An earthquake of magnitude 6.4 struck a town in Croatia on Tuesday, with the emergency services saying many people had been injured and video footage showing people being rescued from rubble near the epicenter.The GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences said the quake hit at a depth of 10 km (6 miles).The N1 news channel reported that the epicenter was in the town of Petrinja, 50 km from Croatia’s capital Zagreb.N1 quoted a Petrinja town official as saying that a 12-year old child in Petrinja had been killed, but gave no details.It showed footage of rescuers there pulling out a man and a child from the debris. Both were alive.Other footage showed a house with a roof caved in. The reporter said she did not know if anyone was inside.Tomislav Fabijanic, head of emergency medical service in Sisak near Petrinja, said there were many injured in Petrinja and in Sisak.”There are fractures, there are concussions and some had to be operated on,” he said,Slovenia’s STA news agency said that the country’s sole nuclear power plant which is 100 km from the epicenter was shut down as a precaution.There was no further information available on casualties.The quake could be felt in the capital Zagreb, where people rushed onto the streets, some strewn with broken roof tiles and other debris. It was also felt in neighboring Bosnia and Serbia.On Monday a magnitude 5.2 earthquake hit central Croatia, also near Petrinja. In March, an earthquake of magnitude 5.3 hit Zagreb causing one death and injuring 27 people.
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Month: December 2020
French Fashion Designer Pierre Cardin Dies at 98
French couturier Pierre Cardin, who made his name by selling designer clothes to the masses, and his fortune by being the first to exploit that name as a brand for selling everything from cars to perfume, died on Tuesday aged 98. In a career spanning more than 60 years, Cardin drew scorn and admiration from fellow fashion designers for his brash business sense, and influenced catwalks with his space-age, futuristic bubble dresses and geometrical cuts and patterns. Cardin, who was a mentor to designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier, was active in fashion circles until the last, still taking young designers under his wing, attending parties and events and regularly visiting his Paris office by Jaguar. FILE – French fashion designer Pierre Cardin poses in front of his 1954-1956-1957 fashion creations in his museum called “Past-Present-Future” in Paris, Nov. 12, 2014.Cardin was the first designer to sell clothes collections in department stores in the late 1950s, and the first to enter the licensing business for perfumes, accessories and even food – which later drove profits for many other fashion houses. “It’s all the same to me whether I am doing sleeves for dresses or table legs,” a telling quote on his website once read. Hard as it may be to imagine decades later, Armani chocolates, Bulgari hotels and Gucci sunglasses are all based on Cardin’s realization that a fashion brand’s glamour had endless merchandising potential. Over the years his name has been stamped on razor blades, household goods, and tacky accessories – even cheap boxer shorts. He once said it would not bother him to have his initials, PC, etched into rolls of toilet paper, and he was also the inspiration for a phallus-like perfume flask. His detractors accused him of destroying the value of his brand and the notion of luxury in general. But he seemed largely unaffected by criticism. “I had a sense for marketing my name,” Cardin told Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in 2007. “Does money spoil one’s ideas? I don’t dream of money after all, but while I’m dreaming, I’m making money. It’s never been about the money.” He maintained that he built his business empire without ever asking a bank for a loan. Born near Venice on July 2, 1922, to French parents of Italian descent, Cardin was educated in the not-so-glamorous French city of Saint Etienne. He went to work for a tailor in nearby Vichy at age 17 and dreamt for a time of becoming an actor, doing some work on the stage as well as modeling and dancing professionally. ‘Beauty and the beast’ When he came to Paris in 1945, he made theatrical masks and costumes for Jean Cocteau’s film, “Beauty and the Beast,” and a year later joined the then-unknown Christian Dior. His first big commercial venture, when he teamed up with the Printemps department store in the late 1950s, led to him being briefly expelled from the rarified guild of French fashion designers, the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture. Couturiers in that club were forbidden at that time to show outside their Paris salons, let alone in department stores. He also blazed a trail outside France long before other fashion multinationals in search of new markets. He presented a collection in Communist China in 1979 when it was still largely closed to the outside world. And just two years after the Berlin Wall came down, in 1991, a Cardin fashion show on Moscow’s Red Square attracted a crowd of 200,000. Cardin also expanded into new businesses, buying fabled Paris restaurant Maxim’s in the 1980s and opening replica outlets around the world. He leveraged the investment further by launching Minim’s, a chain of fancy fast-food joints that reproduced the Belle Epoque decor of the original exclusive Paris eatery. His empire embraces perfumes, foods, industrial design, real estate, entertainment and even fresh flowers. True to his taste for futuristic designs, Cardin also owns the Palais des Bulles, or Bubble Palace, a residence-cum-events-venue woven into the cliffs on one of the most exclusive strips of the French riviera. Not too far away, there is also a chateau in the village of Lacoste that once belonged to the Marquis de Sade. In February this year he teamed up with a designer seven decades his junior. Pierre Courtial, 27, unveiled a collection at Cardin’s studio on Paris’s chic Rue Saint-Honore, with pieces that echoed some of the veteran designer’s geometrical esthetics. Cardin said he still rated originality above anything else. “I’ve always tried to be different, to be myself,” he told Reuters. “Whether people like it or not, that’s not what matters.”
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US-North Korean Dialogue at ‘Crossroads,’ Analysts Say
The international community’s efforts to compel North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program came to a halt in 2020 following the breakdown of US-led negotiations and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. And while fears that Pyongyang would show its frustration by conducting another nuclear or ICBM test never came to fruition, much of Seoul’s inroads with the regime literally went up in smoke. The fanfare surrounding the unprecedented summits between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un during the two previous years and the hope that this unlikely partnership would somehow bring an end to decades of hostility on the Korean Peninsula seemed like a distant memory in 2020.Momentum to reach an agreement over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, the reduction of sanctions and the signing of a peace treaty that would officially conclude the Korean War was never regained after the leaders’ February 2019 summit in Hanoi where both men walked away without any deal. Those initiatives seemed to fade even further into the past as the world grappled with the new coronavirus and the Trump administration turned nearly full attention toward its ultimately unsuccessful re-election campaign. Stephen Biegun, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State and envoy to denuclearization talks with the north, underscored some of these unfulfilled ambitions in December during what was likely his swan song visit to Seoul. “You might wonder if I am disappointed that we did not accomplish more over the past two years. I am,” he said during a speech at a local think tank, according to State Department transcripts. “Despite setbacks, disappointments, and missed opportunities over the past two years, I believe no less today than the day I first took on this responsibility that the vision President Trump and Chairman Kim have shared for the Peninsula is possible, and that we are not done,” he said. But North Korea is showing no sign that it is ready to resume dialogue with the United States; it has spent much of this year in a self-imposed quarantine, locking down its borders to almost all foreign trade and humanitarian assistance to shield itself from the pandemic. And now faced with change in U.S. leadership, Pyongyang has yet to acknowledge President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the November polls and the loss of its former negotiating partner in the White House. Because of Pyongyang’s silence coupled with the incoming Biden administration’s still undeclared Korea policy, many analysts are unsure how Washington and Seoul will attempt to overcome 2020’s diplomatic setbacks. But most agree that the first months of 2021 could determine the trajectory of engagement with Pyongyang.North Korea’s unwillingness to comment on the change of leadership in the U.S. should be expected, explained Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. “Trump has called himself a friend, and Biden has called Kim a thug and that’s why North Korea hasn’t said anything about Biden’s victory, yet,” he said. FILE – President Donald Trump, left, poses for a photo with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the North Korean side of the border village of Panmunjom, in the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea, June 30, 2019.It will be up to the new Biden administration to make initial overtures to the North in order to re-open dialogue, said James Kim, senior fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, who said the two nations are now at a “crossroads.” “Otherwise, I just don’t see how we’re going to break out from the current impasse,” he said. Kim expects Biden’s approach to negotiations with Pyongyang to differ from Trump’s “top-down” strategy, which he said, “didn’t lead to any substantive change from the status quo.”“If anything, the situation might have even gotten worse,” Kim added. In October, Kim Jong Un unveiled during a Worker’s Party parade in Pyongyang what analysts say appeared to be a new, larger intercontinental ballistic missile as well as other ballistic missiles. And according to a confidential United Nations report released in August, multiple governments believe North Korea is now likely able to miniaturize nuclear warheads to be fitted into long-range rockets, the Reuters News Agency and other media outlets said. The change of administration in Washington also presents an opportunity to work more in step with Seoul, said Hee-jin Koo, a research fellow at the Korea Peninsula Future Forum. She told VOA News that since the last Trump-Kim summit, the Moon Jae-in administration was “side-lined” in U.S. denuclearization policy but expects the next American president to approach future talks more multilaterally. But, Koo said one sticking point between the allies could be the ratification of a Korean War peace treaty that Moon has championed with the backing of Trump but that might be less of a priority during the Biden presidency. “It could be more difficult for the Moon administration to pursue that,” she said, adding that Biden might restart a “maximum pressure” campaign and call for the resumption of large-scale, joint military exercises with South Korean forces that the Trump administration suspended. President Moon’s efforts to nurture cross-border relations were dealt a severe blow in June, when Pyongyang shut-down shared military hotlines and demolished an inter-Korean liaison office on its side of the de-militarized zone with explosives, effectively severing all links with Seoul. North Korea has ignored the Moon government’s offers of pandemic relief. And the government recently lashed out at South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha after she questioned Pyongyang’s claim that it has not recorded any COVID-19 cases. “We will never forget her words and she might have to pay dearly for it,” Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s powerful sister, said in a statement carried by official media on December 9. North Korea could offer clarity on its position toward Washington as well as Seoul’s engagement efforts during a rare meeting of the ruling Worker’s Party in January, which will coincide with Biden’s presidential inauguration on the 20th, said the Asan Institute for Policy Studies’ James Kim.“This one-month period is going to be key,” he said. “If we’re going to see any movements from North Korea or any positioning or posturing changes, we’re likely to see it within the month of February,” he said.Juhyun Lee contributed to this story.
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Thousands March Against Nepal PM’s Dissolution of Parliament
Thousands of opponents of Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli marched through the streets of Kathmandu on Tuesday urging him to reverse his decision to dissolve parliament and call for early elections. The protesters, who say his decision on Dec. 20 was unconstitutional, rallied outside his office despite coronavirus curbs on gatherings. Oli says internal squabbling and a lack of cooperation from his party have paralyzed decision-making, forcing him to seek a new popular mandate. Police officials overseeing security said at least 10,000 people were on the streets to participate in the march, one of the most intense protests the country has witnessed since Oli dissolved parliament. “We have tactfully managed the rally of about 10,000 protesters,” said Basanta Bahadur Kunwar, a police spokesman. The country’s top court will in January continue hearing dozens of petitions filed against Oli’s political move and his plans to press ahead with parliamentary elections next year on April 30 and May 10, less than two years before the scheduled date. “The prime minister has no authority to dissolve the parliament under the constitution. Therefore, he should reverse his decision immediately,” said 19-year-old student Rajesh Thapa, waving a flag with a red hammer and sickle printed on it, a symbol of the ruling Communist party.
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California Expected to Extend Stay-at-Home Orders as Health Care System Overwhelmed
The western U.S. state of California are expected to extend strict stay-at-home orders Tuesday for residents in two major areas of the state as it struggles with increasing numbers of new COVID-19 infections. Governor Gavin Newsom said Monday it was “self-evident” that the restrictions first imposed three weeks ago for central San Joaquin Valley and Southern California will be extended as intensive care units in hospitals are filled or nearly filled to capacity. San Joaquin Valley is home to California’s vital agricultural sector, while Southern California includes the major cities of Los Angeles and San Diego. FILE – An ambulance crew waits with a patient outside the Coast Plaza Hospital emergency room during a surge of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in Los Angeles, California, Dec. 26, 2020.The situation has become so dire that hospitals in those regions have been turning away patients seeking emergency care and erecting tents as makeshift treatment rooms to treat the overflow of COVID-19 patients. California has become the latest epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. According to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Center, the state has 2,192,694 total confirmed COVID-19 infections, including 24,419 deaths. Governor Newsom warned Monday that the state was about to undergo a “surge on top of a surge, arguably on top of another surge” as many Californians ignored urgings from health experts not to travel during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. An airline worker in Christmas themed attire assists travelers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, Dec. 28, 2020.U.S. officials said nearly 1.3 million people went through U.S. airports on Sunday following the Christmas holiday, the highest level of air travel in more than nine months. India is the latest nation to report discovery of a new variant of the novel coronavirus scientists say is far more contagious than the initial strain. The Health Ministry says six people who returned to India from Britain in recent weeks have tested positive for the new strain. The six patients and their close contacts have been placed in isolation, and the ministry says it has tracked down their fellow travelers. India has suspended all flights from Britain until the end of the month, joining such countries as South Korea, Finland, Japan and Saudi Arabia. The head of the World Health Organization is calling for an increase in genomic sequencing of the coronavirus after new variants have been detected in Britain and South Africa. FILE – World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a news conference in Geneva.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at an online news conference Monday from Geneva that “only if countries are looking and testing effectively, will you be able to pick up variants and adjust strategies to cope.” He said WHO is working closely with scientists worldwide to “better understand any and all changes to the virus” and their impacts, and he called on countries to share any genetic information with WHO and other countries. A person walks past a roadside public health information sign, amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, near Oxford, Britain, Dec. 28, 2020.British authorities are expected to approve the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine this week. If approved, AstraZeneca’s vaccine will become the fifth to have been rolled out to fight the virus. Early tests showed that the vaccine was 70% effective for preventing illness, compared to 95% reported by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. Russia and China also have their own vaccines. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency is reporting that U.S. pharmaceutical firm Moderna has agreed to supply 20 million doses of its new COVID-19 vaccine to the Asian nation. Yonhap says the South Korean presidential office confirmed the agreement had been reached after a videoconference Monday between President Moon Jae-in and Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel. The agreement comes as South Korea reported 40 new COVID-19 fatalities, its highest single day figure since the start of the pandemic, raising its total death toll to 859. Health officials also confirmed 1,046 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 58,725. Also Monday, another COVID-19 vaccine candidate is beginning its final-stage testing in the United States. The testing for the vaccine candidate, made by Novavax, will involve 30,000 volunteers to determine whether the vaccine is effective and safe.FILE – A researcher lifts a vial with a potential COVID-19 vaccine at Novavax labs in Gaithersburg, Maryland, March 20, 2020, one of the labs developing a vaccine for the coronavirus.The trials will focus on high-risk older adults, as well as people from Black and Hispanic communities who have been disproportionately affected by the virus. The latest vaccine on the horizon comes as the world reached the grim milestone of 81 million people worldwide infected by the virus with 1.7 million world deaths globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States leads the world in both the number of total infections with 19.2 million and deaths with over 334,000 people.
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Democrats Push for Senate Vote on Higher Pandemic Relief
Democrats plan to push Tuesday for the U.S. Senate to pass higher pandemic relief payments to Americans, meeting President Donald Trump’s demand for $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks that has already been approved by the House of Representatives.With Democrats in the minority in the Senate, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell giving no public indication of bringing the measure for a vote, prominent Democratic figures said they intended to take several possible paths toward forcing action.FILE – Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 1, 2020.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer planned to use a procedural move that can be halted if any senator objects.“There’s strong support for these $2,000 emergency checks from every corner of the country,” Schumer said in a statement. “Leader McConnell ought to make sure Senate Republicans do not stand in the way of helping to meet the needs of American workers and families who are crying out for help.”Republicans have largely resisted the additional spending. Congressman Kevin Brady said the bill would not help the nation’s unemployed get back to work.”I worry that as we spend another half a trillion dollars so hastily, that we are not targeting this help to the Americans who are struggling the most and need that help,” Brady said.In this image from video, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during the first night of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 17, 2020. (Democratic National Convention via AP)Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, threatened Monday to block action on another pressing issue, overriding Trump’s veto of key defense legislation, until the Senate votes on the higher relief payments.“Let me be clear: If Senator McConnell doesn’t agree to an up or down vote to provide the working people of our country a $2,000 direct payment, Congress will not be going home for New Year’s Eve,” Sanders said in a statement.Trump shared a tweet late Monday that cited the Sanders plan, and without commenting on it specifically he reiterated his support for the increased payments.“Give the people $2000, not $600,” Trump wrote. “They have suffered enough!”The Democrat-led House passed the additional pandemic relief payments by a vote of 275-134 on Monday. Congress had previously passed $600 payments for struggling Americans as part of a $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package that came after weeks of negotiations between Republican and Democratic leaders.President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Dec. 23, 2020.Trump sharply criticized the legislation, threatening to block its passage if Congress did not increase the stimulus payments to $2,000 and cut other spending. But on Sunday, as a government shutdown loomed, he signed the bill.The House also passed a measure Monday that would override Trump’s veto of a $740 billion bill funding the country’s defense programs, securing the two-thirds vote necessary to override a presidential veto. The defense spending bill also gives raises to members of the military and sets Pentagon policy on issues such as troop levels, weapons systems and personnel matters. The Senate could vote on the measure as early as Tuesday and is also expected to override Trump’s veto. Trump has criticized the defense bill on several fronts, arguing without explanation that the bill benefits China. He has demanded the removal of language that allows the renaming of military bases that honor leaders of the Confederacy, which seceded from the United States in the 1860s, before collapsing at the end of the U.S. Civil War a few years later.He has also demanded the repeal of a provision that protects social media companies from liability over content their users post.
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South African President Reinstates Restrictions to Control Resurgence of COVID Cases
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he is reinstating a ban on alcohol sales and ordered the closure of all bars as a necessary step to control a resurgence of the coronavirus, including a new variant of the virus.During a televised address Monday night, Ramaphosa also announced residents will remain under a nighttime curfew, meaning residents must be inside their home from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. Medical and security workers are excluded from the curfew.Following an emergency meeting with his Cabinet and the National Coronavirus Command Council, Ramaphosa said all indoor and outdoor gatherings will be prohibited for 14 days from midnight Monday, except for funerals and restaurants, museums, gyms, casinos.Ramaphosa also said anyone caught not wearing a mask in a public place would face a fine and possible jail sentence.So far, South Africa has recorded 1,004,413 coronavirus cases and 26,735 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.
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Suspect Behind Nashville Bombing Not on Police Radar
U.S. investigators say the man behind Nashville’s Christmas Day bombing was “not on our radar” as they continued to work to determine a motive in Friday’s explosion that injured three people. “He was not someone that was identified as a person of interest for the bureau, and so we were not familiar with this individual until … this incident,” said David Rausch, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, while speaking to reporters via a Zoom conference. Authorities on Sunday identified 63-year-old Anthony Quinn Warner as the man who blew up a motor home at dawn in a neighborhood of Tennessee’s southern city of Nashville, killing himself. The blast damaged dozens of buildings and disrupted telecommunications systems in the neighborhood, which is filled with country music bars and restaurants. Investigators used DNA and other evidence such as locating the vehicle identification number from the motor home and tips from the public to link Warner to the explosion. Rausch said on Monday that Warner’s mother was cooperating with the investigation but that the motive for the explosion was still not clear. He said Warner’s only arrest was for a 1978 marijuana-related charge. Investigators continue to examine the site of an explosion, Dec. 27, 2020, in downtown Nashville, Tenn.Rausch said the multi-agency investigation into the blast involves the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. “We are all taking pieces of the puzzle, working to determine what the motivation was for this individual,” he said. Since the blast, hundreds of tips and leads have been submitted to law enforcement agencies. A neighbor of Warner’s, Rick Laude, told The Associated Press that he spoke to Warner just days before the explosion. He said Warner told him, “Nashville and the world is never going to forget me.” Laude said that nothing about Warner raised any red flags and that he assumed the remark meant that “something good” was going to happen for Warner financially. The FBI said its agents and those from ATF were still recovering and analyzing evidence. The area around the blast remained closed Monday. “The motive for the incident is still unclear,” the FBI said in a statement late Sunday. “Leads are still being followed, but at this time, there is no indication that any other individuals are involved.”Authorities searched Warner’s home Saturday in the suburb of Antioch about 18 kilometers from the blast site. A recreational vehicle that exploded injuring three people and causing massive damage to buildings is seen in Nashville, Tennesse, Dec. 25, 2020. (Metropolitan Nashville Police Department via Reuters)Several neighbors of Warner’s said they had seen a light-colored recreational vehicle, like the one that blew up Friday, in the backyard of the Antioch duplex during the past several months. Public records show that Warner had experience with electronics and alarms. He also worked information technology jobs. Investigators do not know why Warner chose downtown Nashville for what they described as an “intentional act” and a “deliberate bomb.” One theory is that an AT&T communications building was targeted because the recreational vehicle was parked near it when the bomb went off. Rausch said Monday that Warner’s father had worked for AT&T but that it was not clear if that was in any way connected. Communications were affected in several states as the result of the blast, although much of the service was restored by Sunday afternoon. Nashville Mayor John Cooper told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” Sunday that the location of the bombing, next to the AT&T building, indicated it was meant to be an attack on communications service. “It feels like there has to be some connection with the AT&T facility and the site of the bombing,” he said. “It’s got to have something to do with the infrastructure.” Six police officers were credited for saving people from being hurt after a recorded message coming from the vehicle said people should evacuate.
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Four-year Jail Term for Citizen Journalist’s COVID Reporting in China
A court in Shanghai, China on Monday sentenced former lawyer and citizen journalist Zhang Zhan to four years in prison for her reporting on the coronavirus outbreak, a harsh sentence that legal scholars say is aimed at having a chilling effect on Chinese rights activists.Citizen-journalist Zhang Zhan is seen in Wuhan, Hubei province, China in this handout picture taken on May 3, 2020.Zhang, 37, was one of several citizen journalists who covered the initial outbreak in China’s central city of Wuhan. Their coverage painted a far more serious picture of conditions than the government’s official narrative of the spreading infection. Her reports included examples of the harassment of families of victims who were seeking accountability, according to human rights advocates.Zhang was detained by authorities in May and accused of spreading false information, giving interviews to foreign media, disrupting public order and “maliciously manipulating” the outbreak. She went missing in Wuhan on May 14, according to media reports, and a day later turned up under arrest in Shanghai, more than 640 kilometers away. In court, she was formally charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” an accusation frequently used against Chinese activists.Zhang’s lawyer, Zhang Keke, told VOA that Zhang Zhan has been on a hunger strike for nearly five months. She appeared in court in a wheelchair, all but refusing to speak — apparently using silence as a form of protest.“The only thing she said is that citizens have the right to freedom of speech, and they have no right to question her,” Zhang Keke said.According to the defense lawyer, the prosecutor during the trial accused Zhang of publishing so-called “problematic remarks” on China’s social media platforms including Weibo and WeChat. Yet the prosecution failed to provide any posts or videos as evidence.“She didn’t fabricate any reports, nor has she created any harm to the society,” Zhang Keke said, adding that Zhang will likely appeal the verdict.A Chinese human rights lawyer who asked to remain anonymous told VOA that the four-year sentence is extremely harsh. “Picking quarrels and provoking trouble usually leads to a fixed-term imprisonment of no more than five years. For first time offense, the sentence is usually one year,” he said, adding that Zhang’s harsh sentence was aimed at instilling fear among citizen journalists and civil rights lawyers.Police attempt to stop journalists from recording footage outside the Shanghai Pudong New District People’s Court, where the trial for Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan was held, Dec. 28, 2020.Rights groups also condemned the ruling. Cédric Alviani, East Asia bureau head of the Paris-based media freedom group Reporters Without Borders, (RSF), called on the international community to increase pressure on the Chinese government until Beijing releases Zhang and other detained press freedom activists in China.“Zhang Zhan was only serving the public interest by reporting on the COVID-19 outbreak, so, she should never have been detained, not to mention, received a four-year prison sentence. This trial is actually a parody of justice,” Alviani told VOA.The United Nations’ human rights office said in a tweet on Monday that it was troubled by the four-year sentence. “We raised her case with the authorities throughout 2020 as an example of the excessive clampdown on freedom of expression linked to #COVID19 & continue to call for her release,” the office said.#China: We are deeply concerned by the 4-year prison sentence imposed on citizen journalist Zhang Zhan. We raised her case with the authorities throughout 2020 as an example of the excessive clampdown on freedom of expression linked to #COVID19 & continue to call for her release.— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) December 28, 2020China has been accused of covering up the initial outbreak of the coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease and silencing whistleblowers, including the late Dr. Li Wenliang, and citizen journalists Fang Bing, Chen Qiushi, Li Zehua and Zhang Zhan, for exposing information that authorities did not approve for release. Dr. Li died of COVID-19 after Beijing silenced his attempts to warn the world about the coronavirus.China has fiercely denied these accusations and said the country has been highly successful in containing the virus, compared to Western countries including the United States.According to a survey by the Committee to Protect Journalists, China was the world’s leading jailer of journalists in 2020, with at least 47 people behind bars.On December 1, 2020, at least 274 journalists were behind bars worldwide. These are the worst jailers and how many journalists they have jailed:#China 47#Turkey 37#Egypt 27#SaudiArabia 24#Eritrea 16#Vietnam 15#Iran 15More: https://t.co/MgX9C81Qnk— Committee to Protect Journalists (@pressfreedom) December 27, 2020
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Study: Britain Must Vaccinate 2 Million a Week to Prevent Third COVID-19 Wave
Britain must vaccinate 2 million people a week to avoid a third wave of the coronavirus outbreak, a study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) has concluded. Britain has had more than 71,000 deaths from the coronavirus and has recorded more than 2.3 million cases of COVID-19 infections as of late Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University data. “The most stringent intervention scenario, with tier 4 [restrictions] England-wide and schools closed during January and 2 million individuals vaccinated per week, is the only scenario we considered which reduces peak ICU burden below the levels seen during the first wave,” the study said. “In the absence of substantial vaccine roll-out, cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths in 2021 may exceed those in 2020,” it said. FILE – Staff members deliver injections of the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to patients in their cars at a drive-in vaccination center in Hyde, Greater Manchester, northwest England, Dec. 17, 2020.An accelerated uptake of 2 million vaccinated per week “is predicted to have a much more substantial impact,” it added. The study has yet to be peer-reviewed. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his scientific advisers have said a variant of the coronavirus, which could be up to 70% more transmissible, was spreading rapidly in Britain, although it is not thought to be more deadly or to cause more serious illness. That prompted tight social mixing restriction measures for London and southeast England, while plans to ease curbs over Christmas across the nation were dramatically scaled back or scrapped altogether. Media reports over the weekend said that the United Kingdom will roll out the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine starting January 4, with its approval by the country’s medical regulator expected within days. Earlier this month, the United Kingdom became the first country in the world to roll out the vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech. The British government said Thursday that 600,000 people in the United Kingdom have received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine since inoculations began.
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House Passes Higher Pandemic Relief, Overrides Trump Defense Veto
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed higher pandemic relief payments to Americans, meeting President Donald Trump’s demand for $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks, and it passed an override of Trump’s veto of a multibillion-dollar bill funding the country’s defense programs. The House interrupted its usual Christmas recess to return to work to pass the measures Monday, less than a week before a new Congress is to be sworn into office. The Democrat-led House passed the additional pandemic relief payments by a vote of 275-134. The House and Senate had previously passed $600 payments for struggling Americans as part of a compromise $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package between Democratic and Republican lawmakers, however Trump sharply criticized the legislation. He threatened to block its passage if Congress did not increase the stimulus payments to $2,000 and cut other spending. But on Sunday, as a government shutdown loomed, he signed the bill. Trump’s support for the larger checks has been seen as a rebuke to members of his Republican Party, whose members have largely resisted the extra spending. The Republican-led Senate is set to return to session Tuesday to consider the measure, where its fate is uncertain.The House also passed a measure Monday that would override Trump’s veto of a $740 billion bill funding the country’s defense programs, securing the two-thirds vote necessary to override a presidential veto. The defense spending bill also gives raises to members of the military and sets Pentagon policy on issues such as troop levels, weapons systems and personnel matters. FILE – President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Dec. 23, 2020. Trump traveled to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.The Senate could vote on the measure as early as Tuesday and is also expected to override Trump’s veto. Trump has criticized the defense bill on several fronts, arguing without explanation that the bill benefits China. He has demanded the removal of language that allows the renaming of military bases that honor leaders of the Confederacy, which seceded from the United States in the 1860s, before collapsing at the end of the U.S. Civil War a few years later. He has also demanded the repeal of a provision that protects social media companies from liability over content their users post. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump’s veto “an act of staggering recklessness that harms our troops.”Trump went against lawmakers with both his veto of the defense bill and his criticism of the $2.3 trillion spending package, passed by both the House and Senate. Trump initially called the spending package “a disgrace,” but relented Sunday and signed it.In a statement announcing his signature for the spending bill, Trump said, “As president, I have told Congress that I want far less wasteful spending and more money going to the American people in the form of $2,000 checks per adult and $600 per child.”Without Trump’s signature or passage of a stopgap measure to fund operations, a partial government shutdown would have begun Tuesday. Increased unemployment benefits and eviction protections expired early Sunday.The spending bill Trump signed includes $900 billion for coronavirus relief and $1.4 trillion for government funding through next September.Democrats have characterized the coronavirus relief bill as just a first step in their push for a more expansive aid package. “We need to ensure robust support for state and local government to distribute and administer a vaccine, keep workers employed and prevent devastating service cuts — and we must do so as soon as possible,” Pelosi said.FILE – U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), walks from the Senate floor following an agreement of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) aid package, on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., Dec. 21, 2020.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised Trump for preventing “a government shutdown at a time when our nation could not have afforded one.” “The bipartisan rescue package that Republicans in Congress and the Trump Administration negotiated with the Democrats will extend another major lifeline to workers at struggling small businesses, renew major relief for laid-off Americans, invest billions more in vaccine distribution, send cash directly to households, and more. The compromise bill is not perfect, but it will do an enormous amount of good for struggling Kentuckians and Americans across the country who need help now,” McConnell said in a statement.Trump said in announcing his signature for the spending package that he was also insisting on changes to the funding legislation to remove what he called “wasteful items.” Those demands amount to suggestions to Congress and will not necessarily result in any changes to the bill.“I am signing this bill to restore unemployment benefits, stop evictions, provide rental assistance, add money for PPP (Paycheck Protection Program), return our airline workers back to work, add substantially more money for vaccine distribution, and much more,” Trump added.
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Three French Soldiers Killed in Mali
A roadside bomb killed three French soldiers Monday, according to the French government, which said their armored vehicle struck the explosive device in the Hombori region of Mali. The soldiers were part of France’s Operation Barkhane mission, which is fighting an Islamist extremist insurgency in Africa’s Sahel region. They were working as part of a 5,000-troop mission “in an area where terrorist groups are attacking civilians and threatening the regional stability,” according to Florence Parly, France’s defense minister. The French Defense Ministry has identified the soldiers as Brig. Chief Tanerii Mauri, 28, Fighters 1st Class Dorian Issakhanian, 23, and Quentin Pauchet, 21. French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated in a press statement “France’s determination to continue the fight against terrorism” and praised the efforts of the soldiers in restoring peace and stability in the troubled region. Forty-four other French soldiers have died since January 2013 when French troops began their mission in the Sahel. In September, three soldiers in an armored vehicle hit an explosive device in Tessalit, also in northern Mali. Two of them died and the third was injured. Jihadists have killed thousands of civilians and soldiers in recent years as they expanded their activities to other parts of the region, such as Burkina Faso and Niger.
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Wall Street Climbs to Record as Pandemic Aid, Federal Budget Bill Signed
U.S. stocks rallied Monday, with each of Wall Street’s main indexes closing at record levels as President Donald Trump’s signing of a long-awaited $2.3 trillion budget bill that includes pandemic aid increased optimism for an economic recovery. In a sudden reversal late Sunday, Trump backed down from his threat to block the hard-fought bill, restoring unemployment benefits to millions of Americans and averting a federal government shutdown. Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 207.58 points, or 0.69%, to 30,407.45, the S&P 500 gained 32.34 points, or 0.87%, to 3,735.4 and the Nasdaq Composite added 94.69 points, or 0.74%, to 12,899.42. Stocks battered by coronavirus lockdowns, such as airlines and cruise lines, advanced. The S&P 1500 airlines index gained as carriers are set to receive $15 billion in addition payroll assistance under the new government aid. Cruise operators Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, Carnival Corp and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd each rose by at least 3% On a sector basis, gains were led by communication services, consumer discretionary and tech as each climbed more than 1%. After a sharp recovery from a coronavirus crash in March, the S&P 500 is on track to rise more than 15% this year on the back of a loose monetary policy and a COVID-19 vaccine program that has raised hopes the economic environment will improve. Despite the generally favorable conditions for equities, worries over a resurgence in coronavirus cases, upcoming U.S. Senate runoffs in Georgia and stretched valuations could become headwinds. The forward price-to-earnings ratio of the S&P is currently about 22.2, well above its long-term average of 15.3. Adding to a global appetite for risk, Britain and the European Union clinched a lean post-Brexit trade deal Thursday, while a mass COVID-19 vaccination drive in Europe was launched over the weekend.
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US Approves Delivery Drones Over Populated Areas
In the not-so-distant future, America’s evening skies could be filled with the buzzing sounds of delivery drones.On Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved the use of delivery drones over populated areas at night. Many see the move as the next step to widespread adoption of drone deliveries.“The new rules make way for the further integration of drones into our airspace by addressing safety and security concerns,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said in a statement. “They get us closer to the day when we will more routinely see drone operations such as the delivery of packages.”Delivery companies like UPS and Amazon have been investing in the technology for years. Both companies have seen surging profits during the coronavirus pandemic as more Americans turn to home delivery for many items, including groceries.Alphabet’s Wing is also investing in drone technology.The FAA said the new regulations provide “an essential building block toward safely allowing more complex” drone operations. According to the new FAA rules, drones of more than a certain weight must have remote identification capabilities and be equipped with anti-collision lights. The FAA also said the drones cannot have any exposed rotating parts that could potentially injure a person.In some cases, the drones can be operated above moving vehicles “depending on the level of risk.” The new rules will become effective 60 days after they are published in the Federal Register next month.Despite the new regulations, Bloomberg reports it will still be years before delivery drones are widely used.
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EU Unanimously Endorses Post-Brexit Trade Deal With UK
The European Union has endorsed the post-Brexit trade deal with Britain set to go into effect on January 1.“Green light. EU ambassadors have unanimously approved the provisional application of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement,” said spokesman Sebastian Fischer of Germany, which currently holds the EU presidency.The deal, announced last Thursday, still must be retrospectively ratified by the European Parliament, which is expected in late February.The approval provisionally allows tariff-free trade with Britain to continue after the country officially leaves the EU single market on New Year’s Day.Ambassadors from the 27 EU member states met in Brussels on Monday to approve the accord.Britain’s parliament is expected to approve it on Wednesday.
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US House to Vote on Higher Pandemic Relief Payments
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are planning to vote Monday on higher pandemic relief payments to Americans, after President Donald Trump backed down from his fight with lawmakers over the payments and signed a $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package.On Sunday Trump signed the spending package, which includes $600 in stimulus payments for struggling Americans, after previously calling the bill “a disgrace.”Trump called for the stimulus payments to be boosted to $2,000 while also criticizing funding for multiple government programs in the spending bill such as foreign aid and scientific research.Trump Signs Spending Bill, Pandemic Aid PackageThe president had refused to sign a pandemic aid bill; he tweeted Saturday that he wants $2,000 checks for Americans instead of the $600 aid negotiated by lawmakersDemocrats in the House agree that the payments should be higher and will vote Monday on issuing $2,000 relief checks for Americans. However, the Republican-controlled Senate is expected to oppose the measure.Trump’s support for the larger checks had been seen as a rebuke to members of his Republican party, who resisted Democratic efforts to negotiate larger payments.“As President, I have told Congress that I want far less wasteful spending and more money going to the American people in the form of $2,000 checks per adult and $600 per child,” Trump said in a statement announcing his signature for the spending bill.Without Trump’s signature or passage of a stopgap measure to fund operations, a partial government shutdown would have begun Tuesday. Increased unemployment benefits and eviction protections expired early Sunday.The spending bill Trump signed includes $900 billion for coronavirus relief and $1.4 trillion for government funding through next September.Will Congress override Trump veto?The House is also expected vote Monday on a measure that would override Trump’s veto of a $740 billion bill funding the country’s defense programs. The measure would also give raises to members of the military and set Pentagon policy on issues such as troop levels, weapons systems and personnel matters.If the House approves the veto override Monday, the Senate could vote on the measure as early as Tuesday. A two-thirds vote in both chambers is required to override a presidential veto.Senate Sends Trump Defense Bill He Has Vowed to VetoVote is 84-13, mirroring a similarly overwhelming margin in the House that, if maintained in both chambers, would be enough to override a potential vetoTrump has criticized the defense bill on several fronts, arguing without explanation that the bill benefits China. He has demanded the removal of language that allows the renaming of military bases that honor leaders of the Confederacy, which attempted to secede from the United States in the 1860s.He has also demanded the addition of a provision making it easier to sue social media companies over content posted by their users.Pelosi called Trump’s veto “an act of staggering recklessness that harms our troops.”Congress is interrupting its usual Christmas recess to return to work on Monday.Democrats have characterized the coronavirus relief bill as just a first step in their push for a more expansive aid package.“We need to ensure robust support for state and local government to distribute and administer a vaccine, keep workers employed and prevent devastating service cuts – and we must do so as soon as possible,” Pelosi said.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised Trump for preventing “a government shutdown at a time when our nation could not have afforded one.”“The bipartisan rescue package that Republicans in Congress and the Trump Administration negotiated with the Democrats will extend another major lifeline to workers at struggling small businesses, renew major relief for laid-off Americans, invest billions more in vaccine distribution, send cash directly to households, and more. The compromise bill is not perfect, but it will do an enormous amount of good for struggling Kentuckians and Americans across the country who need help now,” McConnell said in a statement.Trump said in announcing his signature for the spending package that he was also insisting on changes to the funding legislation to remove what he called “wasteful items.” Those demands amount to suggestions to Congress and will not necessarily result in any changes to the bill.“I am signing this bill to restore unemployment benefits, stop evictions, provide rental assistance, add money for PPP, return our airline workers back to work, add substantially more money for vaccine distribution, and much more,” Trump added.
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TSA: Nearly 1.3 Million Travel by Air Over Christmas, Pandemic Record
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Americans increasingly seem to be tuning out warnings against travel during what is traditionally one of the busiest periods of the year.On Sunday, the Transportation Security Administration said it screened close to 1.3 million air travelers at U.S. airports Sunday. It was the highest number in more than nine months. The TSA also reported that more than 10 million people have flown since December 18.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Americans against travel during the holiday season, fearing that to do so would help spread the coronavirus.”The best thing for Americans to do in the upcoming holiday season is to stay at home and not travel,” Dr. Henry Walke, the CDC’s COVID-19 incident manager, said in a news briefing in early December. “Cases are rising. Hospitalizations are increasing, Deaths are increasing. We need to try to bend the curve, stop this exponential increase.”According to National Public Radio, it was unclear if a travel surge over Thanksgiving caused a spike in cases. It reported that in some areas, there appeared to be a surge, while in others, there wasn’t.The American Automobile Association, known as AAA, predicted that an estimated 85 million Americans would travel over the Christmas season, most of them by car, but according to the Associated Press, actual numbers were not yet available.As of Monday, the United States had more than 19 million coronavirus cases and 333,326 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
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Russia Pushes Ahead with Vaccine Rollout, Ready or Not
Earlier this year, Russia claimed victory in the global race for a vaccine against the coronavirus. But as Charles Maynes reports from Moscow, the Kremlin’s new challenge is the vaccine’s rollout, and convincing Russians the drug is both safe and effective.
Camera: Ricardo Marquina
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Thailand’s 2020 Marked by COVID Pandemic, Economic Slump, Protests
Thailand contended with a multi-pronged crisis in 2020 – the COVID pandemic, an economy flatlined by it, and a youth-led pro-democracy movement demanding widespread reform to Thai society and its once untouchable monarchy. Vijitra Duangdee reports for VOA from Bangkok.
Camera: Black Squirrel Productions
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Ethiopian Police Arrest Reuters Cameraman
A Reuters cameraman, Kumerra Gemechu, was arrested in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Thursday and will be kept in custody for at least two weeks, his family said. He has not been charged.
No reason was provided to the family for Thursday’s arrest, and police did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Kumerra, 38, has worked for Reuters as a freelance cameraman for a decade.
At a brief court hearing on Friday, where no lawyer was present, a judge ordered Kumerra’s detention for a further 14 days to give police time to investigate, the family said.
In a statement on Monday, Reuters news agency strongly condemned Kumerra’s detention. The arrest followed the beating of a Reuters photographer, Tiksa Negeri, by two Ethiopian federal police officers on Dec. 16.
“Kumerra is part of a Reuters team that reports from Ethiopia in a fair, independent and unbiased way. Kumerra’s work demonstrates his professionalism and impartiality, and we are aware of no basis for his detention,” Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler said in the statement.
“Journalists must be allowed to report the news in the public interest without fear of harassment or harm, wherever they are. We will not rest until Kumerra is freed,” Adler said.
Around 10 armed federal police officers arrived at Kumerra’s home in Addis Ababa on Thursday evening and took him away in handcuffs in front of his wife and three children, his wife Hawi Desalegn said. She added that his eldest daughter, who is 10, clung to him screaming as he was led away.
Police also confiscated Kumerra’s phone, a computer, flash drives and papers, according to the family.
Journalists Arrested
Kumerra’s arrest follows government pressure on journalists for some international news outlets which have been covering the conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, where government forces have been battling the former ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
Kumerra covered the Tigray conflict, but Reuters was unable to determine whether his arrest was connected to his work. Government officials did not respond to questions from Reuters about whether his coverage was at issue.
Ethiopia’s media authority, the Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority, accused Reuters and other international media outlets in a Nov. 23 statement on its Facebook page of “false” and “unbalanced” coverage of the fighting in Tigray.
“We stand by our reporting on the conflict in the Tigray region and will continue to report on Ethiopia with integrity, independence, and freedom from bias, as we do all around the world,” Reuters said in a separate statement.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Kumerra’s detention was “the latest example of how press freedom is fast eroding under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed after a short-lived hope of reform.”
When CPJ carried out its annual census of jailed journalists on Dec. 1, there were at least seven journalists in custody in Ethiopia for their work, CPJ said in a statement on Monday.
Five of those arrests took place after the Tigray fighting broke out on Nov. 4, according to CPJ.
Thousands of people are believed to have been killed and around 950,000 displaced in the month-long conflict. The government says it is now in control of the restive region, but it tightly controls access, and some areas still do not have cell phone coverage.
Ethiopia’s government, which the TPLF dominated for nearly three decades, frequently jailed critics, including politicians and journalists.
When Abiy came to power in 2018 after protests against the government, he speeded up democratic reforms and oversaw the release of tens of thousands of political prisoners.
However, local and international rights groups have expressed concern about the arrests of thousands of other people following outbreaks of deadly violence around the country.
The government has said those arrested were suspected of fomenting the bloodshed.
“One of the government’s primary roles and responsibilities is ensuring security and stability and that the rule of law prevails,” Billene Seyoum, a spokeswoman for the prime minister, told Reuters in August after more than 9,000 people were arrested following deadly clashes in the capital and surrounding Oromiya region.
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Ugandan Journalists Protest Security Brutality
Journalists in Kampala Monday walked out of a news conference after a top military officer refused to apologize for injuries meted on journalists covering the campaign trail Sunday. Instead, the police deployed heavily with officers saying they were scared journalists were going to harm them.
On Sunday night, journalists received a text message inviting them to a press conference to be addressed by the chief of defense forces, General David Muhoozi, on Monday morning at Kampala’s Media Center. However, upon arrival, journalists who had come in large numbers were addressed instead by the political commissar for the Uganda People’s Defense Forces, Brigadier General Henry Matsiko. After speaking about the upcoming 40th anniversary of the UPDF, Matsiko was asked why journalists are being targeted. Three journalists, including Ali Mivule of NTV Uganda and Ashraf Kasirye of Ghetto TV were hit with tear gas canisters and rubber bullets by security forces on Sunday in the Masaka district. FILE – Ugandan pop star and presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, campaigns near Kampala, Uganda, Nov. 30, 2020.The journalists were covering a campaign appearance by Bobi Wine, presidential candidate of the opposition National Unity Platform party. Matsiko lectured the journalists, accusing them of being unprofessional and taking sides in the presidential campaign. “Even listening to some of you, the way you are presenting yourself, I get an impression that you are moving into a different terrain of activism. And activism has its own dynamics. So, once you’re a journalist, prove to us, that you are exercising professionalism. I have already regretted and I’m saying let us all… please, please,” he said. The comments caused an uproar and journalists walked out of the news conference. A Ugandan journalist reports live from a scene where journalist walked out in protest of security brutality with. police and army officers stand behind him. (Halima Athumani/VOA)Abubaker Lubowa, a photojournalist with the Daily Monitor newspaper, says their actions are in solidarity with their hospitalized colleagues. ‘What hurts us, some of us have been covering state functions. But the moment you cover the opposition, then you become a bad journalist. The moment you cover the ruling government, then you’re a very good journalist. So, what should we do in this country? We love our country, but we can’t work under such conditions,” he said. Michael Kakumiro, another photojournalist, told VOA he has never gotten an apology for a beating he received in 2001 while covering opposition leader Kizza Besigye. “I have even scars, you can see. Look at my forehead. How about here? I wasn’t born like this. I was covering Besigye. And, it was a combination of police and army that beat me up,” he said. After walking out of the Media Center, journalists were surrounded by security forces that included 15 police motorcycles, a police pickup truck, local defense unit officers armed with AK-47 rifles and a police holding van. Security officers leave the Media Center where journalists walked out of a security presser in protest of security brutality in Kampala, Dec. 28, 2010. (Halima Athumani/VOA)When asked why they had asked for reinforcement, Brigadier General Flavia Byekwaso, the UPDF spokesperson, characterized the deployment as a mistake. Journalists insist they will only resume covering security functions once they get an apology from the proper officials. Uganda votes for a new president on January 14.
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EU Unanimously Endorses Post-Brexit Trade Deal
The European Union has endorsed the post-Brexit trade deal with Britain set to go into effect on January 1.“Green light. EU ambassadors have unanimously approved the provisional application of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement,” said spokesman Sebastian Fischer of Germany, which currently holds the EU presidency.The deal, announced last Thursday, still must be retrospectively ratified by the European Parliament, which is expected in late February.The approval provisionally allows tariff-free trade with Britain to continue after the country officially leaves the EU single market on New Year’s Day.Ambassadors from the 27 EU member states met in Brussels on Monday to approve the accord.Britain’s parliament is expected to approve it on Wednesday.
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Banned from Sydney Harbor New Year’s Fireworks Show
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted authorities in Australia to ban people from witnessing in person one of the world’s most iconic New Year’s celebrations.New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced Monday that Sydney Harbor would be closed to the public Thursday night, New Year’s Eve, to prevent the disease from spreading outside the city’s Northern Beach suburbs. A total of 125 people in that neighborhood have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, since mid-December, including five new cases recorded Monday.The annual New Year’s observance features a spectacular fireworks display that lights up the nighttime skies over Sydney’s famous Opera House. At least 1 million people are normally in attendance, but Premier Berejiklian said the safest way for Sydney residents to view the fireworks show is from home, on television.”On New Year’s Eve, we don’t want any crowds on the foreshore around Sydney whatsoever,” she said.In addition to banning the public from the Harbor, Berejiklian has also limited private gatherings to just 10 people.
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How American Pork Could Lead to Wider US Trade Deal with Export Powerhouse Taiwan
Taiwanese officials will lift a longstanding ban on additive-fed pork imports from the United States this month to open talks on a broader trade agreement with one of its top export markets, people close to the decision process say. Parliament in Taipei gave the final clearances last week to allowing shipments of American pork from pigs raised on the feed additive ractopamine which is used to promote leanness but is banned by 160 countries including China, Russia and the European Union. The imports, which will begin Friday, remove what Taiwanese officials believe to be a key barrier in U.S. trade ties. FILE – People join a protest to oppose the import of U.S. pork containing ractopamine, an additive that enhances leanness in Taipei, Taiwan, Nov. 22, 2020.“When I’ve made legislative visits to the United States, the U.S. representatives would always bring up this topic, and now this issue that kept being brought up is out of the way,” independent lawmaker Freddy Lim said Monday. Formal U.S. interest in a trade deal hinges on President-elect Joe Biden’s government, Lim said, but “I personally feel optimistic given the sum or experiences and reactions from the past.” Second biggest trading partner Officials in Taiwan have tried off and on since 1994 for a free trade deal with the United States, the second biggest taker of Taiwanese imports after China. U.S. trade negotiators sometimes push their deal partners to let in American farm goods as a condition to signing agreements that eliminate tariffs on exports such as manufactured electronics that underpin economies such as Taiwan’s. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative says U.S. imports from Taiwan reached $61.6 billion in 2019. Americans buy computers, semiconductors and machinery, among other goods made in Taiwan, resulting in a trade surplus for the Asian manufacturing center that reached $19.3 billion last year. “It seems to me that nobody can deny because of the small, tiny size of Taiwan and [that] we don’t have enough natural resources, we have to fully engage into active international trade with foreign countries, and nobody here in Taiwan denies we need direct negotiations on trade with the United States, which happens to be one of the biggest countries in the world,” said Liu Yih-jiun, public affairs professor at Fo Guang University in Taiwan. Hints of a trade agreement Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang told parliament in November the United States was Taiwan’s most powerful ally as he explained that his government would require on-site inspections at American meat factories and clear product labeling to protect food safety. Taiwan has avoided American pork to date on suspicion that ractopamine residue could cause human health problems. Government-run Central News Agency reported in November that lifting the ban “is seen as an attempt to pave the way for a bilateral trade deal with the U.S.” After Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen announced in August the intent to let in American pork, several U.S. government agencies responded with tweets and news releases.The de facto U.S. embassy in Taiwan said it welcomed the move that would “provide greater access for U.S. farmers to one of East Asia’s most vibrant markets” and that Tsai’s decision would “open the door to greater economic and trade cooperation between the United States and Taiwan.” FILE – A bowl of rice with minced pork, a popular Taiwanese style dish, is seen at a restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan, July 26, 2017.Pork permeates Taiwanese cuisine from dozens of restaurant entrees to hot dogs buried in pastries and thin strips of meat that turn up in breakfast-bar sandwiches. Some chefs put pork shreds in dishes labeled as vegetarian to give the greens a fatty, salty taste. No guarantee of a deal But the U.S. Trade Representative’s office has not said Taiwan must allow pork imports to qualify for a trade deal, minority party lawmaker Charles Chen said. “I think this matter raises major doubts among Taiwanese domestically about whether there will be any sort of exchange with the U.S. Trade Representative office,” Chen said. “If not, then it doesn’t mean that the trade representative will give us any advantages.” FILE – Pork intestines and other organs are seen on the ground after Taiwan lawmakers threw the parts at each other during a scuffle in the parliament in Taipei, Taiwan, Nov. 27, 2020.Chen’s Nationalist Party took pork innards to a November parliament session to show their opposition. Lawmakers went on to throw the entrails at one another, capturing widespread media attention in and outside Taiwan.
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