An SUV packed with 25 people pulled in front of an oncoming tractor-trailer on a two-lane highway cutting through farmland near the U.S-Mexico border early Tuesday, killing 13 and leaving bodies strewn across the roadway. Most of the dead were Mexicans, a Mexican official said. When police arrived, some of the passengers were trying to crawl out of the crumpled 1997 Ford Expedition while others were wandering around the fields. The rig’s front end was pushed into the SUV’s left side and two empty trailers were jackknifed behind it. Twelve people were found dead when first responders reached the highway, which winds through fields in the agricultural southeastern corner of California about 125 miles (201 kilometers) east of San Diego. Another person died at a hospital, California Highway Patrol Chief Omar Watson said. California Highway Patrol officers investigate a crash site after a collision between a Ford Expedition sport utility vehicle and a tractor-trailer truck near Holtville, California, in an aerial photograph March 2, 2021.”It was a pretty chaotic scene,” said Watson, who also described it as “a very sad situation.” Roberto Velasco, director of North American affairs for Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department, confirmed Tuesday on his Twitter account that at least 10 of those killed have been identified as Mexicans. No identities have been released. The cause of the collision was unclear, authorities said, and it also was not immediately known why so many people were crammed into a vehicle built to hold eight people safely. Watson said the SUV only had front seats — the middle and back seats had been removed. That would allow more people to fit into the vehicle but makes it even more unsafe. As the investigation unfolds, authorities will seek to answer whether the SUV was carrying migrants after they crossed the border as part of a smuggling operation, ferrying farmworkers to fields, or being used for some other purpose. Macario Mora, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, said agents were not pursing the SUV at the time of the crash. He said the immigration status of the passengers was unknown and being investigated. “It was an unusual number of people in an SUV, but we don’t know who they were,” Mora said. Cause of crash unknownThe people in the vehicle ranged in age from 15 to 53 and were a mix of males and females, officials said. The driver was from Mexicali, Mexico, just across the border, and was among those killed. The 69-year-old driver of the big rig, who is from nearby El Centro, was hospitalized with moderate injuries. The passengers’ injuries ranged from minor to severe and included fractures and head trauma. They were being cared for at several hospitals. One person was treated and released from a hospital. El Centro and Rt. 115, CaliforniaThe crash occurred around 6:15 a.m. at an intersection just outside Holtville, which dubs itself the world’s carrot capital and is about 11 miles (18 kilometers) north of the U.S.-Mexico border. It was a sunny, clear morning and authorities said the tractor-trailer and its two empty containers were northbound on State Highway 115 when the SUV pulled in front of it from Norrish Road. It’s not clear if the SUV ran a stop sign or had stopped before entering the highway. It’s also not yet known how fast the tractor-trailer was traveling. The speed limit for tractor-trailers on the highway is 55 mph (88.5 kph), according to CHP Officer Jake Sanchez. The other road is also 55 mph for vehicles. Payload limit A 1997 Ford Expedition can carry a maximum payload of 2,000 pounds. If it had 25 people inside, that would easily exceed the payload limit, which taxes the brakes and makes it tougher to steer, said Frank Borris, former head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation. “You’re going to have extended stopping distances, delayed reactions to steering inputs and potential over-reaction to any type of high-speed lane change,” said Borris, who now runs a safety consulting business. SUVs of that age tended to be top-heavy even without carrying a lot of weight, Borris said. “With all of that payload above the vehicle’s center of gravity, it’s going to make it even more unstable,” he said. The crash occurred amid verdant farms that grow a wide variety of vegetables and alfalfa used for cattle feed. Thousands of people cross into the U.S. each day to work in the fields. The harvest of lettuce and other winter vegetable crops runs from November until March, and buses and SUVs carrying farmworkers are often rumbling down the rural roads s in the early morning hours. The area has also seen smugglers carrying migrants in trucks and vehicles. Hundreds of migrants who died after crossing the border are buried in unmarked graves in Holtville’s cemetery on the edge of town.
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Month: March 2021
Will Biden’s Immigration Policies Blunt Canada’s Tech Edge?
As the United States loosens its immigration policies under President Joe Biden, leaders of Canada’s thriving tech sector may find they have to work a little harder to attract top international talent.“The effect of the Biden administration is not seen as yet,” says Toronto-based financial services executive Soumya Ghosh.Nevertheless, Canadian tech firms have been clear beneficiaries of America’s restrictive immigration policies under former President Donald Trump, finding themselves able to hire highly skilled workers from around the world who might otherwise have headed for jobs in the United States.The influx of skilled workers helped to make Toronto the fastest-growing center for technology jobs in North America in recent years, according to a January 2020 report by the U.S. business analysis firm CBRE, a global service and investment firm. Canada’s Pacific coast city of Vancouver also made the top five, along with San Francisco, New York and Seattle.FILE PHOTO: An employee works at Shopify’s headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Oct. 22, 2018.Standouts in the Canadian tech sector include homegrown companies such as e-commerce company Shopify which says it supports 1.7 million businesses in 175 countries. The ease of hiring international talent has also made Canada more attractive to global giants such as Google which in February 2020 announced plans to triple its workforce in the country.While Trump’s stated policy goal was to prioritize high-skilled workers under a “merit-based” immigration system, U.S. visa issuance fell for almost all categories of recipients during his administration, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic struck.The Biden administration said this week it has still not decided whether to extend a Trump-era temporary ban on new H-1B visas, the most commonly used visa under which highly skilled tech workers can come to the United States.But even if some immigration restrictions are lifted, analysts in Canada believe there are other reasons their sector will continue to attract top talent.’Cost advantage’“Canada also has a cost advantage,” argued Ghosh, who is vice president and Canada market unit head for banking and capital markets at Capgemini Financial Services. “In addition to being in the same time zone as the U.S., U.S.-based employers also can leverage the Canadian tech talent pool being in the same time zone at a lower cost.”The global coronavirus pandemic has also benefited the sector, according to Alexander Norman, co-founder of TechTO, a resource center for newly arrived tech workers in Toronto.“Canada has always produced talent but over the last several years that talent has decided to stay home and build new companies here,” Norman told VOA. “We are starting to see the result of this switch with leading tech companies in many different sectors.”Norman’s co-founder on TechTO, Jason Goldlist, said the widespread shift to telework because of the pandemic has also been a factor.“COVID shifted many professional industries online, but none more than tech,” he said. “Now, they can work for a huge company like Twitter from anywhere they want. Including their hometown in Canada.”Commitment to immigrationBut for many tech experts and executives interviewed by VOA, no factor has been more important in Canada’s tech boom than its commitment to immigration, including robust refugee resettlement and a vibrant community of international students.“We have one of the best immigration systems in the world,” maintained Robert Asselin, a senior political adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his rise to power in 2015 and Canada’s budget and policy director under Finance Minister Bill Morneau from 2015 to 2017. “Mobility is possible. Second generation immigrants do better consistently.”Asselin, who was born and raised in a Francophone part of Quebec, said he credits Canada’s successes to the openness formed through a long-standing effort to be a multilingual country. Canada’s official languages are French and English.“We’re really good at integrating diversity and leveraging diversity as a strength, and when you think about the future of businesses you want all talent to come to your country,” he said.“I think that we’re one of the best places to immigrate from around the world. If people want to come here and have the best shot at success, I think we’re one of the best countries to do that.”Canada’s only land border is with the United States, making it relatively easy to prevent uncontrolled migration and focus on welcoming high-skilled workers and refugees at an orderly pace. Waves of mostly low-skilled migrants arriving at the U.S. southern border have been a polarizing factor in America’s immigration debate.Ghosh agreed that immigration has played a big role in the economic development of Canada.“When it comes to the technology scene, a lot of the development that has happened in the tech space, the demand from Canadian enterprises, quite significantly depends on smart people coming from different parts of the globe.”Diversity and inclusivity initiativesPart of this effort to court the world’s best and brightest includes diversity and inclusivity initiatives.In Halifax, the biggest city on Canada’s Atlantic coast, a tech start-up, Side Door, has a working group “that works internally on anti-racist and anti-oppression policies,” said CEO and co-founder Laura Simpson.Side Door works to link artists such as musicians and help them find venues. Simpson says the goal is “to connect artists with curators, venues, service providers and audiences to make booking, ticketing and payments easy, fair and transparent.”“If you’re trying to create a global company, how are you going to do that without having globally minded people?” she asked in an interview. “We’ve worked with recruits toward having a global workforce and now we work with people all over the world. And that’s the way of the future.”
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US Sanctions Russians for Role in Navalny Attack
For the first time, the administration of President Joe Biden is taking punitive action against Russia. Sanctions were imposed Tuesday on several senior Russian government officials — but not the country’s president, Vladimir Putin — for what the Biden administration says is their role in the attempted murder of Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny. The sanctions, seen by some experts as largely symbolic, are being coordinated with the European Union, which already had taken action against some Russian officials in connection with the Navalny case. Moscow will respond in kind to the U.S. sanctions, warned Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia, March 2, 2021. (Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via Reuters)”We’re sending a clear signal to Russia that there are consequences for the use of chemical weapons,” a senior administration official said. “I understand that the only thing that the administration could do is to send signals,” said University of Chicago Professor Konstantin Sonin, a Russian economist. “These are strong signals, but these are just signals, this is not something that has a material effect.” Among those sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department are Alexander Bortnikov, director of the FSB intelligence agency; Andrei Yarin, chief of the Kremlin’s domestic policy directorate; and deputy ministers of defense Alexey Krivoruchko and Pavel Popov. U.S. officials on Tuesday also declassified an intelligence finding putting blame for the poisoning on one of Russia’s leading intelligence agencies, the FSB. “The tone and the tenor and the type of relationship that this president intends to have with President Putin will be quite different from the last administration,” said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. FILE – Then-Vice President of the United States Joe Biden, left, shakes hands with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, March 10, 2011.Tuesday’s actions are seen as stopping short of triggering a significantly wider diplomatic rift between Washington and Moscow.In response to a VOA question about cooperation between Biden and Putin concerning reducing nuclear missiles, proliferation by Iran and the war in Syria, Psaki said, “There are areas where we disagree, there are areas where there’s significant challenge, there are also areas where we are going to work with the Russians as we would with most global partners.” The rhetoric expressed Tuesday by some key lawmakers on Capitol Hill was less diplomatic. FILE – Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., speaks during a confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 24, 2021.”Putin is a coward who hires hitmen to keep his grip on power, but the Russian people are tired of living under a paranoid despot,” said Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. “These sanctions and the addition of Russian entities to the Commerce Department’s blacklist send a clear message to Moscow, but we can’t stop here.” Sasse, a Nebraska Republican, is calling for the United States and its allies to “invoke the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention to demand inspections of Putin’s facilities that produced the nerve agents involved in Navalny’s poisoning. We need to kneecap all financial support to Putin’s corrupt regime.” FILE – House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 3, 2020.The chairman of the House intelligence committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, Democratic of California, said, “Unless we impose meaningful costs, we cannot expect to curb behaviors from Russia that undermine both our national security and values.” Putin is unlikely to be chastened by the sanctions announced Tuesday, according to Cyrus Newlin, an associate fellow who focuses on Russia at the Center for Strategic & International Studies. “I think the record shows that Vladimir Putin is relatively unconcerned about what the West thinks about him and his regime and increasingly how the West will respond,” Newlin told VOA. Navalny was hospitalized in August after falling ill on a flight in Serbia. He was medically evacuated to Germany, where doctors determined he had been poisoned. Medical experts concluded the leader of the Russia of the Future party was exposed to the chemical nerve agent Novichok. Russia denied any involvement in the matter. FILE – This handout picture posted Sept. 15, 2020, on the Instagram account of @navalny shows Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny with his family at Berlin’s Charite hospital.Upon recovery, Navalny returned home early this year and was immediately arrested. He was sent to a prison outside Moscow to serve a 2-and-a-half-year prison sentence for violating the terms of his probation while convalescing in Germany. The Biden administration has called for his release.Other U.S. actionIn other action Tuesday, the State Department implemented measures “against multiple Russian individuals and entities associated with the Russian Federation’s chemical weapons program and defense and intelligence sectors.” Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said it was adding 14 entities in Russia, Germany and Switzerland to the Entity List — an international trade blacklist — “based on their proliferation activities in support of Russia’s weapons of mass destruction programs and chemical weapons activities.” U.S. officials say they will soon announce sanctions as a response to a cyberattack linked to Russia on U.S. government computers, known as the SolarWinds hack. VOA’s Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report.
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European Court of Justice Says New Polish Judicial Regulations Could Violate EU Law
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) Tuesday ruled that new Polish regulations regarding the appointment of Supreme Court judges could violate European law, effectively striking down efforts to exert political influence over the judiciary in that country.The legislation in question regulates Poland’s strengthened political influence over a top judicial body, the National Council of the Judiciary, and the body’s procedure of appointments to the Supreme Court. It also curbed the right to appeal the council’s decisions, effectively leaving that body unchecked with its authority.In his ruling, ECJ Judge Marko Ilesic said the new regulations “are capable of giving legitimate doubts” in the minds of subjects of the law as to the neutrality of judges appointed by the president of Poland and whether they are influenced by politics.The ruling obliges Poland’s right-wing government to discontinue the regulations and observe the principles of judicial independence and the right to judicial protection. It also means Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court can now review appeals by the five judges, who are not government loyalists. In the process, it is likely to rule that the entire appointment procedure was flawed and ineffective.The EU has been strongly critical of Poland’s conservative government for the changes it has introduced to the judiciary since it won power in 2015, saying they undermine the country’s rule of law.
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ASEAN Urges Peaceful Solution to Myanmar Coup Standoff
Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) pushed for the release of Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and a return to democracy after meeting Tuesday on the state of the country. “Restoring democracy back on track must be pursued,” Retno Marsudi, Indonesia’s foreign minister, said. The comments follow Myanmar’s February 1 military coup in which de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of Myanmar’s civilian government were removed from office and detained.Foreign ministers representing each of ASEAN’s 10-member nations, which includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, spoke via videoconference with their counterpart from member nation Myanmar. The virtual meeting came as Myanmar police opened fire on civilians protesting military rule.FILE – Myanmar State Counselor Suu Kyi attends the opening session of the 31st ASEAN Summit in Manila, Feb. 1, 2021.The 75-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate was already charged with illegally importing and using six unregistered walkie-talkie radios found during a search of her home, and for breaking the country’s natural disaster law by holding public gatherings in violation of COVID-19 protocols. Her next court appearance has been scheduled for March 15. The United States and other Western nations have demanded Suu Kyi’s release, as well as that of her lieutenants, and called on the junta to restore power to the civilian government. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said Monday during an address on state television that protest leaders and “instigators” would be punished. He said the army is also investigating financial abuse by the civilian government. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday the recent killings of protesters in Myanmar “represent an escalation” of the situation there and said the Biden administration was preparing “further costs on those responsible.” The United States’ U.N. ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, urged the international community Monday to “ramp up pressure” on Myanmar’s military. The ambassador said she hopes to use Washington’s presidency of the United Nations Security Council in March to push for more “intense discussions” on Myanmar, formerly called Burma. “It is clear the world is watching the situation in Burma, and it’s clear that we can’t sit still and watch people continue to be brutalized and their human rights to be destroyed,” she said. Anti-coup protesters, behind makeshift barricades stand off with Myanmar security forces in Yangon, Myanmar, March 2, 2021.The United Nations said Monday that if serious international crimes have taken place in Myanmar, it would investigate. Nicholas Koumjian, head of the U.N. Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, said if international law has been violated, “we will build case files to facilitate criminal trials to hold those responsible to account in international, regional or national courts.” Tom Andrews, U.N. special rapporteur for Myanmar, has called on the international community to take collective action against the military junta, including a global arms embargo, sanctions against businesses owned or controlled by the junta, and the convening of the U.N. Security Council to discuss the issue. Andrews also urged countries that have already established some sanctions to “immediately consider more.” As the junta ratchets up its brutal attacks against peaceful protesters in Myanmar, the world must ratchet up its response. Words of condemnation are welcome but insufficient. We must act. I’m releasing a statement today w options for UN member states & the UN Security Council. pic.twitter.com/q34vaaoYky— UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews (@RapporteurUn) February 28, 2021The junta has declared a one-year state of emergency. Min Aung Hlaing has pledged that new elections will be held to bring about a “true and disciplined democracy” but did not specify when they would take place.
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Macron ‘Playing with Fire,’ Says France’s Leading Left-wing Newspaper
French President Emmanuel Macron is being pulled in contrary political directions, swerving both left and right, as he seeks to work out the political trajectory most likely to secure him reelection next year, according to critics and analysts. The maneuvering, though, is increasing the frustrations of left-wing voters amid signs that a backlash is building. Libération, France’s leading left-wing daily newspaper, warned this week that many on the left, who backed Macron in 2017, handing him a landslide election win over France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen, won’t do so again next year. Libération accused Macron of being in “flagrant denial,” saying the French president is “playing with fire” by assuming the left is going to mobilize and vote for him if he again faces Le Pen in a runoff. FILE – The entrance to France’s newspaper Liberation is seen in Paris, Feb. 20, 2014.Macron is coming under pressure from Le Pen, according to opinion polls, with the far-right leader having closed the gap between them to just 4 percent in a recent survey of voting intentions. Lockdown frustrations and an agonizingly slow rollout of coronavirus vaccines appears to be fueling Le Pen’s support. In 2017, Macron, a centrist outsider and former investment banker, who served as a minister in socialist President François Hollande’s government, was an electoral novice who came from nowhere, founded his own party from scratch and snatched the presidency by crushing Le Pen in a 66 percent to 34 percent victory. He was helped by crumbling traditional party allegiances, anti-establishment disdain and a squabbling left wing. Last year, Macron suffered a political reversal when a cabal of mainly left-oriented lawmakers defected from his party, La République En Marche, depriving him of an absolute parliamentary majority. Their defection did not dissuade Macron from continuing a lurch to the right — a move designed to ensure center-right voters remain loyal. He swapped out two center-right politicians as prime minister, replacing Edouard Philippe, a potential presidential rival next year, with Jean Castex, a largely unknown civil servant with little political experience and someone not seen as an electoral cahallenger to Macron. FILE – Former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe applauds newly appointed Prime Minister Jean Castex in the courtyard of the Matignon Hotel during the handover ceremony in Paris, France, July 3, 2020.Élysée Palace aides say Macron’s best hope of winning a second term in 2022 is to convince voters the choice comes down to him or the far right. He has the benefit of there being no standout from the left or center-right among a field of mediocre would-be presidents — although Philippe remains a potential threat. FILE – Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives at the courtroom in Paris, Nov. 23, 2020.A possible center-right challenge from Nicolas Sarkozy evaporated this week when the former prime minister was found guilty on corruption charges, dashing any thoughts he might have been entertaining of making a political comeback. Last year, Macron acknowledged in a television interview that he remains unpopular among large parts of the electorate, conceding that in his first three years in office he had alienated some voters because they perceived him as being out of touch with ordinary families. His concession came after an ugly incident during a walk in the Tuileries Garden in Paris with his wife and their bodyguards, when he was confronted by anti-government yellow-vest protesters, who the day before had demonstrated in favor of a large increase in funding for hospitals and health workers. They accused the French leader of being responsible for police violence against protesters. They chanted for the president to resign, and he complained they were interrupting his walk. FILE – Jean-Luc Melenchon speaks to supporters at Place Stalingrad in Paris, April 22, 2012.Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the left-wing France Insoumise party, a likely presidential candidate next year, cited the clash as further evidence of a “decline in the relationship between the president and the people.” In the past few months Macron has been lurching to the right, a swerve, say analysts, based on the assumption by the Élysée Palace that the left would have no option but to vote for him next year. Instead, the focus has been on appealing to the right by toughening Macron’s stance on law-and-order issues. But a promised clampdown on “Islamist separatism,” part of a bid to woo conservative voters who might be tempted to back Le Pen, has prompted growing unease on the left and center of French politics, seemingly prompting him to swing back and forth from criticizing multiculturalism to embracing racial and cultural diversity. A proposed tough security law, which critics said would shield police from accusations of misconduct by outlawing the sharing of images of officers when they are operational, provoked outrage with tens of thousands protesting in the streets. The government appeared taken aback by the strength of feeling over the draft measure. And Macron effected a U-turn, instructing his ministers to rewrite the law completely. Macron has seen some benefits from his emphasis on law and order, and also from his much tougher rhetoric on illegal immigration, with steady improvements in his popularity ratings. But he and his government have been buffeted by public disapproval of the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with 60 percent of the public deeming it to have been incompetent, according to a poll published last month. FILE – Leader of France’s National Rally Party Marine Le Pen speaks during a news conference in Milan, Italy, May 18, 2019.Le Pen has been on the attack, accusing the government of acting “like a dead dog floating along in the water” in its handling of the pandemic. In a recent radio interview she said: “We have the feeling of being knocked around without ever anticipating, without ever looking ahead, without ever taking the decisions that allow us to avoid, when it’s possible, lockdown number 1, number 2 or number 3.” Macron’s green credentials also have been challenged. On Wednesday, a new climate bill sent to parliament was criticized by environmental groups. They say it is not radical enough to see France meet its goals for cutting emissions. The draft measure, which incorporates many recommendations from citizens assembly of 150 randomly chosen citizens guided by experts, aims to cut French carbon emissions by 40 percent in 2030 from 1990 levels. The Élysée Palace says the proposed measure will lead voters to conclude the French president is serious about fulfilling a pledge to “make our planet great again.”
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Journalists Detained as Myanmar Military Intensifies Crackdown
Myanmar’s military is cracking down on dissent over the Feb. 1 coup there, arresting hundreds of protesters and journalists, including one from The Associated Press.The AP’s Thein Zaw was detained alongside Ye Myo Khant, a photojournalist from the Myanmar Pressphoto Agency in the city of Yangon Saturday. Both were covering a protest at Hledan Center intersection, which has become a focal point for the demonstrations.
The same day, Kay Zon Nway, of Myanmar Now, was detained in Myaynigone, in Sanchaung Township, when security dispersed protesters, according to Burma Associated Press.
On Monday, police in Myeik arrested Ko Kaung Myat Hlaing, a DVB reporter also known as Ko Aung Kyaw, at his home. Gunshots could be heard as police called on the journalist, who is also known as Ko Aung Kyaw, to come outside, DVB said in a statement.
Ko Aung Kyaw’s wife, Nay Chi, told VOA Burmese that police used force when they came to arrest the journalist and did not tell her the reason for his arrest for more than 24 hours.
“I have been to the police station and did not get any information,” Nay Chi said. “Because 24 hours had passed, I asked whether they had charges or if I could file a missing person report. Then police told me that two women Ko Aung Kyaw interviewed and Ko Aung Kyaw himself, were charged under section 505(a) of the penal code.”
Section 505(a) relates to statements or rumors likely to cause members of the military to mutiny or fail in their duty.
A court Tuesday also cited section 505 when it charged journalists Kay Zun Nway and Ye Min Khant. Both are detained in Yangon’s Insein prison.
Authorities used Myanmar’s public order law Tuesday when it charged Thein Zaw, and five other journalists, a lawyer told the AP.
Crackdown on dissentThe arrests come amid an intensification of the crackdown since the military declared a state of emergency and detained key opposition figures including Aung San Suu Kyi last month. The takeover came amid months of tensions, after the military made allegations of election fraud over a November vote the National League for Democracy party won in a landslide victory.
Security forces on Sunday opened fire on protesters, with the U.N. human rights office saying it had “credible evidence” at least 18 people were killed, the AP reported.As of Monday, 1,213 people have been arrested or charged in relation to the coup, according to the human rights organization Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.At least 23 journalists are among those detained and 10 have been charged for public incitement, Myint Kyaw, a former member of the Myanmar Press Council, told VOA Burmese.
Myint Kyaw resigned from the independent media body last month along with several others, in response to an increase ins censorship and violence against the media.Myanmar Press Council Members Resign Over Military Directives Arrests, orders issued to news outlets and draft cyber law cited as reasons for mass walkout by Myanmar Press Council Journalists have also been hit with rubber bullets and tear gas, and in some cases attacked.Min Soe Lay, who works for the Monywa Gazette, told VOA’s Burmese Service that four police officers beat and detained him after he took photos of the protests from a hotel in Monywa, the capital of Sagaing region. When he told police he was a journalist, they beat him harder, he said.“There is no assurance of safety for journalists in the country in this situation,” one Myanmar journalist, who was not named for security reasons, told VOA. “Arresting journalists for doing their job on the ground is unacceptable.”At a news conference last month, Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, the deputy information minister, denied the military was attempting to threaten or intimidate the media. The spokesperson said he couldn’t guarantee that journalists would not be arrested but said the military would act according to the law. Rights deniedThe AP and media rights groups have condemned the arrest of Thein Zaw and other journalists, and called for the military to release them.“Independent journalists must be allowed to freely and safely report the news without fear of retribution. AP decries in the strongest terms the arbitrary detention of Thein Zaw,” the news agency said in a statement.The Foreign Correspondents Club of Myanmar urged “all relevant authorities to ensure the safety and security of the journalists” covering the protests and coup. And the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists called for all those detained to be released.“Journalists have a right to cover events of public importance in Myanmar and they should not face harassment or arrest for doing their jobs,” CPJ’s Asia program coordinator Steven Butler said in a statement.The arrests exemplify the growing danger for media in Myanmar.
More than 20 experts at the United Nations, including the special rapporteurs on peaceful assembly, free expression, and members of working groups on arbitrary detention, issued a joint statement on Feb. 26 over the treatment of protesters and the press.“Deliberate attacks on journalists and their arbitrary detention are serious violations of international human rights law and must immediately stop,” the statement said.Online voices silencedAccess to the internet and information has also been curtailed, with internet service and access to social media platforms regularly blocked, according to digital rights group Access Now.Residents have been using social media and other online platforms to livestream arrests and harassment by military, but intermittent shutdowns make it harder to share and access information. The military said last month it was restricting access to the internet and social media to help retain “stability.” Access to at least 30 Myanmar news outlets was blocked, as well as to a website dedicated to protecting human rights and an app that publishes information on the coronavirus pandemic, according to Access Now.In their joint statement, the U.N. experts warned that regulating information online, “would give the military unfettered power to censor dissenting voices on social media, disrupt the internet at will and access user information with no restraint or regard for their right to privacy.” Khin Soe Win of VOA’s Burmese Service contributed to this report.
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UN Appeals for $266M to End Food Cuts to Millions of Refugees in Eastern Africa
The World Food Program and the U.N. Refugee Agency are appealing for $266 million to restore full food rations for more than 3 million refugees in Eastern Africa. Millions of refugees in camps across East Africa are not getting enough to eat. U.N. agencies have been forced to cut food rations in countries across the region because of a lack of cash. The most dramatic situation is in Rwanda, where refugees are having their food rations cut by 60%.
In Uganda, which hosts the largest refugee population in Africa, the World Food Program has cut its food assistance to 1.27 million refugees by 40%. Other countries affected by severe funding shortages include Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan, Djibouti and Ethiopia.FILE – Refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo are seen at Kyangwali camp, Uganda, March 19, 2018.WFP spokesman Tomson Phiri says refugees depend on humanitarian assistance to survive. He says ration cuts have many serious knock-on effects that go beyond the health consequences of being deprived of critical nutritional needs. “When food is in short supply, protection concerns, including sexual and gender-based violence, increases in the camps, and this can also serve to significantly escalate tensions even within hosting areas,” he said.The U.N. Refugee Agency says people who do not have enough to eat are forced to resort to so-called negative coping mechanisms to survive. UNHCR spokesman Boris Cheshirkov says the cuts in food aid are having dramatic consequences. “Already, the cuts in food rations and cash are forcing people to skip or reduce meals, to sell off their belongings, and the risks are growing, including of child labor and domestic violence. People are already feeling desperate, and we need the support to ease their hardship,” he said.The U.N. agencies warn of growing risks if food rations are not fully restored. These include increased malnutrition and anemia, stunted child growth and a myriad of protection risks. They say the COVID-19 pandemic is compounding problems for refugee families. They note lockdowns and measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus have wiped out the ability of families to support themselves and find a way to put food on the table.
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US Drug Maker Merck to Help Produce Rival’s COVID Vaccine
U.S. pharmaceutical giant Merck has agreed to help manufacture rival Johnson & Johnson’s new coronavirus vaccine to help speed production of millions of new doses of the single shots to inoculate more Americans in the coming months, White House officials said Tuesday.Johnson & Johnson has encountered unexpected production problems, even as it won emergency use approval last weekend for the vaccine. The company has manufactured 3.9 million doses so far, but says it is on pace to produce 100 million doses by the end of June.President Joe Biden is set to spell out details of the agreement between the two pharmaceutical companies later Tuesday. But officials familiar with the deal say Merck will use two sites in the U.S., one to help make the vaccine and the other to provide “fill-finish” services, the final stage in the production process in which the vaccine is placed in vials and packaged for distribution.The Merck agreement with its drug-making rival could sharply increase the number of doses Johnson & Johnson could make on its own, the officials said. Merck failed in its efforts to develop its own coronavirus vaccine, but the company has made vaccines for a century. It is the sole U.S. supplier of the combination childhood vaccine that protects against measles, mumps and rubella. It developed Gardasil, which protects against the human papillomavirus, while the Food and Drug Administration approved its Ebola vaccine in 2019.With the approval of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the U.S. now has three medical treatments to fight the spread of the virus, along with two-shot regimens produced by drug makers Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.Pharmacy technicians fill syringes with a COVID-19 vaccine at an inoculation site in Portland, Maine, March 2, 2021.After the FDA’s approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the company said it would immediately ship nearly 4 million doses in the United States, and a total of 20 million by the end of March. That is 17 million less than originally expected although the company still says it expects to markedly increase its production pace in coming months.A top Johnson & Johnson executive told Congress last week that it hopes to manufacture 1 billion doses worldwide by the end of 2021.The mass inoculations in the U.S. are first targeting health care workers, older people living in nursing homes, such essential personnel as police and firefighters, teachers, people 65 and older and those with underlying health problems.U.S. health officials are hoping that the country’s sense of normalcy might return by the end of 2021, but that is dependent on the widespread vaccination of millions of adults and later, possibly children. So far, 75 million vaccine doses have been administered to about 15% of the country’s adult population, with half that percentage receiving both shots of the two-shot Pfizer and Moderna regimens. About 1.7 million shots are being administered daily.The spread of the coronavirus has slowed in the U.S. But 50,000 or 60,000 new cases are still being diagnosed each day and another 1,500 people or so are dying.The U.S. has totaled more than 514,000 deaths and more than 28.6 million infections, both higher totals than in any other country, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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Sudan Welcomes First US Navy Ship Visit in Decades
U.S. naval forces are visiting Sudan for the first time in decades, following Sudan’s removal from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. Sudanese officials cheerfully welcomed the missile guided destroyer USS Winston Churchill at Port Sudan Monday. In a news conference, the top commander of Sudan’s naval forces, Alnairi Hassan, described the visit as a momentous occasion.Hassan says Sudan is happy to receive the USS Winston Churchill destroyer. This visit is historic after 30 years of severed relations. The visit has big implications and represents the resumption of the Sudan-U.S. relationship and the return of the warship visits.The United States removed Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism in December, after nearly three decades of sanctions stemming from Sudan’s support for al-Qaida leaders in the 1990s. Officers from the U.S. African Command visited Sudan two months after the Trump administration lifted the sanctions, and they expressed an interest in “military-to-military engagement.”The visit by the U.S. Navy began on February 24, when the first U.S. ship in decades arrived at a Sudanese port. The director of maritime affairs for the U.S. Navy’s Sixth Fleet, Rear Admiral Michael Baze, confirmed the U.S and Sudan’s interest to build a partnership between the two countries’ armed forced.”The reason I’m here is because I want to learn more about your country and develop partnerships with your navy,” Baze said. “We have many shared values. I’m honored and humbled by the progress the Sudan, Sudanese people have made over the last couple of years to work toward democratic principles, we support that. But the main reason I’m here is to become friends with our navy counterparts, and I look forward to working hand in hand.”Simultaneous to the U.S. Navy visit, a Russian warship has docked at Port Sudan. Russia is waiting for Sudanese government approval to build its first navy base in Africa.
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Botswana Denies 120 Rhinos Poached in 18 Months
Botswana, confronting an unprecedented rise in poaching, has refuted reports by former President Ian Khama that at least 120 rhinoceroses have been killed in the last 18 months. Instead, the government says, wildlife crimes have dropped by 70 percent since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.Botswana’s former president, Ian Khama, who stepped down in 2018, said Monday that poachers have killed 120 rhinoceroses in the past 18 months.Khama said poachers were killing rhinos with or without horns, and that “after corona there will be none left for tourists to see,” referencing the coronavirus.But the government swiftly moved to deny the accusation, instead saying wildlife-related crimes were down by 70 percent since coronavirus restrictions were introduced last March.The Department of Wildlife and National Parks director, Kabelo Senyatso, said Khama’s claims were misleading.In a statement Tuesday, Senyatso said the government could not disclose official figures and other information as it was a sensitive matter.Senyatso said revealing the numbers and location of poached animals jeopardizes the anti-poaching operations.However, the Bhejane Trust, a non-profit rhinoceros conservation group, said 12 of the animals had been killed in the iconic Okavango Delta in just the last two weeks.Current President Mokgweetsi Masisi said during a recent graduation ceremony for senior army officers that the country is facing a poaching challenge.”Today you graduate at a time when this country is facing a security challenge, such as high levels of poaching which threatens to wipe out our wildlife resources, that’s threatening the tourism sector which is one of the key engines of our economy. The number of poaching incidents, the tactics and the boldness employed in targeting Botswana Defense Force members is not only disturbing but a national security threat as well,” said Masisi.Conservationist Neil Fitt said the government needs to involve other players more in the fight against poaching.“I think our government needs to open up more and get help from outside of government. Government cannot do everything. Yes, it is a security issue. Other countries are using NGOs and other bodies to assist them in doing things,” he said.In a bid to combat poaching, Botswana began dehorning rhinos and relocating them from the Okavango Delta last year.Most of the poachers are from neighboring Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The poaching is fueled by demand for rhino horn in Asia, especially China, where the horns are used in traditional medicine.Scientists have determined that rhino horns have no medicinal value.
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Press Freedom Group Calls for Release of Media Members in Ethiopia
An influential press freedom group called on Ethiopia Tuesday to release journalists and workers arrested by government and allied troops as they battled forces loyal to the government in the Tigray region.The Committee to Protect Journalists said at least four journalists and media workers were detained recently in Tigray’s capital of Mekelle in response to their attempts to cover the conflict.Ethiopian Journalist Attacked in Her Home, Questioned on Tigray ConnectionsFreelance journalist Lucy Kassa says a raid by unidentified attackers may be linked to her reporting on gang rape in Ethiopia’s Tigray region The independent New York-based group said two translators working with Agence France-Presse and the Financial Times and a local journalist were arrested on Feb. 27, citing the AFP and the Financial Times and two journalists who spoke anonymously. A reporter with the British Broadcasting Corporation was arrested on Monday in Mekelle and detained at a local military camp, according to the BBC.“The scarcity of independent reporting coming out of Tigray during this conflict was already deeply alarming,” CPJ sub-Saharan Africa Representative Muthoki Mumo said in a statement. “Now, the Ethiopian military’s arrests of journalists and media workers will undoubtedly lead to fear and self-censorship.” AFP and the Financial Times said they received permission to report on developments in the Tigray region, which had been off limits to most international media since the fighting began in November between the national government and the transitional government of Tigray, which once dominated Ethiopia’s government.Thousands of people have been killed in the region of some six million people, and the United Nations said recently the “humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate” as fighting escalates.
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FBI Chief to Face Questions About Extremism, Capitol Riot
FBI Director Chris Wray is set to testify for the first time since the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, with lawmakers likely to press him on whether the bureau adequately communicated with other law enforcement agencies about the potential for violence that day.
Questions about the FBI’s preparations for the riot, and investigations into it, are expected to dominate Wray’s appearance Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He’s also likely to be pressed on how the FBI is confronting the national security threat from white nationalists and domestic violent extremists and whether the bureau has adequate resources to address the problem.
The violence at the Capitol made clear that a law enforcement agency that revolutionized itself after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to deal with international terrorism is now scrambling to address homegrown violence from white Americans. President Joe Biden’s administration has tasked his national intelligence director to work with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to assess the threat.
Wray has kept a notably low profile since a violent mob of insurrectionists stormed the Capitol two months ago. Though he has briefed lawmakers privately and shared information with local law enforcement hearings, Tuesday’s oversight hearing will mark Wray’s first public appearance before Congress since before November’s presidential election.
The FBI is facing questions over how it handled intelligence in the days ahead of the riot and whether warnings it had of potential violence reached the correct officials.
Last week, for instance, the acting chief of the Capitol Police said a Jan. 5 report from the FBI made its way to investigators within the police force and to the department’s intelligence unit but was never sent up the chain of command. The report warned about concerning online posts foreshadowing a “war” in Washington the following day. The FBI has said the report, which it says was based on uncorroborated information, was shared through its joint terrorism task force.
Wray may also face questions about the FBI’s investigation into the massive Russian hack of corporations and U.S. government agencies, which happened when elite hackers injected malicious code into a software update.
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France Reverses Course on Using AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine on Citizens Over 65
France will now vaccinate people aged 65 years and older with the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by Oxford University and British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca. The decision was announced Tuesday by Health Minister Olivier Veran during a televised interview. Veran said anyone older than the age of 50 with pre-existing conditions can receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, “including those between 65 and 74.” France was among many European nations that refused to approve the Oxford-AstraZeneca for its elderly citizens. The developers did not enroll many people in those age groups for their large-scale clinical trials, leading to a lack of data about its potential efficacy. French President Emmanuel Macron even went so far as describing the vaccine as “quasi-ineffective.” FILE – A medical worker holds a vial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in a mass vaccination center at the Cecchignola military compound, in Rome, Italy, Feb. 23, 2021.But health officials say further data from clinical trials has proved its efficacy among older people. The reversal is sure to jumpstart France’s slow vaccination campaign, which has been hampered by a shortage of vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. France’s change of heart coincides with a real-world study conducted in Britain that found the COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford University-AstraZeneca are highly effective in protecting elderly people from the disease after receiving just one shot. Researchers at Public Health England say the respective two-dose vaccines are more than 80% effective at preventing people in their 80s from being hospitalized around three to four weeks after the first shot is administered. FILE – A woman receives the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine at the Pasteur Institute during a vaccination program, in Paris, Jan. 21, 2021.The study also found that the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was between 57% and 61% effective in preventing COVID-19 infections among people at least 70 years old, while the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was between 60% and 73% effective. The study, posted online Monday, has not undergone the customary peer-review process. Britain was the first European country to approve the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for all of its citizens regardless of age. US sticks to two-dose regimenIn the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told The Washington Post Tuesday the United States will stick with the two-dose regimen of both the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna vaccines. A growing number of public health experts have urged government health officials to use millions of doses intended to be used as second shots instead be used as first doses, as millions of adult Americans have not been inoculated due to an acute shortage of vaccines. But Dr. Fauci warned that switching to a single-dose strategy could leave people less protected and enable the growing number of variants to spread. FILE – Workers for the U.S. federal government prepare the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines at a new mass vaccination center in Oakland, California, Feb. 16, 2021.The nation’s leading infectious-disease expert tells the Post that “the gap between supply and demand is going to be diminished and then overcome” very soon as both Pfizer and Moderna fulfill their commitment to provide 220 million total doses by the end of March, along with Johnson & Johnson’s pledge to deliver 20 million doses of its one-shot COVID-19 vaccine this month. New cases on the riseThe World Health Organization said new coronavirus cases increased globally for the first time in seven weeks, and officials expressed concern that cases could again rise significantly. “We need to have a stern warning for all of us that this virus will rebound if we let it,” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead for COVID-19, said Monday at a news briefing at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the rise in cases occurred in four regions: the Americas, the eastern Mediterranean, Europe and Southeast Asia. He said the development was “disappointing but not surprising” and said part of the spike appeared to be the result of the “relaxing of public health measures.” FILE – Health staff attends to a patient at the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) dedicated ICU unit of the Tras-Os-Montes E Alto Douro Hospital, amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Vila Real, Portugal, Feb. 22, 2021.Michael Ryan, director of WHO’s emergencies program, said, “Right now, the virus is very much in control” and said it was “unrealistic” to think the pandemic might be stopped by the end of the year. The warnings come after a sharp fall of coronavirus cases and deaths in many parts of the world, which along with vaccine developments, had led to hopes that the spread of the coronavirus would continue on a downward trend. In the United States, health officials are warning that another surge in cases could be on the horizon, as newer and more infectious variants of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 are growing more frequently. The new upward trend in cases comes as most states are easing coronavirus restrictions.
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US to Impose Sanctions Punishing Russia for Navalny’s Poisoning
The United States is expected to impose sanctions to punish Russia for the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny as early as Tuesday, two sources familiar with the matter said.President Joe Biden’s decision to impose sanctions for Navalny’s poisoning reflects a harder stance than taken by his predecessor, Donald Trump, who let the incident last August pass without punitive U.S. action.The Kremlin said on Tuesday that any new U.S. sanctions over the treatment of Navalny would not achieve their goal and would merely worsen already strained relations.Navalny fell ill on a flight in Siberia in August and was airlifted to Germany, where doctors concluded he had been poisoned with a nerve agent. The Kremlin has denied any role in his illness and said it had seen no proof he was poisoned.The sources said on Monday on condition of anonymity that the United States was expected to act under two executive orders: 13661, which was issued after Russia’s invasion of Crimea but provides broad authority to target Russian officials, and 13382, issued in 2005 to combat the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.Both orders let the United States freeze the U.S. assets of those targeted and effectively bar U.S. companies and individuals from dealing with them.The sources said the Biden administration also planned to act under the U.S. Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991, which provides a menu of punitive measures.The sources said some individuals would be targeted in the sanctions to be announced as early as Tuesday, but declined to name them or say what other sanctions may be imposed.
They added, however, that Washington would maintain waivers allowing foreign aid and certain export licenses for Russia.The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the possibility of sanctions.A third source said the U.S. action may be coordinated with sanctions the European Union could apply as soon as Tuesday.EU foreign ministers agreed on Feb. 22 to impose sanctions on four senior Russian officials close to President Vladimir Putin in a mainly symbolic response to Navalny’s jailing. The EU was expected to formally approve those in early March.In the case of Navalny, Trump, whose term ended in January, did nothing to punish Russia. Top U.N. human rights experts said on Monday that Moscow was to blame for attempting to kill Navalny as part of a pattern of attacks on critics to quash dissent.After his medical treatment in Germany, Navalny, 44, returned to Russia in January. He was arrested and later sentenced to more than 2-1/2 years in jail for parole violations he said were trumped up.Biden last month called the jailing of Navalny “politically motivated” and called for his release. He has pledged a new and tough approach toward Moscow, saying the United States would no longer be “rolling over” in the face of aggressive action by Russia.Washington and Moscow disagree on a wide range of issues on top of Navalny, such as Russia’s military ambitions in Ukraine and Georgia, as well as a cyberattack on U.S. government agencies last year that Washington blames on Russia. Moscow has denied responsibility for the hacking campaign.
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Teenagers Take Australian Government to Court Over Coal Mine Plan
For the first time in Australia, teenage activists have launched a class action lawsuit on behalf of young people around the world to stop a large coal mining project 430 kilometers north-west of Sydney. A trial started Tuesday in the Federal Court in Melbourne. The campaign to take the Australian government to court over coal mining was prompted by the Black Summer bushfires that burned from mid-2019, which was Australia’s driest and hottest year on record, to March 2020. They were the most intense fires ever documented in Australia. The teenage plaintiffs insist Environment Minister Sussan Ley has a duty to protect them from global warming. They argue the expansion of coal mining in the state of New South Wales will worsen climate change and harm their future.One of the claimants, 14-year-old Izzy Raj-Seppings, wants to inspire other young people around the world. “Hopefully it empowers everyone to keep fighting for climate justice,” she said. “I think our case shows people all around the world that if you fight hard enough your voice can be heard and that this struggle for climate justice isn’t over yet and there is still so much we need to accomplish.” The claimants are younger than 18 years of age and are supported by a so-called litigation guardian, Sister Brigid Arthur, who is an 86-year-old nun. The class action lawsuit could set a precedent that stops Australia approving new fossil fuel projects. The coal mining company involved said the teenagers’ case has no merit and should be dismissed. It said in a statement that 450 jobs would be created by the multi-million-dollar project. The resources firm insisted “major employment-generating investments” that would boost Australia’s recovery from COVID-19 should not be delayed “by legal claims that have no substance.” Legal experts believe that given the complexity of the case, stopping a major mining project will not be easy. Coal generates much of Australia’s electricity and is one of its biggest exports. Its longer-term future, though, is uncertain because of a global shift to renewable energy. The federal environment minister has agreed not to make a final decision on the expansion plan until the trial is over. The hearing in the federal court is expected to last for five days, but a judgement may not be delivered for several months.
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ASEAN to Hold Talks on Myanmar Political Crisis
Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, are holding talks Tuesday to discuss the worsening political crisis in Myanmar. Foreign ministers representing each of ASEAN’s 10-member nations, which includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, will hold talks via videoconference with their counterpart from member nation Myanmar. Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan told lawmakers Monday ASEAN believes the situation in Myanmar would have “serious consequences” for the region, and expressed confidence the bloc could facilitate a “return to normalcy and stability” in the country. He called on all parties to “pursue a long-term peaceful political solution for national reconciliation” including a return to “the path of democratic transition” which can only begin with the immediate release of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other high-ranking officials of the deposed civilian government. Balakrishnan also said ASEAN is “appalled by the use of lethal force against civilians” by Myanmar security forces. Popular protests staged daily across Myanmar against the military’s February 1 coup have grown increasingly violent and deadly. At least 21 people have been killed since the coup, including 18 people on Sunday, according to the United Nations Human Rights Office, the deadliest day of the unrest. Witnesses to Sunday’s protests say police used tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannon and in some cases, live ammunition in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city. According to The Associated Press, photos of shell cases from live ammunition were posted on social media. Media videos show demonstrators dragging the injured away from the protests, leaving bloody smears on the pavement. Police also aggressively sought to break up protests in other cities, including Mandalay and Dawei. Hundreds of protesters wearing construction helmets returned to the streets of Yangon Tuesday chanting slogans against the military regime as they stood behind makeshift barricades. Security forces responded by once again firing tear gas at the demonstrators to disperse them. The military has claimed widespread fraud in last November’s election, won in a landslide by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, as justification for last month’s coup. Myanmar’s electoral commission denied the military’s claims of election fraud.Khin Maung Zaw, center, a lawyer assigned by the National League for Democracy party to represent deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, speaks to journalists outside the Zabuthiri Township Court in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, March 1.Suu Kyi appeared via videoconference at a court in the capital, Naypyitaw, her first public appearance since she was removed from office and detained by the military. She was charged with two additional crimes during the session — attempting to incite public unrest and violating a section of the telecommunications law regarding operating equipment without a license. The 75-year-old Suu Kyi was already charged with illegally importing and using six unregistered walkie-talkie radios found during a search of her home, and for breaking the country’s natural disaster law by holding public gatherings in violation of COVID-19 protocols. Her next court appearance has been scheduled for March 15. The United States and other Western nations have demanded Suu Kyi’s release, as well as that of her lieutenants, and called on the junta to restore power to the civilian government. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said Monday during an address on state television that protest leaders and “instigators” would be punished. He said the army is also investigating financial abuse by the civilian government. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday the recent killings of protesters in Myanmar “represent an escalation” of the situation there and said the Biden administration was preparing “further costs on those responsible.” The new U.S ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, urged the international community Monday to “ramp up pressure” on Myanmar’s military and said she hopes to use Washington’s presidency of the United Nations Security Council in March to push for more “intense discussions” on Myanmar, formerly called Burma. “It is clear the world is watching the situation in Burma, and it’s clear that we can’t sit still and watch people continue to be brutalized and their human rights to be destroyed,” she said. The United Nations said Monday that if serious international crimes have taken place in Myanmar, it would investigate. Nicholas Koumjian, head of the U.N. Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, said if international law has been violated, “we will build case files to facilitate criminal trials to hold those responsible to account in international, regional or national courts.” Tom Andrews, U.N. special rapporteur for Myanmar, has called on the international community to take collective action against the military junta, including a global arms embargo, sanctions against businesses owned or controlled by the junta, and the convening of the U.N. Security Council to discuss the issue. Andrews also urged countries that have already established some sanctions to “immediately consider more.”As the junta ratchets up its brutal attacks against peaceful protesters in Myanmar, the world must ratchet up its response. Words of condemnation are welcome but insufficient. We must act. I’m releasing a statement today w options for UN member states & the UN Security Council. pic.twitter.com/q34vaaoYky— UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews (@RapporteurUn) February 28, 2021The junta has declared a one-year state of emergency. Min Aung Hlaing has pledged that new elections will be held to bring about a “true and disciplined democracy” but did not specify when they would take place.
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COVAX Supplied Coronavirus Vaccinations Underway in Africa
A mass vaccination effort against COVID-19 is getting underway in Africa this week through the World Health Organization’s COVAX initiative. The Ivory Coast and Ghana on Monday began vaccinating health care and essential workers with the AstraZeneca vaccine provided to low- and middle-income countries, which have difficulty acquiring doses because of the limited global supply and logistical problems. Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo said the COVAX vaccine represents a milestone to get the country back to business and re-build the economy. Ghana is reporting more than 84,000 coronavirus infections and 607 deaths, while the Ivory Coast has confirmed more than 32,700 coronavirus infections and 192 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University COVID Resource Center.A shipment of COVID-19 vaccines distributed by the COVAX Facility arrives in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Feb. 25, 2021. Ivory Coast is the second country in the world after Ghana to receive vaccines acquired through the U.N.-backed COVAX initiative.The WHO said 24 other African countries still trying to control the spread the coronavirus are expected to begin receiving doses of the vaccine this week through the COVAX program. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the roll out of the first batches of vaccine is just the beginning of what COVAX aims to achieve, citing it is the agency’s goal of starting vaccination in all countries within the first 100 days of this year. Additionally, Colombia became the first country in the Americas to use vaccines from COVAX on Monday. Colombian authorities say the first batch of the Pfizer vaccine will be used on the most vulnerable population. Colombia, which already has a vaccination program, has confirmed more than 174,000 infections and 6,482 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University Covid Resource Center.
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Nigerian Gunmen Release Kidnapped Schoolgirls
Nigerian security officials say gunmen have released hundreds of schoolgirls recently kidnapped from a school in the northern part of the country. Zamfara state Police Commissioner Abutu Yaro tweeted Tuesday the 279 school children are happy and healthy. Yaro partly credits the government’s ongoing Zamfara state peace accord with securing the girl’s release. He said more details will be provided later. It is unclear if their release was the result of a ransom arrangement. Authorities initially said gunmen abducted 317 girls in the raid on the Government Girls Secondary School in remote Jangebe village on Friday.Kidnapped schoolgirls released, in Zamfara, March 2, 2021.But Zamfara state Governor Bello Matawalle said the “total number of female students abducted” was 279. No reason has been given for the error. Nigeria has seen several armed kidnappings in recent years, especially in Zamfara state, where demands are made for ransoms. The most high-profile school kidnapping in Nigeria involved more than 250 mostly Christian girls abducted by the radical Islamic group Boko Haram in the northern town of Chibok in 2014. Dozens of the girls from the Chibok school have not been returned home.
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One Year After Closing, US-Canada Border Remains Closed
March 21st will mark a full year that the Canada-U. S. border has been closed to all but essential traffic during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Canada-U.S. border is the largest undefended boundary in the world at 8,891 kilometers. There are 117 legal points of entry that have been closed to tourist and personal, or “nonessential” travel, for almost a year, resulting in an 80% drop in border traffic. For generations, travelers from both countries have easily crossed the border for vacations, shopping trips and other excursions. That all stopped last March with the spread of the coronavirus. The only exceptions are for immediate family, those in long-term relationships or for compassionate purposes. Those crossing for essential work or to transport commercial goods are also exempt. Suzanne Smith is in a unique position. She is the Canadian owner of “Betty Be Good,” two dress shops located just across the border in Washington State. Her stores employ seven Americans full time. She lives on the Canadian side in suburban Vancouver, a mere two blocks from the border. Since the closure, her business has decreased 40%.
As an essential worker, she can cross the border and does so once or twice a week. However, she can only go directly to her two stores and literally nowhere else. Not even to a favorite eatery or to see her extended American family, unless they visit one of her stores. “It’s really difficult when you straddle two sides of a border with your life. You have restaurants that you enjoy. You have small businesses that you have supported over time. Things that become part of your life. And, you know, I have family there, as well. A lot of people are in that boat where they can’t see their family. I’m not unique in that I can’t see my family, either, unless they come to work,” Smith said. On February 22, the Canadian government increased the requirements for Canadians, or permanent residents, who are nonessential travelers returning home by land. Now, those crossing the border must show a negative COVID-19 test within the previous 72 hours or proof they had the coronavirus in the previous 14 to 90 days, therefore having at least temporary antibody immunity. Travelers will then have to quarantine for 14 days. Laurie Trautman, director of the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University in Bellingham, is hoping for a phased and safe reopening of the border. “So, what I would like to see is testing out a pilot project. We’ve done that a lot in our region, and proving that it is possible for, let’s say, me as a traveler to submit my vaccine status to a border officer before I arrived there and in a seamless electronic manner. And that that should be sufficient enough for me to cross the border,” Trautman said.The Canadian government has also halted the 2021 Alaska cruise ship season. The office of the U.S. Trade Representative estimates that $718.4 billion in all types of trade crossed the U.S.-Canada border before the pandemic in 2019.
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Court Hearing for 47 Hong Kong Activists Adjourned as Protesters Gather
Dozens of pro-democracy activists returned to a Hong Kong courtroom Tuesday, as their marathon hearing on charges of subversion entered a second day. The 47 pro-democracy political figures, a broad cross-section of Hong Kong residents, faced formal charges of subversion under the city’s controversial national security law. Hundreds of protesters defied social distancing laws to gather outside in support of those being tried. The first hearing for the 39 men and eight women lasted more than 10 hours at the West Kowloon Magistrates Court. The hearing was eventually adjourned until Tuesday morning after one of the defendants, Clarisse Yeung, collapsed and was admitted to a hospital. All of the defendants were to be held in a detention center overnight; Yeung will remain in the hospital under police custody. From top, Joshua Wong, Wu Chi-wai and Tam Tak-chi, some of the 47 pro-democracy Hong Kong activists, are escorted by Correctional Services officers in Hong Kong, March 2, 2021.Despite a lengthy day, the number of defendants and the number of defense lawyers and prosecutors, 27 defense teams were not able to present their cases, local media reported. Hong Kong lawyer Hang Tung Chow, representing defendant Owen Chow, told VOA they have yet to submit their case. On Sunday, authorities formally charged the 47 with conspiracy to subvert state power. They were ordered to report to police stations Monday, weeks earlier than expected. If convicted, they face up to life in prison. Most of the activists in court Monday were among the 55 arrested in January because of their involvement in Hong Kong’s primary elections last July. The primaries are the unofficial elections that allow voters to pick opposition candidates ahead of the now-postponed Legislative Council elections originally set for September 2020. Those candidates included Joshua Wong — who is serving jail time after being found guilty of unlawful assembly in a separate case. Former law professor Benny Tai and former pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo were also charged. Eight of those swept up in the initial mass arrests in January were included in the 47 charged, including U.S. human rights lawyer, John Clancey. After last year’s pro-democracy protests, Beijing implemented the national security law for Hong Kong that took effect on June 30, 2020. Among other things, it prohibits secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, and its details can be widely interpreted. The law has been the catalyst for sweeping changes in the city: street protests have stopped, and slogans have been banned. Most of the pro-democracy activists and political figures are now in jail, while others have fled in self-exile. With Monday’s court hearing scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., hundreds of supporters gathered outside the courthouse hours earlier. But when Chief Magistrate Victor So Wai-tak discovered some of the defendants hadn’t been able to meet with their attorneys, the hearing was rescheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. Outside the court building, protesters held a banner that read “release all political prisoners” while others chanted, “Free Hong Kong, Revolution Now,” despite it now deemed illegal under the city’s security legislation. Several pro-Beijing supporters also showed up, holding China’s national flag and calling for activists to go to jail without bail, according to local reports. As its numbers grew, police warned the crowd about violating social distancing regulations, with some receiving fixed-penalty fines. Officers then raised both blue and purple warning flags, in attempts to disperse the crowd and warn those gathered that they were potentially violating the national security law. As the day wore on, the defence teams submitted their cases, arguing their defendants wouldn’t endanger national security. Local media reports said some defendants pledged not to accept interviews, post on social media or take part in future elections to ensure bail. Police officers outside West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts in Hong Kong, March 1, 2021.Article 42 of the national security law states, “No bail shall be granted to a criminal suspect or defendant unless the judge has sufficient grounds for believing that the criminal suspect or defendant will not continue to commit acts endangering national security.” But questions remain over whether bail would be granted for the activists. In the case of media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who has been in jail since December after being charged under the security law for foreign collusion, his appeals for bail have been rejected, except for a one-week period at the end of December. And according to one top Beijing official, three notable activists all charged under the security law must be “severely punished under the law.” Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau State Affairs Office of the State Council, singled the three out – Tai, Wong and Lai — during a speech at a seminar in Beijing last month, according to local reports. Baolong described the three as “extremely bad ones” out of a small minority who are attempting to endanger national security. In February, Baolong said that only patriots should govern Hong Kong; amid recent news Beijing is planning an overhaul of the electoral system in the Chinese city. Former pro-democracy lawmaker Ted Hui, who is in self-exile in Britain after fleeing Hong Kong while under criminal charges, told VOA the “political participation of Democrats will be totally impossible in the future.” Political commentator Joseph Cheng told VOA Sunday that charging the pro-democracy opposition figures is part of a plan for Beijing to take political control of the city. “This is an important part of the strategy to deny the pro-democracy movement a role in the political system,” Cheng told VOA.
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US Father and Son Handed Over to Japan Over Ghosn’s Escape
An American father and son were handed over to Japanese officials on Monday, their lawyer said, after losing an extradition battle over accusations they helped former Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn to flee Japan. Michael Taylor and his son Peter Taylor were arrested in May after Japan issued a warrant accusing them of helping Ghosn flee Tokyo for Lebanon in December 2019 — reportedly hidden in a large box in a private jet — as he faced financial misconduct charges. Two weeks ago, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Taylors’ emergency appeal and cleared the way for their extradition following similar rulings by lower courts. “This is a sad day for the family, and for all who believe that veterans deserve better treatment from their own country,” Paul Kelly, their lawyer, said in a statement confirming they had been handed over to Japanese custody. FILE – Former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn holds a press conference at the Maronite Christian Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, in Kaslik, north of Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 29, 2020.The U.S. courts rejected the contention by the Taylors’ lawyers that the two men would face torture-like conditions in Japanese prison sufficient to merit breaching the extradition treaty between Tokyo and Washington. Peter Taylor and his father, a former U.S. Special Forces member turned private security contractor, had been imprisoned pending the outcome of the extradition fight. U.S. court documents show the two, and a Lebanese national, allegedly helped smuggle Ghosn out of Japan inside a large musical equipment case. ‘Brazen escape’ Prosecutors in one court filing called it “one of the most brazen and well-orchestrated escape acts in recent history.” Ghosn, who was a global business superstar when his career came crashing to an end, fled Japan while out on bail facing financial misconduct charges. He was arrested in November 2018 and had been expected to face trial on charges including understating his pay and misusing company assets. He spent 130 days in prison before being released on bail and completing his audacious escape act. Ghosn, who has denied any wrongdoing, has said he fled because he could not get a fair trial in Japan. Three others sentencedLast week, a Turkish court sentenced three men to four years and two months in prison over the case. The court convicted two pilots and an employee of a small private airline who flew the tycoon during his escape. The judge convicted them of illegally smuggling a foreign national. The pilots told the court that they were innocent because they never suspected who was on board their plane. Interpol issued a notice last year seeking Ghosn’s extradition from Lebanon to Japan. The two countries have no extradition agreement and Lebanon has failed to comply. The Turkish indictment said the escape plot involved a stopover in Istanbul instead of a direct flight “so as not to arouse suspicions.”
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Report: US Wasted Billions of Dollars on Afghan Rebuilding Projects
The United States has spent billions of American taxpayer dollars on reconstruction projects in Afghanistan that were either not needed or not wanted by authorities in the war-torn country, a new report says. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has documented the massive waste in a report submitted to U.S. lawmakers Monday. The agency evaluated nearly $7.8 billion spent since 2008 to build, finance or subsidize schools, prisons, a hotel, hospitals, roads, bridges and Afghan military facilities. It identified the U.S. Department of Defense as the largest contributor at $6.5 billon. SIGAR found that about $2.4 billion “in assets that were unused or abandoned had not been used for their intended purposes, had deteriorated, or were destroyed.” By contrast, the report said, more than $1.2 billion out of the $7.8 billion in U.S.-funded assets were being used as intended, and only $343.2 million worth of assets were “maintained in good condition.” FILE – Birds fly over the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Jan. 31, 2021. In a report released March 1, 2021, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, known as SIGAR, documented massive waste on rebuilding projects in the country.The study quoted Special Inspector General John Sopko as saying they determined a pattern of U.S. agencies “pouring too much money, too quickly, into a country too small to absorb it.” In violation of multiple U.S. laws, many of the U.S.-funded facilities and assets were provided to the Afghan government even without asking them if they wanted or needed the buildings or if they had the technical ability to keep them running. “The fact that so many capital assets wound up not used, deteriorated or abandoned should have been a major cause of concern for the agencies financing these projects,” Sopko said. As of last December 2020, Washington had appropriated about $143 billion for reconstruction and related activities in Afghanistan since 2002, according to SIGAR. The massive expenditure was intended to foster goodwill and jump-start development that U.S. officials hoped would help spur peace and stability in the conflict-torn country. U.S. lawmakers created SIGAR in 2008 to identify waste, fraud and abuse in American taxpayer-funded projects in Afghanistan. The agency has since been producing quarterly reports, often exposing serious gaps in planning and contract execution. SIGAR’s latest findings come as President Joe Biden is reassessing a peace agreement that his predecessor, Donald Trump, signed with the Taliban insurgency a year ago to promote a negotiated settlement to the 19-year-old Afghan war. The deal requires the remaining 2,500 U.S. troops to leave Afghanistan by May 1, 2021, to close what has been the longest-running U.S. war, costing Washington the lives of more than 2,400 soldiers and nearly $1 trillion. SIGAR noted that the actual amount of waste “is almost certainly higher” because it has not inspected all U.S.-funded “capital asset projects” in Afghanistan.
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Refugees’ Frustration Drives Renewed Western Sahara Conflict
Generations of young Sahrawis have grown up in Algeria’s remote desert refugee camps largely forgotten by the outside world and now see no prospect of an independent homeland in Western Sahara except through a new war their leaders say has already begun.Their fears that the quest for statehood had become a lost cause grew when U.S. administration of former president Donald Trump recognized Morocco’s claims to the vast, sparsely populated territory in December.”We have not received any peaceful results,” said Brahim, a Sahrawi man taking part in a recent parade by the group’s Polisario Front independence movement in Tindouf, close to Algeria’s border with Western Sahara.”It’s why we must return to the armed struggle,” he said.Sahrawi people carry flags as they gather to watch a parade at the Awserd refugee camp in Tindouf, Algeria, Feb. 27, 2021.In November, the movement said it was leaving a three-decade cease-fire with Rabat and has announced frequent attacks since then on Moroccan forces along the desert frontier.Morocco has said the Polisario attacks, in remote areas where it is hard to verify either side’s claims, have caused it no casualties and caused limited damage.The Sahrawi government-in-exile based in Tindouf has called on U.S. President Joe Biden to reverse his predecessor’s decision to accept Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.”Years of peace have not worked. Now it is time to return to war and we women of Western Sahara will sacrifice our children for the cause,” said Mbaraka, 65, in the Awserd camp in Tindouf.The dispute dates to the time when the territory, rich in phosphates and fishing grounds, was a Spanish colony, resisted by the Polisario Front with Algerian backing but also claimed by Morocco.When Spain quit in 1975, Moroccan troops marched in and the Polisario, with Algerian support, turned its guns on what it saw as a continuation of colonial rule by a different country.Its limited guerrilla successes were curtailed in the 1980s when Morocco built a long sand wall in the desert enclosing about four-fifths of the territory within its own control and leaving tens of thousands of refugees on the other side.The two agreed to a cease-fire in 1991 but, as the conflict froze and negotiations over a permanent settlement stalled, the refugees stayed in the camps.Morocco regards the region as part of its territory and is prepared to offer nothing beyond limited autonomy. The Polisario and its government in exile seek independence.Tindouf, deep in the Sahara and farther from Algiers than Paris, is home to several camps housing more than 165,000 refugees. They live in windswept concrete or mud shelters with few jobs and little to hope for.”The solution is fire and struggle to liberate the land,” said Mohamed Salem, another Sahrawi man in the parade.
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