hit “Shower” but has recently had success singing in Spanish and launching hits on the Latin charts — won favorite Latin female artist.
She used her speech to honor immigrant families.
“I proudly wave both flags, Mexican and American. And like many, many children and grandchildren of immigrants, no matter where they’re from, we have learned from the ones before us what sacrifice and hard work looks like,” she said. “And I dedicate this award to all of our immigrant workers in this pandemic; the students and immigrant families. It’s because of my family, my abuelitos, that I stand here today.”
Nominees for the AMAs were based on streaming, album and digital sales, radio airplay and social activity, and reflect the time period of Sept. 27, 2019, through Sept. 24, 2020.
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Speedboat Taking Migrants to Greece Partially Sinks; 1 Dead
A speedboat that appeared to have been smuggling migrants to the Greek island of Rhodes from nearby Turkey partially sank before reaching land, leaving one person dead, Greece’s coast guard said on Monday.
The coast guard said it received information about the speedboat near the northwestern coast of Rhodes on Monday morning. Thirteen people who had been on board were found safe on the nearby shore, while the body of one man was recovered.
The survivors told authorities that a total of 14 people had been on board the speedboat. However, coast guard patrol boats were searching the area in case of others who might have been on board.
Greece remains one of the most popular routes into the European Union for people fleeing conflict and poverty in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
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Cut Off: School Closings Leave Rural Students Isolated
The midday arrival of a school bus at Cyliss Castillo’s home on the remote edge of a mesa breaks up the long days of boredom and isolation for the high school senior.
The driver hands over food in white plastic bags, collects Castillo’s school assignments and offers some welcome conversation before setting out for another home.
The closing of classrooms and the switch to remote learning because of the coronavirus have left Castillo and other students in this school district on the sparsely populated fringe of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico profoundly isolated — cut off from direct human contact and, in many cases, unconnected to the grid.
Like many of his neighbors, Castillo does not have electricity, let alone internet.
It is yet another way in which the pandemic has exposed the gap between the haves and have-nots in the U.S.
“There’s not a lot to do here. You clean up, pick up trash or build stuff. Like, I built that shed right there,” the 18-year-old Castillo said, pointing at a pitched-roof plywood shed.
“Hopefully, hopefully by next semester we’ll be going back into school,” he said. “I don’t like online. I like to be, you know, in school, learning. That’s just not me. I just find it a lot easier and a lot better than just out here, not doing nothing.”
The Cuba Independent School District, centered in a village of 800 people, has kept the buses running to bring school to far-flung students who live on a vast checkboard of tribal, federal and county land.
On their routes, the buses carry school assignments, art supplies, meals and counselors who check in with students who are struggling with online bullying, abuse, thoughts of suicide or other problems.
The buses are a lifeline for families in the Cuba school district, of whom nearly half are Hispanic, and half are Native American, including many Navajo-speaking English-language learners.
Many do not have running water. Castillo and others with no electricity charge their school-issued laptops with car batteries or at a relative’s house. One student has sent her laptop on the buses to be charged at school. This far out, internet service is unavailable or prohibitively expensive.
For students without home internet, the buses bring USB drives loaded with assignments and video lessons from teachers. Some students like Castillo eventually asked for paper packets because of the difficulty in charging laptops.
With COVID-19 cases spiking in New Mexico to their highest levels yet, it is unclear when the district will begin offering in-person classes again.
The district has a record of adapting to challenges, and a high school graduation rate of 83% — well above the state average — to show for it. It has long employed a “community school” approach in which social workers, nurses and teachers help students around the clock, not just during the school day, on the theory that they will do better academically if their home life can be made better.
All students were issued Chromebooks in 2019, well before the coronavirus outbreak. That made the shift to distance learning easier in March when school buildings shut down.
Other rural districts around the country have likewise been engineering ways to connect with students who are otherwise disengaged during the pandemic.
In San Joaquin, California, about 48 kilometers west of Fresno, the Golden Plains Unified School District found early in the pandemic that students were out working rather than doing schoolwork.
“We would have kids call from the fields. They were picking peaches,” said Andre Pecina, an assistant superintendent, who noted only 40% of high school students were participating in distance learning. “Once COVID happened, parents were like, `Let’s go to work.’”
To bring students back into the fold, the district reached out to parents by phone to set teacher conferences early in the school year and ordered hundreds of internet hot spots. It is also delivering school materials and electronic devices to students.
In New Mexico, before the buses set out from Cuba High School each day, about 25 cafeteria workers, bus drivers and other staff spend over an hour loading them with milk, produce, prepared meals, toilet paper and other necessities for the families.
On board one day in late October was head district counselor Victoria Dominguez, who was checking on two students who had suicidal thoughts. She was bringing one a pair of skateboard shoes. In the spring, a screening system for messages sent by students flagged one or two a week as showing signs of possible emotional trouble. Now she is seeing dozens in single week.
“I’m worried for the winter months. It’s going to get darker. It’s going to get colder and you can’t go outside,” Dominguez said.
As COVID-19 rates spiked, the school switched to making bus deliveries every other day, instead of every day.
“They’ll still get the same amount of food, but they won’t get the same amount of human contact,” she said.
The road from the high school turned from asphalt to gravel to deeply rutted dirt. The oak and pine trees gave way to sagebrush and gaunt junipers before the bus came to halt in front of a cluster of houses.
Students poured out to greet the bus driver, Kelly Maestas. He asked them how they were doing and handed out lunches. Dominguez went to shoot baskets with some of the older kids.
Among them was 15-year-old Autumn Wilson, a shy sophomore whose father died after she started high school last year. Then school shut down. Now she can’t play on the volleyball team anymore. Dominguez connected her with a therapist on an earlier visit.
Autumn said the sadness over the loss makes it difficult for her to finish schoolwork. But she finds joy riding horses when her grandfather takes her to the family corral. And she looks forward to the visits from Maestas, who brought her candy for her birthday.
“Kelly, he’s really funny to talk to. And if you’re feeling sad you can really talk to him,” she said, “and you can trust him.”
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Rights Experts: Japan Was Wrong to Detain Carlos Ghosn
A panel of human rights experts working with the United Nations says former Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn was wrongly detained in Japan and has urged “compensation” and “other reparations” for him from the Japanese government. In an opinion published Monday, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Ghosn’s detention in Japan in late 2018 and early 2019 was “arbitrary” and called on Japan’s government to “take the necessary steps to remedy the situation of Mr. Ghosn without delay.” The four-member group, which is made up of independent experts, asked Japan to ensure a “full and independent investigation” of Ghosn’s detention, and called for the government “to take appropriate measures against those responsible for the violation of his rights.” “The Working Group considers that, taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be to accord Mr. Ghosn an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law,” its 17-page opinion said. Ghosn, a 66-year-old with French, Lebanese and Brazilian citizenship, led Japanese automaker Nissan for two decades, rescuing it from near-bankruptcy. He was arrested in November 2018 on charges of breach of trust, in misusing company assets for personal gain, and violating securities laws in not fully disclosing his compensation. He denies wrongdoing. In December, he fled Japan to Lebanon while out on bail awaiting trial, meaning his case will not go on in Japan. Interpol has issued a wanted notice but his extradition from Lebanon is unlikely. Ghosn has accused Nissan and Japanese officials of conspiring to bring him down to block a fuller integration of Nissan with its French alliance partner Renault SA of France.
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