South Korea’s leading role in high-tech industries has made it an attractive target for fast-rising Chinese rivals in search of enhanced capabilities in semiconductors, computer displays and shipbuilding, among other technologies.The methods employed by China run the gamut, from relatively benign attempts to recruit skilled workers to more nefarious practices, including bribing South Koreans to divulge trade secrets and illegally hacking into company computer systems.The recruitment efforts often are highly alluring. South Korean job-search websites are filled with ads from Chinese companies with language such as “living expenses and children’s education provided,” or “two-year contract with competitive salary and bonus.”“Basically, your annual salary will double,” explained a businessman with a South Korean semiconductor firm, who travels frequently between Beijing and Seoul, and who asked not to be identified for reasons of personal safety.“For example, there’s not enough talent in circuit board design in China. So, they will post a recruiting ad offering a two-year contract, with twice the salary of an average designer in South Korea. Housing and education for kids will be covered, too.”Two-year limitThe businessman said the Chinese firms generally limit their job offers to two-year contracts. “After they’ve learned everything, they will end the contract and look for other talents they need.”Japan’s Nikkei financial news organization has reported that Chinese display maker BOE, which has been vying for Apple’s iPhone business for years, FILE – People visit a booth of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. at the China International Semiconductor Expo following the coronavirus disease outbreak in Shanghai, Oct. 14, 2020.Nikkei also reported that at least 62 South Korean names appeared in the patents filed by China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), which is on a U.S. government blacklist.Park Wonhyeong, a professor in the Department of Information Security Engineering at Sangmyung University in Seoul, told VOA that headhunting is just one of the ways China acquires advanced technology from South Korea.“In many cases, Chinese companies are purchasing trade secrets or industrial technologies directly from employees in major South Korean companies,” he said.Corporate espionage is a major concern for leading South Korean companies. This month, two former Samsung employees were sentenced to two years in prison for trying to leak Samsung’s OLED secrets to China in violation of the industrial technology protection law.Samsung secretsSamsung, a leading maker of smartphones, TV displays, semiconductors and home appliances, had revenue of nearly $60 billion in 2020. Ensuring Samsung’s continued success and protecting its trade secrets is a matter of national importance for Seoul.Even more concerning, Park said, is a concerted drive by Chinese hackers to steal trade secrets by attacking the internal systems of Korean companies. He said the Chinese hackers are good at finding loopholes in the corporate systems through search engines such as SHODAN, which let the user find specific types of computers connected to the internet using a variety of filters.Park said the attacks can be reliably traced to Chinese hackers from the malicious code that is used.Sources: Suspected Chinese Hackers Used SolarWinds Bug to Spy on US Payroll Agency Chinese foreign ministry says attributing cyberattacks is a “complex technical issue” and any allegations should be supported with evidence“But why would they target things like customer service that is not key to trade secrets?” he asked. “It’s because they want to penetrate into a company’s internal system through a less guarded department, and then attack the headquarters, which usually has stronger security measures.”He said there is evidence that some of these hackers are members of China’s People’s Liberation Army or otherwise linked to the Beijing government.South Korea’s National Intelligence Service has identified 123 technology leaks from South Korea from 2015 to 2019, including 83 leaks that went to China. Many of the leaks involved technologies where South Korean companies have a lead on competitors.Harsher penaltiesIn response, the Seoul government has toughened penalties for technology leaks and has listed high-tech trade secrets as “national core technologies.”Companies like Samsung also have increased security practices to prevent employees from stealing sensitive data.Samsung requires employees to disable cameras and audio-recording functions of their smartphones before entering its labs and factories. And at some labs, the company uses paper embedded with metal foil to activate sensors if employees try to remove documents without permission.Lin Yang contributed to this report.
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Month: March 2021
Myanmar Anti-Coup Protests See Their Bloodiest Day Yet
The U.N. special envoy for Myanmar says at least 38 people were killed across the country Wednesday during another day of demonstrations against the military junta.“Today, it was the bloodiest day since the coup happened on the first of February,” Christine Schraner Burgener told reporters in a video call from Switzerland.Reuters news agency said at least nine people have been killed, including five people in the central town of Monywa, quoting witnesses and media reports. Both Reuters and The Associated Press say a teenage boy was killed in the central city of Myingyan.Meanwhile, Reuters and Agence France-Presse (AFP) said at least two people have been killed in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city. AFP also reported four other deaths in the Sagaing region.Security forces used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowds, with witnesses saying live ammunition was also used against the protesters. Several people were reportedly injured, among them reporter Htet Aung Khant with VOA’s Burmese Service, who was hit by rubber bullets under his arm as he covered the protests.A soldier detains a man during a demonstration against the military coup in Mandalay, Myanmar, March 3, 2021.Schraner Burgener said she was very disturbed by videos circulating of police shooting a protester at close range and another of police beating an unarmed medical crew who did not resist arrest.“From the video clips, I asked some weapons experts to verify to me, it’s not clear, but it seems that the police used weapons like 9-millimeter submachine guns — live ammunition,” she said.Myanmar has been mired in chaos and violence for one 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.Schraner Burgener said she is in daily contact with Suu Kyi and the committee that represents NLD legislators, known as the CRPH. The envoy last spoke with Deputy Military Chief Soe Win on February 15 but said she sent him a long letter on Sunday. She has not received a direct response but said the military sends her some information every day.New electionsThe military has claimed widespread fraud in last November’s election, which the NLD won in a landslide. Myanmar’s electoral commission has denied the claims.Military Chief Min Aung Hlaing declared a one-year state of emergency and said new elections will be held to bring about a “true and disciplined democracy.” But he has not said when the vote would be held. Schraner Burgener said Soe Win told her those elections would happen in one year.“He said that it is due to the constitution,” she said. “We talked also to constitutional experts, and they said it doesn’t have to be one year. But clearly, I think that was the real plan of the army.”Schraner Burgener expressed concern that the military would conduct sham investigations of the NLD that would lead to their being banned and then the army would illegitimately win the election and stay in power. But she said while this strategy may have worked in the past, it will not work now.“But today, we have young people who lived in freedom for 10 years. They have social media, and they are well-organized and very determined. They don’t want to go back in a dictatorship and in isolation,” she said. “So, I think the army is surprised, and maybe we have to help them come out of this situation.”Protesters cover with makeshift shields during an anti-coup protest in Yangon, Myanmar, March 3, 2021.Escalation fearsSchraner Burgener said the situation could escalate. She pointed to the declaration by 10 of the 21 armed ethnic groups in Myanmar that they would fight back if the army attacks civilians in their regions.“If both sides use violence, then we have a situation of a real war in Myanmar, which is in nobody’s interest,” the U.N. envoy said.She will brief the U.N. Security Council Friday in a closed-door meeting. She last briefed them February 2 at the first and only discussion on the situation.She told reporters she is still pressing the military to allow her to visit Myanmar, where she has an office and has spent a great deal of time during the three years she has held her mandate.Myanmar’s UN ambassadorMyanmar’s ambassador to the U.N. Kyaw Moe Tun holds up three fingers at the end of his speech to the General Assembly at the U.N. in New York City, Feb. 26, 2021.In a separate development, Tin Maung Naing, who was appointed Sunday as Myanmar’s chargé d’affaires at the United Nations by the military regime, has reportedly resigned, according to a post on his Facebook page.A United Nations spokesperson said they are aware of the reports but had received no official communication.Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun was fired by the junta after denouncing the coup at a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly on Friday. He said he is still the ambassador because he was appointed by the democratically elected president. The matter has now gone to the nine-member U.N. credentials committee for review.
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US Capitol Riot Hearing: 3-Hour Delay in Deploying Guard Troops
The commander of the National Guard in Washington told Congress Wednesday it took more than three hours to get approval to deploy troops to the U.S. Capitol on January 6 to confront rioters who were storming the building trying to block lawmakers from certifying Democrat Joe Biden as the country’s new president.Maj. Gen. William Walker, chief of the District of Columbia National Guard, told two Senate committees investigating the deadly mayhem that he did not get Defense Department approval to dispatch hundreds of troops until after 5 p.m. — more than three hours after then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund had frantically told him that a mob had breached the building.Walker said the delay appeared to be the result of a cumbersome troop approval process and possibly a reluctance by some officials to approve a public show of force at the U.S. symbol of democracy. In the meantime, the rioters overwhelmed authorities and barged into the U.S. seat of legislative government, ransacked congressional offices and scuffled with police, leaving five people dead.Walker said that in previous instances of civil disorder during his 19 years commanding National Guard troops in Washington — including racial justice demonstrations last spring in Washington — permission to deploy troops to quell unrest had been granted immediately.He said he could have dispatched 155 troops at 2 p.m. shortly after the first rioters rampaged into the Capitol, where the victims included a Capitol Police officer whom authorities believe was fatally doused with bear spray.Those 155 officers “could have made a difference,” Walker told a hearing held jointly by the Senate Homeland Security and Rules committees. “We could have pushed back the crowd.”Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar pointed out that millions of people across the country were watching the riot on live television even as the troop deployment languished.Even after the Defense Department approved the deployment of the National Guard troops at 4:32 p.m., it took another 36 minutes before Walker was told he could send in his troops who were waiting in buses for the short drive to the Capitol.“I was frustrated … stunned” by the delay, Walker testified. “I would have sent them immediately.”Army Maj. Gen. William Walker, Commanding General of the District of Columbia National Guard, answers questions during a hearing, March 3, 2021, to discuss the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Republican Sen. Rob Portman said, “That can’t happen again,” a sentiment with which Walker agreed.Eventually, law enforcement officials restored order at the Capitol. In the early hours of January 7, lawmakers certified the results of the Electoral College and Biden’s victory. He was inaugurated as the country’s 46th president on January 20.While lawmakers investigate the circumstances surrounding the January 6 attack, Capitol Police said they are aware of intelligence claims of a possible militia group plot to attack the Capitol again on Thursday, March 4, the date when some right-wing conspiracy groups believe Trump will be sworn in as president.Until 1933, March 4 was the date when U.S. presidential inaugurations were held.Several hearings plannedWednesday’s hearing is one of several that Congress is holding to investigate how the storming of the Capitol unfolded after former President Donald Trump urged hundreds of his followers at a rally near the White House to “fight like hell” in confronting lawmakers to try to upend the election results.On Tuesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray defended the bureau against criticism that it missed warning signs about the assault and failed to adequately sound the alarm about the possibility of violence by Trump supporters.At the same time, Wray, in his first congressional appearance since the riot, disputed assertions promoted by some on the right that far-left activists masquerading as Trump supporters were involved in the deadly attack.More than 100 police officers were injured. A nationwide manhunt in the aftermath of the insurrection has led to the arrest of more than 300 rioters, including 33 members of anti-government militias and other far-right groups.Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Wray said the FBI took multiple steps to ensure a “raw” intelligence report warning about the possibility of a violent attack on the Capitol reached key law enforcement agencies the day before.The January 5 report, prepared by the FBI’s Norfolk, Virginia, field office, cited online extremist chatter about the possibility of violence and “war.” The FBI typically verifies such raw information before sharing it with law enforcement agencies. But in this case, the threat was concerning and “specific enough” that the FBI decided to share it with the Capitol Police, the Washington city police and other law enforcement agencies as soon as possible, Wray said.Yet the report was not flagged for top officials responsible for securing the Capitol, those officials testified last week, raising questions about a breakdown in intelligence- sharing.
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Sudan, Rwanda Receive Shipments of COVID-19 Vaccines
Sudan and Rwanda received their first shipments of COVID-19 vaccines Wednesday, according to the U.N.Sudan received the initial 820,000 doses out of a total of 3,400,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine secured by COVAX, a global program to distribute vaccines to low- and middle-income countries, and UNICEF. Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s office posted news of the shipment in a tweet.امتدح دولة رئيس مجلس الوزراء الجهود الكبيرة ودرجة التنسيق العالي خلال الفترة الماضية بين فِرَق وزارة الصحة الاتحادية وآلية الكوفاكس ومنظمة اليونيسيف لتأمين وصول 820 ألف جرعة من لقاح الكورونا كدفعة أولى من حوالي 3 ملايين و400 ألف جرعة من المتوقع أن تصل للبلاد يوم غدٍ الأربعاء… pic.twitter.com/oPOBIOjqkH— مكتب رئيس الوزراء – السودان (@SudanPMO) March 2, 2021Rwanda received 102,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, making the country the first on the continent to get access to that vaccine as part of COVAX’s distribution of 1.2 million doses, according to UNICEF.The vaccine shipment to Rwanda “is part of groundbreaking efforts by COVAX to deliver close to 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines globally in 2021,” UNICEF said in a statement. The U.N. body tasked with providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children said it aimed to reach at least 1.3 billion people in the 92 economies eligible for support through the COVAX Advanced Market Commitment.The Sudanese prime minister’s office said it planned to give priority in vaccinations to medical staff and the elderly.As of Wednesday afternoon, Sudan had reported 30,479 cases of coronavirus infections and 1,895 deaths since the beginning the of the pandemic, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.According to UNICEF, Rwanda’s extensive rollout program will inoculate about “30 percent of the population by the end of 2021 and reach 60 percent of the total population by the end of 2022,” with “health workers, other frontline workers, the elderly, those with noncommunicable diseases, refugees, inmates and teachers” first in line to get it.“The first arrivals of COVID-19 vaccine doses in Rwanda represents the start of equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide,” said Rachel Belt, senior country manager for Rwanda at GAVI, a public–private global health partnership seeking to increase access to immunization in poor countries.As of Wednesday afternoon, Rwanda had reported 19,111 cases of coronavirus infections and 265 deaths since the beginning the of the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins.
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Burkina Faso’s Opposition Pushes for Return of Exiled President
Burkina Faso’s opposition has stepped up pressure on President Roch Kabore to follow through on a campaign promise to allow former President Blaise Compaore to return from exile. Supporters say Compaore, who fled to Ivory Coast after being ousted in 2014, would bring back security, while critics say his influence is limited and he should face justice. Henry Wilkins reports from Ouagadougou.Producers: Henry Wilkins, Henry Hernandez. Camera: Henry Wilkins.
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Worldwide Democracy, Liberty Declining, Freedom House Report Finds
During 2020, freedom around the world declined for the 15th straight year, according to Freedom House in its Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest against the arrest of 22-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi, in Kolkata, India, Feb. 23, 2021.Freedom House said India was just one case of “authoritarians generally enjoying impunity for their abuses and seizing new opportunities to consolidate power or crush dissent. In many cases, promising democratic movements faced major setbacks as a result.”The group was critical of China’s “malign influence,” not only for its crackdown on Hong Kong but for a” global disinformation and censorship campaign” that impeded the world’s ability to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.”The report also accused China of “increased meddling in the domestic political discourse of foreign democracies, as well as transnational extensions of rights abuses common in mainland China.”China’s increased clout with international organizations such as the U.N., WHO and the Human Rights Council allowed Beijing to push “a vision of so-called noninterference that allows abuses of democratic principles and human rights standards to go unpunished while the formation of autocratic alliances is promoted.”The group also cited government crackdown on protesters questioning the recent election results in Belarus. It said Azerbaijan’s military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh “threatened recent democratic gains in Armenia.”Freedom House said the U.S. was still considered “free” but it’s “score … dropped by 11 points over the past decade.” The group accuses former President Donald Trump of a three-point drop in 2020 alone.Now, the group says, the U.S. ranks more with Romania and Panama rather than “leading democracies” like France and Germany.The news was not all bad though.Malawi’s newly elected President Lazarus Chakwera takes the oath of office in Lilongwe, Malawi, June 28, 2020.Freedom House said Malawi’s 2020 rerun vote following a “marred” election in 2019 “represented a critical win for Malawi’s democratic institutions and set a positive example of judicial independence for other African states.”The group also praised Taiwan, which it called one of the “highest-performing” democracies in Asia, for its handling of the pandemic.“The government effectively suppressed the coronavirus without resorting to abusive methods, setting a sharp contrast with authoritarian China, where the regime has touted its draconian response as a model for the world,” Freedom House said. “Even before the virus struck, Taiwanese voters defied a multipronged, politicized disinformation campaign from China and overwhelmingly reelected a president who opposes moves toward unification with the mainland.”“Our report concludes that democracy today is beleaguered but not defeated,” said Michael J. Abramowitz, president of Freedom House.
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Britain to Extend COVID-19 Emergency Aid by $91 Billion
British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak announced Wednesday the government is extending emergency economic aid by nearly $91 billion to boost economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. In his annual budget speech to Parliament, Sunak said benefits to workers left unemployed by the pandemic will be extended until the end of September. He said the government will also allocate nearly $1 billion to support the arts, culture and sports impacted by the pandemic. Sunak promised to do “whatever it takes” to support the British people and businesses through what he hopes will be the final months of pandemic restrictions. Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak attends a virtual press conference inside 10 Downing Street in central London, Britain, March 3, 2021.To help begin to pay for some of these programs, Sunak also announced that corporation taxes would rise from 19% to 25% beginning in 2023, by which time the economy should be past the pandemic crisis, he said. “Even after this change, the U.K. will still have the lowest corporation tax rate in the G-7,” Sunak said. The government will also freeze personal income tax thresholds, increasing revenue as inflation boosts incomes. The finance minister also announced the British Office for Budget Responsibility is forecasting the economy will return to its pre-pandemic strength by the middle of 2022, six months earlier than was forecast in November. The bad news, he said, is that the impact of the pandemic will be felt long term, as the five-year forecast for economic growth is 3% smaller than it was pre-pandemic.
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France Could Ease COVID-19 Restrictions Next Month
A French government spokesman said Wednesday officials are hoping to lift some of the nation’s COVID-19-related restrictions by the middle of next month, as vaccinations have, so far, proven effective at lowering infection rates. At a Paris news conference, French government spokesman Gabriel Attal told reporters that while the nation is still facing hard times, “For the first time in months, the return to more normal living conditions is in sight.” Attal said infection rates are decreasing among groups that have been vaccinated — meaning the elderly. Attal said it is a sign the vaccination campaign is working, and that it should be sped up. He said the goal of vaccinating the most fragile was to reduce hospitalizations and protect the health care system, which is key to easing restrictions. The spokesman said President Emmanuel Macron has asked government officials to submit proposals gearing up toward a “cautious reopening” of the country. FILE – A Nice resident and her dog go for a bike ride during virus-related confinement in Nice, southern France, Feb. 27, 2021.Earlier this week, Health Minister Olivier Veran said France will retain its current measures aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19, including a nighttime curfew, as a bare minimum for the next four to six weeks. Other measures now in force include the closure of bars, restaurants, museums, sports and music venues. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus. At more than 3.8 million infections, France has world’s sixth highest number of cases, according to the Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the global outbreak. Reports say the number of new daily infections in France has been at more than 21,000 for six straight days.
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South Sudan Plane Crash Kills All 10 On Board
South Sudan’s civil aviation authority has sent a team to investigate a plane crash Tuesday in Jonglei state that killed 10 people, including two crew members.Kur Kuol, director of the South Sudan Civil Aviation Authority, told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus Wednesday that preliminary investigations suggest both engines failed minutes before the plane went down.“In just 10 minutes from Pieri, according to the information that we have, one engine stopped and then it was about to return to the airstrip, the other stopped and so the plane crashed,” said Kuol.The HK-4274 commercial passenger aircraft belonged to South Supreme Airlines, which is owned by South Sudanese businessman Ayii Duang Ayii. It was flying from Juba to Pibor when it crashed at Pieri Airstrip in Uror County.State Governor Denay Jock Chagor offered his condolences to the families of the victims. In a statement released Tuesday, Chagor confirmed all eight passengers and two crew members on board died in the crash.Investigators with the South Sudan Civil Aviation Authority are searching for the plane’s black box, said Kuol.The plane was in good condition before takeoff, according to Ayii Duang Ayii, director of South Supreme Airlines.“There is no airplane allowed to take off when there are technical problems. [A] captain can’t accept to take off when he knows there are some problems in the plane, so we don’t know what has happened with the plane,” Ayii told South Sudan in Focus.The plane was co-piloted by a 30-year-old South Sudanese/American pilot who received his flight training in the U.S. before returning to South Sudan more than 10 years ago, when he began working for South Supreme Airlines.Ayii said his airline will respect the findings of the investigation.“Every plane is under national rules. Later we shall find out the cause of the crash and who is to blame,” Ayii told VOA.In March 2017, an Antonov An-26 belonging to South Supreme Airlines was destroyed in a fire after it crash landed at Wau Airport on a domestic flight from Juba.
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Civil Engineers: US Infrastructure Rates a C-minus
U.S. infrastructure rates a C-minus grade, the American Society of Civil Engineers said Wednesday, with years of inaction by the federal government leaving the country with deteriorating roads and bridges while airports, water supplies and public transit systems need upgrades. The civil engineers said the United States needs to spend $5.9 trillion over the next decade, about $2.6 trillion more than would normally be spent to bring its infrastructure up to a safe level. The group said its infrastructure grade – barely passing in the U.S. academic system – reflected “significant deficiencies,” although a slight improvement from the D-plus grade in 2017, in part because of state and local government and private sector efforts to target repairs for water main leaks. FILE – A worker welds on the Ninth Street bridge in Pittsburgh, May 6, 2020. The American Society of Civil Engineers rated U.S. infrastructure a C-minus grade on Wednesday.The engineers, however, said of the 17 categories making up the overall grade, 11 were in the D range that indicated a “significant deterioration” with a “strong risk of failure,” such as for public transit, storm water infrastructure, airports, roads and highways. It rated bridges, energy, drinking water and solid waste disposal at the C level, and just two areas – ports and rail service – in the B range. Infrastructure spending is often debated in Washington, but seldom acted on, with successive administrations and lawmakers unable to agree on what infrastructure should be improved and how it should be paid for – out of normal government budgets or with higher taxes of some sort, such as gasoline taxes to build and repair roads. During former President Donald Trump’s four years in the White House, his administration held many “infrastructure week” programs but there was never agreement with Congress on what projects to fund. Now, President Joe Biden says he plans to tackle the issue following what he hopes is Congress’s passage of his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. It has already cleared the House of Representatives and could be passed in the Senate by mid-March. But again, there is wide initial debate on what infrastructure projects should be funded and questions on how to pay for them. FILE – Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks at Union Station in Washington, Feb. 5, 2021.Biden’s transportation chief, Pete Buttigieg, told the Associated Press that the civil engineers’ report card, “is a warning and a call to action. A generation of disinvestment is catching up to us, and we must choose whether to allow our global competitors to pull ahead permanently, or to invest in the safety, equity, resilience and economic strength that superior infrastructure can bring to Americans.” He said that while communities throughout the U.S. fight the coronavirus pandemic, the Biden administration also is “committed to being a partner to help them save money, reduce congestion and improve mobility, safety and accessibility.” The infrastructure issues came to the fore in February in the southwestern state of Texas, with its struggle to cope with power outages and water shortages during a prolonged winter storm. Frigid temperatures froze pipes that burst and flooded homes, while millions of residents lost heat and running water.
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Central African Refugees Being Moved Away From Dangerous Border Areas in DR Congo
The U.N. refugee agency is rushing to relocate thousands of Central African refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo away from the dangerous border areas to safer sites farther inside the country. An estimated 92,000 refugees from the Central Africa Republic fled south into Congo late last year to escape election-related violence in their country. U.N. refugee agency spokesman Boris Cheshirkov says they are living precariously in 40 remote places in northwestern Congo. “Most Central African refugees are now living along riverbanks in hard-to-reach border areas, among host communities with extremely limited resources,” he said. “Conditions are dire, with many refugees sleeping in makeshift shelters or out in the open. Most have little to no access to drinking water, sanitation or food. Some have been welcomed by host families, sometimes up to three refugee families in a single home.” Cheshirkov says the refugees must be relocated quickly because of the logistical difficulties of providing them with essential assistance where they are. It will become even harder to reach them during the coming rainy season when roads become impassable. Besides the need to provide food, shelter and water, he says health needs are becoming increasingly urgent. “We recently had a joint evaluation team among U.N. agencies, NGOs and local provincial health authorities and we are very concerned that there might be a measles outbreak,” he said. “There already are cases that have been registered. Only 30 percent of the refugee children have been vaccinated. We are calling for a vaccination drive.” Cheshirkov says the UNHCR and Congo’s National Refugee Commission are developing a site for 10,000 refugees in Modale village in North Ubangi province and a second site is being considered in Bas Uele province. Additionally, he says four relocation sites will be prepared for some 35,000 refugees to live alongside local communities. These refugees, he says, will be able to grow their own crops and live a more independent life. The UNHCR says as the needs of the Central African refugees increase, so do the funding requirements. The agency is urging the international community to respond generously to its recent appeal for $164.7 million so it can deliver lifesaving support to these vulnerable people.
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Blast Damages Dutch COVID-19 Testing Site
Dutch police say an explosive device detonated at a COVID-19 testing site before dawn Wednesday in the town of Bovenkarspel, north of Amsterdam, shattering windows but causing no reported injuries.Police spokesman Menno Hartenberg told reporters that forensic officers investigating the site found the metal remains of the explosive device outside a building, which was damaged. Hartenberg said “it was not possible” the blast was an accident.The northern area surrounding Bovenskarspel is suffering one of the Netherlands’ worst COVID-19 outbreaks, with 181 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, compared with about 27 per 100,000 nationally. At least one hospital has been forced to send patients to other provinces due to lack of space in its intensive care units.Forensic officers investigate the area at the scene of an explosion at a coronavirus testing location in Bovenkarspel, near Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 3, 2021.Resistance to COVID-19 restrictions in the Netherlands has turned violent in the past. In January, rioters torched a coronavirus test facility in the fishing village of Urk on the first night of a 9 p.m.-to-4:30 a.m. nationwide curfew imposed as part of the government’s latest coronavirus lockdown.Attacks on health workers and facilities around the world have increased amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A report released this week by Geneva-based Insecurity Insight and the University of California, Berkeley’s Human Rights Center identified more than 1,100 threats or acts of violence against health care workers and facilities last year.Wednesday is the first day in several months when lockdown measures in the Netherlands have been slightly eased, with hairdressers reopening and non-essential stores accepting a small number of customers by appointment.
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Strong Earthquake Shakes Central Greece, Felt in Balkans
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of at least 6.0 struck central Greece Wednesday and was also felt in neighboring Albania and North Macedonia, and as far as Kosovo and Montenegro.
One man was injured by falling debris but there were no other immediate reports of serious injury. Local officials reported structural damage, mainly to old houses and buildings that saw walls collapse or crack.
The midday quake sent thousands of people rushing out of homes and office buildings into the streets in Larissa and Tyrnavos, the closest towns to the epicenter, which was 22 kilometers (14 miles) west-northwest of Larissa. Numerous aftershocks hit the area, the most powerful having a preliminary magnitude of over 5.0.
The quake struck at 12:16 p.m. (1015 GMT), according to the Athens Geodynamic Institute which put the preliminary magnitude at 6.0.
The United States Geological Survey and Global Seismic Monitor Geofon put the preliminary magnitude at 6.3, but it is common for magnitude estimates to vary soon after a quake.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu phoned his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias, to convey solidarity and offer assistance if needed, according to officials from the two neighboring countries — which are longtime regional rivals.
In Athens, seismologist Vassilis Karastathis told reporters that the quake originated in a fault line in the area that has historically not produced temblors of much larger magnitude than Wednesday’s. He said the post-quake activity appeared normal so far but experts were monitoring the situation.
“The earthquake had an estimated depth of just 8 kilometers (5 miles) and that was one of the reasons why it was felt so strongly in the region,” said Karastathis, who is the deputy director of the Athens Geodynamic Institute.
Nikos Gatsas, mayor of the town of Elassona which lies north of the epicenter, told Greece’s state broadcaster ERT that walls of old houses had collapsed in nearby villages, and that one village school had sustained damage. All pupils had been evacuated from the building and there were no injuries.
The fire department said it had received reports of damage to one home and school, while the fire service and police were patrolling the area. All local fire departments were put on alert.
The head of the National Defense General Staff and other civil defense, fire department and political officials were heading to the area.
Greece lies in a highly seismically active region. The vast majority of earthquakes cause no damage or injuries.
Last October, an earthquake that struck the eastern Greek Aegean island of Samos and the nearby Turkish coast killed two high school students on Samos and at least 75 people in Turkey. In 1999, an earthquake near Athens killed 143 people.
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6 Journalists Covering Myanmar Unrest Arrested
Six journalists have been arrested in Myanmar over their coverage of the anti-coup demonstrations. A lawyer for Thein Zaw of the Associated Press says Thein and five other journalists have been charged under a law that prohibits anyone from causing fear, knowingly spreads false news or agitates directly or indirectly against a government employee. The six journalists are facing as much as three years in prison if convicted. The junta amended the law just last month to increase the maximum prison sentence from to two to three years.The Associated Press says Thein Zaw was detained Saturday in Yangon as he was covering the demonstrations in Myanmar’s largest city. He is reportedly being held in the city’s notorious Insein prison, which has housed numerous political prisoners during the military’s previous autocratic rule. Four of the other five journalists work for Myanmar Now, Myanmar Photo Agency, 7Day News and the online news outlet Zee Kwet, while the fifth is a freelancer. Ian Phillips, the AP’s vice president for international news, has called for Thein Zaw’s immediate release. “Independent journalists must be allowed to freely and safely report the news without fear of retribution,” Phillips said.
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Cambodia Deports Chinese Journalist Over Vaccine for Sale Story
The Cambodian government has deported a Chinese journalist for publishing what authorities deemed “fake news” about a purported scheme offering COVID-19 vaccines for a “service fee.” Shen Kaidong, 52, the editor of Angkor Today since 2015, was deported last week after posting a February 23 story about Chinese nationals in Cambodia receiving anonymous text messages offering a COVID-19 vaccine for $120. Angkor Today, previously named the Angkor Times, publishes news stories on Facebook and WeChat, the popular Chinese social media platform. Police arrested Shen Kaidong February 24 in Siem Reap province, best known for the A shipment of 600,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines donated by China arrives at the Phnom Penh International Airport, Feb. 15, 2021.Rights groups and press freedom advocates have been critical of the government’s alacrity to use the Criminal Code against journalists and publications, rather than the Law on the Press, which allows publications to issue corrections if they publish inaccurate information. Ith Sothoeuth, media director at the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, called for “a thorough investigation into whether the vaccine is being sold or not.” “This can provide justice to other journalists,” he said. The government announcement of Shen Kaidong’s deportation and ban did not provide any details as to why he was deported or whether claims of his story were investigated. Keo Vanthan, a spokesperson for Cambodia’s General Department of Immigration, said Shen Kaidong was put on a on plane for publishing fake news but did not provide any other details surrounding the case. “He published fake news and it caused social chaos,” Keo Vanthan said. The Information Ministry revoked the license for Angkor Today on February 25 and the Health Ministry denied any vaccines were for sale in the country. “We do not charge people money for COVID-19 vaccines,” said Or Vandine, a spokesperson for the Health Ministry, according to the Phnom Penh Post. “All vaccinations are voluntary and do not cost anything.” An English translation from Angkor Today’s WeChat account found the initial article reported that several Chinese nationals received a text message promising them the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for $120. The Chinese-language news outlet provided screenshots of these messages. Reporting on the offer, an Angkor Today reporter called a phone number listed in the texts and the person who answered said the $120 was not for the vaccine but for a shuttle service to Phnom Penh, where the vaccine was available. The story posted on Facebook says that once a vaccine appointment is set, “a car will be sent to pick up the person. The vaccination time is around the 30th of this month.” Even though there are only 28 days in February, the phone interviewee quoted in Shen Kaidong’s story did say “the 30th of this month.” The story also includes comments from Chinese nationals questioning the scheme as a potential scam. The story ends by promising additional reports on the text messages. The Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh on February 24 issued a statement on WeChat, according to the Angkor Today acknowledging that some Chinese nationals had received a text promising the COVID-19 vaccine for “a service fee” of $120, adding that it had seen reports of other social media posts offering the vaccine for as much as $450. The Chinese embassy reminded its citizens that the vaccine was not for sale, cautioned them about scams, and said to follow Cambodian government procedures for getting the vaccine. Kim Santepheap, a secretary of state at the Justice Ministry who spoke at a February 19 press conference announcing the “fake news” deportation directive, said publishing or sharing of “fake news” about the pandemic could also carry a criminal charge. Cambodia has jailed dozens of people since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic for critiquing the government’s response to the outbreak. Last year, at least two dozen people linked to the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) were arrested, detained or imprisoned for posting critical comments on Facebook, talking about the pandemic.
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10 People Feared Dead in South Sudan Commercial Plane Crash
A South Sudan Supreme Airlines plane crashed just after takeoff late Tuesday afternoon in South Sudan, killing all 10 people on board, according to media reports. Initial reports indicate the plane carrying eight passengers and a two member crew, went down after leaving the small village of Pieri. The plane was bound for the Juba International Airport, where an airport official there confirmed the accident. The exact cause of the crash is being investigated. South Supreme Airlines, which is one of South Sudan’s primary air carriers, suffered another plane crash in 2017, when one of its jets caught fire and made a crash landing at Wau Airport in South Sudan on a flight from Juba. Dozens of people were injured in the crash but no one died.
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FBI Director to US Lawmakers: Capitol Riot Was Domestic Terrorism
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray told U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday that the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters trying to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory was domestic terrorism. As VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, Wray admitted the bureau did have raw intelligence warning of violence that day.
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US Sanctions Russia for Poisoning Opposition
The Biden administration announced sanctions Tuesday on senior Russian government officials for the poisoning of Alexey Navalny and reiterated a demand that the opposition leader be released from detention. The sanctions were not specifically directed at President Vladimir Putin or his inner circle. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story.
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Japan Billionaire Offers Space Seats to Moon
It’s the sort of chance that comes along just once in a blue Moon: a Japanese billionaire is throwing open a private lunar expedition to eight people from around the world. Yusaku Maezawa, an online fashion tycoon, was announced in 2018 as the first man to book a spot aboard the lunar spaceship being developed by SpaceX. Maezawa, who paid an undisclosed sum for the trip expected to launch around 2023, originally said he planned to invite six to eight artists to join him on the voyage.But on Wednesday, in a video posted on his Twitter account, he revealed a broader application process. “I’m inviting you to join me on this mission. Eight of you from all around the world,” he said. “I have bought all the seats, so it will be a private ride,” he added. Maezawa said his initial plan of inviting artists had “evolved” because he came to believe that “every single person who is doing something creative could be called an artist.” The Japanese entrepreneur said applicants would need to fulfill just two criteria: being ready to “push the envelope” creatively, and being willing to help other crew members do the same. In all, he said around 10 to 12 people will be on board the trip, which is expected to loop around the Moon before returning to Earth. The application timeline for spots on the trip calls for would-be space travelers to pre-register by March 14th, with initial screening carried out by March 21st. No deadlines are given for the next stages – an “assignment” and an online interview – but final interviews and medical checkups are currently scheduled for late May 2021, according to Maezawa’s website. Maezawa and his band of merry astronauts will become the first lunar voyages since the last US Apollo mission in 1972 – if SpaceX can pull the trip off. Last month, a prototype of its Starship crashed in a fireball as it tried to land upright after a test flight, the second such accident, after the last prototype of the Starship met a similar fate in December. The company hopes the reusable, 394-foot (120-meter) rocket system will one day carry crew and cargo to the Moon, Mars and beyond.
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Cambodian Opposition Leaders Given ‘Outrageously Harsh’ Prison Sentences for Allegedly Plotting Coup
A Phnom Penh court has sentenced nine senior leaders of the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party to 20-plus years in prison for allegedly plotting a coup in 2019. The sentence, delivered Monday, means they are effectively banned from ever returning home. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court delivered its verdict in the so-called “attack” case in a hearing that was not attended by defense lawyers. Y Rin, a court spokesperson, said government lawyers were present when Judge Duch Soksarin delivered the verdict. Those sentenced are former party president Sam Rainsy, his deputies Mu Sochua and Eng Chhai Eang, and senior party members Tioulong Saumura, Nut Romduol, Ho Vann, Ou Chanrith, Long Ry and Men Sothavarin. Sam Rainsy was sentenced to 25 years in prison and the eight others received sentences of 20 to 22 years, according to Y Rin. The court added additional penalties that bar them from voting, running for election or holding any public positions. “This verdict was delivered before lawyers representing the Royal Government and it was considered to be in [the presence] of the nine accused,” Y Rin wrote in a Telegram message. Sam Rainsy, who lives in exile in France, said of the verdict that “I don’t care at all because Cambodia’s courts are a joke. We call it the puppet court serving Mr. Hun Sen.” Prime Minister Hun Sen, with his ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), has held power in Cambodia in various coalitions since 1985. Reaction to the sentencing was swift. “A prison sentence from a court which is controlled by the government cannot be taken seriously,” Rainsy said in a statement posted on his social media page. Human Rights Watch said the verdict was an “outrageously harsh prison sentence” and intended to block the nine CNRP leaders from ever returning to Cambodia. “But even with the cases being heard by a kangaroo court, PM Hun Sen didn’t dare allow even a minimally fair proceeding, barring Mu Sochua and the other defendants from returning to the country to have their day in court,” said Phil Robertson, the group’s deputy Asia director. “Once again, Cambodia’s politically controlled judiciary make a mockery of justice rather than defending it,” Robertson said, adding that the case against Sam Rainsy was based on “bogus, politically motivated allegations manufactured by a dictatorial, single-party state.” Ministry of Justice spokesperson Chin Malin defended the Phnom Penh Municipal Court’s decision, adding that the CNRP leaders could appeal the lower court’s verdict. “The courts in a sovereign state make decisions based on the facts and the law,” he said. “And if perpetrators or their fellow [defendants] are not satisfied, then they can use their legal rights to appeal.” The case relates to Sam Rainsy’s attempt to return to Cambodia in November 2019. The former CNRP president had remained overseas after an arrest warrant was issued for him in 2015 in a defamation case. Other senior leaders fled the country after then-party president Kem Sokha was arrested in 2017 and the party dissolved months later.Cambodia High Court Dissolves Opposition Party, Cementing One-party Rule
Cambodia's Supreme Court has dissolved the country's main opposition party in a ruling likely to cement Prime Minister Hun Sen's already expansive grip on power.Thursday's unanimous ruling by the nine-member court also bans 118 members of the now-defunct Cambodia National Rescue Party from any political activity for the next five years. The court sided with a lawsuit filed by Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party, accusing the CNRP of being involved in a foreign-backed plot to topple the…
Dissolving the party, which had been gaining popularity in local elections, guaranteed that Hun Sen’s CPP would sweep the 2018 general election. It won all the seats in Parliament, in what international groups that spent billions of dollars funding pro-democracy civil society efforts condemned as the most unfair and unfree since the United Nations organized the first post-genocide election in 1993. Sam Rainsy was prevented from entering Cambodia in 2019 after the government issued travel bans and warned neighboring countries and airlines from allowing him to board Phnom Penh-bound flights. During the trial, which started in November 2020, the government characterized Sam Rainsy’s efforts to return to Cambodia as an attempted coup, pointing to plans to gather party supporters and organize other repatriations. Over 130 other CNRP members and supporters are currently before the Phnom Penh court for allegedly supporting the return plan. The nine leaders are co-defendants in two of these cases. Mu Sochua, one of the nine leaders, said the ruling was a blow to Cambodian democracy and was in line with Hun Sen’s political needs. “This conviction meets the desires of Mr. Hun Sen,” she said on Monday. “It’s not a typical court in a country where there is an impartial and independent judiciary.” Sochua said the court proceeded to try the nine leaders in absentia, despite their willingness to return to Cambodia for the trial and robbing them of their fair trial rights. This story originated in VOA’s Khmer Service.
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Sudan Marks Milestone with Historic Bank Wire Transfer
The first wire transfer between Sudan and a U.S.-based bank was completed successfully last week ending more than 20 years of economic isolation. Sudanese Ambassador to the United States Nuraldin Satti [different spellings with an ‘e’ here for example ‘Nureldin Satti’] told VOA he received a test wire transfer from Qatar National Bank in Khartoum to his personal account at Wells Fargo in the United States. The change will facilitate remittances through direct bank transactions between Sudan and the United States benefiting the Sudanese economy and people, Satti told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus. The process to re-establish direct transactions between the two countries started a few weeks ago when the U.S. Department of Treasury sent a message encouraging banks to do transactions with Sudan. “One of the banks was Qatar National Bank which responded favorably to this request and got in touch with Well Fargo which also accepted the request and the offer,” said Satti. Qatar National Bank in Khartoum did a test wire transfer of small amount to the U.S.-based Wells Fargo “which I received to my personal account a few days ago” Satti told VOA on Monday. Historic transaction This was the first time money could be remitted between Sudan and the United States through official channels since the Clinton administration imposed economic sanctions on Sudan in 1997. Through an executive order, President Bill Clinton banned all U.S. investment in Sudan and most bilateral trade citing Sudan’s continued support to international terrorism, its poor human rights record including lack of religious freedom, and its efforts to destabilize the region. The United States had also placed Sudan on its list of State Sponsors of Terrorism earlier in 1993 for harboring international terrorists, including Osama Bin Laden.South Sudanese protest outside the White House in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, Apr. 28, 2015. The protesters want President Salva Kiir to step down and say more targeted sanctions are needed against those blocking peace in South Sudan.Lifting sanctions The Obama administration began the process of lifting economic sanctions on Sudan in 2017 citing Sudan’s cooperation with the United States on counterterrorism and its efforts to improve its human rights record. The U.S. officially rescinded Sudan’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism in December last year following the political change in Sudan and the transitional government’s agreement to compensate terror victims in cases where Sudan was found guilty of supporting al-Qaida. Economic reforms But analysts told VOA that direct bank transactions to Sudan remain problematic because of “distortions” in the Sudanese economy and the multiple and widely varying exchange rates of the Sudanese pound to the U.S. dollar. On February 20, Sudan’s transitional government announced a decision to float the pound to close the huge gap between Sudan’s official exchange rate, which was 55 pounds to the dollar, and the black-market exchange rate, which stood at nearly 400 pounds to the dollar. The move was touted by Sudanese officials as part of broader economic reforms that Sudan’s transitional government made under a plan endorsed by the International Monetary Fund in October 2020. “The depreciation of the Sudanese pound was very harmful to anybody who wanted to send remittances to Sudan or who wanted to invest in Sudan,” Satti told VOA. “And, of course, to the Sudanese people above all because of the high inflation rate that has been taking place for the last 20 years.” The Sudanese government hopes the unification of its multiple exchange rates will encourage direct trade and investment in Sudan and facilitate transactions between Sudan-based banks and the outside world through official channels, said Satti. Sudan’s top diplomat to the United States noted that another test is being made this week to reverse the process by sending money from a U.S.-bank to Sudan and, if successful, Sudanese people in the United States will be able to send remittances back home through reliable and official channels for the first time in decades.
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Vernon Jordan, Activist, Former Clinton Adviser, Dies at 85
Vernon Jordan, who rose from humble beginnings in the segregated South to become a champion of civil rights before reinventing himself as a Washington insider and corporate influencer, has died at the age of 85. His niece, Ann Walker Marchant, confirmed Tuesday that he died peacefully Monday night. Former President Bill Clinton remembered Jordan as someone who “never gave up on his friends or his country.” Jordan “brought his big brain and strong heart to everything and everybody he touched. And he made them better,” Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said in the statement. His friendship with Clinton took them both to the White House. Jordan was an unofficial aide to Clinton, drawing him into controversy during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. After serving as field secretary for the Georgia NAACP and executive director of the United Negro College Fund, Jordan headed the National Urban League, becoming the face of Black America’s modern struggle for jobs and justice for more than a decade. He was nearly killed by a racist’s bullet in 1980 before transitioning to business and politics. President Joe Biden remembered Jordan as a foot soldier for civil rights. Vernon Jordan knew the soul of America, in all of its goodness and all of its unfulfilled promise. And he knew the work was far from over,'' Biden said in a statement. Former President Barack Obama said thatlike so many others, Michelle and I benefited from Vernon Jordan’s wise counsel and warm friendship _ and deeply admired his tireless fight for civil rights. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday on Twitter thatJordan’s leadership took our nation closer to its Founding promise: all are created equal.” Jordan’s death comes months after the deaths of two other civil rights icons: U.S. Rep. John Lewis and C.T. Vivian. After growing up in the Jim Crow South and living much of his life in a segregated America, Jordan took a strategic view of race issues. “My view on all this business about race is never to get angry, no, but to get even,” Jordan said in a New York Times interview in 2000. You don't take it out in anger; you take it out in achievement.'' Jordan was the first lawyer to head the Urban League, which had traditionally been led by social workers. Under his leadership, the Urban League added 17 more chapters and its budget swelled to more than $100 million. The organization also broadened its focus to include voter registration drives and conflict resolution between Blacks and law enforcement. He resigned from the Urban League in 1982 to become a partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld. Jordan was a key campaign adviser to Clinton during his first presidential campaign and co-chaired Clinton's transition team. His friendship with Clinton, which began in the 1970s, evolved into a partnership and political alliance. He met Clinton as a young politician in Arkansas, and the two connected over their Southern roots and poor upbringings. Although Jordan held held no official role in the Clinton White House, he was highly influential and had such labels as thefirst friend.” He approached Colin Powell about becoming Secretary of State and encouraged Clinton to approve the NAFTA agreement in 1993. Jordan also secured a job at Revlon for Lewinsky, a White House intern whose sexual encounters with the president spawned a scandal. Vernon Eulion Jordan Jr., was born in Atlanta on Aug. 15, 1935, the second of Vernon and Mary Belle Jordan’s three sons. Until Jordan was 13, the family lived in public housing. But he was exposed to Atlanta’s elite through his mother, who worked as a caterer for many of the city’s affluent citizens. Jordan went to DePauw University in Indiana, where he was the only Black student in his class and one of five at the college. Distinguishing himself through academics, oratory and athletics, he graduated in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and went on to attend Howard University School of Law in Washington. While there, he married his first wife, Shirley Yarbrough. The young couple moved to Atlanta after Jordan earned his law degree in 1960, and Jordan became a clerk for civil rights attorney Donald Hollowell, who successfully represented two Black students – Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter – attempting to integrate the University of Georgia. In an iconic photograph, Jordan – an imposing 6 feet, 4 inches – is seen holding at bay the white mob that tried to block Hunter from starting her first day of classes. In 1961, Jordan became Georgia field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. During his two years in the role, Jordan built new chapters, coordinated demonstrations and boycotted businesses that would not employ Blacks. Jordan moved to Arkansas in 1964 and went into private practice. He also became director of the Voter Education Project of the Southern Regional Council. During his tenure, millions of new Blacks joined the voter rolls and hundreds of Blacks were elected in the South. Jordan considered running for Georgia’s fifth congressional district seat in 1970, but was tapped that year to head the United Negro College Fund. Holding the position for just 12 months, Jordan used his fundraising skills to fill the organization’s coffers with $10 million to help students at historically Black colleges and universities. In 1971, after the death of Whitney Young Jr., Jordan was named the fifth president of the National Urban League. The high-profile position landed him in the crosshairs of a racist in May 1980 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Jordan was shot with a hunter’s rifle outside his hotel after returning from dinner. Jordan had five surgeries and was visited by President Jimmy Carter during his 3-month recovery in the hospital. “I’m not afraid and I won’t quit,” Jordan told Ebony magazine after the shooting. Joseph Paul Franklin, an avowed white supremacist who targeted Blacks and Jews in a cross-country killing spree from 1977 to 1980, later admitted to shooting Jordan. He was never prosecuted in Jordan’s case, but was put to death in 2013 for another slaying in Missouri. Jordan left the organization in 1981, but said his departure was unrelated to the shooting. In 2000, Jordan joined the New York investment firm of Lazard Freres & Co. as a senior managing partner. The following year, he released an autobiography, “Vernon Can Read!: A Memoir.”He has received more than 55 honorary degrees, including ones from both of his alma maters and sat on several boards of directors. “He became the model for boards of directors; sitting on countless boards,” The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. said Tuesday on Twitter. “He became a renowned international lawyer. I miss him so much already.” Jordan’s first wife died in 1985. He married Ann Dibble Cook in 1986.
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Who Represents Myanmar at UN?
Myanmar’s dueling governments each now claim to represent the country at the United Nations, making it likely that member states will have to step in and decide whose ambassador to recognize. “I can confirm we received two letters,” U.N. Spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters. “They are currently under review.” He said a letter was received Monday from Kyaw Moe Tun, the ambassador of Myanmar who took up his post in October, confirming he is still the U.N. representative. A second communication was received Tuesday from Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry, informing the secretary-general that Tin Maung Naing, the deputy ambassador at the U.N. mission, has been appointed as Charge d’Affaires as of February 28.“Let’s be honest here, we are in a very unique situation we have not seen in a long time,” Dujarric said. “We are trying to sort through all the legal protocol and other implications.” At a meeting Friday of the General Assembly, Myanmar Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun made an emotional appeal to the international community, urging nations to reject the February 1 military coup, and “to use any means necessary” to protect the people. State television announced the next day that he had been fired. FILE – Myanmar’s ambassador to the U.N., Kyaw Moe Tun, holds up three fingers to the General Assembly, where he pleaded for international action in overturning the military coup in his country, as seen in this still image taken Feb. 26, 2021.In his letter to the president of the General Assembly and copied to the office of the U.N. secretary-general, Kyaw Moe Tun said he was appointed by President U Win Myint, “the lawfully elected President of Myanmar” and by Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi. Both the president and Suu Kyi are among dozens of officials who have been detained during the military’s power grab. Popular protests across the country opposing the military’s coup have grown increasingly violent and deadly. Diplomats say the U.N. Security Council will discuss the situation on Friday. “The perpetrators of the unlawful coup against the democratic government of Myanmar have no authority to countermand the legitimate authority of the President of my country,” Kyaw Moe Tun’s letter states. “I wish therefore to confirm to you that I remain Myanmar’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations.” The communication from the Foreign Ministry is unsigned, but it has the official seal and announces that the “State Administration Council of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar terminated the duties and responsibilities of Ambassador U Kyaw Moe Tun” on February 27 – the day after his speech denouncing the coup. “In this regard, the Ministry would like to request the Executive Office of the Secretary General of the United Nations to accept the decision made by the State Administration Council of Myanmar,” the letter read. Traditionally, if there is a dispute over who is the accredited representative of a country, the U.N. credentials committee, made up of nine member states, would review the matter and make a recommendation. “After that it would come to the General Assembly, as a whole, to consider the recommendation from the credentials committee,” said Brenden Varma, spokesman for the president of the General Assembly. New U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, holds a news conference at U.N. headquarters in New York, March 1, 2021.“We have not seen any official evidence – or request that he be removed, and for the time being he is the representative of the Myanmar government,” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Monday when asked at a news conference who the U.S. recognizes as representing Myanmar at the United Nations. FILE – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a news conference at U.N. headquarters in New York, Nov. 20, 2020.U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly called on the military to reverse its actions and respect the will of the people as expressed in November’s election – which saw the National League for Democracy party secure 82% of the vote. U.N. Special Envoy for Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener urged the international community Friday not to “lend legitimacy or recognition” to the military regime. She said she was deeply troubled by the ongoing arrests of political leaders, including NLD legislators, government officials, civil society actors and journalists, and she condemned the use of lethal force against peaceful protesters and the rising deaths as “unacceptable.”
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Diplomats: UN Security Council to Meet Thursday on Ethiopia’s Tigray
The U.N. Security Council will meet Thursday to discuss the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, diplomats told AFP Tuesday. The meeting, requested by Ireland, will be held behind closed doors at midday and is not guaranteed to lead to the adoption of a joint statement, the diplomats said. The Council’s last meeting on Tigray was held February 2 to call for more humanitarian access. African Council members, however, had rejected in advance the idea of a joint text. Several other Council members joined Ireland’s request for a meeting, one diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity. Estonia, France, Norway, Britain and the United States also called Tuesday for an international investigation into reported atrocities committed in Tigray. Since the launch in early November of an Ethiopian military operation in Tigray, the Security Council has held few meetings on the issue, undermined by divisions between African members — who see it as an internal matter — and Western members, for whom the humanitarian situation and influx of refugees in neighboring countries require the involvement of the body charged with world peace and security. An initial closed-door meeting was held on November 24, and a second closed-door session came on December 14 ahead of the February 2 meeting. Neither produced a joint declaration. The U.N. announced it had reached several agreements with the Ethiopian authorities guaranteeing in principle full access to the entire country. These agreements have yet to be realized. On Tuesday, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that “authorizations for needs assessments missions are still pending with the authorities.” “Hundreds of thousands of people affected (by fighting) have not been reached, particularly in the rural areas of Tigray,” he said during his daily press briefing. “More than 80 aid workers have received clearances to go to Tigray, but the permits are for short missions,” he said. “Despite the challenges, humanitarians on the ground are working to increase the response, with some progress made, especially on food assistance in the main cities.” NGOs have called since the start of 2021 for the Security Council to hold a public session followed by a resolution calling for an end to the obstruction of aid and an immediate investigation into alleged war crimes committed in Ethiopia’s dissident region.
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