A Burmese photojournalist has been released on bail from a Bangladeshi prison, but he still faces charges and up to three years in prison.Bangladeshi authorities arrested Abul Kalam, Dec. 28 as he was photographing buses taking Rohingyas from the Kutupalong camp to a new camp on the island of Bhasan Char.In an appearance in court Dec. 31, officials charged Kalam, a Rohingya refugee, with assaulting and interfering with public officials, charges that could carry a three-year prison sentence, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reported.RSF says the real reason for Kalam’s arrest was “the local authorities are annoyed by his coverage of their handling of the Rohingya refugee issue, in particular, the forced transfer of the refugees to Bhasan Char.”Bangladesh Begins Relocating 2nd Group of About 1,000 Rohingya Refugees Authorities moved the first group of more than 1,600 earlier this month to an island in Bay of Bengal The group is calling for all charges against Kalam to be dropped.In early December the Bangladesh government began sending some Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char island, despite calls from human rights groups to halt the process.Government officials say relocating the Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char will ease overcrowding in the camps, which were set up to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, a Muslim minority that fled violence in neighboring Myanmar in 2017.
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Month: January 2021
Ethiopians Continue Streaming Into Sudan, Fleeing Tigray Region Violence
The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) reports some 800 Ethiopians have arrived in eastern Sudan since the start of the new year. This brings the total number of refugees who have fled Ethiopia’s conflict-ridden Tigray region to more than 56,000 since early November. The number of daily arrivals is lower than at the start of the crisis when fighting in Tigray was particularly intense and thousands were fleeing every day. Nevertheless, the UNHCR sees no let up to the violence, abuse and dangers confronting area civilians.
UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic says hundreds of Ethiopians continue to flee for their lives. He says refugees are arriving in eastern Sudan fatigued and weak after days of travel, with little more than the clothes on their backs.
“Latest arrivals tell of being caught in the conflict and being victims of various armed groups, facing perilous situations including looting of their houses, forced recruitment of men and boys, sexual violence against women and girls,” he said.
Mahecic said more than 30% of the refugees are younger than 18 and 5% are older than 60.
He said two reception centers located near the border with Ethiopia are overcrowded and pose a security risk to the refugees. Consequently, he said, the UNHCR, its partners and Sudan’s Commission for Refugees are relocating the refugees as quickly as possible to a new site deeper inside Sudan.
He said the government and humanitarian agencies are scaling up their assistance to the growing refugee population. More than 20 agencies on the ground, he said, are providing shelter, health, food and nutrition services. He noted that the needs are great and that more funding is required to sustain the humanitarian operation.
“In particular, it is critical to further improve water and sanitation conditions in the refugee camps and reception areas, as well as ramp up COVID-19 prevention measures, including isolation facilities. Additional funding is also required to sustain shelter projects and improve the living conditions of refugees in the camps, especially in anticipation of the next rainy season, which is expected to start in May,” Mahecic said.
At the end of 2020, the UNHCR and partners appealed for $156 million to meet the emergency needs of Ethiopian refugees fleeing Tigray through the first half of 2021. So far only $40 million have been pledged, far short of the target.
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Norway Says More Than 50% of New Cars Are Electric
A report released Tuesday says Norway has become the first country in the world in which 50 percent of all new cars it sold are electric.Norway’s Road Traffic Information Council (Opplysningsradet for Veitrafikken) says electric vehicles accounted for 54.3 percent of new car sales in 2020, up from 42.4 percent a year earlier.The group says the four best-selling models in the Nordic country were the Volkswagen/ Audi e-tron, the Tesla Model 3, the Volkswagen ID.3 and the Nissan Leaf — all fully electric.The fifth placed car — the Volkswagen Golf — can be bought in a rechargeable version but the statistics do not differentiate among engine types.The report says electric cars accounted for 66.7 percent of all new sales in Norway during December, a new monthly record.Norway set a goal of eliminating combustion-engine vehicles by 2025 and fully electric vehicles are tax exempt and receive other government subsidies. The nation gets most of its electric energy from hydroelectric dams.
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Public Frustration Grows as France’s Vaccination Campaign Lags
In France, public frustration with the government is growing as the nation’s coronavirus immunization campaign gets off to a slow start. In response, officials say they will speed up and widen the vaccine rollout.As of Monday, only 2,500 people had received the vaccine against COVID-19 in France — most of them nursing home residents and their nurses. It is too small a number, critics say, for a rollout that began, as in other EU countries, on December 27. A doctor administers a dose of Pfizer-BioNtech coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine to an old woman on Jan. 4, 2020 at the Antonin Balmes gerontology center in Montpellier in the south of France.Critics describe the pace as ridiculously low compared with neighboring Germany, where at least 264,000 people have been vaccinated so far. French President Emmanuel Macron and his government are under pressure to do better, especially considering the relative success of other nations in Europe. One of the main critics is Jean Rottner, the president of France’s Grand Est region. Rottner says the immunization strategy in France is a scandal, and he says the government keeps failing like it did for the masks and the tests. He says he is devastated since his region is heavily hit by the pandemic. FILE – A woman is tested for COVID-19 at a mobile testing center in Marseille, France, Sept. 24, 2020.French officials claim they are still on track to reach their goal to have one million people vaccinated by the end of January. To make it, authorities say they will set up 600 immunization centers across the territory by the end of this month. Olivier Veran, France’s health minister, addressed concerns Tuesday, and he vowed to catch up with the other EU countries. Veran says the French government will now amplify, accelerate and simplify the immunization strategy. Firefighters and in-home care workers above 50 years of age, will now receive the vaccine. The minister, who oversees the fight against the virus, says it is a permanent race to save lives. Although the immunization response is coordinated at the European level, each of the 27 members is responsible for setting its own strategy. The Netherlands will only start its immunization campaign on January 8. FILE – Healthcare workers assist a COVID-19 patient in the intensive care unit at the Joseph Imbert Hospital Center in Arles, southern France, April 5, 2020.As of Monday, more than 65,000 people had died from COVID-19 in France according data from Johns Hopkins University.
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Niger to Hold 3 Days of Mourning After Deadly Attack
Niger will hold three days of national mourning after an attack on two villages in the nation’s southwest that killed more than 100 civilians, the government said.
The government is strengthening security in the area of the attacks near the border with Mali and will provide support to those living there, it said in a statement after an emergency Cabinet meeting called by President Mahamadou Issoufou late Monday.
The attacks on the western villages of Tchombangou and Zaroumdareye took place on Saturday, the same day that Niger announced its presidential elections would go to a second round to be held on Feb. 21.
The villages in the insecure Tillaberi region were attacked after residents killed two rebel fighters, local officials said. Niger’s Prime Minister Brigi Rafini visited the two villages Sunday.
The attacks are among the deadliest in Niger and come on the heels of several others, including one by the Islamic State West Africa Province in the Diffa region a few weeks ago in which dozens of people were killed.
Niger and neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali are battling the spread of deadly extremist violence which is displacing large numbers of people, despite the presence of thousands of regional and international troops.
While no group has claimed responsibility for Saturday’s killings, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara has been mounting attacks there for some time.
Niger is pressed on all sides by extremist groups and must deal with instability spilling over from both Mali and Nigeria, which is exacerbated by local tensions.
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South Korea to Negotiate with Iran Over Seized Tanker
South Korea says it will seek a diplomatic solution with Iran over a South Korean-flagged oil tanker seized by Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops Monday in the Strait of Hormuz. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency says it learned from an unnamed Foreign Ministry official that Koh Kyung-sok, the head of the Foreign Ministry’s African and Middle Eastern affairs unit, met with Iranian Ambassador Saeed Badamchi Shabestari Tuesday in Seoul to discuss the matter. A picture obtained by AFP from the Iranian news agency Tasnim on Jan. 4, 2021, shows the South Korean-flagged tanker being escorted by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards navy after being seized in the Gulf.The Foreign Ministry says a diplomatic team will head to Iran to negotiate the release of the MT Hankuk Chemi and its 20-member crew, including five South Koreans, 11 Myanmar nationals, two Indonesians and two Vietnamese. Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry is deploying its 300-member strong anti-piracy unit to the region aboard the 4,400-ton class destroyer Choi Young. The Iranian military has said the MT Hankuk Chemi was seized as it traveled from Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates due to possible environmental violations. The tanker’s seizure comes as Tehran and Seoul are locked in negotiations to release $7 billion in Iranian assets frozen at South Korean banks since the United States tightened sanctions on Iran. Iran wants to use the money to purchase COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX global vaccine procurement and distribution program. Iran announced Monday that it has begun enriching uranium to 20%, its latest step away from a 2015 international agreement that limited its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. The Trump administration imposed the sanctions in 2018 after withdrawing from the six-nation agreement that limited Iran’s uranium enrichment to 3.67%.
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New York Stock Exchange Reverses Plans to Remove Three Chinese Telecom Firms from Index
The New York Stock Exchange says it will no longer go ahead with plans to remove three Chinese telecommunication companies from the index in compliance with an executive order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump.The exchange said Monday on its website that it reversed its previous decision after “further consultation” with regulators. The NYSE said last Thursday it was removing state-owned China Telecom Corp Limited, China Mobile Limited and China Unicom Hong Kong Limited under Trump’s order issued in November that bars American companies and individuals from investing in at least 31 firms believed to be linked to the Chinese military. China’s commerce ministry warned Saturday that Beijing would take “necessary countermeasures” to protect its companies. Shares in all three companies gained well over 5% on Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng index Monday.
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General: No Signs of N. Korean Tests Ahead of Biden Inauguration
North Korea does not appear to be preparing a major provocation at the onset of the administration of President-elect Joe Biden, according to the top U.S. general in South Korea, amid concerns Pyongyang could soon conduct a missile or other weapons test. “We’re not seeing any indicators that suggest that there would be a major provocation — but that’s today. That could change next week,” General Robert Abrams, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea, told an online forum Tuesday. North Korea has often timed major tests, including of ballistic missiles or nuclear weapons, around U.S. presidential transitions, an effort to demonstrate its military capabilities and possibly gain leverage in future negotiations with Washington. FILE – In this photo taken June 30, 2019, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un (L) and US President Donald Trump shake hands during a meeting on the south side of the Military Demarcation Line that divides North and South Korea.Biden has said he won’t rule out meeting Kim face-to-face, but has suggested that would only come as part of broader, working-level talks. Biden, who helped oversee former President Barack Obama’s policy of “strategic patience” toward North Korea, has repeatedly criticized Trump’s personal outreach to Kim, saying the strategy is ineffective and aimed more at creating headlines than addressing the North Korean nuclear issue.At his election rallies, Biden frequently called Kim a “thug,” “tyrant,” and “dictator.” In response, North Korean state media slammed Biden as an “imbecile,” a “fool of low IQ,” and a “rabid dog.”
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Youth Expected to Be Out to Vote in Georgia
Young voters – specifically young Black voters – participating in the Georgia runoff election for two Senate seats are expected to provide significant support for the Democratic candidates.In the Senate race between incumbent Republican Senator David Perdue and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff, 88% of Black youth favored Ossoff, compared with 31% of white youth, in the November election, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.In the Senate special election between incumbent Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler and challenger Raphael Warnock, 83% of Black youth preferred Warnock, compared to 32% of white youth, according to the study.“These overwhelming preferences underscore young Black voters’ ability to shape the runoff results,” CIRCLE stated.Nationally, young voters 18 to 29 years old favored President-elect Joe Biden by 25% over Republican President Donald Trump, according to CIRCLE.In Georgia, young voters cast 20% of all votes in the state for the 2020 presidential election, among the highest turnouts in the nation. And the youth vote in that Southern state favored Biden by 19%.CIRCLE said those youth voters were overwhelmingly Black, with 90% of Black youth supporting Biden in Georgia.“Youth of color, and especially Black youth, have extraordinary potential to be a decisive factor in these upcoming Senate races as a result of their population size and their historical support for Democratic candidates,” CIRCLE said on their website on December 22.“As they were in the 2018 and 2020 general elections in the state, youth of color are a major force in the Georgia electorate. There are over 500,000 Black 18- to 29-year-olds registered to vote as of December 17 … currently, the highest number of Black youth registered to vote in any state for which we have data,” CIRCLE reported.“But there are also barriers that particularly affect young people of color in Georgia, who will need to be engaged and mobilized in a type of election that traditionally sees lower turnout,” the report stated.
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First New DACA Applications Approved in Final Weeks of 2020
More than 170 new applicants have become the first individuals in several years to win approval to the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for immigrants brought to the U.S. as young people, the U.S. government revealed in a court filing Monday. A report submitted by the Department of Homeland Security to Brooklyn federal court showed 171 new applications were approved from November 14 through the end of 2020, while nearly 500 applications were either denied or rejected. In all, 2,713 applications were submitted. U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis had ordered the federal government to post public notice that it would accept applications under the terms in place before President Donald Trump ended DACA in 2017, saying it was unconstitutional. FILE – Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad WolfThe U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that Trump violated federal law in how he ended the program, but Chad Wolf, the acting Homeland Security secretary, said the administration wouldn’t accept new applications and would grant renewals for one year instead two. DACA shields about 650,000 people from deportation and makes them eligible for work permits. The federal government did not appeal a November Garaufis order in which he said Wolf was in his position illegally. He ordered two-year renewals reinstated and required Homeland Security to report how many new applicants were rejected from June to December 4. The figure: 4,383. Besides processing the new applications, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services arm of Homeland Security also said it approved 61,844 renewals while denying 326 and rejecting 2,842 renewals in the last six weeks of the year. Messages seeking comment were sent to advocates for DACA applicants and lawyers who represented them. Legal challengesThe administration of President Barack Obama started DACA in 2012, letting qualifying immigrants brought to the country illegally as children to work and be exempt from deportation. However, it did not confer legal status on recipients. President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to reinstate DACA, but permanent legal status and a path to citizenship would require congressional approval. Two weeks ago, a judge in Houston heard arguments from lawyers for Texas and eight other states seeking to end the program on the grounds that DACA violates the constitution by circumventing Congress’ authority on immigration laws. Representing DACA recipients, lawyers for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, and the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office argued for the lawsuit’s dismissal on the grounds that it was within Obama’s rights to launch the program. The judge did not immediately rule.
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New COVID-19 Lockdowns in Britain; New Variant Found in New York
Britain’s prime minister announced a fresh round of lockdowns Monday, closing schools and nonessential shops, as the country begins vaccinating health care workers and the elderly.Prime Minister Boris Johnson said people must stay at home until at least mid-February, noting that British hospitals are under more strain now than they have been at any point during the pandemic.“If the rollout of the vaccine program continues to be successful. If deaths start to fall as the vaccine takes effect. And critically, if everyone plays their part by following the rules, then I hope we can steadily move out of lockdown,” Johnson said in a televised address Monday.Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits Chase Farm Hospital in north London, Jan. 4, 2021, part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.The announcement comes days after British health officials confirmed a variant of the coronavirus that doctors say is far more contagious than the original.New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Monday that a case of the same variant had been confirmed in an older New York state resident who had not traveled recently.NEW: The Wadsworth Lab has confirmed New York State’s first case of the U.K. variant (B.1.1.7) of the virus that causes COVID.An individual from Saratoga County, New York, tested positive for the strain. The individual had no known travel history.— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) Brian Pinker, 82, receives the Oxford University/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from nurse Sam Foster at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, England, Jan. 4, 2021.British officials say half a million doses of the vaccine are ready for use.The AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper and more easily transported than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine because it does not need to be kept at extremely cold temperatures. The Pfizer shot has already been administered to many health care professionals in Britain and the United States.France, which is administering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, pledged Monday to increase the speed at which it is inoculating its health care workers after facing criticism from the public.FILE – A man applies finishing touches to graffiti representing a vaccine, amidst the spread of coronavirus disease, in Kolkata, India, Jan. 2, 2021.In Russia, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said that more than 800,000 people had received the domestically produced Sputnik V vaccine and that 1.5 million doses had been distributed throughout the country of 147 million.The Kremlin is pinning its hopes on mass vaccinations, not nationwide restrictions, to stop the spread of the virus and save its struggling economy from the hit of another lockdown.The coronavirus has killed more than 1.8 million people globally since emerging in China in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins.Experts fear the worst is yet to come, predicting a sharp rise in cases and deaths after weeks of holiday gatherings.VOA’s Fern Robinson contributed to this report.
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Two Shot in Kenosha Unrest Sue City, County for Negligence
Two men shot in August during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, have separately filed $10 million lawsuits against Kenosha County and the city, claiming officials there were negligent in how they responded to the street violence. The two were shot by 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse on August 25. Anthony Huber was killed. His parents filed one of the lawsuits. Gaige Grosskreutz, who was seen on video brandishing a firearm near Rittenhouse, was shot in the arm. FILE – Kyle Rittenhouse sits while listening during an extradition hearing in Lake County court Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, in Waukegan, Ill. Rittenhouse is accused of killing two protesters days after Jacob Blake was shot by police in Kenosha, Wis.Rittenhouse, now 18, is charged with five felonies, including first-degree murder. He is free on $2 million bail. His lawyers claim he shot the two in self-defense. Kimberly Motley, a lawyer who represents Grosskreutz, said the actions or lack thereof by local officials contributed to the shootings. “We believe there was some level of negligence on behalf of the city and county,” she told USA Today newspaper. The newspaper reported that the claims “lack details typically found in civil suits” because, Motley said, “the plaintiffs don’t want to interfere with the ongoing prosecution of Rittenhouse.” The unrest in Kenosha was sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, while officers tried to arrest him. Blake was shot multiple times in the back and was left partially paralyzed. A decision about charging the officers involved in the Blake shooting is expected in the next two weeks, prompting Kenosha officials to prepare for more protests.
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Britain Refuses US Extradition of ‘Suicidal’ Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange
A British judge has ruled that Julian Assange, the founder of the whistleblowing website Wikileaks, cannot be extradited to the United States to answer charges of hacking and theft of classified material because of the risk he could commit suicide in U.S. detention. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.Camera: Henry Ridgwell
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Urging Calm, DC Mayor Calls in National Guard for Protests
The mayor of Washington, D.C., urged calm Monday as some 340 National Guard troops were being activated while the city prepared for potentially violent protests surrounding Congress’ expected vote to affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. According to a U.S. defense official, Mayor Muriel Bowser put in a request on New Year’s Eve to have Guard members on the streets from January 5 to 7 to help with the protests. The official said D.C. National Guard members will be used for traffic control and other assistance, but they will not be armed or wearing body armor. Congress is meeting this week to certify the Electoral College results, and President Donald Trump has refused to concede while whipping up support for protests. During a press conference on Monday, Bowser asked that people stay away from downtown D.C. and avoid confrontations with anyone who is “looking for a fight.” She warned, “We will not allow people to incite violence, intimidate our residents or cause destruction in our city.” There will be about 115 Guard troops on duty at any one time in the city, said the defense official, who provided details on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The official said Guard members will be used to set up traffic control points around the city and to stand with district police officers at all the city’s Metro stops. Acting Police Chief Robert Contee said Guard troops will also be used for some crowd management. “Some of our intelligence certainly suggests there will be increased crowd sizes,” said Contee, adding, “There are people intent on coming to our city armed.” Because D.C. does not have a governor, the designated commander of the city’s National Guard is Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy. Any D.C. requests for Guard deployments have to be approved by him. The defense official said there will be no active-duty military troops in the city, and the U.S. military will not be providing any aircraft or intelligence. The D.C. Guard will provide specialized teams that will be prepared to respond to any chemical or biological incident. But the official said there will be no D.C. Guard members on the National Mall or at the U.S. Capitol.
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Britain Refuses to Extradite ‘Suicidal’ WikiLeaks Founder to US
A British judge has ruled that Julian Assange, the founder of the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, cannot be extradited to the United States because of the risk he could commit suicide in U.S. detention.
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser delivered the verdict Monday.“I am satisfied the procedures described by the U.S. will not prevent Mr. Assange from finding a way to commit suicide and for this reason I have decided extradition would be oppressive by reason of mental harm and I order his discharge,” Baraitser told the court.
Assange faces 18 U.S. federal charges relating to allegations of hacking, theft of classified material, and the disclosure of the identities of U.S. informants. Prosecutors have already appealed the verdict.FILE – In this May 19, 2017 photo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange greets supporters outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London.Supporters of Assange celebrated outside the Old Bailey criminal court as the decision was read out. His partner, Stella Moris, called on the U.S. to drop the charges.
“Today’s victory is the first step towards justice in this case. We are pleased that the court has recognized the seriousness and inhumanity of what he has endured and what he faces. But let’s not forget the indictment in the U.S. has not been dropped. We are extremely concerned that the U.S. government has decided to appeal this decision,” Moris told reporters. “I call on the president of the United States to end this now.”
Baraitser concluded that Assange would have a fair trial at the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, and that he should answer the charges of hacking, theft and disclosure of the identities of U.S. informants. Baraitser said, however, that she had reached the verdict after considering evidence from psychiatrists who said that Assange was planning to commit suicide if he were to be extradited. She added that the conditions in which he would be jailed, in almost solitary confinement, meant that the U.S. prison system could not prevent him taking his life.Assange’s lawyers argued the entire prosecution was politically motivated and that extradition would pose a threat to journalism, claims U.S. prosecutors denied.
“The court today came to the right decision in barring his extradition, but her judgment made some incredibly problematic findings from a free speech point of view,” Assange’s lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, told the Reuters news agency. “I think British journalists and free speech organizations need to be taking a close look at this judgment, and, of course, we will be over the coming days. But this was not a win from a free speech point of view in terms of her findings on the criminalization of journalistic conduct and the application of the Official Secrets Act, and I think this will be a matter for discussion in the coming days.”
Press freedom campaigners echoed those concerns. Rebecca Vincent, director of international campaigns at Reporters Without Borders, wrote on Twitter: “We fully believe that Assange was targeted for his contributions to journalism, and would have liked to see a strong position from the court in favor of journalistic protections and press freedom. That wasn’t the case; extradition was prevented only on mental health grounds.”
In 2010 and 2011, Assange oversaw the publication by WikiLeaks of tens of thousands of diplomatic cables and military reports relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Assange says the leak exposed abuses by the U.S. military.
The Julian Assange supporters celebrate after a ruling that he cannot be extradited to the United States, outside the Old Bailey in London, Jan. 4, 2021.
Ultimately, the British judge ruled that concerns over Assange’s mental health override the U.S charges, said Marcy Wheeler, an American author on national security and civil liberties, and founder of the website emptywheel.“This is the third time this has happened with the United States trying to extradite people from the U.K. And there have been cases where it has been closely fought for terrorism defendants as well,” Wheeler told VOA.
Assange’s lawyers plan to submit an application for bail in the coming days. It is possible that Assange could face prosecution in Britain, said Wheeler.
“I wouldn’t rule out the United States and the U.K. cooperating to doing something like that because it is the kind of thing they do on national security cases. These (U.S.) charges argued that Assange revealed coalition informant identities, not just U.S. informant identities, which would be understood to include British informants.”
Assange sought refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London in 2012 after facing accusations of rape in Sweden, a case that was later dropped. He stayed there for seven years until Ecuador allowed British police to arrest him in April 2019. He was then jailed for 50 weeks for breaching bail.
For now, Assange is back in London’s Belmarsh prison pending his bail application. The appeal process against the ruling could take several months or more, with the British justice system facing severe disruption amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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Heavy Snow Buries Parts of Northern Italy
European weather forecasters say about 2 meters (over 6 feet) of snow fell early Monday in parts of northern Italy’s alpine region, blocking roads and burying cars and houses in some areas.From its Twitter account, the Alpine-Adriatic Meteorological Society posted video from Italy’s northeastern area of Comelico, near the border with Austria. Snow blocked the entrances to homes and buildings, with more snow falling in the small village of Sappada, in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.Italian firefighters said they carried out more than 100 operations to clear roads of snow.In the Veneto region, the firefighters report they used a snow cat – a large, tracked vehicle built for traveling through snow — to rescue a family stuck in a remote area.Forecasters say more snow is expected in the area region in the coming days.
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Japan Might Declare Tokyo State of Emergency Amid COVID-19 Surge
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the government is considering declaring a state of emergency for Tokyo and three surrounding areas after an alarming uptick of new coronavirus infections. The health ministry recorded 3,150 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, including 51 deaths, bringing the total number of infections to 244,559, including 3,612 fatalities. The Japanese capital alone set a single-day record of 1,337 new cases last Thursday, New Year’s Eve. The emergency declaration would cover Tokyo and the neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa. Then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe formally declared a 30-day state of emergency for Tokyo and six other prefectures last April as coronavirus infections began rising during the early days of the pandemic. The decree stopped short of imposing a legally binding nationwide lockdown, due to Japan’s post-World War Two constitution, which weighs heavily in favor of civil liberties. Prime Minister Suga also told reporters Monday the government has moved up the beginning of the national vaccination effort to late February, with frontline medical workers and the elderly given first priority. Suga also vowed that the Summer Olympic Games, postponed from last year because of the pandemic, will be held as scheduled between July 23 and August 8. He said staging the Games would serve as proof that people “have overcome the coronavirus.”
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US Treasury Department Affirms Recognition of Venezuela’s Opposition-Held Congress
The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday issued a new license allowing certain transactions with Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido despite U.S. sanctions on the country, reaffirming Washington’s support for the politician as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.
The license, which replaces a similar previous one, also allows for certain transactions with Venezuela’s National Assembly and some others, effectively recognizing the extension of the opposition-controlled National Assembly’s term by a year.
The term was extended after the mainstream opposition boycotted a parliamentary election on Dec. 6 handily won by President Nicolas Maduro’s ruling socialists that the opposition and most Western democracies said was neither free nor fair. Venezuela’s Supreme Court last week ruled that the move by the opposition-controlled National Assembly to extend its term an additional year was invalid, paving the way for allies of Maduro to take over the body this month.
Washington in January 2019 recognized Venezuelan politician Guaido as the OPEC nation’s rightful leader and has ratcheted up sanctions and diplomatic pressure in the aftermath of Maduro’s 2018 re-election, widely described as fraudulent.
Maduro remains in power, backed by Venezuela’s military as well as Russia, China and Cuba.
The recognition of Guaido as interim president by the United States and others derives from his position as speaker of the National Assembly. Guaido invoked Venezuela’s constitution to assume a rival interim presidency in 2019, declaring Maduro was usurping the presidency after rigging his 2018 re-election.
The Treasury Department in the license said that transactions involving the Venezuelan National Constituent Assembly convened by Maduro or the National Assembly scheduled to be seated on Tuesday are not authorized.
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Moderna Plans to Ramp Up COVID-19 Vaccine Production by 20%
Drug maker Moderna says it plans to ramp up production of its COVID-19 vaccine by 100 million more doses than what it originally forecast.The Massachusetts-based company said Monday it would produce 600 million doses in 2021.So far, the company says it has supplied 18 million doses of a promised 200 million to the U.S. government.U.S. states have been administering both the Moderna vaccine and a vaccine produced by Pfizer-BioNTech since late last month.Both vaccines are reportedly highly effective in preventing coronavirus infection.According to MarketWatch, Moderna’s stock is up 453.0% over the past year.
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Kenyan Schools Reopen Despite Coronavirus Concerns
Schools in Kenya reopened Monday after being closed since March due to the coronavirus. But Kenya has yet to contain the pandemic and there are concerns among teachers and parents about being exposed to the infection.
Kenya shut schools in mid-March as a measure to contain the virus, which has killed nearly 1,700 people in the country, according to the Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus dashboard. Ken Ouko, 47, a father of four, says he worries that students will not follow safety protocols when they return to school and will bring the virus home. “There will be some degree of protection but kids are still going to interact,” he said. “What we noticed in a normal school day is that these kids don’t even wash their hands, even when they have been told to wash their hands, but they still touch each other. They will be playing football together; they will be riding bikes together. When they are in the buses, they are playing games. It’s not very easy to control them in my opinion.” Visiting one of the schools in Nairobi, Education Minister George Magoha said parents should try to remain positive as schools reopen so children can resume their lessons. “When you look at the body and spirit of a teacher, the body and spirit of the children, do they require encouragement or discouragement? Let us encourage them; that’s all I can say for now. We may not be perfect, there are many children here. If water becomes a problem, we are on standby to ensure that they have water, so they are able to wash their hands when they come out,” he said.Teachers say it will be difficult to maintain physical distance, as most schools do not have enough classrooms to spread out the students. A teacher talks to schoolchildren at the morning parade at the Toi Primary School during the reopening of schools, after the government closed learning institutions, in Kibera district of Nairobi, Kenya, Jan. 4, 2021.Omu Anzala, a virology and immunology professor at the University of Nairobi, acknowledges that social distancing may be a tall order for a lot schools, both public and private. He says schools can follow other health protocols to fight the spread of the coronavirus. “We want to really enforce that all kids are taught how to wear a mask and then sanitation. They have to be taught how to wear a mask and then they should wear a mask consistently when they are in class, when they are in playground, wherever they are going to be in school. They should be able to have facilities where they can be able to sanitize,” he said. In all, 16 million Kenyan schoolchildren returned to school on Monday.
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Trump, Biden Campaign in Crucial Georgia On Eve of Senate Runoff Elections
U.S. President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden are each appearing in the southern state of Georgia Monday, the final day of campaigning before elections for two seats that will decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate.
Trump is going to the town of Dalton for an evening rally as he backs Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.
Biden will be in Atlanta to boost Jon Ossoff’s bid to unseat Perdue and the Reverend Raphael Warnock’s challenge of Loeffler.
Both elections went to a runoff after no candidate earned a majority of votes on November 3.
Georgia has been a focus of Trump’s repeated, unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.
State election officials, including Republicans, have affirmed the count was accurate, and multiple courts have rejected Trump campaign legal challenges.
The issue gained more prominence Sunday with the Washington Post releasing an audio recording of a Saturday phone call featuring Trump pleading with the state’s top election official to find him enough votes to overturn his loss to Biden in Georgia.
Trump, in Phone Call, Pleaded with Georgia Officials to Overturn His Loss ‘I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have’ president is heard sayingIf both Democrats win Tuesday, the party will become the majority in the Senate with the two sides each holding 50 seats and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaking vote.
A Republican win in either race leaves a divided government, with Republicans controlling the Senate and Democrats holding the White House and House of Representatives.
Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 1 MB480p | 1 MB540p | 1 MB1080p | 4 MBOriginal | 8 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioIn the November election, Biden became the first Democrat to win Georgia in a presidential race since 1992.
There were about 5 million votes cast in Georgia for the November vote, with 3.6 million in early ballots. In the runoff, just more than 3 million voters cast their ballot early.
Early voters strongly favored Democrats in November, making the in-person voting Tuesday crucial for the Republicans.
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South Korean Population Declined for First Time in 2020
New census data released Monday shows South Korea’s population falling for the first time in 2020, adding further worries in a nation with one of the lowest birth rates in the world.South Korea had a total population of 51,829,023 people as of December 31, according to figures released by the Ministry of Interior and Safety. The data also reveals the country had a record low 275,815 births, compared to 307,764 deaths, a change of 3.1% from 2019.The data also shows South Korea’s population is aging rapidly, with just over 30% of people in their 40s and 50s, and nearly a quarter 60 years old or older.The ministry said South Korea’s declining birth rates shows there “needs to be a fundamental change in the governmental policies such as welfare, education, and national defense, accordingly.”Experts have pinpointed a number of reasons for the declining birth rate, including the high costs of living, and South Korea’s competitive society that prompts young adults to pursue and maintain high-paying careers at the expense of marriage and children.President Moon Jae-in recently unveiled a set of initiatives aimed at boosting South Korea’s population, including offering cash bonuses for childbirth, monthly cash allowances for children and expanded benefits for families with multiple children.
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British Health Secretary Doesn’t Rule Out New Restrictions as Coronavirus Continues to Spread
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Monday the government is not ruling out new restrictions as the coronavirus continues to spread even in areas with the strictest constraints.In television interviews, Hancock said a new variant spreads more easily than the original strains of the virus and Britain’s three-tiered system of restrictions is proving less effective at controlling it.Hancock said that while new restrictions might be necessary, ultimately it is up to people’s behavior. He said people should act as if they already have the virus and take greater care around others.“Yes, it’s about the government rules, and absolutely we’re prepared to bring in, unfortunately, tougher rules if they are needed on the public health advice. But it’s on all of us,” Hancock said.The health secretary praised the National Health Service (NHS) for its vaccination program, saying it has successfully inoculated more than a million people at 700 sites around the country and that there would be more than a thousand sites by the end of the week.Hancock also praised the latest vaccine, produced in a joint effort between the University of Oxford and drug manufacturer AstraZeneca, saying British science is leading the world.Britain reported 55,157 new cases on Sunday, and 455 new deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The nation set a daily record for new cases Saturday with 57,853.
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Hope Fades in Norway Landslide That Left 7 Dead; 3 Missing
Norwegian officials insisted Monday that there was “still hope” in finding survivors in air pockets five days after a landslide killed at least seven people as it carried away homes in a village north of the capital. Three people are still missing.
Police spokesman Roger Pettersen said search efforts in the landslide-hit village of Ask, 25 kilometers (16 miles) northeast of Oslo, are still considered “a rescue operation.” But only bodies have been found in the last few days.
The region’s below-freezing temperatures are “working against us, but we have been very clear in our advice to the (rescuers) that as long as there are cavities where the missing may have stayed, it is possible to survive,” said Dr. Halvard Stave, who taking part in the rescue operation.
Temperatures in Ask were -8 degrees Celsius (17.6 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday.
“I would still describe the situation as very unreal,” Anders Oestensen, the mayor of Gjerdrum municipality, where Ask is located.
Search teams patrolled with dogs as helicopters and drones with heat-detecting cameras flew over the ravaged hillside in Ask, a village of 5,000 that was hit by the worst landslide in modern Norwegian history. At least 1,000 people were evacuated.
The landslide early Wednesday cut across a road through Ask, leaving a deep, crater-like ravine. Some buildings ae now hanging on the edge of the ravine, which grew to be 700 meters (2,300 feet) long and 300 meters (1,000 feet) wide. At least nine buildings with over 30 apartments were destroyed.
“This is completely terrible,” King Harald V said after the Norwegian royals visited the landslide site on Sunday.
The limited number of daylight hours in Norway at this time of year and fears of further erosion have hampered rescue operations. The ground is fragile at the site and unable to hold the weight of heavy rescue equipment.
The exact cause of the accident is not yet known but the area is known for having a lot of quick clay, a material that can change from solid to liquid form. Experts said the quick clay, combined with excessive precipitation and damp winter weather, may have contributed to the landslide.
In 2005, Norwegian authorities warned people not to construct residential buildings in the area saying it was “a high risk zone” for landslides, but houses were eventually built there later in the decade.
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