White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the White House, March 18, 2021, in Washington.“In the coming weeks, the administration will meet with AAPI leaders to hear their input in how we can play the most constructive role possible in the community,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Tuesday. “And the president raised — because he felt it was imperative to elevate — the continuing threats, the hate speech, and the violence against the Asian American community in his speech he gave during a primetime address a week ago.”The White House was surprised recently to find itself facing criticism from prominent Asian American lawmakers in the president’s own party for a lack of representation. The comments followed a pair of shootings by the same gunman in Atlanta, Georgia, in which six Asian American women were among those killed. The attacks on three day spas prompted community protests there and in other U.S. cities.The administration thought it had secured credibility among Asian Americans with Biden’s selection of Kamala Harris, whose mother emigrated from India, as his running mate and now vice president.“The folks in the administration actually brought up her name and said, ‘Well, you have Kamala, you don’t need really any other Asians in the cabinet,’” Senator Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., asks a question on Capitol Hill, Oct. 29, 2019, during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing.Duckworth, of Illinois, and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii — both Democrats — have been the most vocal members of Congress expressing concern about the lack ethnic Asian representation in the Biden administration at a time of a rising number of attacks reported on members of the AAPI community.The two senators had vowed to oppose further Biden nominees until a significant plan was unveiled to address Asian American issues.The threat was dropped after Duckworth said the White House last week made a commitment to appoint a senior White House official focused on Asian American issues.The community will be closely watching to see if the person appointed by Biden has the clout and experience — and is given resources — to adequately address its concerns, Le, of the Truman National Security Project, told VOA on Tuesday.“I would say there’s sort of a palpable fear in the air and this is reaching an existential crisis for many communities across the country,” said Le, who was a deputy cabinet secretary to former California Governor Jerry Brown.The crime wave against Asian Americans is continuing with two brutal new assaults in New York City, which were recorded on video. Police say they are investigating the attacks as hate crimes.In one of the attacks, in which a lone assailant kicked in the stomach a 65-year-old Asian woman, bystanders failed to intervene.FILE – Mayor Bill de Blasio, left, holds a press conference in New York, Feb. 26, 2020.The video revealed an act that was “absolutely disgusting and outrageous,” said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio who called it “absolutely unacceptable” that witnesses did not try to help the woman. “If you see someone being attacked, do whatever you can.”A nonprofit organization connecting Asian Americans to digital organizing, 18 Million Rising, said while it is “glad to see the Biden administration acknowledge and condemn the rise in anti-Asian violence” it disagrees “with some of the proposed responses shared in today’s statement” by the White House.The group, in a statement to VOA, expressed concern that “anti-Asian violence and xenophobia are being met with increased funding for law enforcement by the Biden administration,” pointing out that numerous progressive Asian American organizations are “demanding community-centered solutions instead of increased funding and training for the FBI and other law enforcement.”One in four Asian Americans has experienced a hate incident, while more than two-thirds have been asked “where they’re really from,” according to a poll from Survey Monkey and AAPI Data published Tuesday.“I don’t think people are going to just take it anymore,” said Le. “You’re seeing that sort of awakening, partly from the recent election cycles, but also an acknowledgement it’s no longer okay to just to be happy with what you’re offered, it’s that you really have to fight to be at the table and that goes not just politically but also just in your day-to-day living.”There are about 20 million Asian Americans in the United States — nearly 6% of the total population.One encouraging sign for the AAPI community is the inclusion of several Asian Americans among federal judicial nominees announced Tuesday by the White House.“Two were previously nominated in the Obama administration, and we believe that they would contribute immediately to the federal bench,” John Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, said in statement to VOA.“At the same time, we continue to press the Biden administration to ensure that Asian Americans are represented in the senior-most levels of the federal government.”
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Month: March 2021
Blinken on State Department’s 2020 Report: Human Rights Trending in ‘Wrong Direction’
The State Department released its annual country report on human rights on Tuesday. The report examines how nations treat their citizens from the voting booth to the workplace. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports. Produced by: Arash Arabasadi
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US Orders Departure of Non-Essential Diplomats from Myanmar
The U.S. State Department has ordered the departure of non-essential diplomats from Myanmar, it said in a statement Tuesday, amid a crackdown on protesters that has killed hundreds since the country’s military coup began.Daily rallies across Myanmar by unarmed demonstrators demanding the restoration of the elected government and the release of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi have been met with tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds.”The Burmese military has detained and deposed elected government officials. Protests and demonstrations against military rule have occurred and are expected to continue,” the State Department said in a statement, using Myanmar’s former name of Burma.’Ordered departure’In mid-February, the State Department authorized a “voluntary departure of non-emergency U.S. government employees and their family members,” the statement said, adding that the department had “updated that status to ordered departure.”The civilian death toll from the military’s crackdown has now passed 520, with world powers ramping up their condemnation of the military’s campaign in the wake of its February 1 coup.”The Department of State made the decision to authorize ordered departure from Burma because the safety and security of U.S. government personnel and their dependents, as well as private U.S. citizens is the department’s highest priority,” a spokesperson said.Review after 30 daysThe ordered departure status will be reviewed in 30-day increments, the spokesperson added.The U.S., Britain and the EU have all imposed sanctions in response to the coup and crackdown, but so far diplomatic pressure has not persuaded the generals to ease off.
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State TV: Iran Rejects Ending 20% Enrichment Before US Lifts Sanctions
Iran will not stop its 20% uranium enrichment before the United States lifts all sanctions, Iranian state TV quoted an unnamed official as saying on Tuesday, as Washington considered ways to jump-start nuclear talks. The Biden administration has been seeking to engage Iran in talks about both sides resuming compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. The agreement removed economic sanctions on Tehran in return for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program to make it harder to develop a nuclear weapon — an ambition Tehran denies. “A senior Iranian official tells Press TV that Tehran will stop its 20-percent uranium enrichment only if the U.S. lifts ALL its sanctions on Iran first,” state-run Press TV said on its website. “The official said Tehran will further reduce its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal if the U.S. does not lift all sanctions, warning that Washington is rapidly running out of time,” it added. Separately, Iran’s United Nations mission tweeted, “No proposal is needed for the U.S. to rejoin the JCPOA (nuclear agreement). It only requires a political decision by the U.S. to fully and immediately implement all of its obligations under the accord.” Asked if it still planned to submit a proposal to bring Iran back to the table, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Tuesday that “we remain committed to pursuing a diplomatic process to determine a way forward. Sometimes, that takes some time.” Politico earlier reported a U.S. proposal, the details of which it said were still being worked out, would ask Iran to halt some of its nuclear activities, such as work on advanced centrifuges and the enrichment of uranium to 20% purity, in exchange for some relief from U.S. economic sanctions. Former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018 and reimposed U.S. sanctions. Iran, after waiting more than a year, retaliated by violating some of the pact’s nuclear restrictions, including a 3.67% limit on the purity to which it can enrich uranium.
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Global Human Rights Abuses Were Pervasive in 2020, US Concludes
Human rights abuses abounded across the globe in 2020, the U.S. State Department concluded Tuesday in its annual review of how the world’s governments treat their people.“The trend lines on human rights continue to move in the wrong direction,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters.Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks about the release of the “2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,” at the State Department in Washington, March 30, 2021.Commenting on the report, Blinken also said the coronavirus pandemic led to “unique challenges” throughout the world, with some governments using “the crisis as a pretext to restrict rights and consolidate authoritarian rule.”“Women and children faced heightened risk as the prevalence of gender-based and domestic violence increased due to lockdowns and the loss of traditional social protections,” the top U.S. diplomat said about the country-by-country look at human rights.He said that “other marginalized populations,” including older people, those with disabilities and the lesbian, gay and transgender communities “experienced particular vulnerability.”The report, authorized by Congress to assess conditions in countries where the U.S. is sending foreign aid, did not analyze human rights conditions in the U.S., such as last year’s street protests against police abuse of minorities or unfounded complaints by former President Donald Trump that voting irregularities led to his reelection loss to Democrat Joe Biden.Blinken said Biden’s new administration “has placed human rights front and center in its foreign policy,” while it recognizes “there is work to be done at home,” as the country strives “to live up to our highest ideals and principles.””We all have work to do, and we must use every tool available to foster a more peaceful and just world.”A protester from the Uyghur community living in Turkey, holds an anti-China placard during a protest in Istanbul, March 25, against the visit of China’s FM Wang Yi to Turkey.But overseas, Blinken said, “too many people continued to suffer under brutal conditions in 2020.”He cited numerous countries the U.S. considers offenders of basic human rights.“In China, government authorities committed genocide against Uyghurs, who are predominantly Muslim, and crimes against humanity, including imprisonment, torture, enforced sterilization, and persecution against Uyghurs and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups,” Blinken said.The report on China said Beijing “continued to imprison citizens for reasons related to politics and religion. Human rights organizations estimated tens of thousands of political prisoners remained incarcerated, most in prisons and some in administrative detention. The government did not grant international humanitarian organizations access to political prisoners.”Protesters gather to mark the 10th anniversary of the start of the Syrian conflict, in opposition-held Idlib, Syria, March 15, 2021.Blinken contended that atrocities sanctioned by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “continued unabated, and this year marks 10 years of their struggles to live in dignity and freedom.”He said the war in Yemen “has driven millions to extreme humanitarian need, preventing them from exercising many of their basic rights.”Blinken said the Russian government “has targeted political dissidents and peaceful protesters, while official corruption remained rampant.”The U.S. diplomatic chief said that in Nicaragua, the “corrupt” regime of President Daniel Ortega “passed increasingly repressive laws that limit severely the ability of opposition political groups, civil society and independent media to operate.”FILE – Riot police prepare to disperse protesters during a rally against Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s government in Managua, Nicaragua, Feb. 25, 2020.The report said that in Nicaragua, “the government continued to hold 106 political prisoners as of December, nine of them in solitary confinement. Political prisoners were kept together with common criminals.”The State Department review said that “advocacy groups (working in Nicaragua) reported that prison authorities instigated quarrels between the general prison population and political prisoners by blaming political prisoners for any withheld privileges, often resulting in violence. Human rights organizations received several reports of political prisoners being beaten, threatened, held in solitary confinement for weeks, and suffering from poor ventilation and poisoned or contaminated food and water.”A man arrested for protesting over human rights abuses makes a court appearance in leg irons in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sept, 14, 2020.Elsewhere, Blinken said that in Cuba, “government restrictions continued to suppress the freedoms of expression, association, religion or belief, and movement. State-sanctioned violence in Zimbabwe against civil society activists, labor leaders, and opposition members continued a culture of impunity,” while gay and transgender people “continued to be vulnerable to violence, discrimination, and harassment due to criminalization and stigma associated with same-sex sexual conduct.”In Turkmenistan, Blinken said, “Citizens criticizing the government faced possible arrest for treason, and the whereabouts of more than 100 political prisoners remain unknown.”He concluded that “these and other ongoing rights abuses cause untold damage well beyond the borders of any single country; unchecked human rights abuses anywhere can contribute to a sense of impunity everywhere.”
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US Olympics Committee Sets Rules for Protests at US Olympic Trials
Athletes competing in the U.S. Olympic trials can protest, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) said Tuesday, including kneeling or raising a clenched fist on the podium or at the start line during the national anthem. In a detailed document, the USOPC outlined a wide range of ways athletes can advocate for racial and social justice but drew the line at what will be unacceptable, including wearing a hat or face mask with a hate symbol or hate speech on it. In an open letter sent to Team USA athletes, USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland said the organization “values the voices of athletes and believes that their right to advocate for racial and social justice as a positive force for change aligns with the fundamental values of equality that define Team USA and the Olympic and Paralympic movements.” FILE – United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland listens during a briefing with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Los Angeles 2028 organizers in Beverly Hills, Calif., Feb. 18, 2020.The USOPC made it clear that the guidelines are only meant for the U.S. Olympic trials and not the Tokyo Olympics, which are scheduled to open on July 23. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has its own guidelines with Rule 50 prohibiting protests and demonstrations. The USOPC said guidance for the Tokyo Games will be published separately in the coming months once the IOC issues its updated policies. Current IOC rules say, “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.” The relaxing of rules is an about face for the USOPC which sanctioned two athletes for protesting police brutality and racial injustice during medal presentations at the 2019 Pan Am Games in Lima. Fencer Race Imboden knelt during the national anthem while hammer thrower Gwen Berry raised her fist. The USOPC later placed both athletes on 12-month probations. Under new guidelines, these demonstrations will be acceptable. Athletes will also be allowed to wear a hat or mask with messages such as “Black Lives Matter” or “equality” or “justice” and use their voices outside trials venues in other forums such as social media and the press.
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Tanzanian Police: 45 Killed in Stampede at Last Week’s Magufuli Memorial
Tanzanian police said Tuesday that 45 people were killed in a stampede last week at a public viewing of the body of late President John Magufuli. The fatalities were much higher than the five originally reported.The March 21 stampede was triggered when a wall collapsed after some people climbed it to view Magufuli’s body at Uhuru Stadium outside Dar es Salaam, according to the city’s police chief, Lazaro Mambosasa.Mambosasa said some of the mourners died of oxygen starvation due to overcrowding at the memorial service.Magufulii died of heart failure on March 17, the government said, although opposition leaders maintain he died of complications from COVID-19.The late president was among Africa’s most prominent skeptics of the coronavirus pandemic, drawing criticism from some African and foreign health experts.Magufuli shunned the use of face masks, vaccinations and lockdown measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.Despite the criticism, many Tanzanians applauded him for his contentious leadership style and efforts to root out government corruption.Former Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan succeeded Magufuli, becoming Tanzania’s first female president.She nominated Finance Minister Philip Mpango on Tuesday as vice president. His nomination was unanimously supported by members of Parliament.
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UN Scaling Up Aid for Victims of Brutal Attack in Mozambique
The UN.’s International Organization for Migration said Tuesday that more than 3,360 deeply traumatized survivors of last week’s massacre in Palma District in northern Mozambique have arrived in Pemba, the capital of Cabo Delgado province, and many more reportedly are on the way. IOM spokesman Paul Dillon said they have been arriving by foot, bus, plane and boat. He said many fled with nothing but the clothes they were wearing. “Our staff on the ground have been told that many of those evacuated saw their family members being killed, that they hid in the forest for days to evade the armed men who attacked their communities,” Dillon said. “Others, of course, do not know where their family members are. They reported also that many homes were destroyed.” Dozens of civilians were reportedly killed by Islamist militants who attacked Palma on March 24. Aid agencies report the situation there remains very volatile. Communications have been cut, so information is hard to get. An insurgency that broke out in Cabo Delgado in October 2017 by Islamist militants to establish an Islamist state has since developed into a humanitarian crisis. It has displaced some 700,000 civilians, half of them children.U.N. Children’s Fund spokeswoman in Pemba, Marixie Mercado, said UNICEF teams were at Pemba airport Monday to receive children evacuated from Afungi, a district in Palma.“There were at least seven children on that plane who were completely alone. All the children are disoriented and afraid,” she said. “Many had spent days hiding in the bush without food and water. There were some terrible scenes. One injured girl, around five years old, was carried off the plane moaning in pain. We cannot confirm her age, because she was so traumatized all she could say was her name.” Mercado said Pemba Provincial Hospital is doing its best to care for injured children. Aid agencies are rushing emergency supplies to the area. The World Health Organization reports it has enough medical supplies in the province to support the population for now. The World Food Program is providing emergency food aid and is pre-positioning thousands of response ration kits in the southern parts of Mozambique’s Palma District. The U.N. Humanitarian Air Service, which is run by WFP is providing an air bridge to transport critical supplies and staff and to evacuate civilians from Palma. Other U.N. and private agencies also are contributing essential material relief, as well as protection and crucial psychosocial counseling to help the many victims of this brutal attack deal with their ongoing distress.
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Turkey’s Reliance on Chinese COVID-19 Vaccines Seen as Gamble
Turkey’s announcement of new restrictions in the face of surging COVID-19 infections is putting the spotlight on Ankara’s decision to rely almost solely on Chinese vaccines. With those deliveries repeatedly delayed, there is growing suspicion Beijing could be using the vaccines as leverage — as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.Producer: Jon Spier
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More Demonstrators Killed in Myanmar Anti-Coup Protests
Two more people were killed as thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators took to the streets again Tuesday in Myanmar’s largest city of Yangon and in several other towns to oppose military rule of the country since the Feb. 1 coup.
Myanmar security forces have since killed at least 512 civilians, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Trash piled up at intersections in Yangon as protesters launched a garbage strike and security forces reportedly fatally shot a man in the southern town of Kawthaung and killed another person in the northern town of Myitkyina.
Three of the country’s armed ethnic rebel groups, meanwhile, threatened the junta Tuesday with retaliation if it does not stop killing protesters.
“If they do not stop and continue to kill the people, we will cooperate with the protestors and fight back,” the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Army said in a joint statement.
On Monday, security forces killed 14 people during demonstrations in towns across the country following the deadliest weekend since the February military coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP.)
Eight of the deaths that took place Monday occurred in Myanmar’s main city, Yangon, according to AAPP.
Protests took place Monday throughout the country, including in Sagaing region, where hundreds of mourners lined the street to pay tribute to a 20-year-old nursing student who was shot and killed Sunday while helping provide aid to injured protesters. Anti-coup protesters march during a rally in Kalay, Sagaing region, Myanmar, March 30, 2021. (Credit: Citizen journalist via VOA Burmese Service)The United Nations say Myanmar’s security forces killed at least 107 people Saturday as the regime staged a major show of might for Armed Forces Day, which commemorates the start of local resistance to the Japanese occupation during World War II. AAPP puts Saturday’s death toll at 141.
“What has happened on the national day of armed forces was horrendous,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at a news conference Monday.
“It is absolutely unacceptable to see violence against people at such high levels. So many people killed, and such a stubborn refusal to accept the need to liberate all political prisoners and to make the country go back to a serious democratic transition,” he said.
Also Monday, the United States suspended a trade agreement with Myanmar, also known as Burma, until democracy is restored in the country.
“The United States supports the people of Burma in their efforts to restore a democratically elected government,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a statement.
Tai said the military’s killing of peaceful protesters “has shocked the conscience of the international community.”
The announcement does not stop trade between the United States and Myanmar, but it suspends a 2013 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement that laid out ways to boost business between the two countries.
Tai said the United States would also consider Myanmar’s participation in the Generalized System of Preferences program, which reduces U.S. tariffs and provides other special trade access for some developing countries.
The United States had already imposed economic sanctions on Myanmar following the February 1 coup.
“We condemn this abhorrent violence against the Burmese people,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday. Anti-coup protesters flash the three-finger salute, a symbol of resistance, during a sit-in in Kalay, Sagaing region, Myanmar, March 30, 2021. (Credit: Citizen journalist via VOA Burmese Service)Defense chiefs from a dozen countries, including the United States, issued a rare joint statement Saturday condemning Myanmar’s use of lethal force against unarmed people.
“A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting — not harming — the people it serves,” the statement said.
The statement was backed by defense chiefs from Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea and New Zealand.
“It’s terrible,” U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters Sunday of the violence in Myanmar. “It’s absolutely outrageous. Based on the reporting I’ve gotten, an awful lot of people have been killed. Totally unnecessary.”
Myanmar’s security forces further escalated violence Sunday by opening fire on a funeral in Bago, near the commercial capital of Yangon. The funeral was held for 20-year-old Thae Maung Maung, who was one of the protesters killed on Saturday.
Former de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) led Myanmar since its first open democratic election in 2015, but Myanmar’s military contested last November’s election results, claiming widespread electoral fraud, largely without evidence.
On February 1, the military removed the NLD government, detaining Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. Martial law has been imposed in townships across Myanmar.
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US, 13 Other Nations Concerned About WHO COVID Origins Report
The United States and 13 other nations issued a statement Tuesday raising “shared concerns” about the newly released World Health Organization report on the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19.
The statement, released on the U.S. State Department website, as well as the other signatories, said it was essential to express concerns that the international expert study on the source of the virus was significantly delayed and lacked access to complete, original data and samples.
The WHO formally released its report earlier Tuesday, saying while the report presents a comprehensive review of available data, “we have not yet found the source of the virus.” The team reported difficulties in accessing raw data, among other issues, during its visit to the city of Wuhan, China, earlier this year.
The researchers also had been forced to wait days before receiving final permission by the Chinese government to enter Wuhan.
The joint statement by the U.S. and others went on to say, “scientific missions like these should be able to do their work under conditions that produce independent and objective recommendations and findings.” The nations expressed their concerns in the hope of laying “a pathway to a timely, transparent, evidence-based process for the next phase of this study as well as for the next health crises.”
Along with the U.S., the statement was signed by the governments of Australia, Britain, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Republic of Korea, and Slovenia.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday further study and more data are needed to confirm if the virus was spread to humans through the food chain or through wild or farmed animals.
Tedros said that while the team has concluded that a laboratory leak is the least likely hypothesis, the matter requires further investigation.
WHO team leader Peter Ben Embarek told reporters Tuesday that it is “perfectly possible” COVID-19 cases were circulating as far back as November or October 2019 around Wuhan, earlier than has been documented regarding the spread of the virus.
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Youth Choir Promotes COVID-19 Vaccines With Infectiously Joyful Music
One of the biggest challenges in getting past COVID is making sure people get vaccinated. One South African youth choir is trying its own way to convince people to get the shot, as Romain Chanson reports. Videographer: Romain Chanson
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Germany Extends COVID-19 Border Restrictions with Czech Republic
German officials said Wednesday the country will extend COVID-19-related border restrictions with the Czech Republic for another two weeks as they try to bring the third wave of coronavirus outbreaks under control.At a Berlin news conference, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said the COVID-19 situation is still “not stable” in the Czech Republic and will ask border patrols to check anyone wishing to enter Germany from the nation to provide a negative test and then go into quarantine for 14 days.Seehofer said the situation in Austria’s Tyrol region has “improved considerably,” so he will be allowing border controls for that region to expire. But he told reporters he has asked German border patrols to conduct random spot checks along all of Germany’s borders, including France, Denmark and Poland, over the next two weeks, particularly after the Easter holiday.The announcement comes as rules came into force making testing mandatory for all air travelers to Germany, regardless of whether they come from a risk area or an area with virus mutants.The tougher measures take effect as Germany struggles to slow a rise in coronavirus infections, driven by new, more contagious virus strains. Experts warn that the vaccination pace remains too slow to break a third wave of the pandemic.
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Biden Releases First Diverse Slate of Judicial Nominees
President Joe Biden released his first slate of 11 federal judicial nominations on Wednesday, including three Black women for federal circuit court vacancies, a Muslim American and an Asian American and Pacific Islander.
“This trailblazing slate of nominees draws from the very best and brightest minds of the American legal profession,” Biden said in a statement that emphasized their “broad diversity of background experience and perspective.”
The nominees, which include nine women, must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
The Black women nominated for federal circuit court vacancies include Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Tiffany Cunningham for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and Candace Jackson-Akiwumi for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Zahid N. Quraishi, a New Jersey magistrate judge, would be the nation’s first Muslim American to serve on a federal district court.
Judge Florence Pan would be the first Asian-American judge to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the White House said in a statement.
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China Approves Major Overhaul of Hong Kong Electoral System
China’s national legislature has approved several new changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system that further shuts out the city’s pro-democracy forces from the legislature.
The changes passed Tuesday by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and signed into law by President Xi Jinping include the creation of a special committee that will review the qualifications of potential candidates to ensure Hong Kong is governed by so-called “patriots.”
The new rules would also reduce the number of directly elected lawmakers to the city’s Legislative Council, while expanding the total number of seats from 70 to 90, as well expanding the number of members on Hong Kong’s electoral commission that selects the city’s chief executive from 1,200 to 1,500.
The electoral changes were praised by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who said bringing in more “patriots” into the legislature means that the “excessive politicization in society and the internal rift that has torn Hong Kong apart can be effectively mitigated.”
Lam said the next legislative elections under the new system will be held in December. The city was scheduled to hold Legislative Council elections last September, but they were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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US Ranger On Mission to Attract More African Americans to National Parks
When Deb Haaland was sworn in as Secretary of the Interior recently, the Native American former congresswoman became the nation’s top official in charge of most federal land. Her responsibilities include the National Park Service (NPS), which is trying to address a lack of diversity. At least 79% of full-time permanent employees are white. African Americans make up just under 7% of the permanent full-time workforce, despite making up 13.4% of the U.S. population. Latinos are also underrepresented, making up 18.5% of the population but only 5.6% of the park system’s permanent full-time employees. Only Native Americans exceed their representation of 1.3% of the general population, making up 2.5% of the full-time permanent workforce. Not only is the staff of the NPS overwhelmingly white, but so are most of the people who visit the national parks. While 63% of the U.S. population is white, they make up between 88% and 95% of all visitors to U.S. public lands. FILE – A class of eighth-grade students and their chaperones sit in a meadow at Yosemite National Park, Calif., below Yosemite Falls, May 25, 2017.Visitor numbers dropped last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but natural spaces have emerged as one of the few places people can travel to while respecting social distancing restrictions. Data collected by the NPS and published in 2018 by the George Wright Society, an organization promoting conservation of parks, indicates that Latinos and Asian Americans each made up less than 5% of visitors to the national park sites surveyed, while less than 2% of visitors were African American. One National Park employee told VOA that he hopes Haaland will help draw more people of color to the national parks. The employee hopes people who have stayed away in the past will see that the doors to the nation’s crown jewels are “fully opened to the people, by the people and for the people.” Generations of racism Many experts believe that African Americans don’t take full advantage of the country’s national parks because of a history of segregation. For the first few decades of the national parks’ existence, African Americans could not be sure they would be welcome in the parks. Early ads for the parks were aimed at white audiences. Photos from that time show only white visitors. Shelton Johnson, a U.S. Park Ranger at Yosemite National Park, calls this a “culture of exclusion” and says it has a deep impact on people of color. FILE – Shelton Johnson, park ranger at Yosemite National Park in California, in costume as a Buffalo Soldier. (Craig Kohlruss, The Fresno Bee/Associated Press)Johnson has made it his mission to tell park visitors the story of the so-called “Buffalo Soldiers,” a group of African American soldiers who policed the park beginning in the late 1800’s. The nickname “Buffalo Soldier” was given to the African American soldiers by Native Americans, who compared the soldiers’ curly hair to the mane of the buffalo that roamed the lands of the park. Using the tale, he teaches visitors that people of color had a place in America’s wilderness from the early days of the park system. In the film, an unnamed woman talks about the mindset that had kept her from visiting Yosemite for many years. She said her family did not have a tradition of visiting national parks — or, in fact, taking much time off for leisure at all. “My mother, she had to work for us to survive,” she said. “To have a vacation, a real vacation? It just wasn’t for us.” As for any outreach from the National Park Service, she said, there was none. “We were not included,” the woman in the film said. “We had never heard of anything like this.” That situation still exists. Brad Branan, a journalist in Sacramento, California, has been volunteering with the local Sierra Club’s Inner City Outings, a program to help disadvantaged kids get out to experience nature.FILE – A group of extremely happy kids from Sierra Club Outing, emerging from the ocean, at Point Reyes National Seashore, Aug., 2018. (Brad Branan)The trip to Point Reyes National Seashore, a nature preserve administered by the National Park Service, is always a hit. Sometimes a kid from Sacramento, just two hours’ drive from Point Reyes, will be seeing the ocean for the very first time. “We hike a short trail along some marshland before reaching some dunes that obscure the beach and ocean,” Branan said. “The kids will sometimes be tired from the hike and it doesn’t seem like they’re having a great time … But when we walk over the dunes and see the beach and the crashing waves, they run to the water and really don’t stop playing and smiling until we have to leave a few hours later.” ‘This is your property’ While Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes, the nation’s longest-serving Secretary of the Interior, worked for decades to end segregation in the parks. It wasn’t until the Civil Rights Act of 1963 that such segregation became illegal. More than a half-century later, the legacy of segregation lingers. FILE – American contralto, Miss Marian Anderson, right, is shown with Secretary of Interior Harold Ickes before a concert on the steps of Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939.Ranger Johnson said the park system lacks an essential element to draw in African Americans, who still feel the pain of exclusion. “A greeting,” he said. “A welcoming. And only someone who had not had that, would see [the lack of] it.” Johnson, who describes his ancestry as a mix of African American, Native American, and Irish, emphasizes to groups he speaks to that they have a place in the parks system. “I say, ‘This is your property. … You own the Grand Canyon. You own Yellowstone. You own all of these lands and things that are celebrated throughout the world. So go out and check out your property,’” he said. He also invited Oprah Winfrey to visit Yosemite. Traveling with her friend the broadcaster Gayle King, FILE – A rainbow is seen across the Yosemite Valley in front of El Capitan granite rock formation in Yosemite National Park, California, March 29, 2019.Nature heals Much of that love, “starts with a personal and direct appreciation for flora, fauna, sun, soil, water, and wind. All the things that we as human beings have in common,” Mills said.Johnson described a different reason: the intensely personal transformation that can come from an experience in natural spaces. “There’s an incredible amount of healing that can result” from a person connecting with the natural world, he said. To make his point, he described an encounter with a young African American man who participated in Yosemite’s WildLink program, designed to bring inner-city teens to the park. Johnson said he was guiding a group to Lower Yosemite Falls — one of the park’s most impressive landmarks — when he realized the boy had fallen behind and was transfixed by the view. “He had just stopped,” Johnson said. “He was enthralled, literally, by what he was seeing. … I remember asking, ‘Is everything all right?’ He said, and I quote, ‘Yeah, I’m fine. I just had no idea such beauty existed.’” Johnson repeated the line, lingering on the words: “I just had no idea such beauty existed.”
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Suez Canal Backup Could Clear in About 4 Days
Officials said Tuesday the backlog of ships trying to pass through the Suez Canal could take about four days to work through, following nearly a week in which the vital waterway was blocked by a massive container ship.The assessment came from both the Suez Canal Authority and the U.N. Conference on Trade Development.Suez Canal Authority chairman Osama Rabie said about 140 ships were expected to pass through the canal on Tuesday.In this photo released by Suez Canal Authority, the Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo ship is accompanied by Suez Canal tugboats as it moves in the Suez Canal, Egypt, March 29, 2021.The 400-meter-long ship, Ever Given, was freed Monday after days of work involving digging along the canal bank and a group of tugboats pulling on the ship. It was jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds on March 23, halting shipping traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia. Once moving again, the ship moved into the Great Bitter Lake to undergo inspections for any damage and for investigators to try to determine why it ran aground.Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said Tuesday that while the incident was an unwanted event, it was dealt with effectively and reaffirmed the importance of the Suez Canal.The canal brings in between $5 billion and $6 billion in revenue each year.Some maritime firms responded to the delays by deciding to divert ships around the Cape of Good Hope, at the southern tip of the African continent.
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With Ship Now Freed, Probe Into Suez Canal Blockage Begins
Experts on Tuesday boarded the massive container ship that had blocked Egypt’s vital Suez Canal and disrupted global trade for nearly a week, seeking answers to a single question that could mean billions of dollars in legal implications: What went wrong? As convoys of ships again began traveling in this artery linking East and West through the Mediterranean and Red Seas, hundreds more idled waiting for their turn in process that will take days. Egyptian government officials, insurers, shippers and others similarly waited for more details about what caused the skyscraper-sized Ever Given to become wedged across the canal’s southern single-lane on March 23. When blame gets assigned, it could turn into years of litigation over the costs of repairing the ship, fixing the canal and reimbursing those who saw their cargo shipments disrupted. And with the vessel being owned by a Japanese firm, operated by a Taiwanese shipper, flagged in Panama and now stuck in Egypt, matters quickly become an international morass. “This ship is a multinational conglomeration,” said Capt. John Konrad, the founder and CEO of the shipping news website gcaptain.com. Ship Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container ships, is seen after it was fully floated in Suez Canal, Egypt, March 29, 2021.Experts boarded the Ever Given as it idled Tuesday in Egypt’s Great Bitter Lake, just north of the site where it previously blocked the canal. A senior canal pilot, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to journalists, told The Associated Press that experts were looking for signs of damage and trying to determine the cause of the vessel’s grounding. Damage to the vessel could be structural, Konrad warned. Stuck for days across the canal, the ship’s middle rose and fell with the tide, bending up and down under the tremendous weight of some 20,000 containers across its 400-meter (quarter-mile) length. On Monday, when workers partially floated the ship, all that pressure came forward to its bow, which acted as a pivot point until the ship ultimately came free. “Structural integrity is No. 1. You know, there was a lot of strain on that ship as it was sagging in the waterway,” Konrad said. “They have to check everything for cracks and particularly that rudder and the propeller in the back that’s connected to the engine room.” “And then they have to go through all the mechanical equipment, make sure they test the engines, all the safety valves, all the equipment, and then determine that it’s safe to sail either by itself or with a tug escort to the next port,” he added. As of Tuesday morning, more than 300 vessels carrying everything from crude oil to cattle were waiting on both ends of the Suez Canal and in the Great Bitter Lake for permission to continue sailing to their destinations, canal service provider Leth Agencies said. The ship’s owner, the Japanese firm Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd., said Tuesday that it would be part of the investigation along with other parties, though it did not identify them by name. It also refused to discuss possible causes of the incident, including the ship’s speed and the high winds that buffeted it during a sandstorm, saying it cannot comment on an ongoing investigation. Initial reports also suggested a “blackout” struck the vessel, something denied by the ship’s technical manager. The company added that any damage to the ship was believed to be mostly on its keel. It said it was not immediately known whether the vessel will be repaired on site in Egypt or elsewhere, or whether it will eventually head to its initial destination of Rotterdam. That is a decision to be made by its operator, rather than the shipowner, the company said. The grounding of the ship had halted billions of dollars a day in maritime commerce. Those losses. as well as physical damage from the incident, likely will see lawsuits. Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd. is covered with some $3 billion in liability insurance through 13 Protection & Indemnity Clubs. Those clubs are not-for-profit mutual insurers used by the vast majority of global shipping firms. Global legal firm Clyde and Co. said the Ever Given’s owner likely would pay Egypt’s canal authority for the assistance already rendered to the vessel. The authority also could fine the Ever Given. “We anticipate a detailed investigation will follow which will determine the cause,” the firm said. ”Evidently the cause will impact upon the legal liabilities of the ship and cargo interests.” On Monday, a flotilla of tugboats, helped by the tides, wrenched the bulbous bow of Ever Given from the canal’s sandy bank, where it had been firmly lodged since March 23. The tugs blared their horns in jubilation as they guided the Ever Given through the water after days of futility that had captivated the world, drawing scrutiny and social media ridicule.
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China Sharply Reduces Elected Seats in Hong Kong Legislature
China has sharply reduced the number of directly elected seats in Hong Kong’s legislature in a setback for the territory’s already beleaguered democracy movement. The changes were announced Tuesday after a two-day meeting of China’s top legislature. In the new make-up, the legislature will be expanded to 90 seats, and only 20 will be elected by the public. Currently, half of the 70-seat legislature — 35 seats — are directly elected. The move is part of a two-phase effort to reign in political protest and opposition in Hong Kong, which is part of China but has had a more liberal political system as a former British colony. China imposed a national security law on Hong Kong last year and is following up this year with a revamp of the electoral process. The crackdown comes in the wake of months of pro-democracy protests in 2019 that brought hundreds of thousands to the streets and turned violent as the government resisted protester demands. “It’s a very sad day for Hong Kong. The election system is completely dismantled,” said former lawmaker and Democratic Party member Emily Lau.Emily Lau, a Hong Kong politician and member of the Legislative Council in the geographical seat of New Territories East.China’s top legislature, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, amended Hong Kong’s constitution to pave the way for the changes. The Hong Kong government is now tasked with revising its electoral laws and holding an election. In the current 70-member legislature, voters elect half the members and the other half are chosen by constituencies representing various professions and interest groups. Many of the constituencies lean pro-Beijing, ensuring that wing a majority in the legislature. The new body will have 20 elected members, 30 chosen by the constituencies and 40 by an Election Committee, which also has and will continue to choose the city’s leader, The committee, which will be expanded from 1,200 to 1,500 members, is dominated by supporters of the central government in Beijing. A separate committee will also be established to review the qualifications of candidates for office in Hong Kong to ensure the city is governed by “patriots,” in the language of the central government. The political opposition in Hong Kong — which has advocated for more democracy, not less — sees the changes as part of a broader effort to keep them out of office. “They are going to get rid of opposition voices because under this new system, which is so oppressive and restrictive, I don’t think any self-respecting individual will want to take part,” said Lau. In part, it comes down to the definition of patriots. The opposition has tried to block legislation by filibustering a key legislative committee for months and disrupting legislative proceedings. Beijing, which prioritizes political stability, sees these actions as unduly interfering with the governing of Hong Kong and wants to keep these actors out of government. A statement by Beijing’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said that the Hong Kong national security law provided a solid legal foundation to safeguard national security and that the electoral reforms provide a “solid institutional guarantee” of the city’s so-called “one country, two systems” framework and ensure that only “patriots” rule Hong Kong. The statement also said that with the electoral changes, the relationship between the city’s leader and the legislature will be smoother, and the “various deep-seated contradictions and problems that have plagued Hong Kong for a long time” will be more effectively resolved. The full National People’s Congress rubber-stamped a proposal in mid-March that authorized the Standing Committee to amend the Basic Law, the constitution that has governed Hong Kong since the former British colony was handed over to China in 1997.
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Biden Boosts Offshore Wind Energy, Wants to Power 10 Million Homes
The Biden administration is moving to sharply increase offshore wind energy along the East Coast, saying Monday it is taking initial steps toward approving a huge wind farm off the New Jersey coast as part of an effort to generate electricity for more than 10 million homes nationwide by 2030. Meeting the target could mean jobs for more than 44,000 workers and for 33,000 others in related employment, the White House said. The effort also would help avoid 78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, a key step in the administration’s fight to slow global warming. FILE – National Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, Jan. 27, 2021.President Joe Biden “believes we have an enormous opportunity in front of us to not only address the threats of climate change but use it as a chance to create millions of good-paying, union jobs that will fuel America’s economic recovery,” White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy said. “Nowhere is the scale of that opportunity clearer than for offshore wind.” The administration’s commitment to the still untapped industry “will create pathways to the middle class for people from all backgrounds and communities,” she added. “We are ready to rock and roll.” The administration said it intends to prepare a formal environmental analysis for the Ocean Wind project off New Jersey. That would move Ocean Wind toward becoming the third commercial-scale offshore wind project in the United States. The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it is targeting offshore wind projects in shallow waters between Long Island and the New Jersey coast. A recent study shows the area can support up to 25,000 development and construction jobs by 2030, Interior said. The ocean energy bureau said it will push to sell commercial leases in the area in late 2021 or early 2022. The administration also pledged to invest $230 million to upgrade U.S. ports and provide up to $3 billion in loan guarantees for offshore wind projects through the Energy Department’s recently revived clean-energy loan program. FILE – Jennifer Granholm speaks during a hearing to examine her nomination to be Secretary of Energy on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 27, 2021.”It is going to be a full-force gale of good-paying, union jobs that lift people up,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. Ocean Wind, 15 miles off the coast of southern New Jersey, is projected to produce about 1,100 megawatts a year, enough to power 500,000 homes, once it becomes operational in 2024. The Interior Department has previously announced environmental reviews for Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts and South Fork wind farm about 35 miles east of Montauk Point in Long Island, New York. Vineyard Wind is expected to produce about 800 megawatts of power, and South Fork about 132 megawatts. Biden has vowed to double offshore wind production by 2030 as part of his effort to slow climate change. The likely approval of the Atlantic Coast projects — the leading edge of at least 16 offshore wind projects along the East Coast — marks a sharp turnaround from the Trump administration, which stymied wind power both onshore and in the ocean. As president, Donald Trump frequently derided wind power as an expensive, bird-slaughtering way to make electricity, and his administration resisted or opposed wind projects nationwide, including Vineyard Wind. The developer of the Massachusetts project temporarily withdrew its application late last year in a bid to stave off possible rejection by the Trump administration. Biden provided a fresh opening for the project after taking office in January. FILE – Rep. Deb Haaland, D-NM, looks on during a hearing on her nomination to be Interior Secretary on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 23, 2021.”For generations, we’ve put off the transition to clean energy, and now we’re facing a climate crisis,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, whose department oversees offshore wind. “As our country faces the interlocking challenges of a global pandemic, economic downturn, racial injustice and the climate crisis, we have to transition to a brighter future for everyone,” Haaland said. Vineyard Wind is slated to become operational in 2023, with Ocean Wind following a year later. Despite the enthusiasm, offshore wind development is still in its infancy in the U.S., far behind progress made in Europe. A small wind farm operates near Block Island in waters controlled by the state of Rhode Island, and another small wind farm operates off the coast of Virginia. The three major projects under development are all owned by European companies or subsidiaries. Vineyard Wind is a joint project of a Danish company and a U.S. subsidiary of the Spanish energy giant, Iberdrola. Ocean Wind and South Fork are led by the Danish company, Orsted. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday it is signing an agreement with Orsted to share data about U.S. waters where the company holds leases. The data should aid NOAA’s ocean-mapping efforts and help it advance climate adaptation and mitigation efforts, the agency said. NOAA also will spend $1 million to study the impacts of offshore wind operations on fishing operators and coastal communities. Wind developers are poised to create tens of thousands of jobs and generate more than $100 billion in new investment by 2030, “but the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management must first open the door to new leasing,” said Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association. Not everyone is cheering the rise of offshore wind. Fishing groups from Maine to Florida have expressed fear that large offshore wind projects could render huge swaths of the ocean off-limits to their catch.
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Graphic Video Grips Courtroom in Day 1 of Chauvin Trial
Graphic video gripped the courtroom as the trial began in Minneapolis on Monday of a white former police officer, Derek Chauvin, who is accused of murdering a Black man, George Floyd, last May. As Mike O’Sullivan reports, the case revolves around the question of Floyd’s cause of death as Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine-and-a-half minutes while arresting him.
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UN Human Rights Group ‘Deeply Concerned’ Over China’s Treatment of Uyghurs
A group of U.N. human rights experts says it is “deeply concerned” about allegations regarding China’s treatment of its Muslim Uyghur minority.The Working Group on Business and Human Rights says it has “received information that connected over 150 domestic Chinese and foreign domiciled companies to serious allegations of human rights abuses against Uyghur workers.”“As independent experts appointed by the Human Rights Council, of which China is a State Member, we consider that an official visit to China (including the Xinjiang region) would be the ideal opportunity for such dialogue and to assess the situation for ourselves based on free and unhindered access,” the group said.Many Chinese companies as well as private firms outside China are accused of using slave labor or incorporating products made with slave labor into their supply chains. This includes “numerous well-known global brands,” the group said.Chinese Statistics Reveal Plummeting Births in Xinjiang During Crackdown on UyghursUS and other countries have condemned it as a genocidal campaignThe group said it “respectfully” urges China “to immediately cease any such measures that are not fully compliant with international law, norms and standards relating to human rights, including the rights of minorities.”China is accused of rights violations including arbitrary detention, forced sterilization and use of slave labor using Uyghurs. China denies the allegations and says its policies in Xinjiang, where Uyghurs are concentrated, aim to combat Islamic extremism.Britain, Canada, the European Union and the United States have sanctioned several members of Xinjiang’s political and economic power elite this week over the allegations of widespread human right abuses there.
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Epstein Associate Faces New Charges in Sex Crimes Case
U.S. prosecutors on Monday expanded their criminal case against Ghislaine Maxwell, saying the British socialite helped procure a fourth underage girl for the late financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse.An amended indictment against Maxwell now covers alleged crimes stretching from 1994 to 2004 in New York and Florida, including accusations that she paid the girl, known as Minor Victim-4, hundreds of dollars for each sexual act with Epstein.Maxwell, who was Epstein’s longtime associate and former girlfriend, faces new charges of sex trafficking conspiracy and sex trafficking of a minor in the eight-count indictment, as well as earlier charges that include perjury.She had previously pleaded not guilty to helping Epstein recruit and groom three teenage girls for sex between 1994 and 1997 in New York. Maxwell, 59, has been held in a jail in Brooklyn since her arrest last July.Lawyers for Maxwell did not immediately respond to requests for comment.It is unclear whether the new charges could lead to a postponement of Maxwell’s scheduled July 12 trial before U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan, though prosecutors said Maxwell should have ample time to prepare.In a letter to the judge, prosecutors said they have given Maxwell’s lawyers the month and year when the fourth victim was born and key evidence about her.They also said they plan to turn over large amounts of other evidence, including statements from more than 250 witnesses related to their investigation of Epstein and his associates.Epstein killed himself at age 66 in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.His estate was used to create a fund expected to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution to victims of his sexual abuses. The fund has received more than 175 claims.According to the amended indictment, Maxwell and Epstein recruited the fourth victim to engage in sex acts with Epstein at his home in Palm Beach, Florida, and successfully encouraged her to recruit other girls to do the same.In late January and early February, Maxwell filed 12 motions seeking to dismiss all or part of the government’s case, or at least make it more difficult to win a conviction.Maxwell has said the government targeted her only because Epstein killed himself and prosecutors wanted someone to blame, and that she was covered by Epstein’s own non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in Florida.She has also said the perjury charges, based on depositions from 2016 in a civil lawsuit, should be tossed because her answers were true, and the grand jury in suburban White Plains, New York, that indicted her had too few nonwhite jurors.Last week, another federal judge in Manhattan refused to dismiss espionage charges against a former CIA employee indicted in White Plains early in the COVID-19 pandemic, rejecting the defendant’s argument that the jury was not diverse enough.That ruling may foreshadow the outcome of Maxwell’s dismissal request.On March 22, Judge Nathan rejected Maxwell’s third request for bail, saying Maxwell remained a significant flight risk.
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Islamic State Claims Dayslong Attack on Mozambique Town
Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility Monday for a dayslong attack on the northern Mozambique town of Palma that began last week and has prompted thousands of people to flee.Dozens of people have been killed in the ongoing fighting that began last week in the Southern African nation, according to government officials.IS said Monday through its Amaq News Agency that it was now in control of Palma, a town of about 75,000 people. The claim could not be independently verified.On Sunday, Mozambique officials said they were fighting the rebels in several locations to regain control of the town.Islamist insurgents began a coordinated attack last Wednesday on the town, which is about 10 kilometers from a multinational gas project run by oil majors, including French energy company Total.Agence France-Presse reported Monday that the town was all but deserted after thousands of people fled the fighting.Many residents ran into the tropical forest surrounding the town to escape the violence.However, The Associated Press reported that a few hundred foreign workers from South Africa, Britain and France gathered at hotels that quickly became targets for the rebel attacks.The total number of dead and missing from the violence remains unclear.A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday, “We are deeply concerned by the still evolving situation in Palma where armed attacks began on 24 March, reportedly killing dozens of people, including some trying to flee a hotel where they had taken shelter.”Henrietta Fore, director of UNICEF, the United Nations’ children’s fund, said in a statement Monday that the town was hosting more than 35,000 people forcibly displaced from other areas of the province because of previous attacks, with half of those children.“We still do not know the full impact that the deadly militant attack in Palma, northern Mozambique, has had on children, but we fear that it will be brutal,” Fore said.Islamist rebels affiliated with IS have been carrying out attacks in northern Mozambique since 2017. Earlier rebel attacks prompted Total to suspend work in January on a project to extract gas from offshore sites.The United Nations says the insurgency has left more than 2,600 people dead and displaced an estimated 670,000 people.
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