Kenya’s Interior Ministry announced plans Wednesday to close two camps that accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflict and hardships in neighboring countries, especially Somalia.The East African country demanded that the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, present a “road map” in two weeks that details how the evacuation of the refugees can proceed.UNHCR said it would continue the dialogue and had asked Kenya to guarantee protection for the refugees.In a statement, the agency said, “The decision would have an impact on the protection of refugees in Kenya, including in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”Fred Matiang’i, the interior minister who issued the ultimatum, said there was “no room for further negotiations,” according to the ministry on Twitter.On Tuesday, Kenyan authorities told the UNCHR that refugees would be sent to the border with Somalia if the camps were not closed, the Interior Ministry confirmed to Reuters.The camps, Dadaab and Kakuma, are in the northern part of the country and are home to more than 410,000 people from Somalia and South Sudan.Plans to shut the camps began in 2016 when Kenyan authorities cited national security concerns, but a high court blocked the move, calling it unconstitutional.The concerns arose from intelligence that pointed to elements within the camps who were involved in attacks on Kenya in 2013 and 2015.
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Month: March 2021
Virginia Becomes First Southern US State to Abolish Death Penalty
Virginia on Wednesday became the first state in the U.S. South to abolish the death penalty.Democratic Governor Ralph Northam signed a bill outlawing capital punishment in the state, saying it was “the moral thing to do.”Virginia is the 23rd U.S. state to abolish the death penalty.Virginia has carried out more executions — nearly 1,400 — than any other state since its founding as a colony in the early 1600s.Northam signed the bill ending the death penalty at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, which houses the state’s execution chamber.”Signing this new law is the right thing to do,” Northam said. “It is the moral thing to do to end the death penalty in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”Virginia’s history — we have much to be proud of — but not the history of capital punishment,” he said.
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‘You Can Now Buy a Tesla With Bitcoin,’ Elon Musk Says
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company will now accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for a new electric car.
“You can now buy a Tesla with bitcoin,” CEO Elon Musk tweeted Wednesday, making good on a promise the company made in a financial filing last month.
Musk added that the cryptocurrency will not be converted to dollars and that paying with Bitcoin will be available outside the U.S. later this year.
After the news, the price of Bitcoin climbed to $56,242, around 3%, which would be enough to cover the price of the least expensive Tesla model, the Tesla Model 3, which costs under $40,000.
If a customer decides to return a Tesla bought with bitcoins, the company said it can refund them either in U.S. dollars or bitcoins.
Dan Ives, a market analyst at Wedbush Securities, told CNN that the move was a “seminal moment” for both Tesla and Bitcoin.
“We expect less than 5% of transactions to be through Bitcoin over the next 12 to 18 months, however, this could move higher over time as crypto acceptance starts to ramp over the coming years,” he added.
Musk has gone from a cryptocurrency skeptic to embracing the new asset. Recently, the company invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin.
“I do at this point think Bitcoin is a good thing, and I am a supporter of Bitcoin,” Musk said January 31 during an interview on the networking app Clubhouse. “Many friends of mine have tried to convince me to get involved in Bitcoin for a long time.”
“I think Bitcoin is really on the verge of getting broad acceptance by conventional finance people,” he added.
Both Tesla and Bitcoin have risen sharply in value over the past 12 months, with Tesla shares surging from $100 to $600 and Bitcoin from $7,000 to over $55,000 today.
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In France, a Woman’s ‘Emancipation Journey’ Triggers Death Threats
Becoming a “free French woman” hasn’t been easy for Claire Koç, a 37-year-old French TV presenter and daughter of Turkish immigrant parents. And it may prove dangerous. To finish her university education and marry the man she loved she had to break with her family. She suffered hostility from them, too, when she decided in 2008 to become a French citizen. And now her account of what she calls her “journey toward emancipation” detailed in a book, Claire, le Prénom de la Honte (Claire, the Name of Shame), is earning her death threats and the offer of police protection. Supporters of French President Emmanuel Macron have praised Koç’s book, arguing it shows why he is right to explore ways the government can encourage assimilation and stop minority and immigrant communities from isolating themselves and living apart from the French Republic. Last year, Macron warned against religious sectarianism, which he said “often results in the creation of a counter-society.” Cultural and religious separatism is leading to kids being kept out of school, and sports, cultural and other community activities being used as a “pretext to teach principles that do not conform to the laws of the republic,” he said.Claire Koç is seen on the cover of her book Claire, le Prénom de la Honte or Claire, the Name of Shame (Social media)Koç has received favorable book reviews. “Her book … is a rare plea for freedom and integration, against communitarianism and all obscurantism,” wrote reviewer Carine Azzopardi.But some of France’s 6 million Muslims, especially Turkish ultranationalists, have voiced outrage. On social media sites, they accuse her of insulting Turkey. Some Muslim radicals say the book risks fueling Islamophobia.The book is both an angry denunciation of the Turkish migrant community for its resistance to assimilation and a very personal tale of one woman’s emotionally painful struggle to make her own choices in life.Koç told VOA she decided to use her family as an example of the resistance to assimilation. She was one year old when her parents immigrated to France in 1984 and grew up in Brittany and Strasbourg in public housing projects. In her book, she explains that as a child she was sent to Turkish lessons, where in the morning she would join her classmates in chanting the mantra, “Let my existence be a gift to Turkey.” But she felt French, and increasingly so, and found herself at odds with her classmates. Her refusal as a youngster to attend mosque also marked her out. The battles at home grew worse as she became a teenager. “I wanted to work, I wanted to decide whom to marry and I wanted to go to university,” she told VOA. “My family told me that it wasn’t for an Anatolian woman to decide these things.” Her parents wanted her to marry a boy from Turkey, preferably from their home village.She says satellite television helped her family maintain cultural separateness from the French — they would watch only Turkish channels all day and followed Turkish politics, Turkish sports. Her family was uninterested in France and made no effort to adjust or to adopt French values, she says.Nor did they learn to speak French. “How is it possible,” she writes in her book, “to live for 40 years in a country without mastering the language and to think … that a boss will take you on if you have made no effort to integrate?” Her father, she says, just mirrored what many others in the Turkish community do — complain about racism, accept welfare payments and make little effort to get work. “I had one wish — to escape and to leave a family I found archaic,” she told VOA. Her godsend, she says, was the cinema: movies helped her to understand the country she lived in and to learn things she wasn’t learning at home. Defying her family, she attended a university, and there met by chance a young Turkish man from a family of Alawites, a sect of Shia Islam. When her family found out she was seeing him, they insisted they marry. She was 22 years old, but soon after they were together, her new husband told her she had to stop studying.
“He wanted me to live a similar life to my mother’s,” she says. Within a year they were divorced and she returned to the Université de Strasbourg, to the frustration of her parents and the disdain of Turkish neighbors. “They would cross the road when they saw me: they looked at me as though I were a whore,” she explains.Her family rejected her completely when she married a Frenchman following the divorce.The wounds of her struggle with her family have not healed.That became clear during VOA’s interview with Koç. She choked up as she explained how she learned of her father’s death two months ago from COVID-19. “I found out from a text message,” she says.His death precluded any opportunity for a reconciliation, one she still harbored hopes might take place one day, given time. “It is very difficult,” she said, shedding tears. “I had hoped my father one day would meet my son.”For her naturalization procedure, Koç changed her given name from Cigdem to Claire.“Claire? Are you serious? What a disgrace!” her brother said when she told him of the switch, she writes in the book. Her two brothers have shown no interest in communicating with her since their father’s death.Koç is unsparing in criticism, taking aim not only at religious and cultural obscurantism but also at some anti-racist politicians and groups for feeding, she says, an attitude that immigrants are always victims of racism. And she criticizes French mosques, funded by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, for encouraging Turkish immigrants to maintain themselves apart from mainstream French society.“I am not denying my origins,” she tells VOA. “But I am proclaiming my love for France, which has allowed me to be free.”Koç has filed a criminal complaint after facing a torrent of abuse and insults on social media sites. One post, accusing her of being a traitor, displayed a Turkish flag and a gray wolf’s head, the emblem of Turkish ultranationalists. Her lawyer, William Goldnadel, says the threats are alarming. “Those people don’t mess around: When they describe you either as a traitor to your country or as a terrorist and try to find your address with determination, it’s very worrying.”French politicians have rallied to her side. Rachid Temal, a Socialist Party senator, tweeted this week: “All my support to Claire Koç who like everyone has the right to choose their life, their loves and their life course. No one should be harassed for their choices.”Senator Valerie Boyer, a member of the liberal-conservative Republican Party, tweeted it is “intolerable that she has been harassed because she loves France too much. How long are these threats going to continue?”
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Australian Floods Drive Spiders Into Homes, Backyards
Record flooding in Australia this week as had an unexpected consequence, driving hordes of spiders – including one of the world’s deadliest species – out of their usual habitat and into homes and backyards.Flooding in Australia’s southeastern New South Wales state forced 18,000 people to evacuate and at least 100 others to be rescued after days of heavy rain forced rivers in the region to overflow.Those rains subsided Wednesday, but the flooding appears to have forced eight-legged residents of the region out of their homes as well. Social media posts showed pictures and videos of fences, walls and backyards covered with spiders seeking dry and higher ground.The phenomenon also prompted the Australian Reptile Park in Somersby, north of Sydney, to issue a warning Wednesday regarding funnel web spiders, considered one of the world’s deadliest, and indigenous to New South Wales State.In a statement, the park director said the floods have also likely driven funnel web spiders out of their habitats and into populated areas. The spiders, named for their funnel-shaped webs, can be aggressive if cornered and have a highly toxic, fast-acting venom that can kill a person, with 13 recorded deaths from bites. There have been no deaths reported since an antivenom was developed in the early 1980s. The statement encouraged people who “feel safe enough to do so” – using gloves and other protective equipment – to catch and deliver wandering funnel web spiders to the park or other designated collection facilities to help create more anti-venom.
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Kenya Orders Closure of 2 Refugee Camps, Gives Ultimatum to UN Agency
Kenya on Wednesday ordered the closure of two sprawling camps that host hundreds of thousands of refugees from neighboring Somalia and gave the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) two weeks to present a plan to do so, the interior ministry said.
The Dadaab and the Kakuma refugee camps in northern Kenya together host more than 410,000 people, a small proportion of whom are from South Sudan.
Authorities in Nairobi first announced their intention to shut the Dadaab camp, which is closer to the border with Somalia than Kakuma, back in 2016, citing national security concerns.
Fred Matiang’i, the interior minister, has now given the UNHCR 14 days to draw up a plan for the closure of both Dadaab and Kakuma, his ministry said in a tweet, adding that there was no room for further talks on the issue.
UNHCR urged Kenya to ensure that those who need protection continue to get it, and pledged to keep engaging in a dialog.
“The decision would have an impact on the protection of refugees in Kenya, including in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” it said in a statement.
Somali authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Kenyan government’s attempt to close Dadaab in 2016 was informed by intelligence reports showing two large attacks on Kenyan targets in 2013 and 2015 took place with the involvement of elements in the camps. The plan was blocked by the high court, which called the move unconstitutional.
The camp was established three decades ago and was once the world’s largest refugee camp, which at its peak hosted over half a million people fleeing violence and drought in Somalia.
Kakuma, located in the northwest, is home to more than 190,000 refugees, some drawn from neighboring South Sudan.
Kenyan authorities informed UNCHR on Tuesday it would take the refugees to the border with Somalia if the camps are not closed, the Daily Nation newspaper reported. The interior ministry told Reuters that the reporting was accurate.
Kenya’s move comes as relations with Somalia worsen, after Mogadishu cut diplomatic ties with Nairobi last December, accusing it of interfering in its internal affairs.
The two nations are also facing off at the International Court of Justice over a maritime boundary dispute, although Kenya has boycotted the hearing of the case.
Kenya’s interior ministry told Reuters the move to close the camps was not related to diplomatic difficulties with Somalia.
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Zimbabwe Musicians Find Alternative Ways to Earn a Living During Pandemic
Zimbabwe’s musicians have been struggling to make a living since the coronavirus pandemic prompted the government to ban concerts and other entertainment to prevent the spread of the virus.Before COVID-19, award-winning Zimbabwean singer Diana Samkange-Nyazema frequently performed in her home country and across Africa. Now, no longer on stage or in the spotlight, she can be found at her farm in Mazowe district, about an hour’s drive west of Harare. Diana Samkange-Nyazema, an award-winning Zimbabwean singer, is seen at her farm in Mazowe district, about an hour’s drive west of Harare, March 18, 2021. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA) The coronavirus lockdowns stopped large gatherings and events – like concerts – forcing Samkange-Nyazema to look at other ways to make a living. “During the lockdown, I learned one thing that I didn’t know over the years: You will never go wrong with agriculture. People will always eat. People will always want farm produce. That business, for me, is quite stable. It will bring income; I now know that money comes from the soil to also do other things – to boost my music business,” she said. “I have found that there is stability in agriculture at the moment more than (the) music side,” she added. “But I am saying given the two, I am definitely going to be biased because I am a musician. That defines who I am. I am Diana who sings. So, music is going to be my first love, but I need to survive.” The 32-year-old Afro-pop singer co-owns the farm with her husband, Calvin Nyazema. They are putting in irrigation pipes and have set up beehives to collect “eucalyptus honey” from their 300,000-tree plantation. Nicholas Moyo, executive director of Zimbabwe’s National Arts Council, is seen in Harare, January 2021. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)Executive Director of Zimbabwe’s National Arts Council Nicholas Moyo says he does not know when the ban on live performances will be lifted. But, he says, Zimbabwe’s government recognizes the plight of musicians who have been unable to work because of the lockdowns. “So, we can say currently we are working on more of a stimulus package because we realized release may never take us anywhere,” Moyo said. ”But the government, through the department of Social Welfare, continuously assists Zimbabweans that are in need.” However, critics say lockdown relief payments of about $12 a month per family is not even enough to buy bread. Independent Harare-based economist John Robertson says authorities need to increase financial support for the vulnerable. “So, it’s really up to an individual if you find yourself in a difficulty. There is nobody who (is) going to come and help you. Certainly not officials,” Robertson said.”So, you have to be resourceful for your own sake. And you can bring the rest of the family and say: Let’s work together and add to the income of the family with small things each family can do,” he added. “And the resourcefulness of people … of people of Zimbabwe has been absolutely amazing and it is going to amaze us even if COVID-19 lasts for a long time.” Singer Samkange-Nyazema appears to be following that advice and plans to invest more in livestock if she gets funding. In the meantime, she has something else to sing about: a bountiful corn harvest expected on her farm in the coming weeks.
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As Europe Debates COVID Passports, Recovery Hopes Fade
The European Commission’s proposal to create a health passport to facilitate safe, free movement inside the EU during the remainder of the COVID-19 pandemic could be a solution to save the tourism industry in parts of southern Europe this summer. But with the vaccine rollout off to a slow start and the infection rates going up across Europe, few are hoping for a recovery soon. Jonathan Spier narrates this report by Alfonso Beato in Barcelona.
Camera: Alfonso Beato, Filip Huygens
Producer: Jon Spier
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Years-Long US Pressure Campaign Chokes Huawei’s Growth
When Joe Biden took office as president, the Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei Technologies saw at least a glimmer of hope that the U.S.-led campaign to shut it out of international markets might be eased somewhat. Once a global leader in smartphone sales, Huawei has seen its market share outside China plummet since the Trump administration began choking off its supply of technology key to producing modern 5G handsets. Likewise, the company’s business installing mobile telecommunications infrastructure, and especially new 5G-capable systems, has been severely damaged by a U.S. campaign against it.Biden had not signaled that he would be particularly easy on China — his appointment of China hawk Katherine Tai as U.S. Trade Representative confirmed that. But Huawei and other Chinese firms thought that, if nothing else, the two countries could step back from a Trump-era trade war footing.Huawei Executive Back in Court to Fight US ExtraditionUS wants Meng Wanzhou, daughter of Chinese telecom’s founder and chief financial officer of the company, extradited to face fraud chargesBiden tightens restrictionsEarlier this month, Huawei’s prospects for relief dimmed considerably when the Biden administration announced that it would not only continue some of the Trump administration’s export bans, but would tighten them.“The Biden administration appears to be maintaining the final Trump policy regarding which Huawei-related export licenses to approve or deny, which is more restrictive than the 2020 license policy,” said Kevin Wolf, a former assistant secretary of commerce for export administration in the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security.Now a partner with the law firm Akin Gump in Washington, Wolf added, “In order to make the license policy consistent and level the playing field, it has amended 2020 licenses limiting their scope so that they align with the final Trump license policy. In particular, licenses for shipments for items ‘for use in or with 5G devices’ will be denied or revoked.”Contentious MeetingAdditionally, on the eve of the first high-level meeting between Biden administration officials and representatives of Beijing, the Commerce Department announced that it had issued subpoenas to a number of Chinese companies as part of an investigation into national security threats. Beijing Slams US Blacklisting of Chinese CompaniesChina’s commerce ministry on Saturday said it ‘firmly opposes’ the move, which will affect the country’s biggest chipmaker, SMIC, and vowed to ‘take necessary measures’ to safeguard Chinese companies’ rightsThe action stemmed from a 2019 executive order by Trump allowing the executive branch to prohibit purchases of technology deemed to present a national security threat. The Commerce Department did not name the companies it is investigating, but many experts assume that Huawei was among them.The next day, in a contentious meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Yang Jiechi, director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office of the Chinese Communist Party, blasted the U.S, saying, “It abuses so-called notions of national security to obstruct normal trade exchanges, and incite some countries to attack China.”Origins of banBeginning in fits and starts in 2019, a broad swath of export bans eventually cut Huawei off from an array of technologies that had been essential to the company’s operations. The U.S. push began partly in response to then-President Trump’s lengthy trade battle with China, and partly in response to very real national security concerns related to allowing Huawei to become a dominant player in global 5G — the next generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks.U.S. intelligence agencies have long asserted that Huawei is closely connected to the Chinese government. That, combined with the fact that Chinese law specifically requires companies to cooperate with the country’s intelligence services in collecting data, pushed U.S. officials to warn that Huawei components could potentially be used to create “backdoor” access for Beijing into sensitive government and private sector systems.Huawei says, ‘yes’Huawei officials have repeatedly expressed their frustration at being publicly treated as an arm of the Chinese government. Last week Andy Purdy, chief security officer for Huawei Technologies USA, told Bloomberg News that if the Biden administration is concerned about the company, “we hope that the U.S. government will partner with us and not point to the Chinese government, because Huawei speaks for Huawei.” Huawei Running Out of Smartphone Chips under US Sanctions Huawei is at the center of US-Chinese tension over technology and security, and the feud has spread to TikTok and WeChat Many industry experts, though, remain very dubious about the company’s protestations of independence. “The Chinese government may not speak for Huawei,” said Jim Lewis, senior vice president and director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “But when the Chinese government speaks to Huawei, Huawei says, “‘Yes.’”Broad impactThe Trump administration’s assault on Huawei was scattershot at times, but ultimately it was brutally effective.All Huawei phones had used the Android operating system made by Google, but in May of 2019, Google announced that it would comply with the administration’s order and refuse to license its operating system to any new phones made by the Chinese firm.U.S. microchip giants Intel and Qualcomm were likewise banned from selling their most advanced technology to the company, all but eliminating its ability to produce cutting edge handsets. The export restrictions also barred contract chipmakers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., the world’s largest, from selling advanced chips to Huawei.According to International Data Corporation, a business intelligence firm, as its chip supply dried up, Huawei’s share of the global smartphone market cratered. In the second quarter of 2020, Huawei shipped an industry leading 20.2% of handsets, but by the fourth quarter its share had dropped to just 8.6%.Other analysts predict that before 2021 is over, that number will have been halved again, to around 4% of the market.5G dominance bluntedThe pressure on allies to avoid Huawei’s 5G infrastructure offerings has also been broadly successful. Huawei to Build First European 5G Factory in France to Soothe Western Nerves Huawei’s new French plant would create 500 jobs; Chinese firm says plans not part of ‘charm offensive’ Most major U.S. allies have barred national telecommunications firms from using Huawei-made equipment in their rollout of 5G services and some, like Britain, have committed to the expensive process of replacing existing Huawei components within their systems.Lewis, of CSIS, agreed that Huawei has been “shut out” of most major U.S. allies’ 5G systems, but said that the U.S. pressure campaign hadn’t been the only factor in making that happen.Over the years, there have been multiple charges leveled against Huawei of shady practices, and not all of them from Washington. A 2019 report revealed that British telecom firm Vodaphone had found hidden “backdoor” vulnerabilities in Huawei’s equipment. The company has also been accused of multiple instances of industrial espionage.“Some of it had to do with just telling people, hey, you need to look closely at Huawei, and it’s their own independent assessment,” Lewis said. “The Europeans have been looking at Huawei as a risk since before the Trump administration. So in some ways, Huawei is caught by its own practices.”
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US Adding Air Power to Naval Operations in Disputed South China Sea
Regional experts say U.S. officials are using a range of aircraft to make speedy yet thorough checks on China’s expansion in a disputed Asian sea. The flights, added to the more obvious passages of navy ships through the South China Sea, will further inflame China, analysts say, adding that planes see more than ships and complete their missions faster. Aircraft can handily survey the sea and due to their altitude see “a lot of things a vessel cannot” from a “bird’s eye” view, said Alexander Vuving, a professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii. Planes come and go faster than ships, he added. U.S. warship passages into the South China Sea doubled in 2019. The American planes fly more than 22 kilometers from China’s shoreline, Vuving said. “Whether it’s intensifying or not is already accepted, even already included, in China’s strategic calculations,” said Eduardo Araral, associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s public policy school. Range of aircraft Among the more visible U.S. aircraft are B-52 bombers, which were sighted in 2018 and in July last year when they flew from Guam to join an aircraft carrier exercise. Last month planes took off from U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups that were moving through the sea. US Bombers in South China Sea Satisfy Southeast Asia by Needling China
Recent U.S.
Washington regularly sends reconnaissance aircraft to the South China Sea, Chinese sources say. From March to November last year, the U.S. sent three civilian contractor surveillance aircraft to “monitor” the South China Sea among other waterways, the Chinese government-backed research website South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative says. The civilian planes are backing up eight types of military reconnaissance aircraft, the database says. The U.S. military sent “strategic bombers” to the South China Sea last year, it adds. Reconnaissance aircraft flew over the South China Sea three times in February, Beijing’s state-monitored Global Times reported. The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command did not answer a request for comment. FILE – This Sept. 16, 2016 US Air Force handout photo shows a US Marine F-35 Lightning II taking off at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida.In 2019, the U.S. Marines Corps sent its F-35B Lightning II aircraft for joint military exercises in the Philippines, marking an increase in military capability “committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific region”, the U.S. Navy says on its website. Chinese reaction Airspace outside a 22 kilometers normally belongs to no single country, but Beijing claims 90% of the South China Sea and cites historical records that indicate Chinese use of the waterway. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam call all or parts of the same 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea their own, causing friction with China. Claimant states look to the warm waters for fish and undersea fuel reserves. The Chinese research website calls U.S. reconnaissance operations “frequent” and says they have “built up strong momentum for battlefield construction and warfighting readiness across the U.S. military.” Officials in Beijing say U.S. military units disrupt peace and violate international law. The United States, China’s former Cold War rival and modern-day superpower rival, makes no claim to the sea. It has stepped in as Beijing takes a military lead in the maritime dispute, threatening a network of pro-U.S. governments such as Taiwan and the Philippines. China, which is backed by a growing military that ranks as the world’s third strongest, would take “strong steps” if an American plane entered its air space, Araral said. Chinese planes and warships already hold periodic drills in the contested sea. FILE – This photo taken Jan. 2, 2017, shows a Chinese navy formation during military drills in the South China Sea.Both powers will probably keep flying until two-way relations improve, said Alexander Huang, strategic studies professor at Taiwan’s Tamkang University. The two countries stand at odds over trade and technology as well as China’s military pressure against its neighbors. “The real thing is that if the United States-China mil-mil [military ties] is not going back to normal, then we will continue to see this kind of reports (and) complaints,” Huang said. Welcomed outside China The five other South China Sea claimants look to Washington for support against Beijing’s maritime expansion as they’re all militarily weaker than China. They resent China’s land reclamation on some of the sea’s tiny islets as well as the circulation of Chinese ships near sensitive natural gas and oil reserves. Military infrastructure occupies some Chinese-held islets today, and Chinese fighter jets have been spotted as recently as July on Woody Island — a feature vigorously contested by Vietnam. Southeast Asian claimants hope the U.S. flights will deter China from extending its maritime claims, analysts believe. For the Philippines, “when the U.S. does these things, it in a sense demonstrates some sort of a balance of power,” said Aaron Rabena, a research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation in the Philippines’ Quezon City.
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Massive Cargo Ship Turns Sideways, Blocks Egypt’s Suez Canal
A massive cargo ship turned sideways in Egypt’s Suez Canal, blocking traffic in a crucial East-West waterway for global shipping, according to satellite data accessed Wednesday. Traffic on the narrow waterway dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula stopped Tuesday after the MV Ever Given, a Panama-flagged container ship with an owner listed in Japan, got stuck. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the Ever Given to turn sideways in the canal. GAC, a global shipping and logistics company, described the Ever Given as suffering “a blackout while transiting in a northerly direction,” without elaborating. Others blamed high winds for turning the vessel. The Ever Given’s bow was touching the canal’s eastern wall, while its stern looked lodged against its western wall, according to satellite data from MarineTraffic.com. Several tug boats surrounded the ship, likely attempting to push it the right way, the data showed. An image posted to Instagram by a user on another waiting cargo ship appeared to showed the Ever Given wedged across the canal. Canal authorities could not be immediately reached early Wednesday. The ship appeared to be stuck some 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) north of the southernly mouth of the canal near the city of Suez. Cargo ships and oil tankers appeared to be lining up at the southern end of the Suez Canal, waiting to be able to pass through the waterway to the Mediterranean Sea, according to MarineTraffic data. A United Nations database listed the Ever Given as being owned by Shoei Kisen KK, a ship-leasing firm based in Imabari, Japan. The firm could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday. The ship had listed its destination as Rotterdam in the Netherlands prior to getting stuck in the canal. Evergreen Marine Corp., a major Taiwan-based shipping company, also listed the Ever Given among ships in its fleet and the ship bears its color scheme and logo. Evergreen could not immediately be reached for comment, though Taiwan’s state-run Central News Agency quoted unidentified company sources as saying the ship had been overcome by strong winds as it entered the Suez Canal from the Red Sea but none of its containers had sunk. The Ever Given, built in 2018 with a length of nearly 400 meters (a quarter mile) and a width of 59 meters (193 feet), is among the largest cargo ships in the world. Opened in 1869, the Suez Canal provides a crucial link for oil, natural gas and cargo being shipping from East to West. Around 10% of the world’s trade flows through the waterway and it remains one of Egypt’s top foreign currency earners. In 2015, the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi completed a major expansion of the canal, allowing it to accommodate the world’s largest vessels.
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Congo’s Longtime President Reelected in Landslide Win
The Republic of Congo’s Interior Minister announced Tuesday longtime incumbent President Denis Sassou Nguesso has won another five year term. Raymond Zephiri Mboulou said in a national address that Sassou Nguesso secured just more than 88 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election, extending his more than 36 years as leader of the Central African nation. His main rival, Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, who died suddenly as people were going to the polls, was a distant second, receiving less than eight percent of the vote. The remaining votes were split between five other candidates. A spokesman for Kolelas’ campaign said the 61-year-old died of COVID-19 as he was being evacuated from Brazzaville to France for treatment.Congolese Presidential Opposition Candidate Dies of COVID-19 Campaign spokesman says Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas died on Election Day as he was being evacuated to France for treatment Kolelas was challenging Sassou Nuguesso for a second time in Sunday’s election, finishing second to the country’s longtime leader in 2016. Sassou Nuguesso first took office in 1979 and served until 1992. He has served uninterrupted since winning the presidency again in 1997.
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Blinken in Europe to Rebuild Alliances
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to outline in a speech Wednesday in Brussels a commitment by the Biden administration to rebuild and revitalize U.S. alliances. That has been part of his message during his first visit to the region as the top U.S. diplomat this week, showing a departure from four years of foreign policy under former President Donald Trump that focused on prioritizing U.S. interests. The address comes on the final day of a two-day NATO ministerial meeting, during which Blinken is holding a number of sideline talks with his counterparts. Wednesday’s schedule includes separate talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, a session with the foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as meetings with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. Blinken told reporters Tuesday the United States wants to rebuild its partnerships, “first and foremost with our NATO allies.”U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, rear center, waits for the start of a round table meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, March 23, 2021.The White House said U.S. President Joe Biden plans to discuss boosting U.S.-EU relations during a videoconference with EU leaders on Thursday. Biden’s stance is a marked contrast to that of former President Donald Trump, who frequently assailed other NATO countries for not meeting the alliance’s goal that each country spend the equivalent of 2% of the size of its national economy on defense. “The last thing we can afford to do is take this alliance for granted,” Blinken, a longtime Biden confidant, said. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian welcomed Blinken’s favorable comments about NATO, which was founded in 1949 to contain a military threat from the then-Soviet Union. One of the major topics for discussion during two days of meetings in Brussels is the NATO mission in Afghanistan, as a May 1 deadline approaches for the full withdrawal of all U.S. troops under a peace agreement made last year between Afghanistan’s Taliban and the Trump administration. Blinken said the situation is under review, and that part of his work in Brussels would be conferring with NATO allies, both to listen and to share U.S. thinking. He said whatever the United States decides to do, its actions will be with the consultation of other member countries that have been a part of the military mission. “We went in together, we have adjusted together, and when the time is right, we’ll leave together,” Blinken said. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he welcomes the peace effort, stressing it is the “only path to a lasting political solution in Afghanistan.” But the NATO chief said that in order to achieve peace, all parties must negotiate in good faith, there needs to be a reduction of violence, and the Taliban must stop supporting international terrorists such as al-Qaida. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas warned against a premature pullout that would undercut security gains. “We want a conditions-based withdrawal of all forces from Afghanistan,” Maas said.
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North Korea Conducts First Launch of 2021
North Korea conducted a short-range projectile launch several days ago, according to U.S. officials, in what appears to be Pyongyang’s first missile-related activity this year. The Washington Post first reported the launches late Tuesday, saying “multiple short-range missiles” were launched “last weekend” but providing no other details. In a briefing, a senior U.S. administration official confirmed but downplayed what he called “military activity” involving a “short-range system.” “It is a normal part of the kind of testing that North Korea would do,” the U.S. official said. It is not clear which missiles were tested, when they were fired or how far they flew. But U.S. officials say the launch was not prohibited by United Nations Security Council resolutions banning North Korea from conducting ballistic missile activity. “Because this does not, it probably gives you an indication of where it falls on the spectrum of concern,” the official said. “We do not believe it is in our best interest to hype these things,” he added. U.S. and South Korean officials usually provide details shortly after North Korean launches. Pyongyang also usually heralds the activities on the front pages of its state media the following day. None of that happened this time, leading some experts to question whether the missiles tested were small or evaded radar detection by the U.S. and its allies. Policy review The launches came days after visits to Seoul and Tokyo by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. FILE – South Korean President Moon Jae-in poses for a photo with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during their meeting at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, March 18, 2021.The Biden administration is carrying out a wide-ranging North Korea policy review, which is in its “final stages,” according to the U.S. official who briefed reporters Wednesday. The official said Japanese and South Korean officials will visit Washington next week to discuss the outcome of the review. “All I can tell you is that we are on our forward foot in terms of wanting to clearly signal that we are prepared for continuing engagement with key partners, and indeed with North Korea,” he added. North Korea stance Last week, North Korea blasted U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises, warning against what it sees as provocative actions that cause a “stink.” The Biden administration says it has reached out to North Korea through several channels to renew dialogue. But North Korea says it won’t respond until the U.S. drops what it calls Washington’s “hostile policy.” North Korea’s latest short-range missile tests appear to be a “relatively subtle message to the Biden administration that time is running out for restarting direct talks,” said Jessica Lee, senior research fellow on East Asia at the Washington-based Quincy Institute. Others see the test as an indication of a more obstinate stance from the North. “Pyongyang is signaling it will tolerate continued economic reliance on China in order to come out of the pandemic on the offensive against Washington and Seoul,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. More tests coming? Many experts expect North Korea will soon resume bigger tests, possibly of longer-range ballistic missiles. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in January 2020 that he no longer felt bound by his self-imposed moratorium on long-range missile and nuclear tests. Pyongyang has not conducted a nuclear test or launched an intercontinental ballistic missile since 2017 — before his diplomacy with former U.S. President Donald Trump. Kim has repeatedly tested shorter-range ballistic missiles, but Trump downplayed those tests, saying they were unimportant. North Korea is prohibited from any ballistic missile activity by United Nations Security Council resolutions. Late Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden also shrugged off the North’s latest launch, saying “nothing much has changed.” This is North Korea’s first reported missile test since July 2020. That launch, which involved an anti-ship cruise missile and flew less than 100 kilometers, also went unreported for several weeks. Some missile experts believe North Korea’s latest launch may have involved cruise missiles, which fly lower than ballistic missiles and may be missed by radars. Second, the story reads like the missile was not detected in real-time, but rather US officials learned about it later. That’s much more likely with a cruise missile, which can fly low than with a ballistic missile that will pop up above the horizon, clouds, etc.— Dr. Jeffrey Lewis (@ArmsControlWonk) March 23, 2021South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported Wednesday that the launch involved cruise missiles off North Korea’s west coast.
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Colorado Shooting Victims: Store Staffers, Cop, Photographer
Three were gunned down while putting in a day’s work at a Colorado supermarket. Another was a police officer who raced in to try to rescue them and others from the attack that left 10 dead. A picture of the victims of Monday’s shooting began to emerge a day later, when the suspect in the killings was booked into jail on murder charges after being treated at a hospital. Those who lost their lives at the King Soopers store in Boulder ranged from 20 years old to 65. They included a magazine photographer, a Medicare agent with a passion for theater and others going about their days at a busy shopping plaza. They were identified as Denny Stong, 20; Neven Stanisic, 23; Rikki Olds, 25; Tralona Bartkowiak, 49; police Officer Eric Talley, 51; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Teri Leiker, 51; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62; and Jodi Waters, 65. Leiker, Olds and Stong worked at the supermarket, said former co-worker Jordan Sailas, who never got the chance to bring his baby son into the store to meet them. Eric TalleyHe joined the police force in Boulder in 2010 with a background that included a master’s degree in computer communications, his father said. “At age 40, he decided he wanted to serve his community,” Homer “Shay” Talley, 74, told The Associated Press from his ranch in central Texas. “He left his desk job. He just wanted to serve, and that’s what he did. He just enjoyed the police family.” Eric Talley was the first to arrive after a call about shots being fired and someone carrying a rifle, Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said. Talley was “by all accounts, one of the outstanding officers” in the department, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said. Talley’s father said his son — who had seven children, ages 7 to 20 — was a devoted father who “knew the Lord.” “When everyone else in the parking lot was running away, he ran toward it,” Shay Talley said. “We know where he is,” he added. “He loved his family more the anything. He wasn’t afraid of dying. He was afraid of putting them through it.” Talley graduated from high school in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1988. The school superintendent there expressed condolences and praised “the example Officer Talley leaves us all.” Lynn MurrayMurray was shopping at King Soopers, where a friend’s daughter had seen her. Word made it to her husband, John Mackenzie, who drove to the store and started texting his wife. After getting no answer in about five minutes, “I just fell over in my chair,” he said, choking up. Murray had a long career taking photos for magazines including Cosmopolitan and Vogue, Mackenzie said. “She charmed the pants off me” when they met at a photography studio in New York City years ago, he said. Computer backgammon games soon evolved into a relationship and eventually, two children. “She’s the kindest person I ever knew, hands down. She had an aura about her that was the coolest freakin’ thing you’d ever want to know. She was just a cool chick,” Mackenzie said. “She had it all together — she really did.” He said he spent hours consoling their children before he “lost it” Tuesday morning. Mackenzie offered a message: “Don’t live in fear. My wife, none of the victims, would ever want you to live in fear. They’d want you to be bolder and live bolder. That’s what this place is about.” Suzanne FountainA Medicare agent, Fountain helped people sign up for the federal health insurance program for older adults and get supplemental coverage, said Hilarie Kavanagh of Medicare Licensed Agents in Boulder, where Fountain worked for the past two years. Fountain also devoted time to local theater, winning praise for her acting from both reviewers and those who worked with her. “She was absolutely lovely, a natural, someone you simply didn’t forget,” Brian Miller, who worked with her on a show, told The Denver Post. A Boulder Daily Camera review said her 2002 performance as a nurse in “Wit,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a woman dealing with cancer, brought “a simple but crucial compassion to the play.” Rikki OldsA front-end manager at King Soopers, Olds aspired to work her way up the ranks at the store, her family said. “She was 25 years old, just kind of starting life, bubbly and energetic and charismatic,” her uncle Robert Olds said. He said he still remembers the preschool-age niece who would tag along with him and his sons to baseball tournaments and ask to go to McDonald’s afterward. “We are devastated,” Robert Olds said. He added that the family had heard from one of her friends that she had been trying to lock the store doors after the shooting began in the parking lot. Her grandmother choked up on the phone as she described the young woman she played a large role in raising. “She was just a very kind and loving, bubbly person who lit up the room when she walked in,” said Jeanette Olds, 71, of Lafayette, Colorado. Kevin MahoneyHe “represents all things Love,” his daughter Erika Mahoney said in a poignant tweet that featured a wedding photo and drew wide attention on social media. “I’m so thankful he could walk me down the aisle last summer,” added Mahoney, who is the news director at a California public radio station. She also posted that she’s pregnant and knows her father “wants me to be strong for his granddaughter.” Teri Leiker The longtime King Soopers employee loved to watch the University of Colorado marching band perform in a kickoff celebration called the Pearl Street Stampede on Friday nights before home football games on the Boulder campus, band director Matt Dockendorf told The Denver Post. “She was there even before we started gathering, which is half an hour before the stampede started,” Dockendorf said. “She was just a staple. She was kind of a personal cheerleader for the band.”
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Biden Urges Congress to Tighten Gun Laws
U.S. President Joe Biden is urging Congress to pass tighter gun laws following two mass shootings in Georgia and Colorado. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story.
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US Seen Falling Short Countering China’s Rising Geopolitical Clout
Despite initiatives by the previous and current administrations, there are fresh concerns the United States is falling short to counter China’s rising geopolitical influence. Beijing’s evolving Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), for the past eight years, has financed projects globally, including roads, railways, power plants and telecommunications infrastructure. “U.S. inaction, as much as Chinese assertiveness, is responsible for the economic and strategic predicament in which the United States finds itself. U.S. withdrawal helped create the vacuum that China filled with BRI,” according to a report of an independent task force released Tuesday by the Council on Foreign Relations. “Although the United States long ago identified an interest in promoting infrastructure, trade and connectivity throughout Asia and repeatedly invoked the imagery of the Silk Road, it has not met the inherent needs of the region. Its own lending to and investment in many BRI countries was limited and is now declining,” FILE – Clerks stand at a display of goods at a Belt and Road Products New Year’s Marketplace at a shopping mall in Beijing, Jan. 10, 2020. The market showcases products created from countries and regions involved in China’s Belt and Road Initiative.BRI is “boosting China’s ability to project its power across the region and the world,” said Jack Lew, who previously was a U.S. Treasury secretary and White House chief of staff. “U.S. policymakers need to offer alternatives to BRI where it can and to educate other countries about what it entails and push back when necessary.” China is now perceived to be more powerful than the United States in parts of Africa and Asia because of BRI, said former U.S. Trade Representative General Counsel Jennifer Hillman, one of the other authors of the CFR report. BRI encompasses the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt (with digital, health and “green” subsets), the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and the Polar Silk Road. “We have to get back in the game,” with the United States joining or rejoining trade agreements it left during the Donald Trump presidency, said Hillman, who was among those speaking Tuesday at an online forum about the CFR report. “China has made investing in infrastructure a high priority. The United States has not,” Lew said during the event. SALPIE InitiativeCurrent U.S. officials say the administration of President Joe Biden is going to change that. “Competition with China is a factor that is encouraging the United States to up its diplomatic game across the board,” a senior administration official told VOA. During the Trump administration, relatively modest initiatives were taken to counter BRI, including the International Development Finance Corporation, the Blue Dot network for infrastructure project certification and a U.S.-Taiwan infrastructure initiative, as well as the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. “There was a lot of rebranding, but there weren’t additional resources given to these initiatives,” Sacks said. The Biden administration this week launched the Small and Less Populous Island Economies (SALPIE) Initiative, announcing it will strengthen U.S. economic collaboration with island countries and territories in the Caribbean, North Atlantic and Pacific regions. “It’s important to strengthen our alliances, particularly among smaller countries that might otherwise come under a certain amount of pressure from China,” a senior administration official told VOA on Tuesday. The White House official announcement of SALPIE notes the importance of “countering predatory investment practices by malign actors.” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese co-hosted Monday a virtual event with envoys from island countries and territories, inviting them to partner with Washington under the SALPIE Initiative, which brings 29 U.S. departments and agencies together to coordinate ongoing and future engagements. The administration, later this week, is convening a meeting involving those 29 entities “to actually make this kind of meaningful and real and operational,” a senior official explained. Another senior U.S. official explained SALPIE “is a different approach than Blue Dot and some of these other initiatives,” promising that “it really does leverage the convening power that we have from here to ensure that we are able to implement in a way that’s effectively addressing the priorities we’ve outlined.” The status of the Trump-era FILE – President Joe Biden speaks during a virtual meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, from the State Dining Room of the White House, March 12, 2021.“Why not use the Quad as a mechanism to promote infrastructure in Asia and establish an infrastructure fund that has billions of dollars behind it to go do this?” Sacks asked. “You know these are the right partners” with the potential to add South Korea and Taiwan. While the Biden administration’s plans to counter BRI may be ambitious and sprawling, there is concern it will not receive sufficient attention due to a lack of centralization and influential leadership. Thus, the idea for an “infrastructure czar” to orchestrate the U.S. response to China’s global investment ambitions. “It’s hard for the State Department or the Department of Commerce to have that convening power,” Sacks said. “Sometimes it’s not helpful to have czars on so many issues, but I do think — given the scale of the challenge and the need for a coordinated interagency response — it might make sense to have in the National Security Council or the National Economic Council an infrastructure czar who reports to the president.” Biden has already appointed so-called czars for climate policy, the border with Mexico and the COVID-19 economic rescue plan. There is also similar discussion about selecting officials to oversee cyberpolicy and for busting monopolies.
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Jailing of French Tourist Complicates Bid to Resolve Iran Nuclear Tensions
Benjamin Briere is a French tourist who was arrested last May while visiting Iran with his drone and minivan. Still detained, he was charged with espionage and “spreading propaganda against the system.” His lawyers deny the charges.If found guilty, he could be sentenced to death.Briere’s case is the latest in a series against foreigners at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the West over Iran’s nuclear activities.Bernard Hourcade is a geographer and Iran specialist. He thinks that the cases against this French tourist and the 2019 arrest of the French Iranian academic, Fariba Adelkhah, are separate issues which would have no impact on the JCPOA talks or other negotiations between the two countries.France, along with Britain, Germany and the European Union, are trying to bring the United States and Iran to the table for informal talks as a first step toward reviving Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal — also known as JCPOA — which lifted international sanctions on the Islamic Republic in exchange for curbs to its nuclear program.Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 29, 2016, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Syria.However, tensions are growing over Teheran’s nuclear activities, and U.S Secretary of State Anthony Blinken last month said Iran is “heading in the wrong direction.” Jean-Yves Le Drian, France’s Foreign minister, echoed those concerns.Le Drian recently told a French Senate hearing that Iran’s nuclear activities were developing in violation of the Vienna agreement. The minister also added that Iran conducted attacks in Iraq and Saudi Arabia to destabilize those countries. So, it is crucial to start de-escalation to ease tensions, he added.A source with the French Foreign ministry told VOA the French government has been in regular contact with Briere. But French officials have stuck to their regular strategy of maintaining discretion when dealing with Iran in order to increase the chances of obtaining the release of their citizens.Analysts point to Iranian leaders’ history of using hostages to get what they want.Mohammad Reza Djalili is an honorary professor of international relations at the Geneva Graduate Institute.He describes the hostage situation in the U.S Embassy in Teheran in 1979 as the founding act for Iranian Islamic diplomacy. Djalili presents an Iranian policy to take Western hostages as a diplomatic weapon to release their own pro-regime citizens sentenced in France, Belgium and other countries. Iran seems very interested in dual citizens to gain leverage, according to Djalili.In this image released by the US State Department US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook welcomes Princeton graduate student Xiyue Wang on arrival in Switzerland after his release from Iran on Dec. 7, 2019. (Ho /US State Department/AFP)The most recent high-profile releases of foreign prisoners in Iran — of American Xiyue Wang in December 2019, American Michael White in March 2020 and Frenchman Roland Marchal, also in March — were all accompanied by the release of Iranians held abroad on sanctions-busting charges.The case highlights for Western countries the complexity of dealing with Iran. Analysts say European countries appear to have less leverage than the United States does.Hourcade said France has tried several times to bring together Iran and the United States and resume talks, but overall France and Europe are weak partners if neither Washington nor Teheran has the political will to act. Therefore, Europeans are waiting to see how the situation will evolve.The presidential election is scheduled for June 18 in Iran and many observers believe that no major negotiations could resume before the poll.
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Report: Millions Likely to Die from Acute Hunger Without Help
A report by the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Program warns many of the more than 174 million people suffering from acute hunger across the world are likely to die without urgent international assistance. Those most affected by acute hunger are people living in 20 so-called hot spots. Topping the list of areas where people face catastrophic levels of acute hunger are Yemen, South Sudan and northern Nigeria. The director of the FAO office in Geneva, Dominique Burgeon, says multiple drivers are behind the soaring rates of acute hunger.FILE – Akon Morro, 2, who is anemic and suffers from edema due to malnutrition, sits on the floor of a feeding center in Al Sabah Children’s Hospital in Juba, South Sudan, Dec. 3, 2020.”These multiple drivers are, first, conflict or other forms of armed violence,” he said. “As a result of the economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic, we also wish to flag that the economies of numerous countries in 2021 will continue to be highly vulnerable to economic shocks.” While the majority of affected countries are in Africa, the report warns acute hunger is expected to rise steeply in most regions in the world. Among those most at risk are Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon and Haiti. The report finds more than 34 million people already are facing emergency levels of food insecurity, with many on the brink of famine. It notes families in pockets of South Sudan and Yemen already are in danger of starvation and death. Director of the World Food Program’s office in Geneva, Annalisa Conte, says people facing famine-like conditions have depleted their assets, lost their livelihoods and do not have enough to eat, and most of their children already are acutely malnourished. “Excess death due to hunger is taking place as we speak,” she said. “You need to understand that beyond this point, there is starvation and widespread mortality. The window to avert a catastrophic situation, I would say, of biblical proportion is closing fast.” The U.N. food agencies are calling on international donors to provide $5 billion in emergency food assistance to prevent 34 million people at risk of famine from starving to death.
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Displaced Mozambicans Optimistic About US Support for Counterinsurgency Efforts
Mozambicans who have been forced from their homes because of the ongoing conflict in the northern part of their country say Washington’s pledge to train Mozambican security forces brings a glimmer of hope that their situation will improve.Last week, the A woman receives food during an United Nations World Food Program’s distribution at the “3 de fevereiro escola” school in Matuge district, northern Mozambique, on Feb. 24, 2021Many residents in the state now live in temporary displacement camps under dire conditions, international medical group Doctors Without Borders said in a statement last week.“It is very good that the Americans are going to train the Mozambican Marines to end the war,” said Kalumane Adali, a former Mozambican soldier who now lives in a displacement center in Cabo Delgado’s Metuge district.Adali, who fled his hometown of Quissanga in April 2020 following an insurgent attack, told VOA that the U.S. training could help him and other displaced people return home.“We want to return to our peaceful lives in our villages,” he said.Abuchate Nantonta is another displaced person from northern Mozambique who was captured by the insurgents for two days in April 2020.“What the insurgents do is inhumane and not good. They kill people and destroy their villages,” he told VOA. “If the Mozambican military was effective in fighting terrorism, it would have ended this carnage. So that’s why I think this training by the Americans is a very good step.”Julia Adamo, 64, says she managed to leave her village of Quilite “because military helicopters were flying overhead to prevent al-Shabab militants from attacking us.”“So, this U.S. training will be beneficial to our military not only to combat those al-Shabab but also to protect civilians, including those running from their homes,” she told VOA.Greater U.S. involvementLocal observers say the U.S. terror designation and the subsequent training announcement could be the beginning of a greater U.S. involvement in Cabo Delgado’s conflict.The U.S. wants to show “in practical terms that it supports Mozambique in this fight against violence in Cabo Delgado,” said Mozambique-based analyst Fernando Lima.Independent Mozambican politician Raul Domingos emphasized that such interventions are welcome as the U.S. “isn’t only a power that has logistical resources, but also has experience in dealing with terrorism.”“The terrorists in Cabo Delgado use drones, and to make an efficient counterattack strategy, we must use these means too,” he told VOA. “We cannot continue using AK-47 [rifles] to go after terrorists who use drones.”A young woman poses for pictures in the community of Marupa, a relocation center for internally displaced families in the Chiure district of Mozambique, on Feb. 23, 2021.Limited impact in short termOther experts, like Jasmine Opperman, who is an Africa analyst at ACLED, believe these U.S. measures could have little impact on countering the insurgency in northern Mozambique.“Training Mozambican security forces to get fit for this purpose is going to take time, which Mozambique does not have right now,” she told VOA.“Training the security forces and the importance thereof is undeniable, but will it actually create the U-turn we all want? I think it will be long term, not immediate. And I remain skeptical that this will address the core problems at hand,” Opperman added.Piers Pigou, a senior consultant for Southern Africa at the International Crisis Group, echoes similar views.“It will be unclear as to how those marines can be used from that training, because it’s a fairly small training period, to work on the actual insurgency on the ground in terms of impacting on the dynamics,” he said.But analyst Lima said the presence of U.S. military instructors in Mozambique “enables the United States and its armed forces to have a better perception of what is happening in Cabo Delgado and what kind of military challenges they face there.”Regarding the designation of al-Shabab as a terrorist organization, “it feeds the narrative of the Mozambican government that it’s all about an external force … and potentially enables them to downplay and avoid an array of local dynamics that are central to the evolution of this insurgency and its maintenance,” Pigou told VOA.‘Holistic approach’U.S. officials say the security forces training is just one part of their support to counter the spread of violent extremism in the region.“This approach addresses socioeconomic development issues as well as the security situation,” the U.S. embassy said in a statement.Emilia Columbo, a senior Africa researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, says the U.S. could help deal with the insurgency in northern Mozambique by helping the Mozambican government develop a more comprehensive approach to the conflict.Such an approach will be essential “to both undercut the appeal of the insurgency and to start building good will between the state and the civilian population,” she told VOA.VOA Portuguese Service’s Ramos Miguel contributed to this report from Maputo, Mozambique.
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Kenyan Authorities Worried by Rise in New COVID Infections
Health experts in Kenya are reporting a jump in confirmed cases of COVID-19, with hospitals struggling to find enough beds for patients needing treatment. Kenyan authorities are calling on people to protect against the virus as a third wave hits the nation.Kenya has recorded more than 14,000 COVID-19 positive cases since March 1, including more than 1,100 cases and 25 deaths on Tuesday. That’s 14% of all infections since authorities announced the first case just over a year ago.
Thirty-four-year-old Gaston Wabomba’s mother tested positive for COVID-19 last week.
It took him 12 hours to secure a bed for his mother, who is short of breath and had to part with $1,000 before she was admitted to a hospital in Nairobi.“We are on a 24/7 oxygen supply every single day. We are supposed to pay 24,000 for oxygen alone,” Wabomba said. “They charge 1,000 shillings every hour and other medical bills. So our total comes to about 100,000-115,000 on average every single day since Tuesday last week. So she is not stable as yet. Today she’s been moved to a ventilator, but you can only hope for the best, we can only hope.”Speaking to journalists in Nairobi, Chief Administrative Secretary at the health ministry Rashid Aman called out health centers charging a lot of money to treat COVID-19 patients.”This is not only unethical and callous but also unacceptable. I wish to remind our healthcare providers, both private and public, that we are in a pandemic and this being the case it’s not the time to punish our people through some self-seeking money minting opportunistic escapade,” Aman said. Some Kenyan medical workers spoke of being overwhelmed with people seeking treatment in their facilities and urged people to follow health protocols to limit the virus’s spread.
Kenya recently began vaccination the population. The country has received 1.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine but only 40,000 people have received jabs.
Chibanzi Mwachonda is the secretary-general of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists’ Union. He worries the vaccination drive is going too slow.”There has been vaccine hesitancy and low uptake, and this is because there was no involvement of the health workers union associations before the rollout and also lack of adequate communication sensitization and awareness on the COVID vaccine,” Mwachonda said. “In as much as healthcare workers understand the vaccine, let us also remember that we have had a long period of vaccine misconception, so it’s important that we engage the health workers even as we continue with the vaccination.”Meanwhile, Kenya has eased COVID-19 restrictions, schools are open, businesses are open, and worshipers are allowed in the places of worship.Dr. David Sang, an epidemiologist, says people returning to normalcy is to blame for the increased cases.”And also because of the numbers, the numbers also matter because you expect some increased mortality,” he said.Overall, Kenya has seen 123,000 positive cases and more than 2,000 deaths since the pandemic began a year ago.
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North Korea Launches Short-Range Missiles: Report
North Korea fired at least two short-range missiles several days ago, according to multiple reports, in what would be Pyongyang’s first launches in about a year. The Washington Post first reported the launches late Tuesday, saying “multiple short-range missiles” were launched “last weekend” but providing no other details. Several other media outlets confirmed the report, citing U.S. officials who spoke anonymously. It is not clear which missiles were tested, when they were tested, or how far they flew. U.S. and South Korean officials did not immediately respond to VOA’s request for comment. U.S. and South Korean officials usually provide details shortly after North Korean launches. Pyongyang also usually heralds the activities on the front pages of its state media the following day. None of that happened this time, leading some experts to question whether the missiles tested were small or evaded radar detection by the U.S. and its allies. The launches, if confirmed, came days after visits to Seoul and Tokyo by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. FILE – South Korean President Moon Jae-in poses for a photo with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during their meeting at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, March 18, 2021.The Biden administration, which is carrying out a North Korea policy review, has tried to renew talks with North Korea. But North Korea says it won’t respond to dialogue. Last week, North Korea blasted U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises, warning against what it sees as provocative actions that cause a “stink.” White House officials have not commented on the latest North Korean launch, which would be Pyongyang’s first missile test since July 2020. That launch, which involved an anti-ship cruise missile and flew less than 100 kilometers, also went unreported for several weeks. Some missile experts believe North Korea’s latest launch may have also involved cruise missiles, which fly lower than ballistic missiles and may be missed by radars. Second, the story reads like the missile was not detected in real-time, but rather US officials learned about it later. That’s much more likely with a cruise missile, which can fly low than with a ballistic missile that will pop up above the horizon, clouds, etc.— Dr. Jeffrey Lewis (@ArmsControlWonk) March 23, 2021Many experts expect North Korea will soon resume bigger tests, including possibly of longer-range ballistic missiles. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in January 2020 that he no longer felt bound by his self-imposed moratorium on long-range missile and nuclear tests. Pyongyang has not conducted a nuclear test or launched an intercontinental ballistic missile since 2017 — before his diplomacy with former U.S. President Donald Trump. Kim has repeatedly tested shorter-range ballistic missiles, but Trump downplayed those tests, saying they were unimportant. North Korea is prohibited from any ballistic missile activity by United Nations Security Council resolutions.
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China Quickly Closing Gap with US Military, Lawmakers Told
The admiral tapped to command U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific told lawmakers Tuesday the future of the world could come down to how the United States and its allies respond to an increasingly militarized and aggressive China.“Global peace and prosperity depend on our presence in the Indo-Pacific,” Navy Adm. John Aquilino told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.“The United States Navy is the most powerful, greatest navy on the planet, still,” said Aquilino, who currently commands the Navy’s Pacific Fleet.But he cautioned the U.S. advantage is slipping.“The Chinese are increasing their capability and capacity, and closing that gap,” he said. “We’ve seen aggressive actions earlier than we anticipated, whether it be on the Indian border or whether it be in Hong Kong or whether it be against the Uyghurs.”Navy Adm. Philip Davidson testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 17, 2018.Aquilino, selected by U.S. President Joe Biden to take over from current head of Indo-Pacific Command (Indo-PACOM), Adm. Philip Davidson, who is set to retire, is the latest in a series of high-ranking military officials to sound alarms about the Chinese military.Last week, the commander of U.S. forces in Central and South America told lawmakers the Chinese military has become so active in his region that the Americas are now FILE – Pentagon spokesman John Kirby speaks to reporters Feb. 17, 2021.When asked about the threat at a Tuesday press briefing, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters, “Nobody wants this to result in conflict.””The secretary is concerned at the significant changes that have been taking place in the PRC’s strategic forces,” Kirby said. “We would certainly welcome more transparency about their intentions.”For his part, Aquilino acknowledged there is a growing possibility of China targeting Taiwan.“[The Chinese leadership] view it as their number one priority,” Aquilino told lawmakers Tuesday. “My opinion is that this problem is much closer to us than most think and we have to take this on, put those deterrence capabilities like PDI [the Pacific Deterrence Initiative] in place in the near term and with urgency.”Indo-Pacific Command officials have been pushing the PDI, arguing for $27.3 billion over the next five years — something Aquilino told lawmakers that he supports.#China possibly taking #Taiwan “would extend their reach, would extend the contested environment, it would threaten our allies & partners-think the #Philippines” per Adm Aquilino— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) March 23, 2021Aquilino also acknowledged concerns about China’s growing nuclear weapons capability.The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency has said China is likely “to at least double the size of its nuclear stockpile” over the next decade. Since then, top officials at U.S. Strategic Command have warned that estimate might be conservative, and that Beijing could triple or even quadruple its nuclear weapons stockpile in that time frame. “We see China increasing at a rate that is faster than anyone previously believed,” said Aquilino.”If you were to look at what they’ve done with their conventional force, I would see no reason why I would expect anything other than to have them continue to increase their nuclear capabilities and aspirations.”
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Blinken in Europe to Boost Alliances
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday the United States wants to rebuild its partnerships, “first and foremost with our NATO allies,” as he expressed the Biden administration’s “steadfast commitment” to the alliance. Blinken spoke to reporters in Brussels alongside NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg before the two held talks ahead of the start of a NATO ministerial meeting later in the day.Stoltenberg said he welcomed the new U.S. administration’s approach, saying there is a “unique opportunity to start a new chapter in the transatlantic relationship.”U.S. President Joe Biden is planning to join a videoconference of European Union leaders on Thursday, a top EU official said, as part of the U.S. commitment to NATO.Biden’s stance is a marked contrast to that of former President Donald Trump, who frequently assailed other NATO countries for not meeting the alliance’s goal that each country spend the equivalent of 2% of the size of its national economy on defense.”The last thing we can afford to do is take this alliance for granted,” said Blinken, a longtime Biden confidant.French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian welcomed Blinken’s favorable comments about NATO, which was founded in 1949 to contain a military threat from the then-Soviet Union.One of the major topics for discussion during two days of meetings in Brussels is the NATO mission in Afghanistan, as a May 1 deadline approaches for the full withdrawal of all U.S. troops under a peace agreement made last year between Afghanistan’s Taliban and the Trump administration.Blinken said the situation is under review, and that part of his work in Brussels would be conferring with NATO allies, both to listen and to share U.S. thinking. He said whatever the United States decides to do, its actions will be with the consultation of other member countries that have been a part of the military mission.“We went in together, we have adjusted together, and when the time is right, we’ll leave together,” Blinken said.Stoltenberg said he welcomes the peace effort, stressing it is the “only path to a lasting political solution in Afghanistan.” But the NATO chief said that in order to achieve peace, all parties must negotiate in good faith, there needs to be a reduction of violence, and the Taliban must stop supporting international terrorists such as al-Qaida.NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg holds a news conference during a NATO Foreign Ministers’ meeting at the Alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, March 23, 2021.German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas warned against a premature pullout that would undercut security gains.”We want a conditions-based withdrawal of all forces from Afghanistan,” Maas said.Blinken’s itinerary in Brussels also includes a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief. The State Department said agenda items include economic recovery efforts in response to the coronavirus pandemic and addressing “global challenges that come from Iran, Russia and China.”Regarding Iran, the top U.S. diplomat is expected to consult with EU colleagues about the prospects of the United States and Iran mutually returning to the agreement signed in 2015 that limited Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.Both the United States, which left the deal under Trump in 2018, and Iran, which responded by taking steps away from its commitments, have expressed a willingness to observe the agreement once again, but each has signaled the other side should act first.The final part of Blinken’s trip agenda is bilateral talks with Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sophie Wilmès.
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