Jalen Suggs took the inbounds pass and saw nothing but clear sailing. Three dribbles. Past the half-court line. A little stutter-step.And straight into history.The Gonzaga freshman banked in a shot at the buzzer from near the Final Four logo for a 93-90 overtime win over UCLA on Saturday night that vaulted the Bulldogs to within one win of an undefeated season and the national title. Talk about a perfect finish!This thriller in the national semifinal was the best game of the tournament, and, considering the stakes, it served up possibly the best ending in the history of March Madness — a kiss off the glass from near midcourt to keep a perfect season alive.“Stuff like this is something you dream of as a kid and that you practice on your mini-hoop,” Suggs said.After the shot went in, Suggs ran to the mostly empty press row, jumped up on the table, pumped his fists and let out a huge yell to the crowd of 8,000-or-so socially distanced fans. The refs checked to make sure he got the shot off before the buzzer sounded. He did, and the Bulldogs moved to 31-0 and into Monday night’s final, where they’ll play Baylor for the title.They are the first team to bring an undefeated record into the championship game since Larry Bird and Indiana State in 1979. Bird lost that game to Magic Johnson and Michigan State. It means Gonzaga could become the first team since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers to go undefeated.“We were lucky enough to hit a 50-footer,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “So it helps when you have a magical, special guy like Jalen, special at the end of games.”Even without Suggs’ shot, it would’ve been hard to beat this game for pure excitement — a welcome relief in a tournament that has produced mostly blowouts and duds, sort of like Baylor’s 78-59 snoozer over Houston earlier in the evening.The nightcap featured 15 ties and 19 lead changes and an 11th-seeded UCLA team that simply wouldn’t give in. Even though they lost, the Bruins snapped a streak of 27 straight double-digit wins by Few’s juggernaut.Some might say it was the greatest game ever.”I’d say no because we didn’t win,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said.UCLA (22-10) was the first team to lead Gonzaga in the second half over five games of tournament play and, in fact, had a chance to win at the end of regulation.With the game tied at 81, Johnny Juzang was taking it hard to the hoop in the final seconds, when Zags forward Drew Timme, playing with four fouls, stepped into the paint, planted his feet and took a charge.Gonzaga called time and tried a Grant Hill-to-Christian Laettner full-court pass with 1.1 seconds left. It didn’t connect. Five minutes later, Suggs knocked Laettner’s shot down a spot on the list of all-timers.Turns out, it’s a shot the freshman — who chose Gonzaga basketball over a chance to play Division I football — practices every day.”I’m just telling you he makes those ones all the time in practice,” Few said. “He’s just got this magical aura about him. I knew when he shot it, it was going in.”Before that, Suggs’ best play might have been his rejection of UCLA big man Cody Riley (14 points, 10 rebounds), who looked to be going in for a dunk that would have put the Bruins up by two at the 2-minute mark. Suggs got the block, then fed Timme (25 points) for a dunk that instead gave the Zags the slight advantage with 1:55 left.UCLA deserved better than this.The Bruins went toe-to-toe all night with the top-ranked team in the country. This was their third overtime out of six games in the tournament — they played an extra one in the First Four play-in round — and they never trailed by more than seven. They got everything they could have dreamed of on a magical night of college hoops. Everything but the win.And so, they stay “stuck” on their nation-leading 11 titles, most of them won back in the ‘60s and ’70s when John Wooden was the coach.“I just told them, ‘We’ve got to let that shot go,’” Cronin said. “We won. I sit in coach Wooden’s seat. When you sit in his seat, you have to channel the things that he taught. True greatness is giving your best effort.”Who would dare say they didn’t?Juzang had 29 points for the Bruins, including a 15-footer with 1:27 left in regulation that helped them claw back from seven down to tie it at 79.Jamie Jaquez Jr. was also unintimidated by Gonzaga. He handled Timme’s inside pressure all night, scoring 19 points. Jaquez’s two free throws tied it at 81 with 43 seconds left.It looked like it would be Timme’s overtime. He dipped and ducked for Gonzaga’s first six points of the extra session and an 87-83 lead that felt like breathing room in this one.But Cronin called a timeout and UCLA chipped away again.Juzang’s putback with 3.3 seconds left tied it at 90. Few didn’t call timeout. Corey Kispert collected the ball as it fell through the net, passed it in to Suggs, and that set the stage for a great shot. Maybe a rewrite of the history books, too.There was Laettner’s catch-and-shoot to help Duke beat Kentucky back in 1992. In 2016, Kris Jenkins made a 3 to help Villanova win the title at the buzzer. Eleven years ago, right here in Indy, Gordon Hayward of Butler launched a half-court heave that went in and out and almost toppled Duke.Suggs’ shot came from a little closer.But it went in.“This is,” he said, “the greatest feeling I’ve ever been a part of.”
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Month: April 2021
Bulgarians Vote for New Parliament
Bulgarians began voting in a parliamentary election on Sunday that will decide whether long-serving Prime Minister Boyko Borissov wins a new four-year mandate despite persistent concerns about corruption in the European Union’s poorest member state. Opinion polls suggest Borissov’s center-right GERB will again be the largest party, with 28-29% of the vote, but will fall short of a majority and may struggle to build a stable coalition in a more fractured parliament. That could hamper Bulgaria’s ability to tap effectively the EU’s $884 billion Recovery Fund to help rebuild the bloc’s economy after the coronavirus pandemic. Borissov, 61, an ex-fireman in power almost without a break since 2009, has sought to showcase his successes in modernizing Bulgaria’s creaking infrastructure during a low-key campaign held as COVID-19 hit the country. “We showed what we have achieved,” Borissov said after casting his ballot, thanking his allies in the conservative European People’s Party for their support. He also thanked the European Commission, the EU executive, for 1.3 million additional COVID-19 vaccine shots, which the country will receive in the second quarter. More than 6.7 million Bulgarians are eligible to vote, but pollsters expect a low turnout because of voters’ concerns over COVID-19 and a slow vaccine roll-out. Bulgaria recorded an average of about 4,000 new coronavirus cases daily in March and has the second highest coronavirus-related death rate in the EU after Hungary, according to scientific online publication Our World in Data. Although hospitals are full, the government eased some lockdown restrictions before the vote, allowing restaurants to serve customers outdoors and cinemas and gyms to operate at 30% capacity. Kindergartens will reopen on Monday. Corruption Borissov’s government has presided over a 36% increase in the average monthly salary to $882, has kept public debt low, and secured entry to the ‘waiting room’ for joining the euro currency. But its failure to tackle endemic corruption and reform the judiciary brought thousands of protesters onto the streets for months during 2020. The protesters accused Borissov of cozying up to local oligarchs and funneling EU aid to businesses close to GERB, allegations which he denies. President Rumen Radev, who is a critic of Borissov but has a largely ceremonial role, says Bulgaria needs new faces and ideas. The main opposition Socialists campaigned on restoring trust in state institutions and reducing poverty but have been hampered by internal squabbles and are expected to win 20-22% of the vote. An anti-elite party led by TV host Slavi Trifonov looks set to finish third with 13%. Trifonov says he opposes any coalition with mainstream parties, raising the specter of a deadlocked parliament if his party performs well. Trifonov’s party is closely followed by the ethnic Turkish MRF party. Democratic Bulgaria and Stand Up! Mafia Out!, boosted by the protests, are also expected to win seats. GERB’s coalition partner, the nationalist VMRO party, is close to the 4% threshold, polls show. Polls will close at 1700 UTC.
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US Puts J&J In Charge of Plant that Botched COVID Vaccine, Removes AstraZeneca
The United States has put Johnson and Johnson in charge of a plant that ruined 15 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine and has stopped British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc from using the facility, a senior health official said on Saturday.J&J said it was “assuming full responsibility” of the Emergent BioSolutions facility in Baltimore, reiterating that it will deliver 100 million doses to the government by the end of May.The Department of Health & Human Services facilitated the move, the health official said in an email, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.AstraZeneca, whose vaccine has not been approved in the United States, said it will work with President Joe Biden’s administration to find an alternative site to produce its Vaccine.White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The development, first reported by the New York Times, further hampers AstraZeneca’s efforts in the United States. The government has criticized the drugmaker for using outdated data in the results of its vaccine trial. It later revised its study.Workers at the Emergent BioSolutions plant several weeks ago conflated ingredients for the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines, the Times said earlier in the week. J&J said at the time the ruined batch had not advanced to the fill-and-finish stage.The government’s move to have the facility make only the J&J single-dose vaccine is meant to avoid future mix-ups, the Times said, citing two senior federal health officials.The top U.S. infectious disease doctor told Reuters on Thursday the country may not need AstraZeneca’s vaccine even if it wins approval.The United States has loan deals to send Mexico and Canada roughly 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, made at its U.S. facility.
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Taiwan Minister Accepts Responsibility for Train Crash as Questions Mount
Taiwan’s transport minister said on Sunday he would not shirk his responsibility for a deadly train crash even as his resignation offer was rejected amid growing questions over safety lapses that could have contributed to the disaster.In the island’s worst rail accident in seven decades, 51 people have been confirmed dead after a packed express train slammed into a truck near the eastern city of Hualien on Friday, causing it to derail and the front part to crumple.Speaking at the crash site overlooking the ocean and backed by precipitous mountains, Lin Chia-lung said he would “not avoid” responsibility.”I am also in charge of minimizing the damage caused by the entire accident. After the whole rescue work is completed, I believe I will take the responsibility,” he said.Premier Su Tseng-chang’s office said Lin had made a verbal offer to resign on Saturday, but Su rejected it for the time being, saying efforts for now should focus on rescue and recovery.The truck that the train hit had slid down a sloping road onto the track just outside a tunnel. Officials are investigating the manager of the construction site, Lee Yi-hsiang, whose truck is suspected of not having its brakes properly applied.Lee had been released on bail, though the high court’s Hualien branch on Sunday rescinded that decision after the prosecutors appealed it, sending the case back to the lower court.Lee read out a statement apologizing for what happened as police took him away from his residence on Sunday, Taiwan media reported.”I deeply regret this and express my deepest apologies,” he said. “I will definitely cooperate with the prosecutors and police in the investigation, accept the responsibility that should be borne, and never shirk it. Finally, I once again express my sincerest apologies.”The transport ministry, and the rail administration which comes under it, are facing scrutiny over a number of questions, including why there was no proper fencing at the site and whether too many standing-only tickets were sold.Deputy transport minister Wang Kwo-tsai said late on Saturday the railway administration needed to take hard look at all these issues, adding that his personal feeling was that “initially it looks like negligence” on the part of the building site contractor.The railway administration is also without a permanent director after its former chief retired in January. The position is being filled in an acting capacity by another deputy transport minister, Chi Wen-chung.Wang said Lin was working hard to find the right person to fill the job.’Daughter’s voice became quieter and quieter’The uncle of the youngest confirmed victim, a five-year-old girl, tearfully told reporters he was still waiting for an apology for the accident.”I’m so angry,” he said.The government has promised compensation and that it will do everything it can to help survivors and their relatives.The damaged section of the track will not reopen until April 20 at the earliest, Wang said, though rail traffic continues on a parallel track that runs through another tunnel and was not affected by the accident.Minister Lin said rescue and recovery work would continue.”We continue to pull out the cabins stuck inside. The third cabin was dragged out last night. We expect to pull out two other cabins today,” he added.The accident occurred at the start of a long weekend for the traditional Tomb Sweeping Day, when people return home to tend to family graves.Survivors have described horrible scenes inside the wreck.Priest Sung Chih-chiang told Reuters what surviving passenger Chung Hui-mei had told him.”She could not find her daughter. When she yelled, she found her daughter was under the steel panels. She put her effort to move those pieces one by one, but her daughter’s voice became quieter and quieter, and then there was no response,” he said.
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Leak at Wastewater Pond Prompts Evacuations in Florida
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency Saturday after a significant leak at a large pond of wastewater threatened to flood roads and burst a system that stores polluted waters.Officials in Florida ordered more than 300 homes to be evacuated and closed off a highway Saturday near the large reservoir in the Tampa Bay area north of Bradenton.Residents who live around the Piney Point reservoir received an alert via text saying to leave the area immediately because the collapse was “imminent.” Authorities expanded the evacuation area later Saturday to include more homes, but said they were not planning to open shelters.The Florida Department of Environmental Protection says a break was detected Friday in one of the walls of a 33-hectare pond that has a depth of 8 meters and holds millions of gallons of water containing phosphorus and nitrogen from an old phosphate plant.Officials brought in rocks and materials to plug the hole in the pond late Friday into Saturday, but the attempt was unsuccessful.Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes said at a press conference Saturday that the most pressing concern is that the water could flood the area, which he said was agricultural and low in population density.“We are talking about the potential of about 2.3 billion liters within a matter of seconds and minutes leaving that retention pool and going around the surrounding area,” Hopes said.Workers have been pumping out thousands of liters per minute at the site to bring the volume down in the event the pond bursts. Pumping the entire pond would take 10 to 12 days. Others have been working to chart the path to control how the water flows from the pond into the Tampa Bay.DeSantis’ declaration of a state of emergency allocates more pumps and cranes to the area. The owner, HRK Holdings, did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday.The pond where the leak was discovered is at the old Piney Point phosphate mine, sitting in a stack of phosphogypsum, a waste product from manufacturing fertilizer that is radioactive. It contains small amounts of naturally occurring radium and uranium, and the stacks can also release large concentrations of radon gas.Hopes says that if the pond collapses, there is a risk it could destabilize the walls of other areas in the plant.“The pond is basically salt water. We saw ducks yesterday, there are snooks (fish) swimming in there. It’s sustaining wildlife. That’s not the case for the other two pools,” he said, adding the wastewater in the other ponds would need to be treated to reduce ammonium content and other materials.The executive order declaring the state of emergency said the breached structure has 1.8 billion liters of seawater mixed with process water and the embankment materials from the old fertilizer manufacturing plant.Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried urged the governor in a letter to convene an emergency session of the state cabinet to discuss a plan, adding that this property has seen similar leaks in the past.“The immediate evacuation of residents, disruption of families during Easter weekend, and potential environmental catastrophe requires the attention and action of Florida’s statewide elected leadership,” Fried said.In 2016, more than 757.1 million liters of contaminated wastewater from another fertilizer plant in central Florida leaked into one of the state’s main aquifers after a massive sinkhole opened in a pond of a phosphogypsum stack.There are at least 70 gypsum stacks in the United States and about 27 in Florida, mostly in the region of west-central Florida. The wastewater stored in the gypsum stacks can’t be seen from the ground as the piles surrounding the structure can go as high as 150 meters.
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Flash Floods, Landslides Kill at Least 23 People in Indonesia
Flash floods and landslides from torrential rains have killed at least 23 people and displaced thousands in eastern Indonesia, while several people were still missing, the country’s disaster agency, the BNPB, said Sunday.Mud from surrounding hills hit almost 50 houses in Lamenele village shortly after midnight Saturday, BNPB spokesperson Raditya Jati said. The village is located on Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara province.“Dozens of houses were buried in mud in Lamanele village,” Raditya said in a statement. “Residents’ houses [were] washed away by the flood.”Raditya said extreme weather was expected to continue this week.In the city of Bima in the province of West Nusa Tenggara, the rising waters after nine hours of downpour overflowed the dams in four subdistricts, submerging almost 10,000 houses and killing at least two people, Raditya said. In neighboring East Timor, a landslide killed eight people on the outskirts of Dili, the capital, state news agency Tatoli reported.Seasonal flash floods and landslides kill dozens annually in Indonesia. Forty people died in two landslides in West Java province January.
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Chauvin’s Trial Leaves Many Black Viewers Emotionally Drained
For some it’s too much to watch. Others just can’t turn away.The televised trial of Derek Chauvin, the white former police officer charged in the death of George Floyd, has provoked strong emotions among many Black men and women — all tinged with an underlying dread that it could yield yet another devastating disappointment.For many, it has brought back memories of the disturbing video of Floyd’s last moments as he gasped for breath with Chauvin’s knee on his neck. The video galvanized protests in cities across the U.S. and the world, as the words “Black Lives Matter” took hold.“I had to mute the TV,” said Lisa Harris, 51, of Redford Township, just west of Detroit. “Hearing Mr. Floyd continue to say he can’t breathe and call for his mother — it was a lot. It’s been a lot to watch.”Steven Thompson remembers closely watching the 2013 trial of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida and feeling blindsided.Zimmerman, who identifies as Hispanic, was acquitted on all counts in the unarmed Black teen’s death, including second-degree murder.“I didn’t expect that outcome,” Thompson, 35, said. “But I’m a lot less ignorant now.”Thompson is choosing not to watch the trial of Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer charged with murder and manslaughter, even though he feels there is a strong case against him.“I definitely have a fear of being let down. And instead of investing my time and energy into it now, knowing how these things go, I’d rather be pleasantly surprised,” the Los Angeles resident said.Marlene Gillings-Gayle said she had planned not to watch the trial to preserve her peace of mind. But she’s found herself watching almost all of it. She’s had to force herself to go outside and take walks, or risk watching the trial all day and feeling upset.The retired high school teacher who lives in New York City describes herself as a political person who likes to stay aware of current events and vocalize her opinions.“I’m trying not to be . . . (angry), because we’ve been here and done that too many times,” she said, referring to other police officers acquitted in the deaths of unarmed Black people. She’s watching the trial with apprehension, as she ponders what Floyd’s killing and the way the trial has unfolded so far says about America and its values.Chauvin, 45, who was eventually fired from the police force, is accused of killing a handcuffed Floyd last May by pinning his knee on the 46-year-old Black man’s neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, as he lay facedown. Floyd had been accused of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a neighborhood market.Black Lives Matter flags fly and line the fence surrounding the Hennepin County Government Center, April 2, 2021 in Minneapolis, where the trial for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin continues. The first week of the trial included emotional testimonies from several people who witnessed Floyd’s death: The young woman, a teenager at the time, who filmed Floyd’s last moments and told the courtroom she stays “up nights apologizing to George Floyd;” the 61-year-old man who sobbed on the stand, compelling the judge to order a 10-minute recess; the firefighter who begged officers to let her check Floyd’s pulse as he gasped for air, saying, “I was desperate to help.”The grief and trauma of these witnesses has been on full display, filling in details from new perspectives to create a fuller picture of the scene that people around the world watched over cellphone video last May.For Kyra Walker, it was enough to tune out and shut down Twitter one day.“I realized I just didn’t have it in me to watch all this,” she said.Floyd’s death was traumatizing enough for Walker but seeing conversations about the trial on Twitter this week brought back a flood of emotions she has grappled with over the course of the last year.“I had a moment where I just felt broken and I started thinking about Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor and how in such a short time frame, it was like one Black death after the other, without a break,” she said. It has made her feel paranoid at times for her 11-year-old Black son anytime he leaves home.FILE – A demonstrator raises her fist to protest the death of George Floyd, near the White House, in Washington, May 30, 2020. Floyd, an African American, died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers, triggering nationwide protests.The trial is only furthering the uneasiness many felt when the video of Chauvin pressing his knee to Floyd’s neck started to circulate online.“It took me a while to watch it because I know what these videos are about. I know the ending already,” Thompson said.Leigh Smith, a logistics operations manager who lives in the Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe Park, said he has tuned in each day of the trial. He calls some of the testimony “freaking depressing.”“You catch a murder on camera and you’re going to explain away to me that this man died of a heart attack?” Smith said of Floyd. “All this does is reaffirm the hatred and entrenchment of white supremacy and white domination over communities of color.”Brenda Hill, 57, of Detroit watched every video during every minute of the trial’s first two days. Hill, who works for a nonprofit that advocates for low-wage workers, isn’t so sure the rest of the country is viewing the trial — or how African Americans continue to be treated — through the same lens.“We don’t have any trust in this criminal justice system,” she said. “I should be assured that by this time everyone saw what I did. I’m disgusted, I’m hurt by everything.”As witnesses and attorneys in the courtroom recount the final moments of Floyd’s life in detail, the emotional trauma many Black Americans have felt over the last several years is resurfacing.“Our country needs counseling,” Gillings-Gayle said. “The witnesses have been grieving and suffering for the last 10 months. And we’ve all been grieving, too.”
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Kosovo Vote to Elect New President Stymied
Kosovo’s parliament failed to confirm a new president Saturday, despite backing from the reformist camp that swept this year’s elections, with politicians resuming the vote Sunday after a night of deadlock.Albin Kurti and his leftist movement Vetevendosje claimed more than 50% of February’s vote, promising to eradicate corruption in the poor nation that has been undermined by political instability.The election of Kurti’s candidate — law professor Vjosa Osmani — failed to take place after the opposition and Serbian minority boycotted the vote leaving the prime minister and his candidate short of the 80 out of 160 members of parliament or MPs needed.“Due to the lack of a quorum, the session … will continue tomorrow,” parliament speaker Glauk Konjufca announced after several hours of stalemate.Under the constitution failure to elect Osmani, 38, would see parliament dissolved and legislative elections held with 45 days.It would be the sixth general election in the former Serbian province since declaring independence in 2008, in a move still not recognized by Serbia.Ahead of parliament’s adjournment Kurti and Osmani were able to count on 58 votes plus several MPs from minor parties.U.S. ambassador Philip Kosnett urged all MPs to take responsibility and ensure a quorum.Around 300,000 people voted for Osmani personally in the February polls, a similar number to what former president Ibrahim Rugova — considered the father of the nation — had previously won.She stood in as president for several months for Hashim Thaci who was charged last November with war crimes.
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Russia to Build Airport in Laos, Train Armed Forces in Sign of Strengthening Military Ties
Russian troops have been clearing an area of around 500 hectares of unexploded ordnance, or UXO, in Laos’ Xieng Khouang province with plans to build a new airport and military facility as part of an expansion of military aid to the impoverished Southeast Asian nation, according to Lao officials.A Russian demining team has been working with Lao counterparts to clear the UXO since Dec. 5, provincial officials recently told RFA’s Lao Service, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plans with the media.“The Russians came here to build a military airport on the other side of the Plain of Jars,” one of the officials said, referring to the archeological landscape in the Xieng Khouang Plateau that was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019.“They’re currently clearing the UXO and then they’re going to upgrade the existing airport, making it larger and more beautiful.”Another Xieng Khouang official, who is a provincial military officer, provided further details about the new airport to RFA.“The Russian and Lao armed forces together are building this new airport that will be larger than the existing one and will be divided in two different zones,” he said.“One zone is for Lao and Russian military use and the other is for civilian use.”The officer said that the Russian military intends to provide substantial assistance to Laos going forward, including with training and developing the latter’s armed forces.“Some work on the new airport has already begun, but the actual construction will not start anytime soon because the UXO clearance will take some time,” he said.“Once the UXO has been cleared, we’ll lay underground powerlines. We’ll do our work step by step.”Besides the airport, the Russians intend to expand military cooperation with Laos that will include building a facility to train Lao troops on how to use Russian military equipment, according to a report by Russian news agency Sputniknews.com.A former senior government official in Laos told RFA that the two sides are expanding cooperation in line with an agreement they have in place on security and defense, as well as the new airport.“In the agreements, most cooperation would include training and teaching military techniques to the Lao armed forces,” said the former official, who also declined to be named.“We had more cooperation and more Russian military presence in Laos during the Soviet era,” he added.RFA spoke with an official at the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs who claimed not to know anything about the Russian military aid projects.Increased cooperationIn 2018, Laos ordered four jet fighters and 10 Yak-130 tanks from Russia following a state visit to Moscow a year earlier by Laos’ then-Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, during which the two nations signed a military cooperation agreement. Four of the tanks were later delivered to the Lao Ministry of Defense by Russia’s Rosoboronexport Company and took part in a 2019 parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Lao People’s Armed Forces in the capital, Vientiane.In April 2019, Russia’s TASS news agency reported that the Russian and Lao defense ministries had agreed on the areas of expanding military cooperation between their two countries on the sidelines of the Moscow International Conference on International Security, citing Lao Defense Minister Chansamone Chanyalath. The report did not provide details of the agreement.In June last year, Laos unveiled plans to build statues to honor two unnamed Soviet pilots who died while serving in the Southeast Asian country, angering citizens who said the $775,000 earmarked for the project could be better spent on recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. The pilots were in Laos as part of Moscow’s military presence in the fellow communist country between 1975 and 1992 and are believed to have been involved in training pilots in Laos’ air force. An official from the Ministry of Information Culture and Tourism told RFA at the time that the pilots were killed in a crash over Xieng Khouang province while on a practice mission.According to a report on the Lao Defense Ministry website, Chansamone met with Russian Ambassador to Laos Vladimir Kalinin at the Russian Embassy in Vientiane on Dec. 29 and thanked him for Russia’s gift of a hangar to store tanks in Xieng Khouang province. Chansamone also expressed gratitude for joint military exercises held in the province in 2019, Russia’s assistance with UXO clearance, its work in upgrading the airport in Xieng Khouang, and for building an office of the Russian military representative in the province. The meeting took place a week after Russia’s military donated an air force training center to Laos.Source of aidMoscow was a major arms supplier to Laos after its communist government, closely associated with the Soviet-aligned communist government in Vietnam, was established in 1975. According to a January report in The Diplomat, recent aid to Laos highlights the country’s importance in Russia’s desire for broader defense cooperation in Southeast Asia.Russia has provided various forms of assistance to Laos in recent years.In January, TASS cited Russian Ambassador Kalinin as saying that Moscow and Vientiane had agreed on deliveries of 2 million doses of Russia’s homegrown Sputnik V vaccine, which would be used to inoculate around 25% of the Lao population against the coronavirus.
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Christians Celebrate Easter in Unusual Circumstances Again This Year
Millions of Christians around the world are celebrating Easter Sunday in unusual circumstances again this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but there are fewer restrictions than the last year in some countries.In the United States, as more than 100 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, churches in some states are open for Easter services.Half a world away, Australians were celebrating Easter Sunday in a relatively unrestricted environment as the country did not report new locally acquired coronavirus cases. Community transmission of COVID-19 is largely eliminated in the country, according to health officials.In Italy, however, a strict Easter lockdown was observed, as the entire country is considered a high-risk zone.In a scaled-back Easter vigil service in St. Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican on Saturday, Pope Francis urged the faithful not to lose hope during the “dark months” of the pandemic.Due to social-distancing requirements, only about 200 people wearing masks attended the service, which marks the period between Christ’s crucifixion and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.The Vatican cut out the traditional sacrament of baptism for a few adults to decrease the chance of contagion.
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Scuffles Erupt in London as Thousands Join ‘Kill the Bill’ Rallies Across Britain
Thousands of demonstrators joined rallies across Britain on Saturday against a proposed law that would give police extra powers to curb protests, with some scuffles breaking out following a march in London.The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill aims to toughen measures officers can take to disperse demonstrations, such as imposing time and noise limits, which campaigners and activists fear would be used to curb dissent.”Kill the bill” marches were held in dozens of towns and cities, supported by big campaign groups such as climate change campaigners Extinction Rebellion and the Black Lives Matter movement.Police restrain a demonstrator during clashes following a ‘Kill the Bill’ protest in London, April 3, 2021. The demonstration is against the contentious Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.Nearly all were peaceful, but there were minor clashes in central London between protesters and police following a rally attended by several thousand people.”The policing operation in central London has now moved to the enforcement stage and arrests are being made,” said London’s Metropolitan Police on Twitter. The force deployed a large number of officers in the capital to end the protest.The new bill follows actions by Extinction Rebellion that paralyzed parts of London in early 2019 and fueled calls from some politicians for the police to be given tougher powers to prevent excessive disruption.Since the proposed law was brought before parliament last month, there have been sporadic demonstrations across the country, with Saturday’s rallies being part of what organizers said was a national weekend of action.Former Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn addresses demonstrators during a ‘Kill the Bill’ protest in London, April 3, 2021. The demonstration is against the contentious Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill going through Parliament.”[I’m here] to defend the rights of free speech, and the rights of organizations in our society,” said Jeremy Corbyn, former leader of the opposition Labor Party, who was among those who took part in the London protest.”These demonstrations, 50 of them today, will make a difference,” he told Reuters opposite the houses of Parliament.Much of the protest so far has been focused in the southwestern English city of Bristol, where some demonstrations have turned violent; officers have been bombarded with projectiles and police vehicles set on fire, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson described as “disgraceful attacks.”A large crowd gathered again in Bristol on Saturday evening, although the rally there was peaceful.Some senior officers have said the “kill the bill” tag was deliberately provocative because “the bill” is a nickname in Britain for the police.
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Pentagon OKs Use of California Base for Housing Unaccompanied Migrant Kids
The federal government may house unaccompanied migrant children on an Army National Guard base in central California, officials said.The Pentagon on Friday approved the use of Camp Roberts to temporarily house migrant children traveling alone, according to a defense official.It was not immediately clear how many children, if any, are to be placed at the camp, which is along the Salinas River about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Saturday that the camp was “under active consideration.” The department has not yet made its decision.”When HHS decides to activate an Emergency Influx Site for unaccompanied migrant children, we will notify state and local authorities as well as members of Congress,” the department said in a statement.HHS had requested the use of the base, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby confirmed Thursday.The California National Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.9,000 childrenBorder authorities encountered more than 9,000 children without a parent in February, the highest figure for a month since May 2019, when more than 11,000 unaccompanied minors came to the border.After being processed by the Border Patrol, they are transferred to HHS. They will eventually be released to a sponsor, usually a parent or close relative.Unlike adults in many situations, all unaccompanied minors are allowed to stay in the U.S. That dynamic has prompted many parents either to send kids on the journey to America alone or to get to the border and send them the rest of the way alone. Most children end up at least temporarily in shelters that are currently way beyond capacity.
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Ethiopia: Eritrean Troops are Pulling out of Tigray
Ethiopian authorities said on Saturday that Eritrean troops had started withdrawing from Tigray, where they have been fighting on the side of Ethiopian forces in a war against the region’s fugitive leaders.The Eritreans “have now started to evacuate” Tigray and Ethiopian forces have “taken over guarding the national border,” Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.It wasn’t clear how many Eritrean troops had left, and some in Tigray asserted that the Eritreans weren’t leaving at all. The region’s leaders have charged that Eritrean troops sometimes have dressed in Ethiopian military uniforms.Ethiopia’s government faces intense pressure to end the Tigray war, which started in November when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed deployed troops there following an attack on federal military facilities. The region’s fugitive leaders have not recognized Abiy’s authority since a national election was postponed last year amid the coronavirus pandemic.The G-7 group of nations on Friday issued a strong statement calling for the “swift, unconditional and verifiable” withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Tigray after Abiy said last week the Eritreans had agreed to go.That statement also urged “the establishment of a clear, inclusive political process that is acceptable to all Ethiopians, including those in Tigray, and which leads to credible elections and a wider national reconciliation process.”Protracted warThe International Crisis Group, in an analysis released Friday, warned of the risk of a protracted war, citing an entrenched Tigrayan resistance combined with Ethiopian and Eritrean authorities’ determination to keep Tigray’s fugitive leaders from power.”That would further devastate Tigray and greatly harm Ethiopia, the linchpin state in the Horn of Africa,” the report said. “With a decisive battlefield win for either side a remote prospect, parties should consider a cessation of hostilities that allows for expanded humanitarian aid access. This practical first step would reduce civilian suffering and ideally pave the way for a return to dialogue down the road.”There are increasing reports of atrocities such as massacres and rapes in the war, and concern is growing about a lack of food and medical care in Tigray, home to 6 million of Ethiopia’s more than 110 million people.The United States has characterized some abuses in Tigray as “ethnic cleansing,” charges dismissed by Ethiopian authorities as unfounded. Officials in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, haven’t cited a death toll in the war.The United Nations and an Ethiopian rights agency announced last week they had agreed to carry out a joint investigation into abuses in Tigray, where fighting persists as government troops hunt down fighters loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the party that dominated national politics for decades before the rise of Abiy.
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Births Among Endangered Right Whales Reach Highest Figure Since 2015
North Atlantic right whales gave birth over the winter in greater numbers than scientists have seen since 2015, an encouraging sign for researchers who became alarmed three years ago when the critically endangered species produced no known offspring at all.Survey teams spotted 17 newborn right whale calves swimming with their mothers offshore between Florida and North Carolina from December through March. One of those calves soon died after being hit by a boat, a reminder of the high death rate for right whales that experts fear is outpacing births.The overall calf count equals the combined total for the previous three years. That includes the dismal 2018 calving season, when scientists saw zero right whale births for the first time in three decades. Still, researchers say greater numbers are needed in the coming years for North Atlantic right whales to rebound from an estimated population that’s dwindled to about 360.”What we are seeing is what we hope will be the beginning of an upward climb in calving that’s going to continue for the next few years,” said Clay George, a wildlife biologist who oversees right whale surveys for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. “They need to be producing about two dozen calves per year for the population to stabilize and continue to grow again.”Warmer waters for reproducingRight whales migrate each winter to the warmer Atlantic waters off the Southeastern U.S. to give birth. Trained spotters fly over the coastline almost daily during the calving season, scanning the water for mothers with newborns.Survey flights over Georgia and Florida ended Wednesday, the last day of March, typically the season’s end. Spotters will monitor waters off the Carolinas through April 15, hoping to pick up any overlooked newborns as the whales head north to their feeding grounds.This season’s calf count matches the 17 births recorded in 2015. Right whale experts consider that number fairly average, considering the record is 39 births confirmed in 2009.FILE – This Georgia Department of Natural Resources photo shows a North Atlantic right whale mother and calf in waters near Cumberland Island, Ga., March 11, 2021.Scientists suspect a calving slump in recent years may have been caused by a shortage of zooplankton to feed right whales in the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy off Nova Scotia. They say the uptick in births this season could be a result of whales being healthier after shifting to waters with more abundant food sources.”It’s a somewhat hopeful sign that they are starting to adjust to this new regime where females are in good enough condition to give birth,” said Philip Hamilton, a right whale researcher at the New England Aquarium in Boston.Regardless, conservationists worry that right whales are dying — largely from manmade causes — at a faster rate than they can reproduce.Since 2017, scientists have confirmed 34 right whale deaths in waters off the U.S. and Canada — with the leading causes being entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with boats and ships. Considering additional whales were documented in the same period with serious injuries they were unlikely to survive, researchers fear the real death toll could be at least 49.That would exceed the 39 right whale births recorded since 2017.”If we reduced or eliminated the human-caused death rate, their birth rate would be fine,” Hamilton said. “The onus should not be on them to reproduce at a rate that can sustain the rate at which we kill them. The onus should be on us to stop killing.”New rulesThe federal government is expected to finalize new rules soon aimed at decreasing the number of right whales tangled up in fishing gear used to catch lobster and crabs in the Northeast. Proposals to reduce vertical fishing lines in the water and modify seasonal restricted areas have been met with heated debate. Fishermen say the proposed rules could put them out of businesses, while conservation groups insist they aren’t strict enough.Allison Garrett, a spokeswoman for the National Marine Fisheries Service, said the agency is also considering adjustments to federal rules that since 2008 have imposed speed limits on larger vessels in certain Atlantic waters during seasonal periods when right whales are frequently seen. An agency report in January found mariners’ compliance with the speed rules have improved overall, but still lagged below 25% for large commercial vessels at four ports in the Southeast.
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Georgia Governor Says ‘Free, Fair Elections’ Worth Losing Baseball Game
News of Major League Baseball’s decision to pull this summer’s All-Star Game from Georgia over its sweeping new voting law reverberated among fans Saturday, while Governor Brian Kemp vowed to defend the measure, saying “free and fair elections” were worth any threats, boycotts or lawsuits.The Republican governor said at a news conference that MLB “caved to fear and lies from liberal activists” when it yanked the July 13 game from Atlanta’s Truist Park. He added that the decision would hurt working people in the state and would have long-term consequences on the economy.”I want to be clear: I will not be backing down from this fight. We will not be intimidated, and we will also not be silenced,” Kemp said.”Major League Baseball, Coca-Cola and Delta may be scared of Stacey Abrams, Joe Biden and the left, but I am not,” he said, referring to companies that have also criticized the new law.Three groups have sued over the measure, which includes new restrictions on voting by mail and greater legislative control over how elections are run. Critics say it violates the U.S. Constitution’s First and 14th amendments, as well as parts of the federal Voting Rights Act that say states cannot restrict Black voter participation.The governor insists opponents have mischaracterized what the law does, yet Republican lawmakers made the changes largely in response to false claims of fraud in the 2020 elections made by former President Donald Trump and his supporters.Law’s provisionsThe law includes a new photo ID requirement for voting absentee by mail and makes it a misdemeanor to hand out money or gifts, including food or drink, to those waiting in line, which Kemp said was done to prevent groups from trying to influence voters. The prohibition extends 150 feet from a polling place and 25 feet from any person standing in line. It also expands weekend early voting, although Republicans had earlier proposed limiting it.FILE – Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, a rising party star who narrowly fell short of becoming the first female African American governor last year, speaks in Washington, May 22, 2019.Abrams, who has championed voting rights since narrowly losing to Kemp in the 2018 election, is among those who have spoken out against it. The Democrat is being closely watched to see if she seeks a 2022 rematch.Fans, meanwhile, appeared divided on pulling the game from Georgia.Patrick Smith, a lifelong Braves fan in Ellisville, Mississippi, said he thinks the league made the right decision and noted that not taking a stand would have polarized some supporters.”When governments restrict access to the ballot box, someone has to step in to encourage these entities to roll back those measures,” he said.Lorre Sweetman, in Kahului, Hawaii, said it was a poor move by MLB because it wasn’t based on the actual new voting laws but on “political pandering” and misinformation.FILE – Republican Governor Brian Kemp signs S.B. 202, legislation that activists have said will curtail the influence of Black voters, in this handout photo posted to Kemp’s Twitter feed on March 25, 2021.Still, while some fans upset about the decision have called for a boycott of professional baseball, she said she would not stop watching games and her three grandsons were still learning the sport.”They caved to pressure without considering the message this sends to fans who just want to enjoy the game and support their team,” she said. “We need to take politics out of sports.”But Dick Pagano, a baseball fan in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, said he would not watch or attend any games this year.”They shot themselves in the foot,” said Pagano, who added he would be disappointed to miss the planned Hank Aaron celebration during the All-Star Game, since he once saw him play in the 1957 World Series. Aaron, who played for the Braves in Atlanta and Milwaukee for most of his career, faced extensive hate mail and racism as he closed in on breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record.Jeffrey Guterman, a retired mental health counselor in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who calls himself an amateur baseball historian, said the decision showed baseball changing with the times.What costs more?”I’m surprised when people argue that moving it away from Atlanta is a bad move because it would bring lots of money to the area,” he said. “The question is what costs more — moving the All-Star Game or reinforcing the oppression of votes.”The league did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred previously said he made the call to move the All-Star events and the amateur draft from Atlanta after discussions with individual players and the Players Alliance, an organization of Black players formed after the death of George Floyd last year. A new ballpark for the events wasn’t immediately revealed.Kemp also criticized the league for not trying to improve voter access in its home state of New York, where he said voters need an excuse to vote by mail and have fewer days of early voting than in Georgia. He said its decision means “cancel culture” is coming for American businesses and jobs.Trump also blasted the league’s move, while former President Barack Obama congratulated MLB for its decision, saying there was no better way for baseball to honor Aaron, “who always led by example.”
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Unrest Breaks Out in Northern Ireland for Second Straight Night
Cars were set alight and masked people pelted a police van with petrol bombs Saturday, the second straight evening of disorder in pro-British parts of Northern Ireland amid rising post-Brexit tensions in the region.Many pro-British unionists fiercely oppose the new trade barriers introduced between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom as part of Britain’s departure from the EU and have warned that their unease could lead to violence.Political leaders, including Britain’s Northern Ireland minister, had appealed for calm earlier Saturday, but police said they were responding to reports of disorder in Newtownabbey on the northern outskirts of Belfast.A video posted on Twitter by the Police Federation for Northern Ireland showed four masked individuals flinging petrol bombs from close range at an armored police van, which they also kicked and punched.Fifteen officers were injured in the Sandy Row area of Belfast on Friday when a small local protest developed into a riot. Police said the rioters attacked them with masonry, metal rods, fireworks and manhole covers.The injuries included burns, head wounds and a broken leg, resulting in the arrest and charging of seven people, two of them as young as 13 and 14. Twelve officers were also injured in separate rioting Friday in Londonderry.First minister blamedOther political parties blamed the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster on Saturday for stoking tensions with staunch opposition to the new trading arrangements.”By their words and actions they have sent a very dangerous message to young people in loyalist areas,” said Gerry Kelly, a lawmaker from the pro-Irish Sinn Fein party, which shares power in the devolved government with the DUP, in a statement.A DUP lawmaker, Christopher Stalford, said rioters were “acting out of frustration” after prosecutors opted not to charge any members of Sinn Fein last week for alleged breaches of COVID-19 restrictions.The DUP has called for the head of the police force to resign over the issue.The British-run region remains deeply split along sectarian lines, 23 years after a peace deal largely ended three decades of bloodshed. Many Catholic nationalists aspire to unification with Ireland while Protestant unionists want to stay in the U.K.
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Pope, at Easter Vigil, Hopes for Post-pandemic Rebirth
Pope Francis, leading an Easter vigil service scaled back because of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Saturday that he hoped the dark times of the pandemic would end and that people could rediscover “the grace of everyday life.”This year is the second consecutive Easter that all papal services are being attended by about 200 people in a secondary altar of St. Peter’s Basilica instead of the nearly 10,000 that the largest church in Christendom can hold.The service began two hours earlier than usual so that participants could get home before a 10 p.m. curfew in Rome, which, like the rest of Italy, is under tough lockdown restrictions during the Easter weekend. Italy reported more than 140,000 new cases of the coronavirus in the past week, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, and nearly 3,100 deaths.At the start of the service, the basilica was in darkness except for the flames from candles held by participants to signify the darkness in the world before Jesus. As the pope, cardinals and bishops processed to the altar and a cantor chanted three times, the basilica’s lights were turned on.In his homily, Francis, marking the ninth Easter season of his pontificate, said the festival brought with it the hope for renewal on a personal as well as a global level.”In these dark months of the pandemic, let us listen to the risen Lord as he invites us to begin anew and never lose hope,” Francis said.Just as Jesus brought his message “to those struggling to live from day to day,” he said, people today should care for those most in need on the fringes of society.”[God] invites us to overcome barriers, banish prejudices and draw near to those around us every day in order to rediscover the grace of everyday life,” Francis said.On Easter Sunday, the most important day in the Christian liturgical calendar, the pope will deliver his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message.
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High-Tech Farming Sprouts in New Jersey Shipping Container
While it may not yet be planting season outside, inside some New Jersey shipping containers, it’s always spring. Vladimir Lenski has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.Producer: Marcus Harton.Cameras: Max Avloshenko, Dmitrii Vershinin.
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Taiwan Releases Train Crash Suspect on Bond
A Taiwan court on Saturday released on bond the manager of a construction site whose truck authorities believe caused a train accident that killed at least 51 people.The crash Friday was Taiwan’s worst rail accident in seven decades. An express train hit the truck that had slid down a bank beside the track from the building site. The site’s manager is suspected of having failed to properly engage the truck’s brake.The train, with almost 500 people aboard, was traveling from Taipei, the capital, to Taitung on the east coast when it derailed in a tunnel just north of the city of Hualien. Forty-one people were in hospital Saturday, from among the 188 reported injured.Rescue workers remove a part of the derailed train near Taroko Gorge in Hualien, Taiwan, April 3, 2021.Prosecutors had applied to a court to detain the manager on charges of causing death by negligence, a justice ministry official told reporters Saturday.But a court in Hualien released the manager, Lee Yi-hsiang, on a bond of T$500,000 ($17,525), although it restricted him from leaving Taiwan for eight months and said he had to stay in Hualien.The court said that while the truck’s fall into the path of the train possibly resulted from negligence, there was “no possibility of conspiracy.”Yu Hsiu-duan, head of the Hualien prosecutors office, said the office was not pleased with the decision. “The court said there was no reason to keep him in custody,” she told reporters.Lee’s court-appointed lawyer declined to comment to reporters as he left the court.Lin Jinn-tsun, head of the Justice Ministry’s Prosecutorial Affairs Department, said the department had lodged an appeal against the decision to release Lee on bond.Meanwhile, victims’ relatives visited the accident site Saturday afternoon to mourn the dead, some crying out “Come back!” and bringing personal belongings with them, like dolls.The youngest person confirmed to have died was a 6-year-old girl, the oldest a 79-year-old man, according to a government-issued casualty list.Rescue workWorkers have begun moving the train’s rear portion, which was relatively unscathed because it had stopped away from the collision site. Other mangled sections remained in the tunnel, where fire department official Wu Liang-yun said more bodies were likely to be found.”We’re still carrying out rescue work,” he added.In this photo released by her office, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen visits those injured in Friday’s train derailment, at a nearby hospital in Hualien, Taiwan, April 3, 2021.President Tsai Ing-wen visited hospitals in Hualien to speak to family members and survivors, thanking ordinary people and nongovernment groups for their efforts to help.”This shows the good side of Taiwanese society,” she said.The government has ordered flags flown at half-staff for three days in mourning.The de facto French Embassy in Taipei confirmed that one of its citizens had died in the crash.Taiwan’s transport ministry said two U.S. citizens were among the dead, while two Japanese, an Australian and a Chinese citizen were among the injured.In a rare sign of goodwill from China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, President Xi Jinping expressed his condolences over the crash, state news agency Xinhua said.The accident happened at the start of a long holiday weekend. The train was packed with tourists and residents going home for the traditional Tomb Sweeping Day to clean the graves of ancestors.Taiwan has no domestic travel curbs as the COVID-19 pandemic is well under control, with only 43 active cases in hospitals.Taiwan’s worst train crash, in 1948, killed an estimated 64 people.
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Deadly Breach Could Delay Decisions About US Capitol Fencing
The latest deadly breach of the Capitol’s perimeter could delay the gradual reopening of the building’s grounds to the public just as lawmakers were eyeing a return to more normal security measures following the Jan. 6 insurrection.Capitol Police officer William “Billy” Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force, was killed Friday when a man rammed his car into a barrier outside the Senate side of the building. The driver, identified as 25-year-old Noah Green, was shot and killed after he got out of his car and lunged at police with a knife.The deaths came less than two weeks after the Capitol Police removed an outer fence that had temporarily cut off a wide swath of the area to cars and pedestrians, blocking major traffic arteries that cross the city. The fencing had been erected to secure the Capitol after the violent mob of of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters attacked the building Jan. 6., interrupting the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. The violence lead to the deaths of five people, including a Capitol Police officer.Police, who took the brunt of the assaults that day, have left intact a second ring of fencing around the inner perimeter of the Capitol as they struggle to figure out how to best protect the building and those who work inside it. That tall, dark fencing — parts of it covered in razor wire until just recently — is still a stark symbol of the fear many in the Capitol felt after the mob laid siege two months ago.Lawmakers have almost universally loathed the fencing, saying the seat of American democracy was meant to be open to the people, even if there was always going to be a threat.But after Friday’s attack, some said they needed to proceed with caution.“It’s an eyesore, it sucks,” Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio said about the fencing in the hours after the two deaths. “Nobody wants that there. But the question is, is the environment safe enough to be able to take it down? In the meantime, maybe that fence can prevent some of these things from happening.”Ryan, chairman of a House spending committee that oversees security and the Capitol, stressed that no decisions had been made, and that lawmakers would be “reviewing everything” after the latest deadly incident. His committee and others are looking at not only the fence but at the staffing, structure, and intelligence capabilities of the Capitol Police.“The scab got ripped off again here today,” Ryan said. “So we’ve got to figure this out.”Despite the fencing, Friday’s breach happened inside the perimeter. The driver slipped through a gate that had opened to allow traffic in and out of the Capitol and rammed a barrier that had protected the building long before Jan. 6. And there was no evidence that Green’s actions were in any way related to the insurrection.Suspect Rams Car Into US Capitol Barricade, Killing 1 OfficerSecurity remains high after January 6 Capitol riot Still, it was a reminder that there is always a target on one of the country’s most visible public buildings, especially as political tensions have risen since the insurrection and there has been broad public scrutiny of the security failures that day.“This may just cause everybody to pump the brakes a bit on taking the fence down entirely because of the sense of security that it provides us,” said Democratic Rep. Jennifer Wexton of Virginia, another member of the spending panel that oversees the legislative branch.As a lawmaker who represents the suburbs of Washington, Wexton said she wants to see the Capitol open again to visitors. While the indoor parts of the building have been closed to the public for the last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, the plazas, roads and sidewalks that surround the Capitol were only cut off after the riot, keeping the public completely away from the area.“I would like to see it come down at the earliest possible moment,” Wexton said of the fencing.While lawmakers were initially supportive of the fencing to secure the area, and the thousands of National Guard troops sent to the Capitol to back up the overwhelmed police force, they soon said they were ready for a drawdown.“I think we’ve overdone it,” said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky last month. “It looks terrible to have the beacon of our democracy surrounded by razor wire and National Guard troops.“Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, the top Republican on the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, said the fencing should come down because the next security problem is “highly unlikely to be a carbon copy of the last problem.” Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida told Fox News he believed Democrats were keeping the fence up for “political reasons.”But abhorrence of the fence is a rare issue on which the two parties can agree.“It’s just ghastly, it’s an embarrassment,” said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat. “If there’s a better way to protect us, I want to see it. I want to work to get it.”Security officials, though, say that the Capitol cannot return to what had been status quo.In February, acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman told lawmakers that “the Capitol’s security infrastructure must change.”A security review requested by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, in the aftermath of the riot and conducted by a task force recommended eventually replacing the barrier with mobile fencing and “an integrated, retractable fencing system” that could be used as needed. But it is unclear whether such an expensive proposal could win approval from Congress.Ryan said his committee was doing extensive research and even had a recent call with Israeli security officials to learn how they keep their government secure.“We’ve got to figure out what the sweet spot is with the security,” he said.
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Egypt School for the Deaf Works Against Odds to Educate Children
Deaf children in Egypt face serious obstacles when seeking an education because many come from poor families and rural areas far from the capital, Cairo. Experts say nearly 5 million of Egypt’s 100 million residents are deaf, due in part to frequent intermarriage of close relatives.
Notwithstanding their broad smiles and bubbling enthusiasm, deaf children in Egypt must cope with serious challenges at the same time the organizations that work to educate them struggle to run quality programs.
Clair Malik, an educator who founded and built the Egyptian diocese of the Episcopal Church’s Deaf Unit from scratch in 1982, said the school must work not only with deaf children, but also with their parents, many of whom come from poor and rural areas and are often uneducated.
She said the school tries to teach the parents sign language to help them communicate with the children.
Malik, who studied at Gallaudet University for the deaf in Washington, D.C., even though she is not deaf, said there has been major progress in educating deaf people in recent years. Graduates of the Deaf Unit have gone on to attend university, she said, and Egypt now boasts sign-language interpreters on government TV and in at least one university.
Mary Ishaq, who runs the school, watches over the many details of how her staff interacts with the students. She told VOA there are both theoretical and practical aspects to educating deaf people:
“The children,” she said, “learn reading and writing from an academic perspective and then they learn a skill, so that they can earn a living and not depend on society to support them.”
The Rev. Clement Alfons, a deaf social worker, has worked to become a bridge between the deaf and those who can hear. He said he became involved with the deaf while growing up in Sudan and observing their hardships.
Father Alfons told VOA that deaf children like himself “were shoved aside by society and marginalized” when he was growing up.
“Deaf children,” he said, “often have bad habits and values because they frequently have bad role models.”
Anglican Bishop Dr. Mouneer Anis said that despite the constant challenge of raising funds to run the school and keep it staffed, he is proud of what it has accomplished.
He said that “rather than being just neglected children,” students of the Deaf Unit “are now cared for” and “given the chance to play sports, learn handcrafts and socialize with their peers.”
“They also get educated,” he said, “and some of them reach university …. becoming productive and respected members of society.”
One of the most serious problems facing the Deaf Unit this year is the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced the closure of the residential side of the program. Mouneer said that was a difficult decision to make.
He said the Deaf Unit used to provide accommodation for the many children who come from far away and who cannot afford transportation every day.
Because of the pandemic, he said, “we are not able to bring them close together, because this increases the risk of being infected with the virus.”
A graduate of the school, 16-year-old Esther is one of the lucky few among deaf children in Egypt, completing six years at the Episcopal Church’s Deaf Unit in Cairo, before going on to a government high school. She says she is proud of her accomplishment and comes back regularly to see former teachers and classmates.
Esther told VOA in sign language that “government schools are not as good as the Deaf Unit,” but that she “hopes to go on to college and study homemaking.” She adds jokingly that she’s “not sure if she wants to get married and have children.”
Ten-year-old Julia, who has learned to speak several short phrases, despite being deaf, enthusiastically shows off her new skills and language abilities. Malik said “it is now possible to help many deaf children to partly overcome their hearing impairments if they are given medical treatment early in life.”
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Cameroon Police Crack Down on Opposition
For the second consecutive time, heavily armed police dispersed an opposition leaders’ meeting held to propose reforms they say are needed to democratically change the more than four-decade-long rule of 88-year-old Cameroonian President Paul Biya. Opposition leaders, including three former presidential candidates, say the crackdown is the latest setback in their attempt to pave the way for peaceful transition of power from Africa’s second-longest-ruling president.
Seven opposition leaders said they were forcefully evicted from a meeting held in Yaounde Wednesday as they were pressing for reforms to rescue elections from the strong grip of Cameroon’s long-serving president, Paul Biya. The leaders issued a formal statement on April 3.
Among the attendees was Prince Michael Ngwese Ekosso. He is the president of the opposition United Socialist Democratic Party and said he took part in the meeting with hopes of easing tensions after allegations of election rigging. Opposition leaders say post-election tensions have risen after claims of fraud, with results skewed toward Biya’s Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party.
“It was a need for us the political leaders to see that the electoral code resembles the aspirations of Cameroonians in general,” Ekosso said. “We are living a country where democracy is not implemented. They (the government) do not want political leaders to hold meetings and they (the police) always come to disrupt. And also, it was a need for us to be able to discuss those things that have hampered true democracy, and then talk about the need for opposition parties to be able to form a reasonable platform to address some of the key issues,” he added.
Ekosso said the leaders avoided possible brutality and assault by peacefully leaving the hall when the police ordered an immediate stop to the meeting.
The government said it ordered the meeting to be ended because the opposition leaders failed to obtain an authorization, as stipulated by Cameroonian law.
Ekosso said the law requires an authorization only when there is a political rally. He said he and his peers were simply taking part in a meeting of seven opposition leaders.
Three candidates who lost the country’s October 7, 2018, presidential poll were in the meeting.
Maurice Kamto, who claims he won the election and that Biya stole his victory, said the decision to stop an opposition meeting was another step in a crackdown on the democratic process.
Cabral Libii, a former presidential aspirant and lawmaker of the opposition Cameroonian Party for National Reconciliation, and Joshua Osih, former presidential candidate and vice president of the Social Democratic Front, said the decision to stop the meeting was an afront to democracy.
Cameroon’s Higher Education Minister under Bia, Jacques Fame Ndongo, says there is no need for changes in the electoral code now.
He said Cameroonians gave Biya 71% of their votes in the 2018 presidential election, an indication that they agree with all of Biya’s policies and laws. He said people are expecting Biya to concentrate on developing Cameroon in fulfilment of the promises he made before the 2018 presidential poll.
Ndongo said political parties can make suggestions as to the changes they want in the electoral code for Cameroon’s Parliament to examine when lawmakers deem it necessary.
Mamoun Njoya of the Cameroon Civil Society group, which advocates for good governance in the country, says any opposition bill to change the electoral code will be thrown out of Parliament by majority lawmakers controlled by Biya.
He said Biya and his Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party have drifted from the policy and values they promised the Cameroon people when the party was founded in 1985. He said Biya and his party are not ready to enact laws that will stop election rigging and the siphoning state funds.
Biya has been in power in Cameroon for 45 years, seven as prime minister and 38 as president. In 2008, he removed term limits from the constitution, allowing him to serve indefinitely.
He has won all of Cameroon’s elections, but the opposition has always contested his victory, saying Biya prepared the electoral code to favor him and his CPDM party.
Biya is the second-oldest serving president in sub-Saharan Africa after his neighbor, Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, who has been in power since 1979. When Biya’s latest term is finished, he would be 93 years old.
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Australians Stuck Overseas Due to Canberra COVID Rules Take Legal Action
A group of Australians unable to return home because of a strict COVID-19 quota on arrivals has filed legal action against their government.
The complaint has been lodged with the United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva over claims that Australians are being excluded from entering their own country.
Authorities in Canberra closed international borders in March 2020 to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.
Citizens and permanent residents are allowed back, but numbers returning are limited because of capacity constraints on airlines and in mandatory hotel quarantine.
Since the pandemic began, almost 500,000 Australians have come home, but tens of thousands are still waiting to fly back.
With community transmission of COVID-19 largely eliminated, the greatest risk to Australia is returning travelers who have brought the virus with them and have inadvertently infected hospital and hotel staff, according to health officials.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says it is a major concern.
“The numbers from overseas in our hospitals is now 68 returned travelers coming back, and like I said, that is a real risk for us.”
A group of frustrated Australians has taken legal action because of what is described as the government’s “extreme restrictions.” They say they are “ordinary Aussies who have been left high and dry by an unfeeling government.”
In Canberra, officials have conceded that they could not predict when all stranded Australians would finally return home. They have said that quotas on those permitted to return were “temporary and will be reviewed.”
Jane McAdam, director of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, a research center at the University of New South Wales, says both sides of the dispute have valid arguments.
“Under international human rights law, there is no absolute right to enter one’s country, but at the same time the government cannot arbitrarily deprive you of that right. So, what that means is that people’s entry may be subject to brief, temporary restrictions provided that they are reasonable, they are necessary, and they are based on clear legal criteria,” McAdam said.
India has the largest number of Australian citizens and permanent residents who want to come home, followed by Britain, the United States, the Philippines, and Thailand.
Australia has indicated that its international borders are unlikely to fully reopen until 2022.
Australia has diagnosed just over 29,300 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began. The Health Department says 909 people have died.
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Vatican Readies for Easter, Again With No Crowds
As Italy struggles with a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, the government announced a new nationwide lockdown across the country for the Easter holiday weekend.
The measures come as the head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, officiated at the Way of the Cross procession in a nearly empty Saint Peter’s Square Friday, ahead of the Easter holiday Sunday, for the second consecutive year.
A new three-day national lockdown began Saturday in Italy as the country continues to struggle with a surge in COVID-19 infections and daily deaths amid a slow roll-out of vaccines.
The lockdown measures, enforced by thousands of police officers deployed across the country, do not allow any travel between Italian regions unless strictly necessary and limit visits to family members and friends to two people once a day. Customary Easter Monday picnics have also been banned.
The aim is to curb the spread of the virus as much as possible as hospitals and intensive care units countrywide are again seeing a resurgence of COVID-19 patients. After more than a year and over 110,000 deaths from the coronavirus, Italy has grown tired of the extended restrictions. But across the country, most of the population is complying with the rules.
At the Vatican, Good Friday began with a visit by Pope Francis to the vaccination center inside the city state where around 1,200 people were inoculated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine this week. It is part of an effort to include the “poor and most marginalized people” according to the Papal Almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski.Pope Francis speaks to medical staff on Good Friday at a vaccination site at Paul VI Hall where the poor and homeless are being inoculated, at the Vatican, April 2, 2021. (Vatican Media/Handout via Reuters)The pope prayed for people suffering during the pandemic, asking for strength for those caring for the sick.
The “Via Crucis” or “Way of the Cross” procession was held for the second consecutive year in a nearly empty Saint Peter’s Square where candles were placed in a circle around its central obelisk.
The procession includes prayers at each of a series of images representing biblical events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The pandemic, however, has forced the traditional procession at Rome’s ancient Colosseum, normally attended by hundreds of people, to be scaled back and moved to the Vatican.
This year’s meditations were written and read during the ceremony by children and young people from Rome, many expressing feelings about this difficult year. One child wrote of feeling lonely because of the pandemic and not being able to visit grandparents, another of losing his grandad to the virus, alone in the hospital.
Italians will be allowed to attend Easter service this year officials said. Pope Francis is planning to hold an Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday and will be delivering his “Urbi et Orbi” or “To the City and the World” message on Easter Sunday, the most important day in the Christian liturgical calendar.
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