A search for an Indonesian submarine that went missing with 53 people on board continued Thursday after rescuers found an oil spill near where the vessel dived and as neighboring countries pledged to help.The 44-year-old submarine KRI Nanggala-402 was conducting a torpedo drill in waters north of the island of Bali on Wednesday but failed to relay the results as expected, a navy spokesperson said.An aerial search found an oil spill near the submarine’s dive location, and two navy vessels with sonar capability have been deployed to assist in the search, the Defense Ministry said.A ministry statement said that requests for assistance had been sent and Australia, Singapore and India had responded.Australian defense forces would “help in any way we can,” Foreign Minister Marise Payne told ABC radio on Thursday.”We operate very different submarines from this one, but the Australian Defence Force and Australian Defence Organisation will work with defense operations in Indonesia to determine what we may be able to do,” Payne said.Indonesia’s military chief Hadi Tjahjanto told Reuters in a text message on Wednesday that contact with the vessel was lost at 4:30 a.m. and a search was under way for the submarine and its 53 crew members in ocean 96 kilometers off Bali.In a statement, the Indonesian Navy said: “It is possible that during static diving, a blackout occurred so control was lost and emergency procedures cannot be carried out and the ship falls to a depth of 600-700 meters.”The submarine was built to sustain pressure at a maximum depth of around 250 meters, an official said.The oil spill found on the surface could indicate damage to the vessel’s fuel tank, or it could be a signal from the crew, the navy said.The military chief will hold a media briefing in Bali about the search on Thursday, a spokesperson said.The 1,395-tonne KRI Nanggala-402 was built in Germany in 1977, according to the defense ministry, and joined the Indonesian fleet in 1981. It underwent a two-year refit in South Korea that was completed in 2012.Indonesia once operated a fleet of 12 submarines bought from the Soviet Union to patrol the waters of its sprawling archipelago.But now it has a fleet of only five, including two German-built Type 209 submarines and three newer South Korean vessels.Indonesia has been seeking to modernize its defense capabilities, but some of its equipment is old, and there have been deadly accidents in recent years.
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Month: April 2021
Black Man Fatally Shot by Sheriff’s Deputies Serving Search Warrant in North Carolina
Officials in the southeastern U.S. state of North Carolina have opened an investigation into the fatal shooting of a Black man in his car by local sheriff’s deputies serving him with a search warrant, authorities and local media reported on Wednesday.The shooting unfolded on Wednesday morning in Elizabeth City, a riverfront town of about 18,000 residents in Pasquotank County near North Carolina’s coastal border with Virginia, and small groups of protesters took to the streets by evening.The county sheriff’s office and the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), which said it had taken over the case, each provided few details of the fatal encounter.Authorities identified the man who was slain as Andrew Brown Jr., a resident of Elizabeth City, and said only that he was shot when sheriff’s deputies tried to serve him with a search warrant about 8:40 a.m.Relatives described him to the Raleigh News & Observer and other media outlets as a 40-year-old father and an African American.Law enforcement officials did not say whether Brown was armed at the time or whether he was considered a threat to the officers. The nature of the warrant was not disclosed.The shooting came the day after a jury found Derek Chauvin, a white former Minneapolis police officer, guilty of murdering George Floyd, an African American man, last year by kneeling on his neck while he was handcuffed and under arrest.Relatives of Brown told CNN and other media that he was near his home and in an automobile at the time of the shooting.All the deputies at the scene wore police body cameras, and the deputy who fired the gun was placed on administrative leave, Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten told a news conference on Wednesday.Wooten was accompanied by the local district attorney, R. Andrew Womble, who said he was looking for “accurate answers, not fast answers.”As news of the shooting spread, local media showed scores of people gathering outside the town hall as the City Council held an emergency meeting on Wednesday night to discuss the case and a possible curfew. African Americans account for about half the town’s population.No curfew was immediately issued, but that authority was given to Police Chief Eddie Buffaloe Jr., who told the council his goal was “to keep the peace.”
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Nearly 1,500 Reported Arrested at Navalny Rallies in Russia
Police arrested nearly 1,500 people Wednesday during a day of demonstrations throughout Russia calling for freedom for imprisoned opposition leader Alexey Navalny, whose health reportedly is in severe decline after three weeks of hunger striking, according to a group that monitors political detentions.The largest of the protests took place in Moscow, where thousands marched through the center city. Some of the people arrested were seized before the protests even began, including top Navalny associates in Moscow.Navalny’s team called for the unsanctioned demonstrations after weekend reports that his health is deteriorating and his life was in danger.”The situation with Alexey is indeed critical, and so we moved up the day of the mass protests,” Vladimir Ashurkov, a close Navalny ally and executive director of the Foundation for Fighting Corruption, told The Associated Press. “Alexey’s health has sharply deteriorated, and he is in a rather critical condition. Doctors are saying that judging by his test (results), he should be admitted into intensive care.”Navalny’s organization called for the Moscow protesters to assemble on Manezh Square, just outside the Kremlin walls, but police blocked it off. Instead, a large crowd gathered at the nearby Russian State Library and another lined Tverskaya Street, a main avenue that leads to the square. Both groups then moved through the streets.”How can you not come out if a person is being murdered — and not just him. There are so many political prisoners,” said Nina Skvortsova, a Moscow protester.In St. Petersburg, police blocked off Palace Square, the vast space outside the State Hermitage Museum, and protesters instead crowded along nearby Nevsky Prospekt.Turnout, arrest estimatesIt was unclear if the demonstrations matched the size and intensity of nationwide protests that broke out in January after Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent opponent, was arrested. Turnout estimates varied widely: Moscow police said 6,000 people demonstrated in the capital, while an observer told Navalny’s YouTube channel that the crowd was about 60,000.The OVD-Info group, which monitors political arrests and provides legal advice, said at least 1,496 people were arrested in 82 cities — the largest tally being nearly 600 in St. Petersburg.Navalny’s team called the nationwide protests for the same day that Putin gave his annual state-of-the-nation address. In his speech, he denounced foreign governments’ alleged attempts to impose their will on Russia. Putin, who never publicly uses Navalny’s name, did not specify to whom the denunciation referred, but Western governments have been harshly critical of Navalny’s treatment and have called for his release.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 10 MB480p | 14 MB540p | 18 MB720p | 38 MB1080p | 74 MBOriginal | 91 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioIn Moscow, Navalny spokesperson Kira Yarmysh and Lyubov Sobol, one of his most prominent associates, were detained by police in the morning.Yarmysh, who was put under house arrest after the January protests, was detained outside her apartment building when she went out during the one hour she is allowed to leave, said her lawyer, Veronika Polyakova. She was taken to a police station and charged with organizing an illegal gathering.Sobol was removed from a taxi by uniformed police, said her lawyer, Vladimir Voronin.OVD-Info reported that police searched the offices of Navalny’s organization in Yekaterinburg and detained a Navalny-affiliated journalist in Khabarovsk.In St. Petersburg, the State University of Aerospace Instrumentation posted a notice warning that students participating in unauthorized demonstrations could be expelled.The 44-year-old Navalny was arrested in January upon his return from Germany, where he had spent five months recovering from a nerve agent poisoning he blames on the Kremlin. Russian officials have rejected the accusation.Soon after, a court found that Navalny’s long stay in Germany violated the terms of a suspended sentence he was handed for a 2014 embezzlement conviction and ordered him to serve 2 ½ years in prison.Hunger strikeNavalny began the hunger strike to protest prison officials’ refusal to let his doctors visit when he began experiencing severe back pain and a loss of feeling in his legs. The penitentiary service has said Navalny was getting all the medical help he needs.Navalny’s physician, Dr. Yaroslav Ashikhmin, said recently that test results he received from Navalny’s family showed sharply elevated levels of potassium, which can bring on cardiac arrest, and heightened creatinine levels that indicate impaired kidneys and that he “could die at any moment.”On Sunday, Navalny was transferred to a hospital in another prison and given a glucose drip. Prison officials rebuffed attempts by his doctors to visit him there.Russian authorities have escalated their crackdown on Navalny’s allies and supporters. The Moscow prosecutor’s office asked a court to brand Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his network of regional offices as extremist organizations.Human rights activists say such a move would paralyze the activities of the groups and expose their members and donors to prison sentences of up to 10 years.Navalny’s allies vowed to continue their work despite the pressure.”It is, of course, an element of escalation,” Ashurkov told the AP. “But I have to say we were able to regroup and organize our work despite the pressure before. I’m confident that now, too, we will find ways to work. … We have neither the intention nor the possibility to abandon what we’re doing.”
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Students Graduate From Earth Day Planting to Environmental Degrees
Fifty-one years ago, young people planted trees for the first Earth Day. Today, students are taking part in environmental law, science and other disciplines to heal the planet. “You don’t have to be an environmental professional to help the environment,” Briana Allison, an environmental science student at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, wrote to VOA. “Everyone should find a way to get involved in preserving the planet we call home.”Briana Allison, an environmental science student at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. (Photo courtesy of Briana Allison)Climate change is a huge issue for younger people. Those under age 30 are so worried about the planet that experts have given their concern a name: eco-anxiety. Stress about climate change affects their daily lives, said nearly half of 2,017 adults polled in 2019 by the Harris Poll on behalf of the Bongekile Kuhlase studies at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. (Photo courtesy of Bongekile Kuhlase)“Mistakes were made, it’s good to acknowledge that, only so that it does not happen again,” she explained. Kuhlase’s studies have allowed her to “effectively plan ways to try restore the ecology that previously used to exist” in an environment. “I’m literally living my dream right now doing community-based conservation and land restoration,” she wrote to VOA. “I believe humans aren’t separate from nature and for real change, we need to be part of the solutions, teaching the community as well as learning from them and their native ways.” Allison also touched on the idea that the divide on climate change might not always be specifically related to age. While older generations might be “responsible for the issues that are prevalent today,” they did attempt to help the planet. “Younger generations seem more likely to engage in environmentally friendly activities and push for new environmental laws and policies. Older generations have put things in place to protect the environment, such as the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency,” she wrote. The EPA was created after the first Earth Day, organized in spring 1970, united the fight against “oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness and the extinction of wildlife,” according to EARTHDAY.ORG, an organization that works to create action on environmental issues across the globe. “As time goes on, we are learning better ways to do things so the planet isn’t damaged even more for the next generations to come,” Allison wrote. For Natasha Das, a third-year student at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q), she found herself making less sustainable choices during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of cooking meals, she ordered takeout, which comes in plastic. She said she was unable to clean her masks as often, causing her to use more single-use masks. “For me, I’m really into individual lifestyle choices,” she said. It “makes it feel like we still have some amount of power.” Change does not have to be difficult, she said. “I’d say being mindful to realize how much plastic is in your day-to-day life or how many things you’re doing is actually unsustainable,” she said. “Because it’s only once you know your actual impact, can you start making changes. And then also realizing it’s not as hard. … So I didn’t think that I could compost in the dorms until I recently thought, ‘What if I just Google it?’” Dashka Maslyukova also said that individual choices, when compounded, can create big-scale change. “Individual actions, when they’re formed in small groups, can actually be more impactful than just your individual actions,” she said to VOA. Maslyukova, a student at George Mason University in Virginia, is president of the Mason Environmental Justice Alliance (MEJA) and has worked with other groups, locally and across the U.S. “A lot of our work in the past three to four years has been with the Mountain Valley Pipeline down in southwestern Virginia, and the fight that’s been going on,” Maslyukova said. “So we’ve held rallies on campus, we’ve called and phone-banked, and written postcards to the governor, and collaborated with the Appalachian Youth Climate Coalition.” The Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) is a natural gas pipeline to run from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia that is “approximately 92% complete,” according to the project’s website. MEJA wants to stop the production of the MVP, saying it “will cut through waterways, mountains, indigenous lands, heighten the climate crisis with expanding the use of fossil fuels.”
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Russian Protesters, Human Rights Leaders Fear for Navalny’s Life
The United States is warning the Russian government that it is responsible for whatever happens to opposition leader Alexey Navalny, whose condition is reportedly deteriorating while in custody. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine has the story.
Camera: Natasha Mozgovaya and Ricardo Marquina Montañana
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US Olympian Slams Call for China Winter Games Boycott
Clare Egan is an American athlete who qualified for the 2022 U.S. Olympic Team. She competes in the biathalon, a sport that combines the winter survival skills of cross-country skiing with target shooting.As chair of the FILE – Amanda Kessel (28), of the United States, drives the puck against Russia’s Yelena Dergachyova (59) during the third period of a women’s hockey game at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Feb. 13, 2018The quadrennial international games draw vast audiences. In 2018, 1.92 billion people — or 28% of the world’s population — watched the Winter Olympic Games in South Korea, held February 9-25, FILE – Republican Senator Mitt Romney speaks with members of the media on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 16, 2020.”Rather than send the traditional delegation of diplomats and White House officials to Beijing, the president should invite Chinese dissidents, religious leaders and ethnic minorities to represent us,” he wrote, adding that broadcasters such as NBC, “which has already done important work to reveal the reality of the Chinese Communist Party’s repression and brutality … can refrain from showing any jingoistic elements of the opening and closing ceremonies and instead broadcast documented reports of China’s abuses.”Although world events such as the pandemic have caused cancellations of the Olympics, utilization of the games as a platform to advance human rights has a long and storied history. The U.S. last prohibited athletes from attending the games in 1980, when, along with 66 other countries, it boycotted the Moscow Games over the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. “I know someone personally who missed the 1980 Olympics in Moscow because of that boycott,” said Egan. “And I thought that we have kind of learned our lesson from that, which was that it’s not effective and it’s definitely not fair to use young athletes as political pawns in that way.” Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
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World Reacts to Chauvin’s Conviction in Floyd’s Death
The police killing of 46-year-old Black man George Floyd in Minneapolis last year triggered Black Lives Matter protests around the world. As Henry Ridgwell reports, the murder conviction reached Tuesday against former officer Derek Chauvin has been welcomed in many countries — but equality activists say there is still much work to be done.
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Biden Expresses Confidence US Can Supply COVID Vaccines Abroad
The United States is working to provide desperately desired coronavirus vaccines to other countries, President Joe Biden told White House reporters on Wednesday.
At the end of prepared remarks announcing that 200 million COVID-19 shots have been administered in the United States, the president was asked about assisting other nations.
“We’re in the process of doing that. We’ve done a little bit of that already,” Biden replied. “We’re looking at what is going to be done with some of the vaccines that we are not using. We want to make sure they’re safe to be sent, and we hope to be able to be of some help and value to countries around the world.”
The president said he had discussed this on Wednesday for about half an hour in a phone call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“We helped a little bit there. We’re going to try to help some more,” said Biden. “But there’s other countries, as well, that I’m confident we can help, including in Central America.”
The president said, however, “we don’t have enough to be confident to give it — send it abroad now.”
Biden’s administration has invested $4 billion in the global COVAX vaccine program to help supply vaccines to low- and middle-income countries and has pledged to advance millions of AstraZeneca doses — which are not yet authorized for use in the United States — to neighbors Canada and Mexico.
Biden’s remarks about additional help for other countries were made after he read a prepared statement on camera announcing the U.S. had achieved a feat no other country had done during the coronavirus pandemic nor in any previous virus inoculation campaign: giving 200 million shots within 100 days.
“It’s an incredible achievement for the nation,” the president said, adding that it occurred on his 92nd day in office.
The president also called for every employer in the U.S. to give workers time off with pay so they can get vaccinated.
“No working American should lose a single dollar from their paycheck because they chose to fulfill their patriotic duty of getting vaccinated, he said.
Most companies can now “receive a tax credit for providing paid time off for each employee receiving the vaccine and for any time needed to recover from the vaccine,” the U.S. Treasury Department announced Wednesday.FILE – Personnel check the first shipment of the Pfizer’s vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Baghdad International Airport, in Baghdad, Iraq, Apr. 11, 2021.Call for help
The United States and other wealthy countries have faced international criticism for purchasing most of the global supply of COVID-19 vaccines.
However, even many developed countries are experiencing a shortage and have been pleading with Washington for assistance.
South Korea believes it should be among the first to get help from its longtime ally.
“We have been stressing to the United States that ‘a friend in need is a friend indeed,'” South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong told reporters earlier Wednesday.
Chung noted that the Seoul government had airlifted to the United States a large volume of coronavirus test kits and face masks during the pandemic’s early stage “in the spirit of the special South Korea-U.S. alliance,” despite its own limited domestic supplies.
“Countries that are now vaccinating younger, healthy people at low risk of disease are doing so at the cost of the lives of health workers, older people and other at-risk groups in other countries,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last month, blaming rich countries for the deaths of high-risk people in low- and middle-income countries.
The United States has defended its stance of taking care of its citizens first, pointing to its own domestic death toll, which is the highest announced by any country. More than 568,000 people in the United States have died of the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University, which has infected more than 31 million Americans. The Biden administration is also facing calls to pressure vaccine developers and manufacturers to share their technology with other companies that can produce more vaccines in other countries.
VOA’s Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report.
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New Rules Allowing Small Drones to Fly Over People in US Take Effect
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that final rules announced in December took effect on Wednesday allowing for small drones to fly over people and at night, a significant step toward their eventual use for widespread commercial deliveries.The effective date was delayed about a month during the change in administration. The FAA said its long-awaited rules for the drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, will address security concerns by requiring remote identification technology in most cases to enable their identification from the ground.Previously, small drone operations over people were limited to operations over people who were directly participating in the operation, located under a covered structure, or inside a stationary vehicle – unless operators had obtained a waiver from the FAA.U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday the rules “are an important first step in safely and securely managing the growing use of drones in our airspace, though more work remains on the journey to full integration” of drones.Drone manufacturers have 18 months to begin producing drones with Remote ID, and operators will have an additional year to provide Remote ID.Companies have been racing to create drone fleets to speed deliveries. As of December, the United States had over 1.7 million drone registrations and 203,000 FAA-certificated remote pilots.For at-night operations, the FAA said drones must be equipped with anti-collision lights. The final rules allow operations over moving vehicles in some circumstances.The new rules eliminate requirements that drones be connected to the internet to transmit location data but do require that they broadcast remote ID messages via radio frequency broadcast.One change, since the rules were first proposed in 2019, requires that small drones not have any exposed rotating parts that would lacerate human skin.
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‘Justice Served:’ World Reacts to Conviction of Derek Chauvin in Murder of George Floyd
The police killing of Black man George Floyd in Minneapolis last year triggered Black Lives Matter protests around the world. The murder conviction rendered Tuesday against former police officer Derek Chauvin has been welcomed in many countries, as millions of people followed events in the Minneapolis court room.Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, called it a momentous verdict. “It is also a testament to the courage and perseverance of George Floyd’s family and many others in calling for justice. As the jury recognized, the evidence in this case was crystal clear. Any other result would have been a travesty of justice.FILE – U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet attends a news conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Dec. 9, 2020.“But for countless other victims of African descent and their families, in the United States and throughout the world, the fight for justice goes on,” Bachelet said in a televised statement Wednesday. “The battle to get cases of excessive force or killings by police before the courts, let alone win them, is far from over.”In Britain’s parliament, Prime Minister Boris Johnson also welcomed the verdict.“Last night’s verdict in Minneapolis delivered justice for the family and friends of George Floyd. And I know that the thoughts of the whole house remain with them,” said Johnson.British activist and poet Lawrence Hoo helped to organize Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Bristol, England, in the days following Floyd’s murder at 46 years of age on May 25 of last year. “I don’t feel there’s anything to celebrate at the moment, it just feels that it took a worldwide campaign and cities to burn, just for justice to be served,” Hoo said Wednesday. “It feels numb a bit today because there is so much excitement about a decision that should have just been the decision.”Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is led away in handcuffs after a jury found him guilty of all charges in his trial for murder in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 20, 2021.The French government acknowledged the global significance of the conviction. “The terrible tragedy that befell Mr. Floyd provoked an emotion well beyond the borders of the United States and so it’s obvious that this court decision resonates beyond the borders of the United States. And that’s what I want to say and salute this morning,” French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal told reporters in Paris Wednesday.In South Africa, residents of Johannesburg told VOA they welcomed the guilty verdict against Chauvin.“Justice was served,” said 19-year-old medical student Thomas de Beer. “But I don’t think it’s the right way of doing it, in that there should be different ways in which we can prevent it from happening in the future.”Thirty-five-year-old Johannesburg resident Yusuf Areington Kathrada also welcomed the guilty verdict. “I feel happy that justice has been served. I think this goes to anyone in any part of the world, in any land.”Justice was served first and foremost for Floyd’s family — but also for many people around the world who share their pain and anger.
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Hungry Ramadan: Refugees in Turkey See Steep Decline in Holiday Charity
Over a year ago, when much of the world shuttered as the pandemic swept the globe, Mohammed al-Awas, 46, a Syrian refugee, was stranded with his wife and five children at a gas station in Turkey. Not far from the Greek border, some families were sheltered nearby in an area usually reserved for fixing cars, their personal belongings in black garbage bags piled up along the walls. Dozens of men, women and children, mostly refugees from Syria, loitered outside the station, not sure where to go next. Like the others, al-Awas wanted to cross the river to Greece. Turkey had declared the border open, so he had sold his furniture to make the journey. But Greece never opened its side of the border and many families were pushed back into Turkey, or were not able to cross at all. Mohammed al-Awas, 46, says while Turkey is safer than Syria, he has no way to support his family in Istanbul, April 17, 2021. (Heather Murdock/VOA)Asked if they were afraid of getting the coronavirus, most refugees at the gas station that day were blasé. They had survived war, abject poverty and life on the streets. The virus couldn’t be worse, they said. Moments later, police officers arrived, saying everyone would be boarding buses to Istanbul, whether they liked it or not. After a few weeks passed, al-Awas found himself in a small apartment in Istanbul, paid for by a charity. It was Ramadan and, as is common during the Islamic holy month, donors were eager to provide food and shelter for the poor. Still, al-Awas was despondent. “I stay up all night, every night, worrying about how to keep my children off the streets,” he said. Ramadan 2021 A year later, it is once again Ramadan, but humanitarian aid for refugees is scarcer than ever. Some aid workers say collections are down as much as 90% and the piecemeal food aid they have to distribute is not nearly enough to go around. “Last year, businesspeople were sending extra support for refugees because of the pandemic,” explained Aya Sultan, an aid worker. “But this year, when we called the same people, they said they had a terrible year economically.” Turkey hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country in the world. These children are pictured in Istanbul, April 17, 2021. (Heather Murdock/VOA)In Istanbul, like in so many places, many businesses have failed, many shops have closed and people who once had more than enough face an uncertain future. Traveling to Europe to seek asylum has become more difficult and more dangerous, but al-Awas recently returned from another attempt, where after 14 days of walking through the forest, he injured his leg. When Greek authorities caught him, he got into their car without a word. He couldn’t go on. “We walked through the forests at night and drank water from rivers,” he said. “It was snowing and my feet were wet when I twisted my ankle and fell.” Weeks later, al-Awas still walks with a limp, but says he will keep going back until he either reaches Europe or finds a way to work and educate his children here in Turkey. At the moment, they cannot even enroll in online schooling, and he works sporadically, making barely enough for food. “I spent a lot of money to go but then I was forced to come back, broke,” he explained. “There is no work here, nothing to do. It is terrible.” Pushbacks In 2015, Greece was an entryway to Europe and refugees who reached Greek shores swiftly shuttled across the country en route to more prosperous countries, like Germany, which was publicly welcoming newcomers. In the same year, more than a million refugees made their way to Europe in a matter of months, and as their numbers swelled, borders closed. Now, Greece’s 50,000 refugees are likely to remain in the country, according to the International Rescue Committee. Many of the nearly 120,000 asylum-seekers in Greece are stuck in camps, sometimes for years, with applications pending. Meanwhile, many of Turkey’s nearly 4 million refugees are still trying to get into Greece, and they are often expelled shortly after their arrival. The expulsions are often violent and some families return beaten, without money, mobile phones and sometimes without even their shoes. The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, has expressed alarm over the pushbacks, and European Union officials have called for investigations into Greek breaches of international human rights laws. Greece staunchly denies any such breaches and defends its rights to secure its own borders, and the borders of Europe. At a press conference in Greece late last month, Ylva Johansson, the EU Home Affairs commissioner, partially blamed the continent’s “lack of a Europeanized migration policy” for the alleged abuses. “That means that member states at our external border have been under huge pressure … in the absence of a European solution,” she said. Marwa al-Awas, Mohammed’s wife, fears travel to Europe but sees no other way to educate her children, April 17, 2021. (Heather Murdock/VOA)Al-Awas, however, doesn’t plan to wait for a solution as he prepares once again to attempt to walk into Greece and make his way to northern Europe. When asked if they want their father to try again, his children grimaced and his eldest son barked, “No!” But his wife, Marwa, smiled sadly, and said it is their only hope for a sustainable future. “I am afraid, very afraid,” she explained. “But he won’t give up. He will make another attempt.” VOA’s Shadi Turk contributed to this report.
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UN Experts: Russian Dissident Navalny’s Life in ‘Serious Danger’
United Nations human rights experts said Wednesday that jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s life is in “serious danger” and appealed to Moscow to allow Navalny to seek emergency medical treatment in another country.“We urge the Russian authorities to ensure Mr. Navalny has access to his own doctors and to allow him to be evacuated for urgent medical treatment abroad, as they did in August 2020,” the experts said in a statement.The 44-year-old Kremlin critic has been detained since January in a high security prison under conditions that may amount to torture, said the experts, who also contend he has been “denied access to adequate medical care.”The Kremlin did not immediately respond to the U.N. experts.Navalny began a hunger strike three weeks ago, about two months after his immediate January 17 arrest upon arrival in Moscow for alleged parole violations after returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from a nerve agent poisoning in Russia.Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service said Navalny violated the probation terms of his suspended sentence from a 2014 money laundering conviction, which he denounced as politically motivated.Navalny has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering Russia’s security services to poison him, a charge the Kremlin has repeatedly denied. Several European laboratories have confirmed that Navalny was poisoned with Novichok, a nerve agent developed by the former Soviet Union.A Russian court ruled earlier this year that Navalny must remain in jail, rejecting an appeal. The United States and other Western countries have strongly condemned Navalny’s arrest and demanded his unconditional release. Navalny’s jailing sparked very large protests across Russia shortly after his arrest, with tens of thousands of people demanding his release and chanting anti-Putin slogans.Police arrested scores of Navalny supporters who protested Wednesday across Russia, according to OVD-info, a Russian human rights monitoring group.The U.N. experts who issued the warning about Navalny’s health are Special Rapporteurs Irene Khan, Nils Melzer, Morris Tidball-Binz and Tlaleng Mofokeng.
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US Hits Myanmar Pearl, Timber Companies With Sanctions
The United States has imposed sanctions on the Myanmar state-owned Myanma Timber Enterprise and Myanmar Pearl Enterprise to further pressure the military government, which seized power in a February coup.
“The Burmese military derives significant funding from state-owned enterprises in the natural resources market. Today’s action demonstrates the United States’ commitment to targeting this specific funding channel and promoting accountability for those responsible for the coup and ongoing violence,” said Andrea Gacki, director of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
There was no immediate response from the government in Myanmar, also known as Burma..
According to a news release, Myanma Timber Enterprise “is responsible for the production and export of timber on behalf of the Burmese military regime” and a “key generator of government revenue,” the Treasury Department said.
Myanmar Pearl Enterprise “is responsible for oyster fishing and collecting, artificial breeding of oysters, culturing and harvesting pearl, and selling pearl” and “is a key generator of government revenue,” the release said.
The military took power February 1, overthrowing the civilian government and detaining de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other high-ranking officials.
Since the coup, widespread protests have rocked Myanmar, many of them turning violent as government officials cracked down. Hundreds of civilians, including dozens of children, have been killed by government troops and police since the coup.
The U.S has already sanctioned military leaders, some of their family members and other businesses in the country. Earlier this month, the U.S. sanctioned Myanma Gems Enterprise (MGE), calling it a state-owned business “responsible for all gemstone activities in Burma.”
The U.S. has called for the immediate release of Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy Party, ousted President Win Myint, and protesters, journalists and human rights activists it says have been unjustly detained since the coup.
Military officials claimed widespread fraud in last November’s general election, which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won in a landslide, as justification for the February takeover. The fraud allegations have been denied by Myanmar’s electoral commission.
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Indonesia Searches for Missing Submarine With 53 on Board
Indonesia’s military said it is seeking assistance from Australia, Singapore and India after a navy submarine with 53 people aboard disappeared north of the resort island of Bali on Wednesday.
“It is true that the KRI Nanggala-402 lost contact since early this morning around 3 a.m.,” said First Admiral Julius Widjojono.
Authorities said contact was lost with the vessel during training exercises.
The vessel, which has been in use since 1981, was rehearsing for a missile-firing exercise scheduled for Thursday.
The German-built sub vanished about 95 kilometers north of the holiday Island.
In response, the navy employed warships and a helicopter to augment its search party.
Searchers spotted an oil slick near where the submarine was expected to report its location.
Indonesian media reported that the navy believes the submarine sank into a trough at a depth of 700 meters, according to the Associated Press.
The 1,300- ton naval vessel had onboard 49 crew members, three gunners and a commander whose identities have not been released.
Indonesia, a Southeast Asian country, has been improving its military infrastructure in recent years. It has a fleet of five submarines hoping to increase that number by three by 2024.
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Cameroonian Startup Creates Soil Analysis Kit for Farming Efficiency
Cameroon’s agricultural sector employs the majority of the country’s workers, but too many know too little about the soil, resulting in inefficient farming. To help Cameroon’s farmers, a computer engineer created an electronic analysis kit to test soil quality and suitability for crops. Moki Edwin Kindzeka has this report by Anne Nzouankeu in Edéa, Cameroon. Camera: Anne Nzouankeu Produced by: Jason Godman
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Putin Warns Nations of ‘Crossing Red Line’ with Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin is warning foreign rivals against provocation or testing the nation’s strength, insisting Russia’s response would be “asymmetric, fast, and tough.”The remarks came Wednesday during his annual state-of-the-nation speech, delivered to top officials and both houses of the Russian parliament, and Putin also said Russia is striving for good relations with other countries. He offered an invitation to nations to “discuss issues related to strategic weapons and ensuring global stability.”Putin went on to suggest that in some countries, however, it has become customary to “blame Russia for anything. Like it was some kind of sport.” He said Russia has been restrained and has not responded to this hostility or outright rudeness.He continued that if someone were to take Russia’s good intentions for indifference or weakness, though, “and is willing to burn or even blow up bridges, he should know that Russia’s response will be asymmetric, fast and tough.”Putin said, “I hope that no one will think of crossing the red line with Russia. And where this line will be, in every particular case, we will determine it ourselves.”The tough talk comes one week after the United States issued new economic and diplomatic sanctions against Russia for its efforts to interfere in the U.S. elections and its cyberattacks on U.S. companies and institutions.Much of the rest of Putin’s speech dealt with domestic issues, particularly its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to help its weak economy recover from the toll the virus has taken.
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US Launches Probe of Minneapolis Police After Chauvin Conviction
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday launched a sweeping investigation into policing practices in Minneapolis following a jury’s verdict that former city police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd.The probe “will assess whether the Minneapolis Police Department engages in a pattern or practice of using excessive force, including during protests,” Garland told a news conference.Chauvin’s conviction was a milestone in the fraught racial history of the United States and a rebuke of law enforcement’s treatment of Black Americans.Garland has previously said he will make cracking down on police misconduct a priority.President Joe Biden called the conviction of Chauvin a “giant step” toward justice in the United States.The Justice Department previously announced an investigation into whether the officers involved in Floyd’s death violated his civil rights.The Justice Department on Friday withdrew a policy put in place during former President Donald Trump’s administration that limited the tools the federal government could use to monitor and probe police misconduct.Garland, in a memo to staff, said the department would return to its traditional practices of investigating state and local police departments, allowing unit heads to approve most settlements and consent decrees.
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During Ramadan, Somalia’s Displaced People Rely on Food Aid to Survive
Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, is home to more than half a million internally displaced persons, or IDPs, living in crowded camps with poor sanitation where the coronavirus can spread rapidly. In the holy month of Ramadan, these vulnerable IDP families rely on food aid to survive. Reporter Mohamed Sheikh Nor reports from Mogadishu.Camera: Mohamed Sheikh Nor Produced by: Jon Spier
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Chauvin Guilty Verdict Reverberates in Britain
Closely followed in Britain, especially among the nation’s black population. And many are celebrating now that the former police offer Derek Chauvin has been found guilty of killing George Floyd.Amy Jordon is a London high school teacher who says she feels relieved by the verdict. She was one of the tens of thousands of people who took part in the British Black Lives Matter protests last summer.Jordon hopes this verdict will make the world see black people as equal.”The children that I teach, it shows them that their lives do matter and the police can’t just do whatever they want to them, with no consequences. I think it really will change the world and it will change how we see the police and what they can and can’t get away with it,” she said.Several British television news stations were offering live coverage of the verdict, while newspapers are headlining the verdict on their websites or front pages.The killing of George Floyd not only highlighted the issue of racism in the United States, but also in Britain where images of the toppling of a slave trader statue in the British city of Bristol went viral during a Black Lives Matter protest last June.Sofia Akel is a race equity specialist at the London Metropolitan University. She said that while the murder of George Floyd happened in the United States, it turned the lens of racial inequality on Britain.”In the UK, since 1990, over 100 black people have died during or following police contact. But zero police officers have been prosecuted for murder or manslaughter. And that’s despite several rulings of unlawful killing. And these are stats and real life stories of people that are known very well to the black communities in the UK,” she said.A general view of the exhibition ‘Never Forget Stephen Lawrence’, comprised of 29 flags installed in Brixton Village ahead of National Stephen Lawrence Day, in London, April 21, 2021.The British government set up a Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities after the Black Lives Matter protests. The Commission published its controversial report last month, concluding there is no institutional racism problem in the country.The report was rebuffed this week by a United Nations working group of human right experts, saying the document attempts to “normalize white supremacy.” Community activist Darrel Blake organizes black history tours in London. He said the Chauvin verdict alone doesn’t change the racism and discrimination black people experience.“I feel like true justice will come when black people are not seen as villains from the maternity ward, all the way down to the deathbed. That’s when we will get true justice,” he said.Britain just commemorated the 40th anniversary of the 1981 Brixton uprisings – long known to some as the Brixton riots – when people, most of them black, protested the racial inequality they faced at the time.Today, British black women are four times more likely to die in pregnancy and childbirth than their non-black counterparts, according to recent studies in Britain. Black people are fifty percent more likely to be imprisoned than non-blacks, and the pandemic has left young black people in Britain unemployed in disproportionate numbers.
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Politicians React to Guilty Verdict in George Floyd Murder Trial
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson joined those expressing a favorable view of a U.S. jury’s decision finding former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty in the death of George Floyd.“I was appalled by the death of George Floyd and welcome this verdict. My thoughts tonight are with George Floyd’s family and friends,” Johnson tweeted Tuesday.This can be a giant step forward in the march toward justice in America. FILE – Republican Senator John Coryn of Texas.Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, objected to Biden’s comments. “It was a verdict against one officer based on individual facts in one case,” Cornyn tweeted. “I accept the verdict. No need to slander law enforcement generally, and the vast majority of police officers that risk their lives to protect public safety.” Senator Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, welcomed the verdict and said it is time to “help repair the tenuous relationship between law enforcement and Black and minority Americans.” “While this outcome should give us renewed confidence in the integrity of our justice system, we know there is more work to be done to ensure the bad apples do not define all officers — the vast majority of whom put on the uniform each day with integrity and servant hearts,” Scott said in a statement. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is led away in handcuffs after a jury found him guilty of all charges in his trial for murder in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 20, 2021.The National Fraternal Order of Police, which has more than 350,000 members in the United States, said the justice system “worked as it should.” “The trial was fair and due process was served. We hope and expect that all of our fellow citizens will respect the rule of law and remain peaceful tonight and in the days to come,” the group said in a statement. FILE – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, listens during a news conference. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, a Massachusetts Democrat, said true justice in the case “would be George Floyd, alive today, at home with his fiancé, children, and siblings.” “We can’t bring George Floyd back, but we can & we must legislate to dismantle the systems that create the conditions for police brutality & instead secure resources for the trauma-informed, community-based solutions our people demand, deserve & require,” Pressley tweeted. The verdict
The 12-member jury — comprising six white people and six people who are Black or multiracial — spent about 10 hours discussing information from the three-week trial before making its decision.Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Sentencing in the case will be held in two months, officials said. Floyd was suspected of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a corner market last May. As Chauvin and three other officers attempted to arrest him, Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes. Bystander video of the scene was widely shared, and Floyd’s death sparked protests against racism and police brutality in many U.S. cities and in other parts of the world. Since the trial began, crowds had gathered near the Hennepin County Government Center where the trial was held, and at the spot where Floyd died. They cheered when the verdict was announced. A crowd gathers at George Floyd Square after a guilty verdict was announced at the trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin for the 2020 death of Floyd, Tuesday, April 20, 2021, in Minneapolis. Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek…Reaction in Minneapolis Near the intersection where Floyd was pinned, Janay Henry, who lives nearby, said she was grateful and relieved. “I feel grounded. I can feel my feet on the concrete,” she told The Associated Press, adding that she was looking forward to the “next case with joy and optimism and strength.” In a growing traffic jam, Whitney Lewis leaned out of a car window waving a Black Lives Matter flag. “Justice was served,” the Minneapolis resident told the AP. “It means George Floyd can now rest.” From left, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., monitor their mobile phones for the verdict in George Floyd murder trial.After dismissing the jury Monday, Judge Peter Cahill criticized California Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters for recent remarks regarding the trial. Waters told protesters Saturday in Minnesota to “stay on the street” and to become “more active” and “more confrontational” if Chauvin is found not guilty. Cahill called her comments “abhorrent” and that and they could lead to a verdict being appealed and overturned. “I wish elected officials would stop talking about this case, especially in a manner that’s disrespectful to the rule of law and to the judicial branch and our function,” Cahill said. Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday narrowly defeated a resolution brought by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to censure Waters.Mia Bush contributed to this report
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Japanese Government Nears Decision on New COVID Emergency Decree
The Japanese government may declare a new state of emergency for the cities of Tokyo and Osaka in response to another surge of COVID-19 infections. The Mainichi newspaper reported Wednesday that Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is requesting to impose an emergency decree from April 29 to May 9, which coincides with Japan’s annual “Golden Week” public holiday period. Tokyo and Osaka, along with several other prefectures, are already under a quasi-state of emergency, with restaurants and bars operating under shortened business hours. Japan as a whole has been under two separate emergency decrees since the start of the pandemic, the last one having just expired on March 21. The previous decrees stopped short of imposing a legally binding nationwide lockdown, due to Japan’s post-World War II constitution, which weighs heavily in favor of civil liberties. The new state of emergency, if granted, would leave in place current restrictions on opening hours, and also lead to the closure of theme parks, shopping malls and other facilities. Osaka’s neighboring prefecture of Hyogo is also expected to be covered under the new emergency decree. Japan has 542,467 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 9,682 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The numbers are moderate compared to other nations, but enough to overburden Japan’s healthcare sector and complicate plans for the Tokyo Olympic Games, which are scheduled to begin in July after a one-year delay due to the pandemic. The Japanese capital posted a record-high 843 confirmed new coronavirus cases on Wednesday. Also complicating matters is the country’s sluggish vaccination drive, which got off to a slow start due to an acute shortage of vaccines. More infections in IndiaThe situation remains dire in India, which reported a single-day record 295,041 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, the seventh consecutive day the world’s second-most populous country has recorded more than 200,000 new cases. Health workers and relatives wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) carry the body of a man, who died from COVID-19, at a crematorium in New Delhi, India, Apr. 21, 2021.The latest surge has led to a severe shortage of oxygen canisters, hospital beds and drugs across the nation, and prompted officials in the capital, New Delhi, to impose a week-long lockdown on Monday. Several large cities have reported COVID-19-linked burials and cremations that far exceed the official tally. Johnson & Johnson resumes European rollout
On the vaccine front, Johnson & Johnson announced Tuesday it is resuming its European rollout of its one-dose vaccine after the European Medicines Agency, the drug regulator for the European Union, determined the drug’s benefits outweighs the risks of possible blood clots. FILE – The exterior of the European Medicines Agency is seen in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Dec. 18, 2020.The EMA reviewed the Johnson & Johnson vaccine following a small number of reports from the United States of six women between the ages of 18 and 48 developed a rare but serious blood-clotting disorder associated with low levels of blood platelets following vaccination. One woman died and one was hospitalized in critical condition. The agency concluded the drug’s product information should include a warning about the possible side effects, which should be listed as very rare. In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration jointly called for a pause in the administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine last week in response to the six blood clotting cases. The six women were among the 7 million Americans who have received the vaccine since its approval. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said he expects an independent CDC advisory panel to lift the suspension when it meets again later this week.
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S. Korean Court Dismisses Lawsuit Filed Against Japan by ‘Comfort Women’
A South Korean court has ruled against a group of women who were seeking compensation from Japan for being forced into prostitution by colonial Japanese forces during World War Two. The judge at Seoul Central District Court said Wednesday that Japan is immune from civil lawsuits filed in another country under the concept of international law, adding that lifting the immunity would spark an inevitable diplomatic clash. One of the original 20 plaintiffs in the case, 92-year-old Lee Yong-soo, denounced the decision outside the courtroom and vowed the group will take the case to the International Court of Justice. In a separate case back in January, a different judge ruled in favor of a group of 12 so-called “comfort women” and ordered Tokyo to pay more than $89,000 each to compensate for their wartime suffering. Japan angrily criticized the earlier decision on the grounds that it had settled the issue under a 1965 treaty that normalized bilateral relations with Seoul that included $800 million in reparations, as well as a separate deal reached in 2015.Portraits of the late former South Korean comfort women are displayed near Japanese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, April 21, 2021.In Tokyo, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Katunobu Kato refused to comment on the new case, citing the need to examine it further, but said the ruling in the previous case was “extremely regrettable and unacceptable” as it violated international law. Relations between the East Asian neighbors have grown acrimonious in recent years over South Korea’s lingering bitterness over Japan’s brutal colonial occupation of the Korean peninsula from 1910-45, when Japan surrendered to the Allied forces to bring an end to World War Two. In addition to the scores of Korean women forced to work in Japanese military brothels during the war, thousands of Koreans were also forced to work in Japanese factories during that time. South Korea’s Supreme Court issued a ruling last August that ordered the seizure of assets of Japan’s Nippon Steel to compensate four South Koreans who were forced into labor by Japanese forces.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping to Appear at US-Led Global Climate Summit
Chinese President Xi Jinping will speak Thursday at the global summit on climate change organized by U.S. President Joe Biden. Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman at the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said in a written statement Wednesday that President Xi will deliver an “important speech” during the virtual conference. Xi is among 40 world leaders invited by President Biden to attend the two-day virtual summit, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and Russian President Vladimir Putin. His acceptance comes days after John Kerry, Biden’s special envoy on climate change, held talks with his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, in Shanghai. Xi’s appearance is his first with Biden since the latter took office in January, and comes amid increasing tensions between the two economic superpowers over a host of issues, including Beijing’s tightening control on semi-autonomous Hong Kong and its brutal treatment of ethnic Uyghur Muslims in northwestern Xinjiang province. But the two countries have apparently found common ground on reducing climate change, as they are the world’s two biggest emitters of greenhouse gasses, which is directly linked to climate change. The global climate summit is part of Biden’s efforts to restore U.S. leadership after his predecessor Donald Trump’s dismissive attitude towards the issue, including withdrawing from the 2015 Paris Agreement that set a cap on global carbon emissions. Biden rejoined the agreement immediately after taking office.
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EU Targets Cutting Emissions 55% by 2030
The European Union announced Wednesday a provisional agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the 27-member bloc by 55% by 2030. The 2030 target is part of a larger goal of getting the EU to be carbon-neutral by 2050. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the agreement puts the EU “on a green path for a generation.” “It is our binding pledge to our children and grandchildren,” she added. EU member states must approve the deal before it becomes official. Wednesday’s agreement comes ahead of the start of a two-day virtual summit hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden for world leaders to discuss ways to combat climate change.
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