An heiress to the Publix Super Markets chain donated about $300,000 to fund a rally that preceded the deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol this month by supporters of former President Donald Trump, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
The Journal said the funding from Julie Jenkins Fancelli, a prominent donor to Trump’s 2020 campaign, was facilitated by far-right show host Alex Jones. It said her money paid for the lion’s share of the roughly $500,000 rally at the Ellipse park where Trump spoke and urged his supporters to “to fight.”
More than 135 people have been arrested in connection with the January 6 attack on the Capitol as Congress met to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the November election. Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died.
Researchers: More Than a Dozen Extremist Groups Took Part in Capitol RiotsFederal prosecutors are looking at the extent to which the attack was coordinated among such groupsAccording to the Journal, Jones personally pledged more than $50,000 in seed money for the rally in exchange for a speaking slot of his choice. Jones, who has publicized discredited conspiracy theories, has hosted leaders of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, two extremist groups that were prominent at the riot, on his popular radio and internet video shows, it said.
Jones did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Fancelli could not immediately be reached for comment. In a Twitter post, Publix Super Markets said Fancelli is not an employee of the chain, “and is neither involved in our business operations, nor does she represent the company in any way. We cannot comment on Mrs. Fancelli’s actions.”
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Month: January 2021
Zimbabwe Extends Lockdown, Dusk-to-Dawn Curfew Amid Surge in COVID19 Cases
Public health experts in Zimbabwe say the country’s extension of a lockdown that includes a 12-hour, dusk-to-dawn curfew to thwart a recent swell in COVID19 cases and deaths will not yield much without adequate equipping of the country’s health care system. The coronavirus has infected nearly 33,000 — and two-thirds of its 1,178 deaths are from January alone according to official figures. The lockdown extension comes as the country says it is struggling to detect new highly contagious – and probably more lethal – variants of coronavirus.Calvin Fambirai, the executive director of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights, said his organization welcomed the two-week extension of the lockdown and a 12-hour, dusk-to-dawn curfew by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government.“It was going to be illogical to relax the measures, considering the background of increased daily mortality and incidence rates of COVID-19 as compared to the pre-January levels,” said Fambirai. “However, we think that there is need to complement the lockdown with one, expanding testing, case surveillance, and isolation of confirmed cases, secondly, there is need for expansion of health sector capacity to respond to severe disease of COVID-19 in order to minimize mortality, and thirdly there is need for an accelerated approach to nationwide vaccination.”Banana vendor Brian Mutera says he is yet to receive government assistance promised last March, unlike the situation in other countries worldwide, Harare, Jan. 30, 2021. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)Those most affected by the extension of the lockdown are informal traders, who constitute the country’s largest sector of employment. Most of them – like Brian Mutera – say they have yet to receive government assistance promised last March, unlike the situation in other countries worldwide. Consequently, he hangs around these shops selling vegetables despite government calls for him to stay at home.“During this lockdown everyone is not wanted in town. We do hand-to-mouth living and it’s unfortunate,” said Mutera. “In this Third World we are in Zimbabwe, there is death and life. I am here, I am dicing OK? with death. But I cannot be home. I have two children to look after. I have to come to the shops [to sell vegetables]. In developed world, government[s] are paying [handouts]. The situation of our economy, everybody knows. It’s unfortunate. We just pray to the Lord that we have to get a vaccine or something all over Southern Africa.” On Friday, Chiwenga — who doubles as Zimbabwe’s health minister — said the country was in the process of acquiring coronavirus vaccine. A health official earlier this week told a parliamentary committee that China and Russia were among countries that had offered to supply Zimbabwe with the vaccine.
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Cameroon Rejects Separatist Calls to Boycott Pope Envoy
English-speaking Cameroonians have ignored calls by separatists to close their businesses and protest a visit by an envoy of the Roman Catholic Church. Cardinal Pietro Parolin called for reconciliation among disgruntled Cameroonians and their government, though separatists accuse the church of being indifferent to their plight.Several hundred civilians turned out Saturday in Cameroon’s English-speaking northwestern town of Bamenda to welcome Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state.
Forty-three-year-old Roman Catholic Christina Anong says she turned out despite threats from separatists because she thinks her Church can help resolve the crisis. She says she wants Cardinal Parolin to ask Roman Catholics who are separatists, in the military or state officials to put down their guns so peace can return to the region.”There have been abductions, there have been killings, there have been people who have been maimed for life, and so we are reinforcing our prayers that we can just have peace,” Anong said. “Our prayers have revolved around the theme that calls us to do good, to shun evil and to pursue peace.”
The Roman Catholic Church in Cameroon says it has more than 6 million followers, with more than 2 million in the restive English-speaking northwest and southwest. Cardinal Pietro Parolin at a reception offered by the Cameroon government. Yaounde, Jan. 29, 2021. (Moki Edwin Kindzeka/VOA)
Before Cardinal Parolin arrived in Bamenda, separatist groups on social media asked all civilians to stay home and close their businesses to protest. They said the Roman Catholic Church has not condemned what they call atrocities committed by Cameroon troops in the English-speaking regions since the crisis began.
In several audio messages circulated on social media, the separatists said their fighters will arrest anyone who turns out to listen to Pope Francis’ envoy.
One of the audio messages said to be from the interim government of Ambazonia, the state in which English-speaking separatists are fighting to break away, describes the Roman Catholic clergy in Cameroon as insensitive to the sufferings of English speakers.
She says the Roman Catholic Church in Cameroon has failed to emulate clerics like the American Nobel Peace Prize winner Martin Luther King, who defended civil rights and fought injustice. She says all civilians should stay at home to let the world know that the Roman Catholic Church and Pope Francis have been indifferent to the killings in the English-speaking western regions. She says it is unfortunate the pope’s envoy met with Cameroon President Paul Biya instead of comforting victims of the separatist crisis caused by Biya.
Most businesses have remained open.
Chris Anu, who calls himself the secretary for communication of the interim government of Ambazonia, has acknowledged on social media that the interim government does not want the pope’s envoy in Bamenda. He said it will be useless for Cardinal Parolinto to visit Cameroon and listen only to government and Catholic clergy he describes as not being sincere.The Roman Catholic Church, in a news release, said it has always stood for justice and encourages both separatists and the military to declare a cease-fire. The release said human lives and property should be preserved and that sincere dialogue should be opened by both parties in the conflict.
Cardinal Parolin says he told President Biya Friday that violence is not a solution to the separatist crisis.
Cameroon President Paul Biya exchange gifts with Cardinal Pietro Parolin Yaounde, Jan. 29, 2021. (Moki Edwin Kindzeka/VOA)”We touched the different points about conflicts, especially about the situation in the north and southwest of the country,” Parolin said. “What we are looking forward to is reconciliation and peace, especially in this present situation where there are many other crises starting from the COVID crisis. It is important to achieve peace. It is the only condition to grow and to achieve sustainable development everywhere.”
Deben Tchoffo, governor of the English-speaking northwest region that includes Bamenda, says Cameroon and the Vatican have the same vision for handling the crisis, but fighters should drop their weapons and be pardoned or be killed.
He says Pope Francis, through his envoy, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, supports and encourages President Paul Biya’s efforts to return peace to Cameroon’s English- speaking regions. He says his wish for the country is that all civilians, especially Christians, traditional rulers, the civil society and separatist fighters, obey and abide by the message of peace and reconciliation brought to Cameroon by the Vatican secretary of state.
During a mass Sunday in Bamenda, Cardinal Parolin will bestow the Pallium — a liturgical vestment from the pope that is a symbol of their participation in papal authority — on Cameroon Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya. Some separatist groups have vowed to disrupt the ceremony. The government says it has deployed troops to protect civilians, the clergy and Cardinal Parolin.
Violence erupted in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions in 2017 when teachers and lawyers protested alleged discrimination by the French-speaking majority. The military reacted with a crackdown, and separatist groups took up weapons, claiming they were protecting civilians.
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Uganda’s Opposition, International Observers Continue to Question Election Results
The fallout from this month’s hotly contested Uganda election is shaking the nation and drawing international rebuke.The national electoral commission declared President Yoweri Museveni the winner of a sixth term with 58% of the vote. But Robert Kyagulanyi, a politician, singer and the main opposition candidate — commonly known by his stage name, Bobi Wine — said the vote was corrupted by harassment of his supporters and ballot box stuffing. Several opposition candidates agree with Wine and are calling for national defiance of Museveni’s government.Wine was put under de facto house arrest for 12 days after the election but still marshaled international support. Human rights groups and foreign governments — including the United States — slammed the government for shutting down the internet during the election and banning outside voting observers.‘There will be consequences’U.S. Senator FILE – Yoweri Museveni, president of Uganda, speaks during the World Economic Forum’s Africa meeting at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Sept. 4, 2019.Youth at odds with Museveni?The contested election stirred the passion of Uganda’s disenchanted young population. Uganda is one of the youngest countries in the world, with a median age of less than 16, according to the CIA World Factbook. But FILE – Supporters of the National Resistance Movement celebrate the victory of Yoweri Museveni in the presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Jan. 16, 2021. Museveni won a sixth term in office.President still has supportersA 76-year-old former rebel leader, Museveni lauded the 57% of Uganda’s 18 million registered voters who participated in the election, and he declared the poll free and fair.“I, therefore, thank the people of Uganda and I congratulate you for turning up in big numbers and voting for the candidates and for the parties of your choice,” he said when the results were certified. “I think this may turn out to be the most cheating-free election since 1962.”Museveni’s supporters say the country’s economy has improved under his leadership and the president has prioritized infrastructural progress. The country’s GDP grew by an average of 6.7% prior to the global pandemic over a three-year span. And Museveni has also been commended for how he has led efforts to battle the virus. He has also been praised for the country’s open-door policy toward refugees.“My expectation from President Museveni, first of all, is security,” a supporter of his told a Reuters reporter. “He has done good. Second, he’s going to finish up the roads he has been constructing, the hospitals, education. He’s going to do more, more, more, what I am expecting [of] him.”Some local analysts speculated that Museveni is paving the way for his son, a commander of the country’s special forces, to succeed him.But Wine and his supporters have vowed to challenge Museveni’s victory in court.‘Reject this mockery’“This and many other irregularities and fraudulent actions, for which we have overwhelming evidence, prove one thing: This has been the most fraudulent election in the history of Uganda,” he said. “We call upon the people of Uganda to reject this mockery and to refuse to acknowledge Museveni as the winner of the … polls. We defeated Museveni. We defeated them, and we were supposed to be announced as winners.”Willy Mayambala, an independent presidential candidate, told local reporters that none of the opposition candidates had representatives in the tallying centers.“We have been engaging the Electoral Commission before the campaigns and during the campaigns when the police [were] brutalizing us,” he said. “But up to today, we have never received any response.”Halima Athumani contributed to this report.
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Hunger Grips Thousands Displaced by Inter-Communal Violence in Darfur
The World Food Program is scaling up food assistance to tens of thousands of people displaced by intercommunal violence in Sudan’s explosive Darfur region.United Nations agencies say an estimated 250 people have been killed and more than 100,000 forced to flee their homes following violent clashes between the Arab and Massalit tribes in mid-January in West and South Darfur. The U.N.s World Food Program reports around 70,000 of the displaced are gathered in more than 70 centers across El-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur. Agency spokesman Tomson Phiri says people are in a weakened condition, many suffering from moderate or acute malnutrition.Surging Inter-Ethnic Violence in Sudan’s Darfur Region Leaves Hundreds Dead, InjuredDue to lack accountability, a single incident can easily spark inter-communal conflict and lead to many people being killed and displaced, UN says He says the WFP has begun an emergency food distribution program, which so far has managed to reach 40,000 people in 30 of these centers.“Assistance is comprised of the staple sorghum,” said Phiri. “We also are providing pulses and salt to enable people to make meals as well as high energy biscuits, which provide immediate nutrition for children and adults without the need for water or cooking.” Phiri says the WFP plans to expand its food assistance program when assessments are completed, and the needs are known. He says his agency is extremely concerned about continuing violence in the region.He notes most people are subsistence farmers and depend on tilling the soil for their livelihoods. He says the period between November and January is the winter planting season and the main millet and sorghum harvesting season.“Even a momentary burst of violent disruption of livelihood activities, can have a long-lasting impact,” said Phiri. “If a planting or a harvesting period is missed, it may not be resumed. If livestock cannot be moved to pasture or water, they may not survive.” The WFP is joining other agencies in renewing calls for an end to the violence in Darfur. It warns the fighting is having a severe adverse effect on the local population and if it continues food shortages and hunger will grow.
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US Issues Mask-Wearing Mandate
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a mask-wearing mandate late Friday to apply on all forms of public transportation, part of the U.S. effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease. The order, which goes into effect Monday (at 11:59 p.m. EST, 4:59 GMT Tuesday), requires people to wear masks “while boarding, disembarking, and traveling on any conveyance into or within the United States,” and “at any transportation hub that provides transportation within the United States.”The order said: “”Requiring masks on our transportation systems will protect Americans and provide confidence that we can once again travel safely even during this pandemic.” Also Friday, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed an extension to an order that was scheduled to expire Sunday concerning evictions for failure to pay rent or mortgage payments. The CDC director said in a statement, “The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a historic threat to our nation’s health. Despite extensive mitigation efforts, COVID-19 continues to spread in America at a concerning pace. The pandemic has also exacerbated underlying issues of housing insecurity for many Americans. Keeping people in their homes and out of congregate settings, like shelters, is a key step in helping to stop the spread of COVID-19.”As the number of COVID-19 infections continues to climb and highly contagious variants of the virus have emerged, some countries are imposing new travel restrictions. A man walks on an empty Promenade des Anglais during a nationwide curfew, from 6 p.m to 6 a.m, due to restrictions against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Nice, France, Jan. 29, 2021.France is prohibiting all travel to and from non-European Union countries. Under the new policy beginning Sunday, travelers from EU countries seeking entry into France will have to provide evidence of a negative coronavirus test. Travelers from several European and African nations — Brazil, Britian, Eswatini, Ireland, Lesotho, Portugal, and South Africa – will not be allowed into Germany. However, German residents traveling from those countries will be granted entry, even if they test positive for the coronavirus virus. Fourteen University of Michigan students are in quarantine after being diagnosed with the British variant of the virus. One of the students is reported to have traveled to Britain over the winter break. Health officials in South Carolina say they have detected two cases of the South African COVID-19 variant, the first cases in the United States.Johnson & Johnson One-dose Vaccine 66% Successful US pharmaceutical maker calls vaccine 85% effective in preventing serious illness U.S. pharmaceutical and medical device maker Johnson & Johnson says after a global trial, the COVID-19 vaccine it has developed is 66% effective in preventing infection.The one-dose vaccine, which was developed by the company’s Belgian subsidiary, Janssen, appears to be 85% effective in preventing serious illness, even against the South African variant.Of the 44,000 people who participated in the trial in the U.S., South Africa and Brazil, no one who was given the vaccine died, the company said.The U.S. has agreed to buy 100 million doses of the vaccine with an option to buy 200 million more, according to the company.The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is the fourth vaccine approved to fight the pandemic.Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center said early Saturday that there are more than 102 million global COVID-19 cases. The U.S. remains the location with the most cases at 25.9 million, followed by India with 10.7 million and Brazil with 9.1 million.
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Myanmar’s Military Promises to Abide by and Protect Constitution
Myanmar’s military said Saturday it will abide by and protect the country’s constitution.The statement came after United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Western embassies in Myanmar expressed alarm Friday over possible a possible army coup.The army’s powerful commander-in-chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, said early this week that repealing the 2008 constitution could be “necessary” under certain circumstances. Myanmar Military Coup Talk Draws Concern from Western EmbassiesWestern missions call for rejection of attempts to alter election resultsThe military, locally known as the Tatmadaw, said that Hlaing’s remarks had been misunderstood.”Other organizations and media misinterpreted the commander-in-chief’s speech and framed it from their point of view,” the statement said, adding that “Tatmadaw is abiding by the current constitution … and will perform within the law by defending it.”The army had for weeks alleged that November’s general election, won in a landslide by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling National League for Democracy, was marred by irregularities.Myanmar was ruled by military juntas from1962 until 2011. The military is still the most powerful segment of the government.
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Myanmar Military Coup Talk Draws Concern from Western Embassies
Alarmed after a string of veiled threats of a coup by Myanmar’s military over unproven claims of voting fraud in the nascent democracy, more than a dozen Western diplomatic missions called on the army and other parties to reject attempts to alter the outcome of the 2020 elections.Intervention by the military is troubling to many in Myanmar, which endured brutal, corrupt military rule and international pariah status from 1962-2011, when it began a transition to democratic rule.The rare group diplomatic statement came as tensions mount before the Feb. 1 opening of Myanmar’s parliament, which was elected in the Nov. 8 election that the army is calling fraudulent. Military vehicles and troops were seen around the capital this week.“We urge the military, and all other parties in the country to adhere to democratic norms, and we oppose any attempt to alter the outcome of the elections or impede Myanmar’s democratic transition,” said the statement from the embassies of Australia, 12 European countries, the EU diplomatic mission to Myanmar, New Zealand, and the United States.A day earlier, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres expressed “great concern” over the military’s words and urged all parties to desist from any form of incitement, adhere to democratic norms, and respect the election outcome.RFA could not reach diplomats at the Chinese Embassy in Yangon for comment on the issue. As Myanmar’s largest investor and trade partner, China has significant influence in the country.Earlier this week, military commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing broached the topic of a possible coup and the abolishment of the constitution amid rising political tensions over the electoral dispute.The 2008 constitution allows the military chief to assume and exercise state sovereignty with the permission of the president during states of emergency that could cause the disintegration of the union. It does not condone military coups, however.Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won the Nov. 8 elections by a landslide, and the 75-year-old leader is set to launch her second five-year term in late March.The army and its political proxy, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, have contended for weeks that there was widespread voter fraud and have increased pressure on the Union Election Commission to investigate. Neither the military nor the USDP have submitted any evidence of actual voter fraud.In response to talk about a coup, the UEC issued a statement on Thursday insisting that elections were devoid of fraud as alleged by the military, despite some voter list errors which it said it would investigate.‘Trapped in their own words’Meanwhile, local media reports in Naypyidaw said two high-ranking military officers met with NLD government officials over the dispute but that the meeting was unsuccessful, and the ruling party rejected the military’s demand to delay the Feb. 1 opening of the new parliament.NLD spokesperson Monywa Aung Shin said he could not confirm the news about the meeting. RFA was also unable to confirm the reports.“We have seen the EU and U.S. show support for the election result and object to the attempts to derail it, so I think we will be able to find solution to this crisis,” he said.Myanmar military spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun could not be reached for comment.Mya Aye, a former pro-democracy student activist and political prisoner who is now a leading member of the Federal Democratic Force party, said the military has dug itself into a hole with talk of a coup as a worst-case scenario in resolving the impasse.“Officials from military have stated the worst-case scenario, and they are trapped in their own words,” he said. “The ruling government has no easy way out of this problem. Both of them are caught between a rock and a hard place.”Other politicians had mixed views about whether the military would follow through on its threat of a coup.“The ongoing situation in Myanmar is not dire enough to justify a military coup,” said Aung Moe Zaw, chairman of the Democratic Party for a New Society. “I also think the chance that the military will actually stage a coup is low.”“It’s not good for the country because the crisis has gotten worse, although it could have been settled between the military and government much earlier,” he said.Ye Naing Aung, secretary of the People’s Party, said attempts at a coup would reverse the progress Myanmar has made with its democratic transition since 2011.“We absolutely object to a military coup or any attempts that will set back the democratic transition,” he said. “The ongoing crisis is centered on the 2008 constitution. All the concerned parties need to work together for the sake of country and the citizens to find a solution.”The military dictatorship following a 1962 coup by General Ne Win abolished the 1947 constitution, while another military regime abolished the 1974 constitution after a coup d’état in 1988.Protest in NaypyidawAlso on Friday, the Myanmar Supreme Court began a preliminary hearing of an election-related petition filed in early January by the opposition USDP and the Democratic Party of National Politics accusing the government and national election authorities of electoral fraud.UEC chairman Hla Thein and 14 other committee members are named in the Application of Writ. The judges who presided over the hearing said they would decide whether to accept the case in two weeks, said USDP spokesperson Nandar Hla Myint.An attorney for the USDP gave opening arguments via videoconference on why the party applied for a writ for the nation’s highest court to begin a case, Nandar Hla Myint said.“If they don’t reject it, then they will continue the hearing with cross-examinations and arguments from attorneys on both sides,” he said.Mandalay attorney Zaw Weik also filed a similar document with the Supreme Court to question Myanmar’s president, state counselor, and military chief for the same reasons. It was unclear whether the court held a preliminary hearing on Friday to consider the petition.While the hearing was in progress, hundreds of USDP supporters marched through the streets near the Supreme Court in a show of protest against the election results amid heightened security near the court and on streets around Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw.Supporters rode on 60 vehicles from the USDP’s office in Ottarathiri township to the court building.Heavy security blocked entry to a guest house in the capital where lawmakers from the NLD and various ethnic political parties are staying as they wait for new parliamentary sessions to begin.“As far as I know, they assigned more policemen to our residence for both security and health reasons,” said NLD lawmaker Aung Kyi Nyunt.
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NBCUniversal Vows Auditions for Actors with Disabilities
Actors with disabilities will be included in auditions for each new film and television production at NBCUniversal, which becomes the second major media company to make such a commitment.NBCUniversal said Friday that the pledge covers projects by the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, Universal Studio Group, NBC network and Peacock streaming service.The pledge was made in response to calls for change by the Ruderman Family Foundation, following a similar commitment the disability rights advocate received from CBS Entertainment in 2019.“My hope is that other major studios in the industry will now see NBCUniversal and say, ‘This is something that makes sense and we’re also going to commit to this,’” said Jay Ruderman, head of the Boston-based foundation. Disney, Sony and major streaming services including Netflix and Amazon are among others the foundation would like to enlist, he said.As more people with disabilities are seen in roles, “it will have ramifications throughout society,” Ruderman told The Associated Press. Comcast-owned NBCUniversal signed on after a series of conversations with the foundation, he said.The company is committed “to creating content that authentically reflects the world we live in and increasing opportunities for those with disabilities is an integral part of that,” said NBCUniversal executive vice president Janine Jones-Clark, whose portfolio includes film, TV and streaming inclusion.Outside calls for action are important and “hold the industry accountable of the work we still need to do in order to see systemic change,” Jones-Clark said in a statement.According to the most recent foundation report, only about 22% of characters with disabilities on network and streaming shows in 2018 were “authentically portrayed by actors with disabilities.” That’s an improvement over 2016’s finding that 5% of such TV roles went to actors with disabilities.Actor Kurt Yaeger a member of the SAG-AFTRA Performers with Disability Committee, lauded the new agreement. “It’s what I’ve been pushing for 10 years,” he said, given how infrequently studios and producers open the door to people with disabilities.Yaeger, who uses a prosthetic leg because of a motorcycle accident, has appeared as a guest actor in more than 50 TV episodes, including ABC’s The Good Doctor and Netflix’s upcoming Another Life. That’s more than most people who are auditioning regularly for continuing series roles, he said, adding, “I’d like more of those opportunities for me and my fellow performers with disabilities.”While NBCUniversal’s commitment is a “great start,” Yaeger said he wants to see every other network and studio do the same thing and allow their progress to be monitored.Eileen Grubba, an actor and disability activist, said NBCUniversal’s action, coupled with that of CBS Entertainment, could lead to wider change. Grubba, whose credits include HBO’s Watchmen and NBC’s New Amsterdam, already considered both companies to be leaders in disability diversity.“The two of them together, standing up and saying, ‘This will happen, this will be done,’ puts pressure on the rest of the industry,” said Grubba, who uses a leg brace because of childhood spinal cord damage. “This is a massive win for this community and for inclusion, and hopefully for all the people who have been in this industry many, many years without ever getting opportunities.”The growing pressure on movie and TV makers to give women, people of color and the LGBTQ community greater representation may have increased awareness of one of the country’s largest and overlooked minority groups, Ruderman said.According to the Centers for Disease Control, 26% of the U.S. population has some form of disability. Their near invisibility on screen, both as characters and actors, influences how the community is perceived, Ruderman said.“Not seeing people who have disabilities in film and on TV does impact society, it does shape attitudes,” he said. Three decades since passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, unemployment remains high among people with disabilities and “a lot of that has to do with stigma.”“I don’t think you can mandate through legislation how people feel. But I think that entertainment can change the way people feel,” Ruderman said.Although the agreement with NBCUniversal doesn’t establish hiring goals, Grubba said the value of getting a chance to audition shouldn’t be undersold.“It requires repeated attempts to get good at it,” she said. “And when you’re competing against people who audition 10 times a week and you’re only getting in one to three times a year, if you’re lucky, you don’t have the same skills in dealing with the pressures and the best way to get through them.”
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Neo-Nazis Cause Outrage in Australia
Campaigners are calling for a white supremacist group that allegedly burned a cross in the Australian state of Victoria to be prescribed as a terrorist organization. Campers have described seeing a group of 30 masked men displaying swastikas and chanting racist slogans.Images online show a group of bare-chested men wearing balaclavas standing next to a burning cross. The pictures are believed to have been taken during the Australia Day public holiday earlier this month.The men are thought to belong to the National Socialist Network, a small white supremacist neo-Nazi organization with members in most major Australian cities.They were allegedly performing Nazi salutes and shouting offensive slogans in the Grampians National Park, 250 kilometers northwest of Melbourne.“They were chanting ‘Ku Klux Klan’ over and over,” said local resident Luke Baker. “So, that went for quite a while and then it was repeated and then ‘White power’ and then there was sort of these Heil Hitlers.”Experts say that such provocative behavior could be an attempt to generate media attention to attract new members and spread messages of bigotry.Victorian state Premier Daniel Andrews has warned that “evil” and “wicked” anti-Semitism was on the rise in Australia and overseas.“The right-wing space in Australia’s been heavily influenced by Trumpism, by conspiracy theory,” said Lise Waldek of Macquarie University, who’s researched ways to counter violent extremism. “Their aim is anti-democracy. They are against participation of all in our democracy, and so while they appropriate conservative politics they are actually against conservative politicians, conservative narratives and we should take that threat very seriously.”Police investigating complaints about the activities of alleged neo-Nazis in the state of Victoria have said no laws were broken. In a statement, Victoria police said it was “equipped and well-prepared” to intervene where needed.In September, the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the domestic spy agency, said far-right violent extremist groups made up 40% of its counterterrorism workload, up from 10% a few years ago.Legislation that allows authorities to outlaw far-right groups considered to be terrorist organizations has never been used in Australia.
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Officer Who Died After DC Riot to Lie in Honor in US Capitol
Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died at the hands of the mob that besieged the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, will lie in honor next week in the building’s Rotunda, congressional leaders said Friday.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released a joint statement saying: “The heroism of Officer Sicknick and the Capitol Police force during the violent insurrection against our Capitol helped save lives, defend the temple of our democracy and ensure that the Congress was not diverted from our duty to the Constitution. His sacrifice reminds us every day of our obligation to our country and to the people we serve.”Congress will hold a ceremonial arrival for Sicknick on Tuesday night, after which a viewing period will be held overnight for members of the Capitol Police. Lawmakers will pay tribute Wednesday morning before a ceremonial departure for Arlington National Cemetery, where Sicknick will be interred.Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the ceremonies will be open to invited guests only.Sicknick, 42, from South River, New Jersey, enlisted in the National Guard six months after graduating high school in 1997, deploying to Saudi Arabia and then Kyrgyzstan. He joined the U.S. Capitol Police in 2008.During the Capitol siege, as rioters seething over President Donald Trump’s election loss stormed the building, Sicknick was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher. He died the next day.In their joint statement, Pelosi and Schumer said: “On behalf of the House of Representatives and the Senate, it is our great privilege to pay tribute to Officer Sicknick with this lying-in-honor ceremony. May this ceremony and the knowledge that so many mourn with and pray for them be a comfort to Officer Sicknick’s family during this sad time.”
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Asylum Camp Swells at US-Mexico Border; Biden Aide Urges Patience
The Biden administration is urging migrants trapped in Mexico under restrictions imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump to be patient, even as the population of a refugee camp in northeastern Mexico begins to swell with hopeful asylum-seekers.On Friday, a senior aide to U.S. President Joe Biden said the administration is working on a system to process the tens of thousands of asylum-seekers who have been forced to wait in Mexico under a Trump-era program.”We’re reviewing now how we can process the migrants who are already in this program,” the aide, Roberta Jacobson, said on a call with reporters. “How to prioritize the people who were enrolled not only months but years ago, and above all, people who are the most vulnerable.”Jacobson said all of those waiting in Mexico under the program, officially known as Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), will have an opportunity to present asylum claims.The protocols, in place since 2019, have pushed more than 65,000 asylum-seekers back into Mexico to wait for their U.S. court hearings. The Biden administration stopped adding people to MPP last week but has not yet outlined how it will process the claims of those already enrolled.Advocates have documented the dangers they face while waiting, including rape and murder.Jacobson promised that the administration would process people “in a much more rapid manner than in the past.”She asked asylum-seekers not to rush to the U.S. border, however, as it would not speed up the process.”Please, wait,” she said.The population of a makeshift refugee camp in the Mexican border city of Matamoros, across the river from Brownsville, Texas, has been slowly swelling, migrants and aid workers say, despite attempts by Mexican authorities to control it.”It’s been growing because people think that if you’re in the camp, you’ll be able to enter (the United States) first,” said Honduran asylum-seeker Oscar Borjas, who helps coordinate the camp. He estimated up to 800 people, including many women and children, are now living in the camp.He and other camp residents welcomed Jacobson’s comments.”Everything is changing for the better,” said Dairon Elisondo, an asylum-seeker and doctor from Cuba, who has been providing medical care to fellow migrants.
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Putin Signs Extension of Last Russia-US Nuclear Arms Treaty
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a bill extending the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between Russia and the United States a week before the pact was set to expire.Both houses of the Russian parliament voted unanimously Wednesday to extend the New START treaty for five years. Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden had discussed the nuclear accord a day earlier, and the Kremlin said they agreed to complete the necessary extension procedures in the next few days.New START expires February 5. The pact’s extension doesn’t require congressional approval in the U.S., but Russian lawmakers had to ratify the move. Russian diplomats said the extension would be validated by exchanging diplomatic notes once all the procedures were completed.The treaty, signed in 2010 by President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers, and envisages sweeping on-site inspections to verify compliance.Biden indicated during the U.S. presidential campaign that he favored the preservation of New START, which was negotiated during his tenure as vice president under Obama.Trump administration’s demandsRussia had long proposed prolonging the pact without any conditions or changes, but the administration of former President Donald Trump waited until last year to start talks and made the extension contingent on a set of demands. The talks stalled, and months of bargaining failed to narrow differences.After both Moscow and Washington withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019, New START is the only remaining nuclear arms control deal between the two countries.Earlier this month, Russia announced that it would follow the U.S. in pulling out of the Open Skies Treaty, which allowed surveillance flights over military facilities to help build trust and transparency between Russia and the West.Arms control advocates hailed New START’s extension as a boost to global security and urged Russia and the U.S. to start negotiating follow-up agreements.Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, the country’s lead negotiator on New START, said earlier this week that Russia was ready to sit down for talks on prospective arms cuts that he indicated should also involve non-nuclear precision weapons with strategic range.Trump argued that the treaty put the U.S. at a disadvantage, and he initially insisted on adding China as a party to pact. Beijing bluntly rejected the idea. The Trump administration then proposed extending New START for one year and sought to expand it to include limits on battlefield nuclear weapons and other changes, and the talks stalled.
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Muslim Advocacy Group Applauds Biden Policy on Travel Ban
American Muslims are welcoming President Joe Biden’s executive order lifting travel restrictions on several Muslim-majority countries, restrictions often referred to as the travel ban or Muslim ban. VOA’s Yuni Salim spoke to American Muslims in this report narrated by Nova Poerwadi.
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White Nationalist Group Holds Small March in Washington
A white nationalist group held a small rally in Washington on Friday, carrying a large banner and briefly chanting as they marched to the U.S. Capitol. The march, captured on video by ProPublica reporter Lydia DePillis, shows more than 20 members of the group marching in tight formation past monuments and down the National Mall leading to the Capitol building. Anybody know who these guys are, mustering on hains point right now? Military formation, upside down US flags, circular shields? pic.twitter.com/1YX8fV9o1X— Lydia DePillis (@lydiadepillis) January 29, 2021They wore blue jackets, khaki pants and white masks and carried upside-down American flags, along with banners reading “Strong Families, Strong Nations” and “For the Life of our Nation.” At one point, they shouted “Reclaim our nation!” and lit smoke bombs that dispersed red and blue smoke. The march comes slightly more than one week after U.S. President Joe Biden’s inauguration took place under historically tight security, and three weeks after the January 6 siege of the Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump. The group held a similar march in Washington last year in which they received an escort from Washington police on bicycles as they marched to the Capitol. Police statementAsked about Friday’s march, the Washington Metropolitan Police Department issued a statement saying it had been alerted that the demonstration was going to take place and issued notifications regarding possible road closures or traffic issues. The statement said there were no arrests made in connection with the march, and added: “Also, the Metropolitan Police Department does not act in the capacity of private security for any group.” The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the Patriot Front as a white nationalist group that broke off from a similar organization, Vanguard America, in the aftermath of the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. At that rally, self-described neo-Nazi James Fields drove his car into a group of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2018.
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Why is Kremlin Tagging Protesters ‘Political Pedophiles’?
Russia’s state-controlled media has been turning to a disinformation playbook it has used before in a bid to discredit protesters agitating for the release from prison of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, say analysts.Navalny was detained on his return to Moscow for parole violations after recovering in Germany from a near-fatal poisoning. His arrest has triggered the largest anti-Kremlin protests seen in Russia since 2011, and Washington is being blamed for the demonstrations, with Kremlin officials and state media presenters alleging that Western powers, mainly the U.S., are behind the agitation.“Washington is becoming a convenient pretext for accusations, although in reality it has very little to do with what is happening,” Donald Jensen, director of the United States Institute of Peace, a research organization, told VOA’s Russian service. “This is a question for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and the Russian people, and it is clear that a significant minority of Russians are unhappy.”FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks via video call, as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks on, during a news conference in Moscow, Russia, Dec. 17, 2020.Nikolai Patrushev, head of Russia’s security council, has compared the Navalny protests to the popular Maidan uprising in Ukraine of 2013-2014, which he and other Kremlin officials also accused the West of fomenting.He told the state-owned weekly newspaper Argumenty i Fakti the West needs Navalny, “To destabilize the situation in Russia, for social upheavals, strikes and new Maidans.”“What this can lead to we see in the example of Ukraine, which in essence, has lost its independence,” he added. Maidan revoltDisinformation analysts also are drawing comparisons to the Maidan revolt — not as an example of Western intervention, but in terms of the Kremlin’s information management strategy launched to try to save Putin ally President Viktor Yanukovych from ouster.They say many of the same memes, tropes and conspiracy theories dissimulated during the Maidan revolt are being used now to try to shape a narrative discrediting pro-Navalny protesters.In 2013, when hundreds of thousands of pro-Europe protesters occupied Kyiv’s Maidan to demand Yanukovych’s resignation, Kremlin-controlled media portrayed the people behind the uprising as being opposed to traditional, socially conservative Russian values of family and religion.FILE – People attend a rally at Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square, in central Kyiv, Dec. 8, 2013.Among the memes Russian disinformation channels broadcast were those conflating the agitation with homosexuality, warning of the risk that a homo-dictatorship would be established in Ukraine, according to analysts.“There’s a long tradition of pro-Kremlin propaganda using homophobic rhetoric to discredit pro-democracy activism,” said Zarine Kharazian, an analyst at the Digital Forensic Research Lab, part of the Atlantic Council, a U.S.-based research group. The lab studies disinformation campaigns.The protesters in the early days of the revolt were predominately young and their occupation of the Maidan, one of Kyiv’s central squares, was sparked by Yanukovych’s decision not to sign an association agreement with the European Union. Because the EU supports same-sex marriage, Russia’s state-controlled media’s “starting point was that the European Union was homosexual, and so the Ukrainian movement toward Europe must be, as well,” according to Yale academic Timothy Snyder.Writing in his book, “The Road to Unfreedom,” Snyder noted, “In November and December 2013, the Russia media covering the Maidan introduced the irrelevant theme of gay sex at every turn.” ‘Political pedophilia’As the anti-Kremlin protests erupted this week in Moscow, St. Petersburg and about 70 other towns across Russia, state-controlled media appeared again to color the political agitation with sexual politics, accusing protest leaders of “political pedophilia,” part of an official claim that most protesters were manipulated minors.Sociologists say the protesters came from a range of age groups, although some 25 percent were 18- to 25-year-olds. Nonetheless, Russian officials say Navalny and his supporters have been exploiting the vulnerability of children and the young, persuading them to demonstrate in the streets. “This is a serious operation,” alleged Valery Fadeyev, head of Putin’s human rights council.FILE – Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is seen on a screen via a video link during a court hearing to consider an appeal on his arrest outside Moscow, Russia, Jan. 28, 2021.TV presenter Dmitry Kiselyov, the head of Rossiya Segodnya, complained on his marquee show “News of the Week.” “There are people who are so low, they drag children into politics, like political pedophiles. Is this bad? It’s horrible.” Other presenters on Russian newscasts also tagged protesters as “political pedophiles.”Pedophilia, with or without the qualifier “political,” is a charged word in Russia, say disinformation analysts. They argue that the government has a long propaganda history of linking homosexuality with pedophilia. They say labeling the protesters as pedophiles has to be understood within a larger state project of defining Russia’s identity in terms of traditional values, delineating Russia from a Western world often portrayed by the Kremlin as dissolute and decadent.“I do think it’s an attempt to paint opposition protests as ‘Western’ and fundamentally at odds with ‘traditional Russian values,’” said Kharazian. “The equating of homosexuality and pedophilia is based on common homophobic tropes of homosexuality as ‘unnatural’ or in some way ‘perverted.’ And beyond Maidan, these homophobic narratives have also been applied to protests in Armenia, Venezuela, Georgia and elsewhere.“It is hard to say if this tactic will work for a wide swathe of Russians, but for those already receptive to anti-Western propaganda, it certainly is potent,” she said.Putin avoided mentioning his foe Navalny by name in a midweek speech to the World Economic Forum. But he warned against the “destruction” of traditional values. “The social and values crisis is already having negative demographic consequences, from which mankind is at risk of losing entire civilizational and cultural continents.”FILE – Law enforcement officers clash with participants during a rally in support of jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 23, 2021.Putin himself has defended Russia’s anti-gay laws in the past by equating gays with pedophiles, saying Russia needs to “cleanse” itself of homosexuality.In an interview in 2014 with ABC TV, on the eve of the Sochi Olympics, he suggested that gays are more likely to abuse children. And in September 2013, Putin talked about the excesses of Western political correctness, which he said had “reached the point where there are serious discussions on the registration of parties that have propaganda of pedophilia as their objective.”Jakub Kalensky, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a colleague of Kharazian, says the Kremlin-controlled media’s homophobic tropes are “playing into the prejudices of some of the more conservative Russians. It’s not just about influencing the audience, but also using the audience’s prejudices to discredit the protests,” he said.
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South Sudan’s Kiir to Stay Out of Inter-communal Conflicts
South Sudanese President Salva Kiir says his government will no longer deploy security forces to intervene when inter-communal fighting breaks out in Jonglei state and the Pibor Administrative Area, the scene of repeated deadly clashes. “Next time when you go and fight, I will not come to your rescue again nor form a committee to go to the war zone. I have decided that any other fighting that erupts, I won’t send either soldiers or the police. I will leave you to fight yourselves until one section runs from the other,” Kiir said Wednesday while addressing a peace conference for Jonglei and Pibor in Juba. Political analysts in the capital immediately said Kiir is taking the wrong approach and are calling on the president to withdraw his statement. Augustino Ting Mayai, a researcher and analyst with the Sudd Institute, said he hopes the president misspoke because citizens look to the national government to resolve such conflicts. FILE – South Sudanese President Salva Kiir attends a press conference in Juba, Feb. 15, 2020.”It was very unfortunate to hear that he would give up making sure that security is restored in these communities. It’s basically a signal, I’m quite sure it wasn’t intended that way, but it signals the state’s inability to monopolize violence and that should be a concern to our citizens,” Mayai told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus.Mayai said he hopes communities will not perceive the president’s remarks as permission to attack each other. “The communities have to find the courage to come together and bring peace among themselves and restore what has been lost in the last 15 years since South Sudan became a regional autonomy as well as a state, otherwise what else do we exist for if there’s no peace?” Mayai said. Increasing problem Inter-communal fighting often triggered by cattle raids and child abductions, and heightened by ethnic tension and revenge attacks, has become an increasing problem in northeastern South Sudan. After one clash last March, medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières said it treated 45 people for gunshot wounds in Pibor and more than 80 wounded patients in Jonglei. In May 2020, fighting between pastoralists and farm workers erupted in the Jonglei state town of Pieri, leaving hundreds dead and forcing thousands of people to flee to the bush. Aid groups saw their property raided and dozens of homes were destroyed. James Okuk, a senior research fellow and policy analyst at the Center for Strategic Policy Studies in Juba, does not find Kiir’s remarks surprising, saying the government has not provided protection or other services to its citizens for quite some time. “That’s why we have the UNMISS (United Nations Mission in South Sudan) in the country doing some of those duties, it’s not a new thing,” Okuk told South Sudan in Focus. “I think as human beings they will find a way to survive and move on. If they see that escalation is not good for their survival, they will stop it.” Call for reversalJame David Kolok, executive director for the local advocacy group Foundation for Democracy and Accountable Governance, said Kiir is frustrated with community-level conflicts that happen again and again despite the signing of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement. But Kolok said the national government should respond because inter-communal clashes have become hugely militarized. “If the president says that he will never dispatch his forces and neither the police to be able to confront any emerging threat, that to us in other words would actually promote or encourage communities now to fight,” Kolok said. Kolok said Kiir should reverse his statement and instead say the government “is ready to confront any emerging threat that will disorganize this kind of peace conference and peace negotiations that we have.”
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Capitol Police Bolstering Travel Security for Lawmakers
The Capitol Police are stepping up security at Washington-area transportation hubs and taking other steps to safeguard traveling lawmakers as Congress continues to react to this month’s deadly assault on the Capitol.
Capitol Police will be stationed at area airports and Washington’s Union Station railway hub on busy travel days, the House’s chief law enforcement officer wrote in an email obtained Friday by The Associated Press. Timothy P. Blodgett, the acting sergeant at arms, wrote that officials were setting up an online portal so lawmakers can notify them of travel plans and urged legislators to report threats and suspicious activity.
“Members and staff should remain vigilant of their surroundings and immediately report anything unusual or suspicious,” said the email, sent late Thursday.
Blodgett said lawmakers have previously been advised that they can use office expense accounts to pay for security to protect their offices and events in their districts and for self-protection while performing official duties. It also cited a 2017 Federal Elections Commission opinion that they can use campaign contributions to install security systems at their homes.
President Joe Biden is in “close touch” with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., about congressional security, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
Pelosi told reporters Thursday that lawmakers face threats of violence from an “enemy” within Congress and said money would be needed to improve security. Pelosi’s comments were a startling acknowledgment of escalating internal tensions between the two parties over safety since the Jan. 6 Capitol attack by supporters of former President Donald Trump.
Also Thursday, the acting chief of the Capitol Police said “vast improvements” are needed to protect the Capitol and adjacent office buildings, including permanent fencing.
Such barricades have ringed the complex since the deadly Jan. 6 riot, but many lawmakers have long resisted giving the nation’s symbol of democracy the look of a besieged compound, and leaders were noncommittal about the idea.
Pelosi focused her comments on the anxiety and partisan frictions that have persisted in Congress since Trump supporters’ assault on the Capitol, which led to five deaths. She told reporters she thinks Congress will need to provide money “for more security for members, when the enemy is within the House of Representatives, a threat that members are concerned about.”
Asked to clarify what she meant, Pelosi said, “It means that we have members of Congress who want to bring guns on the floor and have threatened violence on other members of Congress.”
Some lawmakers who voted for this month’s House impeachment of Trump have reported receiving threats, and initial moves to enhance safety procedures have taken on clear partisan undertones. Some Republicans have loudly objected to having to pass through newly installed metal detectors before entering the House chamber, while Pelosi has proposed fining lawmakers who bypass the devices.
Pelosi did not say whom she meant by her reference to an “enemy” within the House, and a spokesperson provided no examples.
First-term Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who has expressed support for baseless QAnon conspiracy theories, has liked Facebook posts that advocated for violence against Democrats and the FBI. One post suggested shooting Pelosi in the head.
Asked to comment, Greene sent a written statement accusing Democrats and journalists of attacking her because she is “a threat to their goal of Socialism” and supports Trump and conservative values.
Earlier this month, the HuffPost website reported that Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., set off a newly installed metal detector while trying to enter the House chamber and was found to be carrying a concealed gun. Other Republicans have also talked about carrying firearms, which lawmakers are permitted to do, though not on the House or Senate floors.
Since the attack, the Capitol grounds have been surrounded by barrier fences and patrolled by National Guard troops. Yogananda D. Pittman, acting chief of the Capitol Police, said in a statement that based on security assessments by her agency and others, some changes should be lasting.
“I can unequivocally say that vast improvements to the physical security infrastructure must be made to include permanent fencing, and the availability of ready, back-up forces in close proximity to the Capitol,” said Pittman.
Pelosi took no immediate stance about permanent fencing. Drew Hammill, the speaker’s spokesperson, said she would await a Capitol security review led by retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré “to understand what infrastructure changes are necessary.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters he would “defer to the experts.”
Others panned the permanent fencing suggestion. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said she was “adamantly opposed” and had heard no justification for its need. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., a former Marine, said it would be wrong to turn the Capitol into a “fortress.”
The public is barred from carrying firearms on Capitol grounds. Members of Congress can keep guns in their offices or transport them on the campus if they’re unloaded and securely wrapped.
The House impeached Trump this month on a charge of inciting the insurrection at the Capitol. A Senate trial is set to begin February 9.
Trump made incendiary remarks to a throng of supporters shortly before the riot, urging them to march to the building. Lawmakers at the time were formally certifying Biden’s election victory, which Trump has repeatedly and falsely attributed to fraud.
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Biden Extends, Expands Deportation Protection for Syrians in US
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Friday an extension of protected status for some 6,700 Syrian refugees living in the United States.Acting DHS Secretary David Pekoske said the department would extend Temporary Protected Status through September of 2022 and allow 1,800 more Syrians to apply for the status.Undocumented Immigrants Cheering Possible Citizenship Path Under Biden’It all depends on the Congress, especially the Senate,’ one immigrant advocate says“The Syrian civil war continues to demonstrate deliberate targeting of civilians, the use of chemical weapons and irregular warfare tactics, and use of child soldiers,” DHS said in a statement.“The war has also caused sustained need for humanitarian assistance, an increase in refugees and displaced people, food insecurity, limited access to water and medical care, and large-scale destruction of Syria’s infrastructure. These conditions prevent Syrian nationals from safely returning,” the department added.The administration of former president Donald Trump twice extended TPS status for Syrians due to the ongoing conflict in Syria, according to Reuters.
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Group of Chibok Schoolgirls Reportedly Escape Boko Haram Captors
An unknown number of girls, kidnapped seven years ago from a government school in Chibok, Nigeria, are believed to have escaped after the military launched an offensive in the Sambisa Forest in Borno state, a Boko Haram base where the girls and many other kidnap victims are believed to be held. One of the girls, Halima Ali Maiyanga, spoke to her father Friday from military custody, confirming the escape. FILE – Mothers of the missing Chibok schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram gather to receive information from officials, May 5, 2014.Former chairman of the Chibok community Hosea Adama, speaking to VOA via a messaging app, says the town is celebrating the news: “People are happy, yes it is true. Even if it’s one (girl), the whole village will jubilate over it.” The Nigerian military has yet to respond to questions or issue a statement on the matter. However, Adama says the military is profiling the rescued victims to ascertain how many of them are Chibok girls, who would now be in their late teens and early 20s. “Up tlll now, we don’t know who is involved and how many. Even the soldiers, people contacted them, they don’t have the right information. They are still profiling,” he said.In 2014, Boko Haram militants raided a government secondary school in Chibok town and kidnapped 276 girls. Dozens of the girls escaped soon after and about 100 of them were freed through negotiations between 2016 and 2017. Hosea says five of his nieces are among the Chibok girls who are yet to be found, and he’s hoping they’re among the new batch of returnees.
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EU Drug Regulator Approves AstraZeneca Vaccine for Emergency Use
European Union regulators on Friday approved the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, the third vaccine approved for use on the European continent.
Amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population, the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) expert committee unanimously recommended the vaccine for adults, despite concerns of inadequate data proving its effectiveness for people over 55.
Addressing reporters from agency headquarters in Amsterdam, EMA chief Emer Cooke told reporters the agency had approved the drug for conditional or emergency use because clinical studies found the vaccine to be about 60% effective at fighting the coronavirus — lower than the two previously approved vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, which show efficacy in the 90% range.
Many EU health officials had been anticipating approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine because it is less expensive and does not require deep-freeze storage like the Pfizer-BioNTech drug.
Earlier Friday, German Health Minister Jens Spahn indicated the vaccine would be approved, but not recommended for patients older than 65, as the clinical studies lacked data regarding its efficacy for patients in that age range.
But Emer said EMA’s experts determined, based on the immune results seen in patients between the ages of 18 and 55 years, older adults are expected get the same protection from the vaccine.
The AstraZeneca vaccine had already been approved for use in Britain and a number of other countries. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is still considering the drug company’s application for emergency use.
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Election-Related Displacement Tops 200,000 in Central African Republic
Violence which erupted ahead of the Central African Republic’s general election at the end of December has forced more than 200,000 people to flee their homes in search of safety, the U.N. refugee agency says. The agency reports around 100,000 people are displaced inside C.A.R., with another 92,000 refugees crossing into the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the rest going to Cameroon, Chad and the Republic of Congo. UNHCR spokesman Boris Cheshirkov says conditions are particularly dire for the tens of thousands of refugees in the DRC, who are scattered across 40 localities in remote, hard-to-reach areas. “The needs are acute for food, for shelter,” he said. “We also need health support. The threat of the spread of diseases, including COVID-19 is there. That means that we need to see more humanitarian actors involved.” For that to happen, he says the international community must be more generous in supporting aid operations. So far, only two percent of this year’s $151.5 million U.N. funding appeal for the C.A.R. has been received. FILE – A Rwandan peacekeeper from the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) patrols the road leading to Damara, Jan. 23, 2021.Cheshirkov says continuing volatility inside the Central African Republic is hampering aid from reaching those who are internally displaced. In addition, he says, the presence of armed groups in two IDP camps is further endangering people sheltering there. “What we are receiving is very troubling reports of human rights violations as these armed groups are moving, some of them retreating and they are moving to villages,” he said. “We are hearing reports of pillaging, of sexual violence that is increasing rapidly, and the situation is really concerning.” The UNHCR is calling on the armed groups to stop the violence and resolve their differences through peaceful dialogue.
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Thai Economy Struggles Amid COVID Second Wave
Thailand had hoped the new year would bring relief to its battered economy. But a second wave of the coronavirus has sunk the kingdom deeper into trouble, leaving streets scarred with abandoned businesses and millions scrambling for an income.The kingdom, one of Asia’s most unequal societies, appeared to have controlled the virus, with just a fraction of the caseload seen in the worst-hit countries. But outbreaks blamed on Myanmar migrants smuggled over the border by Thai officials — as well as clusters at illegal gambling dens — saw a resurgence of the pandemic. Since December 15, 12,000 cases have been recorded, around three times the previous level. Workers clean the road outside shrimp market in Samut Sakhon, Bangkok, Jan. 25, 2021, as Thailand registered a new daily high of over 900 cases of the coronavirus at the province near the capital Bangkok, where a major outbreak occurred in December.Seventy-six people have died since the coronavirus emerged, according to Thai health officials — a small number compared to the worst-hit countries — but enough to prod the government into widespread closures of bars and massage parlors and placing restrictions on restaurant opening hours.That has compounded the near total collapse of tourism, which contributed $60 billion to the economy in 2019, as a result of travel restrictions and two-week quarantine requirements. Millions more have lost jobs ranging from trinket sellers to street food vendors who depended on tourists. Round 1 of the virus forced Rangsan Thaitanadrob to close his shop and seek out customers by turning his motorbike into a mobile store piled high with cleaning products, toilet tissue and surgical masks. Round 2 is pushing him to the brink.“I work twice as long, and my income is still 60% down. People just don’t have money to buy anything,” said the 56-year-old who provides for a family of five. “There are days I have to rely on fate.”The Thai economy is expected to record a 6.5% contraction in 2020, according to data released Thursday by the Fiscal Policy Office. It has continued to sputter this month, leaving millions unemployed and desperate for meager government relief payments.A sign for the government funded co-payment, scheme which the state picks up half hung outside a street stall in Bangkok. (Vijitra Duangdee/VOA)Debt has surged to dangerous highs, experts say, hitting middle- and low-income individuals hard.“We are seeing a spike in the level of household debt to a record level of almost 90% of GDP,” former Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij told VOA. The government injected a record $56 billion stimulus into the economy last year but has pumped in just $7 billion so far in 2021.The cabinet this week approved a new round of COVID-19 relief for low-income groups. The new package aims to reach around 30 million people with the equivalent of $230 in credit to buy necessities. Yet, complaints abound over the slow release of previous relief payments and a failure to deliver assistance to Thailand’s populous but poor rural hinterlands. A woman buys food from a street stall vendor – with a ‘Covid safe’ plastic shield in Bangkok. (Vijitra Duangdee/VOA)From closed massage shops to shuttered bars, the streets of Bangkok show the scars of failed businesses. In their place, ad hoc stalls selling cheap clothes, fruit and vegetables have sprung up.For Bunn, a cobbler who is the only breadwinner in his family of seven, the lack of tourists has reduced his income to just $7 a day. Yet he still cycles long distances through the capital’s empty tourist districts looking for customers.“It’s not enough to feed my family,” he said. “But this is all I know how to do.”
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Pakistan Petitions Supreme Court to Review Acquittal of Prime Suspect in US Journalist’s Murder
Authorities in Pakistan on Friday petitioned the Supreme Court to review its decision to free Omar Sheikh and his three accomplices convicted of kidnapping and beheading the American journalist Daniel Pearl, the Pearl family lawyer has confirmed to VOA.The Biden administration has expressed outrage by Thursday’s decision by Pakistan’s highest court to acquit the British national convicted in 2002 of plotting the kidnapping and beheading of Pearl.Hours after the ruling, White House press secretary Jen Psaki also underscored the administration’s commitment to secure justice for Pearl’s family.“This decision to exonerate and release Sheikh and the other suspects is an affront to terrorism victims everywhere, including in Pakistan,” she said, calling on the “Pakistani government to expeditiously review its legal options including allowing the United States to prosecute Sheikh for the brutal murder of an American citizen and journalist.”US “outraged” by the Pakistani supreme court decision to acquit those who murdered FILE – Undated file photo of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. (Photo by Wall Street Journal/AFP)In April 2020, however, an appeals court in Sindh overturned the verdict, reducing Sheikh’s sentence to seven years in prison for kidnapping only and allowing him to be freed for time served. The ruling ordered that Sheikh’s accomplices be freed.Pakistani authorities have since prevented the four men from walking free.The April judgment prompted the parents of the slain U.S. journalist and the provincial government to swiftly file appeals in the Supreme Court to seek restoration of the 2002 convictions, leading to Thursday’s outcome.”The judgment of the Supreme Court is that these four people who were accused of kidnapping Daniel Pearl and allegedly murdering him, that judgment which was given by the trial court in 2002 has been set aside finally and put to rest,” attorney Sheikh explained.The Pearl family’s lawyer, Faisal Siddiqi, noted the three-judge Supreme Court panel ruled 2-to-1 in favor of upholding Sheikh’s acquittal.“Thursday’s decision is a complete travesty of justice and the release of these killers puts in danger journalists everywhere and the people of Pakistan,” the Pearl family said in a statement released by Siddiqi.”We urge the U.S. government to take all necessary actions under the law to correct this injustice,” they added.The Committee to Protect Journalists also criticized the court ruling.“We are deeply disappointed that Pakistan’s Supreme Court has acquitted and ordered the release of Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh, despite overwhelming evidence of Sheikh’s involvement in the kidnapping of Daniel Pearl, which led directly to his murder,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Daniel Pearl deserves justice and Sheikh deserves to pay for his crime. Journalists everywhere are less safe today due to this decision.”Pearl was visiting Pakistan to report on Islamist militant networks in the country following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror strikes on U.S. cities before being kidnapped in Karachi, the capital of Sindh, and beheaded days later.Washington said last month that it “stands ready to take custody of Omar Sheikh to stand trial insisting the U.S. “cannot allow him to evade justice for his role in Daniel Pearl’s abduction and murder.” But legal experts in Pakistan maintain that the country’s laws do not allow another country to undertake such an intervention.
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