A top European Union official said Sunday that Americans who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 should be able to travel to Europe by summer, easing existing travel restrictions.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told The New York Times that the union’s 27 members would accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that are approved by the European Medicines Agency. The agency has approved the three vaccines used in the United States.”The Americans, as far as I can see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines,” von der Leyen said. “This will enable free movement and travel to the European Union.”She did not say when travel could resume. The EU largely shut down nonessential travel more than a year ago.European Union countries agreed this month to launch COVID-19 travel passes that would permit people who have been vaccinated against the disease, recovered from an infection or have tested negative to travel more easily.
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Month: April 2021
Oscars: Chloé Zhao Makes History with ‘Nomadland’
Chloé Zhao has made history at the Academy Awards.Zhao won the Oscar for best director for Nomadland, becoming just the second woman and the first woman of color to win the award.”My entire Nomadland company, what a crazy, once-in-a-lifetime journey we’ve all been on together,” Zhao said.Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman to win, for The Hurt Locker, in 2009.This was the only year in Oscar history with two female nominees, Zhao and Promising Young Woman director Emerald Fennell. Only seven women have ever been nominated.It was the first Oscar for the 39-year-old Zhao, who was born in Beijing and went to college and film school in the United States. Nomadland is her third feature.The other nominees were Lee Isaac Chung for Minari, Thomas Vinterberg for Another Round, and David Fincher for Mank.Best animated featurePixar’s Soul has won the Oscar for best animated feature.The film stars the voices of Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey.Soul follows an aspiring musician and middle-school band teacher who loses his life — but attempts to escape the afterlife during his quest to help an infant soul.Pixar has now won the award 11 times in the 20 years since the category was established.Daniel Kaluuya, winner of the award for best actor in a supporting role for “Judas and the Black Messiah,” poses in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, April 25, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, Pool)Winners at the 2021 OscarsHere’s a look at the winners at the 93rd annual Academy Awards, which took place April 25, 2021, in Los Angeles.Best supporting actorDaniel Kaluuya used a lead role to win a best supporting actor Oscar. He’ll take it.Kaluuya won his first Academy Award on Sunday night for playing one of the two title roles in Judas and the Black Messiah.”I’d like to thank my mom,” Kaluuya said, as his mother teared up while watching. “You gave me everything. You gave me your factory settings. So I could stand at my fullest height.”Kaluuya played Chicago Blank Panther leader Fred Hampton, who was killed in an FBI raid in 1969.The other nominees were Paul Raci, Leslie Odom Jr. and Sacha Baron Cohen.Best international feature filmRaise a glass for Another Round.The film from Denmark, directed by Thomas Vinterburg, has won the Oscar for best international feature film.”This is beyond anything I could ever imagine,” Vinterburg said from the stage at Union Station in Los Angeles on Sunday night. “Except this is something I’ve always imagined.”It is the fourth time a film from Denmark has won in the category. The last was In a Better World in 2010.Vinterberg teared up when he told the audience his daughter died four days into shooting. “An accident on the highway took my daughter away,” he said. “We ended up making this movie for her, as her monument. So, Ida, this is a miracle that just happened.”Vinterburg was also nominated for best director Sunday night.Best original screenplayThe first Oscar of the night went to Emerald Fennell, writer and director of Promising Young Woman.It’s the first Oscar for Fennell, a 35-year-old British actor and screenwriter.
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Red Carpet Makes a Comeback at History-Making Oscars
The red carpet is back. After the coronavirus pandemic forced awards shows to be canceled or go virtual over the past year, movie stars and Hollywood A-listers returned Sunday, strutting their stuff, live and in person, on perhaps the most iconic red carpet of all: at the Oscars.It was a smaller-than-usual affair with fewer celebrities and cameras — and strict COVID-19 protocols in place. But there was no less glamour to grace the carpet set up at Los Angeles’ Union Station, where the 93rd annual Academy Awards will take place this year.Wearing a double-breasted black tuxedo, actor Paul Raci, 73, was among the first to step in front of microphones on the carpet.”I don’t think I could have it any other way; it means a lot. It’s perfect,” said Raci, who has been nominated for best supporting actor for his role in the movie “The Sound of Metal.”TV hosts and personalities described a pent-up red carpet energy Sunday, with stars and spectators alike eager to put on a show to forget, albeit temporarily, the rigors of 2020.Steven Yeun, star of “Minari” and one of the nominees for best actor, said it felt strange to be out and interacting with people.”I haven’t talked to random people in a while, so this is crazy,” said Yeun, 37.Some of the others on the red carpet aside from the actors and actresses wore masks, and interviewers kept their social distance from their subjects.Some of the nominees and other celebrities took to social media ahead of the ceremony to share preparations for this year’s awards show.On Instagram, Glenn Close, who is hoping to finally nab an Oscar statuette for her portrayal of tough-love parent Mamaw in “Hillbilly Elegy,” silently toasted in front of the camera while getting ready for the show.A mask-wearing Laura Dern held what looked like a swab for a COVID-19 test in a shot the actress shared with her Instagram followers and captioned “Oscars prep!”
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Authorities in Somalia Hail Progress in Malaria Fight
As the world marks World Malaria Day (April 25), several African countries continue to battle the impact of a preventable disease claiming thousands of lives. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, malaria has claimed an estimated 380,000 lives in 2018 according to the World Health Organization (WHO). But there are some signs of hope in Somalia.This year’s theme was reaching the “Zero Malaria” target as the WHO celebrated the achievement of those countries that are on the verge of eliminating the disease.While Somalia is still not malaria-free, the country’s authorities say there has been some progress in the past three years in decreasing the number of deaths from the disease. That is welcome news for the Horn of Africa nation struggling to curb other challenges, including drought and lack of security. Dr. Ali Abdulrahman, manager of Somalia’s national malaria control department, pointed out that deaths from malaria have declined, from 31 in 2018, 22 in 2019 to five last year.”There was a lot of interventions we have done including distribution of long-lasting insecticide nets to the target population, especially IDPs (internally displaced persons) and other vulnerable and indoor residual spraying were done in the riverine areas and also case management was going on in all health facilities in the country that was interventions done to reduce cases,” Abdulrahman said.Somalia has a weak health care system and is poorly resourced, according to the WHO. Due to decades of insecurity and conflict, the country’s institutions struggle to provide access to malaria prevention and treatment to those at risk of contracting the disease, including pregnant women and children. Falestine Mohamed Abukar, a mother of three who lives in an internally displaced persons camp in Mogadishu, said she paid $40 last year to get medicine from a local pharmacy where she was referred when she tested positive for malaria and typhoid.She said she was very weak in bed and when she visited the nearest health center but the health care providers said they did not have the medicine. They then referred her to get it from private pharmacies and pay out of pocket.Dr. Jamal Amran from the country’s World Health Organization office says WHO is working with Somali authorities to improve access to malaria medication. “This year will start to do rapid assessment needs of IDPs and other neglected groups like nomads to see how and what the factors are preventing them to utilize health services properly. And based on all findings, we will, along with other partners, develop [a] specific strategy for health services for these minorities, and of course, with the involvement with civil society groups and the community and also workers especially now with COVID-19,” Amran said.Hailed as a possible breakthrough, a new malaria vaccine has shown to be 77% effective in early trials to combat the disease. And once approved for use, countries like Somalia could benefit in continuing their fight against malaria and meet the malaria-free goal.
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Chad Junta Refuses to Negotiate With Rebels
Chad’s new ruling junta said Sunday it would not negotiate with rebels in the north of the poor Sahel country and asked for help from neighboring Niger to capture their leader.”The time is not for mediation, nor for negotiation with outlaws,” Azem Bermandoa Agouna, spokesman of the military council that took power last week following the death of veteran leader Idriss Deby Itno.On Saturday, the rebels of the Libya-based Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) said they were prepared to observe a cease-fire, but a junta spokesman said the two sides were at war.”They are rebels, which is why we are bombing them. We are waging war, that’s all,” Agouna said. Deby reportedly died in battle early last week after fighting in which hundreds of FACT rebels were killed, according to the army.On Sunday, claiming that FACT leader Mahamat Mahadi Ali had fled into Niger, the junta appealed to help from its neighbor to track him down.”Chad calls for the cooperation and solidarity of Niger … to facilitate the capture and bringing to justice of these war criminals,” Agouna said in a statement.Deby was buried last Friday in a state funeral attended by French President Emmanuel Macron.France, the former colonial power in Chad, threw its support behind Deby’s son, Mahamat, 37, who took the helm as head of the junta with a pledge to hold elections in 18 months.Chad was thrown into turmoil by Deby’s death, which was announced Tuesday, the day after he was declared the winner of an April 11 election, giving him a sixth mandate after 30 years at the helm.He was a linchpin in the fight against the Sahel’s jihadi insurgency, and Macron pledged at the ceremony: “France will never let anyone, either today or tomorrow, challenge Chad’s stability and integrity.”
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German Contender Wants Tougher Stance on China, Russia
A leading contender to succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor this fall has called for “dialogue and toughness” toward China when it comes to defending democratic values and human rights.Annalena Baerbock, the environmentalist Greens’ candidate for chancellorship, told the weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that Europe should use its economic might to block Chinese goods made with forced labor and avoid communications technologies that endanger European security.”We are currently in a competition between systems: authoritarian powers versus liberal democracies,” she said in an interview published Sunday.Baerbock cited China’s investment in infrastructure and energy grids through Central Asia to Europe as “brutal power politics.””We Europeans mustn’t kid ourselves,” she said, adding that the 27-nation European Union needs to act accordingly to defend its values, such as by using a recent investment accord between Brussels and Beijing to address more strongly the issue of China putting its Uyghur minority into forced labor.Baerbock, a graduate in international law, also took aim at Russia, in particular its support for rebel groups in Ukraine and the recent massing of Russian troops along Ukraine’s border.She backed Ukraine’s right to apply for membership in NATO and the EU but said “the most important thing right now is to increase the pressure on Russia so that the Minsk accord is adhered to.” That accord seeks to peacefully end the conflict in eastern Ukraine with Russia-backed rebels that has left at least 14,000 dead since 2014.Against the backdrop of Moscow’s aggressive behavior, Baerbock criticized the German government’s support for an underwater pipeline bringing Russian natural gas to Germany. “I would have long withdrawn political support for Nord Stream 2,” she said.The Greens have called for closer cooperation with the United States to defend liberal values worldwide, but Baerbock suggested that the goal of having NATO members spend 2% of their gross domestic product on defense should be revisited in light of the pressing need to invest large sums to curb climate change. She also suggested Europe’s defense contribution could also come in the form of a cybersecurity center.”A blanket 2% goal, on the other hand, won’t achieve greater security,” she said.The Greens emerged from the pacifist and environmental movements of the 1970s and 1980s, but in recent years have backed limited military deployments abroad, provided they are tied to U.N. resolutions.Baerbock said the future of U.S. nuclear weapons stationed in Europe could be raised again as part of the disarmament negotiations between Moscow and Washington. A poll published Sunday by weekly Bild am Sonntag put the Greens narrowly ahead of Merkel’s center-right Union bloc.Germans will elect a new parliament September 26 that will then choose who should become the country’s next chancellor. Merkel is not running for a fifth term.The survey, conducted by polling firm Kantar, found 28% of respondents planned to vote for the Greens, against 27% for the Union bloc. The center-left Social Democrats are expected to receive about 13% support while the far-right Alternative for Germany would get 10%. The poll of 1,225 voters found the pro-business Free Democrats would receive 9% and the Left party would get 7% of the vote.
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US Begins Winding Down Afghan Military Mission
The top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan says the process of completely removing American troops from the conflict-torn country has already begun.
Gen. Scott Miller told local reporters in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Sunday that all of his troops “are now preparing to retrograde” under orders he had received.
Miller spoke nearly two weeks after U.S. President Joe Biden announced the last remaining 3,000 or so U.S. troops will be withdrawn by September 11 — the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon outside Washington. Biden said the military drawdown will start May 1 to close nearly 20 years of war, America’s longest.
Miller commands both U.S. troops and NATO’s noncombatant Resolute Support military mission in the country.
NATO allies have promised to match the action and withdraw around 7,000 of their forces, as well, in line with an agreement Washington negotiated with the Afghan Taliban insurgency a year ago.
“We will conduct an orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan, and that means transitioning bases and equipment to the Afghan security forces,” the general said.FILE – U.S. Army General Scott Miller, center, commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, is seen at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov. 6, 2018.The United States and its allies launched a military invasion of the country days after the deadly September 11, 2001, terror strikes to punish the then-Taliban rulers for harboring and allowing al-Qaida leaders to plot the carnage.
The military action swiftly ousted the Islamist group from power in Kabul before the Taliban regrouped and launched a deadly insurgency against Afghan and U.S.-led international forces, reestablishing control over wide swathes of Afghanistan.
The February 2020 U.S.-Taliban agreement had required all foreign forces to leave Afghanistan by May 1, a week from now, but Biden cited logistical reasons for pushing back the deadline.
The insurgents, who halted attacks on foreign troops after signing the agreement, denounced the delay as a violation of the mutually agreed upon deadline, and threatened to resume hostilities against U.S. forces as they withdraw from Afghanistan.
Miller said his forces continue to retain “the military means and capability to fully protect themselves during the ongoing retrograde and will support the Afghan security forces.”
He rejected allegations the United States had violated the deal and warned of a forceful response if the Taliban attacked foreign forces. FILE – U.S. soldiers load onto a Chinook helicopter to head out on a mission in Afghanistan, Jan. 15, 2019. (1st Lt. Verniccia Ford/U.S. Army/Handout via Reuters)The American general, who was part of the U.S. team that negotiated the landmark pact with the insurgents, advised the Taliban to follow a political path to peace and desist from “senseless violence” to help bring an end to the years of hostilities.
“I’ve had the opportunity to talk to Taliban members with the Taliban Political Commission, and I’ve told them a return to violence, an effort to force a military decision, would be a tragedy for Afghanistan and the Afghan people,” said Miller, who spoke at the U.S. military headquarters in Kabul.
There are fears Afghan security forces will collapse in battles against the Taliban in the absence of U.S. assistance that could lead to more conflict and bloodshed.
The U.S. general reminded the Taliban they are bound under the agreement to break ties with al-Qaida militants to ensure Afghanistan will never be used as a haven for terrorism.
The United Nations reported this past January that there were about 500 al-Qaida operatives in Afghanistan and that the Taliban maintained close contacts with them. The Taliban denied an al-Qaida presence in the country and rejected charges they were in close contact.
The Afghan war to date has claimed an estimated 241,000 lives, including civilians and both local as well as combatants from international forces, and cost the U.S. at least $2.4 trillion, according to a new U.S. study published last week.
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Mariners Learn How Not to Get Stuck in the Suez Canal
In March, one of the world’s biggest container ships became stuck in Egypt’s Suez Canal, creating a commercial logjam and spikes in the cost of oil. At a training facility in France, mariners are learning how to avoid a similar predicament. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more.
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Turkey Summons US Envoy Over Biden’s Armenian Genocide Declaration
Turkey says it summoned the U.S. ambassador to Ankara to condemn President Joe Biden’s declaration that the World War I-era massacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire constituted a genocide. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal told U.S. Ambassador David Satterfield late Saturday that Biden’s statement had no legal basis and that Ankara “rejected it, found it unacceptable and condemned [it] in the strongest terms.” The Ankara government said the United States, a NATO ally, had caused a “wound in ties that will be hard to repair.” Earlier Saturday, Biden became the first U.S. president to make the genocide declaration in connection with the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire — the predecessor to modern-day Turkey — between 1915 and 1923. Biden Recognizes Armenian Genocide a Century AgoHe’s first US president to recognize genocide committed against Armenians Armenians say they were purposely targeted for extermination through starvation, forced labor, deportation, death marches, and outright massacres. Turkey denies a genocide or any deliberate plan to wipe out the Armenians. It says many of the victims were casualties of the war or murdered by Russians. Turkey also says the number of Armenians killed was far fewer than the usually accepted figure of 1.5 million. Moments after Biden made his statement Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted, “Words cannot change or rewrite history. We will not take lessons from anyone on our history.” “Words cannot change or rewrite history.”
We have nothing to learn from anybody on our own past. Political opportunism is the greatest betrayal to peace and justice.
We entirely reject this statement based solely on populism.#1915Events
— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) Members of the Armenian diaspora rally in front of the Turkish Embassy after U.S. President Joe Biden recognized that the 1915 massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire constituted genocide in Washington, Apr. 24, 2021.Cavusoglu said last week that Biden’s recognition of the killings as genocide would harm relations between the NATO allies.FILE – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu attends a press conference in Ankara, Turkey, Aug. 25, 2020.Cavusoglu said Saturday that Biden’s recognition “distorts the historical facts, will never be accepted in the conscience of the Turkish people, and will open a deep wound that undermines our mutual trust and friendship.” “We call on the U.S. president to correct this grave mistake, which serves no purpose other than to satisfy certain political circles, and to support the efforts aiming to establish a practice of peaceful coexistence in the region, especially among the Turkish and Armenian nations, instead of serving the agenda of those circles that try to foment enmity from history,” Cavusoglu added.
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Paris-Area Knife Assailant Viewed Jihadist Videos Prior to Attack, Officials Say
A fifth person is being held for questioning in the stabbing death late last week of a police employee outside Paris, France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor said Sunday. He noted the assailant, a Tunisian national, viewed videos glorifying jihad, or Muslim holy war, and may have visited to a Muslim prayer hall before the attack.AAnti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard confirmed reports that Tunisian Jamel Gorchene consulted videos on his cell phone extolling martyrdom and jihad, minutes before stabbing a 49-year-old police worker and mother of two Friday in the quiet town of Rambouillet, 60 kilometers from Paris.
Speaking at a press conference, Ricard recounted in detail Gorchene’s actions leading up to the attack that took place at a police station. Ricard said cameras captured Gorchene passing the station in Rambouillet several times on a scooter. They also captured him heading toward a Muslim prayer hall, but there were no images of him actually going inside. Ricard said police later found a Quran and Muslim prayer rug in Gorchene’s scooter.
Ricard said on Friday afternoon, Gorchene headed to the police station as his victim left the building. He appeared to have consulted the phone videos just before sprinting after the worker as she reentered the precinct. Witnesses said he cried Allahu Akbhar, or God is great, in Arabic, as he stabbed her in the abdomen and throat. Ricard says police shot Gorchene dead after Gorchene refused to put down his knife. Police officers secure the area where an attacker stabbed a female police worker, in Rambouillet, near Paris, France, April 23, 2021.Police have detained several people, including Gorchene’s father, two cousins and a couple who sheltered the 36-year-old assailant in another Paris-area town. The father told French investigators his son had adopted a rigorous form of Islam. Ricard said Gorchene also consulted psychiatric services at a hospital but didn’t appear to need treatment.
The prosecutor said Gorchene’s Facebook page appears to show a slow change from religious ideology to embracing violence. He said Gorchene registered support, for example, for the assailant who beheaded school teacher Samuel Paty in a Paris suburb last October after Paty showed his class cartoons of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. Many Muslims consider the images blasphemous.
Ricard said France is working with investigators in Tunisia, where Gorchene returned to visit family near the coastal city of Sousse earlier this year. Ricard said Gorchene received French working papers last year as a delivery man but appeared to have lived illegally in France for a long period before that.
Authorities are looking for other possible suspects or accomplices in the killing.
Tunisia was among the biggest exporters of jihadists to places like Syria and Libya a few years ago. Tunisian authorities have condemned the Rambouillet attack.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin unveils new legislation Wednesday to reinforce the fight against terrorism here. In an interview published Sunday, Darmanin called it France’s biggest threat, with 575 suspected radicals expelled from the country since 2017.
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Somalia Election Stalemate Triggers Violence
Intermittent gunfire rocked the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Sunday as rival forces clashed following the breakdown of talks on elections. Witnesses and residents said the fighting took place between federal government forces of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, known as Farmajo, and members of the Somali military who are aligning themselves with opposition leaders. As residents started to break their Ramadan fast early in the evening, clashes erupted in the vicinity of Mogadishu’s K-4 junction. A witness who did not want to be named for security reasons said he saw government troops and rival forces exchange small arms fire as well as rocket propelled grenades. Casualties are not yet known. The federal government and opposition leaders have been at odds over an April 12 decision by the lower house of parliament to extend the mandate of the current federal government for another two years after elections talks collapsed.The Somali president signed a resolution extending his mandate into law the following day. The situation escalated late on Sunday after the former president of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, accused government forces of attacking his residence in north Mogadishu. “It’s unfortunate that troops taking orders from [Farmajo] have attacked my residence,” Mohamud wrote on his Twitter account.“I have warned him [Farmajo] previously and I repeat the risk of politicizing security. The responsibility of the consequence will be taken by Farmajo.” The Somali government has denied the claim from the former president. Internal Security Minister Hassan Hundubey Jimale told state media that government troops have been providing protection to the former government for years. “Since he left office in 2017, he was being protected by government forces because of the national respect he is being afforded; it’s impossible whatsoever that he was attacked; it didn’t happen,” Jimale said. The European Union ambassador to Somalia, Nicolas Berlanga, appealed for maximum restraint. “Highly concerned about the ongoing events in Mogadishu,” he tweeted. Highly concerned about the ongoing events in Mogadishu. The general interest requests maximum restraint, preserve institutions that belong to all and dialogue. Violence is unacceptable. Those responsible will be held accountable.— Nicolas Berlanga (@NBerlangaEU) April 25, 2021Earlier Sunday, protesters took to the streets in north Mogadishu condemning the term extension. Heavily armed soldiers were on patrol alongside the protesters as they shouted chants against Farmajo, witnesses said. Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulle contributed to this story.
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Polls: Americans Give Biden a Mostly Favorable Review at Three-Month Mark
A majority of Americans approve of U.S. President Joe Biden’s overall performance as he nears the end of his first 100 days in office, two major national polls show, with positive marks for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and negative reviews for controlling the surge of migrants at the border with Mexico. A Washington Post-ABC News survey shows 52% of adults give Biden a favorable review compared to 42% who disapprove. An NBC News poll gives Biden a 53%-39% favorable rating. Both polls show the country’s deep political divide has not changed from the contentious 2020 election in which Biden defeated then-President Donald Trump by narrowly winning several key political battleground states en route to a four-year term in the White House. The Post-ABC poll showed 90% of Democrats approved of Biden’s performance compared with 13% of Republicans, while the NBC survey said 90% of Democrats, 61% of independents and only 9% of Republicans approve of his performance. According to the polls, Biden wins some of his highest approval marks for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 226 million vaccinations having been administered and more than 93 million people fully vaccinated. The Post-ABC poll said 64% of adults — including a third of Republicans — approved of Biden’s handling of the coronavirus crisis. NBC said 69% approved. But Biden’s performance standing on other issues is weaker, according to the surveys. The Post-ABC poll said the country’s 46th president is winning a 52% approval rating for his handling of the economy, while 53% disapprove of the way he had dealt with the thousands of migrants from Central America and Mexico who have tried to cross into the United States. Biden, reversing a Trump policy, has allowed unaccompanied minors to stay in the U.S. rather than expelling them. The NBC poll showed Biden with his highest marks, aside from the pandemic, at 52% on both the economy and uniting the country and 49% on improving race relations. His lowest scores came on dealing with China (35%), restricting guns (34%) and dealing with border security and immigration (33%). Biden’s first major legislative initiative was a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, approved solely with the votes of Democratic lawmakers against unified Republican opposition. But the Post-ABC poll showed strong public support, with 65% of those surveyed saying they back the plan compared with 31% opposed. In the politically divided U.S., however, some Republican lawmakers are beginning to publicly take on Biden. One Trump supporter, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, told the “Fox News Sunday” show, “I’m in the 43% [who disapprove of him] — he’s been a disaster on foreign policy. The border is in chaos, the Iranians are off the mat, he’s opening up negotiations with the Iranian regime and they haven’t done a damn thing to change. Afghanistan is going to fall apart. Russia and China are already pushing him around.” “So, I’m very worried,” Graham said. “I think he’s been a very destabilizing president. And economically, he’s throwing a wet blanket over the recovery, wanting to raise taxes in a large amount and regulate America basically out of business. So I’m not very impressed with the first 100 days. This is not what I thought I would get.” Biden’s overall favorability rating was essentially the reverse of Trump’s at the same point in their presidencies, with Trump having a 53%-42% disapproval rating three months into his presidency in 2017. But Biden’s approval standing was lower than that for President Barack Obama at the outset of his eight-year presidency in 2009. Biden is reviewing his first three months in office in a Wednesday night address to a joint session of Congress, although with the necessity of social distancing because of the pandemic, many lawmakers are not expected to attend, and few other officials will be there. In all, about 200 people are expected, compared to the normal 1,600 who have witnessed past presidential speeches in the House of Representatives’ chamber. In his next effort on a major legislative effort, Biden is attempting to win approval for a more than $2 trillion infrastructure deal. But many Republican lawmakers are balking at the inclusion of such items as funding for home health care that go beyond the normal infrastructure spending for road and bridge repairs and opposing paying for the program with higher taxes on businesses and wealthy individuals. Biden, a Democrat, has expressed a willingness for compromise with Republican lawmakers but the two sides remain far apart.
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Chad’s Rising Tensions After Burial of Late President Idriss Deby
An uneasy calm pervades Chad’s capital N’Djamena since Friday’s funeral for President Idriss Deby, who ruled the central African country for more than 30 years. Civilians say handing over power to Deby’s 37-year-old son to lead a transitional military council for 18 months is undemocratic.Inoussa Labarang, 37, feeds his 27 chickens at his residence in Farcha, a neighborhood in Chad’s capital N’Djamena. Labarang says he expected to sell two chickens to raise money and buy millet to feed his family for at least three days. But no customer has come since the country’s long-serving President Idriss Deby was killed during a clash with rebels, he said. Fear has gripped the city. Labarang has a second job as a security guard for shop at night, where he earns $40 each month. The additional income helps him feed his wife and five children. From the little he earns, he gives his wife $10 to buy and sell groundnuts to generate more income. He is struggling, but he said his country should be wealthy. He believes the issue is with governance, pointing squarely at the leadership of the late President Deby, saying that he has given Chad’s wealth to an elite circle of family and friends. He is one of many in the country who believe that the transition and appointment of the late president’s son during this period is unconstitutional. Labarang supports opposition political parties and rebels who are asking the transitional military council created after Deby’s death to leave power. According to Chad’s Constitution, the speaker of the parliament must take over when a sitting president dies before elections can be held, he said. Before he was killed, provisional results showed that Deby won re-election for a sixth term in office. On April 20, the day of Deby’s death, Chad’s military announced on state media the creation of an 18-month transitional military council led by General Mahamat Idriss Deby, the 37-year-old son of the late president. Chad’s Interim President Faces Power StruggleRebels and opposition challenge General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, 37, who has taken control after the death of his father, longtime President Idriss Deby ItnoA rebel force known as the Front for Change and Concord in Chad or FACT, released a statement vowing to take the capital and depose the 37-year-old. Following threats from rebels and the opposition, the transitional military council deployed troops to protect N’Djamena, activist Fundjoul Abdoul of Chad’s Rights Watch said. The transitional military council, Abdoul said, also declared a curfew in N’Djamena and is restricting movement of people in the city of over a million people. “There is total confusion in the whole country. There is a lot of uncertainty,” he said. “People are afraid to go out and the town has been virtually militarized. Chad does not know what future is being reserved for them. The opposition is not yet satisfied. The rebels too are threatening, so there is fear.” Chad’s state radio and TV have been broadcasting messages from Mahamat Idriss Deby calling for peace. In the message the new leader says he is open to dialogue.He says he is very thankful for the support a majority of Chadians and friendly nations, especially France, have given his family since President Idriss Deby’s death. He says his father worked tirelessly for peace, reconciliation and the unity of Chad.
Idriss Deby always encouraged dialogue, he said, as a solution to all forms of crisis. He says with the support of Idriss Deby’s family and the Chadian people, he will continue to defend his father’s ideology that is loved by most Chadians. Deby was a key ally of France in the fight against jihadist groups across West Africa including Boko Haram, which has destabilized the parts of Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger. French President Emmanuel Macron and the son of the late Chadian president Idriss Deby, general Mahamat Idriss Deby, attend the state funeral for the late Chadian president Idriss Deby in N’Djamena, Apr. 23, 2021.French President Emmanuel Macron who visited N’Djamena to attend Deby’s funeral said his country will not allow Chad to become destabilized. Chad’s civil society groups plan to hold a public demonstration Tuesday, demanding the dissolution of the transitional military council. In a statement, Max Loalngar, one of the leaders of a civil society coalition called Coordination of Citizen Actions, accused France and regional allies of undemocratically backing the fallen president’s son to take power. The group said Chad is not a monarchy.
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Albania Holds 10th Parliamentary Election After Fall of Communist Government
Voters in Albania cast ballots in parliamentary elections on Sunday after a bitter campaign by the two main political parties amid the coronavirus pandemic.More than 1,800 candidates who represent 12 political parties as well as electoral coalitions and independents, were competing for the 140 seats parliament.Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party is seeking a third term while the opposition Democratic Party of Lulzim Basha is seeking a return to power. The vote at about 5,200 polling stations was being watched closely by observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe, and many embassies in Albania.“We hope that every Albanian citizen goes and votes, free of fear, free of interference,” U.S. Ambassador Yuri Kim said at a polling station in the northern city of Shkodra. “This is your day,” Kim said.Albanian President Ilir Meta, who cast his ballot shortly after voting began, called on his people to go out and vote not only to exercise their constitutional right, but also to do so as a patriotic act.“The whole world has its eyes on Albania,” Meta said, adding, “Only the good progress of this process means that the Europe Union will open the road for Albania’s membership.”Although in a politicly neutral role as president, Meta has recently accused the Rama government of concentrating the legislative, administrative and judicial powers in his hands, while running a “kleptocratic regime” that has delayed Albania’s membership in EU.The results are not expected until Tuesday.
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Turkey Summons US Ambassador over Biden’s Armenian Genocide Declaration
Turkey says it summoned the U.S. ambassador to Ankara to condemn President Joe Biden’s declaration that the World War I-era massacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire constituted a genocide. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal told U.S. Ambassador David Satterfield late Saturday that Biden’s statement had no legal basis and that Ankara “rejected it, found it unacceptable and condemned [it] in the strongest terms.” The Ankara government said the United States, a NATO ally, had caused a “wound in ties that will be hard to repair.” Earlier Saturday, Biden became the first U.S. president to make the genocide declaration in connection with the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire — the predecessor to modern-day Turkey — between 1915 and 1923. Biden Recognizes Armenian Genocide a Century AgoHe’s first US president to recognize genocide committed against Armenians Armenians say they were purposely targeted for extermination through starvation, forced labor, deportation, death marches, and outright massacres. Turkey denies a genocide or any deliberate plan to wipe out the Armenians. It says many of the victims were casualties of the war or murdered by Russians. Turkey also says the number of Armenians killed was far fewer than the usually accepted figure of 1.5 million. Moments after Biden made his statement Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted, “Words cannot change or rewrite history. We will not take lessons from anyone on our history.” “Words cannot change or rewrite history.”
We have nothing to learn from anybody on our own past. Political opportunism is the greatest betrayal to peace and justice.
We entirely reject this statement based solely on populism.#1915Events
— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) Members of the Armenian diaspora rally in front of the Turkish Embassy after U.S. President Joe Biden recognized that the 1915 massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire constituted genocide in Washington, Apr. 24, 2021.Cavusoglu said last week that Biden’s recognition of the killings as genocide would harm relations between the NATO allies.FILE – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu attends a press conference in Ankara, Turkey, Aug. 25, 2020.Cavusoglu said Saturday that Biden’s recognition “distorts the historical facts, will never be accepted in the conscience of the Turkish people, and will open a deep wound that undermines our mutual trust and friendship.” “We call on the U.S. president to correct this grave mistake, which serves no purpose other than to satisfy certain political circles, and to support the efforts aiming to establish a practice of peaceful coexistence in the region, especially among the Turkish and Armenian nations, instead of serving the agenda of those circles that try to foment enmity from history,” Cavusoglu added.
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Gold-Medal Project: Judo Seeks Solutions in Police Training
The stakes were clear to the two dozen police officers who gathered for a workshop with an ambitious and increasingly urgent mission — recalibrating the way police interact with the public in America.The class took place the same week as jury selection for the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer who was convicted Tuesday of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.No one attending the conference would deny that the profession failed the day Floyd died with Chauvin’s knee on his neck. They came to the classes with the idea that judo, the martial art with a deep global history and an imprint at the Olympics, but still shallow roots in the United States, might be able to help fix it.“The social contract between police officers and the public is degrading a bit,” said Joe Yungwirth, a trainer at the workshop who built his career doing counterterrorism work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the FBI and now runs a judo academy in North Carolina. “All law-enforcement officers I know, we feel we need to bring that back in line somehow.”That has been a common refrain over a year’s worth of police shootings and protests, all of which have been underscored by calls for police reform.The judo project is, by any account, an outside-the-box idea. Because the sport, known by insiders as “the gentle way” of martial arts, has little emphasis on striking and is considered less violent than some of its brethren, some leaders in judo, and in policing, saw an opportunity to use the discipline to rethink officer training. Last summer’s headlines pushed these courses, which had been in development since 2018, to the top of the priority list.The main concept over the week of classes held at the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy centered on teaching police officers how to engage suspects verbally, then employ physical judo techniques if needed, to deescalate confrontations without using deadly force.The goal is to avoid situations the likes of which led to Floyd’s death and, just last week, to the death of Daunte Wright, whose funeral was Thursday. Wright was shot and killed by an officer who thought she was reaching for her taser when it was, in fact, her gun.Jim Bacon, a former athlete on the U.S. judo team who now serves as a police officer in Lafayette, Colorado, says the most damning police-on-suspect encounters — many now caught on police body cameras or by onlookers holding iPhones have this in common: “The cop resorts to higher levels of force than should’ve been used. If they have more skills, they might not have to rely on the gadgets on the belt,” he said.The workshop also offered a window into the different role an Olympic organization, and maybe the Olympics themselves, can play in society at large. The USA Judo P3 Program is sponsored by USA Judo, the six-person operation in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that has helped Kayla Harrison and Ronda Rousey, now of Ultimate Fighting Championship fame, bring Olympic medals back home, but that also must constantly nourish its own grassroots system.The national governing body has been losing ground on both fronts, most recently because of the pandemic, and over the years because of the growing popularity of other martial arts, such as jujitsu and taekwondo, that have kept judo in the shadows in America.With an emphasis not on hitting, but rather on using leverage and body position to execute holds and takedowns, judo has long been easy to overlook, both in the days when Bruce Lee kicked and nunchucked martial arts into the American conscience, then more recently, when UFC octagons overshadowed boxing rings among a wide, big-spending cross-section of 21st-century sports fans.“This hits a societal issue,” USA Judo CEO Keith Bryant said. “And for us, it has potential to get more people on the mat.”In an exercise that cut to the core of the judo training, conference planners Taybren Lee and Mike Verdugo played suspects who were impaired, or mentally unstable, and challenged the officers to use judo to deescalate the situations. The scenarios were acted out as though they were happening in public, with pedestrians shooting the action from every angle on their phone cameras.“If we can talk to you, if we can keep you up, that’s going to change the whole visual, especially when people have their iPhones recording,” Verdugo said. “This is a matter of keeping you up on your feet and not grinding you into the ground.”Lee says the public would be alarmed at how little training the average police department provides to officers for street confrontations. And because so many more interactions are now caught on video, police are being scrutinized in ways previously impossible.“It’s not the officers’ fault that they don’t have the training,” said Lee, an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department who also teaches judo for the youth-based Police Athletic League, a sponsor of the training program. “Sometimes, the departments haven’t spent the money for the training, and in a lot of ways, the training hasn’t caught up to the realities of the technology that’s out there.”The officers for the initial workshop came from Fort Worth, Texas; Billings, Montana; Meridian, Idaho; and other small towns scattered around the West. Another workshop for other cities is being planned for next month.Spearheading this sort of endeavor is hardly the traditional role for leaders at an organization such as USA Judo, whose most high-profile mission is to help Americans bring home Olympic medals. But, as the past 13 months have shown, this could be an ideal time for the nonprofits that make up the backbone of the U.S. Olympic system to reinvent themselves.USA Judo was among the 70% of U.S. national governing bodies that asked the government for loans under the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program during COVID-19. It cut two of its eight-person staff. It currently has one Olympic medal contender, Angelica Delgado, in a sport that fans will have to scour the listings to find among the 7,000 of hours of NBC coverage this summer.Over the course of the pandemic, most of the 400 clubs that USA Judo sanctions across the country were forced to close or severely curtail operations. With no sanctioned events to offer — the NGB will hold its first national competition in 17 months this weekend in Salt Lake City — its membership has dropped by half, to about 5,000. By comparison, there are between 600,000 and 800,000 judoka in France, host of the 2024 Olympics, and between 150,000 and 200,000 in this year’s Olympic country, Japan.“People have always said, as soon as we get a gold medalist, then judo will grow” Bryant said. “But people thought that before. We had a gold medalist who won two gold medals [in Harrison]. It didn’t really move the needle.”The unheralded and unglamorous art of police training might not, either. But Bryant sees judo as one of those rare sports — unlike, say, gymnastics or basketball — that has a spot both in a competitive venue and in real-world situations.Among the program’s task force members are 2004 Olympic judoka Nikki Kubes Andrews, now a detective for the Fort Worth Police Department. And Bacon, the former U.S. national team member who is now an officer in Colorado.“The public wants police officers to be better trained,” Bacon said. “That’s why we’re trying to integrate judo, so we can be more effective in these situations without hurting the other person.”USA Judo is offering free memberships to officers who participate in the training and has hopes the police initiative could spark new interest in the sport. But Bryant readily concedes that growing the sport in America will take time — and that none of this is designed to bring home gold medals from Tokyo this summer.He is also acutely aware that there are other ways to measure success during a difficult time in America.“We sat down and started talking,” Bryant said, “and we agreed that when you look at George Floyd, and all these situations, we felt like if these officers had been trained in judo appropriately, it wouldn’t have happened.”
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Thailand Sets Daily Record of COVID-19 Deaths for Second Day
Thailand on Sunday set a record for the daily number of COVID-19 deaths for the second consecutive day, as authorities step up the response to a rapid third wave of infections after about a year of relative success slowing the spread of coronavirus.Thailand will slow down issuing travel documents for foreign nationals from India due to the outbreak of a new coronavirus B.1.617 variant, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government’s COVID-19 taskforce.“For foreigners from India entering Thailand, right now we will slow this down,” said Taweesin, adding that 131 Thai nationals in India already registered to travel in May will still be allowed into the country.Thailand reported 2,438 new coronavirus cases and 11 new deaths, bringing the total number of infections to 55,460 and fatalities to 140 since the pandemic started last year.Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on his Facebook page on Saturday said provincial governors can close public venues and impose curfews if necessary to stop the virus spreading.Authorities in the capital city of Bangkok have ordered the closure of venues including parks, gyms, cinemas and day care centers from April 26 through May 9.Shopping malls remain open, but the Thai Retailers Association has restricted store opening hours in Bangkok as well as in 17 more of the country’s 73 provinces.Thailand kept its number of infection cases far lower than many other countries throughout last year, but a new outbreak, spurred partly by the highly transmissible B.1.1.7 variant, has resulted in over 24,000 cases and 46 deaths in just 25 days.The rising figures have prompted concern over the number of hospital beds, particularly as government policy is to admit anyone testing positive for the novel coronavirus, even those without symptoms.Health officials have insisted there are still over 20,000 available beds nationwide.To free beds quicker, the prime minister has said health authorities are considering reducing the quarantine period for asymptomatic cases to 10 days from 14, with the remaining four days to be spent in self-isolation at home.
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Myanmar Shadow Government Welcomes ASEAN Call to End Violence
Myanmar’s shadow government of ousted lawmakers has welcomed a call by Southeast Asian leaders for an end to “military violence” after their crisis talks in Jakarta with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.The general attended a high-level summit Saturday with leaders from the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to discuss Myanmar’s mounting crisis.Since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a Feb. 1 coup, Myanmar has been in an uproar with near-daily protests and a nationwide civil disobedience movement.Security forces have deployed live ammunition to quell the uprising, killing more than 740 people in brutal crackdowns, according to local monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).The ASEAN meeting produced a consensus that there would be “an immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar,” the bloc said Saturday.It added that ASEAN will also have a special envoy to “facilitate mediation” between all parties, and this representative will be able to travel to Myanmar.But while they “heard calls for the release of all political prisoners,” a commitment to free them was not included in the consensus statement.A spokesperson from the shadow government — known as the National Unity Government (NUG) — on Saturday said ASEAN’s statement was “encouraging news.”“We look forward to firm action by ASEAN to follow up its decisions and restore our democracy and freedom for our people and for the region,” said Dr Sasa, the NUG’s minister of international cooperation, who is currently in hiding with the rest of his fellow lawmakers.The lawmakers — most of whom were part of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party — are wanted for high treason by the junta.Overnight, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc will continue to call for the release of political prisoners.‘Business as usual’As Myanmar nears three months under the military regime, escalating violence by its security forces — especially in urban centers — has pushed protesters and prominent activists into hiding.The junta has also throttled communications across the country, imposing a nightly internet shutdown for 70 consecutive days and restricting mobile data to a mere trickle.By Saturday, the number of detainees climbed to 3,389, according to AAPP.Independent news outlet The Irrawaddy confirmed Sunday that a former editor, Thu Thu Tha, was arrested in Thanlyin, a port city across the river from commercial hub Yangon.“In spite of Min Aung Hlaing’s appearance in the ASEAN summit, it’s business as usual,” Irrawaddy’s founder Aung Zaw told AFP, adding that most of his staff are currently in hiding.On Saturday, as the junta chief attended the meeting with ASEAN leaders and foreign ministers in Jakarta, soldiers and police fired on protesters near Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw.One 50-year-old protester was held by the police and shot dead by a soldier; an eyewitness told AFP.Despite the threat of violence, protesters across Myanmar continued to take to the streets Sunday — from the northern jade mining city of Hpakant to eastern Karenni state.In central Myingyan — where brutal crackdowns have forced residents to hide in nearby villages — protesters smeared red paint on some of the city’s buildings to protest the bloodshed.“Give power back to the people,” read graffiti on the city’s sidewalks.‘Will the killing stop?’State-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar on Sunday reported on Min Aung Hlaing’s visit to Jakarta and said he discussed the country’s “political changes.”But it made no mention of ASEAN’s consensus for a halt to violence.The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said it remains to be seen how effective the bloc’s engagement will be.“The result of the ASEAN Summit will be found in Myanmar, not [in] a document,” Andrews tweeted Sunday.“Will the killing stop? Will the terrorizing of neighborhoods end? Will the thousands abducted be released?”The junta has justified its power seizure as a means to protect democracy, alleging electoral fraud in November elections which Suu Kyi’s party had won in a landslide.
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From Scarcity to Abundance: US Faces Calls to Share Vaccines
Victor Guevara knows people his age have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in many countries. His own relatives in Houston have been inoculated.But the 72-year-old Honduran lawyer, like so many others in his country, is still waiting. And increasingly, he is wondering why the United States is not doing more to help, particularly as the American vaccine supply begins to outpace demand and doses that have been approved for use elsewhere in the world, but not in the U.S., sit idle.“We live in a state of defenselessness on every level,” Guevara said of the situation in his Central American homeland.Honduras has obtained a paltry 59,000 vaccine doses for its 10 million people. Similar gaps in vaccine access are found across Africa, where just 36 million doses have been acquired for the continent’s 1.3 billion people, as well as in parts of Asia.In the United States, more than one-fourth of the population — nearly 90 million people — has been fully vaccinated and supplies are so robust that some states are turning down planned shipments from the federal government.This stark access gap is prompting increased calls across the world for the U.S. to start shipping vaccine supplies to poorer countries. That is creating an early test for President Joe Biden, who has pledged to restore American leadership on the world stage and prove to wary nations that the U.S. is a reliable partner after years of retrenchment during the Trump administration.J. Stephen Morrison, senior vice president and director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington, said that as the U.S. moves from vaccine scarcity to abundance, it has an opportunity to “shape the outcomes dramatically in this next phase because of the assets we have.”Biden, who took office in January as the virus was raging in the U.S., has responded cautiously to calls for help from abroad.He has focused the bulk of his administration’s vaccinations efforts at home. He kept in place an agreement struck by the Trump administration requiring drugmakers that got U.S. aid in developing or expanding vaccine manufacturing to sell their first doses produced in the country to the U.S. government. The U.S. has also used the Defense Production Act to secure vital supplies for the production of vaccine, a move that has blocked the export of some supplies outside the country.White House aides have argued that Biden’s cautious approach to promises around vaccine supply and delivery was validated in the wake of manufacturing issues with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the subsequent safety “pause” to investigate a handful of reported blood clots. In addition, officials say they need to maintain reserves in the U.S. to vaccinate teenagers and younger children once safety studies for those age groups are completed and if booster shots should be required later.The White House is aware that the rest of the world is watching. Last month, the U.S. shared 4 million vaccine doses with neighboring Canada and Mexico, and this past week, Biden said those countries would be targets for additional supplies. He also said countries in Central America could receive U.S. vaccination help, though officials have not detailed any specific plans.The lack of U.S. vaccine assistance around the world has created an opportunity for China and Russia, which have promised millions of doses of domestically produced shots to other countries, though there have been production delays that have hampered the delivery of some supplies. China’s foreign minister Wang Yi said this month that China opposes “vaccine nationalism” and that vaccines should become a global public good.Norma Gonzalez, 68, waits for results after she was tested for the COVID-19 virus, in a Red Cross laboratory in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, April 23, 2021.Professor Willem Hanekom, director of the Africa Health Research Institute and a vaccinologist, said wealthy countries have a stake in the success of vaccination efforts in other corners of the world.“Beyond the moral obligation, the problem is that if there is not going to be control of the epidemic globally, this may ultimately backfire for these rich countries, if in areas where vaccines are not available variants emerge against which the vaccines might not work,” Hanekom said.The U.S. has also faced criticism that it is not only hoarding its own stockpiles, but also blocking other countries from accessing vaccines, including through its use of the law that gives Washington broad authority to direct private companies to meet the needs of the national defense.Adar Poonawalla, chief executive of the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest maker of vaccines and a critical supplier of the U.N.-backed COVAX facility, asked Biden on Twitter on April 16 to lift the U.S. embargo on exporting raw materials needed to make the jabs.India is battling the world’s fastest pace of spreading infections. Its government has blocked vaccine exports for several months to better meet needs at home, exacerbating the difficulty of poor countries to access vaccine.The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ 2020 annual report also raised eyebrows for a section titled “Combatting malign influences in the Americas,” which said the U.S. had convinced Brazil to not buy the Russian shot.The U.S. Embassy denied exerting any pressure regarding vaccines approved by Brazil’s health regulator, which has not yet signed off on Sputnik V. Since March 13, Brazil has been trying to negotiate supply of U.S. surplus vaccines for itself, according to the foreign ministry.There are also concerns that the U.S. might link vaccine sharing to other diplomatic efforts. Washington’s loan of 2.7 million doses of AstraZeneca’s shots to Mexico last month came on the same day Mexico announced it was restricting crossings at its southern border, an effort that could help decrease the number of migrants seeking entry into the United States.A retired doctor from the public health system stands in a line as he waits to be inoculated with the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, as part of a vaccination campaign in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, April 23, 2021.Those sort of parallel tracks of diplomacy will be closely watched as the Biden administration decides with whom to share its surplus vaccine, particularly in Central America, home to many countries where migrant families and unaccompanied children are trying to make their way to the U.S.“What we would hope to avoid is any perception that increased access to lifesaving vaccines in Central America is in exchange for increased tightening of border security,” said Maureen Meyer, vice president for programs at the Washington Office on Latin America.As the wait for vaccines continues in Honduras, desperation is growing.Last week, a private business group announced it would try to buy 1.5 million vaccine doses to help government efforts, though it was unclear how it might obtain them. In March, authorities in Mexico seized 5,700 doses of purported Russian vaccines found in false bottoms of ice chests aboard a private plane bound for Honduras. The company owner who chartered the plane said he was trying to obtain vaccines for his employees and their families. The vaccine’s Russian distributor said the vaccines were fake.Lilian Tilbeth Hernández Banegas, 46, was infected with COVID-19 in late November and spent 13 days in a Tegucigalpa hospital. The first days she struggled to breathe and thought she would die.The experience has made the mother of three more anxious about the virus and more diligent about avoiding it. The pandemic rocked her family’s finances. Her husband sells used cars but has not made a sale in more than four months.“I want to vaccinate myself, my family to be vaccinated, because my husband and my children go out to work, but it’s frustrating that the vaccines don’t arrive,” Hernández said.There is plenty of blame to go around, said Marco Tulio Medina, coordinator of the COVID-19 committee at the National Autonomous University of Honduras, noting his own government’s lackadaisical approach and the ferocity of the vaccine marketplace. But the wealthy can do more.“There’s a lack of humanism on the part of the rich countries,” he said. “They’re acting in an egotistical way, thinking of themselves and not of the world.”
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Soccer-English Leagues Announce Social Media Boycott in Stand Against Online Racism
England’s football authorities have joined forces to announce a social media boycott next weekend in response to continued online racist abuse of players.The boycott will take place across a full fixture program in the men’s and women’s professional game from 3 p.m. local time (1400 GMT) on Friday to 11.59 p.m. on May 3.Clubs across the Premier League, English Football League, Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship will switch off their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts to emphasize that social media companies must do more to eradicate online hate.“Racist behavior of any form is unacceptable and the appalling abuse we are seeing players receive on social media platforms cannot be allowed to continue,” Premier League CEO Richard Masters said in a statement.“The Premier League and our clubs stand alongside football in staging this boycott to highlight the urgent need for social media companies to do more in eliminating racial hatred.“We will not stop challenging social media companies and want to see significant improvements in their policies and processes to tackle online discriminatory abuse on their platforms.”A host of players at Premier League clubs have been targeted in the past few months, including Manchester United’s Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford, Liverpool’s Trent-Alexander Arnold and Sadio Mane, and Chelsea’s Reece James.Championship (second tier) sides Birmingham City and Swansea City and Scottish champions Rangers recently held weeklong boycotts following a spate of racial attacks on their players.Former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry said last month he was removing himself from social media because of racism and bullying, while Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has handed over control of his accounts to an anti-cyberbullying charity.In February, English football bodies sent an open letter to Facebook and Twitter, urging blocking and swift takedowns of offensive posts, as well as an improved verification process for users.Facebook-owned Instagram has announced new measures and Twitter vowed to continue its efforts after acting on more than 700 cases of abuse related to soccer in Britain in 2019.
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UEFA President: Ban Against Super League Teams Still on the Table
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has refused to rule out a ban from next season’s Champions League for all 12 clubs involved in trying to set up a breakaway European Super League.But Ceferin also told Britain’s Mail on Sunday that the six English clubs — Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United — deserve greater leniency as they were the first to back out.He said their stance was in contrast to that of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus, ridiculed by Ceferin as “the ones who feel that Earth is flat and… think the Super League still exists.”In the space of 48 hours beginning last Sunday, UEFA, aided by fans and politicians, quelled a mutiny by English, Spanish and Italian clubs attempting to form a quasi-closed tournament designed to supplant the existing Champions League.Nine clubs, including all six in England, subsequently withdrew.But Ceferin, who thanked British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for his opposition to the Super League, said disciplinary action remained an option for UEFA, European football’s governing body.”Everyone has to take consequences for what they did and we cannot pretend nothing happened,” he warned.However, the Slovenian lawyer, elected UEFA president in 2016, added: “But for me it’s a clear difference between the English clubs and the other six. They pulled out first, they admitted they made a mistake. You have to have some greatness to say: ‘I was wrong.'””But everyone will be held responsible. In what way, we will see,” he said.The irony is that UEFA were on the brink of enacting changes that would have entrenched the position of many of the established Champions League powers behind the Super League.But Ceferin said he was open to dropping the two extra Champions League spots in an expanded competition that were meant to be reserved for clubs based on their historic record.
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US Armenians Welcome ‘Little Step’ After Genocide Recognition
U.S. President Joe Biden’s recognition of the Armenian genocide was met Saturday with tempered satisfaction from the nation’s U.S. diaspora, with some saying the words need to result in more pressure against Turkey.”It’s a middle step, because (Biden) didn’t say Turkey,” said Yvette Gevorkian, who was among some 400 people who marched in New York City to mark the memory of the World War I-era killings.”But it’s a victory for all this time we’ve been working towards,” added the 51-year-old who arrived in the United States from Iran at the age of 9.As many as 1.5 million Armenians are estimated to have been killed from 1915-17 during the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, which suspected the Christian minority of conspiring with adversary Russia in World War I.Armenian populations were rounded up and deported into the desert of Syria on death marches in which many were shot, poisoned or fell victim to disease, according to accounts at the time by foreign diplomats.Turkey, which emerged as a secular republic from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, acknowledges that 300,000 Armenians may have died but strongly rejects that it was genocide.It’s a delicate issue for NATO ally Turkey, and nations like France, Germany and Canada that have recognized the genocide.”One side you say, ‘I recognize the Armenian genocide’ but at the same time, you’re giving (Turkey) technology, you support their army,” said 40-year-old Mher Janian of the Armenian National Committee of America grassroots group.Still, it’s “a step toward the future for reparations, for good relationship with our neighbors,” he added.Recognition has been a top priority for Armenia and Armenian Americans, with calls for compensation and property restoration over what they call Meds Yeghern — the Great Crime — and appeals for more support against Turkish-backed neighbor Azerbaijan.Marchers also gathered in Los Angeles, home to one of the largest Armenian communities in the world, to mark the day with Armenian flags and calls for accountability.”Turkey must pay, Turkey will pay,” the crowd chanted, while some held “Thank you Biden” signs.Born in Turkey, Armenia, Iran, Syria, Lebanon or even the United States, Armenian Americans have taken many routes but share a history that remains unforgotten.Ani Tervizian, who attended the New York rally, told of her grandmother recounting how her own mother and uncle had been victims of massacre.”The fact that so many generations have passed and you see all these youths that feel Armenian in a foreign land, to me, that’s victory,” the 58-year-old said.The simple fact of the recognition was welcomed by people who hope nations can remember the horror of the killings and stop them from happening again elsewhere.”The goal is not to alienate us from our allies but rather to bring to awareness that justice should prevail. We have to take action to prevent future genocide and massacres,” said Archbishop prelate Anoushavan Tanielian of the Eastern Prelacy of the Apostolic Church of America.
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Thousands Gather in Australia, New Zealand to Honor Military Sacrifices
Thousands of Australians and New Zealanders attended Anzac Day dawn services Sunday to honor their armed forces, a year after marking the solemn occasion from the isolation of their driveways.Both countries largely returned to in-person services after the cancellation of marches and ceremonies in 2020 because of coronavirus restrictions that led many to observe the annual memorial day at home.Anzac Day marks the 1915 landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli, in what is now Turkey, during World War I to face the German-backed Ottoman forces.While most nations commemorate military victories, New Zealand and Australia focus on the ill-fated, eight-month campaign that cost the young nations more than 11,000 lives.At a gathering at the War Memorial Museum in Auckland early Sunday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern highlighted the sacrifices of women in war.”They were courageous and passionate during the most appalling conditions,” she said. “These were the women who paved the way for women to be fully integrated into our defense force we know today, in our air force, our navy and in our army.”Commemorations broadenedThe commemorations now extend to every conflict the countries have joined in the ensuing decades, including wars in Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan.Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said this year a “chapter in our history is coming to a close” after the announcement last week the country would withdraw its remaining troops from Afghanistan in line with the U.S. timetable to leave by September.Speaking at an official memorial in Canberra, Morrison said Australia’s longest war had come at “great cost” to the nation.”Forty-one Australian lives lost in Afghanistan, whom we especially remember and honor this morning,” he said.”More than 39,000 Australians have served on operations in support of Australia’s mission in Afghanistan, many carrying the wounds and scars of war, seen and unseen.”The two nations’ success in containing the spread of COVID-19 allowed many public remembrance services and parades to go ahead, though with limited crowds in Australia and ceremonies canceled in the locked-down city of Perth.
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Thai Activists Gravitate to Clubhouse After Crackdown
After a youth movement to reform Thailand’s monarchy erupted onto Bangkok’s streets last year, many dissidents have been The icon for the social media app Clubhouse is seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing, Feb. 9, 2021.Launched in April 2020, Clubhouse had nearly 14 million downloads globally in the first quarter this year, according to market data company Statista.As of February, Europe, the Middle East and Africa held the largest share of global downloads of the app, followed by Asia.The app was banned in China, after users discussed sensitive topics such as Beijing’s placement of Uyghurs in concentration camps in Xinjiang, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement and the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.In the Middle East, it is blocked on certain mobile networks in Jordan, while in the United Arab Emirates, users have described unexplainable glitches.In Thailand, authorities have warned users not to distribute disinformation after Kyoto University’s associate professor Pavin Chachavalpongpun’s talk of the palace and King Maha Vajiralongkorn quickly drew thousands of listeners.Moving onlineSurachanee Sriyai, a political science lecturer at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, said the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations has contributed to Clubhouse’s boom.Thailand’s pro-democracy protesters, mostly school and university students, have been calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the rewriting of the country’s constitution, and reform of the monarchy.The movement drew tens of thousands to the streets at its peak last year. Since then, it has struggled to maintain its momentum. Authorities met protesters with water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas.Critics contend the authorities’ most powerful weapon is Thailand’s draconian lèse-majesté law, written to shield the monarchy from criticism. Those found guilty of violating the law, known as Article 112, could face up to 15 years in prison.At least 82 people — some just 16 years old — have been summoned or charged under Article 112 since the youth protests began in July 2020, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights. Key student leaders have been repeatedly denied bail as they await trial, according to the legal group.“Thai politics is at a precarious, sensitive juncture,” Surachanee told VOA. “Going out in the streets has become increasingly riskier … making it necessary to retreat online again.”Promises, pitfallsFor years, different protest groups in Thailand have used social media to expand their bases and amplify their messages, according to Sombat Boonngamanong, a veteran pro-democracy activist, who is based in Bangkok.In 2013-14, critics of then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra used a “check-in” feature and shared pictures on Facebook when they joined street demonstrations to call for her resignation.Last year, the youth movement, which has adopted a flat rather than hierarchical leadership structure, migrated to Facebook, Twitter and Telegram to organize street rallies and flash mobs.“Pro-democracy activists have found Clubhouse to be effective and a significant number of them have used it as a base,” said Sombat, 53, who was drawn to Clubhouse after Tesla CEO Elon Musk appeared on the app on Feb. 1.Sombat believes that Clubhouse has untapped potential for political activism. The app’s instantaneous interactive feature could help pro-democracy activists expand their reach more effectively and change the way they spread their agenda or exchange information, he said.In an experiment on April 18, Sombat and some 100 members used the picture of Myanmar’s popular actor/model Paing Takhon — who was arrested April 7 by the military during an anti-democracy crackdown — as their profile pictures.Together, they joined an ongoing chat room about Myanmar’s situation, pulling off a stunt that resembled a flash mob crossed with a photobomb, which the host described as a show of solidarity.After a human rights lawyer sent a distress letter from police detention, Thai Unity Club members sprang into action to express concern about the safety of the lawyer and other activists as they awaited trials.Rakchanok Srinok and members of Thai Unity Club, a group formed on Clubhouse, submitted a letter to bring attention to the condition of jailed political activists in March 2021. (Courtesy Thai Unity Club)“Some members proposed that we hand deliver a letter [to ask a Thai parliamentary committee to investigate] … then everyone pitched in to make it happen” online and then in real life, said Rukchanok. “It became real activism outside of Clubhouse.”Despite what the activists see as successes using Clubhouse and social media, Surachanee, the political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, said she remains skeptical about the ability of Clubhouse to drive a social movement.“It’s too early to say that Clubhouse can fuel a large-scale movement,” she said. “We have yet to see it, but it’s more common to see Clubhouse being used to organize smaller, lower-risk political activities.”Clubhouse is not immune to the drawbacks that color much of social media — accessibility, the echo-chamber effect and slacktivism, according to Surachanee, who studies digital politics and political communication.For now, Clubhouse is only accessible on iOS, the mobile operating system for iPhone and iPad. That means Android users in Thailand, who account for about 70% of the population, remain excluded.Some Clubhouse users may feel less enthusiastic to join protests or other on-the-ground activism when they can click for information and discussions online, Surachanee said.Arthittaya, a Clubhouse early adopter, said she was aware of the pitfalls. The 32-year-old freelancer is in demand to moderate discussions on the app but makes sure she shows up on the street.“Clubhouse is a great tool to brainstorm, strategize and build consensus, but it’s certainly still very important to join protests” she said. “We need an on-the-ground show of force to empower the people and to gain more political leverage.”This story originated in VOA’s Thai Service.
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