A crisis over the supply of medical oxygen for coronavirus patients has struck nations in Africa and Latin America, where warnings went unheeded at the start of the pandemic and doctors say the shortage has led to unnecessary deaths.
It takes about 12 weeks to install a hospital oxygen plant and even less time to convert industrial oxygen manufacturing systems into a medical-grade network. But in Brazil and Nigeria, as well as in less-populous nations, decisions to fully address inadequate supplies only started being made last month, after hospitals were overwhelmed and patients started to die.
The gap in medical oxygen availability “is one of the defining health equity issues, I think, of our age,” said Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, who said he survived a severe coronavirus infection thanks to the oxygen he received.
Doctors in Nigeria anxiously monitor traffic as oxygen deliveries move through the gridlocked streets of Lagos. Desperate families of patients around the world sometimes turn to the black market. Governments take action only after hospitals are overwhelmed and the infected die by the dozens.
In Brazil’s Amazonas state, a pair of swindlers were caught reselling fire extinguishers painted to look like medical oxygen tanks. In Peru, people camped out in lines to get cylinders for sick relatives.
Only after the lack of oxygen was blamed for the deaths of four people at an Egyptian hospital in January and six people at one in Pakistan in December did governments address the problems.
John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said medical oxygen is a “huge critical need” across the continent of 1.3 billion people and is a main reason that COVID-19 patients are more likely to die there during surges.
Even before the pandemic, sub-Saharan Africa’s 2,600 oxygen concentrators and 69 functioning oxygen plants met less than half the need, leading to preventable deaths, especially from pneumonia, said Dr. John Adabie Appiah of the World Health Organization.
The number of concentrators has grown to about 6,000, mostly from international donations, but the oxygen produced isn’t pure enough for the critically ill. The number of plants that can generate higher concentrations is now at 119.
Yet without formal requests from governments, nearly $20 billion in World Bank coronavirus funds for the world’s poorest countries remains unspent so far, the organization told The Associated Press.
Nigeria was “struggling to find oxygen to manage cases” in January, said Chikwe Ihekweazu, head of its Centre for Disease Control.
A main hospital in Lagos, a city of 14.3 million, saw its January virus cases increase fivefold, with 75 medical workers infected in the first six weeks of 2021. Only then did President Muhammadu Buhari release $17 million to set up 38 more oxygen plants and another $670,000 to repair plants at five hospitals.
Some oxygen suppliers have dramatically raised prices, according to a doctor at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to talk to reporters. That has driven up the cost of a cylinder by 10 times, to $260 — more than the average monthly wage — and a critically ill patient could need up to four cylinders a day.
Money and influence don’t always help.
Femi Odekunle, a Nigerian academic and close ally of the president, went without adequate oxygen for nearly 12 days at the Abuja University Teaching Hospital until two state governors and Ministry of Health officials intervened. He died anyway, and relatives and friends blame the oxygen shortage, the Premium Times newspaper reported. The hospital attributed his death to his severe infection.
In Malawi, the president promised funding for protective gear for medical workers and the immediate purchase of 1,000 oxygen cylinders.
Corruption was blamed for defects in a new oxygen plant at a hospital in Uganda’s capital of Kampala, the Daily Monitor newspaper reported. Workers had to rely on rusty oxygen cylinders blamed for the deaths of at least two patients.
“While top health officials basked in the oxygen of good publicity, patients were literally choking to death,” the newspaper said.
Leith Greenslade of the Every Breath Counts Coalition, which advocates for wider access to medical oxygen, said the looming shortages were apparent last spring.
“Very little was done. Now you have a second wave, not just in Africa but in Latin America and Asia, and the oxygen shortages are becoming at crisis levels,” she said.
The World Bank has set aside $50 billion for the world’s poorest countries alone during the pandemic, and $30.8 billion has been allocated, including $80 million for oxygen-related upgrades.
“We make money available for countries, but it’s countries, governments who have to make a decision about how much they spend and what they spend it on,” said Dr. Mickey Chopra, who helps with the World Bank’s global medical logistics response.
A global task force focusing on oxygen was formally announced Thursday and will include the World Health Organization and World Bank, among others. Already, $90 million was identified in immediate oxygen funding needs for 20 developing countries, including Nigeria and Malawi.
Many countries view oxygen supplies primarily as an industrial product for more lucrative sectors such as mining, not health care, and it has not been a focus of many international donors. Oxygen manufacturing plants require technicians, good infrastructure and electricity — all in short supply in developing nations.
The main provider of medical oxygen to Brazil’s Amazonas state, White Martins, operated at half capacity before the pandemic. The first infections hit the isolated city in March and led to so many deaths that a cemetery was carved out of the jungle.
Doctors in its capital of Manaus were forced last month to choose which patients to treat as oxygen supplies dwindled.
Brazil’s Supreme Court began an investigation into management of the crisis after White Martins said an “unexpected increase in demand” led to shortages.
“There was a lack of planning on behalf of the government,” said Newton de Oliveira, president of Indústria Brasileira de Gases, a major oxygen supplier.
Only after deaths averaged 50 a day did the government say it would build 73 oxygen plants in the state. Within a month, 26 were up and running.
Oxygen shortages remain critical in Peru, where Dani Luz Llamocca waited five days outside a distribution center in Lima, saying her virus-stricken father was down to less than half a tank of oxygen. She was willing to wait as long as it took. “If not, my father will die,” said Llamocca.
In all, health experts estimate that 500,000 patients in developing countries currently need 1.1 million oxygen cylinders a day.
The WHO’s Appiah said countries with mining industries could convert their systems to produce medical-grade oxygen. India’s national trade body for gas makers suggested that last April and industrial storage tanks were repurposed at hospitals, said Surendra Singh, a manager at the multinational Linde corporation.
“It’s not rocket science,” said Saket Tiku, president of the All India Industrial Gases Manufacturers Association. “The decision saved thousands of lives.”
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Month: February 2021
WHO Urges Authorities to Prioritize ‘Long COVID’ Sufferers
The World Health Organization said Thursday that one in 10 COVID-19 patients experience persistent ill health 12 weeks after having had the virus and urged health authorities to take their situation seriously.
At a virtual news conference Thursday, WHO’s Europe division released a policy brief that documents how different countries in the region have responded to patients who suffer long-term COVID-19 symptoms.
WHO European director Hans Kluge said so-called “long COVID” can bring symptoms that include severe fatigue, chest pain, heart inflammation, headache, forgetfulness, depression, loss of smell, recurrent fever, diarrhea and ringing in the ears.
The policy brief says available data shows about one in four people with COVID-19 show symptoms about a month after testing positive, while one in 10 experience symptoms after 12 weeks.
Kluge said, “The sufferers of post-COVID conditions need to be heard if we are to understand the long-term consequences and recovery from COVID-19.” He said it is important for policymakers to consider such long-term patients as part of the response to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.
Kluge added long-term sufferers are a priority for the WHO and should be for every health authority.
Kluge also said there were fewer than one million new COVID-19 cases in Europe for the second consecutive week as transmission continues to slow. He said new cases have declined by almost half since the beginning of the year, which he credited to countries that have implemented new measures to slow transmission.
But Kluge warned that COVID-19 continues to spread at very high rates across Europe, with two variants of concern continuing to displace other variants.
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China Posts Impressive Economic Recovery, but Can Growth Continue?
China’s economic recovery is notable, some analysts say, after suffering serious pandemic-driven setbacks for the majority of last year. By most accounts, China’s economic numbers at the start of its lunar new year in early February was more significant than those put out by governments in other developed countries.
According to some analysts, however, it is the Chinese Communist Party’s ability to strictly enforce disease control measures that helped Beijing to put the economy back on the rails as compared to most democratic countries where governments do not possess such powers. Chinese authorities could easily cut off highly affected areas from rest of the country and getting factories running in a calibrated fashion. “China’s policy to control the pandemic was very strict. Also, the capillarity of the Communist Party made the implementation of these strict measures easier than in other parts of the world,” Lourdes Casanova, director of Cornell’s Emerging Markets Institute, told VOA. The situation has been different in many democratic countries that found it difficult to use harsh measures to control the spread of the disease and impose lockdown as a tool to enforce social distancing. China’s gross domestic product expanded by 6.5% in the fourth quarter of 2020. The economy grew 2.3% in 2020, according to Chinese government data. The turnaround has surprised economists because China’s industrial productivity saw a serious decline due to the lockdown imposed in the first and second quarter of last year. China, the world’s second biggest economy, has taken several various stimulus measures like the issuance of special treasury bonds, lower lending rates, and tax exemptions. FILE – Workers load steel products for export to a cargo ship at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China, May 27, 2020. (China Daily via Reuters)“China has normalized faster than expected, aided by an effective pandemic-control strategy, strong policy measures, and buoyant exports,” the World Bank said in a December 2020 press release. “The latest forecast is for China to grow about 8% this year,” Casanova said. “If the average growth of 2020 and 2021 comes to 5%, which is possible, it is like adding the size of the Australian economy in these two years.” Many businesses in China find they are getting as many customers as they did before the onset of the pandemic in 2019. The McDonald’s fast-food chain, for instance, did more business in December 2020 than it did in 2019. “China seems to have gone relatively light on economic stimulus, relying instead on an all out effort to stop the viral spread and get people back to work, factories humming,” Doug Barry, an analyst for U.S.-China Business Council said. “Factory output and consumer spending are on the rebound,” he added. “Exports may be slower to recover because of lower demand in foreign markets, but China is not as export-dependent as it used to be.” Casanova, however, points out that China took measures during the pandemic that were different from other countries. Instead of distributing checks, for example, it issued shopping vouchers that needed to be redeemed. FILE – People take a selfie in a shopping mall in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, Jan. 22, 2021.“While in the U.S. and Europe, the checks were used to pay debts or some of them were saved for later, Chinese citizens needed to use the vouchers, and this reactivated the retail sector immediately,” she said. Different view A different view of the Chinese economy is now surfacing with some analysts expressing skepticism about its ability to continuously grow, owing to internal problems like accumulated domestic debt caused by heavy borrowings by both private and public companies. Rating agency Credit Suisse recently downgraded China from Overweight to Market Weight saying that “the most exciting period of its recovery is over.” “China has limited potential for future GDP gains, negative EPS momentum relative to the region, late-cycle valuations and the region’s biggest potential payback from pandemic related current account windfalls,” said a portion of the Credit Suisse report quoted by The Times of India.“Lurking in the distance are an ageing population and a potential bad debt bomb whose scope is hard to estimate because of opaque reporting requirements,” said Barry of the U.S.-China Business Council. Other headwinds include the continuing trade war with the U.S., potential conflicts with other countries, and overall weak demand for China’s products. Casanova of Cornell University, however, does not fully agree with the Credit Sussie assessment. “Some interpret low numbers in the Chinese economy without taking into account that China is behaving more and more like a developed country,” she said. “… [It is] not yet at the same level in GDP per capita as the U.S. and Europe because of the size of the population, but other indicators are already similar.” Barry says there are no signs U.S. investors want to leave China, although some of them considered this option during the U.S.-China trade war under the previous White House administration. “U.S. companies are staying the course in China, expecting business to continue its rebound,” he said.
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Tokyo Olympics Organizers Outline Spectator Restrictions for Torch Relay
Organizers for the postponed Tokyo Summer Olympic Games are placing a number of coronavirus-related restrictions on spectators coming out to witness the traditional relay of the Olympic torch.The relay will begin March 25 in the northwestern prefecture of Fukushima, the site of the March 2011 nuclear disaster triggered by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami.Yukihiko Nunomura, the vice director general of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, announced Thursday that spectators will be required to wear masks, and will not be allowed to eat or drink except for water to avoid heatstroke. Cheering and shouting is also banned, but spectators can clap as the torch relay passes by.Organizers say spectators will be required to preregister for a spot at each relay point to witness the torch’s arrival, but Nunomura said the relay could be stopped if too many spectators gather along the route.The Tokyo Olympics were scheduled for last July and August, but organizers and then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe decided to postpone the event until this year as the novel coronavirus pandemic began spreading across the globe.With Tokyo and other parts of Japan under a state of emergency to quell a surge of new infections, however, recent public opinion polls indicate an overwhelming majority of Japanese believe the games should be postponed again or canceled.The opening ceremony for the postponed Tokyo Games will be held on July 23.
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Senators to Question Biden Trade, Health Nominees
U.S. Senate committees will hear testimony Thursday from three more of President Joe Biden’s nominees, including his picks to be the country’s trade representative, its top public health official and the assistant secretary of health.Katherine Tai, nominee for U.S. trade representative, is set to tell the Finance Committee that she would prioritize rebuilding international alliances and re-engaging with international institutions to address common challenges such as climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic effects.In her written testimony released ahead of the hearing, Tai says she would focus on enforcing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, saying the deal reached during former President Donald Trump’s administration marked “an important step in reforming our approach to trade.”Tai, who for several years was the head of China enforcement at the trade representative’s office, also highlights a need to keep China accountable.“I know firsthand how critically important it is that we have a strategic and coherent plan for holding China accountable to its promises and effectively competing with its model of state-directed economics,” Tai said.In the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, lawmakers will hear testimony from Dr. Vivek Murthy, Biden’s nominee for surgeon general who is seeking to return to the post he held during former President Barack Obama’s administration.In his written statement, obtained by ABC News, Murthy says his top priority will be ending the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 505,000 people in the United States.”I have seen first-hand the importance of providing clear, science-based guidance to Americans on how to protect themselves and others,” Murthy said.The same committee will consider the nomination of Dr. Rachel Levine to serve as assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services.Levine formerly served as health secretary in the state of Pennsylvania, where she was one of the few transgender people serving in elected or appointed positions in the United States.She would be the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate.The full Senate will also meet Thursday to vote on the nomination of former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to serve as energy secretary.The Senate Energy Committee gave its approval to Granholm in a 13-4 vote earlier this month.
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Australia Approves Law to Make Facebook and Google Pay to Carry News Content
Australia has become the world’s first nation to make digital companies such as Facebook and Google pay domestic news outlets for their content.Parliament approved the law Thursday that would allow a government arbitrator to decide the price a digital company should pay news outlets if the two sides fail to reach an agreement.The final legislation includes a set of amendments as part of an agreement reached Tuesday between the Australian government and Facebook. The amendments include a two-month mediation period that would give social media giants and news publishers extra time to broker agreements before they are forced to abide by the government’s provisions.The agreements ended a stalemate that prompted Facebook to block all Australian news content last week, preventing them from being viewed or shared. The websites of several public agencies and emergency services were also blocked on Facebook, including pages that include up-to-date information on COVID-19 outbreaks, brushfires and other natural disasters.
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With Chinese Media Under Control, Beijing Sets Sights on Foreign News
The future of foreign reporting in China is being brought into question as the Chinese government aims to consolidate its control on media.Beijing recently pulled the plug on Britain’s BBC World News amid China’s strained diplomatic ties with several nations in the West.China’s move came after the BBC published a series of accounts by women from the Uighur ethnic minority, who spoke of rape, abuse and torture in the so-called re-education camps in China’s Xinjiang region. Beijing rebutted the reporting as false. Britain had also revoked the license of China’s state-owned CGTN television network.In a statement reported by the state-affiliated Xinhua News Agency, China’s broadcaster regulator, the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), said that the BBC violated regulations in its China-related reports and that its broadcast application would not be renewed.Hu Xijin, editor of the Chinese state-affiliated media the Global Times, tweeted that the reports were “all false” and that the BBC “has become a bastion of the Western public opinion war against China.”The BBC has published many “exclusive reports” on Xinjiang and Hong Kong, which are all false. I highly suspect that the BBC has been closely instigated by the intelligence agencies of the US and the UK. It has become a bastion of the Western public opinion war against China.— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) February 4, 2021Media tensionsThe expulsion and blocking of foreign media add to an increasingly difficult reporting environment. At least 17 journalists were expelled from China in 2020, according to a September statement by the Foreign Correspondents Club of China (FCCC).Several had their media credentials revoked after the U.S. government designated Chinese outlets in America as foreign missions. And other news outlets were ordered to provide detailed statements on their staff and finances.Sari Arho Havren, a China analyst based in Brussels, said Beijing wants to promote a “new world media order” and with domestic and state media firmly controlled, foreign media are the next target.“News that contradicts Beijing’s official line is then labelled by the propaganda machinery as fake news and lies and counter-narratives have been quickly released,” Havren told VOA.“[The BBC ban] demonstrates how foreign media operating in China is increasingly treated as domestic media, meaning that the reporting from China that is not in line with the official party line will become increasingly sensitive and risky,” Havren said. “Tit-for-tat measures will likely also increase, as well as China investing heavily in buying China-friendly media coverage abroad, and expanding hybrid influencing into foreign media.”China in recent years has sought to use media to encourage investment and promote a more positive image. Research by Freedom House shows Beijing has expanded state media operations and used paid supplements in overseas media, among other methods.Havren, who previously lived and worked in Hong Kong and China, said that despite transparent attempts to reshape the media landscape, Beijing is finding success.“Chinese media pushes ahead with Beijing’s propaganda both at home and rather freely also abroad,” Havren said. “With all the resources that China is putting into molding the China-friendly media order, China is in my opinion succeeding in influencing the global narrative. Even though it often happens clumsily, but slowly we can see it also succeeding.”Beijing’s tactics of punishment and retaliation against media that goes against China is “increasingly placed upon foreign media as well,” the analyst said.When China retaliated against the BBC, Hong Kong quickly followed suit, with public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) announcing it would suspend BBC content.The former British colony lives under a “one country two systems” agreement after it was returned to China from Britain in 1997. But after anti-government protests in 2019, Beijing implemented a national security law to stabilize the unrest.Since then, Hong Kong has seen itself more aligned with customs in Beijing, raising concerns among civil society over rights including press freedom.Obstacles to coverageChina’s aim to clampdown on news covering sensitive issues within the country, both domestically and overseas, is nothing new. Beijing feels Western media unfairly targets and exaggerates local affairs within the country, often retaliating by labelling reports as fake news.In its World Press Freedom Index, the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders currently ranks Hong Kong 80 and China 177 out of 180, where 1 is the freest.The Foreign Correspondent Club of China also publishes an annual working conditions report, on difficulties for international journalists within the country and challenges from limited access.THREAD 1/5 It’s here: our 2019 working conditions report. The report finds that Chinese authorities have weaponized visas against the foreign press by issuing truncated press credentials and expelling journalists thru non-renewal. Read the full report: https://t.co/1T5uB7sxMr— Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (@fccchina) March 2, 2020One such obstacle is the hiring of Chinese nationals as news assistants.Often aspiring journalists themselves, these news assistants can be hired as researchers, translators or producers but are prohibited from independent reporting. Despite directly working with foreign media, assistants are employed via the Chinese state. It is the only position Chinese nationals can take within a foreign news bureau based in China.But the assistant’s role has garnered more scrutiny by authorities in recent years. Now, when they are hired or are due to renew their contracts, assistants must sign a “pledge” reminding them of their restricted role and their allegiance to the state.It is also becoming long-winded to fill a position, and potential employees are becoming increasingly skeptical of taking the job, VOA was told.A news assistant for Bloomberg, Haze Fan, was detained in China in December on suspicions of endangering national security. Fan, who is still in detention, previously worked as an assistant for U.S. news channels including CNBC and CBS News.A Beijing-based foreign reporter, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said that locals are also becoming more cautious about speaking with anyone labeled foreign media.“Less and less people want to talk to us. They are always afraid. We have nine out of ten who have pre-booked, canceled at the last minute,” the reporter, who has covered China for over two years, said.Reports of tight surveillance and harassment are not uncommon. The reporter told VOA they believed Chinese authorities broke into their residence when they were of the country.“Someone had been in my house. The window was open, and the wardrobe door was open, so they clearly wanted me to know they had been there, that’s how I interpreted it,” the journalist said.The reporter admitted they had heard other journalists discussing similar incidents, but “living here, I have to live on [Beijing’s] terms.”Despite the caution, the journalist says reporting on China is more important than ever, adding, “This is where the interesting story is.”
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Afghan Taliban Ask Fighters Not to Harbor ‘Foreign’ Militants as US Reviews Peace Deal
Afghanistan’s Taliban have ordered their members not to harbor “foreign” fighters in their ranks in an attempt to dispel allegations the Islamist insurgency continues to maintain close ties with al-Qaida and other terror groups in breach of a February 2020 peace deal with the United States.The U.S.-Taliban pact, sealed in Qatar a year ago, requires all American and allied troops to leave Afghanistan by May 1, provided the Taliban are also honoring their commitments, including cutting ties with terrorist groups that threaten the United States and its allies.U.S. President Joe Biden’s new administration is reviewing the deal to decide whether to withdraw the remaining 2,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan by the May deadline to close what has been the longest war in U.S. history. NATO-led U.S. partners have fewer than 10,000 troops in the country.“All commanders and mujahideen (fighters) are directed that they are barred from bringing foreign nationals into their ranks or giving them shelter,” the Taliban’s so-called military commissions said in an order reportedly delivered to insurgent fighters.The Taliban statement, circulating on social media, warned that violators will face punitive action, including disbandment of their groups.Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, when contacted by VOA to confirm the authenticity of the one-page Pashto language directive, said he would respond after gathering information from his superiors.The U.S. review of the Feb. 29 deal was prompted by allegations the Taliban have not cut their relationship with al-Qaida in Afghanistan. The insurgents are also accused of dragging their feet in ongoing peace negotiations with the Afghan government, a crucial outcome of the U.S.-Taliban accord to bring an end to decades of hostilities in the turmoil-hit South Asian nation.Afghan leaders allege the Taliban have intensified attacks across the country against national security forces and civilians despite opening the intra-Afghan talks in Doha, the capital of Qatar.On Tuesday, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said the review of the deal with the Taliban was still underway.“We’re mindful of looming deadlines here — and everybody shares the sense of alacrity when it comes to working our way through this review,” Kirby told reporters. He defended the review process, saying the agreement was reached before the Biden administration.“So perfectly understandable, given the stakes in Afghanistan, for us to want to come in and take a look at that and to look at the issues of compliance, and to try to make informed decisions about what the best way ahead is… We’re taking it very seriously,” stressed Kirby.A United Nations panel monitoring the Taliban said in its latest report published earlier this month that the insurgency had maintained a close association with al-Qaida despite having promised to end cooperation with terrorist groups.“Member states report little evidence of significant changes in relations between al-Qaida and the Taliban,” said the U.N. Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, which completed its reports based in part on information shared by foreign governments’ intelligence services.The report noted that the overall number of members of al-Qaida and its affiliates in Afghanistan “is currently estimated at between 200 and 500 spread across” at least eleven provinces of the war-shattered country.The Taliban have rejected the U.N. findings and denies the presence of al-Qaida militants in insurgent-held Afghan areas.Skeptics say the latest Taliban directive to bar fighters from allowing foreign militants to join their ranks could be a last-minute attempt to assure the Biden administration can enact a U.S. troop withdrawal by May.“Taliban smartly taking some new steps ahead of a Washington deliberation & review process,” tweeted Omar Samad, a former Afghan diplomat. “All sides need to be earnestly & factually held responsible for their actions, decisions & worldview…Too much is at stake,” Samad tweeted.Taliban smartly taking some new steps ahead of a Washington deliberation & review process. All sides need to be earnestly & factually held responsible for their actions, decisions & worldview. Time to find an inclusive Afghan middle-ground after +4 decades. Too much is at stake. https://t.co/vSitj6Wlw3— Omar Samad (@OmSamad) February 24, 2021
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US Report on Khashoggi Death Expected to Single Out Saudi Crown Prince, Sources Say
A declassified version of a U.S. intelligence report expected to be released Thursday finds that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, four U.S. officials familiar with the matter said.The officials said the report, for which the CIA was the main contributor, assessed that the crown prince approved and likely ordered the murder of Khashoggi, whose Washington Post column had criticized the crown prince’s policies.President Joe Biden, a Democrat who succeeded the Republican Donald Trump five weeks ago, told reporters Wednesday he had read the report and expected to speak soon by phone with Saudi Arabian King Salman, 85, father of the crown prince, the country’s 35-year-old de facto ruler.The report’s release is part of Biden’s policy to realign ties with Riyadh after years of giving the Arab ally and major oil producer a pass on its human rights record and its intervention in Yemen’s civil war.Biden is working to restore the relationship with Riyadh to traditional lines after four years of cozier ties under Trump.White House spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters on Wednesday that Biden would only communicate with the Saudi king and said the declassified Khashoggi report was being readied for release soon.While Biden restricts his contacts to the king, others in the Biden administration are talking to Saudi officials at various levels.”We have been in touch with Saudi officials at numerous levels in the early weeks of this administration,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.The 59-year-old Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist, was lured to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, and killed by a team of operatives linked to the crown prince. They then dismembered his body. His remains have never been found.Riyadh eventually admitted that Khashoggi was killed in a “rogue” extradition operation gone wrong, but it denied any involvement by the crown prince. Five men given the death penalty for the murder had their sentences commuted to 20 years in jail after being forgiven by Khashoggi’s family.In 2019, United Nations human rights investigator Agnes Callamard accused Saudi Arabia of a “deliberate, premeditated execution” of Khashoggi and called for further investigation.“There is sufficient credible evidence regarding the responsibility of the crown prince demanding further investigation,” Callamard said after the six-month probe.A classified version of the report was shared with members of Congress in late 2018.But the Trump administration rejected demands by lawmakers and human rights groups to release a declassified version, seeking to preserve cooperation amid rising tensions with Riyadh’s regional rival, Iran, and promote U.S. arms sales to the kingdom.Biden’s new director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, committed at her confirmation hearing to complying with a provision in a 2019 defense bill that required the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to release within 30 days a declassified report on Khashoggi’s murder.Biden pledged during the 2020 presidential campaign to reassess U.S.-Saudi ties in part over Khashoggi’s murder. Since taking office, he has ended sales of offensive arms that Riyadh could use in Yemen and appointed a special envoy to boost diplomatic efforts to end that country’s grueling civil war.
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Gunmen Kill 36 in Attacks on Two Northern Nigerian States
Gunmen killed 36 people in two attacks in northern Nigeria on Wednesday, a day after insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades amid worsening security facing Africa’s most populous nation, officials and residents said. The series of attacks by armed bandits occurred over the past 48 hours with 18 people killed each in villages of Kaduna and Katsina states and several others injured. The assailants burned down houses, displacing the villagers. Hundreds of people have been killed in northern Nigeria by criminal gangs carrying out robberies and kidnappings. Such attacks have added to security challenges in Nigeria, which is struggling to contain Islamist insurgencies in the northeast and communal violence over grazing rights in central states. The latest attack came less than a month after President Muhammadu Buhari replaced his long-standing military chiefs amid worsening violence, with the armed forces fighting to reclaim other northeastern towns overrun by insurgents. Last week, unidentified gunmen killed a student in an attack on a boarding school in Nigeria’s north-central Niger state and kidnapped 42 people, including 27 students.
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China’s Crackdown on Muslims Spreads to Tropical Hainan
Hainan province is China’s southernmost territory, a tropical island of white-sand beaches, stately palm trees and, now, a small population of persecuted Muslims. The Utsuls, who number about 10,000, are the latest Muslim ethnic group targeted by the nationwide campaign conducted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to achieve “the Sinicization of Islam.” The campaign is best known for its internationally condemned treatment of ethnic Uighur Muslims, which the United States refers to as genocide. FILE – The Chinese national flag flies outside the mosque at the Xinjiang International Grand Bazar in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, Jan. 3, 2019.”It’s to make this minority a calm and docile Chinese group,” Gu said. “Islam is not only a religious belief for most Muslims, but also a cultural and national tradition. Many of the customs and psychological identity of believers can’t be divided from Islam.” Most of the Utsuls live in the port city of Sanya, in the villages of Huixin and Huihui, and speak a Chamic language related to those spoken in Vietnam and Cambodia, from where they emigrated centuries ago. Also known as the Hainan Hui, the Utsuls are one of the few unrecognized ethnic groups in China, which means the CCP groups them with a larger, similar population. The Utsul community in Sanya has played a significant role in China’s relations with the Islamic world, serving as a resort destination for other Chinese Muslims and as a bridge to Muslim communities in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, according to the New York Times. The crackdown on Utsuls began when local government and CCP officials issued the “Work Plan for Strengthening the Comprehensive Governance of Huixin Community and Huihui [Utsul] Community” dated 2019, according to an image from Chinese microblogging site Weibo. It “stipulates the six aspects of the comprehensive crackdown, including the rectification of discipline, community, symbols and signs, schools and hospitals, a mandatory financial audit, and the demolition and relocation of illegal buildings,” according to Bitter Winter, a publication focused on religion in China. The aspects mean women are forbidden from wearing headscarves at work and any committees established to manage mosques must now include CCP members. Arabic scriptures, directives for prayer toward Mecca and religious phrases are to be covered with official CCP slogans. A worker at a local halal restaurant, which serves food permissible according to Islamic law, told VOA that the local government had ordered the removal of the word “halal” from signs and menus. After asking to remain unnamed due to fear of CCP reprisal, he added that authorities ordered the obliteration of signs in homes and shops saying “Allahu akbar,” which means “God is greatest.” The local government also closed two Islamic schools and tried to bar female students from wearing head scarves. According to the restaurant worker, public outcry forced authorities to relent on the ban. Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report that originated on VOA Mandarin.
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Former Serbian Mayor Convicted in Arson Attack on Reporter
A Serbian court has sentenced a former mayor to four years in prison for ordering an arson attack on the home of an investigative journalist.In a trial that lasted nearly two years, a court Tuesday found Dragoljub Simonovic guilty of ordering the December 2018 attack on Milan Jovanovic, a reporter for the news website Zig Info. Simonovic, a member of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), was mayor of Grocka, a municipality near the capital, Belgrade, at the time of the attack.”I hope that this verdict will be the harbinger of more media freedom in Serbia,” Jovanovic told reporters outside the court, adding that he was satisfied with the ruling.Jovanovic and his wife were at home at the time of the attack and had to escape through a window after Molotov cocktails were thrown through a window, according to reports at the time. The journalist suffered smoke inhalation, Milan Jovanovic in front of his burned home, in Belgrade, Serbia, December 2018.Jovanovic said he believed he was targeted for investigating cases of corruption and graft allegedly linked to the mayor.A man accused of carrying out the attack, Aleksandar Marinkovic, was sentenced in absentia by the court.The verdict was a rare case of justice being secured for journalists in a region where press freedoms are withering. Hostile rhetoric, sometimes from politicians, a lack of independence in media regulatory bodies, online attacks on journalists and weak mechanisms to support news associations are among the obstacles for media in the Balkans.Serbia’s ranking on the World Press Freedom Index has also worsened in the past four years, dropping three places in 2020, according to data compiled by media watchdog Reporters Without Borders. (RSF)Significant rulingInternational media rights groups welcomed Tuesday’s court ruling.Milan Jovanovic’s burned vehicle and garage, in Belgrade, Serbia, December 2018. (RFE/RL)The conviction of a mastermind was significant in the fight against impunity in attacks on the press, Pavol Szalai, head of the European Union and Balkans desk at RSF, told VOA Serbian.“The arson attack against the home of Milan Jovanovic is an emblematic case for press freedom not only in Serbia, but also in the whole Balkans,” Szalai said, adding that the region was “plagued by impunity” regarding crimes against the media.“When RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire met the Serbian president in 2019, Aleksandar Vucic committed to healing this disease. Today’s verdict is the beginning of the healing process; it is the beginning of the end of impunity for crimes committed against journalists in Serbia,” Szalai said.Noting that Jovanovic and his wife could have been killed in the attack, the media watchdog representative said that RSF would monitor the appeal hearings closely, adding that it was “crucial” that the verdict be confirmed.“Europe is still traumatized by last year’s acquittal of the alleged mastermind of the assassination of Jan Kuciak in Slovakia. If the perpetrators of the attack against Milan Jovanovic are definitively condemned, it will be an important measure to protect the physical security journalists.” Szalai said.Marian Kocner, a powerful businessman in Slovakia, was acquitted last year of involvement in the 2018 slaying of investigative journalist Kuciak. He denied any role in the killing.Milan Jovanovic’s burned vehicle, in Belgrade, Serbia, December 2018. (RFE/RL)The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists also welcomed the sentencing.“The verdict is a strong signal from Serbian authorities that acts of violence against journalists will not remain unpunished,” Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, said in a statement forwarded to VOA. “Fighting impunity for such acts is an important step toward preventing further attacks, and it is especially welcome in Serbia where threats, intimidation and acts of violence against journalists are not unprecedented.”Journalist safetySerbia is under pressure to improve press freedom and safety for journalists as part of its steps toward joining the European Union. In its 2020 country report, the European Commission said “cases of threats, intimidation and violence against journalists are still a source of serious concern” in Serbia.Szalai, from RSF, said the country needs to address several issues, including securing justice in crimes against the media and ending verbal assaults and threats, including those from state officials.”Perpetrators of crimes committed against journalists must be swiftly condemned, regardless if they are state officials or not,” Szalai said, adding, “The editorial independence of the public media must be granted, and economic and institutional pressures on the private media’s editorial independence must stop.”Szalai said that law enforcement should also investigate evidence of crime and corruption exposed by reporters. “All these changes would not only contribute to improving media freedom, but also accelerate Serbia’s integration to the EU,” he said.This story originated in VOA’s Serbian Service. Some information is from AFP.
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IOC Confirms Australia’s Brisbane as Preferred Bidder for 2032 Olympics
The International Olympic Committee announced on Wednesday that Brisbane was the preferred candidate to host the 2032 Games and said it would enter “targeted dialogue” with bid organizers.
“The IOC future host commission recommended that the executive committee initiate a targeted dialogue with Brisbane and the Australian Olympic Committee for the organization of the 2032 Olympic Games,” said IOC president Thomas Bach.
“The executive committee unanimously accepted this recommendation.”
Australia last hosted the Olympics in Sydney in 2000.
The bid would be for the Games to be held in the state of Queensland, with Brisbane as the hub.
There had been reported interest from India and Chinese city Shanghai, while Qatar last year confirmed it was planning to bid.
A potential joint bid between South and North Korea had also been touted, while Germany had also expressed its interest in holding the Games in the North Rhine-Westphalia region.
All those hopefuls were dealt a blow by the news on Wednesday, but Bach insisted the IOC had recorded “the interest of a number of parties”, although he did not identify them.
“It is not a decision against the other candidates, it is a decision in favor of a candidacy,” Bach said.
He clarified that no final decision on the host city had been made, but that “more detailed discussions” with Brisbane would start, although he gave no timetable.
The next IOC session will be held in March, with another scheduled for July.
The bid would be focused around Brisbane and Gold Coast, which both already boast extensive sporting infrastructure.
Gold Coast held the 2018 Commonwealth Games, while Brisbane boasts 21 sports venues.
Australia also previously hosted the Olympics in Melbourne, in 1956.
The bid also enjoys the backing of John Coates, the Australian Olympic Committee president and an influential IOC vice president.
The awarding of the 2032 Olympics is the first to take place with a new election method adopted in June 2019 in an attempt to counter application fees and a lack of serious bids.
For the 2024 Games, Bach bemoaned the process had “produced too many losers”, after Rome, Hamburg and Budapest all pulled out of the running.
In September 2017, the IOC awarded the 2024 Games to Paris and the 2028 Olympics to Los Angeles.
The IOC has since set up its “future host” commission.
It is chaired by Norwegian Kristin Kloster Aasen and its nine members are not part of the IOC executive commission.
Bach said criticisms of the process were misplaced.
“All the rules were passed unanimously by the IOC session in 2019…. to make the whole procedure more low cost, prevent any undue interference, to make it less political,” he said.
Kloster warned that the award of the 2032 Games to Brisbane is “not a concluded deal.”
“It is a very advanced project, which has been in place for a long time and which enjoys the support of the authorities,” she said. “There are many criteria which correspond to what we expect.”
Coates, meanwhile, admitted that Wednesday’s announcement was “an important step.”
However, he cautioned that “it is obvious to us that we must continue to work hard.”
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Facebook Pledges $1B in News Investments Over 3 Years
Facebook on Wednesday pledged to invest at least $1 billion to support journalism over the next three years as the social media giant defended its handling of a dispute with Australia over payments to media organizations.Nick Clegg, head of global affairs, said in a statement that the company was willing to support news media while reiterating its concerns about mandated payments.”Facebook is more than willing to partner with news publishers,” Clegg said after Facebook restored news links as part of a compromise with Australian officials. “We absolutely recognize quality journalism is at the heart of how open societies function — informing and empowering citizens and holding the powerful to account.”Clegg defended the U.S. social media giant in a blog post titled “The Real Story of What Happened With News on Facebook in Australia.”The social media platform came under fire after it blanked out the pages of media outlets for Australian users and blocked them from sharing any news content, rather than submit to the proposed legislation.Clegg contended in his post that at the heart of the controversy was a misunderstanding about the relationship between Facebook and news publishers.’Free referrals’News groups share their stories at the social network or make them available for Facebook users to share with features such as buttons designed into websites, Clegg noted.Facebook drove some 5.1 billion such “free referrals” to Australian news publishers last year, worth an estimated 407 million Australian dollars, according to Clegg.”The assertions — repeated widely in recent days — that Facebook steals or takes original journalism for its own benefit always were and remain false,” Clegg said. “We neither take nor ask for the content for which we were being asked to pay a potentially exorbitant price.”Clegg said that to comply with the law as originally proposed in Australia, “Facebook would have been forced to pay potentially unlimited amounts of money to multinational media conglomerates under an arbitration system that deliberately misdescribes the relationship between publishers and Facebook.”He maintained that in blacking out all news in the country, “we erred on the side of overenforcement” and acknowledged that “some content was blocked inadvertently” before being restored.
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CIA Chief Nominee Warns of ‘Adversarial, Predatory’ China
The United States must train its spies and intelligence analysts on the rising threat from China, U.S. President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the country’s premier spy agency told lawmakers Wednesday, calling competition from Beijing “the biggest geopolitical test that we face.”Former Ambassador William Burns, a career diplomat who served in Russia and the Middle East, shared the blunt assessment with members of the Senate Intelligence Committee during his confirmation hearing to lead the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), further warning that this new era of great power competition with Beijing may be like no other in U.S. history.“Competing China will be key to our national security in the decades ahead,” Burns said, describing China’s leadership as both adversarial and predatory. “The evolution of [President] Xi Jinping’s China over the last six or seven years has been a very sharp wake-up call,” he added. “It’s the kind of aggressive, undisguised ambition and assertiveness that I think has made very clear the nature of the adversary and rival that we face.”If confirmed, the 64-year-old Burns would become the first career diplomat to lead the CIA. He told lawmakers that his experience with working with the intelligence agency while at the State Department taught him the value of what its officers and analysts do.“Good intelligence delivered with honesty and integrity is the critical foundation for sound policy choices,” he said, addressing concerns that under former President Donald Trump, some intelligence was politicized to support his administration’s political goals.”Politics must stop where intelligence work begins,” Burns said, promising a return to the credo of “speaking truth to power.”Biden “said he wants the agency to give it to him straight, and I pledged to do just that, and to defend those who do the same,” Burns added.In between questions, lawmakers from both parties heaped praise on Burns, prompting Democratic Senator Ron Wyden from Oregon to comment the hearing was in danger of turning into a “full-fledged bouquet tossing contest.”But there were questions about Burns’ time as president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington-based think tank that participated in the China-United States Exchange Foundation and had ties to Tsinghua University in Beijing.Burns said he inherited the relationship with the exchange program when he became president of Carnegie and that he quickly ended it because of concerns about Chinese influence, while at the same time seeking to make sure that Carnegie’s ties to Tsinghua University did not prevent the think-tank from doing independent work.The Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, Democrat Mark Warner, and vice chair, Republican Marco Rubio, also pressed Burns on how he would handle what has become known as “Havana Syndrome” – a series of symptoms ranging from dizziness to headaches and hearing loss that has plagued diplomatic staff and intelligence officials in Cuba, Russia, China, and elsewhere.US Releases Study on Mystery Illness at US EmbassiesPulse radio frequency is ‘most plausible’ source of the injuries“I will make it an extraordinarily high priority to get to the bottom of who’s responsible … and to ensure that colleagues and their families get the care they deserve,” Burns said.Tackling Russian, Iranian threatsIn addition to China, Burns laid out a series of other threats with which the U.S spy agency will have to grapple, including newer hazards like climate change and health security.He also outlined threats to the U.S. digital supply chain, calling Russia’s hack of Texas-based software company SolarWinds, “a very harsh wake-up call, I think, for all of us about the vulnerability of supply chains and critical infrastructure.”SolarWinds Hack Bigger, More Dangerous than Previously Thought, Tech Execs Warn SolarWinds hack targeted government and private entities in US and other countriesAdditionally, Burns warned against underestimating Russia.”While Russia may be in many ways a declining power, it can be at least as disruptive, under [Vladimir] Putin’s leadership, as rising powers like China,” he told lawmakers.“As long as Vladimir Putin is the leader of Russia, we’re going to be operating in a pretty narrow band of possibilities, from the very sharply competitive to the very nastily adversarial,” the former U.S. ambassador said. On Iran, Burns said that the U.S. cannot trust the leadership in Tehran with a nuclear weapon.”It’s absolutely important for the United States to do everything we can to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon,” he told lawmakers.Even if Iran returns to full compliance under the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Burns said the deal must serve as a “platform” for building stronger constraints on Tehran’s nuclear program and on other malign activities.Developing tech and cyber capabilitiesFormer officials warn Burns will face a number of other challenges, as well, should he be confirmed.“I firmly believe that whoever best masters technology wins the global intelligence war,” Larry Pfeiffer, a former CIA chief of staff, told VOA.“CIA needs to continue and reinforce its embrace of digital innovation to enhance collection, analysis, and dissemination of intelligence,” he said, noting the agency may have to make such changes with a stagnant or shrinking budget.In his testimony, Burns said the spy agency will “have to work even harder” to develop technological and cyber capabilities, both to better attribute attacks and to enhance U.S. deterrence.One issue that did not come up during Wednesday’s hearing, but which is likely to present a challenge for the CIA, is domestic extremism. Unlike the FBI, the CIA is prohibited from gathering information from those in the United States. “Domestic extremism per se is a matter not for the CIA … but foreign connections and parallels to such extremism are within the agency’s responsibility,” said Paul Pillar, a former senior CIA officer now with Georgetown University.“The sensitivities related to how the problem is tied to American politics and parties may bleed over into the CIA’s necessary coverage of the foreign dimensions,” he said.During her confirmation hearing last month, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told lawmakers that Russia, in particular, was pushing both on far left and far right groups in the U.S. “to promote extremism.”
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Police in Germany, Belgium Seize Record 23 Tons of Cocaine
German customs authorities Wednesday announced the largest seizure of cocaine in European history, more than 23 tons discovered in two raids this month at ports in Hamburg, Germany and Antwerp, Belgium.German customs official Rene Matchke told reporters the 28-year-old owner of a Dutch import company was arrested Wednesday in the Netherlands, where police say both shipments were bound. German officers had first discovered 16 tons of cocaine hidden in containers from Paraguay at the port of Hamburg February 12, following a tip from a Netherlands-based company. German and Dutch investigations led the officials Sunday to seize another 7.2 tons of cocaine at the port of Antwerp.German and Dutch police confirm the two shipments account for the largest amount of cocaine confiscated in a criminal investigation, and one of the top five in the world. German customs officials say the investigation is ongoing and that they do not believe the man who was arrested acted alone. They say the drug haul would have been worth billions of dollars.
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UN Investigator Probes Alleged Forced Return of Eritrean Refugees from Ethiopia
A U.N. human rights expert is calling for an urgent investigation into allegations that Eritrean forces have forcibly repatriated Eritrean refugees who were living in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray province. His report has been submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council.The special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea, Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, started his mandate on November 1. An Ethiopian military offensive began in Tigray November 4 after months of rising tensions between Addis Ababa and forces of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF. When the conflict erupted, he said more than 96,000 Eritrean refugees were in four camps.Addressing the Human rights Council on Wednesday, Babiker said he has received information from credible sources about the precarious situation of Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers in the province.“I am also concerned about allegations of possible implication of the Eritrean troops in cases of serious human rights violations, including acts of abductions, forceful or involuntary return of Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers, and their imprisonment in different prisons inside Eritrea. Such allegations need to be investigated promptly and thoroughly by independent mechanisms,” said Babiker.There was no response from the Ethiopian or Eritrean governments.Babiker said he is particularly concerned about two refugee camps in Tigray that hosted more than 25,000 Eritreans. These, he said, allegedly were destroyed in attacks by Eritrean and Ethiopian troops, acts which would constitute a serious breach of international humanitarian law.“On 28 January 2021, in my letter to the government of Ethiopia, I called on the Ethiopian authorities to protect the human rights of the Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers in the Tigray region, and to ensure respect for their rights under human rights law, international humanitarian law and international refugee law,” he said.Babiker said he wants Eritrean authorities to give him full access to refugees and asylum seekers allegedly in Eritrean prisons. Babiker also said he has received no response to previous requests from the Eritrean authorities to visit Eritrea to assess the human rights situation on the ground.Eritrean Ambassador-at-Large Tesfamichael Gerahtu dismissed the special rapporteur’s report as being full of senseless allegations and of presenting a bleak, unjustified picture of his country.He said his government has succeeded in creating meaningful, sustainable development based on social justice. He added it was time for the Council to end its harassment of Eritrea and terminate its mandate on the human rights situation in the country, which has been going on for eight years.
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Rocker Springsteen Fined $500 for Drinking at Beach; Drunk Driving Charge Dropped
Bruce Springsteen was fined $500 Wednesday after the rock ‘n’ roll legend pleaded guilty to a charge of consuming alcohol at a federally run New Jersey beach in November, and prosecutors dropped drunk driving and reckless driving charges.
Springsteen, 71, who has made his home state of New Jersey and its shore scene a staple of his career of more than 50 years, entered his plea in an online arraignment before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Anthony R. Mautone in Newark.
Appearing on an online hearing, Springsteen admitted to downing two shots of tequila on November 14 at Sandy Hook beach, part of the National Park Service’s Gateway National Recreation Area, where alcohol consumption is prohibited.
Mautone also imposed $40 in court fees on the rock star, who said he would pay the $540 total immediately.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Baker said the government was dropping the driving-while-intoxicated and reckless driving charges because it did not believe it could meet its burden of proving them in court.
Springsteen initially had pleaded not guilty to all three charges.
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Biden Orders Review to Shore Up Supply Chain Resiliency
President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Wednesday to formally order a 100-day government review of global supply chains and potential U.S. vulnerabilities in key industries including computer chips, electric vehicle batteries, pharmaceuticals and critical minerals used in electronics.
The order aims to avoid repeating the severe lack of personal protective gear such as face masks and gloves that the country experienced during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic last year. It comes as American automakers grapple with a shortage of semiconductors, critical elements in navigation and entertainment systems in modern vehicles.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the need for resilient supply chains and robust domestic manufacturing, so all Americans have access to essential goods and services in times of crisis,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday.
On Wednesday, a senior White House official speaking on background told reporters that “President Biden committed last year to directing the U.S. to take a comprehensive approach to securing supply chains, and the executive order that the president will sign tomorrow afternoon kicks off that process.”
On top of the 100-day review of the four key industries, Biden’s order will also direct yearlong reviews for six sectors: defense, public health, information technology, transportation, energy and food production.FILE – An employee works on a production line manufacturing drugs at the Yangtze River Pharmaceutical Group in Taizhou, Jiangsu province, China, Sept. 3, 2019.According to the official, the reviews will be modeled after the Defense Department’s process to evaluate and strengthen the defense industrial base and may include the president’s invocation of the Defense Production Act or other financial incentives. The DPA is the primary source of presidential authorities to expedite and expand the supply of materials and services from the U.S. industrial base needed to promote national defense.
Supply chain experts welcome the administration’s move.
“We could talk about buying American all we want but if we have not ensured the supply chain is functioning, we’re going to continue to have shortages and stock outs,” said Nada Sanders, a professor of supply chain management at Northeastern University.
While most of the work to ensure supply chains are resilient happens at the firm level, federal support to look at the problem holistically is seen as critical to help U.S. companies to invest strategically and become more agile at reacting to fluctuations of supply and demand in times of crisis.
“The key is particularly with dramatic change or rapid change, you’ve got to do a good job of forecasting and you got to think holistically, you got to look at the entire sort of lifecycle of the operation,” said Scott Miller, senior adviser on the global economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The Trump administration also pushed for investment in shoring up supply chains, mostly through tax cuts incentivizing businesses to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. In April 2020, then President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to clear up supply-chain issues encountered in the manufacturing of ventilators and production of N95 face masks.FILE – Workers produce face masks for export, at a factory in Nantong, in China’s eastern Jiangsu province, May 14, 2020.Officials said Biden’s strategy to protect the supply chain is different than Trump’s protectionist approach. “This work will not be about America going it alone,” said Sameera Fazili, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council in a briefing to reporters “We are committed to working with partners and allies to reduce the vulnerabilities.”
China focus
Biden’s executive order will not mention any particular country and look at U.S. reliance on foreign suppliers overall.
“One of the vulnerabilities we are looking at is where we might be excessively dependent on competitors in Asia, obviously including China,” the senior administration official said.
The U.S. is dependent on China in a range of critical industries from pharmaceuticals to defense, in part because American firms rely on cheap Chinese exports.
“The corporate quest over the past 25 years to cut supplier costs, with insufficient concern for resilience, has saddled the nation with gaping strategic vulnerabilities in the supply chains for certain critical materials, medications and technology inputs,” said authors of a 2020 study by the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University and the U.S. Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute.
Being dependent on an adversary is not a good spot to be in said Northeastern University’s Sanders. “Having said that, this policy really looks at a really broad picture in terms of U.S. production, manufacturing, economy,” she added. “So, it’s not just China.”FILE – People look at semiconductors made by Tsinghua Unigroup on display at the China Beijing International High Tech Expo in Beijing, Sept. 19, 2020.Rare Earth
China is reportedly looking into curbing exports of rare earth minerals that are crucial to U.S. defense contractors that manufacture military weaponry.
“The government wants to know if the U.S. may have trouble making F-35 fighter jets if China imposes an export ban,” said a Chinese government adviser as reported by the Financial Times last week.
China is the world’s dominant producer of rare earths, a group of 17 minerals used in electric vehicles, consumer electronics and military equipment.
“While we call them rare earths as a share of the Earth’s crust, they’re not particularly rare,” said Miller pointing to a U.S. Geological Survey report of American states that have rare earth mineral deposits.
Pini Althaus, CEO of USA Rare Earth, a company developing a U.S.-based supply chain for the minerals, is lobbying the government to expand domestic mining and processing.
“There is already surging demand for lithium and EV battery materials, and U.S. manufacturers will need new sustainable supply to meet near term goals this decade,” Althaus said.
Rare earth minerals are processed using toxic chemicals and produce air emissions with harmful elements, such as fluorine and sulfur, and wastewater that contains excessive acid, and radioactive materials.
Despite the significant environmental concerns, Miller said the U.S. should look into expanding this sector, particularly if there is a national security need.
“There’s activity in this space,” Miller said. “The question is … what’s [the federal government’s] role in accelerating or stabilizing the market?”
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China’s Tianwen-1 Spacecraft Enters Mars ‘Parking Orbit’
China’s state media reported Wednesday the country’s Tianwen-1 spacecraft has entered a temporary “parking orbit’ around the planet Mars, where it will stay for about three months before attempting to land a rover on the surface.China National Space Administration (CNSA) said the spacecraft executed a maneuver to adjust its orbit early Wednesday Beijing time.
The Tianwen-1 probe includes an orbiter, a lander and a rover, and while in orbit, the space agency said the probe will be mapping the planet’s surface and collecting additional data, particularly about the prospective landing site for the rover.
China Probe Becomes Second in Two Days to Reach Mars China’s space agency says goal is to have Tianwen-1 probe land rover on planet’s surface The deputy chief designer of the probe, Tan Zhiyun, told China Central Television (CCTV) the Tianwen-1 will take pictures of the prospective landing zone and judge the topography and potential for dust storms and other factors that will help scientists prepare for a safe landing in May or June.
The spacecraft began orbiting Mars on Feb. 10 after a roughly seven-month journey from Earth. An orbiter from the United Arab Emirates arrived one day earlier, and last week, the U.S. space agency NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on the planet.
All three of the missions were launched in July to take advantage of the close alignment between Earth and Mars that happens only once every two years.
Tianwen-1 represents the most ambitious mission yet for China’s secretive, military-linked space program that first put an astronaut in orbit around Earth in 2003 and last year brought moon rocks back to Earth for the first time since the 1970s. China was also the first country to land a spacecraft on the little-explored far side of the moon in 2019.
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Sudan Ratifies UN Conventions Against Torture and Enforced Disappearances
Sudan’s Sovereign Council ratified U.N. conventions against torture and enforced disappearances Tuesday, after months of delay. At a press conference, Minister of Justice Nasreldin Abdelbari confirmed Sudan’s ratification to join the 2006 U.N. Conventions for the Protection of All Persons from enforced disappearance and 1984 convention against torture and inhuman punishment. Abdelbari said the step is momentous because of Sudan’s history of torture and enforced disappearance under the rule of former president Omar al-Bashir. FILE – Sudan’s ousted president Omar al-Bashir sits at the defendant’s cage during his trial, at a courthouse in Khartoum, Sudan, Sept. 15, 2020.Sudan’s second most important political body, the Ministers Council, approved the two conventions last November.Rights groups attributed the delay by the Sovereign Council to the likely involvement of the military’s Rapid Support Forces in some abuses, specifically the kidnapping and torture of 45-year-old Bahaa Nouri in December. Emad Hamdoun was a victim of both torture and enforced disappearance during the iron-fisted rule of Bashir. In 2019, Hamdoun was arrested and tortured, and lost the sight in one eye. Ratifying these laws is a victory for rights defenders and victims, he said. He added that he hopes the government signs the two conventions to the U.N. general secretary soon, so the Sudanese people can have the privileges they were deprived of in the former regime. Rights groups also welcome the move and are calling on the government to set procedures that validate the pacts. Winni Omer, spokesperson of Protect the Right to Life Campaign, a movement of lawyers, rights activists and the families of torture and disappearance victims, said she thinks this step should be followed by rules, like monitoring and lifting immunity, to guarantee the validity of the conventions. On a related issue, the Sudanese Supreme Court has upheld death sentences for 29 security officers convicted of kidnapping, torturing and killing a teacher during the uprisings that toppled Bashir in 2019.
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Putin Signs Laws Imposing Fines for ‘Foreign Agent’ Law Violations, Protest-Related Offenses
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law bills that impose fines for violating a controversial law on “foreign agents” as well as other legislation relating to protests, such as the financing of rallies and disobedience of law enforcement.
According to the laws, signed by Putin Feb. 24, releasing information about so-called “foreign agents” and their materials without also indicating their status could lead to fines of up to 2,500 rubles ($34) for individuals and up to 500,000 rubles ($6,720) for entities. The law applies regardless of whether the “foreign agent” in question is a mass media outlet or an individual.
The other laws signed by Putin the same day set fines for individuals found guilty of illegally financing a rally at up to 15,000 rubles ($200), while officials and organizations for such actions will be ordered to pay up to 30,000 rubles ($400) and 100,000 rubles ($1,345), respectively. Putin also signed a law that significantly increases fines for disobedience of police and security forces.
Russia’s “foreign agent” legislation was adopted in 2012 and has been modified repeatedly. It requires nongovernmental organizations that receive foreign assistance and that the government deems to be engaged in political activity to be registered, to identify themselves as “foreign agents,” and submit to audits.
Later modifications of the law targeted foreign-funded media, including RFE/RL’s Russian Service, six other RFE/RL Russian-language news services, as well as Current Time, the Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.
At the end of 2020, the legislation was modified to allow the Russian government to include individuals, including foreign journalists, on its “foreign agents” list and to impose restrictions on them.
Russian officials have said that amending the “foreign agents law” to include mass media in 2017 was a “symmetrical response” to the U.S. requirement that Russia’s state-funded channel RT register under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
U.S. officials have said the action is not symmetrical, arguing that the U.S. and Russian laws differ and that Russia uses its “foreign agent” legislation to silence dissent and discourage the free exchange of ideas.
The Russian state media monitor Roskomnadzor last year adopted rules requiring listed media to mark all written materials with a lengthy notice in large text, all radio materials with an audio statement, and all video materials with a 15-second text declaration.
The agency has prepared hundreds of complaints against RFE/RL’s news websites. When they go through the court system, the fines levied could reach nearly $1 million.
RFE/RL has called the fines “a state-sponsored campaign of coercion and intimidation,” while the U.S. State Department has described them as “intolerable.” Human Rights Watch has described the foreign agent legislation as “restrictive” and intended “to demonize independent groups.”
Since early in Putin’s presidency, the Kremlin has steadily tightened the screws on independent media. The country is ranked 149th out of 180 in the World Press Freedom Index produced by Reporters Without Borders.
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10 Killed in Suspected Boko Haram Attack in Nigeria
Officials in Nigeria’s Borno state say 10 people have died from explosions around the northeast city of Maiduguri. Residents in affected areas have fled their homes. Local officials suspect Islamist militant group Boko Haram was behind the blasts.
There was relative calm on Wednesday and residents who fled their homes last night returned to the affected areas of Adam Kolo, Gwange, and Kaleri. FILE – Babagan Umara Zulum, governor of Nigeria’s Borno state, is seen in Maroua, Feb. 20, 2021. (Moki Edwin Kindzeka/VOA)The Borno state governor, Babagana Zulum, visited two hospitals in the morning and confirmed in a statement that 10 people were killed in the attack, including children who were playing in a field. He said 47 others were injured.
No one has claimed responsibility, but Maiduguri resident Sani Adam blamed the blasts on the group Boko Haram.
“The deaths was as a result of projectiles fired by Boko Haram which landed in three different locations,” said Adam.Maiduguri is the capital of Borno state, the epicenter of the Boko Haram insurgency. For years, the group has carried out bloody raids and suicide bombings here. The last one until Wednesday occurred one year ago. Governor Zulum said authorities are taking measures after the explosions. He said the military has repelled the insurgents. But Maiduguri resident Andy Rufi said he heard multiple explosions and was terrified.
“When I came back from work, I started hearing the explosions which was close to my area. Later there was gunshots and multiple bomb blasts, more than ten,” he said.
The Borno state health ministry says it is taking care of all the injured people.
An estimated 36,000 people have been killed since the Boko Haram insurgency started in 2009. Boko Haram has been fighting to create an Islamic state based in Nigeria.
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Cameroonian Truckers Accuse Security Escorts in C.A.R. of Abandoning Attacked Convoys
Cameroonian truck drivers have accused security escorts in the troubled Central African Republic (CAR) this week of abandoning the convoys when they were attacked by rebels. The drivers say hundreds of trucks are stuck in Cameroon until C.A.R. and U.N. authorities can better guarantee their safety.Drivers say hundreds of trucks are stranded in the eastern town of Garoua Boulay, on the border with the Central African Republic, unable to deliver needed goods due to poor security. Troops from the C.A.R. and the U.N.’s Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission, MINUSCA, have been providing security escorts for the convoys. Cameroon’s Land Freight Transportation Bureau, El Hadj Oumarou, Yaounde, Feb. 24, 2021. (Moki Edwin Kindzeka/VOA)But the head of Cameroon’s Land Freight Transportation Bureau, El Hadj Oumarou, says this week there have been four rebel attacks on convoys traveling to the C.A.R. capital, Bangui.Oumarou says all strategies put in place to protect trucks, truck drivers, and goods on C.A.R. territory should be reviewed,” said Oumarou. “He says just this week some (escort) troops fled heavy shooting from C.A.R. rebels and abandoned drivers and their trucks between Garoua Boulaye and Bangui. Oumarou says some of the drivers were wounded, some goods diverted, and all trucks went back to Cameroon.Idrissou Manga, an official with the Cameroon Truck Drivers Union in Garoua Boulaye, said nine drivers received minor injuries. He said more than 900 trucks stationed in Garoua Boulaye are refusing to transport humanitarian aid to Bangui until the security situation is improved. Manga spoke from Garoua Boulay via a messaging app. He says his trade union is for Cameroonian drivers. But, because of the hardship in Garoua Boulaye, Manga says they have decided to extend a hand of fellowship to drivers from the Central African Republic and Chad. He says the union gives the truckers food, water and toiletries.The C.A.R. minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Arnaud Djoubaye-Abazene, visited Cameroon this week to assess the transport situation.After meeting Monday with Cameroon’s transport minister, Jean Ernest Messina Ngale Bibehe, he denied C.A.R. or UN troops had abandoned the convoys. Cameroon’s transport minister, Jean Ernest Messina Ngale Bibehe, Yaounde, Feb. 24, 2021. (Moki Edwin Kindzeka/VOA)But he admitted it was possible there were what he called “tactical withdrawals.” Abazene says President Faustin-Archange Touadera has taken appropriate measures to stop the rebels, who are contesting his victory in the December 27 election, from creating havoc in the C.A.R.,” Abazene said. “He says with the support of C.A.R. partners like Russia, Rwanda, and UN troops, many rebels have been neutralized. Abazene says security has been assured in most C.A.R. towns but there are still some pockets of resistance that the forces will handle. He says drivers should trust the C.A.R. government.C.A.R. Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Arnaud Djoubaye-Abazene in Yaounde, Feb. 24, 2021. (Moki Edwin Kindzeka/VOA)Abazane said in spite of the fresh attacks, a convoy of humanitarian and commercial supplies from Cameroon had reached Bangui this week. He assured Cameroon’s truckers that adequate security measures have been taken.A spokesperson for the U.N. peacekeeping mission did not respond to a request for comment. But, in a press release this week MINUSCA acknowledged some challenges to escorting the drivers. The U.N. this week said the volatile security situation in the C.A.R. was hampering aid deliveries and causing a steady rise in the price of staple foods since December.The U.N.’s refugee agency (UNHCR) says by February 16, about 110,000 Central Africans had fled the violence that erupted from the December 27 elections. The UNHCR says 6,100 C.A.R. civilians fled to Cameroon, 7,400 to Chad, 4,300 to Congo, and 92,000 to the Democratic Republic of Congo.The C.A.R. accuses former president Francois Bozize, whose candidacy for the presidential election was rejected, of attempting a coup.He denies organizing December rebel attacks, which were repelled by U.N. troops.
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