Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera is officially beginning his second term Tuesday, a day after the Constitutional Court confirmed his election victory last month. The country’s highest court said the turnout was suppressed by armed groups, which impacted voters’ ability to cast their ballots. Following the court’s announcement, President Touadera said he is willing to have talks with those wishing to work toward peace and the development of the impoverished country, but not with those who want to drag Central African Republic into blind violence, adding justice will deal with them. Opposition candidates angered over Touadera’s win say the election was rife with fraud and irregularities. The Constitutional Court ruled those claims were not legitimate, but that has not stopped the violence. The rebels, protesting Touadera’s re-election on Dec. 27, attempted to overtake the capital, Bangui, just last week. Now, Touadera’s ability to quell the violence and begin working on his administration’s agenda may hinge largely on the help he relies on from U.N. peacekeeping forces and military support from Russia and Rwanda.
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Month: January 2021
China Vows to Take Action Against US Officials for ‘Nasty Behavior’ in Regards to Taiwan
China says it will impose sanctions on U.S. officials who have engaged in what it described as “nasty behavior” over dealings with Taiwan. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying issued the vow Monday during a daily briefing with reporters in Beijing, without mentioning any specific individuals or what actions would be taken against them. China has vowed to counter a decision made by outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued on FILE – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a briefing to the media at the State Department in Washington, Nov. 10, 2020.Beijing’s anger was further stoked when Kelly Craft, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, spoke directly to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen after calling off a planned trip to the island. Beijing considers the democratically-ruled island as part of its territory despite their break since the end of China’s civil war in 1949, when Mao Zedong’s Communist forces drove Chaing Kai-shek’s Nationalist forces off the mainland to Taiwan. Washington officially switched formal diplomatic relations from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, but the Trump administration has angered China as it increasingly embraced Taiwan both diplomatically and militarily since taking office in 2017. China stepped up military flights into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone after Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar traveled to Taiwan in August and State Department Undersecretary Keith Krach arrived a month later.
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UN Recognizes ‘Tangible Progress’ on Solving Libya Crisis
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed “tangible progress” made in recent months in tackling Libya’s almost decade-long crisis, in a report submitted Monday to the Security Council in which he demanded all foreign troops and mercenaries leave the country by the week’s end. “Tangible progress was achieved in advancing the UNSMIL-facilitated political, security and economic intra-Libyan dialogues over the last few months,” said the document, obtained by AFP and referring to the U.N. mission in Libya. Guterres said that “sustained international engagement” in U.N.-facilitated talks “has generated considerable impetus, demonstrated by tangible progress on the political, security, economic and international humanitarian law and human rights tracks, moving Libya forward on the road to peace, stability and development.” Recognizing that the “Libyan economy is at a precipice,” the U.N. head urged all parties in the drawn-out civil war “to maintain their resolve in reaching a lasting political solution to the conflict, resolving economic issues and alleviating the humanitarian situation for the benefit of all Libyan people.” He also urged all “regional and international actors to respect the provisions of the cease-fire agreement” agreed to October 23 that set out a withdrawal within three months of all foreign troops and mercenaries from the country. That deadline for withdrawal falls on Saturday, and the U.N. estimates there are about 20,000 foreign forces and mercenaries in Libya helping the warring factions, the U.N.-backed Government of National Unity in Tripoli and strongman Khalifa Haftar in the east of the country. Guterres encouraged all parties to implement the terms of the cease-fire “without delay,” something he noted “includes ensuring the departure of all foreign fighters and mercenaries from Libya, and the full and unconditional respect of the Security Council arms embargo,” which has been in place since the conflict broke out almost a decade ago. The next meeting of the Security Council on Libya is scheduled for January 28. Britain is preparing a resolution for the U.N. mission to have a supervisory role and to monitor the departure of foreign forces from Libya to ensure the terms of October agreement are met.
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Mexico’s President Continues to Blast US Investigation of Former Defense Secretary
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Monday renewed his attack on the U.S. investigation of a former Mexican defense secretary and warned that the U.S. Justice Department should consider carefully its threat to suspend cooperation with Mexico. López Obrador defended the decision by the Mexican Attorney General’s Office not to pursue charges against retired Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos, and he mocked the results of the seven-year investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. “How are you going to accuse someone based on photographs of phone screens?” López Obrador said in reference to hundreds of pages of evidence the U.S. government shared with Mexico after dropping charges against Cienfuegos and returning him to Mexico in November. On Friday, Mexico published all of the information the U.S. had shared, spurring a rare public rebuke from the Justice Department that expressed disappointment in Mexico’s decision to drop the case against Cienfuegos. “The United States Department of Justice is also deeply disappointed by Mexico’s decision to publicize information shared with Mexico in confidence,” the U.S. department said in a statement Friday. “Publicizing such information violates the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance between Mexico and the United States, and calls into question whether the United States can continue to share information to support Mexico’s own criminal investigations.” López Obrador responded Monday: “I hope they think about it carefully, because I could say the same, too. We are disappointed with the DEA’s work.” López Obrador accused the DEA of making up the case against Cienfuegos. The intercepted message exchanges allegedly between Cienfuegos and members of the H-2 cartel suggest the then highest-ranking member of Mexico’s military was helping the cartel by keeping the military off their backs and going after their rivals. But López Obrador said the language used and the spelling mistakes committed by the person identified by U.S. prosecutors as Cienfuegos would not be possible from a mid-level officer, much less a high-ranking one. “They put it together in an improper way, without professionalism, without ethics,” the president said. “No foreign government can undermine the dignity and prestige of our nation.” López Obrador has heaped more responsibility — and power — on the armed forces than any recent president. The military was furious with Cienfuegos’ arrest in October at Los Angeles International Airport. The U.S. case also implicated other members of the military. Following Cienfuegos’ return, Mexico’s congress passed a law that will restrict U.S. agents in Mexico and remove their diplomatic immunity. Despite the heated rhetoric, López Obrador said he expects Mexico’s relationship with the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden to be unaffected. But he said things would be done differently in the bilateral security relationship. “We cannot allow foreign agents to take charge of the functions of Mexico’s government,” he said.
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Tight Security Surrounds Scaled-back Presidential Inauguration
On January 20, the United States will inaugurate President-elect Joe Biden in Washington, D.C. Following the violent assault on the Capitol earlier this month by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump, Americans are bracing for the worst but hoping for unity, the theme of Biden’s inauguration. Mike O’Sullivan reports.
Camera: Genia Dulot and Natasha Mozgovaya
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Europe Demands Release of Russian Opposition Leader as Calls Grow for ‘Magnitsky’ Sanctions
Western leaders have demanded the release of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was arrested Sunday on arrival in Moscow after receiving medical treatment in Germany. Henry Ridgwell reports.
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US Census Director Resigns Amid Accusations of Rushing Out Data
U.S. Census Bureau Director Steve Dillingham resigned Monday amid allegations he supported Republican calls to hand data to President Donald Trump before he leaves office. Dillingham has been under scrutiny since a January 12 letter from Department of Commerce Inspector General Peggy E. Gustafson requesting explanation of his behavior. The correspondence exposed whistleblower allegations that some Census Bureau political appointees were pushing for the early release of data on undocumented immigrants in order to please the president. First results are scheduled to be released March 6 at the earliest, but political appointees were allegedly pushing for a January 15 release date. The high-pressure approach raised concerns among some in the bureau that the early release of data could jeopardize the accuracy of the information. One whistleblower indicated that if released in a rush, the data would be “statistically indefensible” and could be “misinterpreted, misused, or otherwise tarnish the Bureau’s reputation.” In a response statement to the letter, Dillingham wrote that he acted with due diligence. “The reported whistleblower concerns appear to be misunderstandings regarding the planned process for the review and potential postings of data, and the agreed-upon need to apply data quality standards,” the director said. Undocumented immigrants have long been a point of interest for the Trump administration regarding census data. In 2018, the White House pushed to include a citizenship question in the questionnaire, a request that was later blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court. In an effort to accelerate data processing amid the coronavirus pandemic, the government in 2020 suggested that undocumented immigrants not be counted, a decision that was also dismissed.FILE – Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., chair of the House Oversight Committee, speaks during a hearing on the coronavirus on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 11, 2020.Census data is used to determine the distribution of about $1.5 trillion in federal funds every year. It also helps define congressional allocation for the next decade. Some fear that not counting undocumented immigrants could benefit Republicans. Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York accused Dillingham of siding with the president. “Rather than ensure an accurate count, Dr. Dillingham appears to have acceded repeatedly to the Trump Administration’s brazen efforts to politicize the Census,” Maloney, who chairs the House Oversight and Reform Committee, said in a statement. “He has failed to be open and transparent with Congress, and recent events indicate he has lost the confidence of Census Bureau staff.” Dillingham had been in charge of the Census Bureau since January 2019. President-elect Joe Biden is yet to announce his pick to head the bureau, as well as other political appointees within the agency.
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Former South Sudan Refugee Acclaimed for Saving COVID-19 Patients in South Africa
A former refugee from Sudan’s civil war who survived torture and homelessness to become a doctor is winning acclaim for saving the lives of COVID-19 patients in South Africa.Dr. Emmanuel Malish Taban was recently named one of the 100 most influential Africans of 2020 by London-based New African magazine. The U.S. embassy in Juba, South Sudan, congratulated Taban on its Dr. Emmanuel Malish Taban was recently named one of the 100 most influential Africans of 2020 by London-based New African magazine.“Dr. Taban’s extraordinary story and never-say-die spirit has become a source of great inspiration for millions of young Africans who find themselves in often hopeless situations,” said the New African.Taban successfully uses a procedure known as flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy on critically ill COVID-19 patients. Taban, a pulmonologist, uses the technique to suck out mucous that collected in patients’ air passages, enabling them to breathe.“The majority of my [COVID] patients, over 90% of them, survived,” Taban told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus. “It is a procedure that has not been used for a long time. I think because of the fear [of infection], that is why everybody was not able to do bronchoscopies.”Helped by Catholic charitiesTaban, 43, grew up in what was then the southern part of Sudan, mired in a two-decade civil war against the government in Khartoum. In 1994, at age 17, he was arrested and tortured by military intelligence agents who accused him of being a rebel sympathizer.He fled after he was released, initially crossing into Eritrea via the border town of Gadarif to seek asylum. He was arrested for illegal entry but soon released.Taban said he was helped by some Catholic charities and South Sudanese living in Asmara to enter Ethiopia. From there he traveled south by bus and by foot through Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique to reach South Africa.Missionaries offer financial assistanceIn 1995, Taban said two South Sudanese missionaries working in South Africa helped to pay for his secondary and university studies at the Medical University of Southern Africa (MEDUNSA), University of Pretoria and University of Witwatersrand. He also studied pulmonology in the Hermes university system in Europe and earned a diploma in endobronchial ultrasound and lung cancer staging at the University of Amsterdam.“In South Sudan, we have the capabilities to match the rest of the world,” he told VOA. “We need to make sure that the children of South Sudan hear [my] story that there is a child who used to be homeless, who used beg for food on the streets, has done something great in the world.”’He said he would like to build schools across South Sudan to help children get a good education.Preventive measures aren’t followedRegarding South Africa, Taban said not enough people are following Ministry of Health preventive measures to avoid contracting COVID-19. The country has recorded more than 1.3 million cases of coronavirus with more than 37,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center.“People are not quarantining, people are not social distancing, people are not sanitizing,” he said.“I think saving lives is all that matters to me,” he added. “I don’t enjoy losing my patients, I don’t believe people die because it is their time. People die because of negligence and we don’t try enough to save those lives.”
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COVID-19 Deaths Rising In 30 US States Amid Winter Surge
Coronavirus deaths are rising in nearly two-thirds of American states as a winter surge pushes the overall toll toward 400,000 amid warnings that a new, highly contagious variant is taking hold. As Americans observed a national holiday Monday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo pleaded with federal authorities to curtail travel from countries where new variants are spreading. Referring to new versions detected in Britain, South Africa and Brazil, Cuomo said: “Stop those people from coming here. … Why are you allowing people to fly into this country and then it’s too late?” The U.S. government has curbed travel from some of the places where the new variants are spreading — such as Britain and Brazil — and recently it announced that it would require proof of a negative COVID-19 test for anyone flying into the country. But the new variant seen in Britain is already spreading in the U.S., and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned that it will probably become the dominant version in the country by March. The CDC said the variant is about 50% more contagious than the virus that is causing the bulk of cases in the U.S. FILE – A health care worker tends to a COVID-19 patient in the intensive care unit at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center during the coronavirus pandemic in San Jose, California, January 13, 2021.While the variant does not cause more severe illness, it can cause more hospitalizations and deaths simply because it spreads more easily. In Britain, it has aggravated a severe outbreak that has swamped hospitals, and it has been blamed for sharp leaps in cases in some other European countries. Many U.S. states are already under tremendous strain. The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths is rising in 30 states and the District of Columbia, and on Monday the U.S. death toll surpassed 398,000, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University — by far the highest recorded death toll of any country in the world. One of the states hardest hit during the recent surge is Arizona, where the rolling average has increased over the past two weeks from about 90 deaths per day to about 160 per day on January 17.Rural Yuma County — known as the winter lettuce capital of the U.S. — is now one of the state’s hot spots. Exhausted nurses there are now regularly sending COVID-19 patients on a long helicopter ride to hospitals in Phoenix when they don’t have enough staff. The county has lagged on coronavirus testing in heavily Hispanic neighborhoods and just ran out of vaccines. But some support is coming from military nurses and a new wave of free tests for farmworkers and the elderly in Yuma County. FILE – Tents are set up so people who have registered can get their COVID-19 vaccinations as they drive through the parking lot of the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, January 12, 2021.Amid the surge, a vast effort is under way to get Americans vaccinated, but the campaign is off to an uneven start. According to the latest federal data, about 31.2 million doses of vaccine have been distributed, but only about 10.6 million people have received at least one dose. In California, the most populous state, counties are pleading for more vaccine as the state tries to reduce a high rate of infection that has led to record numbers of hospitalizations and deaths. Although the state last week said anyone age 65 and older can start receiving the vaccine, Los Angeles County and some others have said they don’t have enough to inoculate so many people. They are concentrating on protecting health care workers and the most vulnerable elderly in care homes first. On Monday, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District sent a letter asking for state and county authorization to provide vaccinations at schools for staff, local community members — and for students once a vaccine for children has been approved. The death rate from COVID-19 in Los Angeles County — an epicenter of the U.S. pandemic — works out to about one person every six minutes. On Sunday, the South Coast Air Quality Management District suspended some pollution-control limits on the number of cremations for at least 10 days in order to deal with a backlog of bodies at hospitals and funeral homes. In other areas of the country, officials are working to ensure that people take the vaccine once they’re offered it amid concerns that many people are hesitant to take it. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, in a livestreamed event on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, received a shot, and urged other Marylanders to do likewise. “We’re all looking forward to the day we can take off and throw away our masks … when we can go out for a big celebration at our favorite crowded restaurant or bar with all our family and friends,” Hogan said. “The only way we are going to return to a sense of normalcy is by these COVID-19 vaccines.” In New York, Cuomo said the state, which has recorded more than 41,000 deaths, is “in a footrace” between the vaccination rate and the infection rate. He said federal authorities needed to improve their efforts to get vaccine doses distributed swiftly.
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Students in Italy Protest as Schools Reopen
Hundreds of students protested in Rome on Monday to demand more classrooms, transport to school and better access to education.After almost 10 months of remote learning, it was the first day back for high school pupils, yet many chose to demonstrate instead. For most high schools, only half of the students from each class were allowed to return to ensure enough space between desks for social distancing.”Remote learning is not working,” said high school student Simone Shiaze.He added, “Many families cannot afford providing digital devices to their children to attend internet lessons regularly.”According to Save the Children Italy, 34,000 high school students are at risk of dropping out from school due to the hardships they faced in following the remote learning mode.United Nations cultural agency UNESCO reported that more than 10 million students were affected by COVID-19 restrictions in Italy.Italy on Sunday registered 12,545 new infections, raising to 2,381,277 the number of confirmed cases to date.Health Ministry figures also included 377 deaths since Saturday, bringing the overall known death toll to 82,177, one of the highest in Europe.
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Should Social Media Platforms Lose Legal Protection?
The decision by social media giants to police more content, along with banning U.S. President Donald Trump and some of his supporters from posting, is intensifying a debate in Europe over how to regulate platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.The hotly contested debate has mostly focused on whether governments should intervene to censor and curtail freedom of speech, or whether they should protect opinion from being blocked or scrubbed by the social media giants, however offensive the views. But a growing number of European leaders sees a third way to reduce fake news, hate speech, disinformation and poisonous personal attacks — by treating social media providers not as owners of neutral platforms connecting consumers with digital content creators but as publishers in their own right. This would help sidestep fears over state censorship of speech, they say.Amending laws to make them legally responsible, just as traditional newspapers and broadcasters are for the content they carry, would render the social media companies liable for defamation and slander lawsuits. By blocking content and banning some users, social media companies have unwittingly boosted the argument that they are content providers, as they are now in practice taking on a greater role as editors of opinion.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a news conference in Downing Street on the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, in London, Dec. 24, 2020.“I do think there’s a real debate now to be had about the status of the big internet companies and whether they should be identified as mere platforms or as publishers, because when you start editorializing, then you’re in a different world,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a parliamentary committee last week. Many European Union leaders have criticized social media companies for banishing Trump and his supporters from their platforms. Facebook has blocked or deleted content that uses the phrase, “Stop the Steal,” which refers to false claims of election fraud. Twitter says it has suspended more than 70,000 accounts of QAnon conspiracy theorists who believe Trump is waging a secret war against elite Satan-worshipping pedophiles in government, business and the media.German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses the media during a statement at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Nov. 9, 2020 on the results of the US elections.German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her concerns about the blocking and deleting, calling it a step too far.“The right to freedom of opinion is of fundamental importance,” her spokesperson, Steffen Seibert, told reporters.Some countries led by populist governments, such as Poland, are considering drafting legislation that would prohibit Facebook, Twitter and other social media companies from censoring opinions, fearing the social media giants will censor them.But political pressure is also mounting in other countries for the state to regulate speech and to police social media platforms.The idea that social media companies should be subject to similar regulation as newspapers and television and radio broadcasters is not new. Newspaper owners have long bristled at the social media platforms being treated differently under the law from traditional media. They have complained that Facebook and others are piggy backing off the content they produce, while reaping massive profits selling ads.FILE – The Facebook application is displayed on a mobile phone at a store in Chicago, July 30, 2019.Last year, Facebook pushed back on the idea of social media platforms being treated like traditional media, arguing in a report that they should be placed in a separate category halfway between newspapers and the telecommunications industry. The company agreed that new regulatory rules are needed but argued they should focus on the monitoring and removal of mechanisms that firms might put in place to block “harmful” posts, rather than restrictions on companies carrying specific types of speech or being liable for content. Johnson’s advocacy of treating social media giants like traditional media is being echoed in the United States, where Congress passed the Communications Decency Act in 1996. The measure largely allowed the companies to regulate themselves and shielded them from liability for much of the content posted on their platforms.Section 230 of the legislation stated: “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” Ironically, Section 230 has drawn the disapproval of both Trump and President-elect Joe Biden. Both have called for the section’s repeal, which would make social media legally responsible for what people post, rendering them vulnerable to lawsuits for defamation and slander. Last week, Biden told The New York Times he favored the internet’s biggest liability shield being “revoked, immediately.”
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Ex-US Soldiers Nearing Resolution of Claims From 1966 Palomares Accident
After 55 years, a group of U.S. veterans may be closer to securing disability benefits denied to them following a Cold War-era accident they say has now left them with serious medical conditions. The accident involved the collision of two U.S. aircraft over Palomares in southern Spain and the ensuing discharge of radioactive materials from hydrogen bombs. On January 17, 1966, a B-52 left a U.S. base in North Carolina on an airborne alert mission called Operation Chrome Dome. The flight path took the aircraft east across the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea toward the eastern borders of the Soviet Union. The lengthy mission required two refueling flights over Spain. During refueling, the B-52, which was carrying four hydrogen bombs as part of its payload, collided with the refueling tanker over Palomares, a rural area where locals lived off agriculture. The tanker was completely destroyed when its fuel load ignited, killing all four crew members onboard. The B-52 broke apart, leaving three of the seven crew members dead. The others ejected. FILE – A navy man jumps from a small landing craft after searching the sea near Palomares, Spain, Feb. 9, 1966.The remnants of three of the unexploded bombs were recovered. A U.S. vessel located one intact bomb more than 1,500 meters underwater. Two of the unexploded bombs released plutonium over Palomares, contaminating an area covering 2 kilometers. About 1,600 U.S. Air Force personnel were sent from a nearby base to clean up the area but were issued little protective gear while they spent weeks working in this rural backwater. Retired Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Victor Skaar of Nixa, Missouri, was 29 when he was ordered to Palomares — “a place no one had heard of” — to help clean up. Health concerns were not taken into consideration. Even though one of the bombs fell into the sea, Manuel Fraga, a minister in the government of Spanish dictator Gen. Francisco Franco, and then-U.S. Ambassador Angier Biddle Duke, took a dip to prove everything was safe, in a staged photo opportunity. FILE – U.S. Ambassador Angier Biddle Duke, right, and Manuel Fraga, Spanish minister of information and tourism, wave from chilly waters off Palomares Beach, Spain, March 8, 1966.Decades later, veterans began suffering from cancer or other ailments that many alleged were caused by exposure to plutonium during the cleanup operation. As some of the veterans started to die, the dwindling band of survivors fought for recognition that their conditions were linked to weeks spent collecting debris in the Spanish countryside. Landmark victory A FILE – Technicians of the U.S. Air Force use rubber gloves while picking up pieces of the wreckage and placing them in cardboard boxes in Palomares, Spain, Jan. 28, 1966.The court ordered the VA to review veterans’ eligibility for disability benefits and rejected the Board of Veterans’ Appeals’ contention that their estimates of the doses of plutonium were sound. “This victory represents a major victory in the fight to provide these veterans and their families the health care and benefits they need and deserve,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. Removing contaminated landMeanwhile in Spain, campaigners hope incoming U.S. President Joe Biden will deliver on a pledge to remove the contaminated land. In 2015, after decades of pressure from Madrid, the United States agreed to dig up a patch of contaminated soil near Palomares and bury it in a secure area in the desert near Las Vegas, Nevada. Until the 1980s, Spanish scientists relied on outdated equipment to assess the pollution. Several areas are still contaminated and fenced off, but the effect on local residents is not clear. Spain had asked the U.S. to remove a larger amount of polluted land. “They still have not honored the deal, but it is high time that this matter was settled,” José Ignacio Domínguez, a lawyer for Ecologists in Action, a Spanish conservation group, told VOA in an interview. “They said they would remove 27,000 square meters of contaminated land, but we want them to take away the full 50,000 square meters of land which is polluted.” Ecologists in Action is taking legal action to try to make the Spanish and U.S. governments reveal details of the accident, which have remained state secrets. In February of last year, Spain’s National Court, which deals with terrorism, major financial fraud or matters of national security, asked the government to lift the lid on the affair. Spain’s Nuclear Safety Council, a state body, responded by saying the plan to recover the contaminated soil, which was started in 2010, still has not been completed. “It is finally time to bring this chapter to an end, to find justice for the veterans and to clear away the polluted land,” José Herrera Plaza, a retired journalist who has covered the Palomares accident, told VOA. The Spanish government did not reply to a request from VOA for a comment on Palomares. The VA statement also said, “The local Spanish population from Palomares has not reported health problems related to the accident.”
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Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris Resigns Her Senate Seat
U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has formally resigned her Senate seat in preparation for her inauguration on Wednesday alongside President-elect Joe Biden. Harris had served as a senator representing the Western state of California since 2017. “Thank you California — it has been an honor serving as your senator for the past four years. Our country has faced many challenges, but I remain certain that our best days are ahead. I promise to keep standing up for our shared values as your Vice President,” Harris said in a tweet Monday. Gov. Gavin Newsom chose fellow Democrat Alex Padilla, who is currently California’s secretary of state, to serve the final two years of Harris’ term. Newsom announced his choice in December. Padilla, who is Mexican American, will be the first Latino senator to represent the state. Harris did not give a farewell speech on the Senate floor. The chamber is not scheduled to reconvene until Tuesday, the eve of Inauguration Day. As vice president, Harris will become the Senate’s presiding officer. With the Senate split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, her ability to cast tie-breaking votes could be crucial for Democrats to pass their legislative agenda. In an op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle, Harris made note of the fact that she will continue to have a role in the Senate. “And this is not goodbye. As I resign from the Senate, I am preparing to take an oath that would have me preside over it,” she wrote. “As senator-turned-Vice-President Walter Mondale once pointed out, the vice presidency is the only office in our government that ‘belongs to both the executive branch and the legislative branch.’ A responsibility made greater with an equal number of Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.” Harris is the first woman ever elected vice president. She will also be the first Black woman and first woman of South Asian descent to serve in the role.
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Australia: 72 Tennis Pros Barred from Practicing After COVID Exposure
Seventy-two tennis players are under strict COVID-19 quarantine restrictions in Australia that local officials refused to ease Monday ahead of the Australian Open.
The players, who traveled on three different charter flights to Melbourne, have been ordered to stay in their hotel rooms for fourteen days after multiple passengers on each plane tested positive for the coronavirus.
The 72 players will not be allowed to practice for two weeks leading up to the tournament, which begins on February 8th.
Some players, including Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, who is currently the top ranked male player in the world, have reportedly complained about the restrictions and have asked for exceptions.
“People are free to provide lists of demands but the answer is no,” Victoria state premier Daniel Andrews told a news conference Monday.
Djokovic tested positive for coronavirus last summer while organizing a controversial tennis tournament across several Balkan countries that had few restrictions to stop the spread of the disease.
His management team has not publicly confirmed whether the tennis star submitted a list of demands to Australian Open organizers.
So far, none of the 72 quarantined players have tested positive for the virus since arriving in Australia.
Some have complained that the COVID-19 restrictions presented to them ahead of time were different than what they have experienced in Melbourne. Players specifically questioned what constituted “close contact” in regards to being on a plane with someone who tested positive, when flights were operating at limited capacity.
Players who are not under quarantine are still practicing under strict conditions and supervision.
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Death Toll from Indonesia Earthquake Rises to at Least 84
At least 84 people are now confirmed dead from a powerful earthquake that struck Indonesia’s Sulawesi island last week.
Raditya Jati, a spokesman for the government’s disaster management agency, says 73 people died in the city of Mamuju and 11 others were killed in the neighboring city of Majene. More than 800 people have been injured in the disaster, including more than 250 seriously hurt.
Rescue teams are desperately searching for scores of residents who may be trapped in the rubble of residential and commercial buildings that collapsed when the 6.2 magnitude quake struck Friday morning south of Mamuju. Their efforts have been complicated by dozens of aftershocks.
Health officials are racing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among the more than 19,000 displaced residents in the affected areas.
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Uganda Restores Internet, Keeps Opposition Leader in House Detention
Uganda’s government restored some internet access Monday after a five-day blackout during last week’s election that saw President Yoweri Museveni reelected to a sixth term. The opposition National Unity Platform party plans to challenge the results and says the military has their leader Bobi Wine under house arrest. Around 10:30 a.m. Monday, Ugandans heard their mobile phones ping for the first time in five days since the government shut down the internet. However, social media platforms such as Whatsapp, Twitter and Facebook are still offline and can only be accessed via the virtual private network. Government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo says social media was high on the list of possible threats to the election. He says officials regret the inconvenience but says they took the right decision. “Disinformation had started, with intention to discredit the election, with intention to intimidate, with intention to suppress voter turn up, with intention to spread hate speech, abuse of candidates directly, abuse of political formations you don’t agree with. To undermine the credibility of the results. We knew, that if we didn’t shut social media, most likely we would have gone into chaos,” he said. Uganda’s leading opposition challenger Bobi Wine walks back to his residence after giving a press conference outside Kampala, Uganda, Jan. 15, 2021, one day after Ugandans went to the polls.National Unity Platform leader Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as singer Bobi Wine, is contesting the election results, citing ballot box stuffing and other irregularities. The government says the NUP will only be allowed to contest the election results through court.Wine’s lawyers say they have enough evidence to present to judges, but need their leader to advise on the next course of action. However, as they attempted to see him Monday morning at his home, lawyer Benjamin Katana says they were blocked. Ugandan police officers refuse lawyers of Ugandan opposition presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, from meeting him at his house in Kampala, Jan. 18, 2021.“Bobi Wine has challenged the results that were released by the Electoral Commission. And what that means is that several options available to him including going to court. To reach at that decision, he needs to consult his lawyers. And it’s his right to access lawyers. They have not allowed us to enter,” he said. Police say the heavy deployment around Wine’s home is because it is one of the locations that are considered trouble hotspots. Fred Enanga, the Uganda police spokesperson, says intelligence agencies had received word of possible violence. “Of instigating riotous situation and demonstrations in protests of the outcome of the election. That’s how you find that we have maintained a security cover around Kasangati and Magere. The movements are being controlled. It’s not that people have been blocked, lawyers and so on,” he said. President Yoweri Museveni was declared the winner of last week’s election. Official results showed him beating Wine 59 to 35 percent. Supporters of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) celebrate the victory of President Yoweri Museveni after the results of the presidential election in Kampala, Jan. 16, 2021.Museveni’s National Resistance Movement party also won a majority in parliament with 316 seats. However, the National Unity Platform was able to capture 56 seats, defeating several ministers in the Museveni Cabinet. Godber Tumushabe, a political analyst says the loss of the ministers including the vice president, is a strong sign of no confidence in Museveni and his government. “Because it’s unprecedented that you can have an entire Cabinet swept off,” he said. “Museveni has been timid to reform his Cabinet, now the voters have helped him to reshuffle it. The mere fact that all his ministers have lost, we should even be asking, how did Museveni win?” A government spokesman says this is a natural trend in the elections of Uganda, with ministers losing big because voters want other people to come and enjoy the same position.
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Malawi Announces New Lockdown Measures as COVID Cases Surge
Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has introduced new lockdown measures to contain a jump in confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19. The restrictions include school closures, a night-time curfew, and no gatherings over 50 people.
The measure comes five days after Chakwera declared a state of national disaster in response to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases.
The new measures, he said, are being enacted because the situation is getting worse in the second wave of the pandemic.
“This year alone, a total of 5,091 people have tested positive for Covid-19 across the country. This means that of all the people confirmed to have contracted the virus since April last year, 43% have been found with the virus this year alone, showing a sharp rise in infections and a lapse in prevention,” he said.
Chakwera said that so far this year, 111 Malawians have died from COVID-19, an average of seven people per day.
“This means that of all the deaths from COVID-19 in the past nine months, over a third have happened in the past 16 days, showing a sharp rise in fatalities,” he said.
To reverse this, Chakwera ordered that all schools to be closed for three weeks, except for students currently doing Certificate of Education examinations.
Chakwera also said all students in boarding schools must be screened for COVID-19 before they go home.
The Ministry of Education disclosed Monday that out of 605 students at one girls’ secondary school in Lilongwe, 311, or just over half, have tested positive for coronavirus.
As for the lockdown measures, the president ordered markets to be closed at 5 p.m. and drinking establishments to close by 8 p.m. He said no one should be on the streets between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., and banned gatherings of over 50 people.
Benedicto Kondowe, executive director for the Civil Society Education Coalition, argues that closing schools should be the last option.
“Schools were closed for not less than seven months in the first wave of COVID, and registered unprecedented number of teenage pregnancies in excess of 40,000. And that’s why we are saying ‘Could there be a mechanism of mitigating and containing the virus while the schools are still in sessions?” he asked.
Kondowe says the government should devise a plan that allows some students to continue with their education.
“We do not know for how long COVID will remain with us. If COVID takes three years, five years and you are seriously saying that ‘education should be suspended.’ What future will he have created for generations to come?” he asked.
However, George Jobe, executive director for Malawi Health Equity Network, commends the new measures.
He advises Malawians to strictly observe all restrictions for the sake of their own health, and not wait for police to enforce them.
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Immigrant Defies Pandemic’s Economic Risks, Opens New Business
After months of pandemic lockdowns many restaurants, hair salons and gyms may never reopen. But in this story narrated by Anna Rice, Dino Jahic reports on an immigrant who went against the tide and opened a new business.
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Winter Weather Hits Parts of Europe, From Poland to Turkey
Extreme cold has hit large parts of Europe, with freezing temperatures cracking railroad tracks in Poland, snow blanketing the Turkish city of Istanbul and smog spiking as coal was being burned to generate heat.
Temperatures dropped to minus 28 degrees Celsius (minus 18 Fahrenheit) in some Polish areas overnight, the coldest night in 11 years. Many trains were delayed on Monday after rail tracks at two Warsaw railway stations cracked.
Hand-in-hand with the cold came a spike in smog in Warsaw and other parts of Poland, as the cold prompted an increase in burning coal for heat. The smog levels were so high in Warsaw that city officials urged people to remain indoors.
Just across Poland’s southwestern border, the Czech Republic experienced the coldest night this year with temperatures dropping below minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) in many places.
The lowest temperature, of minus 27 degrees Celsius (minus 16 Fahrenheit), was recorded Monday in Orlicke Zahori, a mountainous village 160 kilometers (100 miles) east of Prague and near the Polish border, according to the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute.
The freezing weather was expected to ease and be replaced by heavy snowfall in the northeastern Czech Republic, the institute said.
In Istanbul, traffic was brought to a halt by the layer of snow covering the city, with cars stalled or skidding on the roads. The flurries were to continue throughout the day.
In Germany, fresh snow, slippery roads and fallen trees led to several car accidents on Sunday and overnight, the dpa news agency reported. A driver died in southwestern Germany after his car shot over a mound of snow.
The Nordic region — where winter weather is the norm — also saw snow and subfreezing temperatures, with the coldest temperatures predictably recorded in the Arctic. Norway’s meteorological institute tweeted a tongue-in-cheek message on Monday, saying: “we encourage all knitting lovers to send woolen clothes to their friends in the north.”
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Markets Mixed in Face of Economic, Political Turmoil
European markets are mixed Monday as investors pull back in response to last week’s dismal U.S. retail figures, along with the worsening COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of the January 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol building.
Britain’s FTSE index is down 0.3% at midday. France’s CAC-40 index is also 0.3% lower, while the DAX index in Germany is up 10 points but unchanged percentage-wise (+0.08%).
Asian markets began the trading week on a downward spiral hours earlier. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index fell 0.9%. Australia’s S&P/ASX index closed down 0.7%. The KOSPI index in South Korea plunged 2.3%, while Taiwan’s TSEC lost just over 4 points, but was virtually unchanged percentage-wise (0.03%) and the Sensex in Mumbai was down 0.9%.
Shanghai’s Composite index closed 0.8% higher and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose just over one percent, spurred by news that China’s economy grew 2.3% in 2020, overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic that has shattered much of the global economy.
In commodities trading, gold is up 0.1%, selling at $1,831.80. U.S. crude oil is selling at $52.19, down 0.3%, and Brent crude is selling at $54.82, down 0.5%.
All three major U.S. indices are closed in observance of the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday.
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As Biden Presidency Nears, Many Americans Ready to Move On
Americans are getting ready to inaugurate President-elect Joe Biden after one of the nation’s most contentious elections and a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump. Mike O’Sullivan reports on the mood of the nation as the United States transitions into its next political phase.
Camera: Genia Dulot, Natasha Mozgovaya, Jose Pernalete
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Heir to South Korea’s Samsung Conglomerate Receives 2nd Prison Sentence
Lee Jae-yong, the chairman of Samsung Electronics and heir to the family-run conglomerate, has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison in connection with the scandal that brought down former South Korean President Park Geun-hye. The 52-year-old Lee was immediately taken into custody Monday after the Seoul High Court found him guilty of bribing then-President Park Geun-hye and a close confidante.
Lee gave $7 million in return for Park’s support for a merger of two Samsung affiliates, Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, that would give him increasing control of the country’s largest conglomerate and smooth the transition from his father, Lee Kun-hee, who died in October. The younger Lee was initially convicted in 2017 and sentenced to five years in prison in connection with the bribery scheme, but he only served a year before an appeals court suspended his sentence. South Korea’s Supreme Court eventually ordered a retrial on the original charges. Lee is also accused of inflating the value of Samsung Biologics, which is a subsidiary of Cheil Industries. His lawyer told reporters after the verdict that the case essentially came down to “the former president’s abuse of power violating corporate freedom and property rights.” The Supreme Court last week upheld former President Park’s 20-year prison sentence on corruption charges. She was impeached by lawmakers in 2016 after revelations emerged about the bribery affair, which triggered weeks of massive protests demanding her dismissal. FILE – Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye arrives at a court in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 25, 2017.Her impeachment and removal from office was upheld the next year by the Constitutional Court. She was also separately indicted on charges of illegally taking funds from three former intelligence chiefs that were siphoned from the agency’s budget. Park has also been convicted in a separate case of illegally meddling in her party’s nomination process ahead of the 2016 parliamentary elections, which added an additional two-year prison sentence, meaning she could remain in prison until 2039.
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China Expected to Continue Development in Disputed Asian Sea despite US Sanctions
U.S. curbs against Chinese officials and companies suspected of helping Beijing extend its reach in a disputed, resource-rich Asian sea will do little to reduce China’s maritime influence and could indirectly increase it, analysts believe. The government of outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a ban on travel to the United States by officials in the military, the ruling Communist Party and major state-owned enterprises. Washington believes they have used coercion on countries with claims to the 3.5 million-square-kilometer South China Sea. In December the U.S. government placed 60 Chinese companies, including offshore oil giant CNOOC, on a trade blacklist that stops them from receiving certain types of American technology. Last week Washington barred American investors from holding shares in nine Chinese firms with suspected ties to The People’s Liberation Army, including the world’s third biggest smartphone developer, Xiaomi. These penalties, along with others that the Trump administration has used to stop Chinese maritime activities, will hardly dislodge Beijing from the disputed sea, scholars say. They say the targeted people and companies can keep drilling for oil, supplying the military and building infrastructure in the tropical waterway. FILE – An oil platform operated by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is seen in the sea off China’s southernmost Hainan province, March 23, 2018.China wouldn’t let them stop, said Wang Wei-chieh, Taiwan-based analyst and co-founder of the FBC2E International Affairs Facebook page. “Historically, CCP’s (Chinese Communist Party) policy toward sovereignty issues or territorial issues, they never step back from it, so they will definitely keep their focus on this region,” he said. “They won’t step back because of these economic sanctions.” The U.S. orders will have no material effect on either the Chinese government or the targeted companies that work in the South China Sea, the analysts say. “The South China Sea reclamation and building activities will fully engage some of these construction and engineering companies,” said Alan Chong, associate professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. “I think it’s a win.” Beijing claims about 90% of the South China Sea and cites historic usage records to back its position. China has used its technological and military superiority over the other claimants to develop islets in the sea, which stretches from its southern coasts to the island of Borneo. Officials from Beijing could be offering more aid and investment now to the other maritime claimants in case other countries side with the U.S. view that China has used coercion, some experts believe. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam contest Chinese claims to the sea that’s coveted for fuel and fisheries. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday in Manila his government would donate COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines and help it through post-pandemic economic recovery. China had pledged $24 billion in aid to the Philippines in 2016, but citizens of the Southeast Asian country have griped that the money is flowing in too slowly. A Chinese-invested joint venture announced in late December it had agreed to develop and operate the largest fishing complex in Brunei. “I think, at best for some countries, it will be seen as ways to generate leverage in their discussions with China, and it could complicate how they manage the relationship between them and China and then between them and the United States.” said Jay Batongbacal, international maritime affairs professor at University of the Philippines. China might be keen now to offer “concessions” or “favors”, Batongbacal. He said the minister’s visit to the Philippines was aimed at finalizing incomplete deals. The U.S. placed restrictions last month on Chinese entities and officials that help China “bully other nations” in the sea, the U.S. State Department said last month. Washington makes no claim but looks to Southeast Asia and Taiwan to help keep China in check. Trump has targeted China over trade, technology sharing and consular issues as well as its maritime expansion. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is not expected immediately to overturn rules approved by Trump. He will eventually negotiate with China over the South China Sea rather than taking “unilateral” action, Wang forecast.
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Security a Focus Ahead of Biden Inauguration
With U.S.-President-elect Joe Biden set to be inaugurated Wednesday, the FBI is conducting security screening of the 25,000 members of the National Guard assigned to Washington to protect the event amid worries of a potential insider attack. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told the Associated Press that he and other leaders have not seen evidence of any threats, and that so far the vetting had not turned up any issues among the Guard members. “We’re continually going through the process, and taking second, third looks at every one of the individuals assigned to this operation,” McCarthy said. McCarthy said there are intelligence reports suggesting outside groups are organizing armed rallies ahead of Inauguration Day.Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, left, accompanied by Gen. James McConville, Chief of Staff of the Army, right, speaks during a briefing on an investigation into Fort Hood, Texas at the Pentagon, Dec. 8, 2020, in Washington.Security is an even bigger focus than usual with the inauguration coming two weeks after thousands of supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol. Trump had urged them to march to the building as lawmakers met to certify Biden’s victory. The immediate area around the Capitol is a virtual armed encampment, with fencing and concertina wire encircling the grounds. Authorities have also closed the National Mall along with roads and Metro stations in much of downtown Washington. Bridges into the city from the state of Virginia are also being closed. Thousands of National Guard troops and law enforcement officers are stationed across the area to protect against further violence. Despite the heightened security concerns, Biden plans to go ahead with the inauguration ceremony in its traditional location. “Our plan and our expectation is that President-elect Biden will put his hand on the Bible with his family outside on the west side of the Capitol on the 20th,” Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s incoming communications director, told ABC’s “This Week” show. She said the Biden team has “full faith in the United States Secret Service and their partners who have been working for over a year on the planning to ensure (the inauguration) is safe.”Streets sit largely deserted as National Guard personnel and police close off a block, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021, in Washington, as part of increased security ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.Trump has refused to concede his defeat or congratulate Biden, while acknowledging there will be a “new administration” come Wednesday. Trump, ignoring 160 years of the U.S. tradition of an outgoing president attending his successor’s swearing-in ceremony to demonstrate a peaceful transfer of power, has announced he plans to skip the inauguration. Vice President Mike President is planning to attend. Trump instead is planning to leave Washington on Wednesday morning with a red-carpet ceremony as he boards Air Force One for a flight to his Atlantic Ocean retreat in Florida. Trump’s plan has drawn criticism, including from a group of five Democratic members of the House of Representatives who in a letter Saturday to acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller and Joints Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley urged the Pentagon to not divert any resources for what they called a “disruptive departure ceremony for the outgoing president.” “The proposed action is unwise, unconventional, and most importantly, puts the national security needlessly at risk by diverting essential personnel and resources from the protection of the U.S. Capitol, where all of the institutions of government will be represented, to providing for the security, protection, and transport of the outgoing president,” the lawmakers wrote. Signatories included Congresswomen Sheila Jackson Lee and Jan Schakowsky and Congressmen André Carson, Steven Cohen and Danny Davis.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California signs the article of impeachment against President Donald Trump in an engrossment ceremony before transmission to the Senate for trial on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Jan. 13, 2021.The House last week impeached Trump for a second time, accusing him of inciting insurrection, and his Senate trial is set to start soon after Biden’s inauguration. If convicted, Trump, the first U.S. president to be impeached twice, could be barred from ever again holding office. Before he leaves office, however, Trump is expected to grant several more pardons, possibly to key supporters convicted of crimes or facing trials. People familiar with the matter said Trump met Sunday with aides to finalize a list of more than 100 pardons and commutations to issue before his term ends. White House advisers have said Trump has had discussions about preemptively pardoning himself and other family members, none of whom have been charged with any crimes, but that at this point he is not expected to do so. Bedingfield said Sunday Biden is planning to lay out a “positive, optimistic” vision for the country in his inaugural address on Wednesday and “try to turn the page on the divisiveness, and the hatred of the last four years” under Trump. “I think that’s what Americans all across the country want,” Bedingfield said. “They want a government that once again is focused on doing the right thing by them and helping them in their day-to-day lives.” Once in power, Biden plans to quickly overturn numerous Trump policies. Incoming White House chief of staff Ron Klain said Saturday night that Biden “is assuming the presidency in a moment of profound crisis for our nation. We face four overlapping and compounding crises: the COVID-19 crisis, the resulting economic crisis, the climate crisis, and a racial equity crisis.”
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