The U.S. Agency for Global Media has named writer and diplomat Robert Reilly as the new director of Voice of America, a position he held from 2001 to 2002. In an email to agency staff Wednesday, USAGM CEO Michael Pack said Reilly’s VOA experience and leadership will be a benefit to the agency. “Bob has dedicated his career to – and, indeed, succeeded in – promoting the national interest and advancing U.S. foreign policy,” Pack wrote. FILE – Michael Pack, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, is seen at his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Sept. 19, 2019. Pack’s nomination was confirmed June 4, 2020.Reilly was quoted in the email saying, “I have always been a firm adherent of VOA’s mission of telling America’s story to the world.” Reilly is director of the Westminster Institute, a research organization set up in 2009 to promote freedom with a focus on threats from extremist ideology. He has authored several books including “America on Trial,” published earlier this year; “Making Gay Ok: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything,” in 2015; and “The Closing of the Muslim Mind,” in 2011. VOA Acting Director Announces Leadership ChangesElez Biberaj sent email to staff late Tuesday, saying he is returning to his previous position as Eurasia Division director at VOA VOA contacted Reilly by phone Wednesday but he said he was unable to take the call. Acting VOA Director Elez Biberaj announced in an email to staff late Tuesday that he would be returning to his position as director of VOA’s Eurasia division after the new director arrives. Biberaj suggested the last six months have been the most challenging period in VOA’s recent history. He wrote that “some agency officials failed to respect rules, protocols and processes that I considered inviolable.” He also said, without elaborating, that “attempts to trample VOA’s journalistic independence threatened to undermine our hard-won credibility.” Since Pack’s appointment to the USAGM in June, network heads have been fired or resigned, Pack has stopped approving visa renewals for the agency’s foreign journalists, and his political appointees have conducted internal investigations of reporters and editors. Last month a federal judge ruled that some of Pack’s moves as CEO violated the First Amendment rights of the agency’s journalists. The judge ordered Pack to stop interfering in VOA’s news coverage and conducting editorial investigations. However, Pack retains the authority to select a new VOA director. President Donald Trump nominated Pack more than two years ago to become CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe, and other U.S.-funded international broadcasters. The three-year appointment gives the CEO broad powers to hire and fire the heads of the networks. However, pending legislation in Congress could curtail those powers and require the CEO to seek the approval of a presidentially appointed bipartisan advisory board.
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Month: December 2020
Royal Air Force Releases Video of 4,200-Square Kilometer Iceberg
Scientists are watching a giant iceberg in the southern Atlantic Ocean saying it appears to be on a collision course with South Georgia Island and could devastate wildlife there, including penguins, seals and albatross.
Britain’s Royal Air Force, or RAF, Tuesday released video taken by an aircraft that flew last week over the 4,200-square-kilometer iceberg — roughly the size of the U.S. state of Delaware — and known as A68a. In the video, cracks and fissures can be seen on its surface, with a number of smaller ice chunks floating nearby.
The British Broadcasting Corporation, or BBC, reports the iceberg is now within 150 kilometers of the British Overseas Territory.
Researchers have spent weeks watching the iceberg on its potential collision course with the remote island off the coast of South America. A68a is about the same size as the island itself and has been floating in its general direction for more than three years since breaking off from the Antarctic peninsula in July of 2017.
Scientists with the British Antarctic Survey believe the iceberg is about 200 meters thick — relatively thin for an iceberg of its size — which would allow it to get close to the island before becoming stuck. Scientists fear it could crush marine life on the sea floor, and block penguins and seals off from their normal forage routes to feed their young. They say it could be there for as long as 10 years.
British officials say it could also be an obstacle to government ships conducting fishery patrols and surveillance around South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
The Antarctic Survey says a collision is still uncertain, as the currents could carry the iceberg past the island.
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YouTube Will Remove New Videos That Falsely Claim Fraud Changed US Election Outcome
YouTube said on Wednesday it would start removing content that falsely allege widespread fraud changed the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, in a change to its more hands-off stance on videos making similar claims.
The update, which applies to content uploaded from Wednesday, comes a day after “safe harbor,” a deadline set by U.S. law for states to certify the results of the presidential election.
YouTube said it would start enforcing the policy in line with its approach towards historical U.S. presidential elections.
Online platforms have been under pressure to police misinformation about the election on their sites.
YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc’s Google, was widely seen as taking a more hands-off approach than Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc, which started labeling content with election misinformation. YouTube labels all election-related videos.
After the November election, Reuters identified several YouTube channels making money from ads and memberships that were amplifying debunked accusations about voting fraud.
Last month, a group of Democratic senators asked YouTube to commit to removing content containing false or misleading information about the 2020 election outcome and the upcoming Senate run-off elections in Georgia.
Asked about how the policy would apply to Georgia elections, a YouTube spokeswoman said this policy only applied to the presidential election.
YouTube said in a blog post on Wednesday that since September it had removed over 8,000 channels and thousands of misleading election-related videos for violating its existing policies.
The company said more than 70% of recommendations on election-related topics came from authoritative news sources.
YouTube also said that since Election Day, fact-check information panels had been triggered over 200,000 times on election-related search results
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Cruise Ship Returns to Singapore After Coronavirus Case Discovered
A Royal Caribbean cruise ship returned to port in Singapore Wednesday, cutting short a four-day cruise after a passenger was diagnosed with the coronavirus. In a statement, Royal Caribbean said a guest on the Quantum of the Seas ship “tested positive for coronavirus after checking in with our medical team.” The cruise line said they had identified the guest and isolated the passengers and crew who had been in contact with him. They said each of those individuals had since tested negative.Britain Warns People with History of Allergic Reactions Not to Get Coronavirus VaccineWarning comes after two people had adverse reactions to vaccine on first day of rollout in BritainRoyal Caribbean said the ship returned to port in accordance with government protocols and will allow guests to leave after a review of contact tracing is completed. Singapore’s The Straits Times newspaper reports the patient on the Quantum of the Seas who tested positive is an 83-year-old resident. The paper reports 1,680 guests and 1,148 crew members were on board the vessel.Singapore recently began a “safe cruising” pilot program, conducting so-called “cruises to nowhere,” in which ships make round trips to Singapore with no stops in between. The trips, which feature strict safety measures, including pre-board testing of all passengers and limited capacity, have been popular during the pandemic when most travel has been banned or strictly limited.The paper reported that Singapore, a small but wealthy city-state in Southeast Asia, has reported 58,285 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began and 29 deaths.
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Tigray Fighting is Spiraling Out of Control, UN Rights Chief Warns
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, warns that fighting in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region is spiraling out of control and is having an appalling impact on civilians who are without aid and protection.
Despite Ethiopian government claims to the contrary, High Commissioner Bachelet says fighting continues between Ethiopian armed forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, as well as affiliated militia on both sides. She says human rights monitors and aid agencies are unable to access this volatile area. That means they are unable to fully verify disturbing allegations of violations against civilians caught in this chaotic situation. However, she believes the information her office has received to be credible. “We have corroborated information of gross human rights violation abuses including indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian objects — looting, abductions and sexual violence against women and girls. We have also reported forced recruitment of Tigrayan youth to fight against their own communities,” she said. The High Commissioner says there is an urgent need for independent monitoring of the situation in Tigray. She is calling on the government to grant access to the region to ensure protection for the civilian population and to bring those responsible for abuse to account. Ethiopians fleeing from the Tigray region walk towards a river to cross from Ethiopia to Sudan, near the Hamdeyat refugee transit camp, which houses refugees fleeing the fighting in the Tigray region, on the border in Sudan, Dec. 1, 2020. Bachelet notes the humanitarian situation in the region also is distressing. She is appealing to the government to implement an agreement with the U.N. to grant aid agencies unimpeded access to civilians in desperate need of assistance. Elsewhere in Ethiopia, rights chief Bachelet says there are numerous reports of ethnic profiling of Tigrayans. She says Tigrayans reportedly have been dismissed from jobs in the civil service, journalists are harassed and hate speech directed against people of Tigrayan origin is growing. “I think that such discriminatory actions are deeply unjust. They also are fostering divisiveness and sowing the seeds for further instability and conflict. So, I urge the government to take immediate measures to halt such discrimination,” she said. Bachelet expresses concern about a reported rise in inter-communal violence in recent weeks in other parts of Ethiopia. She says fighting, which has flared up in Amhara, Benishangul-Gumuz, Somali, Afar and Oromia regions, reportedly has resulted in fatalities.
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Soccer Players Lay Down ‘Marker’ in Fight Against Racism
Players have taken a knee, unfurled slogans and demanded tougher action only to find soccer — their working environment — remains infected with racism.
The tipping point might just have come, with elite players in Paris taking the extraordinary step of refusing to continue playing.
At the end of a year of striking gestures against racial injustice and discrimination, the Champions League produced one of soccer’s most powerful shows of solidarity against racism on Tuesday when players from Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir left the field and didn’t return.
“The walk off by both Basaksehir and PSG together lays down a marker in Europe,” Piara Powar, executive director of the anti-discrimination Fare network, told The Associated Press. “Many players are fed up with half measures to tackle racism and are more prepared than ever to exercise their right to stop a match.”
The flashpoint came 14 minutes into the game when the fourth official — Sebastian Coltescu of Romania — was accused of using a racial term to identify Basaksehir assistant coach Pierre Webo before sending him off for his conduct on the sidelines. Webo is Black.
“You are racist,” Basaksehir coach Okan Buruk said to Coltescu.
An enraged Webo demanded an explanation from Coltescu, repeating at least six times: “Why you say negro?”
The exchanges were broadcast live around the world from soccer’s biggest club competition.
“Why when you mention a Black guy, you have to say ‘This Black guy?'” asked Basaksehir substitute Demba Ba, who is Black.
The Fare network helps UEFA prosecute discriminatory acts like Tuesday’s incident at the Parc des Princes.
“Our colleagues at the Romanian state anti-discrimination organization have confirmed it is racist in Romanian to refer to a player by using his race as an identifier,” Powar said. “There is no ambiguity. This incident shows the need for much better training of match officials. Unintentional racism is still racism.”
Racism at soccer games has typically come from the stands, but matches in countries such as France are being played without fans because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The high-profile incidents tend to highlight the inadequate responses, like in the Portuguese league in February.
Porto striker Moussa Marega tried to walk off the field after being the target of racist abuse from fans in a game against Guimarães and demanded to be substituted. But he faced attempts by his own teammates and opposing players to prevent him from leaving the field.
The referee then gave Marega a yellow card for refusing to continue in the game — the type of action that dissuades players from walking off.
The Romanian referee who was in charge of the game in Paris on Tuesday — Ovidiu Hategan — was in the same role for the 2013 Champions League game when Manchester City player Yaya Toure complained about the lack of action against monkey noises he heard from CSKA Moscow fans.
“If officials cannot set the standards by their own behavior,” Powar said, “they cannot be relied on to deal with racism on the pitch or in the stands.”
Referees have often been criticized for not leading players off the field, instead leaving them to take the decision themselves. England’s national team decided to continue playing a game in Montenegro last year after Callum Hudson-Odoi and Danny Rose were targeted with monkey chants.
The Champions League game in Paris will resume on Wednesday with a new refereeing team.
“The players walking off is a step in the right direction,” former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand said on Britain’s BT Sport television. “But it can’t just be left to them.”
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VOA Acting Director Steps Down Ahead of New Appointee
The acting director of Voice of America has stepped down as head of the agency, saying he is returning to his previous position as the U.S. Agency for Global Media CEO Michael Pack brings in a new leader. Elez Biberaj, who was named acting director of Voice of America in June, sent an email to staff late Tuesday saying that his time in the position is coming to an end and he wishes the new director success in fulfilling VOA’s mission. Elez Biberaj, Voice of America acting directorUSAGM has not announced who will succeed Biberaj at the network. In an email to VOA before the announcement Tuesday a spokesperson said only that Biberaj is “acting VOA director.” Outside media reports have said former VOA Director Robert Reilly, a writer and diplomat who was director of VOA from 2001-2002, has been selected. Reilly has written publicly in support of Pack. USAGM declined to respond to emails requesting comment on who will replace Biberaj. Last month a federal judge ruled that some of Pack’s moves as CEO violated the First Amendment rights of the agency’s journalists. The judge ordered Pack to stop interfering in VOA’s news coverage and conducting editorial investigations. However Pack retains the authority to select a new VOA director. In his email to staff, Biberaj suggested the last six months have been the most challenging period in VOA’s recent history. He wrote that “some agency officials failed to respect rules, protocols and processes that I considered inviolable.” He also said, “attempts to trample VOA’s journalistic independence threatened to undermine our hard-won credibility,” without elaborating. Biberaj said he will return to his previous position as director of VOA’s Eurasia Division. FILE – Michael Pack, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, is seen at his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Sept. 19, 2019. Pack’s nomination was confirmed June 4, 2020.President Donald Trump nominated Michael Pack more than two years ago to become CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe, and other U.S.-funded international broadcasters.
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Cameroon Opposition Leader’s De Facto House Arrest Ends
Hundreds of supporters of Cameroon opposition leader Maurice Kamto have gathered at his home after his months-long de facto house arrest suddenly ended. Heavily armed police stationed at his home since September 22 left on Tuesday, but authorities are giving no explanation.Maurice Kamto’s supporters flocked to his home after heavily armed police left the opposition leaders house Tuesday night, ending a months-long, de facto house arrest. Cameroon authorities gave no immediate explanation for why police left or if Kamto would face any charges from the September protest that prompted the detention. Cameroon Lawyers Go on Strike, Complaining of Government Interference in Cases The Cameroon Bar Council held an initial five-day strike last week to protest an incident on November 27 in DoualaAmong the hundreds of Kamto supporters is 19-year-old Ernestine Nnanga, who says she is anxious to see him free.”When I heard that the police left the house of our political leader Maurice Kamto, I came here to know if our political leader Maurice Kamto is in good health, to know the plan he has for our country,” said Nnanga. “Thirdly, I want to hear from him. I want him to address us Cameroonians”Christopher Ndong is secretary general of Kamto’s Cameroon Renaissance Movement party. He says the opposition leader is in good health and will be addressing his supporters at what he calls an appropriate moment.Ndong called on the government to release some 130 Kamto supporters and party officials who were among hundreds arrested in September for rebellion and illegal assembly. “We are looking forward for them (government) to release the leaders of the executive (CRM party) organs and many others,” said Ndong. “We will make this government to know that there should be meaningful and true democracy. That political parties should be free to hold meetings, manifestations, associate with other political parties, create coalitions and that the electoral system be revised and then an electoral code done, which will be suitable for everybody.”Cameroon Opposition Claims Assassination Attempt Against Leader The government says there was no assassination attemptIn a press release late Tuesday, government spokesman Rene Emmanuel Sadi said those arrested would face the law. Sadi said they are accused of rebellion, attempted revolution, and illegal assembly for a September 22 protest against President Paul Biya and holding regional elections. Territorial administration minister Paul Atanga Nji says Cameroon’s first regional elections held Sunday shows that people trust Biya and his government. “Everyone knows that in a democracy, political or republican legitimacy is acquired through the ballot box,” said Nji. “Refusing to participate in elections and claiming to defend the interest of Cameroonians without any elective mandate is a scheme that cannot work in Cameroon. We will not allow that to happen.”The opposition argues election laws favor the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party and Biya, who has been in power for nearly four decades.In January 2019, authorities detained Kamto and 200 of his supporters for insisting that Biya stole the 2018 presidential election from him. International pressure led Biya to pardon Kamto after he’d spent nine months in prison.
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German Chancellor Calls for Tighter COVID-19 Restrictions as Nation Sets New Daily Death Record
German Chancellor Angela Merkel Tuesday called for tougher COVID-19 restrictions as the nation set daily record for deaths from the virus and infection numbers continue to rise.Speaking in the Bundestag – the lower house of the German parliament – a sometimes-emotional Merkel told lawmakers the nation was in a decisive period of fighting the pandemic, with the second wave far more demanding than the first. Germany’s Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases reported Wednesday 590 deaths related to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours – more than 100 higher than the week-old previous record – and 20,815 new daily infections, compared with 17,270 a week earlier.Chinese-made COVID-19 Vaccine Nearly 90% Effective, UAE Says Gulf Arab state participated in late-stage clinical trial of vaccine developed by state-owned pharmaceutical company Sinopharm Germany is gradually moving toward a tighter lockdown, at least for a limited period after Christmas, as new coronavirus cases remain high and continue climbing.
This despite a partial shutdown that started in early November, in hopes of allowing a more normal Christmas holiday.While families will be allowed to gather for Christmas, Merkel is calling for all but the most essential shops to close from Christmas Eve until at least January 10, and for people to work from home and schools to remain closed during that time as well.The idea is to use the festive period to keep people at home and break the chain of infections. Merkel emphatically urged people to limit their social contacts whenever possible. She said, “If we have too many contacts before Christmas and it ends up being the last Christmas with the grandparents, then we’d really have failed.”Merkel has consistently advocated decisive action but has often had to move more slowly because, in highly decentralized Germany, the country’s 16 state governments are responsible for imposing and lifting restrictions.Germany managed to avoid the high number of infections and grim death tolls seen in other large European nations early in the pandemic and continues to have a much lower overall fatality rate than countries such as Britain, France and Spain.
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How China’s Offshore Oil Driller Will Keep Grip in Disputed Sea Despite US Sanctions
The United States imposed sanctions this month on a major Chinese offshore oil driller that Washington considers aligned with the Chinese military. But some regional experts say the oil and gas company, which counts U.S. citizens among its investors and does billions of dollars of work including in the contested South China Sea, will find ways to remain China’s commercial flagbearer. The U.S. government on December 3 banned U.S. citizens and companies from trading shares of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) following an executive order from the White House in November. Washington sees CNOOC as the Chinese government’s military partner. It’s the first oil and gas company on a long-standing list of 35 Chinese firms facing the same sanctions. Analysts say CNOOC’s American investment, estimated by financial media outlets at 16 percent, won’t slow the company, which has more than $33 billion in annual sales. They suggest the state-run firm with a publicly traded subsidiary will find other funding sources, including the Chinese government. Oil rig equipment and supplies can be found largely outside the United States, said Alexander Vuving, professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii. It’s also unclear whether U.S. President-elect Joe Biden will toughen the sanctions, said Mark Valencia, an adjunct senior scholar at China’s National Institute for South China Sea Studies. Ultimately CNOOC will keep its prowess as an extension of Beijing’s influence over the contested 3.5 million-square-kilometer South China Sea stretching from Hong Kong, the analysts say. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have claims in the same sea, which is rich in fossil fuel reserves. “CNOOC is not just a company, but it’s also on the forefront of China’s sovereignty struggles, sovereignty combat, against the other countries,” Vuving said. Sanctions Signal Tougher US Stance Toward Beijing Over South Sea US Department of Commerce adds 24 Chinese firms to a list subject to export restrictionsU.S. President Donald Trump said his sanctions order aims to restrict the reach of Chinese firms with military ties. “Through the national strategy of military-civil fusion, the PRC increases the size of the country’s military-industrial complex by compelling civilian Chinese companies to support its military and intelligence activities,” Trump said. “At the same time, those companies raise capital by selling securities to United States investors that trade on public exchanges both here and abroad, lobbying United States index providers and funds to include these securities in market offerings, and engaging in other acts to ensure access to United States capital,” he said. CNOOC particularly alarms Vietnam as a fellow explorer of undersea oil and gas in the disputed waterway. In 2014 an oil rig authorized by the Chinese driller in waters east of Vietnam touched off a boat-ramming incident and deadly anti-China rioting. Chinese survey ships in the past two years passed near Vietnamese exploration sites, causing an outcry in Hanoi. China claims about 90% of the sea and has a military edge over the other countries. Chinese armed forces, already the world’s third strongest, got unique access to the sea after 2017 when China finished landfilling tiny islets and equipping some with military hardware. Why US Wants to Send Coast Guard to the Seas Near China The White House National Security Advisor says the fleet would take on the ‘harassment of vessels operating in the exclusive economic zones of other countries in the Indo-Pacific’But U.S. sanctions could hurt CNOOC mainly “in terms of prestige,” Vuving said. They would reduce stock value and “severely damage the company’s reputation,” Valencia said in an Asia Times commentary Monday. CNOOC may need to split up or terminate some businesses, he said. CNOOC has also reached out to cooperate with other countries in the South China Sea, a boon to partners with less money or technical expertise. In September, for example, the driller offered 19 offshore blocks in the South China Sea for joint exploration with foreign companies, covering 52,000 square kilometers, market analysis firm S&P Global said. At stake now is joint exploration that China and the Philippines intend to pursue through a deal signed two years ago, said Carl Thayer, a University of New South Wales emeritus professor who specializes in Southeast Asia. “The big deal I think is really where does this service contract with the Philippines get finalized,” he said. U.S. sanctions are supposed to “pressure against awarding contracts” between China and other countries, said Jay Batongbacal, international maritime affairs professor at University of the Philippines. But if CNOOC is hobbled, he said, China can find another company for exploration with the Philippines. “That can easily be done, especially on the part of the Chinese,” Batongbacal said. “They can set up another company or they can use any Chinese-owned company that’s other than CNOOC.”CNOOC did not respond to a VOA request for comment.
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Australia Considers Legislation to Force Google, Facebook to Pay for News Media’s Journalism
The Australian parliament is due Wednesday to consider legislation that would require technology firms such as Google and Facebook to pay for journalism provided by news organizations.For years, traditional media companies in Australia have complained that social media platforms benefit from their quality reporting without paying for it. The government in Canberra believes that regulation is needed and is introducing new legislation into parliament. It is unlikely to pass until the new year. Australia wants tech heavyweights Google and Facebook to negotiate with broadcasters and publishers to agree how much they will pay to use news stories online. The fee would be worked out by the two parties. If a deal can not be struck, both sides would be forced into arbitration, where a decision would be made for them. The only two digital platforms included so far are Google Search and Facebook NewsFeed, but Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg would have the power to add others to the list if they become big enough players in the market. “This is a huge reform,” he said. “This is a world first and the world is watching what happens here in Australia. But our legislation will help ensure that the rules of the digital world mirror the rules of the physical world.” The government says print media in Australia has seen advertising revenues fall by 75% since 2005. The market is dominated by Google and Facebook, which have opposed the legislation. They have argued that traditional media outlets have overlooked the benefit they receive from referrals and clicks through to their websites. Facebook has said previously it would remove Australian news content from its platform altogether, arguing it did not contribute much to its revenue. The company also said it supported journalism in Australia through grants and funding. Facebook Australia said it would review the draft legislation when it was published. Google advertisements in Australia have insisted the laws would be damaging.
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Cybersecurity Firm FireEye Says Was Hacked by Nation State
Prominent U.S. cybersecurity firm FireEye said Tuesday that foreign government hackers with “world-class capabilities” broke into its network and stole offensive tools it uses to probe the defenses of its thousands of customers, who include federal, state and local governments and top global corporations.The hackers “primarily sought information related to certain government customers,” FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia said in a statement, without naming them. He said there was no indication they got customer information from the company’s consulting or breach-response businesses or threat-intelligence data it collects.FireEye is a major cybersecurity player — it responded to the Sony and Equifax data breaches and helped Saudi Arabia thwart an oil industry cyberattack — and has played a key role in identifying Russia as the protagonist in numerous aggressions in the burgeoning netherworld of global digital conflict.Neither Mandia nor a FireEye spokeswoman said when the company detected the hack or who might be responsible. But many in the cybersecurity community suspect Russia.“I do think what we know of the operation is consistent with a Russian state actor,” said former NSA hacker Jake Williams, president of Rendition Infosec. “Whether or not customer data was accessed, it’s still a big win for Russia.”FireEye’s Mandia said he had concluded that “a nation with top-tier offensive capabilities” was behind the attack.The stolen “red team” tools — which amount to real-world malware — could be dangerous in the wrong hands. FireEye said there’s no indication they have been used maliciously. But cybersecurity experts say sophisticated nation-state hackers could modify them and wield them in the future against government or industry targets.The hack was the biggest blow to the U.S. cybersecurity community since a mysterious group known as the “Shadow Brokers” in 2016 released a trove of high-level hacking tools stolen from the National Security Agency. The U.S. believes North Korea and Russia capitalized on the stolen tools to unleash devastating global cyberattacks.The nation’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency warned that “unauthorized third-party users” could similarly abuse FireEye’s stolen red-team tools.Milpitas, California-based FireEye, which is publicly traded, said in Tuesday’s statement that it had developed 300 countermeasures to protect customers and others from them and was making them immediately available.FireEye has been at the forefront of investigating state-backed hacking groups, including Russian groups trying to break into state and local governments in the U.S. that administer elections. It was credited with attributing to Russian military hackers mid-winter attacks in 2015 and 2016 on Ukraine’s energy grid. Its threat hunters also have helped social media companies including Facebook identify malicious actors.Thomas Rid, a Johns Hopkins cyberconflict scholar, said that if the Kremlin were behind the hack it could have been seeking to learn what FireEye knows about Russia’s global state-backed operations — doing counterintelligence. Or it might have seeking to retaliate against the U.S. government for measures including indicting Russian military hackers for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and other alleged crimes. FireEye is, after all, a close U.S. government partner that has “exposed many Russian operations,” he said.FireEye said it is investigating the attack in coordination with the FBI and partners including Microsoft, which has its own cybersecurity team. Mandia said the hackers used “a novel combination of techniques not witnessed by us or our partners in the past.”Matt Gorham, assistant director of the FBI’s cyber division, said the hackers’ “high level of sophistication (was) consistent with a nation state.”The U.S. government is “focused on imposing risk and consequences on malicious cyber actors, so they think twice before attempting an intrusion in the first place,” Gorham said. That has included what U.S. Cyber Command terms “defending forward” operations such as penetrated the networks of Russia and other adversaries.U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat on the Senate’s intelligence committee, applauded FireEye for quickly disclosing the intrusion, saying the case “shows the difficulty of stopping determined nation-state hackers.”Cybersecurity expert Dmitri Alperovitch said security companies like FireEye are top targets, with big names in the field including Kaspersky and Symantec breached in the past.“Every security company is being targeted by nation-state actors. This has been going on got over a decade now,” said Alperovitch, the co-founder and former chief technical officer of Crowdstrike, which investigated the 2016 Russian hack of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign.He said the release of the “red-team” tools, while a serious concern, was “not the end of the world because threat actors always create new tools.”“This could have been much worse if their customer data had been hacked and exfiltrated. So far there is no evidence of that,” Alperovitch said, citing hacks of other cybersecurity companies — RSA Security in 2011 and Bit9 two years later — that contributed to the compromise of customer data.Founded in 2004, FireEye went public in 2013 and months later acquired Virginia-based Mandiant Corp., the firm that linked years of cyberattacks against U.S. companies to a secret Chinese military unit. It had about 3,400 employees and $889.2 million in revenue last year, though with a net loss of $257.4 million.The company’s 8,800 customers last year included more than half of the Forbes Global 2000, companies in telecommunications, technology, financial services, healthcare, electric grid operators, pharmaceutical companies and the oil-and-gas industry.Its stock fell more than 7% in after-hours trading Tuesday following news of the hack.
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No-deal Brexit Fears Rise as Johnson Heads for Last Supper in Brussels
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson heads to Brussels on Wednesday for dinner with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a last ditch attempt to avoid a tumultuous Brexit without a trade deal in three weeks’ time.With growing fears of a chaotic no-deal finale to the five-year Brexit crisis when the United Kingdom finally leaves the EU’s orbit on Dec. 31, the dinner is being cast as a chance to unlock the stalled trade talks.A British government source stressed that a deal may not be possible, as did EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. Ireland also signalled it was pessimistic about a deal.”The EU has to move,” Michael Gove, a senior minister in Johnson’s government dealing with Brexit issues, told Times Radio.While Gove refused to give odds on a deal, he said that often a one-on-one meeting between leaders could result in a breakthrough.”It is often around the table, when you have two political principals one-on-one, that you can often find a way through,” Gove told the BBC.Failure to secure a deal would snarl borders, shock financial markets and sow chaos through supply chains across Europe and beyond as the world faces the vast economic cost of the COVID-19 pandemic.The British pound was flat against the dollar at around 1.3369, after three straight days of losses. It stands around 1% off 2-1/2 year highs hit at the end of last week. Overnight implied volatility — a measure of expected price swings — rose to a new 8-1/2 month high of close to 25%.
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US House Approves Defense Bill With Veto-Proof Margin
The Democratic-controlled House on Tuesday easily approved a wide-ranging defense policy bill, defying a veto threat from President Donald Trump and setting up a possible showdown with the Republican president in the waning days of his administration. The 335-78 vote in favor of the $731 billion defense measure came hours after Trump renewed his threat to veto the bill unless lawmakers clamp down on social media companies he claims were biased against him during the election. Trump tweeted Tuesday that he will veto “the very weak National Defense Authorization Act,” or NDAA, unless it repeals so-called Section 230, a part of the communications code that shields Twitter, Facebook and other tech giants from content liability. Trump also wants Congress to strip out a provision of the bill that allows renaming of military bases that now honor Confederate leaders. Congressional leaders vowed to move ahead on the hugely popular bill — which affirms automatic 3% pay raises for U.S. troops and authorizes other military programs — despite the veto threat. The final vote represented approval from more than 80% of the House — well above the two-thirds support required to override a potential veto. A total of 140 Republicans joined 195 Democrats to back the bill, which now goes to the Senate. FILE – Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 17, 2019.Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, a member of the House Republican leadership, urged Trump not to follow through on his veto threat, but added that if he does veto it, “We should override.” If Trump vetoes the bill, “we will come back to vote to override,” said Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. But with Trump pressuring Republicans to stand with him, it was unclear until the final tally whether the bill would receive the two-thirds support needed to override a veto. The House Freedom Caucus, a bloc of roughly three-dozen conservatives, backed Trump’s position Tuesday and opposed the bill. FILE – Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., speaks on Capitol Hill, Dec. 3, 2020.”We stand with the president,” said Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., the group’s chairman. “This particular NDAA bill is filled with flaws and problems,” including limitations on troop withdrawals ordered by Trump in Afghanistan and Germany, Biggs said. Smith and other lawmakers noted that many defense programs can only go into effect if the bill is approved, including military construction. The measure guides Pentagon policy and cements decisions about troop levels, new weapons systems and military readiness, military personnel policy and other military goals. FILE – House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill, April 12, 2018.Troops should not be “punished” because politicians failed to enact needed legislation to ensure their pay, said Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas, the top Republican on the Armed Services panel. The $731 billion measure increases hazardous duty pay for overseas deployments and other dangerous job assignments, hikes recruiting and retention bonuses, and adjusts housing allowances. The dispute over social media content — a battle cry of conservatives who say the social media giants treat them unfairly — interjects an unrelated but complicated issue into a bill that Congress takes pride in having passed unfailingly for nearly 60 years. Measures approved by the House and Senate would require the Pentagon to rename bases such as Fort Benning and Fort Hood named for Confederate generals, but Trump opposes the idea and has threatened a veto over it. The fight erupted this summer amid widespread protests over police killings of unarmed Black men and women, and Trump used the debate to try to appeal to white Southern voters nostalgic about the Confederacy. FILE – Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 2, 2019.Smith and Thornberry said in a joint statement last week that lawmakers had “toiled through almost 2,200 provisions to reach compromise on important issues affecting our national security and our military.” For 59 straight years, they added, the NDAA has passed because lawmakers and presidents agreed to set aside their own preferences “and put the needs of our military personnel and America’s security first. The time has come to do that again.” The powerful Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, said he had spoken to Trump and explained that the defense bill is not the place for the big tech fight. “I agree with his sentiments — we ought to do away with 230,” Inhofe told reporters. “But you can’t do it in this bill.” Trump’s veto threat in the final months of his administration is his latest attempt to bend the norms. From redirecting money intended for military bases to build the border wall with Mexico to installing acting nominees in administrative positions without Senate confirmation, Trump has chipped away at the legislative branch throughout his term. If he does veto the defense bill, Congress could cut short its Christmas recess to hold override votes, senior House members said. FILE – House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Feb. 4, 2020.”I think we can override the veto, if in fact he vetoes,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Tuesday before the vote. “I hope he does not veto, I hope he reconsiders. And I think he will get substantial pressure, advice (from Republicans) that, you know, you don’t want to put the defense bill at risk.” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump’s attempt to pressure Congress on Section 230 was justified. “Twitter has become a publisher, choosing to fact-check content,” she said. “And when you’re a publisher, there are certain responsibilities with that and you should not be immune from liability.” Past presidents have certainly threatened to veto defense bills, which set annual policy with troop levels, equipment priorities, pay raises and other matters. The defense bill is typically a widely bipartisan measure, one of the few areas of common ground. Over the summer, the Senate approved its version, 86-14, while the House similarly passed its effort, with opposition coming mostly from the liberal and conservative flanks. FILE – House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 12, 2020.Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, have railed against the social media companies, especially during the heated November election. McCarthy, R-Calif., voted for the bill Tuesday but said he would not support overriding the veto. Some Democrats, including Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, agree the Section 230 provision could be revisited, even as they disagree with Trump’s tactic of attaching it to the defense bill.
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Media: Biden Selects Fudge for Housing, Vilsack for Agriculture
President-elect Joe Biden has selected Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge as his housing and urban development secretary and former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to reprise that role in his administration, according to four people familiar with the decisions. Fudge, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, was just elected to a seventh term representing a majority Black district that includes parts of Cleveland and Akron. Vilsack spent eight years as head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture during the Obama administration and served two terms as Iowa governor. Their intended nominations were confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday by four people familiar with one or both of the decisions who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid preempting the president-elect’s announcement. Marcia FudgeBiden sees Fudge as a leading voice for working families and a longtime champion of affordable housing, infrastructure and other priorities, according to one of the people familiar with the president-elect’s decision. Vilsack was selected in part because of the heightened hunger crisis facing the nation and the need to ensure someone was ready to run the department on day one, the person said. FILE – Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, arrives for the Democratic Caucus leadership elections at the Capitol in Washington, Nov. 28, 2018.As news outlets started reporting Fudge’s selection as HUD secretary, she said on Capitol Hill that it would be “an honor and a privilege” to be asked to join Biden’s Cabinet, though she didn’t confirm she had been picked. “It is something in probably my wildest dreams I would have never thought about. So if I can help this president in any way possible, I am more than happy to do it,” she said Tuesday evening. A longtime member of the House Agriculture Committee and a fierce advocate for food stamps, Fudge was originally discussed to become agriculture secretary. South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, the No. 3 House Democrat who gave Biden a key nod of support in the primaries, had strongly backed her, saying, “It’s one thing to grow food, but another to dispense it, and nobody would be better at that than Marcia Fudge.” She also had the strong backing of progressive groups who touted her support for food aid and worker protections at meatpacking plants. But her name was later floated for HUD as Biden’s team focused on other candidates for USDA, including Vilsack and former North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp. Tom Vilsack Biden’s relationship with Vilsack goes back decades. He was an early supporter of Biden’s first campaign for president in 1988 while Vilsack was the mayor of Mount Pleasant, Iowa. He endorsed Biden a year before the 2020 election and campaigned tirelessly for him in Iowa, the nation’s first caucus state. Biden adopted aspects of Vilsack’s rural policy agenda as Democrats look to make up ground they’ve lost to Republicans in rural areas over the past decade. Having run the giant department for eight years under Obama and sat at the table with Biden, there’s little mystery to Vilsack’s expertise. Their 34-year friendship and longtime professional connection make the choice one offering little risk. FILE – Former United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack speaks at a campaign stop for Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden, in Burlington, Iowa, Jan. 31, 2020.Vilsack entered politics in large part because of tragedy, when the mayor of Mount Pleasant was gunned down at a city council meeting in 1986. Vilsack, then a young lawyer, had grown up in Pittsburgh and moved with his wife, Christie, to her Iowa hometown. He was recruited to seek the mayor’s office, then served two terms in the Iowa Senate before being the first Democrat to win the governorship in 30 years. After two terms, Vilsack ran a 10-week campaign for the 2008 Democratic nomination before withdrawing and throwing his support to Hillary Clinton, even as Biden was among the field. Vilsack was a finalist for Clinton’s running mate that year. Biden has said he wants a diverse Cabinet, and some Black leaders have said he needs to do more to achieve that. Biden announced earlier Tuesday that he had selected retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin to be the nation’s first Black defense secretary. Clyburn aggressively pushed Fudge for USDA but seemed to suggest earlier Tuesday that she may be under consideration for another position. “Marcia Fudge is a tremendous candidate. I was pitching her for the Department of Agriculture,” Clyburn said on CNN. “I don’t know if that’s where she will end up, but I feel certain that Marcia Fudge is the kind of person that should be in this Cabinet and I will continue to advocate for her.” She earned her bachelor’s degree in business from The Ohio State University and a law degree from the Cleveland-Marshall School of Law at Cleveland State University. Politico first reported the news of Fudge’s selection, while Axios was first to report Vilsack as agriculture secretary.
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Europe Targets Human Rights Abusers With ‘Magnitsky’ Laws
Human rights abusers will face asset freezes and travel bans under new legislation adopted by the European Union. The so-called Magnitsky laws would target those involved in crimes ranging from genocide to torture and arbitrary detentions. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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Trump, Biden Vow Quick Coronavirus Immunization for Millions of Americans
U.S. President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden, separated by 160 kilometers and a much wider political distance, held simultaneous events Tuesday focused on fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Trump, in the White House South Auditorium, signed an executive order to ensure Americans get “first priority” access to a coronavirus vaccine, although it is unclear how that would be enforced. “Under this order, the secretary of Health and Human Services is directed to provide priority access to COVID-19 vaccines to Americans,” according to the White House, which did not provide further details. President Donald Trump speaks during an “Operation Warp Speed Vaccine Summit” on the White House complex, Dec. 8, 2020.Before signing the document, the president addressed members of the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed vaccine distribution team and his coronavirus task force about plans for mass immunization. “Over the next few months, the numbers should skyrocket downward” of those infected with the virus, said Trump. “This is one of the greatest miracles of modern-day medicine.” In a theater in downtown Wilmington, Delaware, Biden was less optimistic at a time when COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations have soared to record levels in the United States. “As a country, we’ve been living with this pandemic for so long, we’re at risk of becoming numb to its toll on all of us,” said the president-elect, while introducing his health leadership team. “We’re resigned to feel that there’s nothing we can do. We can’t trust one another, that we must accept death, pain and sorrow.” Biden, promising 100 million vaccine shots within the first 100 days of his administration, said that will not be enough to eradicate the virus but “we can change the course of the disease.” President-elect Joe Biden speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Dec. 8, 2020.Biden said that “as a new president I am going to speak directly to the American people. Wear a mask for just 100 days. Help yourself, your family and your community. Mask up for 100 days once we take office.” Trump, responding to a reporter’s question about why no members of the president-elect’s health team were invited to Tuesday’s White House event, continued to insist there is no guarantee Biden will take office on January 20, 2021, the scheduled day of his inauguration. “We won” the November 3 election, insisted Trump, who decisively lost the popular and Electoral College vote count to Biden. “Hopefully the next administration will be the Trump administration in continuation.” The president also termed it “terrific” that 15 percent of Americans have caught the coronavirus, suggesting that was a positive step toward herd immunity. Most scientists say about 70 percent of any population would have to either have caught COVID-19 or been immunized to break the chain of the pandemic. More than 15 million people in the United States have been infected by the coronavirus and 285,000 people have died – the highest number of such deaths and illnesses reported by any country.
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Europe Targets Human Rights Abusers With ‘Magnitsky’ Laws
Human rights abusers will face asset freezes and travel bans under new legislation adopted by the European Union.The so-called Magnitsky laws, officially titled the EU Human Rights Global Sanctions Regime, would target those accused of crimes including genocide, torture, assassination and arbitrary detentions.The European Union officially adopts the legislation on December 10 — World Human Rights Day.Bill Browder, a financier at Hermitage Capital Management who has campaigned for similar legislation in countries around the world, said getting Europe on board is a major milestone.FILE – A woman holds a placard with a portrait of Sergei Magnitsky during an unauthorized rally in central Moscow December 15, 2012. The placard reads “Died fighting a system of thievery.”“You have 27 countries, and a number of these countries are countries that dictators and kleptocrats like to visit. They go to the south of France. They go to Sardinia. They go to Spain,” Browder told VOA.“So, there’s something there that they really covet. And so, if these laws, if the EU Magnitsky Act actually is implemented and implemented widely, I think it could have a dramatic impact on the behavior of human rights violators around the world.”The United States, Britain and Canada already have Magnitsky laws. They are named after Browder’s lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Russian jail in 2009 after uncovering a $230 million tax fraud by state officials. He had been beaten by prison guards and denied medical treatment.Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny is pictured at Charite hospital in Berlin, Oct. 15, 2020.“The main question we should ask ourselves is why are these people poisoning, killing and fabricating elections? And the answer is very, very simple: money. So, the European Union should target the money and Russian oligarchs, not just old oligarchs, but also new ones like this circle of Mr. Putin,” Navalny told MEPs November 27.Russian President Vladimir Putin denies involvement in Navalny’s poisoning.In addition to those responsible for Magnitsky’s death, there are numerous obvious targets for Europe’s new Magnitsky laws, said Browder.“The killers of [Washington Post columnist] Jamal Khashoggi, the … 19 Saudis, plus [Saudi Crown Prince] Mohammed Bin Salman, should be added to this list. The Chinese officials involved in the Uighur genocide. The Chinese officials involved in the Hong Kong repression. The Lukashenko regime. The Burmese officials involved in the Rohingya genocide. Just to name a few.”Critics say it is still possible for individual EU member states to veto any measures proposed under the new law, and countries with warmer ties to the Kremlin such as Hungary and Cyprus could block any sanctions.
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US Congress Buys Itself More Time for COVID-19 Aid Compromise
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell proposed Tuesday that lawmakers set aside two of the most contested elements of coronavirus government aid to break a month-long deadlock over a new round of congressional relief addressing the economic impact of the pandemic. “Why don’t we set aside the two obviously most contentious issues?” McConnell said to reporters, referring to liability protections and aid for state and local governments. “We know we’re going to be confronted with another request after the first of the year. We’ll live to fight those another day and pass the things that we agree on,” the Kentucky Republican said. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky speaks to the media after the Republican’s weekly Senate luncheon, at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 8, 2020.Republicans have insisted that any new legislation include liability protections. They argue that a one-time shield from lawsuits is necessary for businesses, schools and churches to reopen safely without fear of financial damage. Meanwhile, Democrats have argued for their $2.4 trillion relief plan that includes far more direct aid for state and local governments than provided in the Republican proposal. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said McConnell’s offer would jeopardize the well-being of emergency workers on the front line who are most exposed to the coronavirus threat by severely limiting funding for their salaries. “Every governor and mayor across the country has been fighting to keep these people working, and McConnell is pulling the rug out from under them,” Schumer told reporters Tuesday. “When a worker is laid off from the state or local government, it’s no different than when a worker is laid off from a small business.” FILE – Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 1, 2020.With just days left in session this year, U.S. lawmakers have bought themselves one more week to negotiate on a second round of coronavirus aid. Congress is expected to pass a short-term spending bill later this week, extending funding for the U.S. government for seven days past a December 11 deadline. Lawmakers will likely link any agreement on coronavirus assistance to a longer-term extension of government funding to wrap up work so they can leave Washington ahead of the holidays and begin a new Congress early next year. Democratic President-elect Joe Biden has said that any aid negotiated in December would be “a down payment” on more aid that could be passed in the new Congress when he takes office on January 20. Lawmakers have remained deadlocked over a new round of aid, as numbers of coronavirus infections have surged to more than 200,000 cases per day in recent weeks. Many cities and states are reinstating restrictions to control the so-called third wave of coronavirus infections, jeopardizing the economic gains made in part by bipartisan passage of the $3 trillion CARES Act earlier this year. FILE – President-elect Joe Biden speaks at The Queen theater, in Wilmington, Del., Dec. 4, 2020.Several key provisions of the last aid package are set to expire at the end of December, including enhanced unemployment insurance for 12 million people, student loan relief and rental eviction protections, keeping an estimated 40 million people in housing during the colder winter months. In a push for a second major package of relief measures, the Democrat-majority House of Representatives passed the $3.3 trillion HEROES Act in June. But McConnell and other congressional Republicans have criticized the Democrats’ aid proposal as overly expensive and instead argued for a slimmer, targeted package of aid. A bipartisan group of senators proposed a new $908 billion package of aid last week. Several congressional Republicans have also urged President Donald Trump to only sign legislation that includes a new round of stimulus checks for struggling Americans. Under the CARES Act, many Americans received checks of up to $1,200 to offset the impact of lost wages due to pandemic closures. Democrats have also expressed support for that proposal. “I think another round of relief checks would help make sure that our economy doesn’t dip even deeper into a recession in the months that come between now and when we have the vaccine,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware told cable news network MSNBC Tuesday.
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Endemic Corruption Is Reason Behind Alarming Wildlife Trafficking From Nigeria
Corruption has made Nigeria the biggest smuggler of ivory and pangolin scales from central and West Africa to Asia, according to a report by the Environmental Investigation Agency. The London-based group says in the past five years, Nigeria has been implicated in global seizures equating to 4,400 elephants and hundreds of thousands of endangered pangolins.Aaron Olamilekan, a Nigerian wildlife advocate, spoke as he held a dead pangolin he bought from a group of local hunters arriving from a hunt on the outskirts of Abuja.”They tell me why most of them hunt. It’s based on poverty; there’s no good job for them, there’s no government support for them. So, they have no choice than to go into the wild,” Olamilekan said.The hunters sell the animals in exchange for cash.But Olamilekan sometimes intercepts them, negotiates and rescues endangered species.Animals returned to wildHe runs a sanctuary where he says animals can be resuscitated and nurtured before they’re released into the wild.”The ecosystem is being tampered with because all these animals have a role to play in our environment, so killing them will cause a future disaster,” Olamilekan said.Illegal hunting for trade is the major reason that endangered species such as elephants and pangolins are in constant decline.Since 2015, Nigeria has been the main exit point for pangolin scales and elephant ivory from the continent to many parts of Asia, where they are prized for decorative purposes or their alleged but unproven medicinal uses.Smugglers take ivory, scalesA recent report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) shows more than 30 tons of ivory and 167 tons of pangolin scales have been smuggled through the country in five years.The EIA blames corruption by Nigerian border or port officials for the illegal trade. Shruti Suresh is a senior wildlife campaigner at EIA.”Corruption which exists within certain public sectors is helping organized crime to thrive and traffic ivory, pangolin, and several other species.” Suresh said. “We need political will at the highest level of government to prioritize this issue.”Nigeria is a member of several international conventions protecting endangered wildlife, including the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES).Laws rarely enforcedNigerian authorities continue to pledge their commitment toward protecting wildlife even though laws meant to safeguard endangered species are rarely enforced.The EIA wants Nigerian authorities to take stricter measures against poachers and smugglers, noting that uncontrolled trade during this period of the coronavirus pandemic could be potentially dangerous.For the moment, wildlife advocate Olamilekan will be saving as many endangered animals as possible.
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Leaked Emails Unearth Russian ‘Wedding Gift’ of $380 Million
The wedding ceremony and reception in February 2013 was a glitzy three-day affair at a ski resort near St. Petersburg, Russia. The happy newlyweds were Yekaterina Tikhonova, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s youngest daughter, and Kirill Shamalov, the son of one of the Russian leader’s oldest friends. Among the wedding gifts received shortly after the nuptials was a sizable stake in petrochemical giant Sibur. According to leaked emails unearthed by Russian investigative outlet iStories, a partner of the international investigative consortium Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Putin’s new son-in-law was able to buy petrochemical shares worth nearly $400 million for just $100. The disclosure has prompted a wave of criticism from anti-corruption campaigners, who say the sweetheart deal is another example of Kremlin nepotism and how the Putin family and their associates and friends have enriched themselves during the Russian leader’s two-decade-long time in office. “It’s simple,” tweeted Alexei Navalny, an opposition politician and anti-corruption activist. “Putin’s daughter gets married and the newlyweds receive the present of $380m.”After marrying Tikhonova, Shamalov bought the 3.8% stake in Sibur through a web of offshore companies, according to the investigation. In 2008, Shamalov become one of Sibur’s vice presidents.In a press statement, Dmitry Konov, head of Sibur’s board of directors, said, “The conditions for the sale of the shares in the deal were no different from those for a number of other managers. There were no exclusive conditions for KN Shamalov.” (KN are the first letters of Shamalov’s first name and patronymic) In remarks to the RBC News website Tuesday, Konov said the real cost of the stake was far higher, including salary forfeited as part of the share acquisition deal and other unspecified conditions.FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, speaks with Chairman of the Management Board of the Sibur company Dmitry Konov as they visit a plant in Tobolsk, Russia, Dec. 1, 2020. (Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via Reuters)Private emails secured through a massive data breach also suggest the newlyweds went on a spending spree — buying a luxury mansion near Putin’s country residence on the outskirts of Moscow and a villa in the French resort of Biarritz. The furnishings were expensive — one carpet cost $65,000; some Japanese books cost $7,000, and a spa, around $350,000, according to the emails. Kirill is the son of Nikolai Shamalov, a millionaire businessman who in the 1990s co-founded with Putin the Ozero community, a lakeside gated dacha (country house) cooperative near St. Petersburg. Many members of the Ozero cooperative assumed top positions in the Russian government and businesses after Putin became Russia’s president.A year after his marriage to Tikhonova, the younger Shamalov secured a large loan from Kremlin-linked Gazprombank to buy an even larger 17% stake in Sibur, making him Russia’s youngest billionaire at the age of 32. His brother was deputy chairman at Gazprombank at the time the loan was granted. He and Tikhonova divorced in 2018.Shamalov was among the officials and close associates of the Putin family who were sanctioned by Washington for alleged “malign” activities by Russia, including meddling in U.S. elections.Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov dismissed reports Tuesday about the “wedding gift.”“We still refrain from commenting on such publications,” he told reporters. “These rumors often have nothing to do with reality.” Peskov dubbed the reports a smear campaign and said media investigations into Putin’s family are “lies that are unable to reach their goal.” Reports of alleged financial enrichment by the Putin family and their associates have escalated in the past few months. One recent story alleged that former Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva, who is reportedly Putin’s girlfriend, received a $10 million annual salary on her appointment as head of a pro-Kremlin media outlet. She had no previous media or management experience. OCCRP said deciding to publish the email was a difficult decision. “In the first place, the authenticity of documents received from an unknown party may be in question. To verify the Shamalov archive, the emails were first structured and indexed by OCCRP’s data analysts. Reporters from IStories then spent nearly a year verifying them,” the outlet said.The email cache included more than 10,000 messages written and exchanged from 2003 to 2020. The emails cast light, OCCRP reporters said, on how the children and grandchildren of Putin associates and friends from St. Petersburg are amassing their wealth and power. But what was accumulated was also lost. Following his divorce to Tikhonova, Shamalov reportedly gave up most of his Sibur shares.
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If It’s 3:30 a.m., It Must Be Time for Online Class
It’s 3:30 a.m. It’s almost time for class.I take a moment to stare into my pitch-black room. I always set my alarm 30 minutes before class starts so I don’t oversleep. Sometimes I hit the snooze button to get an extra 10 minutes of rest.After a few minutes, I get up and slowly open my door. I tiptoe to the kitchen to get a glass of water, careful not to wake my sleeping family members.As I click the link into the Zoom classroom, my professor greets everyone with a “Good afternoon.” It’s 2 p.m. in Virginia, but 4 a.m. in South Korea. Some of my classmates sip on their afternoon coffee on their patio before class begins.I wish I had coffee.As of Dec. 1, more than 224 million students have been affected by school closures, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.When the first couple of cases were reported in the United States in January, South Korea was the second most infected country in the world with around 10,000 cases. I was more worried about my family back home.They would update me regularly about the strict coronavirus guidelines and how the government passed a mask mandate where people could only purchase two N-95 face masks per week.When they asked how I was doing, I reassured them that I was fine and that there were only a few cases. This was in February.But as cases began to climb at a frightening speed in early March, my parents and I decided it would be best to be with family during this bizarre time.I was one of the thousands of international students who returned to their home countries that month due to the coronavirus pandemic.I knew that this meant I’d have to take courses during the middle of the night and become a master of time zones. Online courses are definitely not the most ideal way to absorb information, but because I was so close to graduating, I decided to finish my degree online in South Korea.This semester, my synchronous classes started at 3 a.m., 11 p.m., and 10 p.m. Then Daylight Saving Time pushed time an hour back. Needless to say, I don’t really have a set sleep schedule at this point.But like most people around the world, this year was all about adjusting and becoming flexible with one’s schedule and surroundings, so I told myself this was an adjustment I’d have to make.“Zoom University,” a term frequently used to describe online classes, has left college students around the world dissatisfied and anxious. “Six hours in school is better than three hours in online classes,” tweeted Muhd Akif Bin Azmi, a student attending Form Six college in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. His tweet struck a chord with thousands of people, garnering more than 99,000 likes and nearly 31,000 retweets.6 hours in school is better than 3 hours in online classes— Aki (@AkifIte) November 24, 2020In a report surveying 290 university students in South Korea, 56% said they were planning to take a leave of absence for the 2020 fall semester with low satisfaction for online courses being the top reason. The main complaint? “I would rather take a leave of absence than take a class that only reads Powerpoint.”New enrollment of international students dropped 43% because of COVID-19 in the academic school year that began four months ago, according to the Institute of International Education. Nearly 40,000 students — mostly incoming freshmen — have deferred enrollment at 90% of U.S. institutions. Many students struggled at the beginning of the year with the abrupt shift to virtual learning, prompting universities to switch to pass/fail grading options or cut back on tuition. Some universities extended pass/fail grading options for the fall semester as the coronavirus continued to spread at alarming rates.Despite setbacks, I’m grateful for the position I am in and understand it is a privilege to be able to continue my education online.Millions of other students have been derailed from their studies because the coronavirus pandemic has created a global education emergency. As of December 1, more than 224 million students have been affected by school closures, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). For children, the number is even higher. More than 1 billion children are out of school because of closures across 188 countries, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Students are not the only ones struggling with online classes. Parents, teachers and university professors have expressed their frustrations and concerns with online learning.i understand what lecturer feels like about online classes, it is depressing. i know because my mom is one of them. so student please don’t rely too much on lecturer. find some friends to study with. do a study group. it is not that hard, just make a google meet.— ᴀᴊɪᴋ🇲🇾 (@hazwanajik) November 25, 2020In the end, 2020 has proven to be one of the strangest and most devastating times for millions around the world. We’ve all had to sacrifice, adjust, adapt and heal in our own ways.On the bright side, I’ve learned to work under tough conditions and deliver and become a flexible, strategic thinker.And as my college journey comes to an end, I do think that this has been a character-building experience and I know I’m going to exit this situation better than when I came into it.I have my graduation ceremony to look forward to! It will be virtual.At 4 AM KST.
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US Offers Resources to Help ‘Contain, Degrade and Defeat’ Mozambique Insurgency
A top U.S. counterterrorism official has expressed concern about the deteriorating situation in Mozambique, where an Islamic State-affiliated terror group has captured territory in the country’s northeast since appearing three years ago. The group’s actions have led to the displacement of more than 400,000 people and the deaths of more than 2,000 in the Cabo Delgado region. The conflict has recently spread to neighboring Tanzania, raising the potential of destabilizing part of southern Africa and boosting a group with declared ties to the Islamic State. Ambassador-at-Large Nathan Sales, the U.S. coordinator for counterterrorism, recently visited Mozambique and South Africa to see how the United States can help “contain, degrade and defeat” the growing movement. With a situation this complicated, he said, a military solution is not enough. He spoke to reporters via teleconference from Washington on Tuesday. Cabo Delgado Mozambique“In addition to the security challenges posed by ISIS actors there, we also have the knock-on consequences from a humanitarian standpoint with, you know, hundreds of thousands of Mozambican citizens fleeing the violence,” he said using an acronym for the Islamic State terror group. “And so, part of the response has to include meeting that humanitarian need. We have to get the security situation under control so that people feel comfortable and safe returning to their homes, returning to their lives.” Alex Vines, director of the Africa program at London-based think tank Chatham House, said there are several reasons the world is paying attention to this small corner of Africa. For one, Cabo Delgado has vast, still untapped oil and gas deposits estimated to be worth $60 billion. Instability has prevented those from being developed. And, he adds, the group is getting bolder – helped by the failures of the Mozambican government. “So, there’s local grievance, there’s real frustration that the Mozambican state, and the party of government in particular, has not delivered,” he told VOA. “So, disenfranchised frustrated young people. And I think also that the impact of the cyclone last year in the far north there, so Cyclone Kenneth, that the poor humanitarian response also drove people into becoming more sympathetic to this insurgency.” FILE – The aftermath of Cyclone Kenneth is seen in Macomia District, Cabo Delgado province, Mozambique, April 27, 2019 in this picture obtained from social media on April 28, 2019.Sales was vague about the outlines of the U.S. plan. “What we need to do is make sure that we in the United States are making available to our Mozambican partners every capability that we have to help them degrade and ultimately defeat that terrorist threat,” he said. “Once we have reached an agreement on what our partnership could look like the precise contours of what that partnership could look like, I’m sure we’ll be in a position to share more information about what that will look like.” The U.S. is not the only outside party trying to intervene. This week, Pope Francis donated $121,000 to support victims of militant attacks in Cabo Delgado. Those funds will be used to build health facilities for the displaced. And, Vines noted, mercenaries with the shadowy Wagner Group arrived in Mozambique in late 2019 to help Mozambican security forces. Top U.S. military officials have echoed analysts who believe the Wagner Group is closely connected to the Kremlin, a charge Russian officials have denied. Mozambique has also been in talks with Britain and neighboring South Africa for possible support in combating the militants. Sales added that he believes the U.S. has a strong track record in fighting terrorism and rebuilding societies, and has a strong role to play in Africa. “We’ve been doing it for 20 years,” he said. “And I think there’s a recognition on the continent that if you want to do it right, you’ve got to work with the Americans.”
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WHO Targets 100 Million Smokers in Yearlong Global Campaign
The World Health Organization is calling on governments around the world to ensure their citizens have resources and tools to help them give up tobacco smoking as it launches a yearlong campaign aimed at helping 100 million people quit.The campaign, Commit to Quit, is focusing on 22 countries including the United States, and it officially got under way Tuesday ahead of World No Tobacco Day 2021, in May.A WHO statement said the Commit to Quit campaign is aimed at creating “healthier environments that are conducive” for people who want to give up smoking.The WHO hopes to capitalize on users who have decided to quit since the novel coronavirus pandemic began by creating communities of peer quitters, according to the statement.FILE – Bystanders look a replica of human skeleton smoking cigarette during an awareness rally on occasion of the “World No-Tobacco Day,” in Chennai, India, May 31, 2019.Earlier this year, the WHO warned that tobacco users are at high risk of dying from COVID-19.About 780 million tobacco users say they want to quit, but just 30% have access to resources that can help them do so.Director of Health Promotion Dr. Ruediger Krech said global health authorities must take full advantage of the millions of people who want to quit. He urged governments to “invest in services to help them be successful,” and “divest from the tobacco industry and their interests.”The WHO is employing digital tools such as the Quit Challenge on Whatsapp to provide social support. Also, the WHO’s 24/7 digital health worker to help people quit tobacco is available in English and soon will add five other languages.The campaign is encouraging initiatives such as “strong tobacco cessation policies; increasing access to cessation services and raising awareness of tobacco industry tactics.” Tobacco is a major risk factor for noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease and diabetes. Moreover, people living with these conditions are more vulnerable to severe COVID-19.“Smoking kills 8 million people a year, but if users need more motivation to kick the habit, the pandemic provides the right incentive,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted.
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