Media reports say Chinese authorities are putting up a barrier along their southeastern border with Shan State, a volatile part of Myanmar, a move some analysts believe will stop coronavirus-infected people from sneaking in while deterring Chinese casino gamblers and their debt-collection gangs from sneaking to the other side.Authorities in Southeastern China are putting up fences along the border with Myanmar’s Shan State, according to a November 26 report on The Irrawaddy news website. It says the Southeast Asian side’s military has sent a protest letter.Construction of the 3-meter-high fence started earlier this year, Radio Free Asia reported this month. The report said about 660 kilometers of fencing are finished.The two governments enjoyed strong political relations before 2011 when a military junta ruled Myanmar. Ties have wobbled since then as largely impoverished Myanmar looks to third countries for investment and frets over a construction debt to China. But last year Myanmar state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi looked to China as a buffer against international criticism over her government’s persecution of the Muslim Rohingya minority.The fencing would help stop COVID-19 from moving north into China, analysts and Chinese media say. Myanmar reports about 118,000 cases, mostly from spikes in October and November. China, the disease’s apparent source, brought its outbreak under control in March during rigorous lockdowns.China worries that an outbreak from abroad would “ravage” the economy, Nagy said. China has suspended entry by nationals of 10 other countries on health fears, business consultancy Dezan Shira & Associates said in November.The border barrier at the same time could help stop Chinese nationals from entering the Shan State region of Kokang to gamble.Casinos, spas and hotels have made Kokang a “major gambling center” where Chinese spend lavishly and gangs kidnap debtors, said Priscilla Clapp, former permanent charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar. Local elected officials operate some of the casinos, she added.“There’s a lot of criminal violence going on, and I think the Chinese, since it’s really right there on the border with Kokang, aimed at shutting off the border point,” Clapp said.Chinese authorities have cracked down against citizens who gamble in Myanmar, where visitors are also subject to conflicts between government forces and armed ethnic groups, Beijing’s state-run Global Times news website said in 2016. It quoted a Chinese gambler who had lost hundreds of thousands of dollars and was considering suicide.Some analysts point to Myanmar’s drug trade as another reason for the border fences, which threaten to disrupt a supply route into China. In May, Myanmar police seized one of Southeast Asia’s largest hauls of the synthetic opioid liquid fentanyl.Myanmar’s Wa State, which borders China, generates billions of dollars’ worth of drugs, said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, political science professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.The two sides are no strangers to border walls, and Myanmar might ultimately accept the latest one if it keeps criminals out or makes its own people stay home, said Kwei-bo Huang, vice dean of the international affairs college at National Chengchi University in Taipei.“If Myanmar doesn’t want its people going across the border, then they won’t necessarily be unhappy that there’s a wall that can hold back their people and not let them run away,” Huang said.On other fenced border sections, Chinese pass money through holes to vendors on the other side, said Huang, who has visited the 2,227-kilometer-long demarcation line.Chinese officials have not formally announced reasons for the latest border fence, analysts say.But Chinese dynasties and governments have tried to “consolidate” the border for millennia, said Thant Myint-U, a Myanmar historian and former public servant. Geographic barriers between the Irrawaddy river valley of Myanmar and core Chinese populations are “now being breached,” the historian said.
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Month: December 2020
Australian Held in China Hopes for Justice Despite Torture
A Chinese-Australian writer has told family he has been tortured during almost two years in detention in China but maintains confidence he will receive justice in court. Yang Hengjun was taken into custody upon arriving in Guangzhou in southern China from New York in January last year with his wife, Yuan Xiaoliang, and his 14-year-old stepdaughter. The 55-year-old spy novelist and pro-democracy blogger was formally charged with espionage in October, opening a path to him standing trial. “After two years, especially with torture, more than 300 interrogations and a lot of verbal abuse, I am now in a place of deeper retrospective and introspective meditation,” Yang wrote in a recent holiday season letter addressed to his wife, sons and friends, colleagues and readers. In the letter, seen by The Associated Press on Wednesday, he says, ”I miss you more and more.” The former Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said he was not guilty. When authorities “inspect my life, they can’t find anything wrong,” Yang wrote. “I still have some confidence in the court. I think they will give me justice,” Yang wrote. “Whether or not they judge me guilty will say a lot about whether the court is governed by rule of law or by pure absolute power.” In his letter, Yang advised his supporters: “Pursue democracy, the rule of law and freedom.” Australia has made repeated requests to Chinese authorities for an explanation of the charges against Yang. Australian Embassy officials last visited Yang in detention in Beijing last Thursday, according to a statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It didn’t disclose further information, citing privacy obligations. Yang’s detention comes as bilateral relations plumb new depths, particularly since Australia called for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. China advised Australia in August that Chinese-born Australian journalist Cheng Lei had been detained, accused of endangering national security. Cheng worked for CGTN, the English-language channel of China Central Television, a state media organization.
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For South Korea’s Graduating High Schoolers, Entrance Exam Results Brings Relief
Twelve years of study boiled down into one eight-hour test for graduating high-school seniors — the suneung, South Korea’s college entrance exam, announced results on Wednesday.“I’m pretty satisfied with my results. I think I got what I worked for,” said Gi Tae Kim, a student who studied the liberal arts track at Daedong Taxation High School in Seoul. “Overall, I thought it was a bit easier than past tests.”Like U.S. students, many take annual aptitude and entrance exams more than once to improve their scores.“I thought that the Korean language section was alright. English was easy. The math and science sections were pretty difficult because there were many types of problems that I wasn’t accustomed to,” said Yun Jae Kim, a high school senior who studied the science course at Sangsan High School in Jeonju.There are five sections in the suneung: Korean language, mathematics, English language, history/social studies/science, and foreign language/hanmun (classical Chinese). Korean language, mathematics, and English language are deemed the major subjects.Depending on whether students opt for the liberal arts or science track, students are offered different versions of mathematics tests, and they choose different subjects for the social studies/science tests.Cha-Hong Min, the chairman of the Students wearing face masks wait for the start of the annual college entrance examination amid the coronavirus pandemic at an exam hall in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 3, 2020.“I was really worried and anxious because we barely had in-person classes and the test got delayed during one of the most important times in our lives,” said Su A Lee, a high school senior in Seoul.The South Korean government pushed the test to December 3 instead of the traditional third Thursday in November because of the coronavirus pandemic.Education and health officials equipped each desk with a Plexiglas barrier and mandated masks for the entire eight hours of test-taking.“The desks were still only one meter apart and there were no barriers on the sides of the desk,” Ji Yun Jeong, a student at Pohang Girl’s High School. “When lunchtime came around, even though everyone was eating at their desks, they all took their masks off to eat… so I think it was a bit insufficient on those terms.”Jeong added, however, that some students took their lunches outside of the classroom to eat.Despite mandated masks, ventilation, and the Plexiglas barriers, some violations snuck in.“There were a lot of students who brushed their teeth after eating lunch, and I saw a lot of them gathered in the restroom without wearing a mask, so I thought that was a bit dangerous,” said Jeong.“Even though there were guidelines that asked students to stay in their designated classrooms as much as possible and not meet other students, there were still students who would meet up with their friends during break time, and they’d eat snacks or chocolate together,” Jeong added. “When I saw that, I didn’t think that the preventative measures were upheld enough. Sanitization also did not take place after every break either.”After the suneung, some students are taking a breather from their nonstop studying and reflecting on their final year of high school during a pandemic. “Because of the circumstances, there’s not much to do other than occasionally meeting up with friends,” said Yun Jae Kim. “I think I’m going to spend most of my time resting at home.”Yun Jae Kim added he plans to take the suneung one more time in 2021 because he wants to get into medical school or dental school, so he will also be studying for next year’s exam during his spare time.“It was a really uncomfortable year in general because I couldn’t eat lunch face-to-face with my friends and we had to wear a mask all the time,” said Lee. “Our teachers also complained about how uncomfortable it was to teach with a mask on. Also, a lot of our school competitions, activities and events didn’t end up happening, so I do feel frustrated that my high school experience ended the way it did.”Jeong, on the other hand, said that despite the setbacks, she does see a silver lining.“In Korea, students study in a pretty strict studying environment for 12 years…there’s a lot of rote memorization and inculcation,” Jeong said.“So, I guess one positive outcome would be that we got to focus on the studies and hobbies we want to do. I think this year I developed the power to study and think for myself — and even after the pandemic, who knows what kind of crisis will happen,” she said. “So in regards to that, I think it’s Ok that I got to experience this crisis in advance and work on myself.”
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Limited Funds or No English? No Problem at Community Colleges
Community colleges — sometimes seen as a lesser alternative for college students — can get many students started on a more flexible and less costly path toward a degree.These schools offer an associate’s degree in two years that is transferable to many four-year institutions for a bachelor’s degree. Once called junior colleges, they popped up in the U.S. around the turn of the 1900s.The biggest draw of community colleges is their affordability.While the average tuition at public four-year schools for the 2017-2018 academic school year was $26,261, and $46,014 at private institutions, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, those numbers understate the cost of many private competitive universities.The most expensive four-year universities in the U.S. include Amherst College ($82,008) and Tufts University ($70,000), both in Massachusetts. Third runner-up is Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania ($60,872), according to their websites.And that doesn’t include room and board, which, at Tufts, adds another $8,516 to the price.But at community colleges, the average cost of a two-year school was $3,564, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Some community colleges in recent years have offered free tuition in Arkansas, California and Delaware.“It’s a gateway for many students to transfer to the university,” said Martha Parham, the senior vice president of public relations at the American Association of Community Colleges in Washington, D.C.“If they take their first two years at community college, it’s a significant cost savings. You know, as well as it’s affordable, it’s accessible, it’s a great place to go,” she said.While they are not as academically competitive as most four-year institutions, they offer students a chance to take courses that may not be related to their career aspirations, but are required, such as chemistry and algebra.And for commuter, working and part-time students who live at home or off campus more cheaply than on campus, the savings is significant as they can attend classes at their pace and time of day.The majority of students enrolled in community colleges work, Parham said. About 80% of community college students have a job, with 39% working full time.“It’s an on-ramp to the middle class for many of our students who otherwise, you know, wouldn’t have the same opportunity,” Parham said.Other advantages include flexibility in scheduling and lower academic requirements. Community colleges are located, as their name implies, mostly in areas where there is a cluster of students who can access them more easily than other schools.Students can attend a community college more easily while they work, tend to family or lack the means to move farther away to a school that offers room and board. The average age of a student in community college is 28-years-old, Parham said.“I personally didn’t feel ready enough yet to go off to a big university, because I just felt like I didn’t have that structure to be able to go into a higher institution like that,” said Ella Paredes, a sophomore political science major at Miami Dade College in Florida.Paredes, who commutes to community college from home, said she plans to transfer to Florida State University in Tallahassee for her bachelor’s degree after she graduates in Spring 2021 from Miami Dade College.“My advice to students would be to work backwards and understand you know kind of your ultimate goal and then plan accordingly to make sure that the classes that you take, and the institution you attend, has those articulation agreements to ensure that you have a smooth transfer,” Parham said.Alejandro Canas, a film production major, is going to be a sophomore in Spring 2021 at Santa Monica College (SMC) in California. In the meantime, he is taking his courses online from home in Jalisco, Mexico.Community college is an American invention. The first was Joliet Junior College in Joliet, Illinois, which serves more than 30,000 students today.It’s “something new, especially if you are from a different culture or from a country that is different. It’s really important because you will expand your knowledge,” Canas said.“You will see that community college is not just about studying, it’s about expanding your experience, expanding your skills, and getting closer to different kinds of people you know,” he said.Many community colleges, such as Santa Monica College and Northern Virginia Community College, have resources and courses available for students whose primary or first language is not English. Many community colleges don’t require English language skills for admission and will teach students based on their proficiency or lack of it.Canas had about 60% proficiency in the English language when he began at SMC and credits his community college professors and available resources for helping him improve his English during his studies.Community colleges offer tutoring, and teachers are prepared to help accommodate students who may be still learning English. Many community colleges have an English as Second Language (ESL) program centered around helping students whose first language is not English, according to the U.S. Department of State’s EducationUSA branch. Only about 7.4% of the more than 1 million international students enrolled in U.S. institutions of higher education attend community colleges, according to the Institute for International Education. Most international students may not be aware of the advantages.Many community colleges have articulation agreements with universities, meaning four-year schools have agreed to honor most if not all of the students’ credits.“It’s a great way for international students to come study in the United States, get their first two years of their degree done at a place with smaller class sizes, more affordable,” Parham said.During the 2019-2020 academic school year there were 79,187 international students at colleges offering an associate’s degree in the U.S., according to IIE.The Houston Community College System has the largest number of international students among community colleges in the U.S., with 4,723 international students enrolled in the 2019-2020 school year.China was the leading place of origin for international students attending community colleges, comprising 18.6% of international community college students in the 2019-2020 school year.Vietnam was the second-leading place of origin, making up 10% of the total international community college student population. Overall, however, international students at U.S. community colleges declined 8.3% from the previous academic year. Parham points to the pandemic and recent federal travel restriction policies as explanation for the decline. For all international student enrollment at all U.S. institutions of higher learning, the decline for the 2020-2021 school year has been 43%, according to IIE.
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Voting Equipment Worker Sues Trump Campaign and Conservative Media
An election systems worker driven into hiding by death threats has filed a defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s campaign, two of its lawyers and some conservative media figures and outlets.Eric Coomer, security director at the Colorado-based Dominion Voting Systems, said he wants his life back after being named in false charges as a key actor in “rigging” the election for President-elect Joe Biden. There has been no evidence that the election was rigged.His lawsuit, filed Friday in district court in Denver County, Colorado, names the Trump campaign, lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, conservative columnist Michelle Malkin, the website Gateway Pundit, Colorado conservative activist Joseph Oltmann, and conservative media Newsmax and One America News Network.There was no immediate comment from those named in the lawsuit.”I have been thrust into the public spotlight by people with political and financial agendas but, at heart, I am a private person,” Coomer said in a statement.”While I intend to do everything I can to recapture my prior lifestyle, I have few illusions in this regard,” he said. “And so, today, I put my trust in the legal process, which has already exposed the truth of the 2020 presidential election.”Dominion, which provided vote-counting equipment to several states, has denied accusations that it switched Trump votes in Biden’s favor, and no evidence has emerged to back those charges up.Dominion and another voting technology company, Smartmatic, have begun to fight back against being named in baseless conspiracy theories. After legal threats were made, Fox News Channel and Newsmax in recent days have aired retractions of some claims made on their networks.His lawyers said Coomer has become “the face of the false claims.” Coomer’s name first got public exposure in a podcast by Oltmann, who claimed to have heard a strategy call of Antifa activists. When the prospect of a Trump victory was brought up, Oltmann said a man identified as “Eric from Dominion” supposedly said “don’t worry about the election, Trump is not going to win. I made … sure of that,” adding an expletive.In an opinion piece written for the Denver Post, Coomer wrote that he has no connections to Antifa, was never on any call and the idea that there is some recording of him is “wholly fabricated.”The fact-checking website Snopes said Oltmann hasn’t cooperated in any attempts to verify his claims.Oltmann also claimed that Coomer made anti-Trump comments on Facebook. The lawsuit acknowledged that Coomer made comments critical of the president on his private Facebook page; he now says his page is inactive.Oltmann’s charges spread after he was interviewed by Malkin and Gateway Pundit. Eric Trump tweeted about them. OANN, and its White House correspondent Chanel Rion, reported on them. Powell, misidentifying Coomer as working for Smartmatic, said at a news conference that Coomer’s “social media is filled with hatred” for Trump, and she later repeated her charges in a Newsmax interview.Giuliani, at a news conference, called Coomer “a vicious, vicious man. He wrote horrible things about the president … He is completely warped,” according to the lawsuit.Fox News Channel, another network popular with Trump supporters, is not being sued, and Coomer actually uses Fox’s Tucker Carlson to buttress his case. The lawsuit notes a scheduled Powell appearance on Carlson’s show did not happen after she could not provide evidence for her charges.Coomer told The Associated Press earlier this month that right-wing websites posted his photo, home address and details about his family. Death threats began almost immediately.He said his father, an Army veteran, received a handwritten letter asking, “How does it feel to have a traitor for a son.””It’s terrifying,” Coomer said. “I’ve worked in international elections in all sorts of post-conflict countries where election violence is real and people are getting killed over it. And I feel that we’re on the verge of that.”
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Trump Threatens Not to Sign COVID-19 Aid Package, Government Funding Bill
President Donald Trump threatened Tuesday not to sign a massive year-end bill passed by lawmakers that includes a $900 billion coronavirus aid package and $1.4 trillion in annual government funding. Trump said in a video that was tweeted out Tuesday night that the bill didn’t deliver enough aid to Americans. The bill provides for a $600 payment to most Americans. The president said he is asking Congress to “increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000, or $4,000 for a couple. I am also asking Congress to get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill.” Both the House of Representatives and the Senate passed the measure with overwhelming support late Monday, with lawmakers having only a few hours to look over the more than 5,000-page bill. They were facing a midnight deadline to keep the U.S. government funded. FILE – Dusk falls as Congressional leaders hash out a massive, year-end catchall bill, at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 21, 2020.Trump had been expected to sign the bill in the coming days. The legislation comes after weeks of negotiations during which Democratic and Republican leaders clashed over how much government assistance to provide for coronavirus relief and whether the focus should be on items such as jobless benefits or keeping open the economy. It also comes during a surge in COVID-19 infections, with the United States recording more than 18 million confirmed cases as of Tuesday night — adding about 200,000 cases per day — and with the country’s death toll standing at more than 322,000 people, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Details of bill One of the main components of the bill is $600 direct payments to most people, with the amount phasing out for those with incomes above $75,000 per year. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said millions of Americans could begin seeing stimulus payments as soon as next week. A previous round of $1,200 stimulus payments was included in a much larger coronavirus relief bill in March. The new bill also includes $284 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, an initiative meant to help businesses keep workers employed during a period in which the economic pressure of the pandemic may have forced added layoffs. There is also $300 per week in unemployment benefits for 11 weeks, as well as $82 billion for local schools and universities, $25 billion in rental assistance, $15 billion for theaters and $10 billion for child care. There is also $4 billion to help other countries with vaccination efforts for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. FILE – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, walks to his office from the Senate Floor at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Dec. 18, 2020.”The American people can rest assured that more help is on the way, immediately,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. Democrats had pushed for a much larger relief package, with the House passing a $3 trillion package in May and a $2 trillion version in October. But Republicans opposed that level of spending and pushed for a more focused relief effort. Biden: More to comeWith President-elect Joe Biden set to take office in a month, Democrats are saying the new relief bill is just a first step of what is to come. “I applaud this relief package, but our work is far from over,” Biden tweeted early Tuesday. “Starting in the new year, Congress will need to immediately get to work on support for our COVID-19 plan.” FILE – Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 1, 2020.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said anyone who considers the new aid as sufficient “hasn’t heard the desperation in the voices of their constituents, has not looked into the eyes of the small business owner on the brink of ruin.” McConnell, in comments to the Associated Press, signaled a wait-and-see approach from the Republicans. “My view about what comes next is let’s take a look at it,” he said. “Happy to evaluate that based upon the needs that we confront in February and March.” Any new round of spending will be highly dependent on two January 5 runoff elections for Senate seats representing the state of Georgia that will either keep Republicans in control of the chamber or give Democrats the advantage of holding both houses of Congress and the White House. The total $1.4 trillion spending package funds the U.S. government through September. It includes an extension of tax breaks for numerous businesses for at least the next year, $45 billion for transportation needs including railroad operator Amtrak, and $13 billion for a major expansion in food stamps.
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Ships Positioned on Somalia’s Coast for US Troops’ Drawdown
The Pentagon has sent several naval vessels and a marine expeditionary unit to the coast of Somalia to support an operation repositioning hundreds of U.S. troops to bases elsewhere in East Africa. The USS Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group and the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit reached Somali waters on Monday. It joined the USS Hershel Woody Williams, an expeditionary sea base that arrived on December 16, according to the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). FILE – A U.S. Marine gives the thumbs up as a truckload of troops arrive at the U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia, Dec. 10, 1992.The Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group consists of three vessels, including the amphibious assault ship of the same name. Combined with the expeditionary sea base USS Williams, they have nearly 5,000 troops to conduct maritime security operations. The vessels have the combined “capability to boost firepower and protect and enable the repositioning of U.S. forces,” AFRICOM spokesperson Col. Christopher P. Karns told VOA Somali Service in an email Tuesday. “Also, if provoked, (they can) strike al-Shabab terrorists swiftly and with precision. “For this operation, a full range of military capability is available to project power from sea, land or air,” he wrote. “… The ability to bring forth robust capability quickly should reassure partners. Also, al-Shabab should take notice and recognize what awaits those seeking to do harm. U.S. forces are clear-eyed and focused on completing this mission. U.S. Africa Command has an ability to bring forth added capability as situations warrant.” Karns declined to provide details about AFRICOM’s strategy or timeline. But he insisted it would continue to develop Somali forces and conduct airstrikes against the militant group. Concerns over drawdown The U.S. troop drawdown in Somalia and its timing have sparked concerns.FILE – The Somalian army special commando unit known as Danab marches at army headquarters in Mogadishu, April 12, 2014.She said the Danab have benefited from their U.S. mentors’ capabilities, whether in military intelligence, air surveillance or superior weaponry. The presence of U.S. forces also has shielded Danab from being used to settle internal Somali political disputes, said another Somali official who was not authorized to speak to media and asked not to be named. The official suggested that with the drawdown, Danab members might be sent to address political disputes and would be vulnerable to al-Shabab attacks. Building capacity After its November announcement of the troop drawdown, AFRICOM resumed airstrikes to demonstrate its continued support. A December 10 strike killed eight militants, the Pentagon said, noting it was the 50th U.S.-led strike in Somalia this year. Most target al-Shabab, but a few have been directed at pro-Islamic State terrorists. U.S. airstrikes have killed roughly a thousand al-Shabab fighters since 2017, Karns said. The U.S. military carried out 35 strikes that year, 47 in 2018 and 63 in 2019, he said. AFRICOM said its airstrikes disrupt al-Shabab activities and restrict the group’s movements and ability to expand. The U.S. drawdown exposes Somalia’s unpreparedness to assume security responsibilities, analyst Gaid said, adding that its government must build a force capable of securing national land, air and sea borders and eliminating terrorist threats. She offered an optimistic prediction: “If we double up the efforts and refocus, in 10 years, we can have that force.” This story originated in VOA’s Somali Service.
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Vaccine Apathy in Nigeria Fuels Yellow Fever Outbreak
More than 170 people have died from yellow fever outbreaks in Nigeria this year, despite vaccines being available since 2004. A preference among some Nigerians for traditional, herbal medicine is part of the problem. But experts said apathy to vaccines in rural areas is the biggest challenge.Nigerian car washer Jonathan Sale caught yellow fever from mosquito bites while in secondary school, 23 years ago, before a vaccine was available to treat the viral disease.“When I had that sickness, my lips turned yellow, and my tongue, my eyeball became yellowish. And I was vomiting yellow, yellow, yellow,” Sale said. “I was thinking I was going to die, and God saved me. I went to the hospital and they gave me drips and some drugs.” Nigeria has had the yellow fever vaccine since 2004 and offers it free for children.But since 2017, outbreaks of yellow fever have left scores dead and many others suffering.Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, the executive chairman of the Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency, said many parents fail to get their children vaccinated.“We now did a small survey and found out that out of the people we sampled, half had not taken the vaccination,” Rilwanu Mohammed said. “The children sampled were under the age of five, and half had not taken the vaccination.”Traditional medicineWhile apathy among parents is the main challenge to vaccines, some Nigerians also opt for traditional medicine instead, like Ahmadu Mohammad, who claims he was cured from yellow fever by visiting the community traditional healer.Mohammad said that people use with herbal medicine and don’t often go to a hospital. He said the treatment is a syringe placed in fire, and once the needle turns red, the herbal doctor prays on the syringe before piercing it into the chest. He said that is the gift God has given the herbal doctor.Aisha Rufai is an immunologist in the city of Jos. He believes more Nigerians are willing to get the yellow fever vaccine, which lasts a lifetime.“There is great awareness now, almost everybody is aware of immunization now, so that of traditional, you’ll find out that it is a very minute number of people that go for traditional,” Rufai said. The Nigerian federal government plans to carry out a massive yellow fever immunization campaign across five high-risk yellow fever states starting mid-January.
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In Lawsuit, DOJ Accuses Walmart of Fueling Opioid Crisis
Retail giant Walmart Inc. is facing a civil lawsuit from the Department of Justice alleging the company “unlawfully dispensed” controlled substances, including opioids “throughout the height of the prescription opioid crisis.” Walmart has pledged to fight the lawsuit. According to a news release, the DOJ alleges Walmart, which operates over 5,000 pharmacies nationwide, violated the Controlled Substances Act “hundreds of thousands” of times. The DOJ says Walmart “knowingly filled thousands of controlled substance prescriptions that were not issued for legitimate medical purposes or in the usual course of medical practice, and that it filled prescriptions outside the ordinary course of pharmacy practice.” The complaint further alleges that “as the operator of its distribution centers, which ceased distributing controlled substances in 2018, Walmart received hundreds of thousands of suspicious orders that it failed to report as required to by the DEA.” In combination, these failures “helped to fuel the prescription opioid crisis,” according to the DOJ. Penalties could be billions of dollarsIf found liable, Walmart could end up paying billions of dollars in civil penalties, with a maximum of $67,000 per unlawful prescription filled and $15,000 for each suspicious prescription it failed to report. “It has been a priority of this administration to hold accountable those responsible for the prescription opioid crisis. As one of the largest pharmacy chains and wholesale drug distributors in the country, Walmart had the responsibility and the means to help prevent the diversion of prescription opioids,” said Jeffrey Bossert Clark, acting assistant attorney general of the Civil Division, in a news release. “Instead, for years, it did the opposite — filling thousands of invalid prescriptions at its pharmacies and failing to report suspicious orders of opioids and other drugs placed by those pharmacies,” Clark said. “This unlawful conduct contributed to the epidemic of opioid abuse throughout the United States. Today’s filing represents an important step in the effort to hold Walmart accountable for such conduct.” In a statement, Walmart said the lawsuit “is riddled with factual inaccuracies and cherry-picked documents taken out of context” and that the DOJ is attempting “to shift blame from DEA’s well-documented failures in keeping bad doctors from prescribing opioids in the first place.” According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in 2018 an average of 128 people in the U.S. died daily from opioid overdose. The cost of the crisis was estimated to be $78.5 billion per year.
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Russia Sends 300 Military Instructors to Central Africa Republic
Russia has sent 300 military instructors to the Central African Republic at the request of the country’s leadership to help counter a surge in rebel violence ahead of Sunday’s election, Russia’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday.Officials and a security source in the Central African capital Bangui said earlier on Monday that Rwanda and Russia had dispatched troops and supplies.The 300 Russian instructors coming at the request of Bangui authorities are to provide training to the national army.They could bolster security forces and over 12,000 United Nations peacekeepers as armed rebel groups, some of whom fought one another in the country’s prolonged conflict, have formed an alliance and are threatening to march on the capital.”We are carefully following the unfolding situation in the Central African Republic,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. “We are seriously concerned that the events of recent days have led to a sharp deterioration in the security situation in this country.”The mineral-rich but deeply impoverished country has struggled to regain stability since 2013 when then-President Francois Bozize was ousted by a rebellion of mainly Muslim Seleka rebels.Alleged human rights abuses by the Seleka sparked reprisals from the mostly Christian Anti-balaka militia, plunging the landlocked country into a spiral of tit-for-tat violence.Clashes surged in the days after the country’s highest court barred Bozize from running in Sunday’s election.President Faustin-Archange Touadera’s government has accused Bozize of plotting a coup.Some political parties have called for the election to be postponed due to the spate of violence, while the International Crisis Group think tank urged neighboring heads of state on Tuesday to help Bozize and Touadera strike a deal and calm the situation to ensure the election can proceed.The United Nations mission in Central African Republic and the government insist that the vote will go ahead.Security and diplomatic sources said on Tuesday a rebel group had seized control of Bambari, a trading hub around 380 kilometers (235 miles) east of the capital. The government could not be reached for comment.Mankeur Ndiaye, the U.N. envoy in Central African Republic, told a news conference on Tuesday the security situation was relatively calm, and measures were in place to secure the vote.”If the elections don’t hold … we risk entering a period of uncontrolled instability,” Ndiaye said.
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Biden Addresses COVID-19 Bill, Holiday Pandemic Precautions
President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday expressed empathy with struggling families and applauded Congress for passing the coronavirus relief bill as the nation deals with a COVID-19 surge that’s casting a shadow over the Christmas holiday. He called out to frontline workers, scientists, researchers, clinical trial participants and those with deployed family members during the holiday season. “Our hearts are always with you — keep the faith,” he said in a year-end address from Wilmington, Delaware. Noting the ways that the pandemic has altered his own holiday celebrations, which typically include up to two dozen relatives, Biden said, “not this year.” “This season of reflection carries a much deeper meaning than it usually does,” Biden said, encouraging Americans to continue to take precautions to try to stem the spread of the virus, which has now killed more than 320,000 people in the United States. “Jill and I send our prayers, as I’m sure all of you do, to all that are facing this dark winter,” he said, referring to his wife. The day before, Biden got vaccinated on live television as part of an effort to reassure people that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe. Biden Receives COVID-19 VaccinationThe president-elect is inoculated on live television as US case count surpasses 18 million”I look forward to the second shot, and I have absolute confidence in the vaccine,” Biden said. “But we’re in short supply.” On the $900 billion coronavirus aid bill passed by Congress on Monday, Biden called the bill a “down payment” on a broader relief bill he plans to introduce when he takes office in January. “Like all compromises, this is far from perfect,” Biden said. “Congress did their job this week, and I can and I must ask them to do it again next year.” Staff appointmentsOn Tuesday, Biden’s team also announced a new round of White House staff appointments, led by longtime aide Bruce Reed as deputy chief of staff. Reed served as Biden’s chief of staff during his first term as vice president and has long been a close member of Biden’s inner circle of advisers. But throughout the weeks of speculation over Biden’s Cabinet selections, progressives have expressed concerns about what they see as Reed’s moderate political views and fiscal conservatism. Progressives notched a win in the latest round of staff announcements, however, with the appointment of Gautam Raghavan as deputy director of the office of presidential personnel. Raghavan served as chief of staff to Representative Pramila Jayapal, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and in his new position he’ll help evaluate applicants for thousands of federal jobs and appointments throughout the administration. Biden has also appointed Anne Filipic as director of management and administration, Ryan Montoya as director of scheduling and advance, Vinay Reddy as director of speechwriting and Elizabeth Wilkins as a senior adviser to the chief of staff. All are alumni of the Obama-Biden administration, and Montoya and Reddy worked on Biden’s campaign as well.
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US Congress Passes Landmark Bill in Support of Tibet
The U.S. Congress on Monday passed a bill that is expected to upgrade U.S. support for Tibetans in key areas, including sanctioning Chinese officials if they try to appoint the next Dalai Lama. The Tibetan Policy and Support Act (TPSA) was passed by the House and Senate as an amendment to the $1.4 trillion government-spending bill and the $900 billion coronavirus relief package. It will pave the way for the U.S. government to issue economic and visa sanctions against any Chinese officials who interfere with the succession of the Dalai Lama, and will require China to allow Washington to establish a consulate in Lhasa — the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region – before Beijing can open any more consulates in the U.S. The bill, backed by both Democrats and Republicans, is expected to be signed into law by President Donald Trump. Lobsang Sangay, president of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the Tibetan government in exile, called passage of the bill “a momentous landmark for the Tibetan people.” FILE – Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, right, listens to Lobsang Sangay, president of the Tibetan government-in-exile, during an event at the Kirti Monastery in Dharmsala, India, Dec. 7, 2019.“Any interference by Chinese government officials will be met with serious sanctions and be deemed inadmissible into the United States,” he told VOA’s Tibetan Service. “By passing the TPSA, Congress has sent its message loud and clear that Tibet remains a priority for the United States and that it will continue its steadfast support for His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the CTA,” said Sangay, who is at the helm for his second consecutive term. Rights group International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said the bipartisan TPSA will launch a new era in U.S. policy on Tibet. “By passing the TPSA, Congress has not only upgraded its overall support for Tibet, but specifically laid a marker down on the global stage declaring that the international community will not accept China’s interference in the Dalai Lama’s succession and will oppose China’s human rights abuses in Tibet for as long as they continue,” Tibet Autonomous RegionBuilt on the landmark Tibetan Policy Act of 2002, the TPSA addresses Tibetan human rights, environmental rights, religious freedoms and the democratic Tibetan government in exile. It also calls for a regional framework to water-security issues, following years of concerns from environmental activists and neighboring countries that ambitious Chinese hydropower projects are diverting water, threatening regional ecosystems. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Tuesday that China strongly opposed the bill. In the daily briefing, Wang claimed that issues involving Tibet, Taiwan and Hong Kong “concern China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” and urged the U.S. to “stop meddling in Beijing’s internal affairs.” The legislation also touches on the controversy around the succession of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader who is also a global Buddhist authority. The Dalai Lama is expected to reincarnate after he dies, and there is widespread belief that the Chinese government will interfere in the process and appoint its own Dalai Lama for political purposes. The TPSA says that naming the next Dalai Lama should be left solely to the Tibetan Buddhist community and that the official position of the U.S. is that China cannot interfere in the selection. China regards the exiled Dalai Lama as a separatist and criticizes foreign officials who meet with him. The Dalai Lama has spoken occasionally about his plans for reincarnation. In 2011, he told an audience he would decide when he is about 90 years old whether he should be reincarnated. He is currently 85.
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China Expands Influence in Mediterranean as European Investment Weakens
Top European Union officials say the bloc must invest more heavily in Mediterranean countries to be able to compete with China. Beijing has financed or purchased key infrastructure in the region as part of its so-called Belt and Road Initiative. More in this report by Alfonso Beato in Barcelona, narrated by Henry Ridgwell.Camera: Alfonso Beato Produced by: Rod James
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Journalist Murders Double in 2020, Press Freedom Group Says
The number of journalists murdered for their work doubled in 2020, as criminal gangs and militant groups sought to silence reporting with violence, a new report says. At least 30 journalists were killed between January 1 and December 15, including 21 who were murdered, and others who were killed in crossfire or while on assignments, the report by press freedom organization the FILE – Afghan journalist Rahmatullah Nikzad poses for a photograph in Kabul, July 29, 2019. He was killed Dec. 21, 2020.Rahmatullah Nikzad, who was head of a local press union, is the fifth journalist to be killed in Afghanistan in the past two months. The attacks also claimed the life of Elyas Dayee, a reporter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Afghan service. Cartels, criminal groups and militants in democratic but violent countries account for the doubling of murders in 2020, CPJ found. Two of the deadliest countries — Mexico and the Philippines — have protection mechanisms in place that are supposed to improve journalist safety. A failure to secure prosecutions in journalist killings adds to the problem, said Courtney Radsch, advocacy director at CPJ. “Nobody is typically held accountable, and there are not meaningful investigations into a lot of these murders,” Radsch said. “It just sends a signal that reporters are expendable, and you don’t really need to worry because no one’s going to hold you accountable.” FILE – People hold posters of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, near the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, marking the two-year anniversary of his death, Oct. 2, 2020.“We need people to be brave enough to continue exposing corruption, exposing crime,” he said. The United States has introduced legislation that will hold countries that commit rights abuses against journalists accountable via sanctions and restrictions on foreign aid. The Jamal Khashoggi Press Freedom Accountability Act was named in honor of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Khashoggi who was killed in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul. “We must ensure that journalists in the United States and around the world are able to do their jobs without fear of harm,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who proposed the bill with her Democratic colleague Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont. “It is unacceptable to suppress, imprison and violently target the press, and the Jamal Khashoggi Act would ensure that the United States holds foreign governments who attempt to do so accountable.”
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Mega Coronavirus and Government Spending Bill Tackles Climate Change
Major climate and clean energy measures are tucked inside the package of $1.4 trillion in annual spending to fund the government and $900 billion to provide COVID-19 relief approved by Congress late Monday. It’s a rare bit of bipartisan agreement on an issue that has been mostly stalled in Congress while global temperatures rise and climate change-driven disasters pile up. Environmental groups said the initiative is a start, but much more needs to be done. FILE – A worker installs solar panels on a roof at Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles, California, Aug. 8, 2019.The measure provides short-term tax breaks for solar and wind power and for technology to remove planet-warming carbon dioxide from power plant and industrial emissions, known as carbon capture and sequestration. It phases down the use of extremely powerful greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in cooling systems. Clean-energy research and development get a funding boost as well. In all there is roughly $35 billion of new funding for renewable technology and energy efficiency in the legislation, according to advocate groups. “Over the last few years, we found a great deal of cynicism that a bill like this could actually get done,” U.S. Chamber of Commerce senior vice president of policy Marty Durbin said in a statement. “But passage of this bill will prove that there is common ground on which all sides of the debate can come together.” Durbin described the bill as “truly historic — setting up the biggest action Congress has ever taken to address climate change, and the first energy bill in 13 years.” Greenpeace USA Democracy Campaign Director Folabi Olagbaju called it “a step in the right direction but simply not good enough to meet the magnitude of the moment.” Bruce McDougal prepares to defend his home as the Bond Fire burns though the Silverado community in Orange County, California, Dec. 3, 2020.2020 is on track to be the warmest or second-warmest year on record. Scientists say dramatic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions need to happen worldwide, and soon, to avoid catastrophic global warming. Congress has done little to address the problem since 2010, when a bill aiming to charge polluters for emissions failed in the Senate. The new spending bill extends an existing tax credit that benefits solar power by two years. It extends a tax credit for land-based wind power by one year and creates a new credit for offshore wind. A credit for carbon capture and sequestration, a technology that is only deployed on commercial scale at a handful of facilities, gets a two-year extension. The hydrofluorcarbon chemical phase-down brings the United States in line with a United Nations treaty signed by 197 other countries. Business groups supported it, but the measure faced opposition from a few key Republicans concerned about stricter state and local measures creating a patchwork of regulations. The new measure bars them from regulating HFCs for five years. The wide-ranging spending bill includes a potluck of other measures environmentalists back, including programs to reduce diesel pollution, transition to electric school buses and weatherize low-income homes. It also reverses Trump administration cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and climate change programs at NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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US Economy Grows at Record Pace in 3rd Quarter
The U.S. economy grew at a record pace in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, though its growth appears to have slowed as the year approaches an end during the country’s worsening coronavirus crisis. The U.S. economy grew at a 33.4% annual pace during a three-month period ending in September, due in large part to the $2.2 trillion in pandemic stimulus package Congress passed in March. The economy’s third-quarter growth marked a dramatic recovery from its second-quarter 31.4% contraction, it’s sharpest since the U.S. began keeping records in 1947, fueled by the worsening effects of the pandemic beginning in mid-March. The U.S. economy remains 3.5% smaller than it was at the end of 2019. Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, helped fuel the third quarter recovery. Consumption appears to have since cooled, however, with retail sales falling in October and November as household incomes fell when a government-funded weekly unemployment subsidy expired. FILE – A shopper wearing a face mask walks by the Christmas decorations at The Grove outdoor shopping center, amid the Coronavirus pandemic, Nov. 5, 2020, in Los Angeles.As the pandemic intensifies in the U.S., cumulatively infecting more than 18 million people and causing nearly 320,000 deaths, consumer spending has declined, while layoffs have increased. But after months of delays, Congress passed a rescue package Monday valued at nearly $900 billion, which includes direct payments to most Americans and enhanced payments to unemployed people. The measure also expands a small-business lending program and directs funds to schools, vaccine distribution, airlines and transit systems. Although the additional relief funds will help stimulate the economy, many economists say it will have a limited impact, noting the bill excluded aid for state and local governments, whose budgets have been hard hit by the pandemic.
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South Africa Sees New Virus Variant, But Stresses: Don’t Panic
South African health officials say the nation’s new COVID-19 wave is driven by a new variant of the coronavirus. But they say if there is one overarching message about the new variant, it is this: don’t panic.In recent days, South Africa has seen a strong second wave, with the government documenting about 9,000 new cases a day. That leaves the nation, Africa’s epicenter for the virus, with nearly 350,000 confirmed cases since March, and nearly 25,000 deaths.Health Minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize said epidemiologists expect to see a further rise as many South Africans return to work in January from a monthlong summer holiday. However, he said there is no need for a change in strategy.“There’s no need to panic, to think that there’s some new treatment that we’re going to need, or at this point to ask the question as to whether any of the treatment that has been used is going to be effective or not,” he said at a virtual briefing Friday. “At the moment, it has been effective even before we knew that there was a variant. So we want to keep that as a matter of reassurance to the public,” he said.South African Medical Association chairperson, Dr. Angelique Coetzee, said doctors have noticed one “major” difference with regard to the variant.“Where in the past the younger people was not really that sick, we are now seeing that people, especially overweight people, round about the age between 20 and 30, are also in ICU with severe inflammation from this virus,” she said. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said Monday the new variant is no stronger than the original.”In the past few days, there have been reports of new variants in South Africa and the United Kingdom,” he said. “Viruses mutate over time; that’s natural and expected. The U.K. has reported that this new variant transmits more easily, but there is no evidence so far that it is more likely to cause severe disease or mortality,” he said.The chair of South Africa’s advisory committee on the coronavirus, Dr. Salim Abdool Karim, said Friday the nation’s top sequencing lab found this new strain in about 90 percent of new cases. This, he stressed, is typical of viruses: they generally evolve to become more transmissible — but also, less severe.He said the second wave is so far showing signs that it is spreading faster than the first wave. But is it stronger and deadlier? So far, he said, there are no signs of that.He also noted that experts are studying whether the new vaccines will work on the new variant. So far, he said, the data is inconclusive. On Tuesday, the health department announced that the government had made a $19 million down payment to the international vaccine alliance. Those funds will go toward providing 6 million doses —which will cover about 10 percent of the population.Karim stressed that the single best strategy is to give the virus no quarter and starve it into submission.“The current diagnostics are still effective,” he said. “Our current strategies of social distancing, hand hygiene, symptom checking, mask wearing — all of them remain the basic strategies of prevention for this virus.”Professor Richard Lessells of the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform in Durban is one of the scientists who identified the new varient.“It’s highly unlikely that it would have any different clinical symptoms. There’s no reason to believe that and that wouldn’t fit with our understanding. But one of our concerns is could there be a difference in the progression of the disease and a more aggressive disease course,” he said.South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases has posted a list of frequently asked questions about on the new variant on its website, www.NICD.ac.za.Meanwhile, here’s what it comes down to: wash your hands. Keep your distance from others. Stay home, if you can. Essentially, treat this new strain the same as the old one, keep calm, and carry on. (Darren Taylor contributed to this story.)
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UNHCR Issues Urgent Appeal for Ethiopian Refugees Fleeing Conflict in Tigray
The United Nations refugee agency and 30 humanitarian groups have issued an urgent appeal for $156 million to help Ethiopian refugees from the Tigray Region and people in their host countries for the next six months.So far, refugees fleeing conflict in Ethiopia’s northern province of Tigray have sought refuge in neighboring Sudan. However, the U.N. refugee agency says that is likely to change. The agency says refugees, who reportedly are being prevented from leaving Ethiopia, might try to flee to Djibouti and Eritrea, instead.The multi-agency appeal launched Tuesday aims to support the three governments and others in the region in facilitating access to asylum and the provision of lifesaving aid for those forced to flee.UN: More Than 2 Million Children in Ethiopia’s Tigray in Need of AidUNICEF is demanding access to the restive region to provide humanitarian assistance to children deprived of basic means by ongoing fighting Aid agencies note a significant slowdown in the number of Ethiopians seeking asylum in neighboring Sudan. UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic says the total has now topped 52,000.“Despite the number of new arrivals dropping more recently to some 500 a day, aid agencies are dealing with a full-scale humanitarian emergency in a very remote area that has not seen such a large influx in decades,” Mahecic said. Mahecic says funding will pay for a number of critical activities, including registration and documentation, the decongestion of sites in border areas and transfer of refugees to new settlements. Ethiopia’s War-Scarred Tigray Region Regains Some ServicesThousands of people are believed to have been killed and nearly a million fled their homes during airstrikes and ground battles in Tigray that exposed bitter ethnic divisions“Currently, many refugees remain in overcrowded conditions without proper facilities, and there continues to be a shortage of medicine and other supplies,” Mahecic said. “We have seen a huge demand for family tracing and reunification, education and child-friendly spaces, and nutritional programs.” Spokesman Mahecic says more than 20,000 refugees already have been relocated away from the border areas to the Um Rakuba camp, and work has begun on a new site located even further inside Sudan to accommodate more refugees.Other priorities included in the appeal are for food, health, shelter and specific protection needs for women and girls at risk, unaccompanied minors, the disabled and the elderly.
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German Health Official Suggests New Coronavirus Strain Already in the Country
The head of Germany’s Robert Koch Institute, the country’s national public health organization, says it is likely the variant of the coronavirus recently identified in Britain has already made its way to Germany.Speaking to reporters Tuesday in Berlin, Lothar Wieler said that while he has not heard of any actual case in Germany, he said they know the strain was first found in Britain in September and has since been discovered in the Netherlands and Denmark. He said that means the likelihood of it being in Germany already but undiscovered, is probably “very, very high.”The discovery of the new variant has prompted many nations to ban air travel from Britain. On Monday, officials with the World Health Organization (WHO) said that while there may be evidence the variant spreads more quickly, there is no evidence it is severer or deadlier. WHO officials said virus variations are common, and the best way to prevent them is to prevent transmissions.Meanwhile, the chief executive officer of BioNTech, co-creator of the first coronavirus vaccine approved for use in Europe, said, “Scientifically, it is highly likely” that the immune response created by their vaccine also can deal with the new variant. But he cautioned the new variant has nine mutations and they do not know for sure if the vaccine will also provide protection against it.The European Medicines Agency (EMA), the continent’s drug regulator, gave initial approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine Monday, and Europe Union officials say they expect vaccinations to begin December 27. Wieler said the EMA approval of the vaccine is good news, but the shots will not change the overall situation for a very long time. He urged people to continue limiting contacts with others as the virus continues to spread in the country.
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FIFA Files Criminal Complaint Against Blatter Over Museum
FIFA has filed a criminal complaint against former president Sepp Blatter over the finances of its loss-making soccer museum in Zurich. Soccer’s governing body said on Tuesday it suspected “criminal mismanagement by FIFA’s former management and companies appointed by them” to work on the museum — long seen as a pet project of Blatter’s — in a renovated and rented city center building. The FIFA World Football Museum opened in 2016 after $140 million of soccer money was spent refurbishing the 1970s office building to also include 34 rental apartments. It was meant to open around May 2015, when Blatter won a fifth presidential election, but was delayed until after he left office amid pressure from American and Swiss investigations of international soccer officials. FILE – Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter talks to the media as he arrives before a commemoration service for the former coach of the Swiss national soccer team Koebi Kuhn at the Grossmuenster church in Zurich, Dec. 13, 2019.Blatter committed FIFA to a rental contract with the building’s owner, insurance firm Swiss Life, that requires paying $360 million through 2045 at above market rates, soccer’s world body said. FIFA said its criminal complaint following an external audit of the project was delivered by hand to canton (state) prosecutors in Zurich. “That audit revealed a wide range of suspicious circumstances and management failures, some of which may be criminal in nature and which therefore need to be properly investigated by the relevant authorities,” FIFA deputy secretary general for administration Alasdair Bell said in a statement. The Zurich prosecution office acknowledged receiving the complaint without giving more details. Blatter’s lawyer, Lorenz Erni, said in a statement: “The allegations are baseless and are vehemently denied.” Blatter risks investigation at local level while already a suspect in two criminal proceedings opened by federal prosecutors into how he spent FIFA’s money as president. Those investigations involve FIFA paying $2 million to former UEFA president Michel Platini in 2011 and $1 million to the Trinidad and Tobago soccer body — effectively to disgraced former FIFA vice president Jack Warner — weeks before the Caribbean islands’ general election in 2010. “Given the massive costs associated with this museum, as well as the general way of working of the previous FIFA management, a forensic audit was conducted in order to find out what really happened here,” Bell said. The museum has made a loss each year including $50 million in 2016 that included one-off costs, FIFA said then in its financial report. The most recent FIFA accounts for 2019 show almost $3.5 million revenue from the FIFA World Football Museum and $6.3 million costs for “investment and expenses.” There was a record 161,700 visitors at the Zurich building last year. In the 2018 accounts, museum revenue was almost $4 million against $12 million in spending. The FIFA museum was identified closely with Blatter from the time it was announced in April 2012. His executive committee had already approved 180 million Swiss francs ($203 million) for what was being called “Project Libero,” and forecast to attract 300,000 visitors each year. “It is high time that world football had a meeting place for its millions of fans,” Blatter said then of a museum originally to be built underground next to FIFA’s headquarters on a wooded hillside above the city. One year later, the museum plan changed to a FIFA-funded renovation of a modernist building owned by Swiss Life. FIFA said in a 2013 news release it signed a 40-year rental of “Haus zur Enge.” The museum would “occupy the second basement level through to the first floor” with office space and apartments on the upper levels to the ninth story. “The FIFA museum project is a stroke of luck for Zurich and is a perfect fit for Swiss Life’s investment policy,” the insurance firm’s chairman, Rolf Dörig, said in the FIFA statement. In a statement on Tuesday, Swiss Life said “we consider this a matter for FIFA. Therefore, we have no further comment.” When the museum formally opened on Feb. 28, 2016 it was a first public duty for the new FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, who had been elected two days earlier. Blatter did not attend the ceremony and had begun serving a ban from soccer by FIFA’s ethics committee after Swiss authorities revealed the Platini payment in September 2015. The ban expires next October when Blatter will be 85. FIFA said on Tuesday its files on the museum project will be sent to ethics investigators. The complaint filed against Blatter is the latest act in a busy year in criminal investigations linked to FIFA’s past and present presidents. At least four criminal complaints were filed anonymously against Infantino and Switzerland’s attorney general, Michael Lauber, about three meetings they had in 2016 and 2017. Lauber was forced from office in the fallout including misleading a committee overseeing his work. A special prosecutor appointed by Switzerland’s parliament to examine the meetings opened a case against Infantino in July. Potential charges include inciting Lauber to abuse his public office. Blatter spoke this month with the special prosecutor, Stefan Keller. Keller also recommended this month that federal prosecutors investigate Infantino for using a private jet on FIFA business in 2017. He could not open his own case because his remit is limited to matters involving Lauber. FIFA said two weeks ago that Keller’s “malicious and defamatory” statement “borders on character assassination.”
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South Africa Identifies New, Virulent Strain of COVID-19
South African scientists say new variant of COVID-19 virus is causing resurgence of cases
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Mount Vernon Estate in Virginia Glows for Christmas
Many events for the Christmas holidays in the United States were canceled or held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.But at Mount Vernon in Alexandria, Virginia, the Christmas spirit is being kept alive through an event called Winter Glow, when the large estate is illuminated at night during the season.“We have music, the trees are lit up in different colors, and moving snowflakes are being projected onto the mansion,” said Melanie Adams, an interpreter supervisor at Mount Vernon.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
Justin Cherry bakes bread in a clay, wood-fired oven he made. He uses the same kind of wheat that was grown on Mount Vernon during Washington’s time. (Photo: Deborah Block)“I made this mobile wood-fired clay oven that is based on a style that was commonly found on Virginia plantations in the 18th century,” he said. “The bread is made from the same kind of wheat Washington grew on this farm.”“Winter Glow is a nice blend of the old and new,” said visitor Michael McCowan. “The snowflake projection and other lighting is contemporary,” and it is interesting to listen to people in period dress explain what Christmas was like in Washington’s time,” he said.In colonial America, the holiday began on Christmas Eve and went through the Twelfth Night (January 5), explained Mount Vernon associate curator Jessie MacLeod. “It was a joyous celebration of family and friends with music, dancing and elaborate meals,” she said.But for the more than 300 people who were enslaved at Mount Vernon, Christmas meant little joy. “Generally, they received about 4 days off at Christmastime, which was the largest stretch of time they got off during the year,” MacLeod said, “and some of them may have received extra rations of food.”She said in the late 1700s, “the holiday was much more low key than Christmas in the modern world,” with no decorations or presents.And no Christmas trees, like the ones adding a festive touch to the visitors center. Christmas trees didn’t become popular until the next century.But Christmas carols were popular.Deborah Brower and her son Rob Himberter who are carolers at Mount Vernon, sang together by a fire on a cool night.Mount Vernon Christmas carolers Deborah Brower and her son Rob Himberter perform songs that were popular during the colonial era. (Photo: Dan Chung)“I’ve been doing this with my mom for 20 years,” said Himberter. “We mostly perform songs from Washington’s time, especially party and game songs.”“It has been strange singing carols with masks and we are a bit muffled,” Brower added, ”but we wanted to be sure we did not spread the virus by singing.”Aladdin the Christmas camel with Tom Plott, who portrays President Washington’s farm manager. Aladdin has been a fixture during the holiday season for the past 13 years. (Courtesy: Mount Vernon)Christmas at Mount Vernon also features a camel, named Aladdin, that usually lives on a farm in Virginia, but has been a fixture at the estate during the holiday season for the past 13 years.The reason goes back to George Washington.In 1787, the president met a man with a camel who was traveling through the area during Christmastime. Washington paid him to bring the animal to Mount Vernon for a few days for the enjoyment of his guests.From a fenced-in area, Aladdin curiously eyed the visitors who were staring at him.“Aladdin is my buddy,” said Tom Plott, manager of character interpretation, as he stood near the one-hump camel.“He’s a sweet guy, like an affectionate big dog, and I talk to him,” said Plott, who portrays Washington’s farm manager. “But Aladdin can also be stubborn and turn his back when he’s not in the mood to interact with people,” he added.Justin Fierova, a first-time visitor from Texas, said he loved seeing the camel.“Plus, the lights are beautiful and the history is fascinating,” he said. “And after spending so much time at home during the pandemic, it is really nice to see people again.”
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US Considers Requiring Travelers from Britain to Prove They Tested Negative for COVID-19
U.S. officials are considering a requirement for all travelers from Britain to offer proof they have tested negative for COVID-19.News outlets say the White House coronavirus task force met Monday and discussed crafting a rule that passengers prove they have taken a negative test within 48 or 72 hours before leaving Britain.The proposed rule comes as more than 40 countries have suspended travelers from Britain in response to a dramatic rise of infections because of a new strain of COVID-19 sweeping across southern Britain.Britain Blockaded: Dozens of Countries Impose Travel Ban Over Coronavirus Mutation France bans all passenger and accompanied freight from Britain, raising fears of supply shortages ahead of Brexit The U.S. has not restricted flights from Britain, however, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he has asked airlines flying into the state from Britain to make all passengers take a COVID-19 test before they get on the plane. Three airlines, Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and Delta Airlines, have agreed to Gov. Cuomo’s request.In the western U.S., Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington state Monday ordered a 14-day quarantine for all travelers entering the state from Britain and South Africa, where a similar mutation of COVID-19 has been identified.Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Monday it is possible the new variant of the novel coronavirus is already in the United States.The World Health Organization cautioned Monday against major alarm over the new strain of COVID-19, noting there is no evidence that the strain is more lethal than existing known strains of the virus and that such mutations are a normal part of a pandemic’s evolution.“It’s very important to tell the public the way it is, but it’s also important to get across that this is a normal part of virus evolution,” WHO emergencies chief Mike Ryan told an online briefing from Geneva.WHO Says No Evidence Coronavirus Variant is Deadlier, More Severe Social distancing remains best way to avoid catching virus, experts sayDiscovery of the new variant has overshadowed the introduction of the new COVID-19 vaccines developed separately by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Hospitals across the United States received nearly 6 million doses of the vaccine developed by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health, adding to the 2.9 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine shipped last week for a vaccination effort that has started with front-line health care workers and nursing home residents.The European Union Monday authorized use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine across the 27-nation bloc after its regulatory agency, the European Medicines Agency said the inoculation meets quality and safety standards.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said deliveries of the vaccine are scheduled to start Saturday, with inoculations beginning across the EU Dec. 27-29.“This is a very good way to end this difficult year and to finally start turning the page on COVID-19,” she said of the disease caused by the coronavirus.EU Approves Pfizer-BioNTech COVID Vaccine US begins distributing second coronavirus vaccine across the countryThe Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Chinese vaccine maker Sinovac Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine was shown to be effective in late-stage trials in Brazil, citing people involved in the vaccine’s development.The Journal said Brazil is the first country to complete late-stage trials of Sinovac’s vaccine, CoronaVac, which is also being tested in Indonesia and Turkey. It said Brazilian officials will announce the vaccine’s efficacy rate Wednesday. With the number of new COVID-19 vaccines increasing, the Vatican says it is “morally acceptable” for Roman Catholics to receive vaccines developed using tissue from aborted fetuses. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Church’s doctrinal oversight office, issued a statement Monday granting permission for Catholics to take such vaccines because it does not “constitute formal cooperation” with the means in which the tissue was obtained. The office also said it is not always possible to obtain vaccines that do not pose an ethical dilemma. The Vatican’s statement echoes one made last week by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to American Catholics, who said receiving the vaccines is justified “in view of the gravity of the current pandemic and the lack of availability of alternative vaccines.” The Roman Catholic Church has long opposed development of vaccines or other therapeutic treatments using stem cells obtained from abortions, which the Church considers a moral sin. The Vatican’s doctrinal office said that vaccination must be voluntary, and that those who refuse to be vaccinated “must do their utmost” to avoid becoming infected and spreading the disease. The office also said there is a “moral imperative” for the pharmaceutical industry, governments and international organizations to ensure that vaccines “are also accessible to the poorest countries”.
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More Than 70 West Point Cadets Accused of Cheating on Exam
More than 70 cadets training at the U.S. Military Academy to be Army officers have been accused of cheating on a math exam taken online when they were studying remotely because of the coronavirus pandemic. Lt. Col. Christopher Ophardt, spokesman for the academy at West Point, said Monday that 73 cadets were accused of cheating on the calculus exam in May after instructors noticed irregularities in answers. All but one were freshmen, or plebes, in a class of 1,200. The other was a sophomore. “West Point honor code and character development program remains strong despite remote learning and the challenges brought by the pandemic,” Ophardt said. “Cadets are being held accountable for breaking the code.” After an investigation by an honors committee made up of trained cadets, two cases were dropped for lack of evidence and four were dropped because the cadets resigned, Ophardt said. Of the remaining 67 cases, 55 cadets have admitted cheating and have been enrolled in a six-month rehabilitation program focused on ethics. They will be on probation for the rest of their time at the academy. Three more cadets admitted cheating but weren’t eligible for the rehabilitation program. The remaining cadets accused of cheating face administrative hearings to determine if they’ve violated the honor code and to recommend penalties, which could include expulsion. The cheating scandal is the biggest at West Point since 1976, when 153 cadets resigned or were expelled for cheating on an electrical engineering exam. The 1976 case is considered more serious, Ophardt said, because it was upperclassmen who planned, collaborated and executed the cheating. “The whole system broke down,” Ophardt said. In the 1976 cheating scandal, the secretary of the Army appointed a select commission headed by former astronaut Frank Borman to review the case and more than 90 of those caught cheating were reinstated and allowed to graduate, Ophardt said.
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