At the launch of this year’s Rohingya refugee donor’s conference, Bangladesh led a chorus of growing voices calling for durable solutions to resolve the ongoing crisis. New pledges have been rolling in, but U.N. agencies are expressing concern about donor fatigue. They worry they might not receive the $943 million they need to assist 1.4 million Rohingya refugees and the Bangladeshi communities hosting them in Cox’s Bazar. Bangladesh’s deputy minister of foreign affairs Shahriar Alam attends the 14th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Dec. 16, 2019 in Madrid, Spain.Last year, the U.N.’s $1 billion Joint Response Plan garnered only 60% of that amount. Bangladesh State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam said the launch is the fourth annual appeal for the Rohingya temporarily sheltering in his country. He said he wondered how long the refugees can continue to suffer in overcrowded camps and how long the international community can sustain such massive humanitarian support. He said it is important to seek a permanent solution to the Rohingya refugee crisis to avoid repeating similar exercises every year. “All undertakings under the JRP (Joint Response Plan) or any other funding mechanism should be implemented given this overarching objective in mind,” Alam said. “The priority areas that have been identified in the JRP must be aligned with the core objective of preparing the Rohingyas for their return and any project, such as education or skill development, should be designed and implemented in ways that will help Rohingyas to integrate into their society on their return to Myanmar.” The minister acknowledges this might not be the most propitious time for the Rohingya to return home. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi talks to the media during his visit to the Um Rakuba refugee camp on the Sudan-Ethiopia border, Sudan, Nov. 28, 2020.U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi agrees the military coup by Myanmar’s generals on February first precludes the safe and dignified return of the refugees. He said the UNHCR and other agencies are present in Rakhine State in Myanmar to create the conditions necessary for the refugees to return to their homes of origin. “Clearly this has not happened so far because besides the work that we do, more work, more action needs to be taken on the Myanmar side in terms of freedom of movement, access to services, ending the discrimination that has caused, in fact, the exodus of people into Bangladesh,” Grandi said.Meanwhile, High Commissioner Grandi said the Rohingya people must not be forgotten. He says the international community must continue to support the refugees as they have no other means of survival. He notes Rohingya continue to flee violence in Myanmar. He renews his appeal to neighboring countries, mainly India and Thailand, to keep their borders open and not to deport them back to a country where their lives are at risk.
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Month: May 2021
Sudan’s Ruling Council Removes First Female Chief Justice, Accepts Attorney General’s Resignation
Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council removed Chief Justice Neimat Abdallah Mohamed Khair from the bench and accepted the resignation of Attorney General Taj Al Sir Al Hibir late on Monday, without offering an explanation for either decision.The moves come days after Sudanese soldiers shot and killed two protesters in Khartoum.Mohammed Al Fekki Suleiman, spokesperson of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, made the announcement during a press briefing shortly after the regular meeting of the council in Khartoum on Monday night.Suleiman said the chief justice’s position will remain vacant until the council appoints a replacement in accordance with the constitution.“The council shall approve the appointment of the chief justice, the Supreme Court judges, and the president and members of the Constitutional Court after their nomination by the High Judicial Council. Until the high judicial council is formed, the Sovereign Council shall appoint the chief justice. The same thing applies to the attorney general,” he said.Judge Khair was appointed Sudan’s first female chief justice in October 2019, six months after the Sudanese military removed Omar al-Bashir from power in response to months of mass pro-democracy demonstrations.Judge Khair was not immediately available for comment.Suleiman also said the Sovereign Council had accepted the resignation of Attorney General Al Hibir, noting Al Hibir indicated his desire to step down on at least three occasions.Al Hibir tells VOA’s South Sudan In Focus he resigned because he had not been given enough political space to work independently.More than 20 qualified public prosecutors were relieved from their posts earlier this month by a government committee tasked with removing elements of Bashir’s administration and recovering stolen funds, according to Al Hibir.That was a case of government agencies overstepping their boundaries, he told South Sudan in Focus.“It is a matter of independence of the attorney general’s office in terms of [interference] other unauthorized institutions and government agencies to terminate the tenure of office of prosecutors and chief prosecutors, [which] I think is not fair because it is a violation of a law that applies to these institutions,” he said.“If you cannot do justice for your own people, then you will not be able to do justice for the others. And even if [my resignation] was not accepted, I would have stayed at home,” he added.Mohammed Ali Fazari, editor in chief of the online English newspaper Khartoum Today, said he is not surprised to see Khair and Al Hibir forced out of their posts.Many families who lost relatives during the military’s crackdown on the Sudanese revolution two years ago believe both top officials failed to carry out justice for their loved ones, Fazari said.“Justice is one of the three pillars of the slogan of the Sudanese revolution; [it] has stumbled and faced a number of challenges due to the delay of main cases. There are so many criminal suspects still at large,” Fazri told South Sudan in Focus.Military commanders recently turned over the names of soldiers suspected of being involved in killing two protesters in Khartoum last week, who were marking the two-year anniversary of the Sudanese revolution.
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Pro-Democracy Activists Remanded Following Guilty Plea Over 2019 Protests
Six Hong Kong pro-democracy advocates have been remanded to custody after pleading guilty to their involvement in protests dating to October 2019. District Judge Amanda Woodcock ruled in the case of political figures Figo Chan, Avery Ng, Albert Ho, Sin Chung, Yeung Sum and Richard Tsoi on Tuesday, a day after they each admitted to one count of organizing an unauthorized assembly that took place more than 18 months ago, on China’s National Day. Overall, 10 opposition figures pleaded guilty, with four already in custody in separate cases, including media tycoon Jimmy Lai. Sentencing is due to take place on May 28. Avery Ng, 44, among the six remanded, is secretary-general of the League of Social Democrats (LSD), Hong Kong’s most radical pro-democracy party. The politician spoke with VOA in a phone interview last week. Up until Tuesday, he was one of the few opposition leaders who had avoided substantial jail time following dozens of arrests by authorities in recent months. Following the 2019 anti-government protests, Beijing implemented a national security law in June last year in Hong Kong, limiting autonomy and making it easier for dissidents to be punished. The law carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Beijing recently approved electoral changes for the territory to ensure that “patriots” govern the city. According to Ng, it’s an attempt to “redefine democracy.” FILE – Hong Kong academic and activist Joseph Cheng observes a Kuomintang (KMT) rally ahead of the election in Taipei, Taiwan, January 9, 2020.“This raising of punishment comes rather suddenly and is very much in line with the changes in the political climate. It probably means many of the judges would like to toe the Beijing line,” he told VOA. Discussing his own party’s future, Ng admits he’s an “internal cautious optimist,” but the outlook is “uncertain.” “The only option for us is to remain on the streets and with the people,” Ng said. Cheng said he believes the LSD would like to serve as the “symbolic organization of defiance within the pro-democracy movement.” And although the trial for Ng and the remaining nine opposition figures has yet to be concluded, the activist says he is “mentally prepared” for prison and plans to spend his time by reading more. “I do not get time to read books when I’m outside protesting. Strategically you want to pick the books that are thick. You have certain quotas, six books per month,” Ng said. But once he is released, he wants to help advocate for the imprisoned protesters with fewer options in life. Australia-based Cheng endorsed Ng’s efforts. “He helps confirm the fact there are still many people with ideals, with a sense of commitment and a sense of sacrifice, even among the well-educated strata,” said Cheng. “He was a finance company director, he could earn a [high] monthly income, and he was willing to go to prison.” Ng said he believes Hong Kong’s income disparities, high housing prices and deep distrust of government will spur social unrest for “decades.” He predicts the city must develop a “democratic system” or dissolve into a “more controlled, more authoritarian, more Singapore, more Chinese, more surveillance” type of system. But for the immediate future, he believes Hong Kong will first see a “period of stagnation” after two years of political turmoil. “I think we are Chapter Two of Book 1 of a series of books,” said Ng. “We’ve got beaten down, and in the third act we will rise again, and then probably another sequel.” Whatever the future may hold for Hong Kong, Ng is content to be a part of it. “We’re in the middle of history,” he said.
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Top US Diplomat Against Militarizing Arctic
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the global community Tuesday to avoid militarizing the Arctic region, one day after Russia warned the West against making territorial claims in the area. Blinken is in Reykjavik, Iceland, for talks on climate change and to take part in an Arctic Council ministerial meeting. The United States has previously accused Russia of requiring foreign ships to seek permission to pass through the region and to allow Russian maritime pilots to board the vessels while threating violence against noncompliant ships. “We’ve seen Russia advance unlawful maritime claims, particularly its regulation of foreign vessels transiting the Northern Sea route, which are inconsistent with international law,” Blinken said at a joint media briefing with Iceland’s foreign minister. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Icelandic Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir hold a meeting at the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland, May 18, 2021.Blinken’s remarks came a day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned Western countries not to claim rights to the Arctic. “It has been absolutely clear for everyone for a long time that this is our territory, this is our land,” Lavrov told reporters in Moscow. “We are responsible for ensuring our Arctic coast is safe.” As climate change accelerates the melting of the Arctic’s ice sheet, the Arctic becomes more accessible. In recent years, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made Russia’s Arctic region a higher strategic priority, raising tensions with Arctic Council members over its investments in military infrastructure and mineral extraction. The U.S. State Department said earlier the leaders would discuss “the global community’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and the need for greater climate action, promoting women’s rights and equality, and Arctic security.” Blinken lauded U.S. President Joe Biden’s return to the Paris climate agreement and resolve to fight combat climate change during a meeting with Icelandic President Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson and Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir. Blinken also toured a geothermal plant in Reykjavik. Talks with RussiaOn the sidelines of the Arctic Council ministerial meeting Wednesday, Blinken will hold his first face-to-face encounter with Lavrov. The meeting comes at a time of heightened tension between the U.S. and Russia and will set the stage for a planned summit next month between U.S. President Joe Biden and Putin. The State Department said the meeting between Blinken and Lavrov is an opportunity to discuss building a “more predictable relationship with Russia” and “working on areas where we have mutual interests.” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to employees at the U.S. Embassy in Reykjavik, Iceland, May 18, 2021.A senior State Department official told reporters traveling with Blinken that the Biden administration has made progress in its relationship with Russia with respect to reaching an agreement to extend the START nuclear weapons treaty, but that it has also faced areas of difficulties. “We were able to do the extension of the important New START Treaty for five years right off the bat, but we also look at areas where Russia has behaved aggressively and undertaken malign efforts for which, as the president said, there will be a cost,” the official said. The United States has recently been at odds with Russia over Moscow’s jailing of Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, Russia’s buildup of military forces near Ukraine, and a cyberattack on the largest U.S. gas pipeline by hackers believed to be in Russia. Russia says its government was not involved in the cyberattack. It has accused the United States of trying to interfere in its domestic issues, including the jailing of Navalny. Trip to DenmarkBefore traveling to Iceland, Blinken was in Denmark, where he held talks about economic, security and climate issues, as well as the Biden administration’s ongoing push to boost ties with U.S. allies. “Looking forward to deepening our partnership on mutual goals, including combating the climate crisis, enhancing defense cooperation, ensuring energy security and partnering in the Arctic,” Blinken said after meeting with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. Great visit today with @Statsmin Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen. Looking forward to deepening our partnership on mutual goals including combatting the climate crisis, enhancing defense cooperation, ensuring energy security, and partnering in the Arctic. pic.twitter.com/g5D9tRVGUn— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) May 17, 2021After the meeting, Frederiksen said the Biden administration is taking a different approach from the Trump administration. “That means a desire for cooperation around the Arctic region, where changes are taking place,” she said. Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said, “Today, America is back. … And let me tell you, America has been missed.” Blinken said the United States is determined “to reinvigorate its alliances and partnerships and also our engagement with international institutions.” The Biden administration has renewed emphasis on international organizations, including rejoining the World Health Organization and the Paris climate agreement and reengaging with the United Nations Human Rights Council.
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Spain Says Flood of Migrants from Morocco is ‘Serious Crisis’
Spain’s prime minister flew to the country’s North African enclave Tuesday to contain a migration crisis with neighboring Morocco after 6,000 migrants swam or walked over the border. Spain deployed troops and extra police to repel crowds who were trying to get around security fences from Morocco into the tiny Spanish territory after a huge incursion of migrants the day before. Videos emerged that appeared to show Moroccan soldiers opening security gates to let migrants through to the Spanish port city. “This sudden arrival of irregular migrants is a serious crisis for Spain and Europe,” said Sanchez in a televised address to the nation before travelling to Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish enclave bordering Morocco. European Union leaders backed Spain, saying the mass incursion in Ceuta was a breach of the bloc’s borders. European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas called for a “strong protection of our borders”. Experts suggested this huge influx, which included entire families, was an attempt by Morocco to pressure Spain to alter its policy towards Western Sahara, the disputed territory to which Rabat lays claim. Morocco and Spain have been mired in a diplomatic dispute over the presence in Spain of a Polisario Front leader, whose movement has fought for the independence of Western Sahara. FILE – Brahim Ghali attends celebrations marking the 45th anniversary of the creation of the SARD, on Feb. 27, 2021, at a refugee camp, near Tindouf, Algeria.The leader, Brahim Ghali, is receiving treatment at a hospital in Logroño in northern Spain, after he was diagnosed with COVID-19. The Polisario Front fought a long war against Morocco to win the independence of the disputed Western Saharan territory, which was a Spanish colony until 1975. Rabat claims the territory as part of Morocco partly as it contains important deposits of phosphates but the Polisario Front has demanded an independence referendum. Ignacio Cembrero, a Spanish journalist who writes frequently on Morocco, said Rabat had relaxed security measures on the border with Ceuta to try to force Madrid to change its stance on Western Sahara. “The Moroccan foreign minister Naser Burita said in January that Rabat wanted Spain to change its policy to support Moroccan claims over Western Sahara. This is how it puts pressure on Madrid,” he told VOA. Spain has long maintained a solution to the dispute can only come from an agreement brokered by the United Nations. Moroccan Foreign Minister Naser Burita asked last week whether Spain wanted to “sacrifice relations with Morocco” by failing to inform Rabat of Ghali’s presence in Spain. Analysts said it appeared Morocco was playing a familiar game by relaxing its border controls to prove a political point against its neighbor Spain. “What has happened in Ceuta is another example of how Morocco plays with migration as a manner to pursue its own interests. The EU should not give ground faced with this pressure,” Estrella Galan, director of the non-profit Spanish Commission to Aid Refugees, told VOA. Spain’s Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya dismissed claims the arrival of thousands of Moroccans in Ceuta was linked to the row over Ghali. “I cannot speak for Morocco, but what they told us a few hours ago, this afternoon, is that this is not due to the disagreement over Ghali,” she told Cadena Ser, a Spanish radio station. “Spain has been very clear and detailed about the [Ghali] case. It is simply a humanitarian issue.”
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Uproar Forces Malawi Parliament to Confirm Anti-Corruption Chief
Malawi lawmakers have taken a sudden U-turn and confirmed Martha Chizuma as the first woman to head the country’s anti-corruption bureau or ACB. Lawmakers had rejected Chizuma for the post last week, raising accusations that the opposition scuttled the process for fear of being prosecuted for corruption during their time in power.
Seventeen lawmakers on the Parliamentary Appointments Committee attended a special meeting Monday to review last week’s rejection of Martha Chizuma. Thirteen lawmakers participated in voting, while four from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party walked out in protest of the new voting procedure. Chizuma was then elected to lead the ACB with 12 in favor and one abstention. Humphrey Mvula, a social and political commentator based in Blantyre, says the boycott of opposition lawmakers confirms public views that Chizuma’s rejection last week was a calculated move to frustrate the fight against corruption. “Otherwise, they had no reason to walk out. But these individuals may have been under strict instructions from their bosses that ‘we must not confirm Chizuma’ and possibly are afraid of Chizuma as a more determined ACB director and she will not spare them,” he said.During last week’s vote, half of the lawmakers on the committee gave her low marks after an assessment interview, and the aggregated result saw Chizuma scoring just 14.9 points out of a possible 25, below the minimum pass rate of 17. This caused a public uproar, and Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera called on lawmakers to, in his words, put political and personal interests aside and do their part in accelerating the change Malawians have sought. Parliament later passed a motion directing the committee to submit a detailed report on why it turned down Chizuma. As an ombudsman, Chizuma investigated several recruitment procedures in government-owned institutions. She recently removed five top officials from posts at Malawi’s communications regulator, saying they were illegally employed during the administration of former president Peter Mutharika and the then-ruling Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP. Mvula says he thinks Malawians are tired of corruption. “And then that gives recipe Malawians who are looking for this vice to go away. And Chizuma is such a gallant person who so far, has shown that she will do it. This is the time when most individuals will be afraid to indulge in corruption because as an ACB director she has an enabling law that will make sure that she will just not investigate but she will investigate and arrest,” he said. Chizuma did not respond to VOA inquiries for an interview. However, she told a radio station that her first job as ACB boss will be to restructure the institution. “My first priority is look at the staff structure of ACB and to see who is where and if we have got enough staff. Because you need to have right people in right places for an institution to tick and that’s my experience from office of ombudsman. If you have wrong people it won’t work,” she said. Government authorities say the confirmation of Chizuma will complement President Chakwera’s fight against graft.
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Incoming Bishop Appeals for Unity in Hong Kong’s Split Catholic Community
Hong Kong’s incoming Roman Catholic Bishop appealed for tolerance Tuesday to unify a Catholic community split by anti-government protests.
He also vowed to honor the victims of China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, who continued to protest despite the political risks.
In his first public remarks since his May 17 appointment, Stephen Chow urged Catholics to respect various viewpoints as part of an effort to mend a diocese that has been divided since antigovernment protests began in Hong Kong’s in 2019.
He said he did not have a comprehensive plan to unify the diocese, but he believed God wanted them to be united.
Chow offered prayers for the hundreds, if not thousands, of victims killed in the massacre in Tiananmen Square.
“I pray for all those who have passed in 1989, in all aspects, from all walks of life,” he said.
But Chow added that legal requirements this year would determine whether public observance of the victims is possible.
Chow participated in previous public events to observe the June 4 anniversary of the Tiananmen Square killings.
Pope Francis named the 62-year-old Chow to head the Hong Kong diocese, replacing Bishop Michael Yeung, who died in 2019.
The Hong Kong native was educated in the United States and Irelan, and is a supervisor at Wah Yan College in Hong Kong.
About 404,000 people in Hong Kong are Catholic, representing about 5.3% of the city’s population.
Chow is tasked with uniting Hong Kong’s Catholic community that is divided between those who view China’s control of Hong Kong as an assault on the city’s freedoms, and pro-establishment advocates who favor a less confrontational strategy.
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IEA Sees ‘Viable but Narrow’ Pathway to Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050
The International Energy Agency (IEA) issued a report Tuesday outlining what it calls a “viable but narrow” path to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by the year 2050, a plan that boldly calls for no new investment in fossil fuel projects and the end of the internal combustion engine by 2035.
The Paris-based agency’s report, “Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector,” says current climate pledges by countries to achieve the net-zero goal “even if fully achieved would fall well short of what is required to bring global energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to net zero by 2050” and limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the goal established by the Paris climate accords.
In a statement, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said the report “shows the priority actions that are needed today to ensure the opportunity of net-zero emissions by 2050 — narrow but still achievable — is not lost.” The plan lays out more than 400 milestones to guide the global journey to net zero by 2050.
They include no investment in new fossil fuel supply projects, and no further final investment decisions for new unabated coal plants; no sales of new internal combustion engine passenger cars by 2035; and for the global electricity sector to have already reached net-zero emissions by 2040.
The IEA plan requires the immediate and massive deployment of all available clean and efficient energy technologies, combined with a major global push to accelerate innovation. The pathway calls for annual additions of solar photovoltaic (PV) generation to reach 630 gigawatts by 2030, and those of wind power to reach 390 gigawatts. Together, that is four times the record level set in 2020. For solar PV, it is equivalent to installing the world’s current largest solar park roughly every day.
Birol said such a historic surge in clean energy investment would “create millions of new jobs” and lift global economic growth.
The report comes out with an eye toward the November global climate summit in Glasgow in six months, when world leaders will meet to outline climate measures.
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As Pandemic Subsides, Migrants Resume Unsafe Journeys to Europe
Following a lull in arrivals of migrants in Italy due to the pandemic, hundreds have now resumed risking their lives in search for a better future in Europe. As weather conditions improve and with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in Italy, traffickers are taking advantage and overcrowding vessels with migrants from the Libyan coastline.
Rescue missions to save hundreds of migrants have resumed in the Mediterranean waters between Libya and the small Italian island of Lampedusa as calm seas and warmer temperatures have seen a significant rise in vessels attempting to make the crossing.
Human traffickers are also taking advantage of a drop in COVID-19 infections and lifting of restrictions to travel between regions in Italy. The improving situation is raising concerns that the surge in migrant crossings will continue during the summer. FILE – Migrants return to the Lampedusa reception center after they were unable to board quarantine ship GNV Azzurra due to strong winds, in Lampedusa, Italy, May 11, 2021.Aid workers aboard the German charity ship Sea Eye 4, which began its first mission to help migrants in distress at the beginning of this month, say the vessel has already rescued more than 400 people. They are calling on EU officials to give the ship access to a safe port.
A spokeswoman on board the ship, Sophie Weidenhiller, says the migrants were from different African nations, some from Syria and Bangladesh, and were rescued in various operations.
In one case it reached a boat after receiving a distress call but instead of finding the expected 50 migrants on board, it found the boat empty. Many migrants are attempting the crossing in vessels that are deemed far from seaworthy.
“In less than 72 hours our crew was able to rescue more than 400 people in distress at sea. Among them we have pregnant women, we have children, we have babies, we have many unaccompanied minors and everybody aboard here is exhausted. And that is why we need a port of safety as soon as possible so that we can bring those people who have suffered so much to safety,” said Weidenhiller.
The German charity has warned that the crew is nearing the limit of their capacity to care for its migrant passengers. It is still awaiting a response from the EU on its request for permission to dock as it heads towards Italy. Malta refused it entry to its port.
Commenting on the matter following the Maltese decision, Matteo Salvini, head of Italy’s right wing League party, said his country has a duty to defend its borders.
The latest rescues come a week after more than 2,000 migrants landed on Lampedusa, overwhelming its reception center, which was then emptied so as to make space for new arrivals.
Migrants have continued to arrive on the island.
The Libyan coast guard has also been intercepting vessels and returning the migrants.
U.N. and other agencies have said that over the past week they managed to take 1,000 migrants back to Libya. International Organization for Migration spokesman in Libya Safa Msehli said it provides support to the Libyan coast guard on the condition that no one is arbitrarily detained or otherwise subjected to human rights violations.
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China Offers to Host Afghan Peace Talks
China has renewed diplomatic efforts to help facilitate a negotiated end to the conflict in Afghanistan, saying it is ready to hold peace negotiations between warring Afghans.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed peace prospects in phone conversations with his Afghan counterpart, Mohammad Haneef Atmar and National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib, said officials in both countries.
Beijing is increasingly worried the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan will descend the turmoil-hit neighbor into chaos and a sanctuary for Islamist militants.
“China is ready to facilitate internal negotiations among various parties in Afghanistan, including creating necessary conditions for negotiations in China,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted Wang as telling Mohib.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced last month it was time to end the “forever war” in Afghanistan and directed the remaining around 2,500 American soldiers to leave the country by September 11, starting on May 1.
NATO allies are also pulling their roughly 7,000 troops from the country in line with Biden’s decision.
The military drawdown has seen increased fighting between Afghan government forces and Taliban insurgents despite international calls for both warring parties to reduce the violence and negotiate a power-sharing deal to end the country’s long war.
Beijing maintains close contacts with both the Taliban and the Afghan government.
The Afghan adversaries opened direct peace talks in Qatar last September, an outcome of Washington’s troop withdrawal deal with the Taliban signed in February 2020.
But the so-called intra-Afghan peace dialogue has mostly been deadlocked and U.S. efforts to push the two sides to accelerate the process have not succeeded.
In recent days, Wang has increasingly criticized Washington for what he described as the “hasty” U.S. troop pullout, claiming the move has undermined the Afghan peace process and “negatively affected regional stability.”
The chief Chinese diplomat repeated his criticism while speaking to Mohib on Monday, and emphasized the need for moving the peace process forward to “promote a smooth transition” in Afghanistan.
“Although the U.S. unilateral withdrawal of troops at a crucial stage of the Afghan domestic reconciliation process has brought uncertainty to the evolution of the situation in Afghanistan, peace is the trend of the times,” Wang said.
The Chinese foreign minister in his conversation with Afghan counterpart Atmar urged all parties to the conflict to create a “favorable environment” for jumpstarting the peace talks.
“China hopes that Afghanistan’s future leadership will pursue a moderate Muslim policy, promote a foreign policy of peace, maintain friendship with neighboring countries, and firmly combat all forms of terrorism,” Wang said.
The Chinese offer of hosting Afghan peace talks, analysts say, appears to be an attempt to position China for a more active political role in the region after the exit of the U.S.-led Western troops from Afghanistan.
“Afghanistan resolutely fights all forms of terrorism, including the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, and is ready to further deepen counterterrorism and security cooperation with China,” the Chinese statement quoted Mohib as assuring Wang.
An Afghan government statement issued in Kabul said Mohib and Wang “identified terrorism as a common threat that both sides should fight.”
It quoted the Afghan national security advisor as telling the Chinese interlocutor that “all levers of influence” should be used to “induce (the) Taliban” to engage “earnestly” in peace talks.
The ETIM has been outlawed by China as a terrorist group. The Islamist outfit claims it is fighting for the rights of minority Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. Chinese officials insist sustained crackdowns on ETIM operatives in the province have “effectively” tackled the security challenge.
The United States, however, accuses China of committing serious human rights abuses against ethnic Muslims in Xinjiang in the name of fighting terrorism.
In a coordinated effort this past March, several Western countries, including the U.S., U.K., Canada and the European Union imposed sanctions on Chinese officials connected to the abuses.
China has detained Uyghurs at camps in Xinjiang, where detainees are allegedly subjected to torture, forced labor and sexual abuse, charges Beijing rejects as Western propaganda.
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Japanese Medical Group Calls for Cancellation of Tokyo Olympics
With little more than three months to go before the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games, a major Japanese medical association is calling for the cancellation of the event due to the current surge of new COVID-19 infections. The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association posted an open letter to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga Monday warning that hospitals in the Japanese capital city “have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity.” The group that represents about 6,000 primary care doctors and hospitals urged Suga to convince the International Olympic Committee that holding the games would be “difficult” and that it should be called off. The current surge has prompted authorities to place Tokyo and several other prefectures under a state of emergency, leading to a growing demand among the general public to cancel the Olympics, which are scheduled to begin July 23 after a one-year delay because of the pandemic. A public opinion poll published Monday by Asahi Shimbun newspaper revealed more than 80% of Japanese are opposed to the games, with 43% wanting them canceled and another 40% calling for them to be postponed again. Only 14% of those want the Games to proceed as scheduled. The outbreak has also caused the Japanese economy to contract 5.1% in the first three months of 2021. Taiwan to close schoolsMeanwhile, health officials in Taiwan said Tuesday it will close all schools and education centers in the island due to the surge of new coronavirus infections. The closures, which also include all daycare centers, take effect Wednesday and last through May 28. The self-ruled island had been held up as one of the world’s fewest success stories in containing the spread of the coronavirus, with just 2,017 total cases and 12 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. But it has been dealing with an outbreak of new infections which authorities have connected to outbreaks among flight crews with state-owned China Airlines and a hotel at Taoyuan International Airport. Taipei reported 240 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, down from Monday’s record-high 335 new infections. Pfizer, Moderna vaccinesOn the vaccine front, a group of U.S. scientists say the COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna are highly effective against the B.1.617 and B.1.618 variants first detected in India. The lab-based preliminary study conducted at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine used serum samples collected from eight people who had recovered from COVID-19, six people fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine and three people fully vaccinated with Moderna’s. The researchers found the antibodies from people who had been vaccinated were working “well above” the serum level from those who had recovered from COVID-19. The study has not been peer-reviewed. Meanwhile, the European Union’s drug regulator announced Monday the Pfizer vaccine can be stored much longer at temperatures higher than previously recommended. The European Medicines Agency said unopened vials of the two-shot vaccine can be stored between five and 30 days at temperatures between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius, as opposed to ultra-cold temperatures between minus 70 and 80 degrees Celsius. The new storage recommendations will make it easier to distribute the vaccine among the EU’s 27-member states, many of whom have been mired in slow inoculation rates. Johns Hopkins is reporting more than 163.6 million total COVID-19 infections worldwide, including more than 3.3 million deaths. The United States leads the world with more than 32.9 million confirmed infections and 586,359 deaths. India has topped 25 million total infections, putting it second behind the U.S., while Brazil is third with more than 15.6 million confirmed cases. Brazil is in second place in total deaths with 436,537, while India is third with 278,719 deaths.
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Spain, Morocco Square Off After 6,000 Migrants Arrive by Sea
Spain faced a humanitarian and diplomatic crisis Tuesday after thousands of Moroccans took advantage of relaxed border controls in their nation to swim or paddle in inflatable boats onto European soil. By Tuesday morning, around 6,000 people had crossed the border into the Spanish city of Ceuta since the first arrivals began early Monday, the Spanish government said, including 1,500 thought to be teenagers. The city of 85,000 people lies in North Africa on the Mediterranean Sea, separated from Morocco by a double-wide, 10-meter (32-feet) fence. The sudden influx of migrants has deepened the diplomatic row between Rabat and Madrid in the wake of Spain’s decision to allow in for medical treatment the chief of a militant group that fights for the independence of Western Sahara. Morocco annexed the sprawling nation on the west coast of Africa in 1975. Migrants soaked with seawater still kept reaching Ceuta on Tuesday although in smaller numbers than the day before due to heightened vigilance on the Spanish side of the border, where additional police and military were deployed. “It’s such a strong invasion that we are not able to calculate the number of people that have entered,” said the president of Ceuta, an autonomous city of barely 20 square kilometers (7.7 square miles). “The army is in the border in a deterrent role, but there are great quantities of people on the Moroccan side waiting to enter,” Juan Jesús Vivas told Cadena SER radio. Vivas, a conservative, said the residents of Ceuta were in a state of “anguish, concern and fear.” He linked the sudden influx to Rabat’s shift on controlling migration after Spain gave compassionate assistance to Brahim Ghali, the head of the Polisario Front that has fought Morocco over control of Western Sahara. The Spanish government itself officially rejects the notion that Morocco is punishing Spain for a humanitarian move. Interior Minister Fernando Grande Marlaska said Tuesday that authorities had processed the return of 1,600 migrants by Tuesday morning and that the rest would follow soon, because Morocco and Spain signed an agreement three decades ago to return all those who swim into the territory. Many African migrants regard Ceuta and nearby Melilla, also a Spanish territory, as a gateway into Europe. In 2020, 2,228 chose to cross into the two enclaves by sea or by land, often risking injuries or death. The year before the figure peaked at 7,899, according to Spain’s Interior Ministry. On Tuesday, another 80 Africans also crossed into Melilla, 350 kilometers (218 miles) east of Ceuta on the North African coast, by jumping over the enclave’s double fence.
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Blinken in Iceland for Climate Talks, Arctic Council Meeting
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Reykjavik, Iceland, where he will join talks on climate change and take part in an Arctic Council Ministerial meeting.The State Department said Blinken will meet with Icelandic President Gudni Johannesson and Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir to discuss “U.S.-Icelandic priorities related to climate change, human rights, bilateral cooperation, and the Arctic.”Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia, April 16, 2021.On the sidelines of the Arctic Council Ministerial meeting, Blinken will hold his first face-to-face encounter with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday. The meeting comes at a time of heightened tensions between the United States and Russia and will set the stage for a planned summit next month between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.The State Department said the meeting between Blinken and Lavrov is an opportunity to discuss building a “more predictable relationship with Russia” and areas of mutual interest. Before traveling to Iceland, Blinken was in Denmark where he held talks about economic, security and climate issues, as well as the Biden administration’s ongoing push to boost ties with U.S. allies. “Looking forward to deepening our partnership on mutual goals, including combating the climate crisis, enhancing defense cooperation, ensuring energy security and partnering in the Arctic,” Blinken said after meeting with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.Great visit today with @Statsmin Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen. Looking forward to deepening our partnership on mutual goals including combatting the climate crisis, enhancing defense cooperation, ensuring energy security, and partnering in the Arctic. pic.twitter.com/g5D9tRVGUn— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) May 17, 2021 After the meeting, Frederiksen said the Biden administration is taking a different approach from the Trump administration.”That means a desire for cooperation around the Arctic region, where changes are taking place,” she said.Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said, “Today, America is back. … And let me tell you, America has been missed.”Blinken said the United States has a determination “to reinvigorate its alliances and partnerships and also our engagement with international institutions.”The Biden administration has put a renewed emphasis on international organizations, including rejoining the World Health Organization, the Paris climate agreement and reengaging with the U.N. Human Rights Council.The top U.S. diplomat Monday also had an audience with Queen Margrethe II and toured a quantum materials lab at the University of Copenhagen. His trip has been overshadowed by the violence between Israelis and Palestinians, which forced Blinken to cancel a scheduled event Monday to make calls related to the situation.
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3,000 Moroccan Migrants Cross into Spanish Territory
About 3,000 Moroccans, a third of whom were presumed to be minors according to Spanish authorities, swam and used inflatable boats Monday to cross into Ceuta, the largest number of migrant arrivals in a single day into Spain’s enclave in northern Africa.A young male drowned attempting the crossing and others, including toddlers, were rescued suffering from hypothermia, health authorities said.The influx followed the souring of Spain’s relations with Morocco, its southern partner and key ally on controlling migration flows, over Madrid’s decision to allow the leader of a militant group fighting for independence from Morocco to receive hospital treatment.Ceuta and nearby Melilla are regarded as a steppingstone into Europe for African migrants. Hundreds of them risk injuries or death every year while trying to jump over fences, hide inside vehicles or swim around breakwaters that extend several meters into the Mediterranean Sea.But 3,000 people making the crossing in just one day strained police and emergency workers in the city of 84,000. The figure is nearly three times the total arrivals so far this year in the two Spanish territories and more than in 2020, when 2,228 people arrived by both land and sea.Footage published by El Faro de Ceuta, a local newspaper, showed people climbing the rocky wall of the breakwaters and running across the Tarajal beach, in the southeastern end of the city.Other videos verified by The Associated Press showed long rows of young men lining up at the gates of a warehouse managed by the local Red Cross, waiting to get registered by Spanish Civil Guard officers.Spain was deploying 200 more law enforcement officers to Ceuta, including anti-riot police and officers specialized in border control to speed up the return of those who arrived, the Interior Ministry said in a statement late Monday. Spain doesn’t grant Moroccans asylum status. It only allows unaccompanied migrant children to legally remain in the country under the government’s supervision.The influx of Moroccans came at the end of the Muslim celebrations of Ramadan, when many residents in Europe return home after visiting relatives in the northern African country. It also followed Madrid’s decision to host Brahim Ghali, the head of the Polisario Front that disputes Rabat’s claim on Western Sahara, who is recovering from COVID-19 in a hospital in northern Spain.The Spanish government, which allowed Ghali to enter the country under a disguised identity, has justified its decision to give him shelter on humanitarian grounds.The Moroccan foreign ministry said last month that Madrid’s move was “inconsistent with the spirit of partnership and good neighborliness.” In May, the ministry also said that Spain’s move would have “consequences.”Mohammed Ben Aisa, head of the Northern Observatory for Human Rights, a nonprofit group that works with migrants in northern Morocco, said that the influx was a mix of the seasonal attempts to reach Europe, the arrival of good weather and the recent tensions between Rabat and Madrid.”The information that we have is that the Moroccan authorities reduced the usually heavy militarization of the coasts, which come after Morocco’s foreign ministry statement about Spain’s hosting of Brahim Ghali,” Ben Aisa told The Associated Press.”The area is heavily monitored by security forces, and attempts there, whether to climb the fence or swim, are usually stopped,” he added.Spain has strong but complicated diplomatic ties with its southern neighbor. The two countries often cite their decades-old cooperation on controlling migration flows, which includes recurring payments to Rabat from Spain and the European Union as well as training to Morocco’s police and army, as the blueprint for the EU’s migration policies in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean.Cooperation with Moroccan intelligence on fighting extremism is also key for Europe.Asked by reporters whether the government of Rabat was deliberately relaxing controls on departing migrants, Spain’s foreign minister simply said she had no information.”We are not aware,” Arancha González Laya said before concluding brief media remarks. The ministry later declined to further elaborate.In a statement, the interior minister said that Spain “has been working tirelessly on a migration policy that concerns the whole of the European Union and Morocco, the country of origin of the people who have arrived swimming today.”A spokesman with the Spanish government’s delegation in Ceuta said that the crossings began at 2 a.m. in the border area of Ceuta known as Benzú and were then followed by a few dozen people near the eastern beach of Tarajal.The daylight didn’t stop the crossings from the nearby Moroccan town of Fnideq, as entire families with children swam or boarded inflatable boats, said the spokesman, who wasn’t authorized to be identified by name in media reports.A 10-meter-high (32-foot-high) double fence surrounds the eight kilometers (five miles) of Ceuta’s southwestern border with Morocco, with the rest of the tiny territory facing the Strait of Gibraltar and the European mainland across the sea.Several gates along the perimeter have been closed for over a year as Morocco has banned all travel by land in an attempt to avoid coronavirus infections. The decision has left jobless many locals who rely on work in Ceuta and Melilla or cross-border trade for a living.More than 100 young Moroccans also swam into the Spanish territory at the end of April. Authorities said most of them were returned to their country in less than 48 hours after being confirmed as adults.
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South Africa Launches 2nd Vaccination Phase for Elderly Residents
South Africa launched a new phase of its vaccination scheme this week, rolling out vaccines to the over-60 crowd. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Johannesburg. Camera: Zaheer Cassim
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Britain Eases Lockdown, But Joy Overshadowed by Virus Mutation
Britain lifted many of its coronavirus lockdown restrictions Monday as infection rates have fallen to their lowest level since August. But as Henry Ridgwell reports from London, there are growing concerns over the spread of a new mutation of the virus first seen in India.Camera: Henry Ridgwell
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Germany to Open Vaccinations to All Adults Beginning June 7
German Health Minister Jens Spahn announced Monday the nation would end its COVID-19 vaccination prioritizing and open inoculations to all adults who want them, effective June 7.Speaking to reporters in Berlin, Spahn said the current system of prioritization, in which the most vulnerable people — usually the elderly — are eligible for vaccines first, will have run its course by then. He said 70% of those above the age of 60 had received at least one shot — and about one quarter of them is fully vaccinated.A student tests himself on the coronavirus with a rapid test at the Freiherr vom Stein school in Bonn, western Germany, on May 17, 2021.He said 40 million vaccine doses have been given and around nine million people are fully vaccinated in the country of 83 million. But Spahn said the pace was accelerating and by the end of the month he expects about 40% of all people in Germany will have received at least one shot.Spahn defended the prioritization of the elderly and other vulnerable groups as “a moral obligation” and epidemiologically necessary. He said, “That was not bureaucracy; it has been saving lives.”Spahn also asked for patience, saying not all those seeking shots will be vaccinated immediately as of June 7 or even in the month of June. But he promised the vaccination campaign will continue as planned and that everyone in Germany who wants to be inoculated will have access to shots by the end of the summer.Spahn said the special COVID-19 measures implemented last month have worked, with the latest figures from the Robert Koch Institute’s Department of Infectious Diseases indicating the national infection rate has dropped below the key benchmark of 100 cases per 100,000 people over the past week.
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Blind Students in Somalia to Take First National Exams in Braille
Somalia’s Ministry of Education has for the first time introduced braille in schools for the country’s blind and visually impaired people. Mohammed Kahiye reports from Mogadishu.Camera: Mohamed Rage
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Samoa Poised to Welcome First Female Prime Minister
Samoa’s high court has restored the results of last month’s parliamentary election, putting the South Pacific nation one step closer to installing its first female prime minister.
The court on Monday ruled against a decision by the electoral commission that gave the ruling party of Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi an extra parliamentary seat, giving it one seat advantage over the opposition led by Fiame Naomi Mata’afa. The court also ruled against efforts by Samoa’s head of state to void the results and conduct a new election.
The separate rulings give Fiame’s FAST party a bare 26-25 parliamentary majority, allowing her to form a government and end Tuilaepa’s 22-year hold on power. Fiame had served as Tuilaepa’s deputy prime minister until the two had a bitter split last year.
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Myanmar Crisis Prompts South Koreans to Revisit 1980s Struggle for Democracy
Veiled heads in grey, white and black dotted the steps of Myeongdong Cathedral Monday night. Hushed voices spoke as one in prayer while evening commuters and shouting street vendors of Seoul rushed past in a blur. Throughout Korea’s history, the cathedral has served as a refuge for society’s most vulnerable — from female workers of a textile company demanding equal treatment, to pro-democracy fugitives during Korea’s military dictatorship in the 1980s, and journalists fighting for press freedom. Today, people are again gathering in the same spot, but this time it’s to demonstrate their support for Myanmar. Each year on May 18, South Korea revisits transformative but painful memories of the bloody Gwangju Uprising, during which student activists protesting military rule were ruthlessly slaughtered in the southwestern city. FILE – Women whose families were killed, wounded, or arrested during the Gwangju Uprising sing songs at the May Mothers House community center in Gwangju, South Korea. May 20, 2020. (William Gallo/VOA)The nation marks the 41st anniversary of the pivotal demonstrations with a more pressing agenda this year: Koreans are reflecting on their own painful fight for democracy to offer support for Myanmar citizens experiencing a violent and relentless crackdown by the military that seized power in a February coup. South Korean President Moon Jae-in condemned the suppression of civilian protests by Myanmar’s military in a post on March 6, reaffirming South Korea’s solidarity with Myanmar “for a quick, peaceful restoration of democracy.” Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-sup along with 17 mayors and governors representing all high-level local governments in South Korea have also demanded democracy be restored immediately. Myanmar and South Korea, which formally established diplomatic ties in 1975, “experienced closely overlapping instances of political turbulence,” said Eunhui Eom, a research fellow specializing in Southeast Asian studies at the Seoul National University Asia Center. On May 16, 1961, former South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee instigated a carefully devised military coup and overthrew the Second Republic — an event followed by the Burmese coup d’état just a year later that marked the beginning of socialist rule for 26 years. But their paths eventually diverged when South Korea signed a treaty of mutual defense with the United States and transitioned from authoritarianism to democracy, while the military regime tightened its grip on Myanmar, previously known as Burma, under an isolated, socialist economy. ‘Visible violence’ It was only through word of mouth from older Burmese that Shun Lei Wutyee of Yangon learned about the so-called “8888” movement — the nationwide democracy uprising led by student activists who took to the streets on August 8, 1988, to protest the military regime under the ruthless dictatorship of Ne Win. Now a college student studying digital communications in Seoul, 24-year-old Wutyee said that when she first read news of the Myanmar coup in the beginning of February, she thought it was baseless and things would quiet down in a few days. She had never seen bloodshed and thought this would end peacefully. “But when someone died, I realized it was not a joke,” Wutyee said in Korean. “My generation has never been exposed to this kind of visible violence and it’s scary.” Wutyee now stands in front of large groups, leveraging her fluent Korean to speak to people about what is happening in Myanmar, while also relearning her own country’s history. This year, even amid the pandemic, FILE – Former S. Korean presidents Chun Doo Hwan (R) and Roh Tae Woo (L) face a panel of judges at the Seoul Criminal Courthouse, Aug. 26, 1996. Chun received the death sentence while Roh received 22 years and six months in prison.“At the time, Gwangju was painted as a failure,” said Professor Choi Jin-bong, who teaches political communications at Sungkonghoe University. “But history has unfolded to show that Korea’s road to fulfilling democracy would be incomplete without experiencing Gwangju. It’s why memories of the uprising are often summoned up as living proof of the people’s power.” The 8888 uprisings were met with a similar fate — violently shut down by the military junta, leaving thousands dead. However, Wutyee said she believes the revolution is also what eventually fueled momentum for Aung San Suu Kyi to rise to power after a democratic landslide election victory. “The more I learn about the resistance efforts of both Gwangju and Myanmar, I find the strength to continue organizing,” Wutyee said. “Sometimes I’m overcome by guilt while living in Korea because I don’t know if it’s okay for me to live well here while Myanmar people are suffering, but I’ve realized through this battle that I do, in fact, love my country.” Despite the broader similarities Gwangju and Myanmar share, Eom said this comparison should not sweep over the sociohistorical circumstances specific to a country that many oversimplify the narrative. FILE – South Korean lawmaker Choi Hye Young holds a sign during a news conference indicating support for Myanmar’s democracy, in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Seoul, March 10, 2021.“The solidarity we are seeing from Koreans has never been so fervent,” Eom said. “But Gwangju is only one dot we can connect Myanmar to. We can also look to the Philippines’ People Power Revolution in 1986 or the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in China. Ultimately, Koreans must stand in the position of supporters, so that Myanmar citizens themselves can muster the strength to fight back and reclaim their narrative.” Juhyun Lee contributed to this report.
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COVID-19 Sets Back Progress in Effort to Eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases
The World Health Organization reports the COVID-19 pandemic has set back years of gains made in efforts to eliminate neglected tropical diseases, a diverse group of 20 illnesses that disproportionately affect impoverished communities in tropical areas. Neglected tropical diseases affect 1.7 billion people globally. Forty percent are in Africa, a continent that encompasses most of the 10 high burden countries in the world. Over the past decade, the World Health Organization reports great progress has been made in the treatment of many of these life-threatening and debilitating diseases. It notes 42 countries around the world have eliminated at least one disease.However, Mwelecele Malecela, director of WHO’s department of control of neglected tropical diseases says she fears a lot of this good work could be undone because of the negative impact of COVID-19. UN Calls for Action to Achieve a Malaria-Free WorldThis year’s commemoration of World Malaria Day celebrates progress being made in eliminating diseaseShe says the pandemic has caused disruptions and delays in NTD services. She says mass treatment campaigns, surveys of affected areas, and the transport and delivery of medicines have been interrupted.”All the efforts that have been done to control neglected tropical diseases, to bring about elimination in most of the affected countries, will be reversed if the focus is not kept, a good focus on surveillance, a good focus on continued interventions in some of the countries which are nearing elimination,” said Malecela.WHO reports Guinea Worm disease is on the cusp of eradication, with only 27 human cases reported in six African countries last year. In 1986, about 3.5 million human cases occurred annually in 21 countries in Africa and Asia. WHO says Yaws, a chronic skin infection is a disease that can be eradicated in the Indian sub-continent. Malecela cites several other success stories.”In terms of elimination of trachoma, we have Morocco, we have Ghana and more recently, we have Gambia,” said Malecela. “We have the elimination of lymphatic filariasis in Togo and in Malawi…In Yemen, which is outside Africa in the middle east, we have eliminated lymphatic filariasis under very difficult conditions. But they have managed to do it and that has been a very impressive feat.” At the end of January, WHO formally launched a new road map aimed at driving progress towards a world free of NTDs by 2030. Health officials consider the road map a key piece in ensuring countries build back better after COVID-19 by focusing on resilience and strengthening health systems.
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France Pledges $1.5 Billion to Sudan to Pay Off IMF Loan
France announced Monday that it will grant Sudan a $1.5 billion loan to help the north African country pay off its debt to the International Monetary Fund.Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire made the announcement in Paris at the start of an international summit hosted by President Emmanuel Macron. The loan aimed at helping Sudan erase its total external debt of $50 billion and attract foreign investment to rebuild its economy. Sudan’s economy was shattered by decades of autocratic rule of former President Omar al-Bashir. Al-Bashir was ousted in 2019 by the military after a popular uprising and his regime replaced with a transitional civilian-military council.Khartoum is $1.3 billion in arrears to the IMF, while about half of its debts are with members of the Paris Club, a group of major creditor countries which helps other countries come up with an easier method of paying its debts.
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Doubts Mount About Efficacy of Russia’s Sputnik Vaccine
Doubts are mounting about the efficacy of Russia’s Sputnik vaccine. Drug regulators in the Czech Republic and Brazil have withheld approval and counterparts in Slovakia have also expressed doubts. FILE – The exterior of the European Medicines Agency is seen in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Dec. 18, 2020.European Union regulators are still assessing Sputnik for its effectiveness and safety but a former executive director of the European Medicines Agency, EMA, told the Politico.eu news site that objections raised about Sputnik by Brazil’s regulatory authority, Anvisa, would likely be taken seriously by their counterparts in Brussels. “It’s a very mature authority,” said Rasi, who added that its flagging of quality and safety issues are worrisome. Anvisa announced on April 28 that it was withholding approval because of “flaws in product development” which deviate from the quality standards recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). The authority also noted “an absence or insufficiency of quality control, safety and efficacy data.” It raised concerns also with the vaccine’s efficacy for people “with low immunity and respiratory problems, among other health problems.” The Slovak medicines authority has also expressed worries about quality control and insufficient data. Irena Storová, head of SÚKL, told Slovakia’s Radiožurnál recently that the regulator received “only a fraction of the documentation that is submitted by default for the registration or assessment of a drug or medicine.” FILE – A scientist works inside a laboratory of the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology during the testing of a coronavirus vaccine, in Moscow, Russia, Aug. 6, 2020. (Russian Direct Investment Fund / Handout via Reuters)Sputnik was the first coronavirus vaccine to be registered, albeit only by the Russians and not by an authoritative international regulator. Funded by the state and developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute in Moscow, the rapid Russian approval last year in August of the vaccine, which was named for the satellite from half a century ago, was met with skepticism in the broader international scientific community. Experts expressed their disapproval of Russian authorities for approving distribution before the completion of trials, suggesting the rapidity of authorization was done so as to be able to tout Russian scientific prowess. Europeans Divided Over Sputnik Diplomacy COVID vaccine diplomacy is proving as divisive as vaccine nationalism — especially when it comes to Russia’s Sputnik Doubts about the vaccine’s efficacy dissipated somewhat last year within the Western scientific community due to a study by Russian scientists published by the authoritative British medical journal The Lancet, which suggested the vaccine has a 91.6% efficacy rate against COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Geopolitical motives
Nonetheless, some Central European and Baltic governments have been trading barbs with the Kremlin for what they see as a “Sputnik diplomatic offensive” designed to foment political splits in the Western alliance.FILE – Workers take care of the shipment of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine at the airport in Caracas, Venezuela, March 29, 2021.Officials in Kyiv and Warsaw identify geopolitical motives behind Russia’s touting of the vaccine, especially in light of what they say has been a Russian disinformation campaign casting doubt on Western-developed vaccines. Russian officials say politics is behind Western skepticism of Sputnik. Lithuania’s prime minister has labeled the vaccine “another hybrid weapon” for the Kremlin to wield to try to “divide and rule” Europe. Ingrida Šimonytė says altruism isn’t what motivates the aggressive marketing by Russia of Sputnik. “Sputnik comes packed with many layers of propaganda and even not-hidden ambition to divide the EU countries and their partners in the South and in the East,” she said earlier this year. Facing shortfalls for Western vaccines amid the EU’s contentious rollout, other European states, though, started to buy Sputnik with Hungary first up followed by Serbia. Austria struck a deal and officials in Berlin and in several German regions expressed enthusiasm for the Russian vaccine. But with a boost in supplies of Western vaccines, appetite for Sputnik has dissipated and last week Germany’s Bild newspaper reported that the deal to sell the Sputnik V vaccine to Germany is dead. Meanwhile, outside Europe, the Russian vaccine has been bought by more than 50 countries including Argentina, Mexico, and Turkey. India, where the pandemic has spiraled out of control, has signed a deal for nearly 400 million doses. Growing doubts But scientific doubts about Sputnik remerged last week when The Lancet published a paper by a team of scientists drawn from Europe, the U.S. and Russia questioning the 2020 study of the vaccine the medical journal published and flagging significant discrepancies in the data from the phase two and three trials conducted by the Gamaleya Research Institute, the vaccine’s developer. “Restricted access to data hampers trust in research,” the scientists said in last week’s study. “Access to data underpinning study findings is imperative to check and confirm the findings claimed. It is even more serious if there are apparent errors and numerical inconsistencies in the statistics and results presented,” they said. The team included Enrico Bucci of Temple University in the U.S., Gowri Gopalakrishna from Amsterdam University and Raffaele Calogero from the University of Turin. In reply, scientists from the Gamaleya Research Institute say data discrepancies occurred because of typing errors and they point to the approval of Sputnik by 51 countries showing they have been “fully transparent and comply with all regulatory requirements.” FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a video conference meeting with members of the Security Council at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, May 14, 2021. (Sputnik/Sergey Ilyin/Kremlin via Reuters)Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday during a video conference praised Russia’s vaccine, saying it as “reliable as a Kalashnikov assault rifle.” Sputnik isn’t the only non-Western vaccine prompting reservations. Despite approval by WHO of China’s Sinopharm, some scientific researchers have expressed worries about the lack of data on that vaccine’s efficacy, too, and likewise with Sinovac, another Chinese vaccine.FILE – Health officials guard Zimbabwe’s donation of 200,000 Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine doses, which arrived at Mugabe International Airport in Harare on Feb. 15, 2021. The vaccines were a donation by Beijing. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)According to researchers outside China, Sinovac’s efficacy rate is around 50%, and Sinopharm’s 79%, much lower than that of the rates for U.S.-developed vaccines like Moderna and Pfizer, both of which are above 90%.
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Inspired by George Floyd Case, Other Police Brutality Victims Seek Justice
Inspired by the verdict in the George Floyd murder case, relatives of other alleged police brutality victims in the U.S. want their cases reopened. It’s not so clear-cut. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias looks at the complexities of their quest to seek justice. Be advised that this report contains language and video that some might find disturbing.
Camera: Veronica Balderas Iglesias Producer: Veronica Balderas Iglesias
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