Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin’ono has vowed to continue speaking out against corruption after his release on bail following three weeks in detention. Chin’ono is facing charges of “peddling falsehoods” on social media – charges he denies.Journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, who was released from Chikurubi Maximum Prison on Wednesday after paying about $2,000 in bail, is defiant and bitter about his 19 days in detention on a charge that carries a jail sentence of up to 20 years if convicted. “In the past six months have spent 80 days behind that filthy prison on trumped up charges, simply because I am talking about corruption, simply because I am making citizens understand the impact of corruption and how it is related to their suffering: to the failure by the government to put drugs in hospitals, to fix roads, to deliver water in people’s homes,” said Chin’ono. “I am a journalist and I will continue doing journalism. I haven’t broken any laws of this country. It is political persecution, as I have been saying since day one when I was first arrested on the 20th of July.” Rights Groups Urge Zimbabwe to Drop Charges Against Journalist, Politicians Charges are seen by some as a government effort to stifle critics Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights – which is representing Chin’ono and two opposition leaders on the same charge – says “peddling falsehoods” was removed from the country’s statute books by the Constitutional Court in 2014. But the government says the law still exists.In an interview, Nick Mangwana, Zimbabwe’s information secretary, dismissed Chin’ono’s claims of persecution for speaking about corrupt officials.“Everybody talks about corruption. Open any paper, there are people talking about corruption,” said Mangwana. “He knows he is breaking the law. Not speaking about corruption. We acknowledge that there is corruption in Zimbabwe, that’s why we have ZACC, because we acknowledge that there is corruption. So he is talking nonsense.” ZACC is the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission.Tabani Moyo leads the Media Institute of Southern Africa in Zimbabwe. He says there is not much to celebrate about the release of Chin’ono – who has been arrested three times in less than six months for his social media posts.“This is strategy by the government to use different means towards ensuring that there are chilling effects on expressing online,” said Moyo. “You start to self censor. That is the same situation that they are trying to ensure by arresting high profile opposition figures, like investigative journalists in the form of Hopewell Chin’ono. So this is a trial of expression. It is the right to express which is under siege, no matter which platform you are analyzing. The right to express is literally besieged.”Chin’ono and opposition leaders Fadzayi Mahere and Job Sikhala were arrested early this month for commenting on a video in which citizens accused police officers of fatally assaulting a baby, who was on her mother’s back at bus stop. Police later issued a statement saying both the mother and the baby were never assaulted. Chin’ono is on bail for two other charges. In July he was arrested for promoting an anti-government protest on social media. Then in November he was arrested for obstruction of justice, as well as demeaning the country’s National Prosecution Authority with his posts on social media.He denies any wrongdoing.
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Month: January 2021
New US Defense Secretary Says Germany ‘Highly Valued’ as Host for US Troops
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III said Wednesday he values Germany as a station for U.S. troops, leading to speculation he may reverse a decision by the Trump administration to pull troops out of the country.
Austin made the comments in an introductory call to German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. A summary of the call posted to the Defense Department website said Austin “expressed his gratitude to Germany for continuing to serve as a great host for U.S. forces, and expressed his desire for a continued dialogue on U.S. force posture in Germany. “
Last year, then-President Donald Trump ordered the reduction of the U.S. military contingent stationed in Germany by more than 25%, and the Pentagon had been studying how that could be done.
The Associated Press reports that in the German Defense Ministry’s readout of the call, Austin “emphasized that Germany is highly valued as a station and that American soldiers feel very comfortable here.” He added that “the U.S. continues to consider its presence in Germany as an important part of joint security.”
About 34,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Germany, which includes key U.S. military facilities like the Ramstein Air Base and the headquarters for U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command.
The U.S. readout said Austin noted the importance of Germany to the NATO Alliance and expressed his desire for continued consultation.
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Climate Change Could Cost Australia Billions, Report Says
Australia is failing to keep up with the growing threat of extreme weather as global warming increases the risk in areas once thought to be safe, according to a new report.Australia is a land well used to nature’s extremes. It is the world’s driest inhabited continent, where droughts can last for years. The Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20 were the most intense on record. Heatwaves are by far its deadliest natural hazard.A new report by the Climate Council, an independent non-profit organization, says the cost of extreme weather in Australia has almost doubled since the 1970s.It is warning the financial consequences of fires, floods, droughts, storms and sea level rises linked to climate change could soar, potentially costing the country’s economy up to $76 billion every year by 2038.Robert Glasser, the former special representative for disaster risk reduction for the United Nations secretary-general, said Australia must make fundamental changes to planning new developments.“We will be building the equivalent of roads and homes in flood zones and areas of extreme fire danger, and when those hazards strike the damage will be severe,” he said. “The second reason — increasingly important — is climate change because we are now seeing that the places exposed to these hazards is shifting, the frequency and severity of the hazards are being amplified by climate change, and so you combine these two factors and we see the projections of increased impacts.”The year 2020 began in flames and ended with floods. It was Australia’s fourth-warmest year on record, while 2019 was the hottest and driest ever documented.While per capita levels of greenhouse gases are among the highest in the world, the center right government insists its environmental policies are responsible. Coal generates about 70% of Australia’s electricity, but conservationists believe this sunny, windy and innovative nation should be a green energy powerhouse.The Climate Council report states that without stronger action it becomes impossible for Australia “to act consistently” with the goals of the Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change.In October, an official inquiry into the Black Summer bushfires warned Australia would, in the future, face “compounding disasters” — where bushfires, floods and storms struck at the same time, or one after another.
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In Wuhan, WHO Team Begins Probe Into Coronavirus Origin
World Health Organization investigators exited a two-week quarantine Thursday in Wuhan, China, to begin their work in search of the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.The international team boarded a bus after exiting their hotel in the afternoon.China, which for months rejected calls for an international probe, has pledged adequate access for the researchers. The team is expected to spend several weeks interviewing people from research institutes, hospitals and a market linked to many of the first cases.The WHO has said the purpose of the mission is not to assign blame for the pandemic but to figure out how it started in order to better prevent and combat future outbreaks of disease.“We are looking for the answers here that may save us in the future, not culprits and not people to blame,” Mike Ryan, the WHO’s top emergencies official, said earlier this month.The novel coronavirus emerged in Wuhan in late 2019 and has since spread across the world, infecting more than 100 million people and killing about 2.1 million.More than 120 countries have called for an independent investigation into the origins of the virus, with many governments accusing China of not doing enough to contain its spread.”It’s imperative that we get to the bottom of the early days of the pandemic in China, and we’ve been supportive of an international investigation that we feel should be robust and clear,” White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said Wednesday.There continue to be concerns in many countries about access to and supplies of the vaccines that have been developed to protect people from COVID-19.Japan’s top government spokesperson said Thursday that AstraZeneca will make more than 90 million doses of its vaccine in Japan.”We believe it is very important to be able to produce the vaccines domestically,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters.Like many countries already carrying out vaccination campaigns, Japan plans to prioritize front-line medical workers when it begins administering the shots in late February.Japan has arranged to buy 120 million doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. The vaccine requires a two-shot regiment for each person.The European Union and AstraZeneca have clashed this week after the company said it would have to cut planned deliveries to the EU due to production delays.EU officials are demanding the doses be delivered on time and have threatened to put export controls on vaccines made in EU territory.Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that EU President Ursula von der Leyen assured him any EU actions would not affect shipments to Canada.Another source of widespread concern is a number of variants of the virus that have been discovered.Colombia says it will ban flights from Brazil starting Friday because of a variant circulating there.Colombian President Ivan Duque said the measure would be in place for 30 days. Anyone who recently arrived in Colombia from Brazil is also being required to quarantine for two weeks.
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Biden’s Challenge: Navigating Filibuster and Reconciliation
One of the consistent themes during Joe Biden’s campaign for president and since he won and was inaugurated has been a desire to find bipartisan agreement with Republicans on his agenda items.“The American system contemplates that there has to be cooperation to get most things done,” said Chris Edelson, assistant professor in the School of Government at American University.The false claims by former President Donald Trump that the election was stolen and the votes by Republicans in Congress casting doubt on the election “creates a special challenge for President Biden, and one with no easy solution,” he added.“Joe Biden spent 36 years in the Senate and has a very warm relationship with the body and a veneration for it,” said Norm Ornstein, emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. “During the campaign and since his election, he said that he believes he can find Republicans to work with. The initial picture is not as rosy.”If the Democrats hold majorities — slim as they are — in both Houses of Congress, why do they need Republicans to get things done?FilibusterMajority parties almost always get their way in the 435-seat House of Representatives. That is because the rules are written to favor the majority party.In the Senate, long-standing rules protect the minority party’s voice. The filibuster is one such rule. It allows a minority of senators to prevent a vote on an issue by continuing to debate it.Senate rules require three-fifths of the Senate — 60 senators — to vote to end the debate.The way the Senate stands now, 10 Republicans need to agree with all 50 Senate Democrats just to hold a vote to get much of Biden’s agenda enacted.But there are rules to allow Biden and Democrats to get around the filibuster: reconciliation.ReconciliationReconciliation is an arcane process that dates to the 1970s, allowing legislation to bypass the filibuster, as long as it deals with budget issues.This includes raising or cutting taxes and changing priorities for government spending.Senate debate for a reconciliation bill is limited, with just a simple majority needed to pass. With Vice President Kamala Harris presiding, Democrats hold the tiebreaker in the split Senate.Reconciliation has its limits. It can only be done once per fiscal year and could leave out key Biden goals like immigration reform and passing a new voting rights act.Kill the filibuster?Preserving the filibuster is so important to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that he held up passage of an organizing resolution seeking a promise that Democrats would not use their slim majority to get rid of it.Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have indicated they will not vote to eliminate the filibuster.While Biden has been quiet about it lately, Republicans tweeted part of his Senate speech from 2005, in which he said the filibuster “is not about stopping a nominee or a bill, it is about compromise and moderation.”But as vice president, Biden saw the filibuster used to thwart President Barack Obama’s agenda and be a useful campaign tool.“When the filibuster was used over and over in 2009 and 2010, in the next midterm election, Republicans won more seats in the House than they had in 100 years,” Ornstein said. “And then after Obama won reelection, it was used again. And in the midterm that followed, they won back the Senate. So, their game plan that’s to obstruct has worked in the past, and it’s likely they’re going to try it again.”Biden navigated those rules of the Senate for 36 years. How he plays by them now will test the success of his presidency.
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Blinken Cites Yemen, Russia, China Among Top Priorities
Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the humanitarian crisis in Yemen — as well as U.S. relations with Russia and China — are among his immediate priorities. VOA Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington.
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Report: Guinea Worm Disease Cases Drop Despite COVID-19 Restrictions
Human Guinea worm cases in six African countries dropped to 27 in 2020, about 50% less than what was recorded the year before, despite COVID-19 challenges, the Carter Center announced Tuesday.Animal cases fell by 20% over the same period.“The numbers we are seeing are very encouraging,” said Jason Carter, chair of the center’s board of trustees.In Chad, cases dropped to 36 from the 48 recorded in 2019 — the most significant decline for a single nation.The central African country’s significant decline in cases was attributed to “recommitted country and community efforts, innovation, and aggressive, science-based interventions,” said Dr. Kashef Ijaz, Carter Center vice president of health programs.Although these figures are only provisional, Ijaz said the dramatic reductions may be an early indication that a corner is being turned in the most Guinea worm-endemic country.”Ethiopia recorded 11 cases, while South Sudan, Angola, Mali and Cameroon recorded one case each.The reduction in cases comes on the back of an overwhelmed public health system worldwide due to the coronavirus.“In contrast, the Guinea Worm Eradication Program is not dependent on the delivery of pharmaceuticals because there is no vaccine or medicine to treat the disease,” said the Carter Center press release, which also credited a community-centered approach to dealing with the disease.“I have been so impressed with the way entire communities in every country where we work to embrace the responsibility for safeguarding their own health,” said Adam Weiss, director of the center’s Guinea Worm Eradication Program.“People who live in the villages are the heart of the program,” he added. “Foreigners like me are a very small part of the operation.”Out of the program’s 1,026 employees, 1,000 are Chadian. The program also enjoys the services of nearly the same number of volunteers in the villages.These volunteers and community staff members, along with creating awareness through education, also monitor for “infections, filtering drinking water, and protecting water sources from contamination.”Foreign staff in Guinea worm-endemic areas research, coordinate and train local staff.Guinea worm disease is an ancient disease that disables victims. It is “usually contracted when people consume water contaminated with tiny crustaceans (called copepods) that carry Guinea worm larvae,” the statement said.In animals, dogs are the most affected, with more than 1,500 recorded cases in Chad, Ethiopia, and Mali, followed by domestic and wild cats, as well as baboons, according to the 2020 figures.The Atlanta-based Carter Center, founded in 1982 by former President Jimmy Carter, focuses on neglected tropical diseases for human and animal infections.
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US Aims to Again Lead World on Climate
President Joe Biden signed a series of sweeping executive orders aiming to cut oil, gas and coal emissions to tackle climate change. Biden said he wants the U.S. to once again lead the global response to the climate crisis, a sharp departure from his predecessor. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story.
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Lawmaker Quota for Women Is Too Low, Somali Minister Says
Somalia’s prime minister this month announced a 30% quota for female lawmakers chosen in February’s indirect election by Somali clans. If upheld by the clans, it would raise the number of female representatives by 6%, but women’s groups see even that slight jump as doubtful in patriarchal Somalia. Mohamed Sheikh Nor reports from Mogadishu.
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Tanzanian President Expresses Doubt on Coronavirus Vaccines
Tanzanian President John Magufuli has warned his health ministry against rushing to adopt COVID-19 vaccines, suggesting the vaccines may not be safe or effective.In a speech Wednesday in Western Tanzania, Magufuli expressed doubt about vaccines produced by Western countries.“If the white man was able to come up with vaccinations, then vaccinations for AIDS would have been brought, tuberculosis would be a thing of the past, vaccines for malaria and cancer would have been found,” said the president.Magufuli directed the Ministry of Health to adopt a vaccine only after it is certified by Tanzanian experts.He said Tanzanians must not be used as guinea pigs in vaccine trials.Little is known about the state of the coronavirus in Tanzania, as the president has declared the country to be “COVID-free” and officials refuse to keep track of coronavirus infections or deaths.The president has told officials to promote herbs to remedy COVID-19 symptoms.Maguflui told those in attendance Wednesday that they should continue to put their trust in God, saying that they “have lived for over one year without the virus because our God is able, and Satan will always fail.”The United States is currently warning Americans to avoid all travel to the East African country, assigning the country a Level 4 alert, the highest advisory level.
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No Mardi Gras Parades, So Thousands Make ‘House Floats’
You just can’t keep a good city down, especially when Mardi Gras is coming.All around New Orleans, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats because the coronavirus outbreak canceled the elaborate parades staged during the Carnival season leading to Fat Tuesday.Some smaller groups announced no-parade plans before the city did. Pandemic replacements include scavenger hunts for signature trinkets that normally would be thrown from floats or handed out from a streetcar, as well as outdoor art and drive-through or virtual parades. The prominent Krewe of Bacchus, one of the many organizations that put on parades or balls during Carnival season, designed an app that people can use to catch and trade virtual trinkets during Carnival and watch a virtual parade February 14, when the parade had been scheduled.But the “house float” movement started almost as soon as a New Orleans spokesman announced November 17 that parades were off.That morning, Megan Joy Boudreaux posted what she later called a silly Twitter joke: “We’re doing this. Turn your house into a float and throw all the beads from your attic at your neighbors walking by.”But the more she thought about it, the more she liked it. She started a Facebook group, the Krewe of House Floats, expecting a few friends and neighbors to join. The numbers rose. Thirty-nine subgroups evolved to discuss neighborhood plans.FILE – Thom Karamus shows his papier-mâché head of the hookah-smoking caterpillar from “Alice in Wonderland,” Jan. 14, 2021, in New Orleans. All around the city, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats for Mardi Gras.By Carnival season’s official start January 6, the group had more than 9,000 members, including out-of-state “expats.” About 3,000, including a few as far afield as England and Australia, will have their houses on an official online map, said Charlotte “Charlie” Jallans-Daly, one of two mapmakers.Houses are to be decorated at least two weeks before Fat Tuesday, which is February 16 this year. With widespread addresses and two weeks to gawk, the hope is that people will spread out widely in time and space.”I didn’t think I was starting a Mardi Gras krewe. Here I am,” Boudreaux said. “I’ve got myself a second full-time job.”Discussions in the Facebook groups include how-tos, ads for props and neighborhood themes. Artists have given livestreamed outdoor lessons.Katie Bankens posted that her block’s theme was Shark Week staycation paradise. When a resident worried that she was not “crafty” enough, administrator Carley Sercovich replied that if they could play music and throw trinkets to neighbors, “you are perfect for this Krewe!”FILE – Foam balls studded with golf tees stand in for coronaviruses at this “house float” in the Algiers Point neighborhood of New Orleans, Jan. 15, 2021. All around the city, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats for Mardi Gras.Boudreaux also suggested that people could hire or buy from out-of-work Carnival artists and suppliers hit by the parade cancellation. A spreadsheet of artists and vendors followed. One of them, artist Dominic “Dom” Graves, booked more than 20 five-person classes in professional papier-mâché techniques, at $100 a person.Devin DeWulf, who already had started two pandemic charities as head of the Krewe of Red Beans walking club, kicked the house float idea up a few notches at the suggestion of Caroline Thomas, a professional float designer. Their “Hire a Mardi Gras Artist” crowdfunded lotteries collected enough money to put crews to work decorating 11 houses, plus commissioned work at two more houses and seven businesses.”We’ve put about 40 people to work, which is nice,” DeWulf said. With Mardi Gras approaching, he said a 12th lottery would be the last.One commissioned house is rented by a pair of nuns.Sisters Mary Ann Specha and Julie Walsh, who run a shelter for homeless women with children, had to get permission for their own crowdfunding from the motherhouse of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dubuque, Iowa. “They loved it,” Specha said.The crowdfunded decorations may be auctioned after Mardi Gras to raise more money, DeWulf said.Several mansions along a short stretch of St. Charles Avenue had elaborate displays with signs noting their creation by one of the city’s biggest float-making studios.Tom Fox, whose wife, Madeline, painted a Spongebob Squarepants scene and made jellyfish from dollar store bowls, said he thinks a new tradition may have begun.”Even when Mardi Gras comes back, I think people are going to keep doing this,” he said.
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Biden’s Pick for UN Envoy Grilled on China at Confirmation Hearing
U.S. lawmakers Wednesday expressed concern about China’s growing influence at the United Nations during their questioning of President Joe Biden’s intended U.N. ambassador, seeking assurances that she would vigorously push back against Beijing’s “malign influence.” “Despite the fact that the United States is by far the largest donor to the United Nations, the Chinese Communist Party is attempting to reshape the U.N. to serve the needs of the Party,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch said at the opening of Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s confirmation hearing. “And it has had some successes in that regard.” FILE – Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James RischSenators from both parties repeatedly grilled the 35-year State Department veteran about a speech she gave as a retired diplomat in 2019. The focus was on the U.S. and China’s investment in Africa, and several senators criticized her for being soft on Beijing. Thomas-Greenfield was invited to speak by the historically Black Savannah State University in Georgia, with which she had a long relationship. The event was at the campus’ Confucius Institute, which is funded by the Chinese government. “I accepted the invitation as a response to the university,” Thomas-Greenfield explained. “I truly regret having accepted that invitation and having had my name associated with the Confucius Institute.” Firm stance on China But she pushed back against accusations by some senators that she has gone easy on China, saying she has spoken out about its behavior throughout her career, including what she called China’s “self-interested and parasitic development goals” in Africa. “And I see what they are doing at the U.N. as undermining our values, undermining what we believe in,” she told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “They are undermining our security, they are undermining our people, and we need to work against that.” Thomas-Greenfield was also asked whether she believes China’s treatment of minority ethnic Uighur Muslims is genocide. FILE – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio”Absolutely,” she told Senator Marco Rubio. “What is happening with the Uighurs is horrendous and we have to recognize it for what it is.” She briefly mentioned her experience as a U.S. diplomat in Kigali, Rwanda, in April 1994 as ethnic Hutu extremists began their 100-day genocide against minority Tutsis. “I lived through and experienced and witnessed a genocide in Rwanda,” she said in speaking about the atrocities committed against the Uighurs. “So I know what it looks like, and what it feels like. This feels like that, we just have to call it for what it is.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken is sworn in as the 71st U.S. Secretary of State, at the Department of State in Washington, Jan. 26, 2021. (State Department photo)The only Middle East country the longtime diplomat was questioned in any depth about was Israel, and what she would do to protect America’s ally at the United Nations, where it often comes in for sharp criticism over its treatment of the Palestinians. “It goes without saying, that Israel has no closer friend than the United States, and I will reflect that in my actions at the United Nations,” she said. The Trump administration also pulled out of the controversial U.N. Human Rights Council, which then-U.N. envoy Nikki Haley called a “cesspool of political bias” over its treatment of Israel. Thomas-Greenfield said the Biden administration will run for a seat to rejoin the HRC, saying, “If we are on the outside, we have no voice.” She also told the only female senator to question her that she would work to restore funding to the U.N. Population Fund, which was cut by the Trump administration. UNFPA provides reproductive and maternal health care to millions of women worldwide. Diplomatic styleThomas-Greenfield grew up during the civil rights era in the state of Louisiana. She graduated from a segregated high school and went to Louisiana State University, which had to be forced to accept Black students by a court order. Parts of her Southern culture are embedded in her diplomatic style. She has spoken of inviting her counterparts at foreign postings to her home to cook a spicy Cajun stew of chicken, sausage and shrimp, known as gumbo. She has said her “gumbo diplomacy” was a way to break down barriers and forge relations.FILE – U.S. Senator Tim KaineDuring one light moment in Wednesday’s confirmation hearing, Senator Tim Kaine told her that he and his wife had tried her gumbo recipe and really liked it. “I’m so glad it’s good because we made such an enormous quantity of it that we are going to be eating it for the next month,” he said. “It freezes well,” she assured him. Thomas-Greenfield’s nomination must now be approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before going to the full Senate for a vote.
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China’s Propaganda Use of US Capitol Assault May Backfire, Analysts Warn
For China’s propaganda machine, the storming of the U.S. Capitol by a mob fit neatly into Beijing’s anti-American narrative as an example of democracy in decline. But experts told VOA Mandarin that the approach could backfire on China by showing the strength of a U.S. system that allows for the peaceful transfer of power and an investigation conducted according to the rule of law. FILE – A man stands in front of a copy of the Global Times newspaper featuring an image of the U.S. Capitol during preparation for the inauguration of Joe Biden as the U.S. president, in a window in Beijing, China, Jan. 21, 2021.Discussions and op-eds about the Electoral College have proliferated in the U.S. media since the 2016 election in which Democrat Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Republican Donald Trump won in the Electoral College to become president. What is new is Beijing’s disparagement of the institution coupled with a robust effort to depict U.S. democracy in decline after the January 6 riot. Five people died in the attack, including a Capitol Police officer. Former President Donald Trump is facing an impeachment trial in the Senate on charges of inciting an insurrection of his supporters to prevent the certification of President Joe Biden’s election. The FBI has charged more than 150 rioters and is investigating hundreds more, including several active law enforcement officers.US Capitol Riot Prompts Fresh Focus on Extremism in US Police RanksExperts have warned for years about growing extremism in police departments, but many chiefs downplayed the problemThe police force charged with protecting the Capitol acknowledged Tuesday that it knew there was “strong potential for violence” but failed to take necessary steps to prevent what the acting chief of the Capitol Police, Yogananda Pittman, described as a “terrorist attack,” according to the New York Times. June Dreyer, a professor of political science at the University of Miami who is an expert on China, echoed Feng, telling VOA that the current propaganda campaign may inadvertently reveal the strength of U.S. democracy. “Certainly nobody that I know in the United States thinks that this chaos has been a good thing,” she said. “But if you look on the bright side, people in countries with autocratic governments like Russia and China, among many others, can see that there have been no mass arrests. The police don’t kill people.” Dreyer added, “But in China, people know that even lawyers who tried to defend people have had their licenses suspended. So you can’t even get a lawyer to defend you. And I think that if people look carefully at what happened in the United States, they will see that democracy is actually pretty resilient.” George Magnus, author of ”Red Flags: Why Xi’s China is in Jeopardy,” and an associate at Oxford University’s China Center, agreed with that view. “If China makes a lot of noise about the crisis of American democracy and it turns out that it’s not such a crisis as they say, then the credibility of the Chinese government in other countries could be undermined,” he said. Feng also said the January 6 assault showed how seriously the U.S. military takes its oath to defend the Constitution and the American people. When Trump refused to acknowledge that Biden had won the election, General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, assured the public there would be no politicization of the military even as concern grew over what Trump might do to remain in office. “We do not take an oath to an individual,” Milley said days after the November 3 vote at the opening of the National Museum of the United States Army.”We take an oath to the Constitution … and each of us will protect and defend that document regardless of personal price.” Feng said the separation of the military from politics contrasts sharply with China’s system. “The CCP put forward the concept of military nationalization since the 1980s,” he said. “Fast forward to today, China still requires the military to listen to the Party.” Lin Yang contributed to this report, which originated on VOA Mandarin.
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As UK Hits 100,000 COVID Deaths, Government Vows to ‘Learn Lessons’
Looking through family photographs at his home in Leeds, England, Gordon Bonner, 86, said he was lost in a “hinterland of despair and desolation.” It’s been nine months since Muriel, his wife of 63 years, died from COVID-19. He was called to her bedside for the final moments.“I sat for the next hour and watched Muriel drown in her own body fluids,” Bonner said. “It was the most harrowing experience of my life. And it will haunt me, and I’ll tell you why. Such was her fight for oxygen that she was sucking at the air, and I can still see her face now and her lips formed a perfect circle as if she was sucking through a straw.”The retired army major was not allowed inside the chapel at nearby Rawdon Crematorium for Muriel’s final committal.”We had to stand in the car park, and I had to watch as six strangers came out, unloaded the coffin, took her into the crematorium chapel,” he said. “And the last I saw of her was the tail end of her coffin as the doors closed.”Bonner’s haunting account is one among a horrifying number of stories of loss and grief shared by families across the country.Britain became the first European country Tuesday to report 100,000 coronavirus deaths over the course of the pandemic. A quarter of those have occurred in just the past three weeks as a mutant, more infectious strain of the virus has ripped across the nation.Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives a COVID-19 briefing from Downing Street in London, Jan. 27, 2021.It means that Britain now has the highest coronavirus death rate per capita in the world, an unenviable position for a country whose state-funded National Health Service is a source of global pride. Prime Minister Boris Johnson told lawmakers Wednesday that he shared the nation’s grief.“I mourn every death in this pandemic, and we share the grief of all those who have been bereaved,” Johnson said during the weekly prime minister’s questions. “I and the government take full responsibility for all the actions I have taken, we’ve taken during this pandemic to fight this disease and, yes, Mr. Speaker, there will indeed be a time when we must learn the lessons of what has happened, reflect on them and prepare.”He rejected opposition calls for a judicial public inquiry to begin immediately. “I don’t think that moment is now when we are in the throes of fighting this wave of the new variant, when 37,000 people are struggling with COVID in our hospitals,” said Johnson. “And I think what the country wants is for us to come together as a parliament and as politicians and to work to keep the virus under control, Mr. Speaker, as we are, and to continue to roll out the fastest vaccination program in Europe.”Teddy bears sit at tables in the Bap cafe after it was restricted to takeout sales only amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in Altrincham, England, Jan. 27, 2021.Johnson announced an extension of school closures in England until at least March 8, alongside the enforced quarantine of travelers arriving from high-risk countries, who will be required to pay for their own accommodation in allocated hotels.Critics say Johnson has done too little, too late. “The prime minister was slow into the first lockdown last March,” opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer told members of parliament Wednesday. “He was slow in getting protective equipment to the front line, slow to protect our care homes, slow on testing and tracing, slow into the second lockdown in the autumn, slow to change the Christmas mixing rules, slow again into this third lockdown.”Failure to prepareProfessor Lawrence Young, an expert on infectious diseases at Britain’s University of Warwick, said years of underinvestment in the National Health Service was partly to blame.“We suffered from not having an adequate public health infrastructure in this country; we didn’t get test, trace and isolate right, and that’s still a big challenge for this country, so keeping a lid on infections by effective testing and tracing and then encouraging people to isolate is really important. And we didn’t get border control right,” Young told VOA.Medical workers move a patient between ambulances outside the Royal London Hospital amid the spread of the coronavirus disease pandemic, London, Jan. 27, 2021.While Britain leads Europe in coronavirus deaths, it is way ahead in its vaccination program. Close to 7 million people have received their first vaccine doses, far more than any other European state. “It should mean that come March time, we’re in a much stronger position in terms of being able to review the current lockdown restrictions,” Young said.Vaccine shortageHowever, there are growing concerns about a vaccine shortage. Pharmaceutical firms AstraZeneca and Pfizer warned the European Union this week of delays as production systems are scaled up to meet demand. The EU has threatened to block exports of vaccines produced in Europe and has demanded transparency from the drug companies over their production and delivery schedules.AstraZeneca said Wednesday that the delay in supplying vaccines to the EU was a result of the bloc’s placing its order for 300 million doses in August, three months after Britain had invested in the vaccine.Meanwhile, the British government’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, warned the public to be prepared for further bad news. “Unfortunately, we are going to see quite a lot more deaths over the next few weeks before the effects of the vaccines begin to be felt,” Whitty told reporters Tuesday.
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German Parliament Marks Holocaust Remembrance Day
A German survivor of the Holocaust Wednesday urged lawmakers during a special session of the German Parliament to “take care of our country.”Charlotte Knobloch, 88, told lawmakers that the lives of Jews in Germany are still far from normal, nearly eight decades after Nazis murdered 6 million European Jews in the Shoah — another name for the Holocaust.Knobloch also warned of democracy’s fragility and asked lawmakers to protect the achievements of the last decades for Jews and non-Jews and defend Germany against extremists. She said right-wing extremism is the greatest threat of all.Resurgence of Antisemitism Haunts UN Holocaust Memorial CeremonySomber United Nations ceremony in tribute to those who perished in Nazi death camps is dominated by fear that lessons of Holocaust were being lost and forgottenThe session was held to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 76 years after the Soviet army liberated the Auschwitz death camp in occupied Poland.At one point in her speech, Knobloch addressed members of the hard-right Alternative for Germany political party, Parliament’s largest opposition group with nearly 100 seats. She accused many of the group’s members of “picking up the tradition” of the Nazis.”I tell you — you lost your fight 76 years ago,” Knobloch said. “You will continue to fight for your Germany, and we will keep fighting for our Germany.”Knobloch is the former leader of Germany’s 200,000-strong Jewish community that survived the Holocaust.Also attending the session was Marina Weisband, a Jewish immigrant from Ukraine who also warned about resurging anti-Semitism in Germany.In the presence of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and other officials, Rabbi Shaul Nekrich wrote the last 12 letters of the Sulzbacher Torah Scroll, one of Germany’s oldest torah scrolls.Since 1996, Germany has officially marked Holocaust Remembrance Day every January 27 with a solemn ceremony at the Bundestag, featuring a speech by a survivor and commemorations across the country.
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Aid Efforts in Ethiopia’s Tigray Thwarted by Lack of Access
About 1.3 million Ethiopian children continue to suffer despite humanitarian efforts 12 weeks into the conflict in the Tigray Region, the United Nations’ children’s agency said in a press release Wednesday.
UNICEF’s inability to fully assess the impact on children because of access restrictions could worsen their conditions, the release said.
“Our knowledge of the situation is still very limited. Our concern is that what we don’t know could be even more disturbing.”
US Says Eritrean Forces Should Leave Tigray Immediately A State Department spokesperson in an email to The Associated Press cites credible reports of looting, sexual violence, assaults in refugee camps and other human rights abusesLimited knowledge gleaned from the accounts of partner organizations and U.N. assessments indicate health care delivery has stopped due to the destruction of health facilities or pillaging of essential supplies.
In effect, immunizations have also stopped in Ethiopia’s troubled region, according to the release, which said access to water and sanitation systems has been curtailed by the lack of fuel to power them.
Children have returned to school in most of Ethiopia following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions but not those in Tigray, where they continue to suffer acute malnourishment related to the fighting since November between government and regional forces.
Rates of severe acute malnutrition are up to 10% among children below the age of five in Tigray’s Shire region, according to a January study by a UNICEF partner organization.
This grim figure, which translates to about 70,000 children, is above the World Health Organization’s emergency threshold of 3%, the release underscored.
Limited access to conflict-affected populations across the Tigray Region is delaying or thwarting efforts of the international humanitarian community.
UNICEF said a small opening that allowed them to dispatch truckloads of relief items is no longer enough.
“The one thing we do know is that every additional day of waiting for help will only worsen children’s suffering,” the organization warned in the statement.
To reach the children, UNICEF also urged the Ethiopian government to pay the salaries of civil servants and grant access to humanitarian staff to deliver relief items and services.
Approximately 300 unaccompanied or separated children are among the refugees who fled to Sudan, according to the release, which warned that many more children could be among the internally displaced persons.
Military forces of Ethiopia’s central government have clashed with fighters of the Tigray Region, where local leaders are accused of treason. Local leaders, on the other hand, say they are against the postponement of elections because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
UNICEF said the parties to the conflict have a “fundamental obligation to enable rapid, unimpeded, and sustained access to civilians in need of assistance.”
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Somalia’s Minister of Women Says Lawmaker Quota for Females Too Low
Somalia’s prime minister this month announced a 30 percent quota for female lawmakers chosen in upcoming elections. If upheld by the clans, it would raise the number of female representatives in parliament by 6% — but women’s groups see even that slight jump as doubtful in patriarchal Somalia. Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble’s spokesman, Mohamed Ibrahim, says that the prime minister has pledged to solicit the support of clan elders and all stakeholders in his efforts to reach the 30 percent quota. FILE – Somalia’s Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein RobleBut Somalia’s female activists remain skeptical that the male-dominated clans, who will choose lawmakers in the indirect election, will follow the government’s lead. Jawahir Barqab, chairwoman of the Benadir Women Organization, says Somali male leaders’ history of ignoring the importance of women’s input has had clear costs. She says that since men killed each other, destroyed the country, and still do not agree, women have realized it is their turn to show leadership, beginning with the 30 percent quota in both houses of parliament.Women currently have 24 percent of the seats. Female leaders note that mothers and wives have played a key role in reconciling communities torn apart by years of conflict in Somalia. Hanifa Habsade, Somalia’s Minister of Women and Human Rights Development, says that women are more than 50 percent of the population and deserve the right to equal representation in the executive and legislative branches of government. Women’s rights are a new phenomenon in Somali culture, she adds, but women deserve more seats. The vote in Somalia is to take place by February 8, but may be postponed while political leaders try to finalize the election process.
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Biden Administration Predicts US COVID Death Toll to Surpass 500,000 in February
The new head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted Wednesday that the COVID-19 death toll in the United States would surpass 500,000 by February 20.CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during the new administration’s first formal briefing on the crisis that within the next three weeks, the U.S. death toll could reach a point between 479,000 and 514,000.President Joe Biden has promised to regularly deliver science-based facts to a public that is increasingly frustrated over the slow pace of the distribution of vaccines.Walensky’s prediction of coronavirs deaths came as White House COVID-19 czar Jeff Zients said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was working to make more health professionals available to administer vaccinations.Zients said the government would authorize retired doctors and nurses to administer vaccines and that professionals licensed in one state would be able to administer doses in other states.Relief billZients also said Congress must approve Biden’s COVID-19 relief bill to maintain momentum on vaccinations and more testing capacity. He said the administration was working to meet Biden’s goal of delivering at least 100 million vaccine doses in 100 days.Most of Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which some Republican lawmakers complain is too costly, aims to help revive an economy severely weakened by the fallout from the pandemic.Some $400 billion is for measures to contain the virus, including dramatically increasing the pace of vaccinations and building an infrastructure for more widespread testing.The update was the first of three weekly briefings the new administration will have on the state of the pandemic, efforts to contain it, and efforts to deliver vaccines and other treatments to end it.Wednesday’s briefing also featured Zients’ deputy, Andy Slavitt, infectious-disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci and COVID-19 equality task force chair Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith.“The White House respects and will follow the science, and the scientists will speak independently,” Slavitt said.As it has for months, the U.S. leads the world with nearly 25.5 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 426,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.
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Biden Administration Sustains Early Blow to Key Immigration Priority
The Biden administration’s push to undo former President Donald Trump’s restrictive and enforcement-focused immigration policies hit its first speed bump this week as a federal judge temporarily blocked a 100-day deportation moratorium.
U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday after the Texas governor and attorney general challenged a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memo directing immigration agencies to halt most deportations of undocumented immigrants.
The court said the Biden administration had failed “to provide any concrete, reasonable justification for a 100-day pause on deportations.”
Tipton, a Republican appointed by Trump, paused the policy for at least 14 days while he considered the lawsuit for a preliminary injunction.
Why did Texas state officials sue?
The 100-day moratorium, which went into effect January 22, was signed by Acting Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske and applied to most individuals who entered the United States without authorization before November 2020.
President Joe Biden directed the DHS to focus on public safety threats, national security and anyone apprehended while illegally entering the U.S. after November 1.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued the memo violated both federal law and an agreement Texas signed with the Trump administration days before Biden’s inauguration.
The agreement required DHS to provide notice about any immigration changes with Texas and other border states and jurisdictions before making any changes that could “reduce, redirect, reprioritize, relax, or in any way modify immigration enforcement.”
Tipton’s order, however, did not address the agreement, and the Biden administration does not recognize it as legally binding, arguing a previous administration cannot tie the hands of a current one on matters of federal policy.
As a general matter, the federal government has broad discretion when deciding whether or not to deport a person. But Texas argued the deportation pause was “arbitrary and capricious” and did not follow established procedure.
“The Court agrees with Texas,” Tipton said. “Federal administrative agencies are required to engage in ‘reasoned decision-making.’”FILE – Activists rally at the U.S. Supreme Court as justices hear arguments in a challenge to then-President Barack Obama’s executive action to defer deportation of certain undocumented children and parents, in Washington, April 18, 2016.Who was Biden’s order expected to cover?
According to a spokesperson from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the pause on deportations applied to those present in the United States with a final order of removal but contained exceptions.
The pause did not apply to people suspected of terrorism or espionage, who had been incarcerated within federal, state, and local prisons, or who had been convicted of an “aggravated felony.”
“The pause on removals does not apply to individuals who entered the United States on or after November 1, 2020,” the ICE spokesperson said.
The DHS memo also did not “prohibit” the apprehension or detention of people unlawfully present in the United States.
Tipton directed ICE to return to its previous operational settings, effectively directing the agency to resume deportations. Under the Trump administration, anyone in the U.S. illegally was deemed a priority for deportation.
Backing the court order
U.S. Congressman Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, described the pause in deportations as “an illegal executive overreach that usurps the power of Congress to rewrite federal law. … I’m glad to see that the Texas Office of the Attorney General pushed back against this lawless approach to immigration policy.”
Paxton called Tipton’s decision a victory. Texas’s challenge to the DHS memo continues the state’s tradition of challenging policies and initiatives of Democratic administrations. Texas frequently sued the federal government during the Obama administration.
Paxton, a Trump supporter, is currently being investigated by the FBI over allegations of bribery and abuse of office. The state attorney general supported a failed lawsuit contesting Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 election.
In a tweet, Paxton called Biden’s deportation pause “a seditious left-wing insurrection,” employing words that have been used to describe the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.
Backing a pause on deportations
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed an amicus brief supporting Biden’s moratorium, asked the court to deny Texas’s request and argued that the federal government is legally allowed to pause deportations.
“This lawsuit should not be allowed to proceed. Paxton sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election by attempting to baselessly suppress votes; now he is attempting to force the Biden administration to follow Trump’s xenophobic policies. The administration’s pause on deportations is not only lawful but necessary to ensure that families are not separated, and people are not returned to danger needlessly while the new administration reviews past actions,” Kate Huddleston, attorney for the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement.
Gilberto Hinojosa, chair of the Texas Democratic Party, said Paxton and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott “think they somehow have a say on immigration matters, when we all know this is a federal process.”
What comes next?
Tipton’s order remains in effect for 14 days and may be extended another 14 days. To keep the policy blocked after that, Texas would need to seek an injunction.
The order also does not change Biden’s broader immigration directives, including a recalibration of enforcement priorities due to go into effect February 1.
VOA asked DHS for comment, but agency officials directed questions to the White House. The White House did not immediately comment on the matter.
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Abortion Restrictions Set to Take Effect in Poland
A Polish law limiting abortion to cases of rape, incest and when the mother’s health or life is at risk was expected to go into effect Wednesday following an October court decision deeming abortions due to fetal defects illegal. The court’s decision set off protests across the mostly Roman Catholic country. More protests were expected as the law goes into effect. “See you in front of the Constitutional Tribunal today at 6:30 p.m.,” the Women’s Strike protest group, which organized many of the October protests, said on Facebook, according to Bloomberg News. FILE – Police secure the road as demonstrators try to block traffic during a pro-choice protest in the center of Warsaw, Nov. 28, 2020.Opponents of the ruling allege the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) Party, which took power in 2015, influenced the court. The party denies the charge. “No law-abiding government should respect this ruling,” Borys Budka, leader of Poland’s largest opposition party, the centrist Civic Platform, told reporters, according to Reuters. Polish President Andrzej Duda said he supports the decision. “I have said it many times, and I have never concealed it, that abortion for so-called eugenic reasons should not be allowed in Poland. I believed and believe that every child has a right to life,” he said in an interview last October with Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. Legal abortions have reportedly been declining in Poland, as some doctors are refusing to perform the procedure based on religious grounds, Reuters reported.
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Tunisian Press Syndicate Criticizes Police Over Night ArrestÂ
Tunisian police slapped and arrested a photojournalist working at night despite his having an authorization to be out after curfew, the national press syndicate said on Wednesday amid criticism of the security forces’ handling of protests. Islem Hkiri, a freelance photographer, was charged with breaking curfew and assaulting a public servant. He had earlier published pictures of police using pepper spray during a recent surge of protests in Tunisia, a democracy since the 2011 revolution that inspired the “Arab spring.” Protesters have decried both inequality and police abuses. FILE – Demonstrators face police officers during clashes in Ettadhamen City near Tunis, Jan. 19, 2021.Security forces have arrested more than 1,200 people including many under the age of 18 and have widely used teargas against demonstrators. Although daytime protests have mostly been peaceful, those at night have involved repeated clashes with police as well as some looting. The Journalists’ Syndicate condemned police violence and asked the Interior Ministry for an immediate investigation. An Interior Ministry spokesman said he could not comment on a file in the hands of the judiciary. A judicial official was not immediately available for comment. Tunisian rights groups have criticized what they call the police’s aggressive handling of protesters and the arrest of bloggers. The opposition and activists also criticized the unprecedented security measures and restrictions on the freedom to demonstrate, and the closure of streets in the capital against protests on Tuesday. They accused the prime minister of seeking to restore a security state like that which existed before the 2011 uprising. Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi said the government wanted to protect property but would defend the right to protest, a freedom gained after revolution.A video showed a policeman firing tear gas at a man who appeared from his house during recent clashes. It sparked anger and doubts about the credibility of police reform over the past decade.
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Tensions Escalate Between EU, AstraZeneca Over Vaccine Delivery
Tensions escalated Wednesday between the European Union and the British-Swedish drug maker AstraZeneca regarding the company’s failure to meet a target to deliver 400 million doses of its COVD-19 vaccine to the regional bloc.The two sides had been scheduled to meet again Wednesday, to further discuss the issue but there are conflicting reports. EU officials had said the company backed out of the meeting and that it had been rescheduled for Thursday, but a company official later issued a statement saying the meeting was going to be held as scheduled Wednesday.
The firm had signed a deal with the European Commission to supply 400 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine, which is expected to get EU approval Friday.
WHO Chief Presses Case Against COVID-19 ‘Vaccine Nationalism’ Tedros says inoculation gap between rich, poor nations grows larger each dayBut last week, AstraZeneca told the EU that due to a production shortfall in the firm’s European plants, the firm will miss its target, while still meeting a separate contract it signed with Britain. EU officials this week said that explanation was inadequate and demanded details on the company’s vaccine production.
In an interview late Tuesday with the Italian Newspaper La Repubblica, AstraZeneca CEO Pascale Soriot said Britain had signed its contract three months before the EU and that had given the firm time to iron out “glitches” in British plants. He said they were three months behind in making those fixes at their European plants.
Soriot also said that in its agreement with the EU, AstraZeneca would only make its “best effort” to deliver the vaccines. An EU official told the Reuters news agency Wednesday that “best effort” was a standard clause in a contract for a product that does not yet exist.
The official said that the clause means the signee must still show “over all” effort to deliver its product and they would hold the company to its contract.
The EU’s medical regulatory body, the Europe Medincines Agency was expected to give its approval to the AstraZeneca vaccine for emergency use by the end of this week.
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US Says Eritrean Forces Should Leave Tigray Immediately
The United States says all soldiers from Eritrea should leave Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region “immediately.”
A State Department spokesperson in an email to The Associated Press late Tuesday cited “credible reports of looting, sexual violence, assaults in refugee camps and other human rights abuses.”
“There is also evidence of Eritrean soldiers forcibly returning Eritrean refugees from Tigray to Eritrea,” the spokesperson said.
The statement reflects new pressure by the Biden administration on the government of Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous country with 114 million people and the anchor of the Horn of Africa, and other combatants as the deadly fighting in Tigray nears the three-month mark.
The AP this week cited witnesses who fled the Tigray region as saying Eritrean soldiers were looting, going house-to-house killing young men and even acting as local authorities. The Eritreans have been fighting on the side of Ethiopian forces as they pursue the fugitive leaders of the Tigray region, though Ethiopia’s government has denied their presence.
The U.S. stance has shifted dramatically from the early days of the conflict when the Trump administration praised Eritrea for its “restraint.”
The new U.S. statement calls for an independent and transparent investigation into alleged abuses. “It remains unclear how many Eritrean soldiers are in Tigray, or precisely where,” it says.
It was not immediately clear whether the U.S. has addressed its demand directly to Eritrean officials. And the office of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did not immediately respond to questions.
Witnesses have estimated that the Eritrean soldiers number in the thousands. Eritrean officials have not responded to questions. The information minister for Eritrea, one of the world’s most secretive countries, this week tweeted that “the rabid defamation campaign against Eritrea is on the rise again.”
The U.S. also seeks an immediate stop to the fighting in Tigray and “full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access” to the region, which remains largely cut off from the outside world, with Ethiopian forces often accompanying aid.
“We are gravely concerned by credible reports that hundreds of thousands of people may starve to death if urgent humanitarian assistance is not mobilized immediately,” the statement says.
The United Nations in its latest humanitarian update said it is receiving reports of “rising hunger” in Tigray and cited a “dire lack of access to food” since many farmers in the largely agricultural region missed the harvest because of the fighting, and as “critical staff” to scale up the humanitarian response can’t access the region. Transport, electricity, banking and other links “have yet to be restored in much of the region,” the U.N. said, and 78% of hospitals remain nonfunctional.
“Our concern is that what we don’t know could be even more disturbing,” U.N. children’s agency chief Henrietta Fore said in a statement Wednesday. “For 12 weeks, the international humanitarian community has had very limited access to conflict-affected populations across most of Tigray.”
Vaccinations have stopped across the region, Fore added.
The U.S. statement added that “dialogue is essential between the government and Tigrayans.” Ethiopia’s government has rejected dialogue with the former Tigray leaders, seeing them as illegitimate, and has appointed an interim administration.
The former Tigray leaders, in turn, objected to Ethiopia delaying a national election last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic and considered Abiy’s mandate over.
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Florida Announces Residency Requirements for COVID Vaccine Recipients
Florida is cracking down to prevent non-state residents from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine after a large number of people got the shot ahead of Florida residents. The vaccine rollout in Florida, as in other states, has faced problems – in large part because of vaccine supply shortages. Liliya Anisimova in Miami has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.
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