According to the nonprofit Feeding America, one in six Americans does not have easy access to healthful, safe food. VOA’s Nukhbat Malik takes us to one of the food banks in the Washington, D.C., region that’s trying to change that.Producer and camera: Nukhbat Malik.
…
Month: March 2021
Pope Meets With Iraqi Ayatollah; Both Call for ‘Peaceful Coexistence’
Pope Francis met with Iraq’s top Shiite religious leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, during a visit Saturday morning to the Shiite holy city of Najaf. Both men issued statements after the meeting urging peaceful coexistence among Iraq’s different religious groups.
Amateur video posted on social media showed a group of children in the south of Iraq chanting a welcome message to Pope Francis as he traveled to Najaf Saturday morning to meet with the country’s top Shiite religious authority. Welcome signs were also posted on billboards in many towns and cities.After traveling from Baghdad by helicopter, Pope Francis, accompanied by close advisers, walked through the narrow streets of Najaf to reach al-Sistani’s compound. Chaldean Patriarch Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako sat near the pope, as he chatted with al-Sistani in his office for close to an hour.Neither of the men could be heard on the video but each of their offices issued statements after the meeting calling for “unity among Iraqis and peaceful coexistence.”
Arab media reported the meeting between Francis and al-Sistani “took months to arrange,” as the Shiite cleric rarely meets with visiting foreign religious or political dignitaries. Cardinal Sako, however, is said to have close ties to al-Sistani and his advisers, and he wanted both men to deliver a message of peace and unity.Iraq analyst Hassan Mustapha told Arab media that both religious leaders are following what looks like a “roadmap” for reconciliation following the bitter conflicts in recent years.He said that both the pope and ayatollah are renouncing violence and killing, and both would like mankind to live in peace, security and faith. The statements of both, he said, read like a roadmap with al-Sistani denouncing oppression, persecution and religious tyranny while promoting freedom to choose.Al-Sistani reaffirmed that religious authorities must play a role in protecting Iraq’s small Christian community and that they should be able to live in peace and enjoy the same rights of all other Iraqis.Pope Francis, center, prepares to leave after an inter-religious meeting near the archaeological site of Ur, near Nasiriyah, Iraq, March 6, 2021.The pope’s meeting with al-Sistani was followed by a visit to the ruins of Ur, thought to have been the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham. Members of Iraq’s different religious groups held an interfaith meeting before hearing the pope speak.Chaldean religious music preceded the pope’s message along with readings from the Bible and the Quran related to Abraham. The leader of the world’s Roman Catholics urged Iraqis to “unite” and not to “surrender” to violence and oppression. He stressed that “we are all grandsons of (the Prophet) Abraham and we must not try to divide heaven since heaven calls for uniting men.”
Dr. Paul Sullivan, a professor at the Washington-based National Defense University, told VOA that “the adherents of the Abrahamic faiths – Islam, Christianity and Judaism have a chance to see similarities over differences.” “Let us hope,” he stressed, “they take this chance and get beyond the blind spots of prejudice and bigotry … to see their common humanity and similarities of belief.”
Later Saturday the pope was expected to celebrate mass at the Chaldean Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Baghdad.
Francis also plans to visit Mosul, Irbil, and Qaraqosh before leaving Iraq.
The pope will hold an open-air mass at the Irbil stadium on Sunday afternoon. Because of the COVID-19 restrictions, attendance will be limited to 10,000 people.
The Christian presence in Iraq dates to the first centuries of the religion, but only a few hundred thousand Christians remain today.
This is the pope’s thirty-third trip outside the Vatican and his first in the last 15 months due mostly to the COVID pandemic.
The pontiff is scheduled to return to Rome Monday morning.
…
COVID Pandemic Worsening Gender Divide in Africa, WHO Says
The COVID-19 pandemic is worsening gender inequality in Africa and causing millions of women great physical, mental and economic distress, the World Health Organization says.
Although fewer women in Africa are contracting COVID-19, the pandemic is exacerbating the gender divide.
The latest figures show more than 3.9 million people have been infected with COVID-19 in Africa, and 104,000 have died. A WHO analysis of 28 countries finds on average 41% of COVID-19 cases are among women.
Health officials say a major reason why fewer women than men are becoming infected and dying from the coronavirus is that they are more likely than men to adhere to prevention measures.
That, though, is where the good news ends. WHO regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti says COVID-19 is worsening the gender divide in several key areas.
“Unpaid care and domestic work, almost always done by women, has increased with school closures and stay-at-home orders, as have several risks …The work that many African women rely on for their livelihoods, for example, in areas such as personal care and in the informal sector, came to a standstill for several months in many countries due to the lockdowns,” Moeti said.
Oulimata Sarr, the regional director for U.N. Women in West and Central Africa, an organization that works for gender equality and women’s empowerment, says her organization did a study in 30 countries of how 1,300 female-owned businesses in the formal and informal sectors have been affected by COVID-19.
“And the message is the same. We have lost the vast majority of our revenue. In those 30 countries, the women have said that the lockdowns, the restrictions of movements have affected their business greatly,” she said.
Sarr said countries responded by giving the women food and some cash transfers instead of providing them with capital to keep their businesses afloat. On the other hand, she notes several countries in her region have given stimulus checks and packages to a number of well-organized business associations, most run by men.
She said governments must address this gender financing gap by ensuring women, as well as men, are supported in their business ventures, or women will continue to fall behind.
…
In Biblical City of Ur, Pope Urges Inter-Religious Tolerance, Fraternity
Pope Francis has addressed an interfaith gathering of Iraq’s religious and ethnic groups in Ur, said to be the birthplace of Abraham, the common patriarch for Jews, Christians and Muslims. He drove home the need for respect and unity, and he used the opportunity to condemn violent religious extremism.
Pope Francis traveled to the ruins of the ancient city of Ur, considered the cradle of civilization, to remind people that what binds them is more powerful than what divides. Faithful from the Christian, Muslim, Yazidi and Mandean communities were present Saturday. The pope reinforced his call for inter-religious tolerance and fraternity during the first-ever papal visit to Iraq, where religious and ethnic divisions and conflict have torn apart the social fabric for decades. The pontiff said that all of Iraq’s communities have suffered too long from terrorism and war. “Hostility, extremism and violence are not born of a religious heart: They are betrayals of religion,” he said. His remarks in Italian were translated into English. “We are believers and as believers mustn’t stand silent when we see terrorism, when terrorism takes hold of religion for its own gain. It is up to us as religious men and women to destroy evil. We cannot have the light of God be darkened as it has been in this country, where war, violence and terrorism has brought darkness,” the pontiff said.Pope Francis also drew attention to the genocide perpetrated by Islamic State militants against Iraq’s minority Yazidi community and their continuing plight. “Yazidi men and women, young children were taken from their homes and sold into slavery, subjected to violence. We must remain hopeful for the future. But there are still people to this very day, who are held captive. People who cannot return to their homeland. We pray for freedom of thought, of mind, freedom of religion to be upheld everywhere,” the leader of the world’s Roman Catholics said.Pope Francis has sought to support Christians in Iraq, whose numbers have dwindled from 1.5 million in 2003 to less than 300,000 in this majority Shiite Muslim country, by calling on leaders to protect all minority rights.
During his speech, the pope praised “the young Muslim volunteers of Mosul, who helped to repair churches and monasteries, building fraternal friendships on the rubble of hatred, and those Christians and Muslims who today are restoring mosques and churches together.” He called “the greatest blasphemy” the act of “hating our brothers and sisters.”
…
Pope Francis Meets With Iraq’s Grand Ayatollah Al-Sistani
Pope Francis, leader of the world’s Roman Catholics, met Saturday in Iraq with the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a leading Shiite Muslim figure.
The historic session between 84-year-old pontiff and the reclusive al-Sistani took place in the 90-year-old Muslim leader’s modest home in the holy city of Najaf.
Al-Sistani said Christians have the same rights as other Iraqis and that they should have peaceful lives.
Al-Sistani is one of the most important figures in Shiite Islam and wields considerable influence in Iraq and beyond.
Iraqi Christians are hoping al-Sistani’s statement and Francis’ message of coexistence will help to ease their lives in the mainly Muslim country, where they find themselves frequently under attack from Shiite militia members.
A religious official in Najaf told the Associated Press that the meeting was “a private visit without precedent in history, and it will not have an equal to any previous visits.”
The encounter between the two religious leaders also comes against the tense backdrop of the possibility of rocket firings into Iraq from rogue Iranian-back groups and the global COVID-19 pandemic.
After his meeting with al-Sistani, Francis attended an interfaith meeting in the ancient city of Ur where he again delivered his message of peaceful coexistence.
“From this place, where faith was born, from the land of our father Abraham, let us affirm that God is merciful and that the greatest blasphemy is to profane his name by hating our brothers and sisters,” Francis said.
Ur is believed to be the birthplace of Abraham, revered by three religions – Islam, Judaism and Christianity.
Later Saturday the pope will celebrate mass at the Chaldean Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Baghdad.
Francis will also visit Mosul, Irbil, and Qaraqosh before leaving Iraq.
The pope will give an open-air mass at the Irbil stadium on Sunday afternoon. Because of the COVID-19 restrictions, attendance will be limited to 10,000 people.
The Christian presence in Iraq dates to the first centuries of the religion, but only a few hundred thousand Christians remain today.
This is pope’s 33rd trip outside Italy and his first in the last 15 months due in most part to COVID-19.
The pontiff is scheduled to return to Rome Monday morning.
…
Zimbabwe Police Rearrest 3 Women Opposition Activists
Women’s rights groups are calling on Zimbabwe authorities to unconditionally release three female opposition activists arrested – for the third time in less than a year – ostensibly for flouting the country’s lockdown regulations to contain coronavirus. The women say their arrests are part of a victimization campaign meant to silence dissent, but they remain defiant.
The three young women – Joana Mamombe, Netsai Marova and Cecilia Chimbiri – appeared in court Saturday, where they were denied bail after their arrest Friday for allegedly holding a gathering in violation of lockdown rules.
The three, members of Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance, face 10 years in jail if convicted. But Mamombe, also a member of parliament, is defiant and says they are innocent.Joana Mamombe, a member of parliament representing Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance, is seen in Harare, March 6, 2021. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)“They are trying to silence the voice of young people who are trying to stand up and speak against the injustices that are happening in Zimbabwe. They want to make sure that we are broken, shuttered. This is why they continuously victimize us. We have become a soft target for the state. Maybe because we are young women. But we are not to be silenced by this mere victimization. In actual fact, they do not know what they are creating by this continuous victimization,” Mamombe said.Zimbabwe prosecutors refused to comment Saturday.
Faiza Mohamed, who heads women’s rights group Equality Now in Africa, is calling for the trio’s release.“It is part of an ongoing campaign of the state prosecution in Zimbabwe. The three were arrested in May (2020) for attending a peaceful protest in Harare to express legitimate concerns about the widespread food shortages during the pandemic. They were abducted from police custody by suspected state agency and subjected to a horrific physical and sexual assault, which has caused long term mental and physical damage. The government must stop malicious prosecution, free them from police custody, and launch an independent investigation into the brutal attack committed against these women,” Mohamed said. The three woman were initially arrested for protesting what they saw as the authorities’ failure to provide social protection during COVID-19 lockdowns in Zimbabwe. They were later arrested for allegedly faking their abductions. They are expected to be back in court Monday to appeal their denied bail.
…
African American Poet Amanda Gorman Says She Was ‘Tailed’ by Security Guard
African American poet Amanda Gorman said in a Twitter post that she was “tailed” by a security guard Friday night as she walked to her home in the city of Los Angeles with the guard saying “you look suspicious.”
Gorman, who is 22, drew national attention by becoming the youngest poet ever to be invited to speak at an inauguration, when U.S. President Joe Biden was sworn into office in January.
She posted on Twitter that the guard wanted to know “If I live there” and “I showed my keys & buzzed myself into my building. He left, no apology. This is the reality of black girls: One day you’re called an icon, the next day, a threat.”
“In a sense, he was right,” Gorman continued on Twitter. “I AM A THREAT: a threat to injustice, to inequality, to ignorance. Anyone who speaks the truth and walks with hope is an obvious and fatal danger to the powers that be.”In a sense, he was right. I AM A THREAT: a threat to injustice, to inequality, to ignorance. Anyone who speaks the truth and walks with hope is an obvious and fatal danger to the powers that be. https://t.co/hY9miR0b6J— Amanda Gorman (@TheAmandaGorman) March 6, 2021Gorman became a sensation after a moving recital of her poem “The Hill We Climb” at the inauguration.
In 2017, when she was a student at Harvard, she became the first National Youth Poet Laureate.
…
China’s Media Repression Extends to Hong Kong, Report Finds
China is becoming an increasingly hostile environment for foreign media who are experiencing “tumultuous times” in the country, according to the Foreign Correspondents Club of China.Chinese authorities escalated efforts to thwart independent reporting in the country last year, with at least 18 foreign journalists expelled in the first half of 2020. Not since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 has China experienced such a large expulsion of foreign media, an annual report by the journalist association says.The coronavirus pandemic, international disputes, and Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests and national security law were all cited by FCCC members as having affected their ability to report.The FCCC gathers its data from surveys of its 220 members. In the latest surveys, 150 members responded.The pandemic restricted international travel worldwide, but in China, foreign journalists remain the only category of foreign professionals to be barred from traveling in and out of China, the survey said.Correspondents still working in China cited issues of visa renewals, harassment, and being followed, manhandled or detained while on assignment. Chinese nationals working with foreign media also faced an increase in interrogations from authorities, and in worst cases, detention.In a daily press briefing, China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the FCCC report “only conveys the paranoid ideas of a handful of Western journalists.”“During the period when lockdown measures were lifted in Wuhan alone, we’ve organized more than 20 group interviews for over 300 foreign journalists,” Wenbin said.Wuhan is the Chinese city where the COVID-19 virus is thought to have emerged.“We always welcome media and journalists from other countries to do their work in China in accordance with laws and regulation. What we oppose is ideological bias against China, fake news under the cover of freedom of press,” Wenbin said.Expulsion from ChinaIssues with reporting in and on Hong Kong were also cited in the report.Due to the pandemic, foreign correspondents have been unable to enter Hong Kong. But some who covered the anti-government protests in 2019 disclosed that Chinese officials questioned them about their coverage or described it as “problematic.”Those expelled from China – including correspondents from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post – discovered the ban extended to Hong Kong.After 2019’s anti-government protests, Beijing implemented a National Security Law for Hong Kong, prohibiting secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. Critics warned the law’s reach could be widely interpreted.And the new security legislation has had an impact on those within the city when reporting on political matters.Public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong has come under pressure from the Hong Kong government, which has criticized shows for apparent political bias and complained about reporters raising questions over its editorial independence.A local report this week said that the new director of broadcasting, Patrick Li, has said he must review all programs in person, before they go on air.Foreign journalists who spoke to the FCCC survey said since the security law came into effect, sources have become more cautious about speaking on political matters. And stringers working with foreign media said they are concerned that authorities might take action against them for their work.But one foreign correspondent in Hong Kong, who chose to stay anonymous out of caution over the security law, told VOA he does not believe foreign media in Hong Kong are not being directly targeted, yet.“I don’t think the national security law changed the way we report, but it makes us much more considerate of how we approach stories. It feels the law is being used to target individuals and the type of people that the authorities wanted to target anyway, and it doesn’t feel to me, that foreign media is on that list at the moment.”“But it feels like we are getting closer and closer,” he said.’A ringside view’David Schlesinger, the former global editor-in-chief of Reuters who reported out of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan in the 1990s, believes the threat of the national security law equals the risk that foreign media face in China.“Just as foreign journalists in Beijing and Shanghai have always had to worry about surveillance, harassment, their ability to get and keep visas, and their ability to get access, so too will foreign journalists in Hong Kong,” Schlesinger, now a media and political risk adviser, told VOA.“China actually needs is to improve its relationship with journalists, allowing more real reporting and understanding, rather than to intensify an ultimately harmful mutual antagonism,” he added.Johan Nylander, China correspondent at Dagens Industri, a Swedish financial paper, said his reporting hasn’t changed, but he is finding more obstacles.“Many international business leaders in China don’t want to be interviewed at all, not even about ‘positive news.’ Now, we see the same trend here in Hong Kong,” he said.Nylander, who is also the author of The Epic Split/Why “Made in China” Is Going Out Of Style, an analysis of the U.S.-China trade war, said despite the problems, he feels safe in the city.“Hong Kong is probably the most exciting place on the planet to be a reporter right now. It’s like having a ringside view of the clash between China and the West,” Nylander added.But Sari Arho Havren, a China analyst now based in Brussels, believes a time limit has been placed on Hong Kong’s current press system.“Although the journalists are still much freer in Hong Kong than, say, in Guangdong, my forecast is that in the mid- and longer term, I am afraid we will be witnessing a slow integration with the mainland practices and attempts to further limit the free reporting,” Havren told VOA.China’s annual “two sessions” parliament meeting is currently underway in Beijing, and further revamps in Hong Kong are being looked at according to local media, including electoral reforms that would increase Beijing’s political control over the city.
…
Malawi Receives First COVID Vaccine Shipment
Malawi has received its first 360,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine. The shipment Friday afternoon was the first tranche of about 1.2 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine allocations for Malawi through the COVAX program.Government authorities say the arrival marks a milestone for the Malawi’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, which has so far infected over 32,000 people and claimed over 1,000 lives in the country. Health experts, however, warn people against complacency.
The vaccine’s arrival was received with excitement at Kamuzu International Airport in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe.
Heath Minister Khumbize Kadondo Chiponda told a televised briefing that the arrival of the vaccine signals the beginning of a return to normal life.
“That box [of vaccines] represents restoration. In that box, it gives us hope that one day soon, we will have an opportunity to see smiles in our beautiful faces. You know, in that box, there is hope that indeed soon we are going to shake hands,” said Kadondo Chiponda.
Priority groups to receive the first vaccinations include teachers, health care workers, government security officers, the elderly and those with underlying conditions.
Malawi registered its first three cases of COVID-19 last April.
However, infections reached a critical level during a second wave of the pandemic, starting in November, when 30% of those tested each day were positive for COVID-19, leading Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera to declare the pandemic a national disaster.
However, recently the infection rate in Malawi has been slowing down, averaging 8%.
Dr. Charles Mwansambo, Malawi’s secretary of health, said the vaccines should not encourage complacency.
“The vaccines are here, yes, but this is one of the tools in our fight against COVID-19. So, the fact that vaccines are here doesn’t mean that we should relax. Let’s continue washing our hands regularly with soap and water and of course those with sanitizers, you sanitize [and] let’s watch that 1-meter distance and avoid crowds,” Mwansambo said.
UNICEF is coordinating shipments of COVID-19 vaccines for COVAX, the effort to assure COVID-19 vaccine availability worldwide.
UNICEF country representative in Malawi Rudolf Schwenk said that globally the COVAX facility plans to distribute close to 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines this year.
“Additionally, UNICEF will procure sufficient quantities of syringes and safety boxes this year and ensure that these arrive in countries before the vaccines. Malawi has already received 360,000 syringes and more than 3,600 safety boxes to initiate the vaccination roll out,” Schwenk said.
Malawi is expected to begin vaccinations next week, with Chakwera to have the first shot.
…
Myanmar Security Forces Use Stun Grenades, Tear Gas Against Protesters
Police and security forces in several cities in Myanmar used force to disperse anti-coup protesters who returned to the streets Saturday, a day after a United Nations envoy urged the Security Council to take actions against the junta and for democracy to be restored.Protests were reported in Yangon, where military units used stun grenades and tear gas against demonstrators. Eighteen people were reported killed there on Wednesday, bringing the number of people killed this week in the country to 50.Protests also took place in several other cities, from north to south and east to west, where police and security forces also fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters.The U.N. special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, told the Security Council on Friday to remain united against the Myanmar military’s use of deadly force against protesters.“The repression must stop,” Schraner Burgener told the closed-door meeting, according to a copy of her remarks shared with reporters.“It is critical that this Council is resolute and coherent in putting the security forces on notice and standing with the people of Myanmar firmly, in support of the clear November election results,” she said. Schraner Burgener warned, though, that the hope the people have placed in the United Nations and its members “is waning.”Myanmar has been mired in chaos and violence for more than a month, since the military’s overthrow of the civilian government and the detentions of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other high-ranking officials of her National League for Democracy party. Military officials say widespread fraud occurred in last November’s election, which the NLD won in a landslide. However, the country’s elections officials deny any significant irregularities.Soldiers and police have cracked down on demonstrators using live ammunition and rubber bullets, shooting indiscriminately into the crowds.The envoy said Friday that in the past seven days, at least 50 “innocent and peaceful protesters” have been killed and scores more have been wounded.She said as of March 2, the U.N. Office of Human Rights is aware of about 1,000 people who are either known to be in detention or unaccounted for after having been arbitrarily detained since the Feb. 1 coup.“There is an urgency for collective action,” she told Security Council members. “How much more can we allow the Myanmar military to get away with?”Schraner Burgener said the international community must make it clear that perpetrators of serious human rights violations will be held accountable.“The right to life, the right to liberty and safety, the right to be free from torture and other ill-treatment, and the right to freedom of peaceful assembly must be respected,” she said.The special envoy, who has been in her job for three years and has spent a large part of her time in Myanmar, has been trying to arrange a trip back to the country to meet with military officials, detainees, civil society and protesters. Officials have told her the time is not right.Schraner Burgener renewed her calls on the council to not lend legitimacy or recognition to the junta, urging the release of political detainees, and unhindered humanitarian access.“I will continue my efforts in solidarity with the people of Myanmar,” she said. “Their hope will depend on unified support and action from the Security Council.”Riot police officers hold down a protester as they disperse demonstrators in Tharkata Township on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, March 6, 2021.Next stepsBritain requested Friday’s council meeting. Ambassador Barbara Woodward told reporters afterward that members are discussing what they can do in a unified manner.“As the situation has deteriorated, I think it is right the council return and consider the next steps, and that is what we were discussing today,” she said.Myanmar’s patron, China, explained its position. In a statement released to reporters, Ambassador Zhang Jun expressed support for the U.N. special envoy and Association of Southeast Asian Nations efforts to resolve the situation.Beijing has said the matter is an internal one, but at the same time noted it is following developments “closely with great concern.”“We don’t want to see instability, even chaos in Myanmar,” the Chinese ambassador said. “The military and various political parties are all members of the Myanmar family, and should all take up the historical responsibility of maintaining the country’s stability and development.”He added that the parties should resolve problems peacefully and “exercise utmost calm restraint, refrain from intensifying tensions or using violence, and prevent any incident of bloodshed.”On Feb. 4, the 15-nation Security Council issued a unanimous statement expressing its concern and calling for the release of Suu Kyi and President Win Myint and others. Council members also stressed the need to uphold democratic institutions and processes, refrain from violence, and fully respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.Call for arms embargo growsSeparately, the U.N.’s human rights expert on Myanmar, Tom Andrews, called on the Security Council to impose a global arms embargo on the military.“I urge the Council to take decisive and unified action against the military junta, including targeted sanctions, an arms embargo, and a referral to the International Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute atrocities committed since the coup on 1 February and those committed against ethnic groups in years prior,” he said in a statement.He noted that 41 countries already have imposed arms embargoes on Myanmar’s military.The committee representing the NLD legislators is also calling for “robust, targeted sanctions” and an arms embargo against the junta in a letter dated March 4 to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.Human rights groups joined the call.“No country should be selling a single bullet to the junta after its abuses against Myanmar’s people,” said Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch.“There is an acute and urgent need for a prompt, effective, independent and impartial investigation into shocking human rights violations across Myanmar, including the chain of command responsible for these egregious killings,” Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for research, Emerlynne Gil said. “The military leadership has calculated that they will get away with this; the international community needs to ensure that those calculations were wrong.”Meanwhile, in Washington, a bipartisan U.S. congressional caucus on press freedom expressed its deep concern and called for the release of journalists arrested while covering the protests.“As the people of Burma demonstrate in the wake of the military coup, it is vitally important that members of the media be allowed to do their jobs without fear of intimidation, arrest, or violence,” the caucus co-chairs said in a joint statement, referring to Myanmar by its older name, Burma. “The United States and the international community must be united in condemning the outrageous and violent response to peaceful protests and call on authorities to respect the rights of journalists to report freely.”
…
Portugal Envoy Urges US to Counter Chinese Bid at Key Seaport
Once the seat of a powerful maritime empire, Portugal is attracting attention from today’s great powers. Analysts warn that unless the U.S. moves quickly, China will soon expand its control over a key Portuguese seaport.A month from now, the fate of a new terminal at the Port of Sines on Portugal’s southwestern coast is scheduled to be decided.Sines is “the first deep water port if you go from the United States to Europe, so it’s a very important infrastructure,” Domingos Fezas Vital, Lisbon’s ambassador to the United States, said in a phone interview.In 2012, the People’s Republic of China acquired a stake in one of the four terminals at the port, drawing attention to Beijing’s strategic design.“We now have an international bid for a fifth terminal, which will be a second container terminal,” Fezas Vital told VOA. “We would very, very, very much like to have American companies competing for this bid; I think it will be very important to have an American presence in Sines.”He said it was unimportant whether that bid was “American only (or) American together with friends and allies.”Eric Brown is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute with a focus on Asia and global strategy.“It’s clear when you look at the PRC’s Maritime Silk Road — the oceans-focused component of the Belt and Road Initiative — that one of their ambitions is to control the littorals of Eurasia and large parts of Africa,” he said in a phone interview. “And I would say that in the grander imaginings of things, that also includes Latin America.“One of the ways in which they’re attempting to acquire that control is through politically directed economic investments through state-owned enterprises and state-directed enterprises in critical ports that skirt the Pacific, the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean, and increasingly the North Sea and the Baltic states,” he said.Seen from that perspective, “control of Sines, which is important for the Iberian economy and for southwestern Europe as a whole, is of enormous consequence,” he said.Brown sees Chinese behavior as that of a “power trader,” an idea recently put forward by Robert D. Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. PortugalThe thesis that Germany acted as a “power tradet” that used trade as a key instrument to gain commercial and military advantage over its adversaries was originally put forth by the late economist Albert O. Hirschman in a book entitled FILE – Ship containers are moved at the Port of Sines, in Sines, Portugal, Feb. 12, 2020.In order to not lose out to Chinese state-backed bids for key infrastructure projects like the Port of Sines, Washington may just have to take a page from Beijing’s playbook, Prestowitz suggested, and put more government muscle behind corporate initiatives.While American conservatives have traditionally been most skeptical about government efforts to direct the economy, Prestowitz welcomed a Republican-led move under former President Donald Trump in 2019 to reorganize two existing agencies into the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.The move, he said, was a good start toward giving the United States the tools to fight back against China.Atkinson, for his part, proposes the establishment of a NATO-like trade alliance that would be able to respond “bravely, strategically, and expeditiously” to Chinese economic expansionism and power projection.
…
Pope Meets with Iraq’s Grand Ayatollah
Pope Francis, leader of the world’s Roman Catholics, met Saturday in Iraq with the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a leading Shiite Muslim figure.The historic session between 84-year-old pontiff and the reclusive al-Sistani took place in the 90-year-old Muslim leader’s modest home in the holy city of Najaf.Al-Sistani said Christians have the same rights as other Iraqis and that they should have peaceful lives.Al-Sistani is one of the most important figures in Shiite Islam and wields considerable influence in Iraq and beyond.Iraqi Christians are hoping al-Sistani’s statement and Francis’ message of coexistence will help to ease their lives in the mainly Muslim country, where they find themselves frequently under attack from Shiite militia members.A religious official in Najaf told the Associated Press that the meeting was “a private visit without precedent in history, and it will not have an equal to any previous visits.”The encounter between the two religious leaders also comes against the tense backdrop of the possibility of rocket firings into Iraq from rogue Iranian-back groups and the global COVID-19 pandemic.After his meeting with al-Sistani, Francis attended an interfaith meeting in the ancient city of Ur where he again delivered his message of peaceful coexistence.“From this place, where faith was born, from the land of our father Abraham, let us affirm that God is merciful and that the greatest blasphemy is to profane his name by hating our brothers and sisters,” Francis said.Ur is believed to be the birthplace of Abraham, revered by three religions – Islam, Judaism and Christianity.Later Saturday the pope will celebrate Mass at the Chaldean Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Baghdad.Francis will also visit Mosul, Erbil, and Qaraqosh before leaving Iraq.The pope will give an open-air Mass at the Erbil stadium on Sunday afternoon. Because of the COVID-19 restrictions, attendance will be limited to 10,000 people.The Christian presence in Iraq dates to the first centuries of the religion, but only a few hundred thousand Christians remain today.This is pope’s 33rd trip outside Italy and his first in the last 15 months due in most part to COVID-19.The pontiff is scheduled to return to Rome on Monday morning.
…
America’s Patchwork of Election Laws Under Scrutiny
The Democrat-led U.S. House of Representatives this week passed a bill that would greatly expand access to voting in federal elections. Even though Senate passage is highly unlikely, Democrats are underscoring their commitment to making voting easier at a time when Republicans seek to limit voting access in many states.The bill was labeled House Resolution 1 in order to signal its importance to Democrats’ agenda, and it passed with no Republican support. Also known as the For the People Act, it would force sweeping changes to state election laws, with the aim of making it easier for eligible voters to cast a ballot.Among other things, H.R. 1 would create an automatic voter registration system and limit the ability of state officials to purge voters from the system. It would also require states to make early voting available and block limits on mail-in voting. In addition, it would require that congressional districts be drawn by non-partisan commissions to prevent state legislatures from drawing districts that unfairly disadvantage one party, a practice known as gerrymandering.Access versus integrityBeyond measures aimed specifically at access to the ballot, the bill would attempt to reduce the power of big-money donors to influence elections by requiring politically active organizations to disclose the sources of their funding and by creating a federal system of matching grants that would allow lawmakers to campaign without relying on high-dollar donations. It would also strengthen ethics enforcement and election oversight.Democrats promote the bill as what they deem a common-sense effort to ensure that all eligible voters in the United States are able to cast a ballot if they want to. They point to hundreds of bills introduced by Republicans in state legislatures across the country that are explicitly aimed at making it more difficult to vote. Republicans ramped up what they refer to as “election integrity” efforts in the wake of the 2020 election, in which enormous voter turnout helped Democrats take control of the White House and the Senate, thanks to the tie-breaking vote of the vice president, while preserving control of the House, albeit with a slimmer margin.The same day that the House passed H.R. 1, a group of 20 states’ attorneys general, all Republicans, sent a letter to congressional leaders arguing that the bill is constitutionally flawed and suggested that it is meant to favor Democrats.“Despite recent calls for political unity, the Act takes a one-sided approach to governing and usurps states’ authority over elections,” they wrote. In the event the bill becomes law, they promised legal challenges, writing, “[W]e will seek legal remedies to protect the Constitution, the sovereignty of all states, our elections, and the rights of our citizens.”Defining citizenshipAmerica’s patchwork of election laws that differ from state to state – and partisan battles over those laws – may seem odd to the citizens of other large democracies. Why hasn’t America settled on uniform rules for registering voters and casting ballots? Why do so many laws seem to diverge from the goal of maximizing voter participation?“The sovereignty of the [nation] state and defining the boundaries of who’s included under the government, under the rule of law, is one of the most important aspects of being a state,” said Jennifer N. Victor, a professor of political science at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government.Victor sees a contradiction inherent in the U.S. system. Whether a person is a citizen of the United States is determined by federal law, and the right to vote is, theoretically, established at the same time as citizenship. But because the U.S. conducts elections at the state level, and gives states the authority to control access to the ballot, states also have the ability to limit some Americans’ access to that essential right of citizenship.Republicans maintain laws limiting voting access aim to protect election integrity and prevent voter fraud. They reject accusations that they seek to make it harder for Democratic-leaning constituencies to cast ballots.“The job of the state government committee is to ensure election integrity. You make improvements, and that’s exactly what we are doing here,” said Republican State Representative Bobby Kaufmann of Iowa, where a bill recently passed the state legislature limiting early and absentee balloting.Victor rejects such arguments.“There’s a part of me that wants to say it’s a disingenuous argument, because what a lot of folks hear in those discussions about integrity is that they are seeking to define who gets to participate easily,” she said. “Who has to prove that they have a right to participate, and who is sort of assumed that they have the right to participate? Of course, all of those questions get very wrapped up in the history of racial discrimination in the United States and assumptions about who is more American than others.”How did we get here?So, why is world’s oldest constitutional democracy so wrapped up in fights over voting rights?”It comes down to a few things about the American Constitution that are different from most other democracies and most other constitutions,” said Todd Eberly, professor of government and political science at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. “One is the fact that our Constitution recognizes that states … also have some sovereign powers. And our Constitution basically tells the states, ‘Your legislators are supposed to choose the time, the place, and the manner in which elections are held.'”In that respect, Eberly said, the United States is quite different from other large democracies, even those that have a degree of federalism built in, like Canada, Australia, and Germany.”In most of the other countries that have adopted constitutions that recognize some degree of what we call federalism, there is a deference towards the national authority. If you think about the timing — when our constitution was written and ratified — we were specifically trying to avoid a central power. That is not necessarily the case for the federal democracies that have come since then. The truth of the matter is, our constitution makes legislating and setting national goals very, very difficult. And that was something that other countries sought to try to avoid.”
…
Democratic Senators Seek to Pass $1.9 Trillion COVID Relief Bill
Democratic leaders in the U.S. Senate are hoping to pass a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill before Monday after making a series of late changes to the bill to shore up support from party members.With Republicans united in their opposition to the cost of the relief bill, Democrats have no votes to spare in the equally divided 50-50 chamber and must receive the support of all their members, which would then allow Vice President Kamala Harris to cast the deciding vote.Democratic party leaders reached a deal with moderate Democrat Joe Manchin late Friday over an unemployment compensation provision in the bill after hours of negotiations. Democrats reduced the proposed $400 weekly emergency unemployment benefits to $300 a week and included a tax break for most people receiving unemployment to win Manchin’s support.The White House says President Joe Biden supports the compromise agreement on unemployment benefits.Republicans had also tried to win support from Manchin for their own unemployment insurance proposals, leading to a nine-hour logjam Friday that stalled action on the bill.Democratic leaders in the Senate have a fine line to walk to win the support of both moderates, like Manchin, who want to rein in the costs of the bill, and progressives who want to include more government spending into the legislation. They also cannot afford to lose the support of Democrats in the House, who passed their own version of the legislation last month and control that chamber by a mere 10 votes.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 10 MB480p | 14 MB540p | 18 MB720p | 39 MB1080p | 73 MBOriginal | 220 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioEarlier in the week, Senate Democrats and President Joe Biden agreed in a concession to moderates to tighten the eligibility for a proposal to send most Americans direct payments of $1,400. The new provision completely phases out the payments for individuals who earn more than $80,000, far lower than the amount outlined in the House bill.In addition to the direct payments, the relief legislation also provides money for COVID-19 vaccines and testing, aid to state and local governments, and helps business sectors hurt by the pandemic’s economic fallout, such as the restaurant and airline industries. It also provides tax breaks to lower wage earners and families with children and gives financial aid to small businesses.Democrats argue the measures are needed to revive the economy and to fight the COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed more than 522,000 lives in the United States. Republicans, who largely backed previous COVID-19 spending, say another $1.9 trillion is simply too expensive.A federal minimum hourly wage increases from $7.25 to $15 proposed by Democrats was dropped from the Senate bill after the parliamentarian in the Senate — the chamber’s adviser on the interpretation of its rules and procedures — said the proposal did not meet special chamber rules governing debate.Sen. Bernie Sanders proposed an amendment to the relief bill Friday to add the wage hike back into the legislation, but it fell far short of the 60 votes needed to overrule the Senate parliamentarian’s decision. Senators voted 58-42 against the increase, with eight Democrats voting against the proposal.Democrats have pledged to continue working for a minimum wage increase in legislation separate from the COVID-19 aid bill.The relief bill is next expected to face a slew of amendments, mostly by Republican opponents. While most of the amendments are likely to fail, some could force Democrats to take politically difficult votes.Democrats are pushing the relief bill through the Senate under special rules that bypass the traditional filibuster, which requires 60 votes to move legislation forward. Under the special rules, Democrats would not need any Republican votes if they remain united.Passage of the bill would give Biden his first major legislative victory since entering office on Jan. 20.
…
COVID Plunging Many Kenyans Deeper into Poverty
One year into the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya, thousands of families are struggling with deepening poverty and unemployment. A survey by the charity Twaweza shows 60% of Kenyan families can no longer afford three meals per day. Brenda Mulinya reports from Nairobi.
Camera: Amos Wangwa Producer: Henry Hernandez
…
NASA’s New Mars Rover Hits Dusty Red Road, 1st Trip 6.6 Meters
NASA’s newest Mars rover hit the dusty red road this week, putting 6.5 meters on the odometer in its first test drive.The Perseverance rover ventured from its landing position Thursday, two weeks after setting down on the Red Planet to seek signs of past life.The roundabout, back and forth drive lasted just 33 minutes and went so well that more driving was on tap Friday and Saturday for the six-wheeled rover.”This is really the start of our journey here,” said Rich Rieber, the NASA engineer who plotted the route. “This is going to be like the Odyssey, adventures along the way, hopefully no Cyclops, and I’m sure there will be stories aplenty written about it.”In its first drive, Perseverance went forward 4 meters, took a 150-degree left turn, then backed up 2.5 meters. During a news conference Friday, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, shared photos of its tracks over and around small rocks.”I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to see wheel tracks and I’ve seen a lot of them,” engineer Anais Zarifian said.Flight controllers are still checking all of Perseverance’s systems. So far, everything is looking good. The rover’s 2-meter robot arm, for instance, flexed its muscles for the first time Tuesday.Before the car-size rover can head for an ancient river delta to collect rocks for eventual return to Earth, it must drop its so-called protective “belly pan” and release an experimental helicopter named Ingenuity.As it turns out, Perseverance landed right on the edge of a potential helicopter landing strip — a nice, flat spot, according to Rieber. So the plan is to drive out of this landing strip, ditch the pan, then return for Ingenuity’s highly anticipated test flight. All this should be accomplished by late spring.Scientists are debating whether to take the smoother route to get to the nearby delta or a possibly tougher way with intriguing remnants from that once-watery time 3 billion to 4 billion years ago.Perseverance — NASA’s biggest and most elaborate rover yet — became the ninth U.S. spacecraft to successfully land on Mars on Feb. 18. China hopes to land its smaller rover — currently orbiting the Red Planet — in another few months.NASA scientists, meanwhile, announced Friday that they’ve named Perseverance’s touchdown site in honor of the late science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler, who grew up next door to JPL in Pasadena. She was one of the first African Americans to receive mainstream attention for science fiction. Her works included Bloodchild and Other Stories and Parable of the Sower.
…
Bomb Blast Kills at Least 20 in Somali Capital
A suicide car bomb killed at least 20 and injured 30 late Friday in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.The explosion happened at Luul Yemeni restaurant in the city’s port area and sent smoke into the sky, according to Reuters, citing state media.“So far we have carried 20 dead people and 30 injured from the blast scene,” Dr. Abdulkadir Aden, founder of AAMIN Ambulance services told Reuters.”The blast was very heavy and caused massive destruction and civilian casualties, the operation is still going on to establish the exact number of casualties, but initial information security officials obtained indicates more than 10 people died,” security officer Mohamed Osman told Agence France Presse.The Islamist group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack. It has been known to carry out similar bombings in Mogadishu and other parts of the country. The group seeks to overthrow the government of Somalia and establish a strict Islamic state
…
US Detained Nearly 100,000 Migrants at Mexico Border in February, Sources Say
U.S. border agents detained nearly 100,000 migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in February, according to two people familiar with preliminary figures, the highest monthly total since a major border surge in mid-2019.The figures, which have not been previously reported, show the scope of a growing migrant influx at the southwest border as U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, seeks to roll back some of the restrictive policies of former President Donald Trump, a Republican. February was Biden’s first full month in office.Last month’s total would represent the highest tally for the month of February since 2006. The sources who provided the figures to Reuters spoke on the condition of anonymity.An increasing number of children arriving at the border without a parent or legal guardian has forced U.S. officials in recent weeks to scramble for housing options and take steps to speed up their release to sponsors in the United States.February’s number of detained migrants represents an increase over 78,000 in January. February’s total appears to be the highest monthly number since June 2019 during a large border surge that Trump cited as justification for a broad immigration crackdown.A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said official statistics for last month likely will be released next week.U.S. Border Patrol agents caught more than 4,500 migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in a single day on Wednesday, according to government figures shared with Reuters, a sign that illegal entries could continue to rise in March.Republicans have criticized Biden for rolling back Trump’s hard-line immigration policies, saying the shift will lead to more illegal immigration.Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican in the House of Representatives, sent a letter to Biden on Friday that requested a meeting to discuss the issue, saying he had “great concern” with the administration’s approach to border.”We must acknowledge the border crisis, develop a plan, and, in no uncertain terms, strongly discourage individuals from Mexico and Central America from ever making the dangerous journey to our southern border,” McCarthy wrote in the letter.The recidivism rate among migrants attempting to cross the border illegally increased over the past year under a Trump-era policy known as Title 42. That policy, issued on public health grounds amid the coronavirus pandemic, allowed U.S. authorities to rapidly expel migrants caught crossing. In some cases, migrants attempt to cross the border again.Biden exempted unaccompanied children from the policy in February.
…
After 63 Years, China Rethinks Strict Residency Rules
China’s eastern province of Shandong has reversed a long-standing rule restricting movement from rural areas to the cities in an effort to boost urban consumption and close the social division between the province’s urban and rural dwellers.Shandong’s move Thursday made it the second province to implement the change. The government in southern Jiangxi province FILE – A farmer arranges crops to dry in Wuyuan, Jiangxi province, China, Oct. 14, 2017.Fei-Ling Wang, a professor of international affairs at Georgia Institute of Technology and the author of “Organization Through Division and Exclusion: China’s Hukou System,” told Sixth Tone, a state-owned English-language online magazine based in Shanghai, that the removal of settlement restrictions was “a bold step in the right direction to ease restrictions of labor mobility.”“It is very much in line with the general trend of localization of the hukou administration, signaling a progressive relaxation of the control of domestic migration and a welcome effort of reducing the urban-rural barriers, at least within a province,” he said.China’s urbanization rate stood at 60.6% at the end of 2019, according to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency.Economists say relaxing residency rules would help ease labor shortages in cities, and that an influx of rural workers will bring a boost in urban consumption, particularly through purchases of homes.Yet some Jiangxi residents are skeptical of the policy change. Peng, a Jiangxi resident with rural hukou, told VOA that he’s not sure people like him can get the same social benefits even if he obtains an urban residency permit.Concern about schooling“My main concern is my kids’ education. School resources are never equal between people with rural hukou and urban hukou, and I’m not sure this policy change will give my kids the same resources if they have to go to a school here [in the city],” he told VOA.A businessman who asked not to be identified for reasons of personal safety told VOA that scrapping residency rules is a good move, but only when those who move to an area have equal access to medicine, education and social benefits.“Hukou is just a paper. The most important thing is your hukou can greatly impact your social benefits,” he said, “So we have to wait and see if farmers can really start to have equal rights and enjoy equal resources as their urban dwellers, should they choose to move to urban areas. And if not, this is just a show.”
…
EU Threatens Retaliations, Tariffs in Northern Ireland Dispute with Britain
Relations between Britain and the European Union were thrown into a fresh crisis Friday, just weeks after the two concluded a trade deal to end the long-running saga of Brexit, the British departure from the bloc after four decades of membership.EU officials say they plan to launch legal action soon against Britain for its unilateral decision to delay by several months the implementation of part of the Brexit deal that requires customs checks on goods being traded between Britain and its Northern Ireland province.The delay, London says, will give traders and consumers in British-ruled Northern Ireland time to adjust to the new and complicated trading arrangements that require, among other things, health inspections and certificates for food and livestock shipments.Britain and the EU agreed to the new rules to avoid the establishment of a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which would have breached the U.S.-brokered 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.’Very negative surprise’Under the Brexit deal, the British province remains in Europe’s tariff-free single market. Since the final Brexit deal was inked in December, the province’s supermarkets have complained of shortages of basic British food staples.Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission’s vice president, told the Financial Times that the announcement midweek by the British government of a delay in implementation was a “very negative surprise.”On Thursday, EU officials threatened to impose trade tariffs on Britain and to suspend parts of the Brexit trade deal if London didn’t back down. Sefcovic said officials were preparing a legal action, which would most likely be brought before the European Court of Justice, and “it would be really something coming to our table very soon.”FILE – Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, left, speaks with Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok during a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the Europa building in Brussels, Dec. 9, 2019.Simon Coveney, Ireland’s foreign minister, told reporters the EU would have no option but to resort to legal action because it was negotiating with a partner “it simply couldn’t trust.” Because of the dispute, the European Parliament this week announced it was postponing setting a date for ratifying the Brexit deal.The dispute may appear at first glance to be a dry and even obscure trade matter, but analysts say it has the potential not only to worsen already frayed relations between Britain and Europe but also risks dangerous political developments in Ireland.Those in turn could impact Britain’s relationship with the Biden administration, which has emphasized that Brexit should in no way undermine the Good Friday peace agreement.That agreement ended decades of sectarian violence between mainly Protestant pro-British loyalist groups and the mainly Catholic IRA, which waged an insurgency to try to push British forces out of Northern Ireland and London to relinquish control of the province.Pressure on JohnsonLondon’s decision to delay implementation for six months of the protocol requiring customs checks came as lawmakers from Britain’s ruling Conservative Party and from pro-British unionist parties in Northern Ireland increased their efforts to persuade Prime Minister Boris Johnson to abandon or to renegotiate the Brexit deal with the EU.They argue the Northern Ireland protocol is unworkable and will increase costs for the province’s businesses, which in turn will be passed on in higher prices to consumers. The province’s supermarkets say they have found it hard to get staple British food products because imports have been blocked at ports by an overzealous application of the Brexit trading rules, as well as confusion over what paperwork is required.The Conservative and unionist lawmakers also fear that the new trading arrangements will end up tearing the province away from Britain.Ominously, Northern Ireland’s loyalist paramilitary groups warned Johnson this week that they were withdrawing their support for the Good Friday peace agreement until the Brexit protocol was abandoned. Their withdrawal prompted fears of a return to violence, although David Campbell, a leading loyalist figure, said loyalist opposition to the Brexit deal would be “peaceful, democratic and constitutional.””We are looking to the prime minister to use every effort he can to rectify the problems with the protocol. Let’s hope that those issues are resolved,” Campbell told the BBC. “I have no doubt that but for the present pandemic you would have already seen street protests and demonstrations. Our history shows that street protests and demonstrations are very difficult to control and maintain peacefully.”A hope for no violenceAfter the announcement by loyalist groups, Jonathan Powell, a chief negotiator for the British government in the 1998 peace talks, said he was dismayed.”I think it’s a mistake, but I do pin my hopes on the promise that they will not go back to violence and that there’s no intention of returning to the old days. I think we should deal with this as a political issue to which people object strongly and find the solution that way,” he said in a broadcast interview.FILE – Northern Ireland Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster, center, speaks to journalists at European Union headquarters in Brussels, April 11, 2019.The first minister of Northern Ireland’s devolved government, Arlene Foster, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, accused the EU of taking a “very belligerent approach” to the difficulties caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol. She welcomed Johnson’s decision to delay implementation.Johnson has threatened before to scrap customs checks on trade between Britain and Northern Ireland — a threat that nearly wrecked the overall Brexit deal signed in December. This time he’s said a delay is needed to avoid significant immediate disruption to everyday life in Northern Ireland. He has said the move is “temporary and technical” and designed “to ensure there are no barriers in the Irish Sea, to make sure things flow freely.”Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, warned British ministers recently that their efforts to negotiate a trade deal with the U.S. would be rebuffed if Brexit ended up wrecking the 1998 peace agreement.Just before last November’s U.S. presidential elections, Joe Biden was similarly blunt, saying in a tweet: “We can’t allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit.” He added: “Any trade deal between the U.S. and UK must be contingent upon respect for the Agreement and preventing the return of a hard border. Period.”
…
Weeks After Winter Storms, Mississippi City Still Grappling With Water Crisis
Officials in Mississippi’s largest city, Jackson, are aiming to have running water largely restored by the weekend, nearly three weeks after devastating winter weather left tens of thousands of residents without service.The city was again distributing non-potable water Friday at four sites so people can flush their toilets, and residents must still boil any faucet water before using it for food preparation, drinking, washing dishes or brushing teeth.Charles Williams, the city’s public works director, said Thursday that workers should soon be able to sample enough water to lift the boil advisory.”I see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Williams said at a news conference, sounding more optimistic than he did Wednesday, when problems at the city’s treatment plant caused pressure to drop across the entire system. At that time, he estimated that about a quarter of Jackson’s 43,000 water connections — most of which serve multiple households — were not operating.Ben Mitchell and Deon Sanders work at a public water distribution site after a recent bout of cold weather caused large numbers of water outages, in Jackson, Mississippi, March 4, 2021.Officials did not have an updated estimate as of Friday, though city spokeswoman Michelle Atoa said the system was able maintain pressure overnight.Tamiko Smith, 53, spent several anxiety-filled days scrambling to find clean water to perform the at-home dialysis treatments her husband, Otis, requires four days a week.She tracked down some packaged water at a dialysis training center. Her husband’s uncle, however, who comes to Jackson to receive his own dialysis at a clinic, went three days without treatment because the facility had no access to water.”It was very stressful,” said Smith, who compared the situation to living in a “third-world country.”The problems stem from the same cold snap that wreaked havoc in Texas last month, shutting down the state’s power grid and leaving millions without heat in sub-freezing temperatures.Jackson, the state capital with a population of more than 160,000 people, has seen more than 100 water main leaks since the storm and has been repairing them as quickly as possible, officials said.The city’s mayor, Chokwe Lumumba, sent a letter to Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves earlier this week requesting $47 million in emergency funding to repair and improve Jackson’s water system.Resident Jennifer Cattenhead, 39, and her three children finally had water service return Thursday after more than two weeks without it. “I was like, ‘Oh Lord,'” she said with relief.Jennifer Cattenhead shows a cooler with non-potable water she’s had to use for flushing water in her home after a recent bout of cold weather caused large numbers of water outages, in Jackson, Mississippi, March 4, 2021.Cattenhead had driven miles to find stores with jugs of water in stock, and she melted ice to use for flushing toilets. The first week after the storm, her house also had no power or heat, forcing her family to sleep in their cars for warmth.The crisis has also shuttered businesses across the city.Jeff Good, the co-owner of three restaurants, said his pizzeria, Sal & Mookie’s New York Pizza & Ice Cream Joint, would open Friday for the first time since February 17 after getting water restored Thursday.Workers at his Broad Street Bakery & Cafe, meanwhile, were spending all day on Friday baking after the water returned ahead of reopening Saturday morning.
…
Meghan Markle, Ahead of Oprah Interview, Says She’s ‘Ready to Talk’
Meghan Markle, Britain’s Duchess of Sussex, says she is now “ready to talk” along with husband Prince Harry, ahead of a highly anticipated weekend airing of an interview with Oprah Winfrey.Markle credits her newfound freedom for opening up about the limitations put on her by the royal family and her appreciation for making her own decisions.”It’s really liberating to be able to have the right and the privilege in some ways to be able to say, ‘Yes … I’m ready to talk,’ ” she said.Markle believes now is the time to share her side of the story and how life has changed since leaving the royal family.“We’re on the other side of a lot of, a lot of life experience that’s happened,” Markle said. “And also that we have the ability to make our own choices in a way that I couldn’t have said yes to you then, that wasn’t my choice to make.”Markle and Prince Harry, who tied the knot in May 2018, stunned the royal family in January when they announced they would step down from their official royal duties to live independently in Montecito, California.Since coming to Montecito, the couple announced their new commonwealth project, Archewell Foundation, named after their son Archie. Teaming with chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen, the foundation said it would create Community Relief Centers in regions of the world prone to climate disasters.Sunday’s interview comes after Buckingham Palace announced Wednesday it would be launching an investigation into claims Markle bullied her staff while still living as a royal in London.“I don’t know how they could expect that after all of this time, we would still just be silent if there is an active role that the firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us,” Markle said.Oprah with Meghan and Harry will air this Sunday at 8 p.m. EST on the CBS television network.
…
Turkey Cracks Down on Uighur Protesters After China Complains
Turkey has been a vocal champion for China’s Uighur ethnic minority, pressing Beijing to end harsh policies in Xinjiang that then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called a genocide in 2009. That stance has shifted in more recent years, with Turkish officials largely abandoning their public criticism of China’s Uighur policies, and the Turkish government cracking down on Uighur activists at home. In January, after months of protests in front of the Chinese consulate in Istanbul by Turkey-based Uighurs trying to find information about missing family members, police banned the gatherings over concerns about security and COVID-19. FILE – Protesters march in support of China’s Uighurs in Istanbul, Turkey, Dec. 20, 2019.Some activists then moved their protests to the Chinese embassy in Ankara, where they demonstrated for several days in early February.FILE – Security members surround Uighur protesters near the Chinese Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, Feb. 9, 2021.Jevlan Shirmemet, a 30-year-old Uighur activist who has lived in Istanbul since 2011, was among them. In 2018, Shirmemet lost contact with his mother, Suriye Tursun, a 57-year-old government official from Xinjiang, when she was sent to “Chinese concentration camps” that China calls “reeducation centers” in Xinjiang, he said. “After my mother’s disappearance, I contacted the Chinese embassy for help in reaching out to my mother in 2019, but they have been ignoring my demands,” Shirmemet said. He told VOA that police detained him and three fellow activists for five hours recently, agreeing to release them if they ended their protest outside the diplomatic mission. “The police arrested four of us including me, kept us in their van and took us to a station to sign papers and released us to our hotel,” Shirmemet said, adding that the arrest happened after the Chinese embassy had tweeted the night before that demonstrators were spreading fake news.FILE – Members of the Uighur community living in Turkey hold a placard with pictures of Uighurs they say they fear are being kept in detention camps in China, during a protest near China’s consulate in Istanbul, Feb. 10, 2021.For Megpiret Ablimit, a 20-year-old Uighur university student in Istanbul, protesting means trying to save lives dearest to her. Ablimit says her brother and two uncles are in one of the Xinjiang internment camps, which she calls “concentration camps.” She said her grandmother was 63 when she died in such a camp in 2019, two years after Xinjiang authorities had detained her for traveling to Saudi Arabia on a religious visit. “My relatives’ so-called crimes were for either visiting us in Turkey or to go on Islamic pilgrimage,” Ablimit told VOA. Turkish officials criticize protesters Chinese officials insist that Uighurs have equal rights in the country and their measures in Xinjiang are to counter the “three evils of terrorism, extremism and separatism.” A spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in Ankara told VOA that the Chinese government has been helping the “Chinese compatriots from Xinjiang” contact their relatives. The embassy says the protesters are mainly demonstrating in “an attempt to smear” China.”It’s lawful responsibility for the Turkish policemen to take proper measures to protect the Chinese Embassy and Consulate and maintain order when there is a protest or demonstration nearby,” the spokesperson said in a statement to VOA. Turkish officials also have publicly cast doubt on some of the claims of the protesters. After the Turkish police stopped Uighur protesters in Ankara, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu made a statement on February 15, warning the protesters to avoid falling prey to a “planned international conflict that comes beyond the ocean.”Ucuz, sosyal medya manipülasyonlarına…Uygur Türkü kardeşlerimiz ülkemizde Al bayrak ve Gökbayrak gölgesinde hür ve özgürdürler…Cumhurbaşkanımızın talimatı ile kardeşlerimize yaptığımız hizmetlerşerefimizdir. pic.twitter.com/8B4yqio4aJ— Süleyman Soylu | Maske😷 Mesafe↔️ Temizlik🧼 (@suleymansoylu) February 15, 2021Additionally, Omer Celik, the spokesperson for the Turkish ruling party, Justice and Development Party (AKP), said on February 24 that his government has “high sensitivity” for Uighurs’ living conditions in China.Biz, Çin’in toprak bütünlüğünü savunuyoruz. Çin’in terörle mücadele hakkını da savunuyoruz fakat Uygur Türklerine karşı negatif davranışlar, olumsuz uygulamalar ve oradan gelen bir takım görüntüleri büyük bir kaygıyla izliyoruz. pic.twitter.com/tTar4Hp0jY— Ömer Çelik (@omerrcelik) February 24, 2021Mustafa Akyol, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Cato Institute, says Soylu’s suggestion that this issue is a “planned international conflict” highlights how officials are implicating the United States in the Uighur issue, by tying it to Washington’s broader competition with China. “[Turkey’s] line is, ‘Yes, Uighurs face some hardships, but we will silently do what we can, while not confronting China, against which an American conspiracy is being cooked up,'” Akyol said. Economic dependence Other analysts see an economic incentive in Turkey’s shifting position on Uighurs, following years in which the Turkish economy has been declining. Kemal Kirisci, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution, said the Turkish government hopes that investments, trade and credits with China could help salvage its economy. “Turkey has also chosen to obtain COVID-19 vaccines from China, creating an additional dependence,” Kirisci told VOA. He said a steady flow of vaccines at a price that the Turkish economy can afford requires Ankara to remain largely silent on Uighurs. VOA’s Turkish service contributed to this story.
…
UN Envoy Calls for Collective Action to Stop Myanmar Repression
The U.N. special envoy for Myanmar urged Security Council members Friday to remain united against the Myanmar military’s use of deadly force against protesters, who continue to take to the streets in daily opposition to the February 1 coup.“The repression must stop,” Christine Schraner Burgener told the closed-door meeting, according to a copy of her remarks shared with reporters.FILE – In this June 15, 2018, photo, the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy to Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener arrives at the Parliament Building, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar.“It is critical that this Council is resolute and coherent in putting the security forces on notice and standing with the people of Myanmar firmly, in support of the clear November election results,” she said. Schraner Burgener warned, though, that the hope the people have placed in the United Nations and its members “is waning.”Myanmar has been mired in chaos and violence for more than a month, since the military’s overthrow of the civilian government and the detentions of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other high-ranking officials of her National League for Democracy (NLD) Party. Military officials say widespread fraud occurred in last November’s election, which the NLD won in a landslide. Soldiers and police have cracked down on demonstrators using live ammunition and rubber bullets, shooting indiscriminately into the crowds.The envoy said Friday that in the past seven days, some 50 “innocent and peaceful protesters” have been killed and scores more have been wounded.People attend the funeral of a demonstrator shot dead during anti-coup protests, in Yangon, Myanmar, March 5, 2021.Schraner Burgener said the international community must make it clear that perpetrators of serious human rights violations will be held accountable.“The right to life, the right to liberty and safety, the right to be free from torture and other ill-treatment, and the right to freedom of peaceful assembly must be respected,” she said.The special envoy, who has been in her job for three years and has spent a large part of her time in Myanmar, has been trying to arrange a trip back to the country to meet with military officials, detainees, civil society and protesters. Officials have told her the time is not right.Schraner Burgener renewed her calls on the Council to not lend legitimacy or recognition to the junta, urging the release of political detainees, and unhindered humanitarian access.“I will continue my efforts in solidarity with the people of Myanmar,” she said. “Their hope will depend on unified support and action from the Security Council.”British Ambassador to the United Nations Barbara Woodward, who requested Friday’s meeting, poses for a photo, Jan. 5, 2021, in New YorkNext stepsBritain requested Friday’s Council meeting. Ambassador Barbara Woodward told reporters afterward that members are discussing what they can do in a unified manner.“As the situation has deteriorated, I think it is right the council return and consider the next steps, and that is what we were discussing today,” she said.Myanmar’s patron, China, explained its position. In a statement released to reporters, Ambassador Zhang Jun expressed support for the U.N. special envoy and regional bloc ASEAN’s efforts to resolve the situation.Beijing has said the matter is an internal one, but at the same time noted it is following developments “closely with great concern.”“We don’t want to see instability, even chaos in Myanmar,” the Chinese ambassador said. “The military and various political parties are all members of the Myanmar family, and should all take up the historical responsibility of maintaining the country’s stability and development.”He added that the parties should resolve problems peacefully and “exercise utmost calm restraint, refrain from intensifying tensions or using violence, and prevent any incident of bloodshed.”On February 4, the 15-nation Security Council issued a unanimous statement expressing its concern and calling for the release of Suu Kyi and President Win Myint and others. Council members also stressed the need to uphold democratic institutions and processes, refrain from violence, and fully respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.So far, the calls have had no impact on the ground.Anti-coup protesters flash the three-fingered symbol of resistance and bow in memory of those who died during recent security crackdowns in Yangon, Myanmar, March 5, 2021.Call for arms embargo growsSeparately, the U.N.’s human rights expert on Myanmar, Tom Andrews, called on the Security Council to impose a global arms embargo on the military.“I urge the Council to take decisive and unified action against the military junta, including targeted sanctions, an arms embargo, and a referral to the International Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute atrocities committed since the coup on 1 February and those committed against ethnic groups in years prior,” he said in a statement.He noted that 41 countries already have imposed arms embargoes on Myanmar’s military.The committee representing the NLD legislators is also calling for “robust, targeted sanctions” and an arms embargo against the junta in a letter dated March 4 to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.My letter to UN Security Council To UN Security Council through UN Secretary General , c/o the chair of UNSC, Ambassador and Permanent Representative , UK Mission to United Nations#DrSasapic.twitter.com/kW0OWXEDgT— Dr.Sasa (@drsasa_mm) March 4, 2021Human rights groups joined the call.“No country should be selling a single bullet to the junta after its abuses against Myanmar’s people,” said Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch.“There is an acute and urgent need for a prompt, effective, independent and impartial investigation into shocking human rights violations across Myanmar, including the chain of command responsible for these egregious killings,” Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Research, Emerlynne Gil said. “The military leadership has calculated that they will get away with this; the international community needs to ensure that those calculations were wrong.”Meanwhile, in Washington, a bipartisan U.S. Congressional caucus on press freedom expressed its deep concern and called for the release of journalists arrested while covering the protests“As the people of Burma demonstrate in the wake of the military coup, it is vitally important that members of the media be allowed to do their jobs without fear of intimidation, arrest, or violence,” the caucus co-chairs said in a joint statement, referring to Myanmar by its older name, Burma. “The United States and the international community must be united in condemning the outrageous and violent response to peaceful protests, and call on authorities to respect the rights of journalists to report freely.”
…