Merrick Garland, a federal appeals court judge and former Justice Department official whose 2016 nomination to the Supreme Court was blocked by Republicans, was confirmed Wednesday by the U.S. Senate as the nation’s top law enforcement official. Garland, 68, a seasoned jurist and criminal investigator, was easily confirmed as the next attorney general – one of President Joe Biden’s most important cabinet appointments – on a bipartisan vote of 70 to 30. All the “no” votes were cast by Republican senators, including presidential hopefuls Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley. Garland’s elevation to the top of the Justice Department is expected to lead to significant criminal justice policy changes under the Biden administration, from a potential moratorium on federal executions that resumed under former President Donald Trump, to closer scrutiny of police departments accused of violating civil rights. Garland is inheriting a massive law enforcement agency rife with controversy and morale problems after four tumultuous years under Trump at a time the Justice Department is conducting a wide-ranging investigation into the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. FILE – Pro-Trump protesters storm into the U.S. Capitol during a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, in Washington, January 6, 2021.During his confirmation hearing last month, Garland said the investigation of the bloody insurrection, which has led to charges against more than 300 people, would be his top priority. The bipartisan support for Garland is in sharp contrast to the strictly partisan votes Trump’s two attorneys general – Jeff Sessions and William Barr – received. FILE – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky walks from the Senate floor to his office on Capitol Hill, Jan. 6, 2021.Prominent Republicans praised Garland’s appointment, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who blocked former President Barack Obama’s nomination of Garland to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court in 2016, arguing that it was too close to the presidential election. “I’m voting to confirm Judge Garland because of his long reputation as a straight-shooter and legal expert,” McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said before the vote. “His left-of-center perspective has been within the legal mainstream.” As attorney general, Garland will lead a department with more than 100,000 employees and a budget of more than $31 billion. Anti-terrorism experienceWhile Garland has served on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia for nearly a quarter of a century, he comes to the job of attorney general with extensive anti-terrorism experience. That likely will serve him well as he steps into a new role and trains the Justice Department’s focus on fighting domestic terrorism. In the late 1990s, while serving as a top Justice Department official, Garland, a Harvard-educated lawyer, supervised several high-profile domestic terrorism cases. From 1995 to 1997, he led the federal investigation of the truck bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City, which left 168 people dead, including 19 children. It was the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. FILE – The Field of Empty Chairs is seen during the 20th Remembrance Ceremony, the anniversary ceremony for victims of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, April 19, 2015.Former army soldier and right-wing extremist Timothy McVeigh was later convicted and executed, while an accomplice, Terry Nichols, was sentenced to life in prison. In 1996, Garland served as the “supervising attorney” for the prosecution of Theodore Kaczynski, the so-called “Unabomber” who killed three people and injured 24 others over the course of nearly two decades. Kaczynski is serving eight life sentences in prison. Garland’s transition to the judiciary came in 1997 when President Bill Clinton nominated him to the District of Columbia circuit, the second most powerful court in the country and a stepping stone for some Supreme Court justices. But in 2016, when Obama named Garland to the Supreme Court to replace the late conservative icon Antonin Scalia, Republicans killed the nomination, allowing Trump the following year to put his own nominee on the court. Independence from White HouseHistorically, many U.S. presidents have chosen close friends and allies to head the Justice Department; President John F. Kennedy picked his brother Bobby Kennedy for the job. Others, however, have turned to outsiders. In the wake of the Watergate scandal, Republican President Gerald Ford tapped Edward Levi, a renowned president of the University of Chicago, to run the Justice Department. Along the way, Levi won accolades for restoring the department’s independence and integrity.In picking Garland as his attorney general, Biden turned to an outsider in a signal that he wants the Justice Department to retain its traditional independence and distance from the White House after a turbulent period during which Trump was accused of trying to turn the agency into a tool of his political machinery. FILE – Then-U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden attend a basketball game in Washington, Jan. 30, 2010.Garland inherits a pair of politically sensitive investigations, which will test his commitment to the Justice Department’s independence: a tax fraud probe of Biden’s son Hunter, and a separate special counsel criminal examination of the origins of the Robert Mueller investigation of Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential election on behalf of Trump. During his confirmation hearing, Garland indicated that he intends to allow both to run their course. Garland said that while he enjoys being a judge, “this is an important moment for me to step forward because of my deep respect for the Department of Justice and for its critical role of ensuring the rule of law.” Calling the January 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol the “most heinous” attack on democracy, Garland vowed to pursue investigative leads “wherever they take us.” “I can assure you this will be my main priority [and the subject of] my first briefing” if confirmed, said Garland. Other nomineesWhile Garland was confirmed with a bipartisan vote, Biden’s two other top Justice Department nominations have faced Republican opposition over their alleged partisanship. Nominee to be Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during her confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 9, 2021.During her confirmation hearing Tuesday, Vanita Gupta, tapped for the No. 3 position at the Justice Department, was grilled over her past partisan comments on social media aimed at Republican politicians and Trump’s judicial nominees. Gupta, a prominent civil rights lawyer who previously served as an assistant attorney general in the Obama administration, apologized for her “harsh rhetoric.” “I can pledge to you today that if I am confirmed, you won’t be hearing that kind of rhetoric from me,” Gupta, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Republicans sought reassurance from Gupta and other Justice Department nominees that the agency would investigate left-wing violence with the same vigor as the ongoing investigation into the right-wing perpetrators of the Capitol attack. “We were fortunate to have Attorney General Barr, who took seriously the federal government’s role to protect federal property and enforce federal law. Judge Garland must be prepared to do the same,” McConnell said.
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Month: March 2021
Women’s Participation in Politics Growing Slowly Worldwide
More women continue to enter politics and government at the highest levels, but there is still widespread gender inequality globally for women in government and legislatures, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations said Wednesday.In its FILE – Martin Chungong, Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, speaks to the press in Doha, April 10, 2019.“When you consider that 70% of front-line workers of the COVID pandemic — health care workers, service workers — are women, this level of representation [in government] is simply at odds with reality,” IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong said at the report’s launch.The number of women holding the top job — president or prime minister — rose by only two — to 22. More than half of countries led by women are in Europe.But the number of countries where women hold half or more of ministerial portfolios dropped from 14 to 13. Twelve countries have no women ministers at all — Armenia, Azerbaijan, Brunei, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Vietnam and Yemen. “It is important to have women cabinet ministers because that’s the most important decision-making body in any government,” said U.N. Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. A look at women in politics around the globe (map, downloadable version)Americas Chungong urged governments to use tools such as temporary quotas to “level the playing field” and improve women’s participation and representation in political life.He points to Nicaragua, which leads globally both in women ministers — first place — and in parliament — fourth place — as representative of strong female representation across the Americas, including in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica and Mexico.“When we look at their representation in parliament, the Americas are first because, again there are strong measures that have been taken to ensure that there are women on every rung of the political ladder,” Chungong said. “When you have strong political will, when that will is translated into legislation, into policies, into strong advocacy within political parties, this can make a difference and we see that.”In North America, President Joe Biden’s administration has more than doubled the percentage of women in the Cabinet from his predecessor.“The new Cabinet in the United States is turning out to be the most gender-balanced in the country’s history,” Chungong said. “Women in charge of ministerial portfolios rose from 17% in 2020 to 46% in 2021.”This includes the first elected female vice president in U.S. history, Kamala Harris, and women holding senior national security positions and running important agencies, including the Treasury, Commerce and Energy.FILE – Women gather to celebrate the victory of Kamala Harris in Painganadu near the village of Thulasendrapuram, where Harris’ maternal grandfather was born and grew up, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, India, Nov. 8, 2020.Having powerful role models is important for women of all ages. Chungong noted that in the Caribbean nation of Jamaica, where Harris’ father is from, women’s representation in parliament grew in the aftermath of her rise.“I think many Jamaican women looked up to Kamala Harris as a model and were spurred to go into politics,” he said. “Jamaican society said, ‘Yes, if we can have such a high-profile woman in a major country in the world, why shouldn’t we give a chance to our women?’”In sub-Saharan Africa, Namibia had the most progress over the past year, increasing the number of female ministers in its government from 15% to 39%. Rwanda still dominates the region, with the highest percentage of female ministers and parliamentarians.In Asia, just under 25% of the nearly 3,000 members of China’s National People’s Congress are women. Mongolia had the biggest increase of women ministers in the region, jumping from 6.7% to 18.8%. Barriers A concerning obstacle for women seeking to enter politics is violence targeting them.FILE – Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, United Nations Executive Director of U.N. Women, speaks in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Nov. 5, 2019.“Women find it difficult to be exposed to the violence, which impacts on their family, on their mental health, on their well-being, only because they want to take part in addressing matters that affect their own lives,” U.N. Women Chief Mlambo-Ngcuka said.She also urged countries to reconsider minimum age requirements for legislators, which in many countries is 35 years old, to encourage the participation of younger women in politics.“We need to make sure we remove those barriers to encourage and facilitate the entry of more women,” she said. “Maybe political parties and parliaments need to have special measures and quotas for young people.” The IPU has been compiling data about women in politics on its map since 2005.
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British Museum Collects First Meteorite Fragments in UK in 30 Years
The British Natural History Museum said it has recovered fragments of the first meteorite collected in the United Kingdom in 30 years and one of the rarest ever discovered. On the night of February 28, a fireball was seen streaking across the sky over southwestern Britain, dazzling onlookers and exciting scientists. No fragments from a meteorite — what a meteor is called once it lands on Earth — had been recovered in the nation since 1991. Museum researchers asked people to look in an area north of the town of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire County. They received calls from the town of Winchcombe. Scientists went door to door asking people if they had seen anything. Several had, including a family that said a piece landed in their driveway.Researchers were even more excited when they realized the fragment was an extremely rare type known as a carbonaceous chondrite, which has never been found in Britain.Researcher Sara Russell explained that with about 65,000 known meteorites in the world, only 51 of them have been a carbonaceous chondrite, a mineral substance that is believed to date back 4.6 billion years to about the time the solar system was forming. The coal-black mineral contains all the original ingredients that created asteroids, comets, and ultimately, planets like the Earth.Russell said she had the opportunity to work with material gathered on an asteroid from a recent Japanese space mission.“This material looks exactly like the material they are collecting,” she said.
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COVID-19 Tops List of Priorities for Portugal’s EU Presidency
As Portugal approaches the mid-point of its fourth term leading the European Union, it can reflect proudly on the successes of its previous terms. But this time, Lisbon’s ambassador to Washington acknowledges, the unrelenting coronavirus pandemic is making everything a little bit harder.Among his nation’s prior successes as holder of the rotating six-month presidency, Ambassador Domingos Fezas Vital cited a major amendment to the EU’s foundational documents, signed by the member states in December 2007.“This is why you call the treaty that governs the European Union A doctor performs an ultrasound scan on a patient in a COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit at the Curry Cabral hospital in Lisbon, Portugal, Feb. 11, 2021.Fezas Vital said his country is grateful for the help it received from its EU neighbors during the last couple of months, when Portugal suffered greatly from COVID-19. Going forward, his nation aims to ensure that the union continues to add to the strength and resilience of its member states.“One of the most important events under the Portuguese presidency would be the ‘social summit’ that will be held in Lisbon in May” to ensure that no one is left behind by the rapid digital transitions that are reshaping the world, Fezas Vital added.Under Portugal’s presidency, which runs through June, the bloc will also turn its eyes toward the oceans with both environmental protection and economic development in mind.“Portugal has always been a very vocal country on the importance of the oceans,” Fezas Vital said. “We think that it’s not possible to talk about the green transition without addressing the blue transition; we believe that the oceans play a very important role, as a mitigating factor [in combating global warming]. At the same time, harming the oceans will be a recipe to ensure that the fight against climate change will fail.”Under the Portuguese presidency, he said, “we’ll be discussing a new climate law, and the main objective of this climate law is to make sure that Europe becomes the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050. So I would say this is a piece of legislation that is very high on our list of priorities.”The ambassador also stressed the importance, both to Portugal and the EU, of maintaining the strongest possible bond with the United States. “We share the same ocean, we share the same values,” he said. “For us, this is crucial.”A recent irritant in that relationship has been an investment treaty between the EU and China, which was agreed to in principle in December while Germany still held the EU presidency.Fezas Vital said it’s now up to the European Council and the European Parliament to decide how to proceed, comparing their role to that of the U.S. Congress.“It’s as if the executive branch of the U.S. government had negotiated Phase One of the trade deal with China, but it still had to be approved by Congress; that’s more or less what we’re facing in Europe,” he said. “Now people should be quite attentive to what’s going on in the European Parliament.”As Portugal assumed the EU presidency in January, a representative of the Chinese telecom giant Huawei — which is seeking to market its 5G equipment around the world — congratulated Lisbon and offered its help.Fezas Vital laughed at the notion of such help, saying the congratulations are appreciated, but Huawei has nothing to do with Portugal’s EU presidency. “There’s no involvement whatsoever of Huawei with the Portuguese presidency, none.”Even though EU-wide guidelines on 5G security, such as investment-screening mechanisms, are in place, it is ultimately up to individual member states to decide which company they will hire for 5G telecom services.Portugal itself, he said, is going through deliberations now. “A bidding process is going on, with several commercial entities involved, and a decision is expected by the end of March.”
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Top US, China Officials to Meet Next Week in Alaska
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will meet with their Chinese counterparts in Alaska next week, the first meeting of senior American and Chinese officials since President Joe Biden took office on January 20. FILE – China’s State Councilor Yang Jiechi attends a news conference in Beijing, China, April 19, 2017.Blinken and Sullivan “will meet on March 18 in Anchorage, Alaska with People’s Republic of China (PRC) Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi and State Councilor Wang Yi. The meeting will take place following Secretary Blinken’s meetings with two of our closest regional allies in Tokyo and Seoul. Secretary Blinken and NSA Sullivan will discuss a range of issues with the PRC,” said the State Department Wednesday. FILE – Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivers a speech in Beijing, China, Feb. 22, 2021.A week ago, Blinken declared the relationship between Washington and Beijing is the world’s “biggest geopolitical test” of the century. The top U.S. diplomat said Washington would continue to compete, collaborate and be “adversarial,” if necessary, with China. Relations between the world’s two leading economies are at their worst in decades as the nations clash over trade, 5G technology, human rights and regional security. China is World’s ‘Greatest Geopolitical Test’, Blinken Says Top US diplomat lays out Biden administration’s priorities in first major foreign policy speech”It would be naive to predict a reset of the U.S.-China relationship and I think that the Chinese are not naïve. They want to stabilize U.S.-China ties and cooperate where possible,” said Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. “Although Beijing is not emphasizing the competitive aspect of the relationship, the Chinese are well aware that it is now the dominant factor. The Biden administration has not jettisoned the Trump administration’s approach to China — instead, it is seeking to compete more effectively,” Glaser told VOA. China Accelerates Plans to Overtake US on World Stage, Top Commander Says Outgoing commander of US-Indo-Pacific Command warns lawmakers Beijing is ‘accelerating their ambitions,’ putting Taiwan, other allies and Guam at increased risk The QuadBlinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are heading to Asia in coming days to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to allies in the region. Their first trip abroad as the top U.S. diplomat and defense chief comes after Biden meets virtually with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. Top US Officials to Promote Peace and Security During Visit to Asia Secretary of State Blinken and Defense Secretary Austin to visit Japan and South Korea; Austin visits troops in Hawaii before traveling to India The so-called Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, has been considered to be a counterweight to China’s increasingly aggressive actions throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Beijing has denounced the Quad as an attempt to contain its development. But officials from the Biden administration said the Quad is not about countering China. “The Quad is not about any single challenge. It’s not about any single competitor,” said State Department spokesperson Ned Price when asked by VOA to what extent Friday’s Quad meeting would address the adversarial aspect of U.S.-China relationship. Price added that maritime security is one of many important issues on the agenda, “but our shared interests go well beyond that.” “I see a departure from how the Biden administration wants to talk about the Quad, but that doesn’t mean the goals and objectives of this regional grouping will be any different,” said Eric Sayers, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. “Whether we say the Quad is directly about China or large issues of regional order, what matters is the level of cooperation that can be achieved towards building resilience against China’s multi-domain coercion campaign that we see unfolding in areas like the military, technology, telecommunication and trade,” he told VOA. Other analysts, including Derek Grossman who is a senior analyst with the U.S.-based Rand Corporation research institution, told VOA that China is on the agenda, even if left unspoken. “It is clear that one of the key regional and global challenges that all four participants are concerned about is China, and in particular, Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the East and South China Seas,” Grossman told VOA.
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Malawi to Debate Liberalizing Abortion in Face of Conservative Opposition
Abortion is illegal in Malawi, unless the mother’s life is at risk, but that doesn’t stop an estimated 140,000 women per year having unsafe terminations that leave 12,000 women dead and countless others permanently scarred. Despite these numbers, efforts to liberalize current abortion laws are facing resistance from conservative groups.After getting pregnant at age 17, “Melita” – not her real name – saw abortion as her only option to stay in school.But Malawi’s 160-year-old abortion law only allows termination to save the life of a mother.So Melita went to a witchdoctor. She says a few hours after taking a concoction of herbs, she started bleeding heavily. The pain felt around my cervix was unbearable, says Metlia, and I started crying while rolling on the floor.Melita’s uterus had ruptured and had to be removed.Though she can no longer have children, Melita knows she was lucky.I have heard stories of women dying from back street abortions, she says. So, after experiencing persistent abdominal pain and bleeding, says Malita, I was very scared that I would also die.Research by the U.S.-based Guttmacher Institute and the Malawi College of Medicine shows 140,000 Malawian women have unsafe abortions each year. The dangerous procedures leave about 12,000 of them dead and countless survivors, like Melita, permanently scarred.Campaigners have since 2015 been pushing a bill on expanding legal abortions to cases of rape, incest, fetal deformity, and threats to health.Safe abortion advocate Brian Ligomeka says expanding abortion law would save lives of many mothers and alleviate maternal complications. (Lameck Masina/VOA)“There are three additional grounds that are there. When enacted, the new law will allow women who face physical and mental dangers to their lives to access abortion,” said Brian Ligomeka who is with the Safe Abortion Campaign groupBut protests in 2016 from conservative and religious groups, who call any abortion murder, delayed debate on the bill.Pastor Zacc Kawalala, a church leader in Blantyre, strongly preaches against abortion, describing it as murder. (Lameck Masina/VOA)”God considers life from conception, said Pastor Zacc Kawalala, a church leader in Blantyre. “God knows you while you are in your mother’s womb. God places you in your womb. And the Bible also tells us in Jeremiah chapter 20 that thanks to God the womb of my mother was not my grave. If somebody dies before they are born it’s like the womb was their grave.”Malawi’s lawmakers are expected to finally debate the bill before the current parliamentary session ends on March 26.
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Top US Officials to Promote Peace and Security During Visit to Asia
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Asia in the coming days, according to the State Department and the Pentagon, their first trip abroad since the Senate confirmed them in January to their positions in the Biden administration.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement Wednesday their March 14-18 trip to Japan and South Korea will “reaffirm the United States’ commitment to strengthening our alliances and to highlight cooperation that promotes peace, security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region around the world.”
Austin’s objective, according to a Pentagon statement, is to discuss with senior officials “the importance of international defense relationships, and reinforce the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region — founded on respect for international rules, laws, and norms.” FILE – U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks to Defense Department personnel at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, Feb. 10, 2021..Blinken and Austin will attend a security meeting in Tokyo hosted by their Japanese counterparts, Foreign Affairs Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, and meet with other top officials to discuss a “range of bilateral and global issues.”
Blinken also meets virtually with Japanese business leaders to discuss economic relations between the two countries and the “economic impact of COVID-19.”
After two days in Japan, Blinken and Austin travel to Seoul, South Korea where they will discuss “issues of bilateral and global importance” with Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and Defense Minister Suh Wook and other senior officials.
Austin begins his trip on March 13 with a visit to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Headquarters in Hawaii. He later visits India for a meeting with Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and other top national security officials to discuss “deepening the U.S.-India Major Defense Partnership” and ways to achieve a “prosperous and open Indo-Pacific and Western Indian Ocean Region.”
Blinken will also emphasize the importance of a free press during the trip, signaling a reversal from former President Donald Trump’s frequent outbursts against journalists and press freedoms.
Blinken will host a virtual roundtable with “emerging Japanese journalists” to discuss “the role of a free press in promoting good governance and defending democracy.” Blinken also meets virtually with Korean journalists to discuss the importance of the U.S.-South Korea alliance in promoting peace worldwide.
Blinken and Austin’s visit to Asia comes as the Biden administration has indicated the need to counter China’s aggressive actions in the East China Sea and after Blinken said on March 3 that the relationship between the United States and China is the world’s “biggest geopolitical test” of the century.
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EU and Pfizer-BioNTech Sign Deal for 4 Million More Doses
The European Union announced Wednesday it has reached an agreement with pharmaceutical partners Pfizer-BioNTech for an additional 4 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine, to be delivered by the end of this month.
In a virtual news briefing, EU spokesman Stefan de Keersmaecker told reporters these new doses — enough to fully vaccinate 2 million people — will be supplied in addition to already planned deliveries to tackle virus hotspots in the region and should be available to member states, in proportion to their population, within the next two weeks.
The EU says the increase in dose deliveries this month is due to the successful expansion of manufacturing capacities in Europe, completed last month. Pfizer temporarily cut deliveries to the EU in January due to construction work at its plant in the Belgian town of Puurs.Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Neutralizes Brazil Variant of COVID-19, Study Finds Researchers find vaccine roughly as effective against Brazilian variant as it was against other, less contagious versions of virus
In a statement on the EU website, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has proven effective against all currently known variants of the coronavirus and will help keep them under control, particularly in border regions. She said they also will help to ensure and restore the free movement of goods and people.
The EU said the new doses will help member states that have seen numbers of infections and hospitalizations rise sharply over the past weeks, leading many of them to adopt stringent measures and even in certain cases to impose new border controls.
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A Bali Village Works Together to Compost Organic Waste
A small village in Indonesia is sending less and less of their household waste to landfills. VOA’s Rendy Wicaksana reports on how they’re making environmental waves.Camera: Rendy Wicaksana
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Protests Shake Senegal, Normally a Stable African Nation
Senegal opposition leader Ousmane Sonko is out on bail after being indicted on a rape charge that has sparked violent protests across the country over the past week. Sonko has dismissed the charge as politically motivated and has called for more protests against the country’s president, as VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports.
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Tunisia Cracks Down on Social Media 10 Years after Arab Spring
Tunisian police are arresting social media activists for criticizing the government online and calling for protests, according to rights groups. Nicole Di Ilio has more from Tunis, Tunisia.Videographer: Shelby Ben Brahim
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Explainer: Why Is Harry And Meghan’s Son Not a Prince?
One of the most dramatic claims in Prince Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey was the allegation that their son was denied a royal title, possibly because of his skin color.
Harry and Meghan’s son, seventh in line to the British throne, is Archie Mountbatten-Windsor. In contrast, the children of Harry’s older brother, Prince William, are Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
Meghan said that while she was pregnant “they” — presumably the palace — “were saying they didn’t want him to be a prince … which would be different from protocol.”
She implied it might be a case of “the first member of color in this family not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be.”Was Archie Snubbed?
Queen Elizabeth II has nine great-grandchildren, including Archie. They are not princes and princesses, apart from the three children of Prince William, who is second in line to the throne and destined to be king one day.
A decree issued by King George V in 1917 limits the titles of prince and princess to the children of the monarch, children of the monarch’s sons and “the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales” — that’s William’s son Prince George.
Bob Morris from the Constitution Unit at University College London, said the rule was drawn up to trim the increasingly unwieldy number of princely titles.
“Queen Victoria had nine children who were all princes and princesses, and then they had children and so forth, and George V took the view … that something needed to be done to tidy up the situation,” he said.
The queen has the power to amend the rules, and in 2012 she decreed that all the children of Prince William and his wife, Catherine, not just the eldest, would be princes and princesses.
Under the George V convention, Archie is not a prince, but will become one as the grandchild of a monarch once current heir to the throne Prince Charles is king.
In her interview, Meghan said she was told that “they want to change the convention for Archie.”
It is unclear what she was referring to, but Morris said Prince Charles has let it be known “that he favors a smaller royal family” when he takes the throne.
Archie was eligible for a “courtesy title” at birth, such as Lord Archie Mountbatten-Windsor. At the time, it was reported that Harry and Meghan had chosen not to give him a title.
But Meghan told Winfrey that “it was not our decision to make.”Does The Title Affect Archie’s Security?
Meghan expressed concern that without a title, Archie “wasn’t going to receive security.”
But a royal title such as prince or princess does not automatically bring security protection. Full-time working royals — including Meghan and Harry before they moved to North America last year — receive taxpayer-funded police bodyguards. Senior royals who have jobs outside the family, such as Prince Andrew’s daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, do not.What Does The Palace Say?
Buckingham Palace has not responded to specific allegations in the interview. In a statement, it said “the issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.”
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Roger Mudd, Longtime Network TV Newsman, Dies at 93
Longtime NBC and CBS correspondent and television anchor Roger Mudd has died at the age of 93. CBS News says Mudd died Tuesday of complications of kidney failure at his home in McLean, Virginia.
The journalist famously once stumped Sen. Edward Kennedy by simply asking why he wanted to be president. During more than 30 years on network television, Mudd covered Congress, elections and political conventions. He was also a frequent anchor and contributor to various specials. His career coincided with the flowering of television news, when the big three networks and their powerhouse ranks of reporters were the main source of news for millions of Americans.
Besides work at CBS and NBC, he did stints on PBS’s “MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour” and the History Channel.
When he joined Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer’s show in 1987, Mudd told The Associated Press: I think they regard news and information and fact and opinion with a reverence and respect that really is admirable.''The Place To Be,” which came out in early 2008, and described the challenges and clashing egos he encountered working in Washington, where among other things he covered Congress for CBS for 15 years.
He wrote a memoir,
In an April 2008 interview on the NewsHour,'' he said heabsolutely loved” keeping tabs on the nation’s 100 senators and 435 representatives, all of them wanting to talk, great access, politics morning, noon and night, as opposed to the White House, where everything is zipped up and tightly held.'' CBS Reports: Teddy,” which aired just days before Kennedy officially announced his attempt to challenge then-President Carter for the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination.
Mudd received a George Foster Peabody Award for his November 1979 special
In the report, Mudd asked the Massachusetts senator a simple question: Why do you want to be president?'' Well, I’m, uh, were I to make the announcement to run, the reasons that I would run is because I have a great belief in this country. … We’re facing complex issues and problems in this nation at this time but we have faced similar challenges at other times. … And I would basically feel that it’s imperative for this country to move forward, that it can’t stand still, for otherwise it moves backward.”
Kennedy was unable to give a focused answer or specify what he personally wanted to do.
It was enough to prompt New York Times columnist Tom Wicker to give Kennedy the Safire Prize for Nattering Nabob of the Year.'' Carter went on to win the nomination for a second term, only to fall to Ronald Reagan in the general election. On the stump Kennedy can be dominating, imposing and masterful, but off the stump, in personal interviews, he can become stilted, elliptical and at times appear as if he really doesn’t want America to get to know him.”
As Mudd told viewers:
Mudd spent a fair amount of time in the CBS Evening News'' anchor chair, substituting for Walter Cronkite when he was off and anchoring the Saturday evening news broadcasts from 1966 to 1973. Nightly News” with Tom Brokaw for a year before Brokaw went solo in 1983, and for a time co-hosted
But he lost out to Dan Rather in the competition to succeed Cronkite as the news anchor at CBS when the latter retired in 1981. Cronkite, for one, had backed Rather because he didn't think Mudd had enough foreign experience.
It was then that Mudd jumped to NBC as its chief Washington correspondent. In addition, he co-anchored NBC'sMeet the Press,'' the Sunday morning interview show. a promotable commodity” rather than a public service. His departure had been rumored since he sharply criticized NBC News for canceling the newsmagazine show
But when he left NBC, he said management viewed news as1986,'' which he co-anchored with Connie Chung. Roger Mudd was one of the most gifted journalists of my lifetime. An astute political reporter and guardian of the highest standards. Roger’s dedication to fundamental journalistic practices remains a marker for future generations,” Brokaw said.
In five years on NewsHour,'' Mudd served as a senior correspondent, essayist and occasional anchor. He hosted a number of reports on American history and education, includingLearning in America: Schools That Work” and The Wizard: Thomas Alva Edison.'' NewsHour” in 1992 to teach journalism at Princeton University, describing the offer to teach at the Ivy League school as simply too appealing to turn down. He also was a host and correspondent for The History Channel from 1995 to 2004.
Mudd left the
Among his other awards over the years, Mudd shared in a Peabody for the 1970 CBS documentary The Selling of the Pentagon,'' which looked at the military's public relations efforts. Mudd was the narrator of the program, which the Peabody judges said waselectronic journalism at its best.”
Early in his career at CBS, Mudd was teamed with Robert Trout to anchor coverage of the 1964 Democratic convention after CBS _ using Walter Cronkite as anchor _ trailed NBC’s Chet Huntley and David Brinkley in the ratings at the Republican convention. The memorably named Mudd-Trout team did not conquer NBC’s duo, and Cronkite was back as anchor on election night that November.
In 1990, he received the Joan Shorenstein Barone award for distinguished Washington reporting.
Before joining CBS News, Mudd worked at radio station WTOP in Washington. Before that, he was news director at WRNL Radio in Richmond, Virginia, a reporter for the Richmond News Leader and a research assistant with the House Committee on Tax-Exempt Foundation. He was also an English and history teacher and football coach at Darlington School in Rome, Georgia.
In 1977, Mudd received an honorary doctorate from Washington and Lee University, his alma mater. He donated his 1,500 volume collection of 20th-century Southern writers to the university in 2006. He earned a master’s degree in American History from the University of North Carolina in 1951.
Mudd, who was born in Washington, was a distant relative of Dr. Samuel Mudd, the doctor who was arrested for treating an injured John Wilkes Booth shortly after Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. The doctor, who was eventually pardoned, said he hadn’t been aware of the killing when he aided Booth.
According to CBS News, Mudd and his late wife, the former E.J. Spears, are survived by their four children, as well as 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
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Myanmar Security Forces Target Striking Railroad Workers’ Neighborhood
Myanmar security forces raided a Yangon neighborhood Wednesday where striking railway workers have been demonstrating as the protests against the country’s military regime entered its 36th consecutive day. The striking workers have led a campaign of civil disobedience with other civil servants against the junta, which took power on February 1 after overthrowing the civilian government and detaining de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other high-ranking officials. The railway workers joined an alliance of nine trade unions in Myanmar in a general strike Monday to back the anti-coup movement and pressure the junta. Military officials have claimed widespread fraud in last November’s general election, which the NLD won in a landslide, as justification for the takeover. The allegations of fraud have been denied by Myanmar’s electoral commission. More victims The anti-coup demonstrations have been staged across Myanmar despite the increasingly violent actions by security forces. The independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says at least 60 protesters have been killed and more than 1,900 people have been arrested since the coup.Anti-coup protesters use fire extinguishers to reduce the impact of teargas fired by riot policemen in Yangon, Myanmar, March 9, 2021.Among the dead are two members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, Zaw Myat Lin and Khin Maung Latt, both of whom died while in police custody. Zaw Myat Lin died Tuesday after being arrested while trying to escape from a police raid in Yangon, according to reports from the Voice of Myanmar and other news outlets. Ba Myo Thein, a member of the upper house of parliament, which has been dissolved by the junta, said Zaw Myat Lin had been “participating continuously in the protests.” Zaw Myat Lin’s family was told to recover his body Tuesday but was not informed how he died, according to his friend and fellow activist Maung Saungkha. The first NLD official to die in custody was Khin Maung Latt, who had worked as a campaign manager for an NLD lawmaker, party lawmaker Sithu Maung confirmed to VOA’s Burmese service. He died after his arrest on Saturday night. People flash three-finger salutes as they attend a funeral of U Khin Maung Latt, 58, a National League for Democracy (NLD)’s ward chairman, in Yangon, Myanmar, March 7, 2021. Tun Kyi, spokesperson of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), told VOA Burmese that he accompanied the bereaved family to claim Khin Maung Latt’s body on Sunday and witnessed blood on his head, his fingers blackened and wounds on his back.
Human Rights Watch said Khin Maung Latt’s injuries were consistent with torture. The deaths of the two NLD officials while in custody raise questions about whether the government is torturing and murdering detained protesters.
The police and military have not responded to media requests for comment on the deaths. Bloody crackdownDuring the protests in Yangon, a standoff between coup protesters and security forces in Myanmar’s largest city ended without further bloodshed.
Witnesses in Yangon said as many as 200 young people were cornered in the Sanchaung neighborhood Monday night as they escaped the clutches of security forces that have carried out an increasingly bloody crackdown against the demonstrations. A resident looks at a burning barricade, erected by protesters then set on fire by soldiers, during a crackdown on demonstrations against the military coup in Insein township in Yangon on March 10, 2021. (Photo by STR / AFP)The army fired guns and stun grenades as the students fled into buildings and homes in the district and threatened to launch a door-to-door search for the youths.
News of the youths spread quickly on social media, prompting thousands of people to fill the streets of Yangon in defiance of a nighttime curfew to demand that security forces end the siege, chanting “Free the students in Sanchaung.”
The students were able to leave shortly before dawn just hours after security forces left the area, but not before anywhere between 25 and 50 people had been arrested in Sanchaung after a house-to-house search. VOA Burmese Service contributed to this report.
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Zimbabweans Turning to Mobile Money and Forex as Cash Shortages Persist
With no end of cash shortages in sight in Zimbabwe, the use of mobile money has become the order of the day in the southern African nation. The central bank says it is happy with the situation and wants 90% of all transactions to be electronic. For years now, Zimbabwe has faced an acute shortage of cash. That has forced people to switch to mobile money. An informal sector is booming in the electronic exchange of foreign currency for the local currency, or in some cases, the other way around. This is called RTGS, or real-time gross settlement. Slyvester Mupfururi, an informal trader in Harare, March 8, 2021. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)“Generally — the bondnotes — most people are not accepting them because they are losing value. So people do not want them,” explains informal trader Slyvester Mupfururi. “So people prefer using the RTGS for easy movement of doing their business. So that’s why they are preferring the local currency in RTGS form. Also it has better margin when they get it from the streets because we are offering 101 whilst the auction rate of the government is offered at 82-point something, 83-point something.” The process is profitable for traders, and some people have left their formal jobs such as teaching for it. But it’s a hustle which is technically criminal. That’s why some traders do not want to identified such as this man. “Zimbabwe’s currency is worthless,” he says. “That’s why people — even those formally employed — come to us in the streets looking for foreign currency. That’s how we survive.” In a statement to VOA, John Panonetsa Mangudya, governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, said he was happy with the current trend in which around 80% of the country’s transactions are conducted electronically. FILE – John Panonetsa Mangudya, governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Harare, Dec. 2020. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)“Our goal is to see Zimbabwe becoming a cash-lite society where at least 90% of monetary transactions are conducted through electronic products that include plastic money, mobile banking, internet banking and electronic transfers,” he said. But Moses Chundu, an economics lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, disagrees with him. He thinks cash still has value in Zimbabwean society, especially given that the financial system has collapsed before. “This era, you want to go 100% cashless. But you need to be very careful when you look at statistics,” he said. “What we are celebrating at 80, and hoping to get at 90 may not actually be a success story. So people still need cash, to the extent the electronic money itself is not fully acceptable to the transacting public. People are still not trusting their financial system.” Zimbabweans generally prefer keeping U.S. dollars or South African rand — to preserve its value, in case Zimbabwean currency loses even more value, or electronic cash becomes unworkable or is declared illegal.
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Russia Restricts Twitter, Threatens Ban
Russia said Wednesday it was restricting the use of Twitter on the grounds the company has not removed banned content. State communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said if Twitter does not comply with Russian law, there will be further actions against the service, including a complete ban. The agency said Wednesday’s action involved slowing service speeds for all those in Russia accessing Twitter on mobile devices and half of those using the service in other ways. Twitter did not immediately comment on the new restrictions. The move is the latest by Russia to tighten control of the internet. It previously banned a number of websites, including Dailymotion and LinkedIn.
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North Korea to Begin COVID-19 Vaccinations
North Korea will receive nearly two-million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine through the World Health Organization’s COVAX program. Despite the country’s limited resources, some medical professionals are confident that the North’s doctors can successfully carry-out a vaccination campaign. But, human rights advocates say Pyongyang’s yearlong border closure has caused a humanitarian disaster. The COVAX Facility, a multinational program that delivers coronavirus vaccines to middle- and low-income countries, says it will supply North Korea with one point seven million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Kee Park, director of the Korean American Medical Association’s North Korea program, says doctors there have a lot of experience carrying out nationwide vaccination campaigns. Park explains that AstraZeneca’s version is a good option, because it only needs to be stored at two to eight degrees Celsius, standard refrigeration temperatures that the North has in its medical infrastructure. Park spoke with VOA News over the phone from Utah. “They should be able to distribute AstraZeneca vaccine nationwide, and then maintain the cold chain that’s required to protect the vaccine from what we call denaturing or just inactivated. So they have the cold chain. So they have the technical know how and the capacity to distribute at least the AstraZeneca vaccine in a nationwide vaccination campaign,” Park said.Park, a neurosurgeon, says he has worked side by side with North Korean doctors on more than 20 trips to the country. He says despite the North’s limited resources, medical professionals do the best they can with what they have available. But Park says international sanctions against Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons program create setbacks for the country’s hospitals. Even though medical supplies are technically exempt from import bans, Park explains that many aid groups still go through the process of vetting shipments. And, he says, that slows down public health campaigns. “These UN agencies just they don’t take any chances. They don’t want to run afoul of any problems. And they get the exemptions to be fair. But, it creates additional layer of administrative hurdles, work that they get that it has to be put in to get these things delivered,” Park continued.Pyongyang credits its strict border closure with keeping out the coronavirus. North Korea says it has no COVID-19 infections – a claim that most outside observers do not believe.A staff member, left, of the Pongnam Noodle House checks the body temperature of a woman coming into its restaurant in Pyongyang, North Korea, Feb. 5, 2021.Sokeel Park, who heads the Seoul office of the human rights group Liberty in North Korea, says that during the pandemic, the regime has also enforced new limitations on domestic travel in the name of public health. “Maybe actually, they’ve been able to control the pandemic itself with this level of draconian measures, both contact with the outside world and movement inside the country,” Sokeel said. Sokeel says he is worried Pyongyang will not lift these restrictions even after the pandemic is over. The border closure has also prevented international aid workers from entering the country and has nearly halted trade with China. Park says this hurts the poorest North Koreans the most. “This is creating a massive shortage in all sorts of goods, including basic necessities, we hear from some contacts inside the country that things like soap and toothpaste, and even foodstuffs are in shortage. And so we’re very worried about hunger. From what we hear, the last year has been a disaster,” Sokeel explained. Sokeel adds that without international monitors inside North Korea, he is concerned the COVID-19 vaccine will not be distributed fairly.
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Youths Protesting Police Violence Attack Athens Precinct
Greece’s prime minister appealed for calm Tuesday night after youths protesting an incident of police violence attacked an Athens police station with firebombs and severely injured one officer. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis issued a statement strongly condemning the violence at the march. “Blind rage leads nowhere,” Mitsotakis said. “These scenes of violence must be the last.” The violence came during a demonstration by about 5,000 people, according to a police estimate, in the southern Nea Smyrni district, about 4 kilometers southwest of central Athens. Hundreds of youths threw firebombs and stones at police, who tried to repel them with water cannons, tear gas and stun grenades. At one point in the clashes, rioters pulled down a police officer riding pillion in a column of motorcycle police. Dozens rushed at him, hitting him with clubs and stones and raining blows on him. Other officers eventually succeeded in repelling the mob, and the injured police officer was taken to hospital. A police officer stands over an injured companion during a demonstration against a police crackdown on gatherings, in Athens, Greece, March 9, 2021.“It should serve as a wake-up call that the life … of a young policeman was endangered,” Mitsotakis said. “At this point everyone must display restraint and calm.” Opposition parties also condemned the riots. Police said another two officers were injured, and 10 people were arrested on suspicion of taking part in the riots. There were no immediate reports on injured demonstrators. Rioters also caused extensive damage to parked vehicles. Before the demonstration started, police said they had confiscated quantities of firebombs destined for use by violent protesters. They said several participants in the march were armed with iron bars. The march to the Nea Smyrni police station was in reaction to an incident on Sunday during police enforcement of pandemic lockdown measures in a square in the same area. Video showed a police officer repeatedly beating with a baton a man who did not appear to have engaged in any threatening behavior. Police said officers had earlier been attacked by dozens of people who objected to them trying to issue fines to people who were not obeying lockdown restrictions. An investigation has been ordered into Sunday’s incident.
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Quad Summit Expected to Discuss China’s Vaccine Diplomacy
U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan, India and Australia will meet virtually later this week for the first summit of the “Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.” The group of countries, also known as “the Quad,” will likely discuss China’s vaccine diplomacy and other regional issues. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this story.
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Pentagon Approves Extension of Reduced National Guard Presence Around US Capitol
The Pentagon on Tuesday approved a request to keep about 2,300 National Guard troops in Washington to help protect the U.S. Capitol for two more months. The number is about half of the 5,200 National Guard troops currently patrolling the Capitol. Since the January 6 attack on the seat of the U.S. Congress by supporters of then-President Donald Trump, National Guard troops have been dispatched to the grounds and tall fencing has been erected to extend the security perimeter. “This decision was made after a thorough review of the request and after close consideration of its potential impact on readiness,” the Pentagon said in a statement. It added that over the next two months, the Pentagon would work with Capitol Police, who made the request, to reduce the troop presence “as conditions allow.”National Guard keep watch on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Capitol Police say they have uncovered intelligence of a “possible plot” by a militia group to breach the Capitol.Some U.S. defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said they are not aware of intelligence that requires a large military presence around the Capitol. Federal prosecutors have charged more than 300 people for involvement in the Jan. 6 attack that led to five deaths, including that of a police officer. Those arrested include members of armed militia groups such as the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters. A report unveiled on Monday recommended using “mobile fencing” to protect the Capitol and urged the creation of a rapid-reaction response force in Washington, while calling the Capitol Police poorly prepared for the attack on the building. While there was concern about right-wing extremists attempting to launch another assault on the Capitol last week, only a smattering of followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory gathered.
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China Quiet on Details of Changes for Hong Kong’s Electoral System
China’s top legislative body has formally announced plans to change Hong Kong’s electoral system to ensure that only “patriots” will govern the island. No other details of the plans have been made public. Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi last week said the move is “necessary for a brighter future” in the city, while Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the city’s postponed legislative elections could be delayed even further due to the electoral changes. The proposed changes are expected to grant more voting power to pro-Beijing members of the 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. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks during a news conference over planned changes to the electoral system, in Hong Kong, China, March 8, 2021.The changes would ensure the Hong Kong legislature is filled strictly with “patriots,” FILE – Protesters against the new national security law gesture with five fingers, signifying the “Five demands – not one less” on the anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China from Britain in Hong Kong, July 1, 2020.Article 31 sets up Hong Kong as a special administrative region and makes it clear that the Basic Law holds sway in the territory. “This is tyranny of the majority. Dissidents will have no avenues to voice their opinions,” he continued, “I believe this will only provoke a backlash, letting anyone with a different opinion with Beijing to gather together and form a political power, which might impact the island’s long-term stability.” Shen Dingli, a professor of international relations at Fudan University in Shanghai, told VOA that since the passing of the National Security Law, Hong Kong has been under “One Country, One System.” “The current Chinese authorities believe that no matter (if) it’s ‘One Country, Two Systems’ or ‘One Country, One System,’ the essence is CCP (Chinese Communist Party) leadership,” he said. “Only by following the CCP can one be called a patriot. So, love your country equals to love the party equals to obey the orders by the party.” Thousands of Hong Kongers have left the island since Beijing imposed the National Security Law last July.Thousands Flee Hong Kong for UK, Fearing China Crackdown The moves are expected to accelerate now that 5 million Hong Kongers are eligible to apply for visas to Britain, allowing them to live, work and study there and eventually apply to become British citizensNewly released figures from Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency show that 10,813 Hong Kongers were granted residency permits in 2020, almost double the previous year’s total.Australia, Canada and the United States have opened new immigration routes for Hong Kong residents. Britain, the island’s former colonial overlord, has invited holders of British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) passports to apply for a new type of visa that establishes a path to citizenship. Official estimates say that within five years, as many as 1 million Hong Kongers will leave, according to The Guardian newspaper. “Hong Kong is now the same as China,” Shen said. “But I hope once day, people at both places can enjoy freedom.” VOA’s Lin Yang contributed to this report.
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US State of Arkansas Outlaws Almost All Abortions
The U.S. state of Arkansas passed a law Tuesday banning abortion even in cases of rape or incest, in a move supporters hope will push the Supreme Court towards overturning its landmark 1973 ruling protecting abortion rights nationwide. The only exception to the Arkansas law is “to save the life of the mother in a medical emergency,” announced Asa Hutchinson, the governor of the southern state known for its Christian conservatism. FILE – Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson speaks to reporters in Little Rock, Arkansas, Jan. 13, 2020.Hutchinson said he signed the law due to his “sincere and long-held pro-life convictions,” adding that “it is the intent of the legislation to set the stage for the Supreme Court overturning current case law.” The Arkansas law will not come into force before the summer, and the ACLU (the American Civil Liberties Union), a civil rights organization, has already announced that it will challenge it in court. Abortion divides the American population, with strong opposition especially among evangelical Christians. In recent years, several states in the south and the center of the country have increased restrictive laws on abortion, forcing many clinics to close their doors. Then-president Donald Trump’s appointment of Amy Coney Barrett as a Supreme Court judge in October locked in a 6-to-3 conservative majority on the court, and raised the possibility of overturning Roe v Wade, the 1973 ruling on abortion rights. If overturned, individual states would be able to set abortion regulations.
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Cutting Off Speech: Governments Turn to Disrupting Internet Service to Restore Order, Stop Protests
The nightly internet shutdowns in Myanmar are part of a strategy employed by many governments worldwide in times of crisis. But they come with costs. VOA’s Michelle Quinn reports.
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Dog Bites Man at White House
Bad dog. That is the collective scolding directed at Major, the youngest of the Bidens’ two German shepherds, after he apparently bit someone at the White House. Major was involved in a “biting incident” with a member of White House security, according to CNN. The dog on Monday “was surprised by an unfamiliar person and reacted in a way that resulted in a minor injury to the individual, which was handled by the White House medical unit with no further treatment needed,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki informed reporters on Tuesday. But she declined to confirm whether the incident involved a member of the presidential protective detail. The Secret Service referred an inquiry from VOA to the White House press office. It directed the query to the office of first lady Jill Biden, which did not respond with further details. During the briefing, Psaki said she encouraged reporters to ask the Secret Service about the identity of the person injured. That exchange had some reporters feeling like a dog chasing its tail. FILE – U.S. first lady Jill Biden pets one of the family dogs, Champ, after his arrival from Delaware at the White House in Washington, Jan. 24, 2021. (Adam Schultz/White House/Handout via Reuters)Major, along with his elder companion, Champ, are temporarily back in President Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware on a pre-planned stay in the care of family friends during the first lady’s visits early this week to military bases in the states of California and Washington. The dogs are “still getting acclimated and accustomed to their new surroundings and new people,” Psaki said at Tuesday’s White House briefing. “Any change in environment can result in a change in behavior,” according to Cornell University Professor Emeritus Katherine Houpt, a veterinary behaviorist. “My guess is that the dog probably was showing mild signs back in Delaware, and then in this very exciting, challenging environment” of the White House. “There’s a dog bed leaning against a wall outside the White House,” Jordan Fabian, a correspondent for Bloomberg, noted in a tweet Tuesday morning. There’s a dog bed leaning against a wall outside the White House FILE – U.S. President Joe Biden’s dogs Champ and Major are seen on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, Feb. 16, 2021.Major and Champ have generated significant media interest after a four-year absence of pets at the White House while Donald Trump was president. German shepherds, as a large breed intended for guard work, require special attention. “So, it’s not surprising that if you’re going to have a problem, it’s going to be aggression to strangers,” said Houpt. “And of course, putting the dog in an environment with so many strange people” — and some of them being imposing-looking security personnel — “that’s more of a threat to the dog.” The Bidens could get outside assistance for Major, whose aggression may be fear-based, Houpt added. “There are several veterinary behaviorists in the Washington, D.C., area, so they should probably make use of their talents. And the dog needs behavior modification and maybe even psycho-pharmacological treatment to reduce his aggression,” the Cornell professor advised. “It will only take five minutes a day to practice his obedience,” she added. “And if they’re really worried, it will be better to muzzle the dog. It won’t make him worse. It won’t make him better. But it will protect the public.” The situation could be further complicated by the arrival of a cat. The Bidens announced last November that a feline would also join them at the White House, an apparent attempt to bridge the national divide between dog and cat lovers. The most famous “first cat” in modern times was Socks, a stray adopted by President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton. FILE – Socks the cat walks behind President Bill Clinton, far left, on the White House lawn, March 6, 1997.During the presidency of George W. Bush, the White House was home to three dogs and a cat. They made way for two Portuguese water dogs during President Barack Obama’s administration. Bush’s Scottish terrier, Barney, was known to have sunk his teeth into two people, including nipping the right index finger of then-Reuters reporter Jon Decker, who had tried to pet the first dog during the canine’s morning walk on White House grounds. FILE – U.S. President George W. Bush holds his pet, Barney, as he and first lady Laura Bush walk down the ramp from Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, Jan. 1, 2006.“It did not dissuade me from petting presidential dogs,” Decker, now a White House correspondent for Gray TV, told VOA. “Barney was a good dog,” he said, despite the incident which required him to get a tetanus shot. FILE – President Barack Obama and Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar, visit with Obama family pets Bo and Sunny in the Cabinet Room of the White House following their bilateral meeting, Sept. 14, 2016.Sunny, one of the Obama dogs, bit the face of a family guest who tried to kiss her. The 18-year-old woman, after being examined by the White House physician, was told to get stitches. Trump, according to White House historians, was the first president since James Polk in 1849 not to have a pet while in office. White House menagerie Most of the presidential pets have been cats or dogs. But President Theodore Roosevelt, who had six children, had numerous dogs, a one-legged rooster, guinea pigs, a lizard, a rabbit, a snake, a hyena, a pony and a brown bear. One of the dogs, a bull terrier named Pete, bit numerous people and ripped the pants of the French ambassador, according to historians. The John F. Kennedy White House also took on the trappings of a small zoo, with dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, a white rabbit named Zsa Zsa and a pony named Macaroni — a gift for daughter Caroline from Vice President Lyndon Johnson.
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