Germany, France and Britain pressed Iran on Saturday to back off the latest planned violation of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, saying that Tehran has “no credible civilian use” for uranium metal.The International Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday that Iran had informed it that Iran began installing equipment for the production of uranium metal. It said Tehran maintained its plans to conduct research and development on uranium metal production were part of its “declared aim to design an improved type of fuel.”Uranium metal can also be used for a nuclear bomb, however, and research on its production is specifically prohibited under the nuclear deal — the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — that Tehran signed with Germany, France, Britain, China, Russia and the United States in 2015.Since the unilateral American withdrawal from the deal in 2018, the other members have been working to preserve the accord. Iran has been using violations of the deal to put pressure on the other signatories to provide more incentives to Iran to offset crippling American sanctions reimposed after the U.S. pullout.’Grave’ implicationsA joint statement from the German, French and British foreign ministries said they were “deeply concerned” by the latest Iranian announcement.”Iran has no credible civilian use for uranium metal,” it said. “The production of uranium metal has potentially grave military implications.””We strongly urge Iran to halt this activity and return to compliance with its JCPoA commitments without further delay if it is serious about preserving the deal,” the statement added.The ultimate goal of the deal is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, something Iran insists it does not want to do.President-elect Joe Biden, who was vice president when the deal was signed during the Obama administration, has said he hopes to return the U.S. to the deal.
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Month: January 2021
US Capitals on Edge for Armed Protests as Trump Presidency Nears End
Washington is locked down and U.S. law enforcement officials are geared up for pro-Trump marches in all 50 state capitals this weekend, erecting barriers and deploying thousands of National Guard troops to try to prevent the kind of violent attack that rattled the nation January 6. The FBI warned police agencies of possible armed protests outside all 50 state capitol buildings starting Saturday through President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20, fueled by supporters of President Donald Trump who believe his false claims of electoral fraud. A barricade is seen at the top of the steps leading to the front entrance of the Pennsylvania Capitol, Jan. 16, 2021, in Harrisburg. At capitols across the country, National Guard troops are being called up, fences built, and barricades positioned.Michigan, Virginia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Washington were among states that activated their National Guards to strengthen security. Texas closed its Capitol through Inauguration Day. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said in a statement late Friday that intelligence indicated “violent extremists” might seek to exploit planned armed protests in Austin to “conduct criminal acts.” In downtown Washington, officers arrested a Virginia man who tried to pass through a Capitol Police checkpoint Friday carrying fake inaugural credentials, a loaded handgun and more than 500 rounds of ammunition, CNN and The New York Times reported Saturday, citing a police report and a law enforcement source. The man was charged with five crimes, including illegal possession of a weapon and ammunition, according to the report. Capitol Police officials could not be reached for comment. States respond The scramble followed the deadly January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington by a mix of extremists and Trump supporters, some of whom apparently planned to kidnap members of Congress and called for the death of Vice President Mike Pence as he presided over the certification of Biden’s victory in November’s election. A law enforcement official sweeps a spectator seating area as preparations take place for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 16, 2021.The Democratic leaders of four U.S. congressional committees said Saturday that they had opened a review of the events and had written to the FBI and other intelligence and security agencies to find out what was known about threats, whether the information was shared and whether foreign influence played any role. “This still-emerging story is one of astounding bravery by some U.S. Capitol Police and other officers; of staggering treachery by violent criminals; and of apparent and high-level failures — in particular, with respect to intelligence and security preparedness,” said the letter. It was signed by House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson, House Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler. Law enforcement officials have trained much of their focus on Sunday, when the anti-government “boogaloo” movement plans to hold rallies in all 50 states. In Michigan, a fence was erected around the Capitol in Lansing and troopers were mobilized from across the state to bolster security. The legislature canceled meetings next week, citing concern about credible threats. A Mississippi State Capitol police officer watches the main entrance on the north side of the statehouse in Jackson, Jan. 15, 2021. State capitols across the country are under heightened security ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration as president.”We are prepared for the worst, but we remain hopeful that those who choose to demonstrate at our Capitol do so peacefully,” Michigan State Police Director Joe Gasper told a news conference on Friday. Extremist groups The perception that the January 6 insurrection was a success could embolden domestic extremists motivated by anti-government, racial and partisan grievances, spurring them to further violence, according to a government intelligence bulletin dated Wednesday that was first reported by Yahoo News. The Joint Intelligence Bulletin, produced by the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and National Counterterrorism Center, further warned that “false narratives” about electoral fraud would serve as an ongoing catalyst for extremist groups. Thousands of armed National Guard troops were in the streets in Washington in an unprecedented show of force after the assault on the U.S. Capitol. Bridges into the city were to be closed, along with dozens of roadways. The National Mall and other iconic U.S. landmarks were blocked off into next week. Christian Alvarado holds a U.S. flag in front of a fence surrounding the California Capitol in Sacramento, Jan. 16, 2021. The fence was built because of concerns that protests around Joe Biden’s inauguration as president Jan. 20 could turn violent.Experts say that the capitals of battleground states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona are among those at most risk of violence. But even states not seen as likely flashpoints are taking precautions. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said Friday that while his state had not received any specific threats, he was beefing up security around the Capitol in Springfield, including adding about 250 state National Guard troops. The alarm extended beyond legislatures. The United Church of Christ, a Protestant denomination of more than 4,900 churches, warned its 800,000 members there were reports that “liberal” churches could be attacked in the coming week. Effective deterrents Suzanne Spaulding, a former undersecretary at the Department of Homeland Security, said authorities disclosing enhanced security measures can be an effective deterrent. “One of the ways you can potentially de-escalate a problem is with a strong security posture,” said Spaulding, now a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “You try to deter people from trying anything.” Following the January 6 violence in Washington, some militia members said they would not attend a long-planned pro-gun demonstration in Virginia, where authorities were worried about the risk of violence as multiple groups converged on the state capital, Richmond. Others told The Washington Post they wanted the protest organized in response to new state gun rules to be peaceful. Some militias across the country have told followers to stay home this weekend, citing the increased security or the risk that the planned events were law enforcement traps.
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Germany’s Ruling Christian Democrats Pick Merkel Loyalist as New Leader
Germany’s ruling Christian Democrats (CDU) Saturday chose Armin Laschet, premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, as their new leader. The pick suggests the party favors continuing with German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s middle-of-the-road policies when she steps down in September after 16 years in office.Laschet’s win puts him in position to succeed Merkel when the CDU and its sister party, the Christian Social Union, decide in March who should become the center-right bloc’s candidate for chancellor in national elections.The CDU has led Germany’s federal government for 52 of the past 72 years.Laschet, 59, now replaces as chair of the party Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the defense secretary whom Merkel had been grooming as her successor. Kramp-Karrenbauer largely failed to assert her authority over the party and announced her resignation in February after blaming Merkel for not being supportive enough.A longtime Merkel loyalist — some see Laschet as the male version of her — he said during the campaign that a change of direction for the party would “send exactly the wrong signal,” as he touted himself as the continuity candidate in a contest that saw him pitched against corporate lawyer Friedrich Merz, a far more conservative figure and Merkel critic, and Norbert Röttgen, chairman of the Bundestag’s foreign affairs panel.Röttgen, also a centrist, was eliminated in the first round of voting. The party’s 1,000 delegates, who voted in a virtual conference, then gave Laschet his win in a runoff that saw him beat Merz by 55 votes.’Stick together’“I want to do everything so that we can stick together through this year,” he told his CDU colleagues after his win. ” … And then make sure that the next chancellor in the federal elections will be from the [CDU/CSU] union.”For months, Laschet, who’s pro-immigrant, was Merkel’s preferred candidate. He defended her during the 2015 refugee crisis. But their relations turned frosty earlier this year when he pressed for an early relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions, forcing him to scramble to repair the political damage he sustained inside and outside the CDU.New Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Armin Laschet, left, and German Health Minister Jens Spahn bump fists as Deputy CDU Chairman Thomas Strobl watches at the end of the party’s 33rd congress, in Berlin, Germany, Jan. 16, 2021.During his campaign he repeatedly stressed the importance of continuing with Merkel’s overall approach of expanding the CDU’s voter base, dismissing suggestions the party needs to be fearful of conservative voters defecting to the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD.“We will only win if we remain strong in the center of society,” Laschet said Saturday, emphasizing the dangers of perpetuating political polarization.Party leaders across the political spectrum joined Merkel in speedily offering congratulations.So, too, did Laschet’s rivals, Merz and Röttgen.“Now there is no competition within the CDU anymore but with others,” Röttgen said, adding that now is the time to “build a team with team spirit.” Merz thanked party members for “good cooperation over the past 10 months,” admitting he had not made life easy for Kramp-Karrenbauer.“It’s going to be an enormously trying time for all of us now over the next few weeks and months,” Merz said.Some criticsOther German politicians were not so favorable. AfD’s Jörg Meuthen said the result was “bad news for Germany” because Laschet’s selection would see a continuation of Merkel’s centrist policies.The co-leader of the left-wing Die Linke, Katja Kipping, said Laschet’s victory didn’t mean he would become the CDU’s chancellor candidate, adding: “No matter who wins the race for the CDU candidate for chancellor, the CDU will not be ready to set the course to get us out of the crisis in a fair manner.”Laschet’s speech Saturday in the run-up to voting attracted a positive response from many German commentators.Thorsten Benner, director of the Global Public Policy Institute, an independent think tank in Berlin, tweeted: Candidate speeches: Laschet clear winner. He had compelling personal narrative & presented it well. Also one that works in September 2021. Merz incredibly flat. Röttgen surprisingly non-personal. He could have presented compelling story of picking yourself up but didn’t.Newly elected Christian Democratic Union leader Armin Laschet, center, is pictured with delegates following his election during the second day of the party’s 33rd congress in Berlin, Germany, Jan. 16, 2021.An aide to U.S. President-elect Joe Biden said he predicted the incoming administration could clash with Laschet on Russia and China if he’s elected chancellor.“Laschet favors a less confrontational approach to Moscow and Beijing,” said the aide, who asked not to be identified.But, the Biden aide noted, Laschet favors maintaining very close transatlantic relations.“The U.S. is our most significant partner outside the European Union,” Laschet said in 2019. “It is the world’s leading technology nation, and it is of critical importance to security in Europe.”Laschet did, however, prompt anger in 2014 in Washington and was accused of trading in conspiracy theories when he criticized the Obama administration for its support of rebels in Syria, tweeting to then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry: “You supported ISIS and Al-Nusra against President Assad in Syria. And they are financed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia.”Analysts are divided on whether the CDU can win the September election under Laschet’s leadership.“While Laschet has convinced a majority of delegates at the party congress, it’s questionable whether this message of pragmatism and continuity will be enough to win national elections,” tweeted Ulrich Speck, senior visiting fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Berlin. “And more important: whether it will be enough to make sure that Germany’s success story continues.”But Peter Neumann, a professor at King’s College, University of London, said Laschet is a gifted politician.“Often underestimated, he’s smarter, more skillful, and tenacious than people think,” he tweeted.
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Scuffles Break Out as Thai Protesters Flout Virus Rules to Protest
Several pro-democracy activists in Thailand were arrested as protests Saturday unexpectedly returned to Bangkok’s streets, defying an emergency law imposed during a fresh COVID-19 outbreak to rally against a royal defamation law being wielded against their movement.
The main groups maaking up the Rasadorn (the people) movement have formally declared a hiatus to the major street rallies that rocked the kingdom, demanding sweeping reforms of Thai politics and the once-untouchable monarchy.
But pockets of protesters have switched from major scale rallies to smaller flash mobs and publicity stunts targeting the royal defamation law, section 112 of the Thai penal code.
The law carries a penalty of between three and 15 years per charge for “insulting, defaming or threatening” the monarchy and is loathed by Thailand’s pro-democracy movement, which views it as a political weapon. More than 40 protesters so far have been charged under the law.
New Year, New Charges as Thai Protesters Slapped with Royal Defamation ChargesAuthorities made their 38th arrest of a pro-democracy activist in recent weeks under tough lèse majesté law as authorities crack down on unprecedented protest movementThe new guerrilla tactics have included draping banners mocking the lèse-majesté law in shopping malls and from bridges, swapping national flags with the “112” insignia, and taking a live goat covered by a “112” blanket to a police station.
Authorities have been left red-faced by actions that normally bounce across social media before any arrests can be made.
But Saturday morning, Police Chief Suwat Changyodsuk warned of tougher action to stamp out the new tactics.
“Police will use force if necessary,” he said. “What happens, happens.”
A few hours later, dozens of police moved in as activists attempted to unfurl a roll of paper 112 meters long at the busy Victory Monument roundabout so passersby could write their objections to the draconian law.
One of the messages said “112 meters of the government’s shame,” though it was quickly torn up as police officers poured into the area.
A young protester was filmed as he was held in an arm lock and dragged into a police van by several officers. Another was detained at the scene also for breaking the emergency decree imposed to control the COVID-19 situation, lawyers said.
Shortly afterwards, anti-riot police canvased an area several kilometers away, where a protest faction called the Liberating Guards had gathered to challenge the arrests.
Scuffles with police ensued and video showed a minor explosion from a so-called ping pong bomb, which apparently was thrown toward a group of advancing riot police.
Five more protesters were arrested, according to advocacy group iLaw.
Until this latest round of skirmishes, the protests had been largely peaceful. There are fears of increasing violence, though, unless there is de-escalation by the government in a country where stalemates on the street often end in bloodshed.
“There has not been any sign of compromise from the Thai state whatsoever,” said Sasinan Thamnithinan of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), which represents many of the detained protesters.
“People will not stop taking to the streets. Everything that the state is doing or not doing is forcing people to take to the streets because they don’t listen.”
Next act
Thailand is a deeply divided country.
Many citizens are royalists, fiercely loyal to the monarchy and hurt by the protesters’ actions, who they blame for unjustly bringing the palace—Thailand’s apex institution—into the country’s messy politics.
Premier Prayuth Chan-O-Cha, an ex-army chief who seized power in a 2014 coup, warned in November he would bring “all laws” against anyone who attacked the monarchy.
At least 42 key activists have been charged since for alleged crimes, from mocking the king’s fashion choices to questioning his preferred residency in Germany.
The protesters, a youth-focused reform movement galvanized through social media, emerged as a force early last year.
They have posed an unprecedented challenge to Thailand’s conservative royalist establishment with their articulate and non-violent opposition to the ruling class.
They want the government of Prayuth Chan-O-Cha to resign, a new constitution to be written to reduce the military’s political power, and for the monarchy, led by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, to be contained firmly under the constitution.
Thailand has been a constitutional monarchy since 1932, but 13 coups by the palace-aligned army have given the monarchy an outsized role in politics.
The royal defamation law had for decades smothered debate about the monarchy, but the protesters have crashed through that taboo, publicly raising issues around the king’s power and financial and personal probity.
None of the protesters’ demands have yet been met, seeding speculation their movement may be running out of momentum after months on the streets.
But late Saturday, the Rasadorn issued a rallying cry on Facebook: “Our movement is not dying down as many would have you believe.
“Prayuth and his clan haven’t gone anywhere, the constitution is still not written by the people, and the monarchy is still above the constitution. Get ready for a big show.”
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UN Rushing to Relocate Ethiopian Refugees Away From Sudanese Border
The United Nations and other agencies are rushing to relocate thousands of refugees camped out along the disputed Sudan-Ethiopia border to safer areas further away.Tensions along the border region between Sudan and Ethiopia have grown since the conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray province started in early November. Since then, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that more than 58,000 Ethiopian refugees have fled for safety across the border into Sudan.UN Slams Ethiopian Government for Blocking Aid to Conflict-Ridden TigrayLack of food, water and health services are affecting hundreds of thousands of people and leading to a rise in malnutrition and water-borne diseasesThe agency reports between 200 and 500 refugees continue to arrive every day at two border crossings. UNHCR Representative in Sudan Axel Bisschop has just returned from a mission to east Sudan. He says the UNHCR is moving the refugees to designated settlements farther from the border where they will be safer and have better living conditions.“UNHCR is trying, together with partners, to actually decongest these border areas. This is due to the fact that we do not want the refugees to be residing so close to the border,” said Bisschop. “So, we have relocated about 20,000 to the Um Rakuba area and we are about now to relocate the rest to the Tunaydbah area.” The Um Rakuba camp is about 70 kilometers from the border. It was constructed shortly after the refugee influx began in early November. In less than two months, it had reached its capacity of 20,000 refugees. IRC Works With Sudanese Authorities to Expand Aid Delivery to Ethiopian Refugees Hundreds continue to flee Ethiopia’s troubled Tigray region despite government assurances of safety back home Bisschop says the new Tunaybdah site, which is around 137 kilometers farther from the border, was opened January 3 to handle the overflow.“The Tunaybdah site is a site which has been developed on an area which is very, very remote. At the moment, we do not have any electricity there,” said Bisschop. “We have pitched tents and we are trying, and we are actually racing against the clock here to get the camp up and running…At the moment, we have moved about 5,000 people but we expect to actually move about 20,000 additional people there.” Getting to the camp is very difficult. Bisschop says it can take up to 15 hours of travel over rough terrain to reach the site from the border. He says aid agencies are now setting up shelters and infrastructure. He says health care, water and food are available for the refugees. As more refugees arrive, though, more relief will be needed.He says additional funding is required to quickly set up the remaining services and to ensure the increasing needs of the Ethiopian refugees are being met. He is calling for more support from international donors, noting only 33% of the U.N.’s $147 million appeal, so far, has been received.
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Biden Fills Out State Department Team With Obama Veterans
President-elect Joe Biden is filling out his State Department team with a group of former career diplomats and veterans of the Obama administration, signaling his desire to return to a more traditional foreign policy after four years of uncertainty and unpredictability under President Donald Trump.
A transition official said Biden intends to nominate Wendy Sherman as deputy secretary of state and Victoria Nuland as undersecretary of state for political affairs — the second- and third-highest ranking posts, respectively.They were expected to be the 11 department appointees that Biden was announcing Saturday to serve under his pick for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, the official said. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss the appointments before the announcements and spoke on condition of anonymity.Among the others joining the Biden team are:-longtime Biden Senate aide Brian McKeon, to be deputy secretary of state for management.-former senior diplomats Bonnie Jenkins and Uzra Zeya, to be under secretary of state for arms control and undersecretary of state of democracy and human rights, respectively.-Derek Chollet, a familiar Democratic foreign policy hand, to be State Department counselor.-former U.N. official Salman Ahmed, as director of policy planning.-Suzy George, who was a senior aide to former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, will be Blinken’s chief of staff. -Ned Price, a former Obama administration National Security Council staffer and career CIA official who resigned in protest in the early days of the Trump administration, will serve as the public face of the department, taking on the role of spokesman. -Jalina Porter, communications director for Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., who is leaving Congress to work in the White House, will be Price’s deputy. Price and Porter intend to return to the practice of holding daily State Department press briefings, officials said. Those briefings had been eliminated under the Trump administration.Jeffrey Prescott, a former national security aide when Biden was vice president, is Biden’s pick to be deputy ambassador to the United Nations, He would serve under U.N. envoy-designate Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Five of the 11 are either people of color or LGBTQ. Although most are not household names, all are advocates of multilateralism and many are familiar in Washington and overseas foreign policy circles. Their selections are a reflection of Biden’s intent to turn away from Trump’s transactional and often unilateral “America First” approach to international relations. “These leaders are trusted at home and respected around the world, and their nominations signal that America is back and ready to lead the world, not retreat from it,” Biden said in a statement. “They also reflect the idea that we cannot meet this new moment with unchanged thinking or habits, and that we need diverse officials who look like America at the table. They will not only repair but also reimagine American foreign policy and national security for the next generation.”Sherman led the Obama administration’s negotiations leading to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, from which Trump withdrew, and had engaged in talks over ballistic missiles with North Korea during President Bill Clinton’s second term. Nuland served as assistant secretary of state for European Affairs during the Ukraine crisis..Sherman, McKeon, Nuland, Jenkins and Zeya will require Senate confirmation to their posts while the others will not.
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Uganda’s Museveni Declared Winner of Presidential Election
Uganda’s election commission Saturday declared incumbent Yoweri Museveni the winner of the presidential election, extending his 35-year rule as his main rival alleged fraud and urged citizens to reject the result.Museveni won 5.85 million votes, or 58.64% of the total, while main opposition candidate Bobi Wine won 3.48 million votes (34.83%), the electoral commission said in a televised news conference.
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India Begins COVID-19 Inoculation Campaign
India began its COVID-19 vaccine campaign Saturday. Frontline workers are slated to receive the first inoculations. The campaign began after Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a nationally televised speech. “We are launching the world’s biggest vaccination drive and it shows the world our capability,” Modi said. COVID-19 deaths worldwide exceeded 2 million Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University, a year after the coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan, China. “Behind this terrible number are names and faces, the smile that will now only be a memory, the seat forever empty at the dinner table, the room that echoes with the silence of a loved one,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters Friday. Worldwide COVID-19 Deaths Top 2 MillionUN secretary-general says death toll worsened by lack of global coordination Guterres also said the death toll “has been made worse by the absence of a global coordinated effort,” and added that, “science has succeeded, but solidarity has failed.” The United States remains at the top of the COVID case list with the most cases and deaths. Johns Hopkins reports more than 23 million COVID-19 cases in the U.S., with a death toll rapidly approaching 400,000. Some states, having vaccinated their front-line workers, have opened vaccinations to older people but have been overrun with requests. Medical facilities are on the verge of running out of vaccines. In many instances, the technology used to take the requests has crashed. President-elect Joe Biden unveiled a plan Friday to speed up the U.S. COVID-19 vaccine rollout, including increased federal funding, setting up thousands of vaccination centers, and invoking the Defense Production Act to expand the production of vaccination supplies.Biden Will Seek to Increase Federal Support to Speed Up Vaccine Rollout President-elect says he will invoke Defense Production Act The wide-ranging plan is part of Biden’s effort to achieve his goal for 100 million Americans to be vaccinated within 100 days. “You have my word: We will manage the hell out of this operation,” he told reporters near his home in Wilmington, Delaware. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Friday that a newly detected and highly contagious variant of the coronavirus may become the dominant strain in the U.S. by March. The variant, first detected in Britain, threatens to exacerbate the coronavirus crisis in the U.S., where daily infection and hospitalization records are commonplace. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 9 MB480p | 12 MB540p | 16 MB720p | 29 MB1080p | 59 MBOriginal | 75 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioCampaign Aims to Convince Americans COVID Vaccine SafeThe CDC said the variant apparently does not cause more severe illness but is more contagious than the current dominant strain. Later Friday, the Oregon Health Authority reported that an individual with “no known travel history” had tested positive for the British variant. “As we learn more about this case and the individual who tested positive for this strain, OHA continues to promote effective public health measures, including wearing masks, maintaining six feet of physical distance, staying home, washing your hands, and avoiding gatherings and travel,” the agency said in a statement. Also Friday, some U.S. governors accused the Trump administration of deceiving states about the amount of COVID-19 vaccine they can expect to receive. Government officials say states were misguided in their expectations of vaccine amounts. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told NBC News on Friday that the U.S. does not have a reserve stockpile of COVID vaccines as many had believed. However, he said he is confident that there will enough vaccine produced to provide a second dose for people.Biden Announces $1.9 Trillion Coronavirus Relief PackageTransition team describes plan as ‘ambitious but achievable’The two COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the U.S. — made by Pfizer and Moderna – are designed to be given in two doses several weeks apart.Pfizer said in a statement Friday that has been holding onto supplies of second doses for each of its COVID-19 vaccinations shipped so far, and anticipates no problems supplying them to Americans. As of Friday, the U.S. government said it had distributed over 31 million doses of the vaccine. The CDC said about 12.3 million doses had been administered.Earlier on Friday, Pfizer announced there would be a temporary impact on shipments of its vaccine to European countries in late January to early February caused by changes to its manufacturing processes in an effort boost output.The health ministers of six EU countries — Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – said the Pfizer situation is “unacceptable.””Not only does it impact the planned vaccination schedules, it also decreases the credibility of the vaccination process,” they said in a letter to the EU Commission about the vaccine delays.In Brazil, the country’s air force flew emergency oxygen supplies Friday to the jungle state of Amazonas, which is facing a growing surge in the virus. Health authorities in the state said oxygen supplies had run out at some hospitals because of the high numbers of patients. Brazil’s Health Ministry reported 1,151 deaths from COVID-19 Thursday, the fourth consecutive day with more than 1,000 fatalities. China reported its first COVID-19 death in eight months Thursday amid a surge in the country’s northeast as a World Health Organization team arrived in Wuhan to investigate the beginning of the pandemic. China’s death toll is 4,796, a relatively low number resulting from the country’s stringent containment and tracing measures. China has imposed various lockdown measures on more than 20 million people in Beijing, Hebei and other areas to contain the spread of infections before the Lunar New Year holiday in February. The relatively low number of COVID-related deaths in China has raised questions about China’s tight control of information about the outbreak. The WHO investigative team arrived Thursday after nearly a year of talks with the WHO and diplomatic disagreements between China and other countries that demanded that China allow a thorough independent investigation. Two members of the 10-member team were stopped in Singapore after tests revealed antibodies to the virus in their blood, while the rest of the team immediately entered a 14-day quarantine period in Wuhan before launching their investigation. The coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan in late 2019 and quickly spread throughout the world. Officials said Thursday that infections in the northeastern Heilongjiang province have surged to their highest levels in 10 months, nearly tripling during that period. Elsewhere in Asia, Japanese authorities have expanded a state of emergency to stop a surge in coronavirus cases. Coronavirus infections and related deaths have roughly doubled in Japan over the past month to more than 317,000 cases and more than 4,200 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. The emergency was initially declared a week ago and was expanded to cover seven new regions. The restrictions are not binding, and many people have ignored requests to avoid nonessential travel, prompting the governor to voice concern about the lack of commitment to the guidelines. Indonesia reported 12,818 new infections Friday, its largest daily tally.
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Trump Administration Carries Out 13th and Final Execution
The Trump administration on Friday carried out its 13th federal execution since July, an unprecedented run that concluded just five days before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden — an opponent of the federal death penalty.Dustin Higgs, convicted in the killings of three women in a Maryland wildlife refuge in 1996, was the third to receive a lethal injection this week at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.President Donald Trump’s Justice Department resumed federal executions last year following a 17-year hiatus. No president in more than 120 years had overseen as many federal executions.Higgs, 48, was pronounced dead at 1:23 a.m. In his final statement, Higgs was calm but defiant, mentioning the victims by name.“I’d like to say I am an innocent man,” he said. “I did not order the murders.”Louds sobs of a woman crying inconsolably echoed for several minutes from a room reserved for Higgs’ family as his eyes rolled back in his head, showing the whites of his eyes before he stopped moving entirely.Biden signals he’ll end federal executionsThe number of federal death sentences carried out under Trump since 2020 is more than in the previous 56 years combined, reducing the number of prisoners on federal death row by nearly a quarter. It’s likely none of the around 50 remaining men will be executed anytime soon, with Biden signaling he’ll end federal executions.The only woman on death row, Lisa Montgomery, was executed Wednesday for killing a pregnant woman, then cutting the baby out of her womb and claiming it as her own. She was the first woman executed in nearly 70 years.Federal executions began as the coronavirus pandemic raged through prisons nationwide. Among those prisoners who got COVID-19 last month were Higgs and former drug trafficker Corey Johnson, who was executed Thursday. Some members of the execution teams have also previously tested positive for the virus.Not since the waning days of Grover Cleveland’s presidency in the late 1800s has the U.S. government executed federal inmates during a presidential transition, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Cleveland’s was also the last presidency during which the number of civilians executed federally was in the double digits in one year, 1896, during Cleveland’s second term.In October 2000, a federal jury in Maryland convicted Higgs of first-degree murder and kidnapping in the killings of Tamika Black, 19; Mishann Chinn, 23; and Tanji Jackson, 21. His death sentence was the first imposed in the modern era of the federal system in Maryland, which abolished the death penalty in 2013.Higgs’ lawyers argued it was “arbitrary and inequitable” to execute Higgs while Willis Haynes, the man who fired the shots that killed the women, was spared a death sentence.The federal judge who presided over Higgs’ trial two decades ago said he “merits little compassion.”“He received a fair trial and was convicted and sentenced to death by a unanimous jury for a despicable crime,” U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte wrote in a Dec. 29 ruling.In a statement after the execution, Higgs’ attorney, Shawn Nolan, said his client had spent decades on death row helping other inmates and “working tirelessly to fight his unjust convictions.”“The government completed its unprecedented slaughter of 13 human beings tonight by killing Dustin Higgs, a Black man who never killed anyone, on Martin Luther King’s birthday,” Nolan said. “There was no reason to kill him, particularly during the pandemic and when he, himself, was sick with COVID that he contracted because of these irresponsible, super-spreader executions.”’Difficult upbringing’Higgs’ Dec. 19 petition for clemency argued he had been a model prisoner and dedicated father to a son born shortly after his arrest. Higgs had a traumatic childhood and lost his mother to cancer when he was 10, the petition said.“Mr. Higgs’s difficult upbringing was not meaningfully presented to the jury at trial,” his attorneys wrote.Higgs was 23 on the evening of Jan. 26, 1996, when he, Haynes and a third man, Victor Gloria, picked up the three women in Washington, D.C., and drove them to Higgs’ apartment in Laurel, Maryland, to drink alcohol and listen to music. Before dawn the next morning, an argument between Higgs and Jackson prompted her to grab a knife in the kitchen before Haynes persuaded her to drop it.Gloria said Jackson made threats as she left the apartment with the other women and appeared to write down the license plate number of Higgs’ van, angering him. The three men chased after the women in Higgs’ van. Haynes persuaded them to get into the vehicle.Instead of taking them home, Higgs drove them to a secluded spot in the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge, federal land in Laurel.“Aware at that point that something was amiss, one of the women asked if they were going to have to ‘walk from here’ and Higgs responded, ‘Something like that,’” said an appeals court ruling upholding Higgs’ death sentence.Higgs handed his pistol to Haynes, who shot all three women outside the van before the men left, Gloria testified.“Gloria turned to ask Higgs what he was doing, but saw Higgs holding the steering wheel and watching the shootings from the rearview mirror,” said the 2013 ruling by a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.Investigators found Jackson’s day planner at the scene of the killings. It contained Higgs’ nickname, “Bones,” his telephone number, his address number and the tag number for his van.Chinn worked with the children’s choir at a church, Jackson worked in the office at a high school and Black was a teacher’s aide at National Presbyterian School in Washington, according to The Washington Post.On the day in 2001 when the judge formally sentenced Higgs to death, Black’s mother, Joyce Gaston, said it brought her little solace, the Post reported.“It’s not going to ever be right in my mind,” Gaston said, “That was my daughter. I don’t know how I’m going to deal with it.”
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Armed Protests Feared Ahead of Inauguration
The FBI is issuing new security warnings ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, citing potential armed protests in state capitals nationwide. Meanwhile, Congress is considering proposals to establish a national bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building. Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
Producer: Bakhtiyar Zamanov
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Trump Fetes Morocco King, Rallies Behind Claim
U.S. President Donald Trump, in a last-minute push to solidify Morocco’s normalization with Israel, bestowed a rare award Friday on its king as Trump’s administration rallied international support in a regional dispute.Trump, who sees Arab recognition of Israel as a key overseas achievement of his presidency, last month broke decades of precedent by recognizing Morocco’s full sovereignty over contested Western Sahara, with Morocco in turn saying it would normalize relations with the Jewish state.The White House said it presented King Mohammed VI with the Legion of Merit, degree of Chief Commander, in a private ceremony in Washington in which Morocco’s ambassador accepted.The military award was created to honor allied leaders in World War II and had slid into obscurity until it was revived by Trump, who last month also presented it to the prime ministers of Australia, India and Japan.”His vision and personal courage – including his decision to resume ties with the State of Israel – have positively reshaped the landscape of the Middle East and North Africa and ushered in a new era of security and prosperity for both our countries and the world,” a White House statement said.The State Department’s top official on the Middle East, David Schenker, on Friday joined Morocco in a virtual conference on Western Sahara that highlighted Trump’s position.Forty nations participated, with 27 at the ministerial level, a joint statement said.”Participants committed to continue their advocacy for a solution, using Morocco’s autonomy plan as the sole framework for resolving the Western Sahara dispute,” it said.The countries taking part included Arab allies of Morocco and smaller developing nations but also France, Morocco’s foreign ministry said.President-elect Joe Biden has not committed to maintaining Trump’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty in Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony where tensions have simmered since the 1970s as the Algerian-backed Polisario Front fights for independence.Morocco controls most of Western Sahara, but its sovereignty is not recognized by the United Nations.
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NY Prosecutors Interview Michael Cohen About Trump Finances
New York prosecutors conducted an hours-long interview Thursday of Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, asking a range of questions about Trump’s business dealings, according to three people familiar with the meeting.The interview focused in part on Trump’s relationship with Deutsche Bank, his biggest and longest-standing creditor, according to the three people, who weren’t authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.The interview, at least the second of Cohen by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, comes amid a long-running grand jury investigation into Trump’s business dealings. District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. has been waging a protracted legal battle to get access to the president’s tax records.The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on Trump’s request for a stay and a further appeal after he leaves office January 20.FILE – President Donald Trump smiles as he is applauded while speaking about taxes, June 29, 2018, during an event in the East Room of the White House in Washington.The New York investigation is one of several legal entanglements that are likely to intensify as Trump loses power — and any immunity from prosecution he might have as a sitting president — as he departs the White House.The Manhattan-based grand jury has been continuing its work despite the coronavirus pandemic, which has curtailed many court operations.The Republican president also faces a civil investigation, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, into whether Trump’s company lied about the value of its assets to get loans or tax benefits. Cohen also is cooperating with that inquiry.He previously told Congress that Trump often inflated the value of his assets when dealing with lenders or potential business partners but deflated them when it benefited him for tax purposes.The White House declined to comment. A message seeking comment was sent to Cohen’s attorney.Trump has repeatedly called the investigations by Vance and James, both Democrats, a baseless political “witch hunt.”FILE – In this May 10, 2018, file photo, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., responds to a question during a news conference in New York.Vance has declined to provide specific details about the investigation but pointed to news reports of what prosecutors described as “extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization” in court filings.Among the reports Vance’s office referenced in court filings was a 2017 article about Ladder Capital, a commercial mortgage lender that made more than $250 million in loans to the Trump Organization that were secured by Trump properties. Jack Weisselberg, the son of Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, is a director of Ladder Capital.Subpoenas issued in the investigation cover 11 entities engaged in business dealings as far away as Europe and Dubai, according to an appeals court judge speaking at a hearing on the matter.Cohen, who is serving the remainder of a federal prison sentence on home confinement, has been asked by investigators to examine certain Trump Organization documents and to provide other details about its corporate structure, the people familiar with the matter said. Cohen pleaded guilty of evading taxes, lying to Congress and facilitating campaign finance crimes.Germany-based Deutsche Bank continued to do business with Trump even after he defaulted in 2008 on a loan for his Chicago hotel and condo development. Trump sued the bank and others whom he blamed for his inability to repay.But Deutsche Bank’s private banking division continued to lend to Trump, including $125 million to finance the purchase and renovation of his Doral golf resort in 2012, according to previous disclosures.Deutsche Bank declined to comment.
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Families Hold Out Hope for Eritrea’s Disappeared Journalists
They haven’t heard from their loved ones in nearly two decades, but the families of imprisoned journalists in Eritrea still hold out hope after authorities freed several prisoners after 26 years. One of the journalists held incommunicado for nearly 20 years is Amanuel Asrat. The editor of Zemen, a newspaper that covered the arts and literature, has been detained since September 2001, without any contact with the outside world. No charges have been made public against him or other journalists jailed at the same time. His brother, Robel Asrat, said the family has demanded answers from Eritrean officials about Amanuel’s whereabouts but have heard nothing concrete. “The government just wants those people to be erased from the memory of everyone just to keep silent,” Robel told VOA. “Like they never existed. We don’t have any other information about them besides the rumors. But his work and legacy live on.” Amanuel is one of several journalists arrested in a widespread crackdown on independent media in 2001. The group were detained after publishing a letter to President Isaias Afwerki that called for government reform. Remembering Eritrea’s Disappeared JournalistsIn September 2001, Eritrean authorities launched an unprecedented crackdown on the free press. Seven of the country’s independent newspapers were shut down. At least 11 journalists were arrested in the roundup, and several more were jailed the following month. None of them have been heard from since that time, and their whereabouts are unknown to this day.Eritrea’s Minister of Information Yemane Gebremeskel did not respond to VOA’s emails asking about Amanuel and the other jailed journalists. The Eritrean Embassy in Washington, D.C., did not respond to VOA’s call seeking information. Prior to the crackdown, Eritrea had a relatively vibrant news scene, with seven independent newspapers. Now it ranks 178 out of 180, where 1 is the most free, on Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index. After the arrests, independent news outlets closed and today the only media allowed are government-controlled, with the main access to media being the state-run radio stations and outlets EriTV, the Tigrigna-language Hadas Eritrea and English-language Eritrea Profile. Writer of courage As well as being a journalist, Amanuel is a celebrated Eritrean poet whose poem “The Scourge of War” was translated into 15 languages. The poem is an unflinching look at the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia that lasted from 1998 to 2000 and that, reports from the time say, left tens of thousands dead. “The ugliness of this thing, war,/ When its spring arrives unwished-for,/ When its ravaging echoes knock at your door,/ It is then that war’s curse brews doom, But … You serve it willy-nilly,” he wrote in 1999, capturing the devastation in Tigrigna. Amanuel last year was awarded the “Writer of Courage” by PEN International, which promotes freedom of expression and literature around the world. The award is given to writers persecuted for their beliefs. “The situation of forced disappearance aims to silence. It aims to create silence and to create fear, not just for the individual who has disappeared, but for their families, for their entire community around them,” Daniel Gorman, director of English PEN, told VOA. “The family of Amanuel Asrat and the family of many others who’ve been disappeared have been incredibly brave in speaking out,” Gorman said. “And I think what we need to do at PEN, as individuals and as people who care about this situation, is to try and amplify the voices as much as we can.” Advocates who follow Eritrea have seen some glimmers of hope related to political prisoners and those imprisoned for religious reasons. In December, the country released 28 Jehovah’s Witnesses after they completed lengthy prison sentences of up to 26 years. But there has not yet been a similar opening for imprisoned journalists. Data from the Committee to Protect Journalists show that 16 Eritrean journalists remain behind bars, one of the highest numbers on the African continent. Although there is little reliable news about the health or whereabouts of these journalists, Robel and other family members refuse to give up hope. In 2010, a prison guard who escaped to Ethiopia said that some of the journalists died in custody, but others were still alive. Rights Groups Urge Release of Journalists in Eritrea, Years After DisappearancesAaron Berhane, a former editor-in-chief and cofounder of Setit, once Eritrea’s largest independent newspaper, highlights the plight of colleagues who disappeared after being detainedAmanuel is among those believed to have been alive. “We cannot forget him and his colleagues easily. These people are treasures, the treasures of this era and the generation,” said Robel, who studies at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. “He’ll be free to see how the world loves him.”
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‘Criminal State’ China Intensifying Human Rights Abuses, Say British MPs
The Chinese Communist party has intensified an assault on all human rights throughout China, and those interacting with the regime should do so in the knowledge they are interacting with ‘a criminal state’, says a new report from the human rights commission of Britain’s ruling Conservative Party.From the incarceration of millions of ethnic Uighurs in Xinjiang province, to the brutal crackdown on protests and democracy in Hong Kong, there has been a massive deterioration in the human rights situation in China the past five years, according to the author of the report, Benedict Rogers, co-founder of the commission.Relatives of Missing Uighurs Learn Their Fate Years Later VOA recently talked to five of those diaspora Uighurs whose family members vanished years ago in internment camps in the Xinjiang region “The regime has developed in recent years new tools of repression, in particular, endemic slave labor, the development of surveillance technologies to create essentially an Orwellian surveillance state, the use of televised forced confessions, the implementation of new laws that allow within the so-called legal system for arbitrary detentions and disappearances, and the continued widespread use of torture and forced organ harvesting,” Rogers told a virtual press conference Wednesday.The report, titled ‘The Darkness Deepens: The Crackdown on Human Rights in China 2016-2020’, has been endorsed by several Conservative lawmakers, including the chair of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Select Committee Tom Tugendhat, two former foreign secretaries and the last British governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten.It calls for the Britain-China relationship to be “reviewed, recalibrated and reset.”Leaked Data Shows China’s Uighurs Detained Due to Religion A newly revealed database exposes in extraordinary detail the main reasons for the detentions of Emer, his three sons, and hundreds of others in Karakax County: their religion and their family tiesThe British Conservative Party report also accuses Beijing of increasing repression in Tibet, and grave violations of the Sino-British Joint Declaration signed in 1997 upon the handover of Hong Kong from British to Chinese control through the imposition of a National Security Law in 2020.The report describes endemic, systematic, widespread torture; the use of forced televised confessions; forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience; slave labor on a huge scale, which helps to supply 83 global brands; the creation of a surveillance state; and increasing influence at the United Nations and other multilateral institutions aimed at silencing criticism.Chinese DenialsBeijing has denied accusations of gross human rights abuses and has repeatedly called for Britain and other Western countries to avoid interfering in its internal affairs.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 12 MB480p | 17 MB540p | 22 MB720p | 45 MB1080p | 90 MBOriginal | 685 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioAt a news conference January 11 in Beijing, officials denied the country is conducting forced sterilizations or has imprisoned millions of Uighurs. “In the process of carrying out the family planning programme in Xinjiang according to the law, it is forbidden to carry out illegal activities such as late term induced labor, forced birth control and forced pregnancy examination,” said Xu Guixiang, the deputy director-general of the Communist Party Publicity Department of Xinjiang. “Whether or not people of all ethnic groups take contraceptive measures and what kind of contraceptive measures they take are all decided by individuals at their own will, and no organization or individual can interfere. There is no problem of compulsory sterilisation.”Elijan Anayat, a spokesperson of the regional Xinjiang government, denied Uighurs were being held in re-education camps. “All the students who participated in learning of the national common language, legal knowledge, vocational skills and de-radicalisation education have graduated. With the help of the government, they have achieved stable employment, improved the quality of life and lived a normal life. At present, there is no education and training centre in Xinjiang,” Anayat said.*/
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Embed” />CopyListenChinese Persecution of Uighurs‘Knock on the door brings fright’Among those contributing to the British report was Rahima Mahmut, a Uighur from Xinjiang province. After witnessing the massacre of dozens of protesters in 1997 in her home city of Ghulja, known as Yining in Mandarin, she fled to Britain. Mahmut told VOA she last spoke to her family in 2017, when her brother finally answered the phone after several attempts.“When I asked him why no one is answering the phone, he said, ‘They did the right thing.’ And then he said, ‘We leave you in God’s hands. And please leave us in God’s hands, too.’”Mahmut says people in Xinjiang are living under constant terror.“A knock on the door brings fright to anyone. Because you just think that, ‘have they come to me? Are they here to take me away?’ I don’t know how to describe my feelings, you know, each time when I read these articles, the details of what is happening to the people: mass rape, sterilization, tearing apart families.”It’s been just five years since Chinese President Xi Jinping was given a full state visit to Britain, including a banquet at Buckingham Palace hosted by Queen Elizabeth. Then British Prime Minister David Cameron hailed a ‘golden era’ of relations with Beijing.However, the relationship has soured rapidly in recent years following concerns over China’s military expansion in the South China Sea, its crackdown on political freedoms in Hong Kong, concerns over unfair trade practices, Britain’s ban on the use of Huawei equipment in the rollout of 5G technology, and the deteriorating human rights situation within China.Britain has proposed the formation of a ‘D10’ grouping of leading democracies to counter authoritarian regimes such as China, a suggestion welcomed by fomrer Hong Kong legislator Nathan Law, who was jailed for leading pro-democracy protests and now lives in exile in London.“The world should prioritise human rights over trade and we should act before it is too late. Democracies have to act in an orchestrated and coordinated way in order to preserve our values,” Law told the press conference on the launch of the report.At UN: 39 Countries Condemn China’s Abuses of Uighurs At meeting of UN committee on human rights, Western nations call on Beijing to respect human rights, particularly those of religious, ethnic minorities Meanwhile British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab this week announced new restrictions on trade with companies based in Xinjiang province.“Our aim, put simply, is that no company that profits from forced labour in Xinjiang can do business in the UK and no UK business is involved in their supply chains,” Raab told lawmakers Tuesday.“We must take action to make sure that UK businesses are not part of the supply chains that lead to the gates of the internment camps in Xinjiang, and to make sure that the products of the human rights violations that take place in those camps don’t end up on the shelves of supermarkets that we shop in here at home week in, week out.”The British move follows the United States’ recent ban on cotton and tomato imports from Xinjiang over concerns of slave labor. Report: Coerced Uighur Labor Could be China’s New StrategyAustralian group’s report contends as many as 80,000 Uighurs have been ‘forcefully’ sent from their homeland region of Xinjiang to work in factories in other parts of ChinaUighur exile Rahima Mahmut wants the West to go further and declare the persecution of the Uighurs as genocide. “[Britain says] that genocide has to be decided in court, not by politicians. But then we know very clearly, we cannot pursue the U.N. route because China has a veto power,” Mahmut told VOA.
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Arrests Mount in US Capitol Riot With Nearly 300 Suspects Identified
U.S. prosecutors aggressively pursuing the perpetrators of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol have identified nearly 300 individuals suspected of involvement in the violent rampage that left five people dead, officials announced Friday.The number of suspects under investigation – 275 as of Friday morning – was expected to top 300 by the end of the day and exponentially grow in the coming days, said Michael Sherwin, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.Sherwin’s office is leading a wide-ranging investigation that includes hundreds of prosecutors and FBI agents trying to identify and charge supporters of President Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol last week. Complicating their work, all but a handful of the rioters were allowed to walk away from the Capitol on the day of the riots and are believed to have traveled back to their home states.FILE – Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin speaks during a news conference, Jan. 12, 2021, in Washington.To date, Sherwin told reporters during a press call, prosecutors have filed 98 criminal cases in connection with the rioting, the majority of them for felony offenses.Authorities in some cases relied initially on misdemeanor charges to arrest the rioters, but “as the investigation continues, as the days and weeks progress, we’re looking at more significant federal felony charges,” Sherwin said.The felony charges range from assault on a law enforcement officer to seditious conspiracy, a charge that carries up to 20 years in prison.Steven D’Antuono, assistant FBI director for the Washington field office, said more than 100 suspects have been taken into custody around the country. The FBI made more than 40 of those arrests, he said.”We have methodically followed all the leads to identify those responsible and hold them accountable,” D’Antuono said.FILE – Supporters of President Donald Trump are confronted by U.S. Capitol Police officers outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. The Arizona man seen in the fur hat, Jacob Chansley, was taken into custody Jan. 9.Among the recently charged defendants, Sherwin cited Peter Francis Stager, an Arkansas man who was captured on video beating a police officer with a flagpole inside the Capitol. Stager was charged on Thursday with one count of obstructing, impeding and interfering with a police officer during a civil disorder.“I think that’s really the height of hypocrisy, that [he] was beating [a Metropolitan Police Department] officer with a flagpole and at the other end of that flagpole was attached the American flag,” Sherwin said.Several current and former members of law enforcement and the military have also been arrested on charges of rioting at the Capitol. On Wednesday, Jacob Fracker and Thomas Robertson – two off-duty officers from Rocky Mount, Virginia, who allegedly traveled 200 miles to take part in the event – were arrested and charged in federal court.In the nine days since the attack, the FBI has received more than 140,000 videos and photographs of the riots from the public, D’Antuono said, adding that the tips proved critical in identifying some of the culprits.Warnings by the FBI about armed protests in Washington as well as all 50 state capitals have led to unprecedented security measures in the nation’s capital ahead of Biden’s inauguration Wednesday.
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National Rifle Association Files for Bankruptcy as Part of Restructuring
The National Rifle Association on Friday filed petitions with a U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeking protection from creditors by restructuring, the gun rights advocacy group announced. The NRA filed the Chapter 11 petitions in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas, it said in a news release. The NRA said it would restructure as a Texas nonprofit to exit what it said was a “corrupt political and regulatory environment in New York” state, where it is currently registered. The influential group said in a statement there would be no immediate changes to its operations or workforce, and that it “will continue with the forward advancement of the enterprise — confronting anti-Second Amendment activities, promoting firearm safety and training, and advancing public programs across the United States.” The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to keep and bear arms. Pending litigationFILE – New York State Attorney General Letitia James listens to a question at a press conference in New York City, Aug. 6, 2020.Last August, New York state Attorney General Letitia James sued to dissolve the NRA, alleging senior leaders of the nonprofit group had diverted millions of dollars for personal use and to buy the silence and loyalty of former employees. The lawsuit filed by James in a state court in Manhattan alleges NRA leaders paid for family trips to the Bahamas, private jets and expensive meals that contributed to a $64 million reduction in the NRA’s balance sheet in three years, turning a surplus into a deficit. The NRA responded by suing James, a Democrat, in federal court, saying she had violated the NRA’s right to free speech and seeking to block her investigation. The litigation remains pending. The NRA in recent decades has been one of the leading voices opposing proposed or existing gun control measures. The NRA’s actions will likely put the attorney general’s lawsuit on hold, and a reincorporation could strip her of the ability to seek the group’s dissolution. In her lawsuit, James had said the NRA’s incorporation as a nonprofit in New York gave her authority to dissolve it.
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British Lawmakers Allege China a ‘Criminal State’ as Human Rights Abuses Intensify
British lawmakers from the ruling Conservative Party’s Human Rights Commission are saying the Chinese Communist Party has intensified an assault on all human rights throughout China — and that those interacting with the regime should do so in the knowledge that they are interacting with “a criminal state.” Henry Ridgwell reports from London.Camera: Henry Ridgwell
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Erdogan Hopes for Positive Steps on F-35 Jet Program in Biden Term
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday he hoped positive steps will be taken on Turkey’s role in the F-35 jet program once U.S. President-elect Joe Biden takes office, describing Ankara’s exclusion for purchasing Russian defenses as a “serious wrong.”Last month, Washington imposed long-anticipated sanctions on Turkey’s defense industry over its acquisition of S-400 missile defense systems from Moscow, in a move Turkey called a “grave mistake.”The United States has also removed fellow NATO member Turkey from the F-35 program over the move.Washington says the S-400s pose a threat to its F-35 fighter jets and to NATO’s broader defense systems. Turkey rejects this, saying S-400s will not be integrated into NATO and purchasing them was a necessity as it was unable to procure air defense systems from any NATO ally on satisfactory terms.”No country can determine the steps we will take toward the defense industry, that fully depends on the decisions we make,” Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul, adding Ankara was in talks to procure a second shipment of S-400s from Russia and would hold talks on the issue later this month.”We don’t know what the Biden administration will say at this stage [on the S-400s],” he added. “Despite having paid a serious fee on the F-35s, the F-35s still have not been given to us. This is a serious wrong the United States did against us as a NATO ally,” he said.”My hope is that, after we hold talks with Biden as he takes office, we will take much more positive steps and put these back on track.”Biden will be inaugurated on January 20, replacing incumbent Donald Trump, with whom Erdogan had a close relationship.
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Britain to Require COVID-19 Tests for Visitors to Prevent New Strains
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Friday that travel corridors into the nation would be closed to fight the spread of COVID-19.At a news briefing at his residence, Johnson said that effective Monday at 4 a.m. Britain time, all travelers into the country must show proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours and then self-quarantine for 10 days. They can take another test after five days and leave quarantine if that test is again negative.Johnson said that the British government would be stepping up enforcement of the rules at the border and elsewhere in the country and that substantial fines would be imposed on those who refused or failed to comply with the measures. The border closures will be in effect until at least February 15.The prime minister said these measures were being taken to prevent new strains of COVID-19 from entering the country, just as the government has begun to make progress with its vaccination program. “What we don’t want to see is all that hard work undone by the arrival of a new variant that is vaccine busting,” he said.On Thursday, Britain banned arrivals from South America, Portugal and some other countries over fears about a strain of the virus detected in Brazil.Friday, Britain reported 55,761 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, up from 48,682 the previous day. The prime minister warned that the National Health Service was facing “extraordinary pressures,” having had the highest number of hospital admissions on a single day of the pandemic earlier this week.
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Pandemic Closes, Repurposes Kenya’s Private Schools
Scores of privately owned schools in Kenya have closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. But some of the school buildings have been repurposed as businesses, such as providing residential housing and even selling coffins. Brenda Mulinya reports from Nairobi.
Camera: Amos Wangwa
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Thai Royalists Say ‘Faith’ in Monarchy Winning as Protests Quiet
As unprecedented verbal attacks rain down on the Thai monarchy, Warisanun Sribawontanakit, a supporter of that monarchy, says protecting the palace from its critics is a battle of “faith” that has set her on a crusade to patrol the internet for instances of royal defamation by pro-democracy protesters. Thailand is a kingdom divided. A mainly young, social media-driven pro-democracy movement is mounting an unprecedented challenge to the wealth and influence of Thailand’s once-untouchable monarchy, calling for King Maha Vajiralonkorn’s power to be constrained clearly within the constitution.That call has shocked and outraged royalists, who are older, conservative and now determined to use a lull in the rowdy street rallies to use the draconian lèse-majesté law — which carries penalties of up to 15 years in jail per charge — to arrest those leading the criticism of the monarchy.So far 40 protesters, the youngest aged 16, have been charged under the law, many following complaints generated from protests, comments and videos on Thai social media. Pro-democracy movement protest leaders from left, Parit Chiwarak, Panupong Jadnok, Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul and Shinawat Chankrajang address supporters after answering charges at a police station in Northaburi, Thailand, Dec. 8, 2020.Royalists say the king has reconnected with his kingdom and that has led the protesters into a dead end of ugly social media criticism by a small minority of misguided youth.“Eighty to 90% of Thais are still loyal to the monarchy, they may have gone through a small hiccup. Now they’re back stronger,” Somchai Sawangkarn, one of Thailand’s 250 army-appointed senators told VOA. “People need to give him [the king] a break, his father reigned for over 70 years, so they should give him time to prove himself which I think he is doing right now and doing really well too,” Somchai said.Like many in the establishment, he believes the protesters have overplayed their hand and should have focused on the perceived shortcomings of the government of Prayuth, a former army chief who took power in a 2014 coup, and amending the constitution, two of their three core demands. “As for the reform of the monarchy, they can fight to the death and will still never win,” he added.Analysts say the protest movement may now be running out of road as the royalist reflexes stir across the country.“Thais may have thought about the unthinkable [criticism of the monarchy] before, but never dared to speak out,” Chaiyan Chaiyaporn, a political science lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, told VOA. “But the protesters have reached the limit, they have exposed everything there is to know about the monarchy, but that hasn’t shaken the power of faith among the royalists,” he said.Thai royalists say Thailand’s limited democracy – army-influenced, with a king involved in political patronage from backstage – works for the kingdom’s unique conditions.The protest movement says the system favors only the palace, billionaires, courtiers and the legion of generals who steward one of Asia’s most unequal societies. They describe royalists as “dinosaurs” holding back the country from reforms that will help the majority with better education and better work and break a culture which values hierarchy over critical thinking. Warisanun, preparing to take a new set of complaints to the police, called the “dinosaur” tag meaningless.“Why would I care? If I did, then I’ll be no different from these kids who are clueless and immature,” she said, adding that the country is in “a war of faith and belief.” “The monarchy is the core pillar of our country. We’ve survived every crisis because of the monarchy,“ she said.
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UN Slams Ethiopian Government for Blocking Aid to Conflict-Ridden Tigray
U.N. agencies are criticizing Ethiopian authorities for blocking most humanitarian aid from reaching civilians and refugees caught up in the fighting in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray province.In early December, Ethiopian authorities struck a deal with the United Nations to allow unimpeded humanitarian supplies to reach the many people in need in Tigray.Unfortunately, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says most of that agreement has not been honored.UN Refugee Chief ‘Very Worried’ for Eritrean Refugees in TigrayTop UNHCR official says aid workers are unable to access two refugee camps since fighting broke out in NovemberOCHA spokesman Jens Laerke says the fighting in Tigray continues unabated and civilians continue to be killed and injured. Additionally, he says many people are still not receiving assistance in Tigray, more than two-and-a-half months since the conflict began.“Lack of food, water and health services are affecting hundreds of thousands of people and our colleagues on the ground are reporting a rise in malnutrition and water-borne diseases …Humanitarian assistance continues to be constrained by the lack of full, safe and unhindered access to Tigray caused both by insecurity, but also bureaucratic obstacles imposed by federal and regional authorities,” said Laerke.Laerke says U.N. and private agencies have managed to deliver aid in some areas, mainly in the cities. However, he says the number reached is far below the estimated 2.3 million people in need of assistance.The U.N. refugee agency also expresses alarm at its inability to assist tens of thousands of Eritrean refugees under its care in Tigray. Before the conflict began, some 96,000 Eritreans were sheltering in four refugee camps. Since then, many have fled the camps in fear of their safety, and others reportedly have been abducted and forcibly returned to Eritrea.UNHCR spokesman, Babar Balloch says staff on the ground recently were able to deliver food to some 25,000 Eritrean refugees in the Mai Aini and di Harush camps in Tigray. But he says the UNHCR does not have access to the two other camps, Shimelba and Hitsats.“Without being on the ground, it is really, really hard to say what has happened,” Balloch said. “But the disturbing reports and imagery, satellite imagery, in terms of open-source satellite imagery … that is really, really troubling. And that is why we repeat our call on the federal authorities to provide humanitarians unhindered access.”The UNHCR calls the situation of Eritrean refugees in Tigray dire and untenable. It says the refugees are extremely vulnerable and unable to provide for their own needs. It warns safe access and swift action are needed to save thousands of lives at risk.
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US Retail Sales Slump for Third Straight Month as Economy Shrinks
Retail sales in the United States fell for a third consecutive month as pandemic-related shutdowns continue to roil the economy. The Commerce Department said retail sales fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in December compared to a year ago. Retail sales were also down in October and November. The traditional surge in sales around the holidays seems to have sputtered with several retailers, including Nordstrom, Victoria’s Secret and Urban Outfitters saying holiday sales were off. The bad economic news comes in the wake of a gloomy jobs report which saw the economy shed jobs for the first time since spring.
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Biden Pledges to Change Immigration, Lays Out Plan
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has promised a quick and dramatic reversal of the restrictive immigration policies put in place by his predecessor President Donald Trump. While Biden pledged to undo many of Trump’s policies starting the first day he takes office on January 20, the layers of reforms will take much longer to implement.
Immigration reform and ‘dreamers’
Biden, a Democrat, said in a June tweet he will send a bill to Congress “on day one” that laid out “a clear roadmap to citizenship” for some 11 million people living in the United States unlawfully.
Biden has said he would create permanent protection for young migrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, known as “Dreamers.” Started by former President Barack Obama when Biden was vice president, the program currently provides deportation protection and other benefits to approximately 645,000 people.
Trump’s Republican administration tried to end DACA but was stymied in federal court. The program still faces a legal challenge in a Texas court.
Vice president-elect Kamala Harris said in an interview with Univision on January 12 that the administration planned to shorten citizenship wait times and allow DACA holders, as well as recipients of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), to “automatically get green cards,” but did not explicitly say when or how these changes would happen.
Trump moved to phase out TPS, which grants deportation protection and allows work permits to people from countries hit by natural disasters or armed conflict. Earlier in his campaign, Biden promised to “immediately” grant TPS to Venezuelans already in the United States.
For years lawmakers have failed to pass a major immigration bill. Democrats may stand a better chance of passing legislation after a run-off election in Georgia handed them control of both houses of Congress.
Restoring asylum and refugees
Trump blasted what he called “loopholes” in the asylum system and implemented overlapping polices to make it more difficult to seek refuge in the United States.
One Trump program called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) forced tens of thousands of asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court. Biden said during the campaign he would end the program on day one. His transition team, however, has said dismantling MPP and restoring other asylum protections will take time.
Under rules put in place by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control during the coronavirus pandemic, most migrants arriving at the border are now immediately expelled. Biden’s team has not pledged to reverse that policy right away.
Migrant caravans have been on the move in Central America, with some aiming to arrive at the southwest border after Biden’s inauguration. Advocates worry that the pandemic will make it difficult for border officials and migrant shelters to handle large numbers of people.
Biden has also said he would raise the cap for refugees resettled in the United States from abroad to 125,000 from the historic low-level of 15,000 set by Trump this year.
Family reunification
Biden’s transition team promised to immediately create a federal task force to reunify children separated from their parents under one of the Trump administration’s most controversial policies.
Thousands of children were separated from their parents when Trump implemented a “zero tolerance” policy of prosecuting all border crossers, including families, for illegal entry. Though Trump officially reversed the policy in June 2018 amid international outcry, some children have continued to be separated for other reasons. Advocates are still searching for the parents of more than 600 separated children.
Travel and visa bans
One of Trump’s first actions after taking office in 2017 was banning travel from several Muslim-majority countries. Following legal challenges, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a revised version of the ban in 2018. It has since been expanded to 13 nations.
Biden has promised to immediately rescind the bans, which were issued by executive actions and could be easily undone, according to policy experts.
During the coronavirus pandemic Trump issued proclamations blocking the entry of many temporary foreign workers and applicants for green cards. While Biden has criticized the restrictions, he has not yet said whether he would immediately reverse them.
Border wall
Biden pledged to immediately halt construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, which Trump touted as a major accomplishment during a Texas visit just days before leaving office.
It is not entirely clear what Biden’s administration will do with contracts for wall construction that have already been awarded but have yet to be completed, or with private land seized by the government in places where building has stopped.
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