Malian linguists and braille experts have translated the most widely spoken African language in Mali, Bambara, to braille for the country’s blind. Bambara is spoken and understood by about 15 million Malians, even more than the colonial language, French, making it an important step for blind people. Annie Risemberg profiles a teacher of the new braille translation in this report from Bamako.
Camera: Annie Risemberg
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Month: February 2021
Myanmar Anti-Coup Protesters Return to Streets After Observing General Strike
Protesters in Myanmar took part in yet another day of demonstrations against the country’s military junta Tuesday, although in much smaller numbers than the massive turnout in many cities and towns seen the previous day. An angry crowd of demonstrators gathered in front of the Indonesian embassy in Yangon following reports Jakarta is seeking support from other member countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for a plan that would hold the junta to its promise of new elections within a year. The protesters demanded that Indonesia respect the results of last November’s elections, won in a landslide by deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy. In Jakarta, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah denied the reports, telling media Tuesday that it “is not Indonesia’s position at all to support a new election in Myanmar.” Teuku said Indonesia is consulting with its fellow ASEAN members to reach a consensus before a special meeting on the situation in Myanmar.US Sanctions Myanmar Military Officials Latest economic action in response to coup includes call to reinstate elected governmentMonday’s demonstrations, which were coupled with a general strike, took place in defiance of an ominous warning broadcast Sunday on Myanmar state television that warned protesters “are now inciting the people, especially emotional teenagers and youths, to a confrontation path where they will suffer the loss of life.”Popular protests have been staged across Myanmar on a daily basis since the military detained Suu Kyi and other members of the civilian government on February 1, claiming widespread election fraud. Three people have been killed as a result of the daily protests, including two who died Saturday in Mandalay — one of them a teenage boy — when police and security forces used live and rubber bullets, tear gas, water cannon and slingshots against demonstrators. The United States and other Western nations have demanded the release of Suu Kyi and her lieutenants, and called on the junta to restore power to the civilian government. The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on several members of the junta, with two of them, General Moe Myint Tun and Air Force chief General Maung Maung Kyaw, placed on the list Tuesday. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Monday said on Twitter, “The U.S. stands with the people of Burma who demand the restoration of the democratically elected government.” The tweet also said the designations “are another step to promote accountability for military leaders who perpetrate violence and attempt to suppress the will of the people.” Burma is another name for Myanmar.The U.S. stands with the people of Burma who demand the restoration of the democratically elected government. Today’s designations are another step to promote accountability for military leaders who perpetrate violence and attempt to suppress the will of the people.— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) February 23, 2021VOA’s United Nations correspondent, Margaret Besheer, reports the spokesperson for the president of the U.N. General Assembly announced Tuesday the assembly will hold an informal meeting Friday on the situation in Myanmar.
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Hong Kong Leader Backs Call by Key Chinese Officials for Electoral Changes
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam is supporting a call made by a key Chinese official for electoral reforms that would ensure the city’s legislature is filled with pro-Beijing loyalists. Xia Baolong, the director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, said Monday that the city could only be ruled by “patriots” which he said excludes people he described as “troublemakers.” Lam told reporters Tuesday that she understands why officials in the central government are concerned, as “they do not want the situation to deteriorate further in such a way that ‘one country, two systems’ cannot be implemented.” China’s national legislature is expected to issue a number of changes to Hong Kong’s electoral process during its annual session next month. Among the expected changes are granting more voting power to pro-Beijing members of Hong Kong’s 1,200-member electoral commission that selects Hong Kong’s chief executive. The changes would strip the voting rights of several lower level district councilors, many of whom are pro-democracy supporters. Under the “one country, two systems” concept, Hong Kong was promised a greater number of civil liberties than the mainland when it was transferred from British to Chinese control in 1997. The Asian financial hub was rocked by massive and often violent anti-government protests in the last half of 2019, initially triggered by a controversial extradition bill that evolved into a greater demand for greater freedoms for the semi-autonomous city. The demonstrations spurred Beijing to impose a new national security law last year under which anyone in Hong Kong believed to be carrying out terrorism, separatism, subversion of state power or collusion with foreign forces could be tried and face life in prison if convicted.
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Georgian Authorities Arrest Opposition Leader Melia
Georgian police raided the main opposition party’s headquarters Tuesday and arrested opposition leader Nika Melia. Authorities accuse Melia, head of the United National Movement party, of organizing “mass violence” during anti-government protests in 2019. Melia says the charges are politically motivated. The U.S. Embassy in Georgia expressed concern about Melia’s detention, saying in a statement Tuesday that Georgia “has moved backward on its path toward becoming a stronger democracy.” “We regret that the call of the United States and other international partners for restraint and dialogue was ignored,” the embassy said. “We are dismayed by the polarizing rhetoric from Georgia’s leadership at a time of crisis. Force and aggression are not the solution to resolving Georgia’s political differences.” The country has seen rounds of protests since parliamentary elections in October that the opposition says were rigged, an allegation the ruling Georgian Dream party denies. Last week, Prime Minister Giorgia Gakharia resigned and said his decision was linked to a disagreement about whether to detain Melia.
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Facebook to Lift Block on Australian News Content after Agreement with Canberra
The Australian government says Facebook has agreed to allow Australians to resume viewing or sharing news content after the two sides reached an agreement over a proposal to make the digital giants pay domestic news outlets for their content. The two sides announced the deal Tuesday just hours before the Australian Senate was set to begin debate on a set of amendments to a bill that was passed just last week by the lower House of Representatives. 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. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg issued a joint statement with Communications Minister Paul Fletcher saying Facebook will restore Australian news outlets on the social media platform “in the coming days.”An illustration image shows a phone screen with the “Facebook” logo and Australian newspapers in Canberra, Australia, Feb. 18, 2021.Facebook regional director William Easton issued a statement saying the company was “satisfied” the Australian government agreed to the changes and guarantees “that address our core concerns about allowing commercial deals that recognize the value our platform provides to publishers relative to the value we receive from them.” Facebook blocked Australian news content last week despite ongoing negotiations with Canberra. 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. Australian media companies have seen their advertising revenue increasingly siphoned off by big tech firms like Google and Facebook in recent years. Google had also threatened to block news content if the law were passed, even warning last August that Australians’ personal information could be “at risk” if digital giants had to pay for news content. But the company has already signed a number of separate agreements with such Australian media giants as the Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corp, Nine Entertainment and Seven West Media.
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Senators to Examine Capitol Security
Two U.S. Senate committees are holding a hearing Tuesday examining the January 6 attack on the U.S. capitol with a focus on security and the response of law enforcement. Scheduled to testify before the Homeland Security Committee and Governmental Affairs Committee are the former Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger and former House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving, as well as former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund and Metropolitan Police Department acting Chief Robert Contee. For Stenger and Irving, their testimony will be their first public comments since they resigned just after the attack by a pro-Trump mob.In this image from video, Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger reads the proclamation during the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 29, 2020.Senator Amy Klobuchar told the Associated Press that lawmakers would be focused on how security agencies shared information ahead of the attack, the timing of the deployment of National Guard troops to assist overwhelmed Capitol Police officers and whether the command structure of the entities responsible for Capitol security contributed to security failures. Klobuchar also said the panels would hold at least one more hearing as part of their investigation that would examine the responses of the Defense Department, Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Capitol attack came as lawmakers inside were meeting to certify President Joe Biden’s electoral win over former President Donald Trump in the November election. Rioters smashed windows and doors and clashed with officers, leaving dozens of police injured. Members of Congress fled their chambers and had to return hours later to finish the vote certification. The violence left five people dead, including one Capital Police officer. In the weeks after the attack, the House of Representatives impeached Trump on charges he incited insurrection. The Senate later acquitted Trump.
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Somalia Accuses UAE of Promoting Political Standoff and Violent Protest
Somalia has accused the United Arab Emirates of fueling a political stand-off and opposition protests that are threatening the African nation’s stability. The tensions stem from Somalia’s delayed elections and a controversy over the president’s legitimacy. The federal government of Somalia says the United Arab Emirates is to blame for political instability in the wake of a violent protest by opposition leaders last week. Authorities in Mogadishu were responding to an Emirati Foreign Ministry statement that described the government of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed as an interim administration. Somali elections have been delayed by squabbles among political leaders as the president’s term officially expired on February 8th. Some opposition groups have called on Mohamed, who is commonly known as Farmajo, to step aside, but he has continued to carry out the duties of office. Information Minister Osman Dubbe demanded Abu Dhabi issue an apology. Dubbe said his country is recuperating from violence and does not want to take the path of conflict again and therefore calls upon the brotherly state of Emirates to apologize for the mistake. Emirati officials have not responded to the accusations. The Somali opposition groups, through their chairman and presidential candidate Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, said they will continue their demonstrations until transparent polls are conducted.Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed credited the reopening on security gains against al-Shabab militants.Sharif said they will not give up their constitutional rights to conduct peaceful protests to strengthen democracy in the country. He called upon opposition supporters to attend a rally next Friday. Somalia and the United Arab Emirates shared strong traditional historic ties, but relations cooled after Mogadishu took a neutral stance toward the Gulf countries’ 2017 blockade of Qatar instead of siding with the UAE. Political analyst Mohamed Salah says he believes that the decision by the Farmajo government and the confiscation of more than nine million U.S. dollars from Emirati officials at Mogadishu airport in April 2018 angered the rich Gulf nation. “The two countries’ relations have been deteriorating for quite a while for two main reasons: the neutral role Somalia has taken on the Gulf crisis did not go well with UAE, and the second, the way UAE deals with Somalia didn’t go well with the current administration, because UAE has strong ties with some of the regional leaders and the current regime did not like that.” International organizations such as the United Nations and the African Union have repeatedly urged Somali leaders to resolve their differences and move forward with elections — without resorting to violence.
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US Treasury Nominee Adeyemo Vows to Combat China’s ‘Unfair Economic Practices’ in Testimony
Wally Adeyemo, President Joe Biden’s nominee for the No. 2 job at the U.S. Treasury, vowed to crack down on authoritarian governments and fight unfair economic practices in China and elsewhere, while working to rectify economic inequality at home. In testimony prepared for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, Adeyemo said he would focus on three critical areas if confirmed: boosting U.S. competitiveness, reclaiming America’s credibility as a global leader and protecting U.S. citizens from threats. As Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s deputy, Adeyemo will play a key role in shaping U.S. economic policies and overseeing the vast power of the Treasury on everything from financial regulation to relief for everyday Americans and sanctions on foreign governments. The most immediate threat to U.S. prosperity remains the COVID-19 pandemic, Adeyemo said, saying economic policy must remain focused on providing relief to those harmed by the health crisis, and especially those in low-income communities and people of color, who have been hit especially hard. If confirmed, Adeyemo, a former senior adviser at asset manager BlackRock Inc., would be the first Black deputy secretary of the Treasury. He served as a deputy national security adviser under Democratic President Barack Obama, and later headed the foundation that is working on the former president’s library.Wally Adeyemo who President-elect Joe Biden nominated to serve as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, left, Janet Yellen, right, arrive for a news conference at The Queen theater, Dec. 1, 2020, in Wilmington, Del.Adeyemo is expected to be questioned on his views on U.S. policy toward China, currently the subject of a comprehensive review by the Biden administration. “We need to work with Congress and strategically use the Treasury Department’s tools to protect our citizens from threats, foreign and domestic,” he said in the prepared testimony, which was seen by Reuters. “Treasury’s tools must play a role in responding to authoritarian governments that seek to subvert our democratic institutions; combating unfair economic practices in China and elsewhere; and detecting and eliminating terrorist organizations that seek to do us harm,” the prepared remarks continue. Treasury oversees a host of sanctioning tools, including a ban on U.S. investment in alleged Chinese military companies that was introduced by former President Donald Trump. The ban, which has spurred deep confusion among market players since it was unveiled in a November executive order, takes effect in November 2021 and investors are eager to learn whether Biden will revoke it or further clarify its scope and use it to go after top Chinese companies. Adeyemo also called for targeted investments in U.S. critical industries and technologies, and policies that protected American workers and companies from anti-competitive trade practices, signaling a hardline stance on trade issues. Adeyemo, 39, who was born in Nigeria and came to the United States with his parents as a baby, mapped out his domestic and international policy objectives, vowing to work to ensure equal access to economic opportunity for all Americans. “Taking steps to ensure that all Americans share in our prosperity is not only a moral imperative, it is essential to our long-term economic growth,” he said in the testimony. Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden has called Adeyemo “eminently qualified” for the job and vowed to get the nomination through the committee as quickly as possible. The hearing will start at 10 a.m. (EST), the committee said.
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US Sanctions Myanmar Military Officials
The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on two more Myanmar military officials in response to the killing of peaceful protesters. The measures announced late Monday target Moe Myint Tun and Maung Maung Kyaw. A Treasury Department statement called on Myanmar’s military to reinstall the country’s democratically elected government or face further actions. “The United States will continue to work with partners throughout the region and the world to press the Burmese military and police to cease all violence against peaceful protestors, to support the restoration of democracy and the rule of law in Burma, to urge for the immediate release of political prisoners, including State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, and to promote accountability for those responsible for attempting to reverse Burma’s progress toward democracy,” the statement said. Demonstrators protest against military coup in Yangon, Feb. 22, 2021.Earlier this month, the Treasury Department applied sanctions to 10 current of former military officials. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also condemned the coup and “unacceptable violence against peaceful demonstrators” in remarks Monday. He said EU ministers have agreed to a set of targeted measures, including applying sanctions against the military figures responsible for the coup and their economic interests. Borrell also said the EU would withhold all direct financial support to government reform programs in Myanmar. But he said the measures would not impact the people of Myanmar, and that the EU would “continue to support civil society and to provide basic services.”
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Teachers in Malawi Strike Over COVID-19 Risk Allowances
Teachers in Malawi’s public schools are staging a sit-in strike, demanding bonus pay for working during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as better protective equipment.Malawi’s schools were due to reopen this week, after a five-week suspension caused by a surge in COVID-19 cases. Teachers reported to work Monday, but refused to begin classes until the government meets their demands for high-risk pay and better safety equipment. In response, students at some schools in central Malawi held street protests against the teachers’ strike. “The strike is not helping us,” said Misozi Jumbe, a secondary school learner in Dowa district. “Why the teachers were not striking when the schools closed? We open, they start the strike. We want to learn. I am not happy at all.” Malawi first closed schools in March 2020, well before it confirmed its first three cases of COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic. It reopened the schools in September, but classes were suspended again for five weeks in January 2021 because of a surge in COVID-19 that saw some teachers and students infected. Teachers: Safety measures lackingThe striking teachers say working during the pandemic puts them at risk. Willy Malimba, president of Teachers Union of Malawi, said personal protective equipment like face coverings, sanitizers and soap are inadequate in many schools. “Of course, we saw some schools receiving soap from the government, but for sanitizers, not yet. So, looking at all these situations we are saying, ‘No, the government is not ready to reopen schools,'” Malimba said. Government: Precautions in placeGovernment authorities previously argued that adequate precautions were being taken. Education Minister Agness Nyalonje, in a televised address last Wednesday, said the government has allocated about $6 million to the schools reopening program. “My ministry has made money directly to schools through zonal accounts for them to procure soaps, to procure masks, to procure buckets where buckets need replacing, to make sure that when schools open, these things are in place,” Nyalonje said.Malimba said Monday he could not say when teachers will resume work. However, he said, a meeting between government authorities and teachers’ representatives was under way in the capital Lilongwe, to find the best solution to the strike.
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US Arrests Wife of Mexican Cartel Chief El Chapo on Drug Charges
The wife of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the imprisoned former leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel, was arrested Monday over her alleged involvement in international drug trafficking, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, a regular attendee at her husband’s trial two years ago, was arrested at Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia and is expected to appear in a federal court in Washington on Tuesday. A lawyer for Coronel could not immediately be identified. It was unclear why Coronel, a dual U.S.-Mexico citizen, was in the Washington area. Her arrest came two years after a celebrated trial in Brooklyn, New York, where Guzman, now 63, was convicted of trafficking tons of drugs into the United States as Sinaloa’s leader, where prosecutors said he amassed power through killings and wars with rival cartels. FILE – In this photo provided U.S. law enforcement, authorities escort Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, center, from a plane to a waiting caravan of SUVs at Long Island MacArthur Airport, in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Jan. 19, 2017.He was sentenced in July 2019 to life in prison plus 30 years, which the sentencing judge said reflected his “overwhelmingly evil” actions. He was sent to ADX Florence in Colorado, the nation’s most secure “Supermax” prison. Coronel was charged in a one-count complaint with conspiring to distribute heroin, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamines for unlawful importation into the United States. Prosecutors said Coronel also conspired to aid her husband in his July 2015 escape from the Altiplano prison in Mexico when he dug a mile-long tunnel from his cell and began plotting a second escape following his capture by Mexican authorities in January 2016. FILE – This photo shows the shower area where authorities claim drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman slipped into a tunnel to escape from his prison cell at the Altiplano maximum security prison, in Almoloya, west of Mexico City, July 15, 2015.U.S. and Mexican efforts to fight drug trafficking had become strained when the Justice Department brought drug charges in October against former Mexican Defense Minister Salvador Cienfuegos. The Justice Department unexpectedly dropped that case the following month and let Cienfuegos return to Mexico, in a bid to restore trust in the countries’ security ties. Cienfuegos was exonerated two months later when Mexico dropped its own case. Tomas Guevara, an investigator in security issues at the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, said Coronel’s arrest might be part of a “pressure strategy” to prompt cooperation from Guzman. A Mexican official familiar with Coronel’s case who asked not to be identified said her arrest appeared to be solely a U.S. initiative and that Coronel was not wanted in Mexico.
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Five Takeaways from Merrick Garland’s Confirmation Hearing
Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden’s nominee for attorney general, sat Monday for his first of two days of questioning by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. If confirmed, the 68-year-old federal appellate judge and former nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, will serve as the nation’s top law enforcement officer. Here are five takeaways from Monday’s confirmation hearing. Capitol riot Garland vowed to make an ongoing federal investigation into the January 6 U.S. Capitol siege his “first priority,” calling the riot “the most heinous attack on the democratic processes.” The attack by supporters of former President Donald Trump, which left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer, has led to one of the largest and most complex investigations in the Justice Department’s history. Judge Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden’s pick to be attorney general, answers questions before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill, Feb. 22, 2021.Garland told lawmakers that one of the first things he will do as attorney general is get a briefing on the FBI investigation and ensure prosecutors have the resources they need to do their job. At the same time, he added, “I intend to make sure that we look more broadly, to look at where this is coming from, what other groups there might be that could raise the same problem in the future, and that we protect the American people.” The FBI has charged more than 250 people in connection with the attack and is investigating several hundred more. So far, roughly 30 are known to have ties to extremist groups. A judge on the federal appeals court for the District of Columbia for the past 24 years, Garland has extensive domestic terrorism investigation experience. In the mid-1990s, he led the federal investigation of the Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people. Civil rights Garland said another top priority will be enforcing civil rights laws. Noting that the Justice Department was founded in the aftermath of the Civil War to protect the civil rights guaranteed under three constitutional amendments, Garland said “we do not yet have equal justice.” “Communities of color and other minorities still face discrimination in housing, education, employment and the criminal justice system,” he said in his opening statement. Among other things, he said the Justice Department will hold police departments accountable by investigating misconduct and civil rights violations. Under Trump, the Justice Department all but stopped carrying out such investigations. Garland also said he “strongly supports” new legislation strengthening voting rights. Death penalty Asked whether he supports reinstating a 2003 moratorium on capital punishment, Garland said he was “very concerned” about the large number of people who were sentenced to death and later exonerated, and the disproportionate impact of the death penalty on people of color. In a report released Thursday, the Death Penalty Information Center said 185 death row inmates were wrongfully convicted and later exonerated since the 1970s. Biden is the first U.S. president to oppose the death penalty. Garland said that given Biden’s opposition, it is “not at all unlikely that we will return to the previous” moratorium. The Trump administration resumed capital punishment last year, executing an unprecedented 13 people during Trump’s final six months in office. People’s lawyer FILE – Then-Attorney General William Barr, Dec. 21, 2020.If confirmed, Garland will take the helm of the Justice Department at a time when morale has ebbed following the controversial tenure of Trump’s second attorney general, William Barr. Democrats accused Barr of politicizing the department and serving as Trump’s personal lawyer, an accusation Barr’s defenders reject. In his testimony, Garland stressed the importance of preserving the independence of the attorney general, saying he will “be the lawyer not for any individual but for the people of the United States.” Several Republicans sought Garland’s reassurance that he would not allow politically motivated investigations of the administration’s political enemies. “Absolutely,” Garland said in response to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s question. Hunter Biden, Mueller probe FILE – Hunter Biden, Jan. 30, 2010.Garland will inherit a pair of politically sensitive investigations: a tax fraud investigation of Biden’s son Hunter, and a separate special counsel probe of the origins of the Robert Mueller investigation of Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential election on behalf of Trump. The Biden administration recently said that two Trump-appointed prosecutors leading those two investigations will stay on to complete their probes. Garland said he had “no reason to think that was not the correct decision,” but he declined to commit to not firing them without cause.
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China’s Treatment of Uighurs is Genocide, Canadian Parliament Says
Canada’s parliament passed a nonbinding motion on Monday saying China’s treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region constitutes genocide, putting pressure on Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to follow suit. Canada’s House of Commons voted 266-0 for the motion brought by the opposition Conservative Party. Trudeau and his Cabinet abstained from the vote, although Liberal backbenchers widely backed it. The motion was also amended just before the vote to call on the International Olympic Committee to move the 2022 Winter Olympics from Beijing if the treatment continues. FILE – Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou exits the court registry following the bail hearing at British Columbia Superior Courts in Vancouver, British Columbia, Dec. 11, 2018.Trudeau’s Conservative rivals have been pressuring him to get tougher on China. After Canada arrested Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in 2018 on a U.S. warrant, China detained two Canadians on spying charges, igniting lingering diplomatic tensions between the two countries. China has been widely condemned for setting up complexes in Xinjiang that it describes as “vocational training centers” to stamp out extremism and give people new skills, and which others have called concentration camps. Beijing denies accusations of abuses in Xinjiang. Citing testimony, documents and media reports of human rights abuses against Uighurs, Conservative lawmaker Michael Chong said: “We can no longer ignore this. We must call it for what it is — a genocide.” Trudeau has been reluctant to use the word genocide, suggesting that seeking broad consensus among Western allies on Chinese human rights issues would be the best approach. FILE – Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends a news conference at Rideau Cottage, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Jan. 22, 2021.”Moving forward multilaterally will be the best way to demonstrate the solidarity of Western democracies … that are extremely concerned and dismayed by reports of what’s going on in Xinjiang,” Trudeau said on Friday after speaking to fellow G-7 leaders. Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden will hold a virtual bilateral meeting on Tuesday afternoon, and relations with China are likely to be discussed, a government source said. Former U.S. President Donald Trump, on his last full day in office last month, said China had committed “genocide and crimes against humanity” by repressing Uighur Muslims. The Biden administration is trying to ensure that the genocide declaration is upheld, according to his choice to be ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Cong Peiwu, the Chinese ambassador to Ottawa, denied accusations of genocide. “Western countries are in no position to say what the human rights situation in China looks like,” Cong said in an interview before the vote. “There is no so-called genocide in Xinjiang at all.”
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Britain Outlines Lockdown Exit as Vaccines Show ‘Spectacular’ Results
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced plans Monday to begin easing coronavirus lockdown measures, crediting the country’s rapid vaccination program for allowing Britain to begin reopening March 8. “Two weeks from today, students and pupils from all schools and further education settings can safely return to face-to-face teaching. From the 8th of March, people will also be able to meet one person from outside their household for outdoor recreation,” Johnson told lawmakers in Westminster. Since early January, Britain has been subject to one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, with schools and universities closed, social mixing banned, and all nonessential shops and services forced to close. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
Goats cross a street during COVID-19 lockdowns, as the spread of the coronavirus disease continues, in Llandudno, Wales, Britain, Feb. 22, 2021.He announced a review of restrictions on international travel in April and suggested the government was looking into providing so-called “vaccine passports.” As the prime minister announced the changes Monday, a raft of scientific data appeared to bolster hopes that coronavirus vaccines will provide the key to bringing the global pandemic under control. A review of early evidence from Scotland’s vaccination program led by Edinburgh University suggested both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines are highly effective in preventing hospitalization through COVID-19. A single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine led to an 85% drop in the risk of being hospitalized by COVID-19 after four weeks. For the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine, there was a 94% decline in the risk of hospital admission. Even among people over 80 years old, there was an overall 80% fall in hospitalization among those who had received their first dose. Scientists have called the results “spectacular.” “Getting over 80% protection from severe disease is very impressive,” Professor Lawrence Young, an expert in infectious diseases at Britain’s University of Warwick, said in an interview with VOA. “The best that we get usually from the annual flu jab is 60%.” AstraZeneca vaccine The AstraZeneca drug is a key pillar of Britain’s vaccination program and is seen as vital in the global rollout of vaccines, as it can be stored at regular refrigerator temperatures, eliminating the need for cold-chain transport and storage. However, some European states have cast doubt on its effectiveness. France, Germany and South Korea are among the countries recommending against giving the AstraZeneca vaccine to people over 65. FILE – An employee at the Dunkirk Hospital Center sets up signs to guide patients arriving for the COVID-19 vaccine, in Dunkirk, France, Feb. 17, 2021.There is anecdotal evidence that some patients are refusing the AstraZeneca dose. “I think there’s no reason now for other countries in Europe and beyond to be in any way concerned about the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine in the elderly population,” said Young. However, early data suggests the AstraZeneca vaccine may not be as effective against the South Africa variant of the coronavirus in preventing mild to moderate disease. Scientists say it may still prevent severe cases. There was further encouraging data Monday from Israel, which has given a first vaccine dose to half its population. Research suggests the Pfizer vaccine not only prevents illness but also stops transmission of the virus, which is seen as vital in bringing the pandemic under control.
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Ebola Expert Calls for Vigilance Amid Outbreaks
With the Ebola virus flaring in the Democratic Republic of Congo and a new outbreak in Guinea, Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum is worried.“This is a great concern for us, especially since the COVID and Ebola crises are occurring” simultaneously, said Muyembe, who manages DRC’s National Institute of Biomedical Research and is coordinating his country’s responses to both infectious diseases.A renowned expert on the Ebola virus, the 78-year-old microbiologist sees it as a more urgent threat than COVID-19 in his country. Meanwhile, the pandemic’s official Locations of current Ebola virus disease outbreaks in Guinea and DRC as of Feb. 22, 2021In past Ebola outbreaks, anywhere from 25% to 90% of infected people died, the World Health Organization reports. By comparison, the overall mortality risk of COVID-19, a respiratory disease, is 1% or less, but rises with age and risk factors, according toThe Congolese government’s Ebola response coordinator, Jean-Jacques Muyembe, visits a new Doctors Without Borders Ebola treatment center in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Aug. 6, 2019. (Reuters)New tools to combat EbolaSome positive developments in Ebola prevention and treatment emerged, Muyembe noted, citing vaccines and drug therapies.“We have the tools to vaccinate and to treat the sick. Thus, we break the chain of transmission, and the virus can go back into the forest,” he said.In late 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Ervebo, a one-shot vaccine. Last July, the European Union approved Zabdeno, with a two-dose regimen.Gains also have been made in treatment. Late last year, the FDA approved two therapies for treating Ebola infections: the antibody cocktail Inmazeb and the human monoclonal antibody Ebanga. The DRC institute worked with the U.S. National Institutes of Health to develop the latter, Muyembe said, noting that his team revisited promising research that Western partners had asked them to set aside more than a decade ago.The institute has sent some of the treatment to North Kivu, Muyembe said, and “we will also send some shipments to Guinea to treat the sick. This is something we can do in the framework of African solidarity to help our friends in Guinea.”He added that Congolese health experts also would be sent there.Distribution of the Ebola vaccine is targeted, not widespread, as is planned for COVID-19 vaccines. In part, that is because Ebola spreads through direct contact; COVID can spread from an infected person through droplets that hang in the air and are harder to avoid.“If you’re spending money manufacturing vaccine and getting it into the arms of every person in a given country, that’s money that’s not being spent on something else that’s way more common, like (the) measles vaccine, or even other non-health-related issues,” Tiffany Harris, an epidemiology professor at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, told VOA. Raising awarenessMuyembe made a point of getting a shot in front of news cameras as soon as the Ebola vaccine was available. He will do the same with a COVID-19 vaccine, he said, to bolster public awareness and to allay suspicions of a Western ploy to sterilize or otherwise harm Africans.Misinformation is “amplified here in Africa,” Muyembe said. “It is up to us to convey the true messages of peace and security” to get people “to accept the COVID vaccine. But it’s not easy.”Health authorities have ramped up public awareness campaigns in Ebola-affected areas, joining much broader COVID-19 awareness campaigns on radio, social media and other platforms throughout Africa.“You can end an epidemic, but you cannot end the virus,” Muyembe said of Ebola. “… It can come back, so we have to be vigilant.”Adam Phillips of VOA’s English to Africa Service contributed to this report. Photos uploaded to Voltron:DRCONGO-HEALTH-EBOLA-VACCINATION (AFP 000_1MH6OU)Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum gets inoculated with an Ebola vaccine November 22, 2019, in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. (AFP) (Ebola-Muyembe-Reuters)Congolese government’s Ebola response coordinator Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum visits the new MSF (Doctors Without Borders) Ebola treatment center in Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, August 6, 2019. REUTERS/Baz Ratner Map:Suggested revised text for caption: – Instead of: Current EVD outbreaks in Guinea and DRC – Suggested revise: Locations of current Ebola virus disease outbreaks in Guinea and DRC as of Feb. 22, 2021 On the map itself, can we replace Katwa either with North Kivu or say Katwa, North Kivu
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Thousands Evacuated Amid Floods in Indonesia’s West Java
Thousands of residents are being evacuated on the outskirts of Indonesia’s capital amid flooding after the Citarum River embankment broke, officials said Monday.
Bekasi district in Indonesia’s West Java province have experienced flooding since Saturday because of heavy rain.
“Some embankments are broken, not only from the river embankment but also from the irrigation embankments,” Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said Monday.
Rescuers from the National Search and Rescue Agency have been deployed.
Raditya Jati, spokesperson for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said that more than 28,000 residents in four villages in Bekasi district and 34 villages in Karawang district are affected by the floods. At least 4,184 people are being evacuated.
Thousands of houses in the area are covered with 100 to 250 centimeters (40 to 100 inches) of water and are without power.
Seasonal rains and high tides in recent days have caused dozens of landslides and widespread flooding across much of Indonesia, a chain of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains close to rivers.
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US ‘Outraged’ After Rocket Salvo Slams Baghdad
U.S. officials expressed outrage Monday after a trio of rockets slammed into Baghdad, two of them landing in the city’s fortified Green Zone. Iraqi officials said the Katyusha rockets appeared to have been launched from a nearby neighborhood but that no one was injured. Iraq’s military said four vehicles were damaged, along with some property. Initial reports indicated the rockets that hit inside the Green Zone landed close to the U.S. Embassy and also close to Joint Operations Command, where U.S. military personnel coordinate with the Iraqi military in the fight against the Islamic State terror group. No one claimed immediate responsibility for the attack, which comes just a week after a rocket attack outside Irbil International Airport, in northern Iraq, killed a contractor for the U.S.-led coalition and injured nine others, including a U.S. military member. Rocket Attack in Iraq Kills Coalition ContractorAttack in northern Iraq killed contractor for US-led coalition and injured at least nine other people, drawing international condemnation”We are outraged by the recent attacks,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters Monday. “The Iraqi people have suffered for far too long from this kind of violence, and this violation of their sovereignty.” So far, U.S. officials have refused to assign blame for the attacks, though Saraya Awliya al-Dam, a Shia militia, has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack in Irbil. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Monday that military officials are taking the attacks “very seriously.” “It’s difficult to say with certainty … whether there’s a strategic calculation driving this recent uptick in attacks or whether this is just a continuation of the sorts of attacks we’ve seen in the past,” he said. And while the investigation into the attacks is ongoing, Kirby said, “If and when it’s appropriate to respond, we’ll do so at a time and a place and a manner of our choosing.” A number of U.S. lawmakers have raised concerns that the recent string of rocket attacks, like previous ones, likely was orchestrated by Iran. U.S. defense officials have consistently blamed Iran for being the main driver of instability across the Middle East, but add they are comfortable the number of U.S. troops in the region are sufficient to deal with the threat. “Broadly, what we have said is that we will hold Iran responsible by the attacks, by the provocations of its proxies,” the State Department’s Price told reporters. “What we will not do is lash out and risk escalation that plays into the hands of Iran and contributes to their attempts to further destabilize Iraq.” VOA’s Nike Ching, State Department correspondent, contributed to this report.
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Sudan Devalues Currency in Hopes of Righting Economy
Sudan’s central bank has sharply devalued its currency, the Sudanese pound, in an attempt to get debt relief, crack down on the black market, and attract money back to the country. The bank unified the price of the currency with the black market at 370 pounds for one U.S. dollar. Sudan’s annual inflation rate is more than 300%, one of the world’s highest, and sparked protests over the struggling economy. The government says the decision is aimed at attracting investments and controlling imports and exports. Khartoum-based economist Abubakr Omer welcomed the government’s decision. Omer says it is a positive step and it is necessary to reform the Sudanese economy. Unifying the exchange price shall lead to stabilizing the exchange rate and encourage the investors to invest in Sudan. Investments shall create movement in the Sudanese resources that need big capital for production… and open doors for Sudan to get involved in the international economy by utilizing its natural resources. Sudan’s foreign debt reached $70 billion in 2020, and the budget deficit exceeded $1.5 billion. The inflation rate recently surpassed 300 percent, and the Sudanese pound has steadily lost value against foreign currencies. Some economists like Waleed Alnoor think the step to devalue the pound is risky and will have a severe negative impact on people and the economy. He says the devaluation will be massive if the central bank does not have enough cash savings of the hard currency. He added that the greatest impact will be on the middle class and the people with low income. But analyst Abubakr Mohamed says the effects on average people will be small, as the official economy was not controlled by the market. A street vendor displays shirts at a market in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Feb. 21, 2021.He says the does not think the negative impact will be big, as the economy was not built on the official economy. All of the markets dealing prices, especially the imports and the exports and imported life necessities, were evaluated with the black market rate. Now the official sector and institutions will be rid of the political and administrative restrictions that forced them to set unreal prices on the market.Late last year, the U.S. removed Sudan from its state sponsors of terrorism list, paving the way for the country to get financial help from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. US Rescinds Sudan’s Designation as State Sponsor of Terror Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says move a result of nation’s ‘historic democratic transition’A delegation of the World Bank recently visited Sudan and agreed to begin a loan relief program in March if Sudan made economical and structural reforms.
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Virginia Governor Says He Will Sign Bill to Repeal Death Penalty
State lawmakers gave final approval Monday to legislation that will end capital punishment in Virginia, a dramatic turnaround for a state that has executed more people in its history than any other.The legislation repealing the death penalty now heads to Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, who has said he will sign it into law, making Virginia the 23rd state to stop executions.Virginia’s Democratic majority, in control of the General Assembly for a second year, pushed the repeal effort, arguing that the death penalty has been applied disproportionately to people of color, the mentally ill and the indigent. Republicans raised concerns about justice for victims and their family members and said there are some crimes that are so heinous that the perpetrators deserve to be executed.Both the House and Senate approved separate repeal bills earlier this month. On Monday, the Senate approved the House bill, advancing it to Northam on a 22-16 vote. Republican Sen. Jill Vogel joined with Democrats in the chamber in voting for passage. Later Monday, the House voted 57-43 to approve the Senate version, which is identical to the House bill.Historically, Virginia has used the death penalty more than any other state, executing nearly 1,400 people since its days as a colony, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, Virginia, with 113 executions, is second only to Texas. Only two men remain on Virginia’s death row. Anthony Juniper was sentenced to death in the 2004 slayings of his ex-girlfriend, two of her children, and her brother. Thomas Porter was sentenced to die for the 2005 killing of a Norfolk police officer. The repeal legislation would convert their sentences to life in prison without parole.
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Britain Bans Boeing Aircraft Model that Caught Fire in US
British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps says Boeing 777 aircraft with engines like the one that caught fire on a U.S. jet over the weekend will be temporarily banned from Britain.After issues this weekend, Boeing B777s with Pratt & Whitney 4000-112 series engines will be temporarily banned from entering the UK airspace. I will continue to work closely with the @UK_CAA to monitor the situation.— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) February 22, 2021The announcement Monday comes two days after United Airlines Flight 328 suffered the engine failure shortly after leaving Denver International Airport, in Colorado, en route to Honolulu, Hawaii. Large chunks of debris rained onto the neighboring town of Broomfield, Colorado, falling into yards, fields and onto homes. No injuries were reported on the ground or on the flight, which had about 240 people on board. The pilot was able to return safely to Denver.The aircraft was powered by Pratt & Whitney 4000 series engines. United Will Temporarily Stop Flying Some Boeing 777 Planes After Engine FailureThe announcement came after the Federal Aviation Administration said it would require stepped-up inspections of 777 aircraft with Pratt & Whitney PW4000 series engines after the right engine failure on United Flight 328According to the British Civil Aviation Authority, British airlines do not operate aircraft with such engines. Foreign airlines that do operate such aircraft will not be allowed to enter British airspace for the time being.“After the Pratt & Whitney 4000-112 engine incident on a Boeing 777 aircraft, we have suspended this configuration’s use in U.K. airspace,” the CAA said in a statement. “It is not used by any U.K. airlines. It is operated by airlines in the USA, Japan and South Korea where authorities have also stopped its use.”United also announced it is “voluntarily and temporarily” grounding 24 Boeing 777 aircraft. “We will continue to work closely with regulators to determine any additional steps,” the airline said on Twitter.The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said, “The initial examination of the airplane indicated most of the damage was confined to the number 2 engine; the airplane sustained minor damage. The examination and documentation of the airplane is ongoing.” The NTSB also says the cockpit voice and flight data recorders have been taken to its laboratory in Washington for analysis.The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, also called for “stepped-up inspections” of Boeing 777 airplanes equipped with certain Pratt & Whitney engines.
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Tanzania President Creeps Toward Acknowledging Presence of COVID-19
Tanzania’s President John Magufuli appears to be acknowledging the problem of COVID-19 in the country, after months of claiming the virus had been defeated through prayer and steam treatments. While not specifically naming the virus, Magufuli on Sunday urged Tanzanians to begin wearing face masks for “respiratory” illnesses that are becoming a problem.It is almost a year since Magufuli declared his country to be free from COVID-19 and said prayer helped to defeat the virus.COVID-19 Cases Increase in Tanzania, Despite Government DenialResidents and doctors point to a growing number of illnesses and deaths; opposition politicians say government’s stance is endangering livesBut on a Sunday church mass in the capital Dodoma, Magufuli urged citizens to take precautions including traditional remedies and wear face masks – but only locally made ones.We should take health precautions as it was announced, Magufuli said. He said we should put God first, while searching for an alternative, in line with steam inhalation. He said that his own children got sick, some of his little ones got sick and they recovered. It’s all about putting God first, he said, adding that steam inhalation should not be ignored.At the end of last week, Magufuli called on citizens for three days of prayer to defeat unnamed respiratory diseases amid warnings from the Catholic church, the U.S. embassy and others that Tanzania is seeing a deadly resurgence in coronavirus infections.Tanzanians such as Baraka Kila found President’s remarks unsettling.Kila says at first they were convinced that it really did not exist. But looking at social networks like Twitter and Facebook, various people were posting about deaths caused by a coronavirus and it was causing a lot of controversies and the government disagreed. To a large extent, he says, we must continue to believe that some of the deaths that occurred were caused by COVID-19. We are scared because when the president admits the existence of coronavirus, it means it has spread a lot, adds Kila.Tanzania’s President Criticized for Dismissing COVID-19 Vaccines John Magufuli claimed that Tanzanians vaccinated abroad had brought a coronavirus variant back to the country and repeated his stance that praying and inhaling steam offered better protection against the virusRecho Nzengo, a student at the University of Dar es Salaam, says the move will awaken those who were not taking the virus seriously in Tanzania.After the president spoke, she thinks Tanzanians will start to protect themselves. She says that people have been squeezing into community buses without taking precautions. Nzengo adds that she thinks it’s a good thing that yesterday Magufuli talked; people will start to protect themselves because we see people dying every day and they say that there is no disease.Maguful spoke after the death of the vice president of the Zanzibar region, Seif Sharif Hamad. Hamad’s death drew widespread attention after his party said he had died of COVID-19.Tanzania has refused to track coronavirus cases, so there are no figures on how many people have fallen ill or died from the virus. However, other East African countries have experienced thousands of cases, and there is no reason to think Tanzania has been spared.The president’s speech may change people’s perceptions and prompt doubters of COVID-19 to take serious precautions for the first time.
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Italians Look to ‘Super Mario’ as Pandemic Patience Wears Thin
Can Europe’s former central banker Mario Draghi, and now Italy’s new prime minister, do whatever it takes to save the country? Last week, the former European Central Bank governor Draghi was sworn in as Italy’s new prime minister as head of a unity government following the collapse of the previous governing coalition last month.Draghi, who has the backing of all of Italy’s main parties, except for a far-right one, managed to guide Europe through a sovereign debt and bond crisis ten years ago by buying up sovereign debit and reassuring the markets with a pledge to do whatever it took to save the embattled euro.But Draghi, who the Italian press nickname “Super Mario,” will need all his famed political savvy and diplomatic skill to accomplish what his predecessors failed to pull off — shake the country out of a dangerous economic malaise, say analysts.He has entered office in a position of strength: he has the support of a broad coalition that should be able to maneuver legislation through Italy’s notoriously fractious parliament with ease. He has high approval ratings in the opinion polls and he has an estimated $242 billion in grants and loans from the European Commission to spend on post-pandemic economic recovery. Divisions over how to spend that money was the immediate cause of the collapse of the previous squabbling government. Italian stocks soared with Draghi’s arrival into power and Italy’s borrowing costs on the open bond market have fallen with investors much happier to lend to a country with “Super Mario” at the helm. And the 73-year-old Draghi made a well-received emotional appeal in his maiden speech as prime minister last week, saying, “Unity is not an option, unity is a duty. But it is a duty guided by what I am sure unites us all: love for Italy.”His cabinet, too, which features a sprinkling of respected technocrats among the politicians, including Daniele Franco from Italy’s central bank as the new finance minister, has also been praised. Matteo Renzi, a former center-left prime minister who triggered the political crisis that led to Draghi’s appointment, says the cabinet is “of a high level.”But Draghi inherits an economy in collapse. Italy’s Draghi Urges Unity, Sacrifice in Fighting the Virus Draghi vowed an environmentally conscious and digitally reformed government program in a 50-minute speech before the Senate, which came ahead of a mandatory confidence vote later in the dayTroubles predate COVIDWhen the pandemic struck last year Italy still had not recovered from the 2008 global financial crash. In 2019, economic output grew by an anemic 0.3% over the previous year. Unemployment — especially among the young — has remained stubbornly high, the country’s bureaucracy is hidebound and layers of regulations discourage the opening of new businesses, say analysts and economists. Firing is difficult in Italy, deterring employers from taking on new staff, encouraging them to rely instead on short-term contracted workers, who enjoy few, if any, benefits.But before Draghi can grapple with the economic challenges the country faces, his government still has to suppress the coronavirus pandemic and to get a sluggish inoculation campaign moving much faster. It was exactly a year ago that two of Italy’s most productive and wealthiest regions started to lock down and one of Draghi’s first duties this week was to announce the government needed to extend a ban on people traveling between regions until late March because coronavirus cases in Italy are rising again. The surge in cases is in large part due to the rapid transmission of the more infectious British variant, which is likely to become the dominant strain in the country, say epidemiologists. Despite the jump in cases, frustrated Italians ignored official appeals to stay home and went out Sunday to enjoy the emergence of mild weather with crowds milling in streets and parks and gathering at seafronts in several cities. As of Sunday, Italy had registered 95,718 coronavirus deaths from 2.9 million cases. “I’m worried,” Massimo Galli, a specialist at the Sacco de Milan hospital, told Il Messaggero newspaper. “To be honest, all the data is going in the direction of a rise in new cases,” he said.The longer the pandemic lasts, the more economic damage piles up, making Draghi’s job even more daunting. The question, say analysts, is whether Italians will remain patient, not only with pandemic curbs and restrictions but with “Super Mario.” Marco Valli, an economist at Italy’s Unicredit Bank, says politicians know what reforms are needed to boost productivity and economic growth. “The question is, Will Draghi be able to fast-track the badly needed ones?” he asks.Draghi is not the first technocrat asked to dig Italy out of its economic hole — nor is he the first to be feted on arrival. In 2011, the respected economist and former EU commissioner Mario Monti was picked to head a largely technocratic government as yields on Italian government bonds soared and the country’s borrowing costs sky-rocketed, prompting fears Italy would join Greece in economic collapse. Monti managed to steady the country and introduced reforms, cutting public sector costs and slashing pensions. But his government lasted 18 months and many of the reforms he introduced were subsequently reversed. Draghi has promised to overhaul Italy’s byzantine tax system, to help boost female employment and to reform public administration. And much of his focus, he says, will be on structural reform and making Italy’s economy much greener and more sustainable — that has earned praise in Brussels. But how long political unity lasts is open to questions, say analysts. An ominous sign came last week when a fifth of the lawmakers of Italy’s hybrid anti-establishment Five Star Movement, which is part of the new governing coalition, withheld approving his appointment.
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Uganda Opposition Leader Bobi Wine Accuses Court of Bias, Withdraws Election Petition
Ugandan opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, better known by his stage name Bobi Wine, says he will withdraw his petition at the Supreme Court challenging January’s re-election of President Yoweri Museveni. Wine alleged bias in the court toward Museveni, who has ruled Uganda since 1986, and said his side was not being allowed to present evidence of fraud in the vote.In announcing his decision Monday, Wine said authorities had blocked his attempt to present a case, citing the police lockdown of his party’s offices, and the military denying access to his lawyers and officials of his National Unity Platform party.He also accused the Supreme Court of rejecting as many as 200 affidavits.A patrol car of the Ugandan police is seen stationed outside the compound of opposition leader Bobi WIne on Jan. 20, 2021.Wine said this is a sign the judiciary does not intend to serve justice in the matter and they would not participate in what he called mockery to justice.“The Supreme Court said, we could only submit, in this our petition, for 30 minutes. Now, that was clear, one, the Supreme Court did not want this matter to attract so much attention. So, for that matter, for the reasons we’ve given above, we have decided to withdraw from their court. The courts are not independent; it’s clear that these people are working for Mr. Museveni,” he said.Through his lawyers, Wine filed the petition February 1st seeking to nullify the election that saw President Museveni win a sixth term with 58 percent of the votes.They also asked the court to ensure that Museveni can never run again in an election, accusing him of orchestrating violence, using soldiers to pre-tick ballots and invade polling stations.Jameson Karemani, the court registrar, said the court is not bothered by Wine’s allegations of favoritism.He said once the court receives the application to withdraw the petition, judges will decide on the matter, but it will be conditional.“Conditional in the sense that, you filed a petition and served it on other parties, the parties had to go out of their way to prepare themselves for your petition. Now you have withdrawn it; they have incurred costs. So, the condition may be for you to be asked to pay the costs,” said Karemani.Last week, President Museveni, the electoral commission and the attorney general, filed a total of 185 affidavits in response to the 53 grounds raised by NUP lawyers.Oscar Kihika, Museveni’s lawyer, said officials will wait for Wine’s application.“He’s made the announcement; we have heard it. What for us we do as the legal team on the other side is to wait for the application to be filed and served on us as required by the law,” said the lawyer.Wine said the matter will now be presented before what he calls the people’s court, meaning the court of public opinion.
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UN, Rights Groups Pan Malaysia’s Plans to Deport Myanmar Nationals
The United Nations and rights groups are urging Malaysia to reconsider its plans to repatriate some 1,200 Myanmar nationals on Tuesday, saying they include asylum seekers and registered refugees whose lives will be put at risk.Myanmar’s military has been waging a brutal counterinsurgency against a patchwork of ethnic-minority rebel armies since the country’s independence in 1948, a struggle that has scattered thousands of refugees across the region. The military took full control of the country after toppling the democratically elected government on Feb. 1, sparking widespread protests and an increasingly violent crackdown.News of Malaysia’s plans to send the Myanmar nationals in its detention depots back home broke just over a week ago. On Feb. 15, via state-run news outlet Bernama, Malaysia’s immigration chief, Khairul Dzaimee Daud, said they were all picked up for immigration offenses and that none held a U.N.-issued refugee card.The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, however, says it has registered at least half a dozen of them.“That means…at some point their claims have been assessed by us and they’ve been verified to be in need of international protection,” Yante Ismail, spokeswoman for the UNHCR’s country team, told VOA on Monday.She said the UNHCR received names of detainees from members of the Myanmar community in Malaysia and cross-referenced them with its own records of registered refugees. The list of names is incomplete, so the agency believes there may be more refugees among them.“We have not received approval from immigration authorities to access detainees in immigration detention centers, and so we are concerned that there may be others of concern to UNHCR in the group,” Ismail said.“As a matter of urgency, we have asked the authorities that all individuals in need of international protection should not be deported to a situation where their lives or freedom may be at risk,” she added.A spokesman for Malaysia’s Immigration Department did not answer VOA’s call on Monday.Malaysia does not officially recognize refugees from any country, but authorities have typically allowed the U.N. to issue them cards meant to grant them some protection from being arbitrarily deported.Of the nearly 179,000 refugees whom the UNHCR had registered in Malaysia as of December, 154,000 were from Myanmar.FILE – Rohingya refugees wearing protective masks keep a social distance wait to receive goods from volunteers, during the outbreak of COVID-19, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 7, 2020.Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other groups echo the U.N.’s concerns and want Malaysia to postpone its plans to send back the Myanmar nationals at least until the U.N. can vet them properly.The groups have voiced concern that some of those being deported may not have had their U.N.-issued cards with them when they were picked up and say others had applied for asylum but were yet to have their claims assessed.“We’re also concerned that there are some minors in the group who in fact have parents who are outside of the detention camp who are in Malaysia, which means that deporting them is going to cause separation between the child and the parent, at least one parent, in some cases two,” said Lilianne Fan, a co-chair of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network.“We do have strong reason to believe that there are unaccompanied minors as well,” she told VOA.Fan said sending the detainees back to a Myanmar being run unchecked by a military well known for crushing protests with punishing force would put them all at risk, but especially those who had fled to escape the military to begin with.For them, she said, “The risk is even greater now because that same military that they were running away from is now in charge of the entire country.”Fan said she was working with Amnesty International and others to ask Malaysia’s courts for a last-minute injunction that would stop the deportations, even as they received reports that authorities had started transferring the group to the coast to board ships bound for home.The Reuters news agency has reported that a fleet of Myanmar-flagged ships was already anchored off Malaysia’s Lumut naval base to pick them up. The dilemma is not Malaysia’s alone.The Bangkok Post reported in recent days that Thailand’s immigration authorities have put a hold on plans to repatriate 140 Myanmar nations detained there because of the coup.“We’re hoping that Malaysia could follow suit,” said Fan.
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