Malawi’s government will strictly ensure everyone is complying with COVID-19 preventive measures in an effort to curb surging cases of the coronavirus, now averaging more than 200 a day, authorities say. Figures released by Malawi’s Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 show the country confirmed 274 cases and four deaths Thursday — the highest figures in a single day since April when the country recorded its first three cases of the virus. At a televised press conference Thursday, government authorities attributed the spike to an influx of returnees from South Africa and also a laxity in observing preventive measures imposed in May during the first wave of the coronavirus cases. Charles Kalemba, principal secretary in the Ministry of Local Government, says the government will make sure everyone is adhering to the measures, which include mandatory wearing of face coverings in public places. FILE – Tailors make face masks at the Tayamba Tailoring shop, which has embarked in the business of producing face masks intended to protect against the COVID-19 coronavirus, in Lilongwe, Malawi, May 4, 2020.”Meaning, people will be returned from entering offices, shops or restaurants or any public place if they are not wearing a mask,” he said. “Water and sanitation buckets should be put at visible places at all times in these public places, [and] strict enforcement of hand washing and usage of hand sanitizers in markets, offices, business premises and other public facilities.” Kalemba says drinking establishments are only allowed to open from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., and drinking beer at the pubs is banned. Public gatherings have been restricted to 100 people, and taking food to funerals is prohibited. “Dead bodies shall be laid to rest within 24 hours,” he said. “This was promulgated that time, but I think it was relaxed. But this time around, those managing funeral places must make sure that we do not keep people in one place a long time. The reason here is that the more you keep people together, the more the spread of the disease will be encouraged.” Secretary for Ministry of Homeland Security Kennedy Nkhoma says government will deploy police officers in public places to apprehend those who fail to comply with the measures. “We are ready to implement all the measures that have been put in place and enforce them as it is,” Nkhoma said. “We have the police service, which will be tasked to do the job on behalf of the ministry.” Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, the Malawi’s Minister of Health and co-chairperson of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, says the worry is that more than 60 percent of the infections are through local transmission. This, she adds, is likely to put a strain on health workers and on the capacity of public hospitals. “In terms of capacity, we have reached 50 percent of our capacity in all our hospitals, meaning the space which we have reserved for COVID-19 patients,” Kandodo Chiponda said. “We have to keep in mind that we still have other conditions as well, which also need our health workers to take care of.” The government will recruit more health workers to spread the workload in various health care centers, as the number of COVID-19 patients rises, she says.
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Month: January 2021
Arrests Seen as Ending Last Restraints on Chinese Rule in Hong Kong
With the roundup of more than 50 pro-democracy activists and their supporters this week, Hong Kong has thrown off the last restraints on who can be targeted under China’s harsh new security law and for what reasons, human rights advocates say. Even so, at least some of the activists will continue to defy the rapid erosion of the broad political autonomy that had been promised the Chinese territory, said Benny Tai, a law professor and one of the highest-profile figures to have been arrested in the Wednesday sweep. “Hong Kong has entered a severe winter,” Tai told reporters upon his release Thursday after 42 hours in police custody. “The wind is blowing fierce and cold. But I believe many Hong Kongers will continue to walk against the wind in their own way.” FILE – Hong Kong law professor and pro-democracy activist Benny Tai leaves Ma On Shan Police station following his release on bail in Hong Kong, Jan. 7, 2021.A total of 53 pro-democracy political figures were arrested for their contributions to Hong Kong’s unofficial primary elections, held to pick opposition candidates ahead of the now-postponed 2020 elections. The opposition party primaries took place in July of last year and attracted more than 600,000 voters. At the time, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam warned that the primary elections might have violated the law, by “subverting state power.” The Chinese Communist Party imposed the new security legislation on Hong Kong in response to widespread pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019. The law has been broadly interpreted by authorities and violations include secession and subversion. The potential for harsh punishments under the law has all but ended any street protests. Even before Wednesday’s roundup, the law had been used to detain some of Hong Kong’s most highly visible critics of the Beijing-backed local government. FILE – Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, center, arrives at the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong on Dec. 31, 2020, to face the prosecution’s appeal against his bail after he was charged with the new national security law.Pro-democracy figurehead Jimmy Lai, 73, was returned to prison on New Year’s Eve following a desperate attempt from his lawyers to secure his release. FILE – Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, right, leaves Lai Chi Kok Reception center in Hong Kong, on his way to court, Dec. 18, 2020.Prominent activist Joshua Wong is serving 13.5 months behind bars for unlawful assembly during a protest in 2019. And Wong wasn’t spared during this week’s crackdown. On Thursday, while still in prison, he was newly arrested under the national security law, according to his social media account. Approximately 1,000 officers were deployed for the roundup, which netted not only activists but also others with links with the pro-democracy camp, including a veteran U.S human rights lawyer. John Clancey served as a treasurer of political group Power of Democracy, which was involved in the primary elections. Clancey is the first foreigner to be arrested under the national security law but was released pending further investigation. FILE – John Clancey, a U.S. solicitor with law firm Ho Tse Wai and Partners that is known for taking on human rights cases, is arrested under a new national security law in the Central district in Hong Kong, Jan. 6, 2021.Others held in police custody included hopeful political candidates, a former journalist and a medical worker. It was even reported that national security officers asked Hong Kong news outlets to hand over information regarding primary election candidates. Political analyst Joseph Cheng said, “Chinese authorities no longer tolerate an effective opposition” and Lam’s administration “enjoys no legitimacy” amid the unrest in the city. “Those arrested included almost the entire political spectrum of the local democracy movement. They had planned to exert pressure on the Carrie Lam administration, they intended to make use of the provisions of the Basic Law, now they are accused of violating the National Security Law,” Cheng told VOA. “The search of media and poll organizations are especially worrying,” Cheng added. FILE – Congressman Michael McCaul questions witnesses during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 16, 2020.U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican and China Task Force Chairman Michael McCaul slammed the arrests in Hong Kong. “Persecuting these individuals for simply attempting to win elections and defend the liberty of their fellow Hong Kongers is unspeakable and unjustifiable,” McCaul’s statement read. FILE – Hong Kong Secretary for Security John Lee speaks at the Legislative Council complex in Hong Kong, Oct. 23, 2019.But Hong Kong’s secretary of security, John Lee, said those arrested had been trying to “overthrow” the city’s government and that it will not tolerate “subversive acts,” according to reports. The Hong Kong government released a statement confirming that the arrests were based largely on suspicions of “subversion” — one of the law’s specified infringements. “The police took action specifically targeting active players who organized, planned, committed or participated in acts of subversion, and arrested over 50 persons today [January 6] in accordance with the law. These persons are suspected to have violated the offense of subversion under the National Security Law,” the statement said. But Lo Kin Hei, chairman of the Democratic Party in Hong Kong, said he believes the national security law and its identification of violations like subversion, have become a “universal key” enabling authorities to arrest virtually anyone at will. “The police on the street used the national security law to warn you,” he said in an interview. “You hold up a blank paper and they say that you violate the national security law. You chant a slogan, and they say you violate the national security law. You hold primaries and elections, and they say you violate the national security law. “What everyone sees will be white terror, and this is exactly what the Hong Kong government wants to create,” Hei added. Political commentator Derek Yuen believes the timing of the latest crackdown was related to the imminent change of administration in the United States. “I think Beijing wanted to complete these big moves before [President-elect Joe] Biden takes office. Since it decided to use the law as soon as possible, to make it a deterrent effect as soon as possible, and in some cases, it will try to get it done before Biden takes office,” Yuen told VOA. FILE – A police officer, center left, gestures at pro-democracy activist Lee Cheuk Yan while he chants slogans after media tycoon Jimmy Lai left in a prison van from the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong, Dec. 31, 2020.Veteran activist Lee Cheuk Yan, who admitted he’s likely to face jail over outstanding charges for unlawful assembly, earlier predicted the clampdown on Hong Kong would be unabated this year. “Everyone is under threat. Those who stand out for democracy will be under threat,” Lee said.
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US Urges Vietnam to Release Convicted Journalists
The United States has called on Vietnam to release all people “unjustly detained” and to allow individuals “to express their views freely, without fear of retaliation,” according to State Department principal deputy spokesperson Cale Brown.The statement came out Thursday after Vietnam delivered “harsh sentences” at a quick trial Tuesday in Ho Chi Minh City to three members of the Independent Journalists Association (IJAV). Pham Chi Dung was sentenced to 15 years in prison and Nguyen Tuong Thuy, and Le Huu Minh Tuan were sentenced to 11 years each.The U.S. urges the government “to ensure its actions are consistent with the human rights provisions of Vietnam’s constitution and its international obligations and commitments,” Brown said.According to the court verdict, Pham, 54, a prominent writer and founding member and president of IJAV, military veteran Nguyen, 69, and the younger Le “had regularly been in contact with regime opponents” before their arrests in 2019 and 2020.The trio’s behavior posed “a danger to society… causing separation in social unity and people,” the court verdict said.In recent months, the Vietnamese government has stepped up its crackdown on dissent, arresting many of its critics.
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Southeast Asian View of US: ‘The Superpower’s Legitimacy Is Being Put to the Test’
When former U.S. president Barack Obama spoke seven years ago to a Southeast Asian youth event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, he extolled American democracy as a system “proven to be the most stable and successful form of government” and lauded countries such as Myanmar that he felt were on that path. President Donald Trump, speaking at a regional economic cooperation event in 2017, complimented Indonesia on decades of building democratic institutions.Officials from the United States have cheer-led Southeast Asian countries’ relatively young and sometimes fragile, violence-wracked democratization efforts from one administration to the next, while slamming human rights setbacks. Asian leaders, and their people, listened because U.S. democracy was older than theirs and the country wealthier.FILE – President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks during a town hall meeting at Malaya University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday, April 27, 2014.Now the potential audience of more than 650 million people across 10 countries is rolling its eyes after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington this week to stop Congress from certifying the election of President-elect Joe Biden. Congress eventually certified it.”It doesn’t put America in the best light. It just compounds negative thoughts that people already have about America,” said Shariman Lockman, senior foreign policy and security studies analyst with the Institute of Strategic and International Studies in Malaysia. He said people already wonder, for example, why COVID-19 cases are still surging in the United States.”You [the U.S. government] keep telling us how to organize ourselves, but you can’t organize yourselves right,” Lockman said.Thousands of flag-waving Trump backers forced their way into the Capitol on Wednesday as lawmakers evacuated and delayed the procedure that clears Biden to be sworn in January 20. Rioters scaled the exterior of the building and hundreds more pushed past Capitol Police and ran inside.In Photos: Electoral College ProtestsProtesters back President Trump’s objection to the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the November electionSoutheast Asian leaders, who look to the United States as a defense ally and export market, have expressed muted to zero public criticism of the incident. Singaporean Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean called January 6 a “sad day.”However, scholars and others who saw televised images of the Capitol Hill drama are miffed and hurt that the United States would allow the deadly rioting after telling Southeast Asian nations how to be egalitarian democratic societies.”Huge loss of U.S. credibility abroad,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political science professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.In Indonesia, Southeast Asian’s largest democracy at 268 million people, it’s unclear when anyone will seek out U.S. help again, said Evan Laksamana, senior researcher for the Center for Strategic and International Studies research group in Jakarta. More than 15 years ago American lawmakers had pointed out suspected human rights abuses in the eastern region of Papua. Now there’s a “vacuum of moral and strategic leadership” in Washington, Laksamana said, pointing to the incident in Congress plus racial violence last year between police officers and Black American citizens.”We had always felt that as far as foreign policy is concerned, when push comes to shove, when there’s a moment for the U.S. to step up, it will,” he said. “Because of what we’ve been seeing in the last few years, that may not be happening again for anytime soon.”Democratic struggles in the United States put a better light on “alternative models” such as China’s among Southeast Asian people, said Aaron Rabena, research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation. He suggested that the United States “look to yourself first” before advising other countries.In the United States, Rabena said, “They’re struggling on all fronts — COVID-19 pandemic, economic recovery. They have these issues with racism, populism. The superpower’s legitimacy is being put to the test, I would say.”Vietnamese were still talking about the incident Friday after seeing images of the Capitol Hill melee, said Phuong Hong, a Ho Chi Minh City dweller and hotel sector employee. The United States periodically pans the communist country on human rights. It had gone to war against communism in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s.”Because America has two parties, two sides can compare their views but for me, if some people already died for this, it doesn’t work,” Phuong said. “Sometimes one voice is better than two voices, or three. Too many cooks.”
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Scottish Fishermen Halt Exports Due to Brexit Red Tape
Many Scottish fishermen have halted exports to European Union markets after post-Brexit bureaucracy shattered the system that used to put fresh langoustines and scallops in French shops just over a day after they were harvested.Fishing exporters told Reuters their businesses could become unviable after the introduction of health certificates, customs declarations and other paperwork added days to their delivery times and hundreds of pounds to the cost of each load.Business owners said they had tried to send small deliveries to France and Spain to test the new systems this week, but it was taking five hours to secure a health certificate in Scotland, a document which is required to apply for other customs paperwork. In the first working week after Brexit, one-day deliveries were taking three or more days – if they got through at all.Owners could not say for sure where their valuable cargo was. A trade group told boats to stop fishing exported stocks. “Our customers are pulling out,” Santiago Buesa of SB Fish told Reuters. “We are fresh product and the customers expect to have it fresh, so they’re not buying. It’s a catastrophe.”On Thursday evening, the Scottish fishing industry’s biggest logistics provider DFDS Scotland told customers it had taken the “extraordinary step” of halting until Monday export groupage, when multiple product lines are carried, to try to fix IT issues, paperwork errors and the backlog.Scotland harvests vast quantities of langoustines, scallops, oysters, lobsters and mussels from sea fisheries along its bracing Atlantic coast which are rushed by truck to grace the tables of European diners in Paris, Brussels and Madrid. But Britain’s departure from the EU’s orbit introduced reams of paperwork and costs that must be completed to move goods across the new customs border, the biggest change to its trade since the launch of the Single Market in 1993.Those trading in food and livestock face the toughest requirements, hitting the express delivery of freshly caught fish that used to move overnight from Scotland, via England, into France, before going on to other European markets in days. David Noble, whose Aegirfish buys from Scottish fleets to export to Europe, said he would have to pay between 500 to 600 pounds ($815) per day for paperwork, wiping out most profit.His concern is that this marks more than just teething problems and says he cannot pass on the higher costs of doing business. “I’m questioning whether to carry on,” he said. “If our fish is too expensive our customers will buy elsewhere.”Centuries old marketIn the single market, European food could be processed and packed in Britain then returned to the EU for sale. But Britain’s pursuit of a more distant relationship means its trade deal does not cover all interactions between the two sides. Gaps have already appeared on French and Irish shop shelves. Brexit has strained the ties that bind Britain together, while England and Wales voted to leave the EU in 2016.Scotland and Northern Ireland voted remain. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has used Brexit as part of her argument that Scotland should seek independence. She said on Friday that exporters were paying a high price, “a particular worry for Scotland’s world class seafood sector.”Fishermen across Britain have accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of betrayal after he previously vowed to take back control of British waters. With little new control and little access to customer markets, many are in despair.Fishing trade bodies said mistakes in filling out paperwork meant entire consignments were being checked. A French fishmongers’ union said numerous seafood trucks had been held up at the customs point in Boulogne for several hours, and even up to a day, due to faulty paperwork.While that should improve with time, and IT issues should be resolved, Seafood Scotland warned they could see the “destruction of a centuries-old market” if it does not. Fergus Ewing, Scottish secretary for the rural economy, said it was better for problems to be identified and resolved in Scotland than hundreds of miles away.SB Fish’s Buesa, angered at suggestions that traders were not prepared, said all his paperwork was correct and demanded to know why business leaders were not making more of a fuss. He owns the business with his father, has been exporting for 28 years and employs about 50 people. “I’m in the trenches here,” he said. “It’s gridlock.”
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EU Doubles Doses of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine
The European Union has reached an agreement with Pfizer-BioNTech for an additional 300 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine.At a news conference in Brussels Friday, EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said the deal will double the number of doses the bloc gets from the drug maker. The commission is the EU’s executive arm.Von der Leyen said the EU had already made a separate deal with U.S. drug maker Moderna for its COVID-19 vaccine, which was authorized for use in Europe earlier this week. She said between the two, the EU has secured enough vaccine to inoculate 380 million Europeans, more than 80 percent of the bloc’s population. Each vaccine requires two shots given over several weeks.Von der Leyen said 75 million of the extra doses would become available in the second quarter of the year, with the rest being delivered later in 2021.As part of its strategy to combat COVID-19, the EU has reached agreements with six vaccine makers: Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Sanofi-GSK, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV and CureVac.It says if all six produce working vaccines, the EU will receive 2.3 billion doses – more than enough to inoculate the EU’s entire population of about 450 million people.Vaccination programs in the 27-nation bloc have gotten off to a slow start and some EU members have been quick to blame the EU’s executive arm for a perceived failure in delivering the right number of doses.The EU has defended its strategy, insisting that vaccination programs have just started, and that the big deliveries of doses are foreseen around April.
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Police Officer’s Death Intensifies US Capitol Siege Questions
A police officer has died from injuries sustained as President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol, a violent siege that is forcing hard questions about the defeated president’s remaining days in office and the ability of the Capitol Police to secure the area.The U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement that Officer Brian D. Sicknick was injured “while physically engaging with protesters” during the Wednesday riot. He is the fifth person to die because of the melee.The rampage that has shocked the world and left the country on edge forced the resignations of three top Capitol security officials over the failure to stop the breach. It led lawmakers to demand a review of operations and an FBI briefing over what they called a “terrorist attack.” And it is prompting a broader reckoning over Trump’s tenure in office and what comes next for a torn nation.Protesters were urged by Trump during a rally near the White House earlier Wednesday to head to Capitol Hill, where lawmakers were scheduled to confirm Biden’s presidential victory. The mob swiftly broke through police barriers, smashed windows and paraded through the halls, sending lawmakers into hiding.One protester, a white woman, was shot to death by Capitol Police, and there were dozens of arrests. Three other people died after “medical emergencies” related to the breach.Despite Trump’s repeated claims of voter fraud, election officials and his own former attorney general have said there were no problems on a scale that would change the outcome. All the states have certified their results as fair and accurate, by Republican and Democratic officials alike.Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said news of the police officer’s death was “gut-wrenching.”“None of this should have happened,” Sasse said in a statement. “Lord, have mercy.”Sicknick had returned to his division office after the incident and collapsed, the statement said. He was taken to a local hospital where he died on Thursday.Two House Democrats on committees overseeing the Capitol police budgets said those responsible need to be held to answer for the “senseless” death.”We must ensure that the mob who attacked the People’s House and those who instigated them are held fully accountable,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Ct., and Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio. in a statement.Earlier Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said any remaining day with the president in power could be “a horror show for America.” Likewise, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the attack on the Capitol was “an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president,” and Trump must not stay in office “one day” longer.Pelosi and Schumer called for invoking the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to force Trump from office before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. Schumer said he and Pelosi tried to call Vice President Mike Pence early Thursday to discuss that option but were unable to connect with him.At least one Republican lawmaker joined the effort. The procedure allows for the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare the president unfit for office. The vice president then becomes acting president.Pelosi said if the president’s Cabinet does not swiftly act, the House may proceed to impeach Trump.Trump, who had repeatedly refused to concede the election, did so in a late Thursday video from the White House vowing a “seamless transition of power.”Two Republicans who led efforts to challenge the election results, Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri, faced angry peers in the Senate. Cruz defended his objection to the election results as “the right thing to do” as he tried unsuccessfully to have Congress launch an investigation. In the House, Republican leaders Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California and Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana joined in the failed effort to overturn Biden’s win by objecting to the Electoral College results.With tensions high, the Capitol shuttered, and lawmakers not scheduled to return until the inauguration, an uneasy feeling of stalemate settled over a main seat of national power as Trump remained holed up at the White House.The social media giant Facebook banned the president from its platform and Instagram for the duration of Trump’s final days in office, if not indefinitely, citing his intent to stoke unrest. Twitter had silenced him the day before.Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said, “the shocking events” make it clear Trump “intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power.”U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, under pressure from Schumer, Pelosi and other congressional leaders, was forced to resign. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell asked for and received the resignation of the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate, Michael Stenger, effective immediately. Paul Irving, the longtime Sergeant at Arms of the House, also resigned.Sund had defended his department’s response to the storming of the Capitol, saying officers had “acted valiantly when faced with thousands of individuals involved in violent riotous actions.”Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser called the police response “a failure.”Lawmakers from both parties pledged to investigate and questioned whether a lack of preparedness allowed a mob to occupy and vandalize the building. The Pentagon and Justice Department had been rebuffed when they offered assistance.Black lawmakers, in particular, noted the way the mostly white Trump supporters were treated.Newly elected Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., said if “we, as Black people did the same things that happened … the reaction would have been different, we would have been laid out on the ground.”The protesters ransacked the place, taking over the House area and Senate chamber and waving Trump, American and Confederate flags. Outside, they scaled the walls and balconies.
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Greece, Israel Seal $1.6 Billion Defense Deal
Greece said Tuesday it had approved a landmark $1.68 billion deal with Israel, providing for the procurement of 10 state-of-the-art jet fighters and training of pilots as the government in Athens upgrades its defenses, mainly against its longtime foe Turkey.The deal, which both sides are set to sign in the coming weeks, marks the biggest defense agreement between Greece and Israel since Athens began shifting its pro-Arab outlook and stance in the Middle East some 20 years ago.“The Israelis do not trust easily, especially in the field of defense,” said Costas Filis, a professor of international relations in Athens. “So, this deal is not only important for the qualitative edge it will give Greece’s new generation of pilots and armed forces as a whole, but because of the serious message it puts out – that a solid and new depth of relations has been consolidated between Athens and Jerusalem.”Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said the deal would “serve the interests of both Israel and Greece, creating hundreds of jobs in both countries … promoting stability in the Mediterranean.”Tensions with TurkeyUnder the agreement, Israel will provide 10 Mavi M-346 trainer aircraft, together with simulators and logistical support as part of the 20-year-deal, according to the Greek Defense Ministry. Israel’s Elbit Systems will also set up a flight school to train Greek air force pilots in Kalamata, south of Athens.In recent years, Greece has leased drones from Israel to boost surveillance of its porous borders with Turkey, mainly along the Aegean waterway that divides the two neighbor states but serves as the main gateway for illegal immigration to Europe. Last year, Greece and Israel also joined forces with Cyprus to build a 1,900-kilometer undersea pipeline to carry natural gas from the Eastern Mediterranean’s rapidly developing gas fields to Europe.The energy deal, plus others carved out by nations girdling the oil- and gas-rich region have been largely opposed by Turkey, which has sent out survey ships in recent months, exploring untapped energy potentials in areas Greece claims it has exclusive rights to exploit.NATO allies Greece and Turkey have long challenged each other’s air and sea rights in the region, coming to the brink of war over an uninhabited islet in the Aegean exactly 25 years ago. Since then, relations have seesawed, swinging to the lowest point in recent months in response to the energy standoff in the eastern Mediterranean.With tensions still high, the government in Athens has announced plans to purchase a grab bag of new warplanes, frigates, helicopters, and weapons systems, from sources including the United States and France.“There is no doubt that many of these energy deals and alliances that have been formed over the past year have spawned from a growing concern and distrust of [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan,” Filis told VOA. “But this defense deal with Israel,” he said, “is not about teaming up against Turkey. In fact, quite the opposite.”’Lingering distrust’For decades, Israel and Turkey were among the staunchest of allies, largely promoting, as Filis put it, “U.S. policy interests in the greater region.”Relations collapsed in 2010, however, after an Israeli naval raid on a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza left 10 activists dead. Despite years of acrimony, Erdogan has shown signs of wanting to rekindle relations – a move some analysts says is linked to the election of a new U.S. president anticipated to be less friendly to the Turkish president than outgoing President Donald Trump.“Sure, there is lingering distrust of Erdogan from the Israeli – and U.S. — side,” Filis said.“But that does not mean that Israel wants to push Turkey away. It has long been instrumental in the region and will continue to be. And there is no doubt that relations between the two countries will be restored to the point they were years ago.“It is in Greece’s true interest, therefore, to be seated well in this developing geopolitical play, especially with the Israeli side,” he said.It remains unclear whether improved relations between Turkey and Israel can ease tensions between Greece and Turkey. Still, the Turkish-Israeli rapprochement is gaining pace fast.In recent weeks, the head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, held numerous meetings with top Israeli defense officials, including the head of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency. What is more, Erdogan has signaled his intent to restore diplomatic ties with Israel after expelling Jerusalem’s top envoy in Turkey in 2018 after 60 Palestinians were killed in violent protests on the Gaza border. Erdogan lashed out at Israel at the time, calling it a “terrorist state” responsible for the Gaza “genocide.”He has yet to rescind those remarks.
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Year After Iran Downed Ukrainian Plane, Victims’ Kin in US, Canada Want Justice
Relatives of those killed by Iran’s shoot-down of a Ukrainian passenger plane last January say they do not want blood money from Tehran but rather an international trial to hold its leaders accountable, a procedure contingent on overcoming lengthy hurdles under global conventions.The Jan. 8, 2020, downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 by Iranian missiles shortly after it took off from Tehran killed all 176 people on board, most of them Iranians and Iranian Canadians who were flying to Kyiv en route to Canada. Iran has described the downing as a mistake by air defense personnel but has not held anyone accountable.In the last nine days of December, five people based in Canada and the U.S. who lost loved ones on the plane spoke to VOA Persian about what they want to see happen next in their pursuit of justice as they prepared to mark the first anniversary of the tragedy.Several of them said they reject unilateral Iranian offers of financial compensation or “blood money.”The Iranian Cabinet Navaz Ebrahim’s sister and brother-in-law Niloofar Ebrahim and Saeed Tahmadesbi, who were killed in Iran’s shoot-down of a Ukrainian passenger plane near Tehran on Jan. 8, 2020. (Courtesy of family)“The Iranian authorities just want a financial settlement with the families to make them close the case,” Ebrahim said. “But we believe in pursuing litigation to bring those who committed this crime to justice.”Victims’ families have filed two lawsuits against Iran through courts in Canada’s east-central Ontario province.One is a class-action lawsuit that Ontario’s Superior Court Mehrzad Zarei’s 17-year-old son, Arad, who died in Iran’s shoot-down of a Ukrainian passenger plane near Tehran on Jan. 8, 2020. (Courtesy of family)Zarei told VOA that he hopes to get a judgment from the court by June and that he and his fellow plaintiffs, whose identities he could not disclose, were considering donating any potential damages received from Iran to charity.The bereaved relatives said Iran also should face legal action beyond the Canadian justice system.“We will achieve justice when we see those responsible for the crash in international courts,” said Ontario resident Shahin Moghaddam, whose wife and 10-year-old son were on the flight.Shahin Moghaddam’s wife, Shakiba Feghahati, and son Rosstin, who were among the 176 people killed in Iran’s shoot-down of a Ukrainian passenger plane near Tehran on Jan. 8, 2020. (Courtesy of family)Edmonton, Canada, resident Javad Soleimani, husband of crash victim Elnaz Nabiyi, said the government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not been aggressive enough in pushing for Iran to face a trial at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Other victims’ relatives echoed that criticism.Javad Soleimani’s wife Elnaz Nabiyi, one of those who died in Iran’s shoot-down of a Ukrainian passenger plane near Tehran on Jan. 8, 2020. (Courtesy of family)Two international civil aviation conventions to which Canada and Iran are signatories require states to try to FILE – Canada’s Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale speaks during a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, March 20, 2018.Canada also is seeking to change international rules that entitle Iran to lead the official investigation of the crash as the country where the incident happened.“For the party that is responsible for the crash to be investigating itself is just not credible in our view. So we are pursuing changes in the process,” Goodale said.As a fourth remedy, Ottawa is working with the four other countries that lost citizens in the crash — Afghanistan, Britain, Sweden and Ukraine — in a “coordination group” to try to launch reparation negotiations with Iran.Goodale said the coordination group has had at least one technical meeting with Iran to examine how negotiations would be conducted. However, he said one critical element for starting negotiations is missing, namely the official Iranian investigation’s final report that would give the parties a set of facts to use in debating reparations.Under United Nations rules, Iran provided a draft of the report in late December to Ukraine, which operated the downed jet, and to the U.S. and France, which built it. Tehran is not required to share the draft with Ottawa and has not done so.Goodale said Ukraine, the U.S. and France have up to two months to comment on the Iranian draft and Tehran then will have another month to potentially revise it based on those comments.“If this process drags on for months, the coordination group countries will need to consider starting negotiations with Iran before the final report is released, because we all feel the anguish of the families,” Goodale said.In December, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh criticized Canada’s statements and actions regarding the plane crash as “meddling” in Tehran’s affairs.“They have no proof of that,” Goodale told VOA in response to the Iranian criticism. “We’ve behaved completely in line with international rules and regulations.”Ontario-based Alireza Ghandchi, whose wife and two children died on the downed plane, said Iran’s investigation of its role in the crash has been marked by delays and excuses. ((Please insert photo of Ghandchi’s wife Faezeh Falsafi and two children Dorsa and Daniel)) “It’s a pattern that has been constant for the past 42 years,” Ghandchi said, referring to the length of time since Iran’s ruling Islamist clerics seized power in a 1979 revolution.Iranian forces that shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet had been on alert for a U.S. response to a missile strike Iran launched on American troops in Iraq hours earlier. Iran had attacked the U.S. troops, wounding dozens, in retaliation for a U.S. airstrike that killed top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad five days previously.This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service. Click here and here for the original Persian versions of the story.
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2020 Ties 2016 as Hottest Year on Record: EU
2020 has tied 2016 as the hottest year on record, the European Union’s climate monitoring service said Friday, keeping Earth on a global warming fast track that could devastate large swathes of humanity.The six years since 2015 are the six warmest ever registered, as are 20 of the last 21, evidence of a persistent and deepening trend, the Copernicus Climate Change Service reported.”2020 stands out for its exceptional warmth,” said C3S director Carlo Buontempo, of the Copernicus Climate Change Service.”This is yet another reminder of the urgency of ambitious emissions reductions to prevent adverse climate impacts in the future.”
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Indonesia Frees Radical Cleric Linked to 2002 Bali Bombing
Indonesia has freed a radical cleric linked to a terrorist attack on the tourist island of Bali nearly 20 years ago.More than 200 people, mostly foreign tourists, were killed at two nightclubs in October 2002.Abu Bakar Bashir, 82, known as the spiritual leader of terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah with ties to al-Qaida, left the Gunung Sindur prison near the capital, Jakarta, early Friday morning.He was escorted by members of Indonesia’s elite counterterrorism squad to a van where family members were waiting to pick him up.Bashir returned to his home in Central Java’s Solo city, about 538 kilometers east of Jakarta.Indonesian authorities said Bashir would enter a “deradicalization program” as they are concerned over his continued influence in extremist circles.Bashir was sentenced in 2011 to 15 years in prison, not for the Bali bombings for which he had denied any involvement, but for links to a militant training camp in Aceh province.He served only 10 years because Indonesia grants prisoners sentence reductions on major national and religious holidays, and as well as for illness.Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the release of Bashir, who inspired the Bali bombers and other violent extremists, was “gut-wrenching.”“This is very distressing to the friends and families of the Australians, the 88 Australians, who were killed in the Bali bombings of 2002,” Morison said.
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Assault on US Capitol Possible COVID-19 Superspreader Event, Experts Say
Health professionals and other scientists are concerned that the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday may also have been a COVID-19 superspreader event.The shouting mob that invaded the building was largely unmasked and not observing social distancing as they went through the halls of Congress and entered some lawmakers’ offices.Anne Rimoin, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, told The New York Times that, “People yelling and screaming, chanting, exerting themselves — all of those things provide opportunity for the virus to spread, and this virus takes those opportunities.”John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center said the virus killed a record 4,085 people in the U.S. on Thursday.Infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci told National Public Radio in an interview Thursday that he believes “things will get worse as we get into January.” A result, he said, of “the holiday season travel and the congregate settings that usually take place socially during that period of time.”Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 10 MB480p | 14 MB540p | 18 MB720p | 41 MB1080p | 79 MBOriginal | 234 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioFauci also said that he believed that tide could be turned “if we really accelerate our public health measures during that period of time, we’ll be able to blunt that acceleration. But that’s going to really require people concentrating very, very intensively on doing the kinds of public health measures that we talk about all the time,” such as wearing masks, social distancing and being inoculated with the coronavirus vaccine.Fauci said he is hopeful that when President-elect Joe Biden is in office, the U.S. will be able to deliver to the U.S. public “1 million vaccinations per day, as the president-elect has mentioned.”The U.S. has more COVID-19 cases than anyplace else in the world — 21.5 million of the globe’s more than 88 million infections, roughly one-fourth of the world’s cases.The figures come as nearly 6 million Americans have been vaccinated against the disease.The U.S. has also suffered more COVID-19 deaths than any other country – more than 365,208 of the world’s nearly 2 million COVID-19 deaths.Britain announced mandatory COVID-19 tests Thursday for all international arrivals to the country.Brazil surpassed 200,000 deaths from COVID-19 on Thursday, making it the country with the second-highest death toll in the world.Canada moved Thursday to keep elementary schools in the province of Ontario closed until at least Jan. 25. Ontario officials said that the positivity rate among children under 13 was as high as 20%.Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has declared a state of emergency for Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures in response to a surge of new coronavirus cases in the capital city.The decree lasts until Feb. 7. Residents in Tokyo, China, Kanagawa and Saitama prefectures are encouraged to stay home after 8 p.m., and restaurants and bars are also encouraged to close at the same time.
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Seoul Court Orders Japan to Compensate 12 Korean Sex Slaves
A South Korean court on Friday ordered Japan to financially compensate 12 South Korean women forced to work as sex slaves for Japanese troops during World War II, the first such ruling expected to rekindle animosities between the Asian neighbors.Japan immediately protested the ruling, maintaining that all wartime compensation issues were resolved under a 1965 treaty that normalized their ties.The Seoul Central District Court ruled the Japanese government must give 100 million won ($91,360) each to the 12 women who filed the lawsuits in 2013 for their wartime sexual slavery.The court said Japan’s mobilization of these women as sexual slaves were “a crime against humanity.” It said that the mobilization happened when Japan “illegally occupied” the Korean Peninsula from 1910-45 so that its sovereign immunity cannot shield it from lawsuits in South Korea.The court said the women were the victims of “harsh sexual activities” by Japanese troops, which caused bodily harm, venereal diseases and unwanted pregnancies and left “big mental scars” in the women’s lives.Observers say it’s unlikely for Japan to abide by the South Korean court ruling. A support group for the Korean women said it may take legal steps to freeze Japanese government assets in South Korea if Japan refuses to compensate the women.Japan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that its vice Foreign Minister Takeo Akiba summoned South Korean Ambassador Nam Gwan-pyo to register its protest of the ruling.The verdict comes as South Korea seeks to repair strained ties with Japan over wartime history and trade, since the September departure of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who many South Koreans thinks attempted to gloss over Japan’s colonial abuses.The bilateral disputes flared following a 2018 ruling by South Korea’s Supreme Court that called for Japanese companies to offer reparations to aging South Korean plaintiffs for their wartime forced labor. The dispute escalated into a trade war that saw both countries downgrade the other’s trade status, and then spilled over to military matters when Seoul threatened to end a 2016 military intelligence-sharing agreement with Tokyo.
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US Suspends French Tariffs Over Digital Services Tax
The handbag of Brigitte Macron, wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, are seen as she attends the traditional Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees Avenue in Paris, July 14, 2018.The United States has indefinitely suspended 25% tariffs on French cosmetics, handbags and other imports it had planned in retaliation for a digital services tax Washington says will harm U.S. tech firms, as it investigates similar taxes elsewhere.The U.S. Trade Representative’s office (USTR) said on Thursday that the 25% tariffs on imports of the French goods, which are valued around $1.3 billion annually, would be suspended indefinitely.Washington announced the tariffs in July after concluding a French digital services tax (DST) would harm firms such as Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon.The USTR said suspending the action against France, which had been scheduled to come into force January 6, would allow it to pursue a coordinated response in 10 investigations involving other countries, including India, Italy, Britain and Turkey.”The U.S. Trade Representative has decided to suspend the tariffs in light of the ongoing investigation of similar DSTs adopted or under consideration in ten other jurisdictions,” the USTR said in a statement.”Those investigations have significantly progressed but have not yet reached a determination on possible trade actions,” it said, adding its aim was to achieve a “coordinated response in all of the ongoing DST investigations.”French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire took note of the postponement, adding, “We view these sanctions as not legitimate under WTO rules. We are once again calling for a global solution to trade disputes between the United States and Europe that will only make losers, particularly during this time of crisis.”EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said in a tweet that he took note of the postponement and that the European Union was willing to work with Washington to find a global solution for fair taxation of the digital sector.”The EU stands ready to explore all options should the U.S. unilaterally apply these trade measures,” he said.The USTR said on Wednesday that it had concluded digital services taxes adopted by India, Italy and Turkey also discriminated against U.S. companies and were inconsistent with international tax principles, paving the way for potential retaliatory tariffs.But it held off on announcing any specific tariff actions and said it would continue to evaluate all available options.The probes are among several still-open USTR Section 301 investigations that could lead to tariffs before President Donald Trump leaves office or early in the administration of incoming President-elect Joe Biden.
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Some at US Capitol Riot Fired After Internet Detectives Identify Them
Some of the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol were fired from their jobs Thursday after internet sleuths publicized their identities.The District of Columbia Police Department FILE – Pro-Trump protesters storm the U.S. Capitol to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021.Libby Andrews, a real estate agent from Chicago, was fired by @properties and removed from its website, even though she had done nothing wrong and had not entered the Capitol, she said in an interview.”I’m a 56-year-old woman, petite. I was not there causing trouble. I was there to support my president,” Andrews said.Andrews said she had climbed the steps of the Capitol without encountering security, posted selfies from the scene on Instagram, sang the national anthem and then moved on.Rick Saccone, an adjunct professor at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, resigned after the college reviewed a video he posted on Facebook from the scene.”As a result of that investigation, Dr. Saccone has submitted and we have accepted his letter of resignation, effective immediately,” the college said in a statement.Saccone, reached by phone, confirmed his resignation and said he did not see acts of violence and never crossed the threshold of the Capitol. Saccone said he deleted the video, which could not be viewed Thursday.Paul Davis, a lawyer at Westlake, Texas-based Goosehead Insurance, used a social media account to broadcast his participation at the Capitol, saying that he had been teargassed.A Goosehead spokesperson confirmed Davis had been fired.
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Speculation Grows Over Fate of Chinese Tech Billionaire Jack Ma
China’s Jack Ma — onetime schoolteacher, billionaire co-founder and former chairman of tech giant Alibaba and philanthropist — is missing from the spotlight, and speculation about his fate is mounting because when high-profile Chinese figures disappear, arrests and prosecutions often follow.Unseen in public since October, analysts say Ma may be lying low as Chinese authorities investigate his sprawling business empire after he made an incendiary speech days before the highly anticipated stock market listing of Alibaba’s financial affiliate, Ant Group.The logo of Alibaba Group is seen at its office in Beijing, China, Jan. 5, 2021.On November 2, financial regulators of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) interviewed Ant Group executives and Ma, who no longer holds executive or board level positions at either of the companies he co-founded but is the largest individual shareholder of Alibaba with approximately 5%, worth some $25 billion.On November 3, authorities suspended the Ant Group IPO. Scheduled simultaneously in Shanghai and Hong Kong for November 5, it was expected to generate $37 billion, which would have made it the world’s biggest IPO. At the time, The Wall Street Journal reported that Xi Jinping, president of the People’s Republic of China and the CCP chief, had personally ordered the Ant Group IPO blocked after hearing Ma’s speech. Later in November, Ma failed to appear to judge the finale of a game show he created, according to the Financial Times. He was replaced as a judge of the second season of A screen shows sales information during the 2020 Tmall Global Shopping Festival in Hangzhou, in eastern China’s Zhejiang province on Nov. 11, 2020.A week later, the agency fined Alibaba’s Tmall, an online business-to-consumer website, for antitrust violations.On January 4, Bloomberg News quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that in early December Ma had been advised by Chinese authorities not to leave China. Also this week, an Alibaba spokesperson told CBS News that “no further information can be shared for now” about Ma’s whereabouts. While some believe that Ma has left China, Ge Bidong, an economist based in Los Angeles and a current affairs commentator, told VOA that this is impossible. ”No matter how powerful and rich he is, he wouldn’t be able to escape from China,” said Ge, who told VOA he was a political prisoner in China for seven years before arriving in the U.S. in 2018. “If he could leave, there is only one possibility — that is, the Chinese Communist Party wanted him to leave.” The German government-funded news outlet Deutsche Welle quoted analysts as saying that this episode represents just the beginning of Beijing’s efforts to strengthen its control over China’s increasingly powerful tech giants.Gene Chang, retired professor of economics at the University of Toledo in Ohio, told VOA what is happening to Jack Ma is not just about Alibaba’s monopoly power. “Alibaba does seem to have a monopoly … but it can be solved through government regulation,” said Chang. “But if the government politicizes this regulation, fearing that private companies pose a challenge to communist rule, the economy will become a victim.” Ge, who also writes for the Epoch Times, told VOA that Alibaba’s online shopping model is not only good for consumers, but also “stimulated a significant increase in physical production and led to an expansion of logistics.” Chang believes that market imbalances such as monopolies are natural consequences of economic development, and that it is the responsibility of government to use regulation to achieve the appropriate social balance. “The government should come forward to digest or reduce the negative impact the transformation generates and balance social welfare,” he said. Ge said there is only one future for Alibaba: It will be transformed into whatever ownership the CCP wants, and “Jack Ma and people like him will be eliminated.” Chairman of Anbang Insurance Group Wu Xiaohui attends the China Development Forum in Beijing, China March 18, 2017.And Ge’s certainty is part of what fuels the speculation. In June 2017, Wu Xiaohui, the onetime chairman of the vast and well-connected Anbang Insurance Group, disappeared from view only to resurface at trial in March 2018. He was found guilty of financial fraud and abuse of power and sentenced to 18 years.This photo taken on Nov. 18, 2013, shows Ren Zhiqiang, the former chairman of state-owned property developer Huayuan Group, speaking at the China Public Welfare Forum in Beijing.In early 2020, Ren Zhiqiang, former chairman of the state-owned property developer Huayuan Real Estate Group, went missing after criticizing the government’s mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak. In September, Ren, who once referred to Xi Jinping as a “clown,” was found guilty of corruption, having reportedly received an illicit gain of nearly $7.4 million, taken $184,500 in bribes and embezzled $8.9 million in public funds between 2003 and 2017. Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
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Analysts: Extradition Treaty Between Turkey, China Endangers Uighur Refugees
Since the 1950s, thousands of Uighurs fleeing persecution in China have found sanctuary in Turkey, where they share a common linguistic, cultural and religious heritage with the Turks. Some experts say the Uighur community there could be in jeopardy, though, after a recent agreement was reached between the two countries. An estimated 50,000 Uighurs are believed to reside in Turkey, constituting the largest Uighur refugee community in the world. Uighur diaspora activists cite a significant shift since December 26, however, when the FILE – A masked Uighur boy takes part in a protest against China, at the courtyard of Fatih Mosque, a common meeting place for pro-Islamist demonstrators in Istanbul, Turkey, Nov. 6, 2018.Ekrem told VOA the extradition treaty tilts largely in favor of China, where capital punishment is applied. He said Uighur refugees who are at risk of a death sentence if they return to China are particularly made vulnerable by the treaty, which makes no stipulation that those who are facing the death penalty there cannot be extradited. The agreement, consisting of 22 articles, obligates a signing country to extradite any person wanted on charges of criminal activity to the requesting country. “Extradition can only be granted if the conduct targeted by the extradition request constitutes a crime under the laws of both countries,” the agreement states. Turkey’s stance Turkish and Chinese officials have dismissed claims the treaty provides a legal window for the deportation of Uighurs from Turkey. A diplomatic source at the Turkish Foreign Ministry told VOA the country views its treaty with China as a routine move similar to 32 other such treaties signed with other countries for the extradition of criminals under international law. “It is extremely wrong to view the extradition treaty with the PRC as targeting Uighur Turks,” said the source. FILE – China’s Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng speaks at a forum in Beijing, China, Oct. 22, 2019.During the submission of the treaty for a vote at the Chinese People’s Congress, China’s vice minister of foreign affairs, Le Yucheng, said the agreement addressed the cooperation needs in anti-terrorism and crime fighting between Beijing and Ankara. Le said the Chinese and Turkish representatives during negotiations on the agreement disagreed on determining the nationality of the person to be deported. Turkey proposed that if the person requested for extradition had acquired the nationality of the requested country when the extradition request was made, the person should be recognized as a national of the requested country. The Chinese side, however, argued such a proposition could encourage criminals to evade extradition by changing their nationality. “The two parties finally agreed not to specify the time for nationality recognition in the treaty, but to hand it over to the competent authorities in accordance with their respective domestic laws in practice,” Le said. Turkey’s inability to include its proposal in the treaty means many Uighurs who acquired Turkish citizenship nonetheless could face a crackdown by Beijing, according to Hankiz Kurban, a Turkey-born Uighur whose parents were abducted by Chinese authorities despite their Turkish citizenship. “If this treaty is ratified by the Turkish parliament, I fear that I won’t be able to see my parents forever,” she said. Kurban said her father came to Turkey as a child and her mother as a teenager from Xinjiang. The two were arrested by Chinese police in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, in 2017 while they were on a business trip and have been incommunicado ever since. Detained Uighurs Rights organizations say the Chinese government has since 2017 subjected more than 1 million Uighur Muslims to torture, forced sterilization, coerced labor and abandonment of their faith in internment camps. But China denies the mistreatment of the minority, saying the detention facilities are “vocational training centers” to combat extremism and teach Uighurs different job skills. FILE – Workers walk by the perimeter fence of what is officially known as a vocational skills education center in Dabancheng, in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, Sept. 4, 2018.Relations between Ankara and Beijing seemed strained for a short period after the Turkish president called the Chinese government’s handling of a Uighur protest in July 2009 in Urumqi “a genocide.” The two began to reconcile through the establishment of a strategic cooperative relationship in October 2010. According to Kemal Kirisci, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, the Turkish government in recent years has been “surprisingly quiet and subdued” in the treatment of Uighurs because of the Chinese government’s increasing economic leverage over Turkey. “Economic considerations may well be playing a role given the dire state of the Turkish economy and the poor relations that Turkey has with its traditional allies in the West,” Kirisci told VOA. Last October, 39 countries in a letter to the U.N. condemned China’s policies in Xinjiang. Uighur diaspora activists said Turkey’s unwillingness to join the effort was noticeable. Alimcan Inayet, director of the Istanbul-based Uighur Academy, charged that Uighur organizations engaged in political activism for “the East Turkistan cause” have found themselves increasingly under pressure. The extradition treaty means these groups “would have to be more restrained in their activities,” added Inayet. Last year, NPR said in a report that Turkey had deported at least four Uighurs to Tajikistan, and one of them, Zinnetgul Tursun, ended up in Chinese police custody along with her two toddlers. Turkey’s directorate general of migration management in a statement last September, however, denied Turkey had extradited Uighurs to China “directly or through third countries.” Despite the Turkish reaffirmation, some Uighurs in Turkey say Ankara’s expanded cooperation with Beijing in security has elevated Uighur refugees’ fear of being extradited to China. “I love Turkey. I am not against this country. Even though I have never committed any criminal act, I am constantly fearful of being arrested or deported,” lamented Ihsan Kartal, a Uighur refugee and a businessman in Istanbul.
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Boeing Will Pay $2.5 Billion to Settle Charge Over Plane
Boeing will pay $2.5 billion to settle a criminal conspiracy charge for misleading regulators about the safety of its 737 Max aircraft, which suffered two deadly crashes shortly after entering airline service.The Justice Department said Thursday that Boeing agreed to the settlement, which includes money for the crash victims’ families, airline customers and a criminal fine.Prosecutors said Boeing employees concealed important information about the plane from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), then covered up their actions.”The misleading statements, half-truths and omissions communicated by Boeing employees to the FAA impeded the government’s ability to ensure the safety of the flying public,” said Erin Nealy Cox, the U.S. attorney in Dallas.”Boeing’s employees chose the path of profit over candor,” said David Burns, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s criminal division.’Right thing for us to do’Boeing CEO David Calhoun said settling the charge “is the right thing for us to do — a step that appropriately acknowledges how we fell short of our values and expectations.” He said it would remind Boeing employees to be transparent with regulators.The government will drop the criminal charge after three years if Boeing follows the terms of the settlement.Boeing began working on the Max in 2011 as an answer to a new, more fuel-efficient model from European rival Airbus. Boeing admitted in court filings that two of its technical pilot experts deceived the FAA about a flight-control system called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, that could point a plane’s nose down if sensors indicated the plane might be in danger of an aerodynamic stall — that it might fall from the sky.Boeing downplayed the significance of MCAS and did not mention it in airplane manuals. Most pilots did not know about it.The first airlines began flying the 737 Max in mid-2017. On October 29, 2018, a Max operated by Indonesia’s Lion Air plunged into the Java Sea. The FAA let the Max keep flying, and on March 10, 2019, another Max operated by Ethiopian Airlines crashed nearly straight down into a field. In all, 346 people were killed.On both flights, MCAS was activated by a faulty reading from a single sensor. The system repeatedly pushed the planes’ noses down, and pilots were unable to regain control.After the planes were grounded worldwide, Boeing changed MCAS so that it always uses two sensors, along with other changes to make the automated system less powerful and easier for pilots to override. The FAA ordered other changes, including the rerouting of some wiring to avoid potential dangerous short-circuiting.In November, the FAA approved Boeing’s changes, and several carriers, including American Airlines, have resumed using the planes.$500 million for families of passengersUnder the settlement announced Thursday, Boeing will pay a $243.6 million fine, $1.77 billion in compensation to airlines that were unable to use their Max jets while they were grounded, and $500 million into a fund for the families of passengers who were killed in the crashes.Boeing said in a regulatory filing that it will take a $743.6 million charge against earnings because of the settlement.The crashes and grounding of the Max, Boeing’s best-selling plane, has plunged the Chicago-based company into its deepest crisis. It has led to billions in losses and resulted in the ouster of former CEO Dennis Muilenburg in December 2019.
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Biden Expected to Nominate Boston Mayor Walsh for Labor Secretary
President-elect Joe Biden is expected to nominate Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as labor secretary, U.S. news agencies report. Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo is reportedly being nominated for commerce secretary. Walsh, who has been Boston’s mayor for two terms after 17 years as a Massachusetts state representative, has a long history with labor unions. He previously led Boston Building and Construction Trades Council, an umbrella organization for unions. While the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) has shown its support for Walsh, other notable U.S. unions, including the United Auto Workers and the Utility Workers Union of America, indicated their support for another top contender for the job, Michigan U.S. Representative Andy Levin. Biden and Walsh have known each other for years. Biden spoke at Walsh’s second inauguration as Boston’s mayor, calling him a “man of extraordinary character in a moment when we need more character and incredible courage.” Walsh’s appointment must be confirmed by the Senate. FILE – Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo attends a news conference in Providence, R.I., June 22, 2020.Raimondo served as Rhode Island’s treasurer before her two terms as governor and was previously a venture capitalist. Biden has signaled he opposes Chinese tariffs — a significant difference from the Trump administration — in an indication of how the next commerce secretary’s job would differ from the current one’s. If confirmed, Raimondo will likely coordinate with Biden’s pick to lead the U.S. Treasury, Janet Yellen, who would be the first woman to serve in that role. Earlier Wednesday, Biden announced his picks for attorney general and three other top positions at the Department of Justice. Biden Names Garland as His Choice for Attorney General Republicans snubbed appellate judge when Obama nominated him for Supreme Court seat in 2016
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Ukraine Investigates Audio Appearing to Reveal Plot to Kill Journalist
Ukrainian authorities are investigating documents and audio recordings that appear to reveal a plot to murder Pavel Sheremet, an investigative journalist who was killed in a car bombing.Ukrainian police confirmed Monday that FILE – Boris Nemtsov, a former Russian deputy prime minister and opposition leader, is pictured at a news conference in Moscow, May 30, 2013.Musayeva said Sheremet worked in Russia and had a connection with Boris Nemtsov, an opposition politician and critic of President Vladimir Putin, who was shot dead close to the Kremlin in February 2015.“This Russian connection could have been used as a factor of destabilization in Ukraine,” Musayeva said. “But there is another story, a story related to Belarus. I can say unequivocally that Aleksandr Lukashenko perceived Pavel Sheremet almost as an enemy. At one time he took away his citizenship and it was a direct instruction.”Tensions between Sheremet and the Belarusian authorities had existed since the 1990s because of the journalist’s work, Musayeva said.Sheremet reported critically on the Belarusian president, and in 1998, he and a colleague were handed a suspended sentence for illegally crossing a border after they reported on smuggling.Investigation prioritizedWhen he came to power in 2019, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said investigating Sheremet’s murder would be a priority.Anton Gerashchenko, Ukraine’s deputy minister of internal affairs, confirmed to VOA that investigators received the new evidence in December.”The Ministry of Internal Affairs received information from Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service that a Belarusian intelligence officer, who has been living outside Belarus for eight years, has important information: audio recordings about a possible Belarusian connection in the assassination of Pavel Sheremet,” Gerashchenko told VOA.Investigators looked into the case and signed permits to question the officer, Gerashchenko said.But the minister emphasized a possible Belarus involvement is just one avenue of investigation.”Another version is a Russian connection because it is well-known that Pavel Sheremet had certain historical connections with the Russian Federation,” Gerashchenko said.“That’s why such versions of foreign involvement have been in consideration for a long time, and this new fact can help us to determine which of these versions will prove itself,” Gerashchenko said.The Russian Foreign Ministry in 2016 denied accusations of involvement, The Moscow Times reported.Musayeva, of Ukrainska Pravda, said that although three Ukrainians were on trial for their alleged involvement in the killing, the case against them was questionable.FILE – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks during a meeting with the country’s political activists in Minsk, Belarus, Sept. 16, 2020.“The investigation supported the version that the murder was aimed to destabilize the situation in Ukraine. If we are talking about the possible connection with the recordings and the Belarusian secret services, then this is about the threat to the life of Aleksandr Lukashenko’s political opponents, and if we listen to the words of the recorded messages, this is about the public message for the Belarusian opposition, for the Belarusian people,” she said.The audio recordings show that journalists working in Ukraine continue to be under threat from internal and external forces, Musayeva said.”Until all involved perpetrators and instigators are found, the perpetrators of the high-profile murders of journalists, no journalist in Ukraine can feel safe,” she said.This story originated in VOA’s Ukrainian Service. Some information is from Reuters.
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Officials Seek Answers to Why Security Failed at US Capitol Wednesday
Washington, D.C., officials have joined U.S. lawmakers in calling for an investigation of the police force that protects the Capitol, while offering praise for their actions, after Wednesday’s storming of the seat of the country’s legislative branch by a mob of pro-Trump protesters. Video shared on social media and by news organizations shows Capitol Police officers overwhelmed by the vastly larger crowds pushing past waist-high barricades and evading officers who failed to halt their progress. Other participants scaled walls and smashed windows to get inside. Other video posted to social media showed some Capitol Police officers opening barricades for Trump backers and even taking pictures with them inside the building. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut took to Twitter to call for a full investigation of how security was breached so quickly. Murphy is the ranking Democrat on the Senate subcommittee that oversees the Capitol Police and is likely to chair the panel in the new Congress. Members of the Capitol Police look through a smashed window as pro-Trump protesters rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021.In a statement Thursday, Capitol Police Chief Steve Sund defended the force’s actions, saying they “responded valiantly” when faced by thousands who stormed the building. He said officers were attacked by elements of the mob wielding metal pipes, chemical irritants, and other weapons. He said several officers were hospitalized with serious injuries. Sund said they had a “robust plan established to address anticipated First Amendment activities.” But, he added, what occurred was “criminal riotous behavior.” At a news conference Thursday, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser described the police effort as a failure. She said, “Obviously it was a failure, or you would not have police lines breached and people entering the building by breaking windows.” She said there needs to be an understanding of why these failures occurred. She called the siege on the capitol “textbook terrorism,” and questioned why the response by federal security officials was not “nearly as strong” as the response to Black Lives Matter protests for racial equality. Bowser said she is issuing an emergency order that will last through January 21, the day after the inauguration of Joe Biden as president. The order allows city officials to “implement orders as they see fit” to protect people and property in the District of Columbia, such as curfews or altering of business hours. At the same news conference, U.S. Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy said a two-meter unscalable fence will be erected around the Capitol and remain for at least 30 days. Washington Police say 68 people had been arrested in relation to the storming of the Capitol.
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Britain’s Johnson Says Trump Was Wrong in ‘Encouraging’ Storming of US Capitol
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Thursday condemned the assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump, and said Trump was wrong for encouraging them.At a news conference from his residence in London, Johnson said the U.S. president has “consistently cast doubt on the outcome of a free and fair election and I believe that was completely wrong.”The comments came a day after Trump supporters forced their way into the U.S. Capitol in a harrowing assault during which four people died.Both houses of the U.S. Congress were inside conducting the normally ceremonial task of certifying electoral college votes and confirming Joe Biden as president-elect.Before the siege on the Capitol building, Trump gave a speech to his supporters repeating numerous false claims that the election had been stolen from him and urged the crowd to go to walk to the Capitol and “make their voices heard.”Johnson, who has generally been an ally to Trump during his term, said he “unreservedly” condemned “encouraging people to behave in the disgraceful way that they did in the Capitol. And all I can say is I’m very pleased that the president-elect (Joe Biden) has been properly, duly confirmed in office and that democracy has prevailed.”
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Sudan Signs on to Abraham Accords, Normalizing Relations With Israel
Sudan has officially signed the Abraham Accords, agreeing to normalize relations with Israel. The deal paves the way for Sudan to relieve its massive debt to the World Bank.
The historic signing took place at the U.S embassy in Khartoum Wednesday. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin signed on behalf of Washington, while Sudanese Minister of Justice Nasereldin Abdelbari signed on behalf of Khartoum.
Speaking to reporters after the signing, Abdelbari said Khartoum welcomes the rapprochement and the diplomatic ties between Sudan and Israel that Sudan will boost for its own benefit and for other countries in the region. He said Khartoum appreciates Mnuchin’s historical visit and hopes to strengthen ties between Sudan and the U.S.
In his brief statement, Mnuchin said it was “a great honor to be here with you today, and I think this will have a tremendous impact on the people of Israel and the people of Sudan as they continue to work together on cultural and economic opportunities.”
The Abraham Accords are a series of U.S.-brokered agreements calling for the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and now, Sudan, to normalize relations with Israel after decades of broken ties.
Sudan agreed to sign the accords in part so the United States would remove the country from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, a designation that has blocked Sudan’s access to international loans.
Late in December, the U.S. removed Sudan from the list, and agreed to give Sudan a $1 billion “bridge loan” to help it clear its debt to the World Bank.
Sudanese economist Waleed El-Noor says Sudan needs this help to rebuild an economy struggling with shortages and inflation.
He said Sudan will benefit from signing the Abraham Accords and the U.S. bridge loan as it will allow it to enter the international banking system and relieve the sovereign debt. It will also allow Sudan to secure $1.5 billion loans from the World Bank annually, funds much needed to relieving the overwhelmed Sudanese economy.
Sudan was put on the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list for giving refuge to Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders in the 1990s.
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African Continent to Soon Receive First COVID Vaccines, Health Officials Say
A ray of hope emerged Thursday for the Rainbow Nation, which has seen a massive spike in confirmed COVID-19 cases, as South Africa’s health minister announced a large shipment of vaccines is coming this month.
Zweli Mkhize said the country will receive one million vaccine doses by the end of January, and another half million in February, both from the Serum Institute of India. The first doses, he says, will go to health workers.
Mkhize acknowledged that South Africa’s vaccine acquisition was delayed because the nation was unable to pay for vaccines that were still in development — a barrier wealthier nations haven’t faced. But, he vowed, it will catch up. South Africa’s limited budget also led officials to choose the cheapest vaccine option, offered by AstraZeneca.
“We will be making sure that we bring the vaccines as quickly as possible into South Africa,” he said. “By the time we start the vaccination program, we won’t be very far different from many countries. We would actually be all in line with most of the countries. So, we would like to assure the public that, in fact, we are all on course.”
That heartening news came after South Africa, which is the continent’s viral hotspot, reported what Mkhize described as a “grim milestone” — surpassing 20,000 new cases in a 24-hour period. And, he said the situation gets worse from there, as the nation enters a second wave that features a new variant of the virus that appears to be spreading much faster.
“Deaths are already higher than what we ever experienced before,” the health minister said. “Admissions are already higher than what we experienced before. The new cases on the seven day average are also higher than what we experienced before.”
South Africa has now seen more than 1.1 million cases since the virus first arrived in March. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases says that 31,368 people have died in South Africa.
Once South Africa’s health workers are vaccinated, a second round of vaccinations will target 17 million people, including essential workers, teachers, the elderly and those with other health conditions that put them at higher risk. In the end, Mkhize said, the nation hopes to vaccinate about 40 million people within the year, about 67 percent of the population. That figure is close to what health experts say is the threshold for herd immunity.
As for the rest of the vast continent, Dr. Kate O’Brien, the WHO’s director of immunization, vaccines and biologicals, described the process by which 92 of the world’s poorest nations can get access to the vaccine, through the COVAX Facility, a global initiative of 192 countries that is trying to ensure equitable access.
“For countries, 92 countries, that are less able to actually purchase these vaccines on their own from their own domestic funds, there are donor funds that have been provided,” she said. “We need about $7 billion in order to deliver enough vaccine to these countries through the end of 2021. And the facility has already raised about $6 billion of the $7 billion.”
O’Brien said the facility “has access to over two billion doses of vaccine” and will start to deliver those vaccines by mid-February.
“That’s how countries in Africa and South Asia, and other countries around the world of these 92 that are less able to afford vaccines, are actually going to get vaccine,” she said.
O’Brien emphasized that people with HIV — South Africa carries the world’s highest burden of that virus — should be vaccinated. But pregnant and breastfeeding women should discuss the vaccine with health care providers before making a decision.
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