Hundreds of demonstrators marched through Chicago’s main business district Wednesday in opposition to Israel and demanding an end to Israeli attacks on Palestinians in the Gaza strip that have left dozens dead.
The demonstration occurred as Israel continued a military offensive that killed as many as 10 senior Hamas military figures among others and launched air strikes that toppled two high-rise towers housing Hamas facilities. The Islamic militant group continued to fire hundreds of rockets at Israeli cities.
Many participating in the demonstration were from Bridgeview which has one of metropolitan Chicago’s largest Palestinian populations.
“It’s difficult to watch the news and see what’s happening to our families and friends there,” Hatem Abudayyeh, chairperson of the US Palestinian Community Network chairperson Hatem Abudayyeh told NBC-Chicago. “They’re very careful when they’re home, and they’re very anxious listening for the air raids.”Protesters march through the streets of Chicago’s Loop in support of Palestinians, May 12, 2021.The violence began a month ago in Jerusalem, where heavy-handed Israeli police tactics during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers ignited protests and clashes with police.
Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich issued a statement calling for “prayer and peace” between the two sides.
“There can be no doubt of Israel’s right to a secure existence. Palestinians, too, have a right to statehood, territorial integrity, and safety,” Cupich said.
Chicago Rabbi Elisha Prero told ABC-Chicago he was in Ramat Beit Emet halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv visiting his daughter as the violence escalated.
“I was visiting my parents’ grave site with my wife and all of a sudden we heard what sounded like thunder, but this is the dry season, there’s not a cloud in the sky, there is no rain coming,” he said. “It is bombs. You do not know where they are going to land.”
The rabbi said Palestinian aggression will not promote a better deal for their people.
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Month: May 2021
Virus Stifles Muslims’ Eid al-Fitr Celebrations for 2nd Year
Muslims celebrated Eid al-Fitr in a subdued mood for a second year Thursday as the COVID-19 pandemic again forced mosque closings and family separations on the holiday marking the end of Islam’s holiest month of Ramadan.Worshippers wearing masks joined communal prayers in the streets of Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. The world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation allowed mosque prayers in low-risk areas, but mosques in areas where there was more risk of the virus spreading closed their doors, including Jakarta’s Istiqlal Grand Mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia.Indonesians and Malaysians were banned for a second year from traveling to visit relatives in the traditional Eid homecoming.”I understand that we all miss our relatives at times like this, especially in the momentum of Eid,” Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in televised remarks. “But let’s prioritize safety together by not going back to our hometowns.”Despite the similar ban a year ago, the number of daily cases in Indonesia had picked up by 37% three weeks after the holiday. Similar patterns followed other holidays in the country that has counted 1.7 million infections and more than 47,600 fatalities from COVID-19.The Jakarta governor also ordered malls, restaurants and leisure destinations usually packed during the holiday period to shut.With no congregational prayers at mosques, no family reunions, no relatives bearing gifts and cookies for children, “Eid is not a grand event anymore,” Jakarta resident Maysa Andriana said. “The pandemic has changed everything… this is too sad!” she said.While police set up highway checkpoints and domestic flights and other modes of transportation were suspended, anxiety lingers that people will defy the prohibition. Television reports showed city dwellers hiding on disguised trucks or fishing boats and officers at roadblocks being overwhelmed by desperate motorists.Muslims pray spaced apart to help curb the spread of coronavirus outbreak during an Eid al-Fitr prayer marking the end of Ramadan at Al Akbar mosque in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, May 13, 2021.”We followed the government decision that banned us visiting my parents for Eid last year, it’s enough! Nothing can stop me now,” said factory worker Askari Anam, who used alleys and shortcuts to avoid being stopped from visiting his hometown.”Of course I’m worried,” he said when asked about possibly contracting the virus. “But I leave it to God.”Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin expressed concern of a virus spike and feared people would travel despite the ban.In the southern Philippines, coronavirus outbreaks and new fighting between government forces and Muslim insurgents in one province prevented people from holding large public prayers. Instead, most hunkered down in their homes, while in Maguindanao province, many families displaced by recent fighting marked the holiday in evacuation camps.In Malaysia, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin unexpectedly announced another nationwide lockdown from Wednesday until June 7 to curb a spike in cases. Inter-state travel and all social activities are banned, which means that like in Indonesia, Muslims cannot visit each other or family graves.Muhyiddin acknowledged that many are angry with the lockdown but defended the need for drastic measures, saying hospitals have almost reached their capacity.Malaysia reported 4,765 cases on Wednesday, pushing its tally to 453,222, nearly fourfold from the start of the year. Deaths also rose to 1,761.”Is this government tyrannical? But I am not a tyrant,” Muhyiddin said, “Imagine if you have guests over, then the virus will spread. … If the guest visits 10 homes, then 10 families will be infected with COVID-19 and in the end as soon as (Eid) ends, the number of positive cases in the country could jump to tens of thousands daily.”
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Prosecutors Shelve Probe of Gang Rape that Shocked Egypt
Egyptian prosecutors said they have shelved their months-long investigation into an alleged 2014 gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at a luxury Cairo hotel, ordering the release of all suspects for lack of evidence.The case shocked Egypt’s conservative society when it was revealed last year by a social media account that tracks alleged sexual assaults in the country.In a detailed statement late Tuesday, prosecutors said evidence collected during their nearly nine-month investigation was not enough to refer the case to a criminal court. The statement said witnesses gave conflicted testimonies.Prosecutors ordered the release of the four suspects, who were arrested last year and jailed pending investigations. Three of them were arrested in Lebanon and deported to Cairo last year.Prosecutors said the probe could be reopened if new evidence emerges.The alleged gang rape involves a group of young men from wealthy and powerful families. They allegedly drugged the teen at a party at a five-star Cairo hotel, then took turns raping her.Accounts of the alleged assault surfaced amid a renewed #MeToo campaign on social media that swept Egypt last summer.Potential witnesses in the suspected gang rape case and acquaintances were arrested as private, explicit videos purportedly from their phones circulated via private messenger apps. Some of them were later released.In a joint statement Wednesday, seven Egyptian rights groups asked prosecutors to reconsider their decision. The groups, including the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said prosecutors ignored the arrest and intimidation of some of the witnesses, which “undoubtedly contributed to such regrettable outcome.”The investigation into the hotel case uncovered another alleged gang rape in the North Coast resort. Three suspects were referred to criminal trial last month in that resort case.
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New Homeland Security Unit to Focus on Domestic Violent Extremism
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced on Wednesday that his department has created a dedicated intelligence unit to focus on domestic violent extremism.The new branch will “ensure we develop the expertise necessary to combat this threat by using sound, timely intelligence,” Mayorkas said at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing.In addition, the department has renamed a separate office focused on combating violent extremism to the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships and will beef up its resources.The congressional hearing came amid concern about the growing threat of domestic terrorism, with law enforcement officials warning that some domestic violent extremists may have been emboldened by the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former president Donald Trump.President Joe Biden has made combating domestic terrorism a top priority of his administration, and in January he directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to conduct a review of the threat of domestic violent extremism.In March, ODNI released the intelligence community’s assessment of the threat, warning that domestic violent extremists pose “an elevated threat” to the homeland in 2021.”Newer sociopolitical developments — such as narratives of fraud in the recent general election, the emboldening impact of the violent breach of the US Capitol, conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and conspiracy theories promoting violence — will almost certainly spur some (domestic violent extremists) to try to engage in violence this year,” the report said.The FBI has assessed that “2019 was the deadliest year for domestic violent extremism” since the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, Jill Sanborn, the bureau’s top counterterrorism official, testified before a House Appropriations subcommittee last month.Between 2015 and 2020, racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists were responsible for most deadly domestic terrorism attacks, Sanborn said. To combat domestic terrorism and violent extremism, the Justice Department has requested an additional $100 million in funding for investigators and prosecutors.
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Afghanistan Hearing Leaves More Questions than Answers
The U.S. military has completed about 10% of its pullout from Afghanistan. But defense officials left members of Congress with more questions than answers Wednesday, as the U.S. inches closer and closer to President Joe Biden’s Sept. 11 withdrawal deadline. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb has the latest.
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2 Killed as Sudanese Protesters Mark 2nd Anniversary of Raid
The Sudanese army killed two protesters and wounded 16 others Tuesday night in Khartoum on the two-year anniversary of the protest that launched the Sudanese revolution.The Sudanese Professionals Association condemned the attack and called it a violation of freedom of assembly. Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok instructed the attorney general to investigate immediately.The Sudanese Medical Doctors Association confirmed that at least two protesters were shot and killed Tuesday outside military headquarters in Khartoum.Dr. Waliddeen Al Fekki, a member of the association, told South Sudan in Focus that 37 people had been wounded and were being treated.”About five of them are suffering in very critical condition, and they have been admitted in the nearby hospital[s] around Khartoum,” Al Fekki said. Some were wounded in a traffic accident as they were fleeing the area, he added.Call for accountabilityHe said the transitional government had a duty to ensure that justice is served and that those responsible are held accountable or the protests against the government will escalate.Saher Al Jazuli, a member of the Abu Adam resistance committee, condemned the killings and said the incident underscored a serious lack of decision-making between the civilian and the military leadership in government.“The partnership we have now is very fragile and does not befit our revolution,” Al Jazuli told South Sudan in Focus. “The revolution is separate from the government and is still ongoing. You will see these young men out in the streets again, resisting and undeterred. But the partnership we have now does not respect their rights.”Ahmed Yousef, a member of the Umma National Party, said the current constitutional document was weighted in favor of the military. He called for creating a justice commission.“These are very unfortunate events; they set us back a great deal,” Yousef told South Sudan in Focus. “To put a firm end to such crimes we must establish the transitional justice [commission], which is very important. Our country is now on a dangerous path and teetering on the edge of the abyss.”FILE – Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok addresses the press in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, Aug. 15, 2020.Hamdok convened an emergency meeting with senior government officials, including the minister of defense, the attorney general and the director of the general intelligence service, and called for an immediate investigation into the incident. The officials agreed that the perpetrators of the violence must be brought to justice without delay.2019 raidIn 2019, when security forces raided a peaceful sit-in in front of the military’s headquarters, 127 people were killed, according to Sudanese opposition. Authorities stated the death toll was 87. Despite a lengthy investigation, no one has been held accountable for the deaths.In a statement released after the meeting, the officials said, “Our memory is still burdened with the events that took place two years ago in the vicinity of the military headquarters in which our sons and daughters lost their lives and the hearts of many Sudanese families were broken.”
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US Sanctions Chinese Official for Persecuting Falun Gong
Secretary of State Antony Blinken released the State Department’s annual international religious freedom report, singling out Iran, Myanmar, Russia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and China as some of the world’s worst violators of what Blinken termed a core human right. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine has the story.
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US Sanctions Chinese Official for Role in Religious Persecution
The United States has sanctioned a Chinese Communist Party official for involvement “in gross violations of human rights, namely the arbitrary detention of Falun Gong practitioners for their spiritual beliefs.”The sanctions against Yu Hui, former office director of the Central Leading Group on Preventing and Dealing with Heretical Religions, of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, were announced as Secretary of State Antony Blinken unveiled the State Department’s 2020 annual report on International Religious Freedom.
“Yu Hui and his family are now ineligible for entry into the United States,” Blinken said at a Wednesday press conference.
The top U.S. diplomat added that China “broadly criminalizes religious expression, and continues to commit crimes against humanity and genocide against Muslim Uyghurs and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups.”A senior U.S. official said the designation against a Chinese official for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners is unprecedented.
“Today’s designation is the first time that we have named a specific official for abuses against Falun Gong practitioners,” Daniel Nadel, director of the State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom, told VOA Wednesday.
“The (Beijing) government shows blatant disregard for religious freedom, and exercises extreme hostility toward adherents of all faiths, including Uyghurs, Tibetan Buddhists, Protestants, Catholics and Falun Gong practitioners. It’s an issue that we are deeply concerned about,” Nadel said, citing religious freedom as a universal value.
The report said China continues to deny religious freedom, particularly to Falun Gong members.It also said that according to a report on the Falun Gong by the China-based Church of Almighty God (CAG) — a group whose millions of followers believe Jesus Christ has been reincarnated as a woman from central China, and has long been banned by Beijing — “authorities arrested more than 7,000 of its members and subjected them to physical abuse, including beatings, sleep deprivation and being forced into stress positions.””CAG reported some individuals died in custody or as a result of police harassment,” said the State Department report.It added that the Chinese Communist Party continues to “harass adherents of both registered and unregistered religious groups for activities related to their religious beliefs and practices.”The report also criticizes Myanmar for its treatment of the ethnic Rohingya minority.“Rohingya remaining in Burma continued to face an environment of severe repression and restrictions on freedom of movement and access to education, health care, and livelihoods based on their ethnicity, religion and citizenship status, according to the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations,” the report said.Russia was also cited for persecution of its citizens based on religion.“Religious groups and nongovernmental organizations reported authorities continued to investigate, detain, imprison, torture and and/or physically abuse persons, or seize their property because of their religious faith, including members of groups the government classified as extremist and banned, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Tablighi Jamaat, and followers of Muslim theologian Said Nursi,” the report said.Turkey, ostensibly a secular state, was also mentioned for its treatment of religious minorities.“The government continued to restrict efforts of minority religious groups to train their clergy, and the Greek Orthodox Halki seminary remained closed,” the report said. “Religious minorities again reported difficulties opening or operating houses of worship; resolving land and property disputes and legal challenges of churches whose lands the government previously expropriated; holding governing board elections for their religious foundations; and obtaining exemptions from mandatory religion classes in schools.”
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Pipeline Reopens Amid Panic-Buying, Hoarding
The operator of a critical U.S. fuel pipeline crippled by a ransomware attack on its computer system has announced a restart of operations. Colonial Pipeline said the restart commenced on Wednesday afternoon, but “it will take several days for the product delivery supply chain to return to normal. Some markets served by Colonial Pipeline may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions during the startup period. Colonial will move as much gasoline, diesel and jet fuel as is safely possible and will continue to do so until markets return to normal.” In the meantime, U.S. government and industry officials are pleading with motorists to cease panic-buying of gasoline and not to hoard fuel. “We understand the concern in the areas where people are encountering temporary supply disruptions, but hoarding does not make things better,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told White House reporters on Wednesday. A man loads 5-gallon gas tanks in his car at a Wawa gas station, in Tampa, Fla., May 12, 2021.Just kilometers away in the District of Columbia and the state of Virginia, an increasing number of retailers have seen their pumps run dry. By midafternoon Wednesday, nearly half of Virginia’s gas stations had no supply, while in one state to the south, North Carolina, 65% of outlets reported a total outage of gasoline, according to the A motorist drives past this closed Kroger fuel station, in Jackson, Miss., May 12, 2021. State officials warned Tuesday that any shortages seen at individual gas stations are a result of people panic-buying.”There is a plentiful supply, and there’s high demand,” noted Jeff Lenard, a vice president at the National Association of Convenience Stores. “There’s just that problem in the middle with distribution.” Officials do not know how long that distribution issue will continue. “We’re hopeful that the pipeline is operational soon and some of the panic-buying retreats a bit,” Frank Macchiarola, a senior vice president at the American Petroleum Institute, told reporters in a briefing call on Wednesday. The Colonial Pipeline runs from Texas to New York and provides gas for about 45% of the fuel consumed on the East Coast. It was hit by Russian-linked hackers last Friday, who reportedly locked up the pipeline’s computer systems and demanded a ransom. It has not been disclosed how much ransom was demanded or whether the company has given in to the hackers’ monetary demands, which would allow restoration of its data files that the attack encrypted. Other options, challenges Government and industry are working on alternatives to pipeline delivery, but there are challenges. The trucking industry, for example, has been suffering from a shortage of drivers for several years, while the rail industry does not appear to have flexibility for a quick response. Using more barges to take fuel from the Gulf Coast to the Eastern Seaboard is an option, but that would require temporarily waiving the Jones Act, which prohibits non-American ships from domestic transport of any goods. Tanker trucks are parked near the entrance of Colonial Pipeline Company, in Charlotte, N.C., May 12, 2021.”Granting the Jones Act waiver to open up marine shipping options to get fuel from bulk refineries to the customer served by the Colonial Pipeline is where President [Joe] Biden’s team can make a big difference,” said Grissom of AFPM. “The Department of Homeland Security is standing ready to review any requests for a temporary waiver of the Jones Act from companies that demonstrate that there’s not sufficient capacity on Jones Act-qualified vessels to carry specific shipments of fuel in and around the region,” Buttigieg said during the daily White House briefing on Wednesday. Other regulations, including those dealing with truck drivers’ hours, weight limits for fuel trucks and environmental standards, have been relaxed for the emergency. “I’ve lifted some of the restrictions on the transportation of fuel, as well as access to the United States military providing fuel and with vehicles to get it … where it’s badly needed,” Biden told reporters. RationingOne suggested option is rationing purchases, but industry executives are hesitant to recommend that. “On paper, rationing sounds like a great idea,” noted Lenard. “But what we’ve seen in the marketplace is it actually has the exact opposite [effect]. Basically, once rationing occurs, more panic-buying ensues.” When the story hit the national news on Monday, “people made a run on the pumps,” Georgia Governor Brian Kemp told reporters in Atlanta. Kemp complained about a lack of adequate information coming from Washington. “I wish we had more. It’s a little frustrating for me,” he said.
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Uganda’s Museveni Sworn In for Sixth Term
As he has five times before, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni took the oath of office Wednesday and was sworn in to a sixth term in office.
“I, Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Kaguta Museveni, swear in the name of the Almighty God, that I shall faithfully exercise the functions of the president of Uganda, and shall uphold, preserve and defend the constitution so, help me God,” Museveni said to cheers and music.
In his inaugural speech, Museveni — who has been harshly criticized for repressing political opposition — also said foreigners have no right to teach him about democracy.
Museveni and his National Resistance Movement party were declared the winner of the January 14 elections with 58.6% of the vote. Opposition leader Bobi Wine and his National Unity Platform, which came in second with 34%, say the vote was rigged.
During the campaign period, dozens of Ugandan youth were either arrested, injured or killed as security forces tried to block Wine from holding rallies.
One of those injured was 29-year-old Senjovu Jonathan, who was shot by a soldier as he walked home in Kampala on November 19.
He said Museveni’s swearing-in would mean something if the president promised to punish those who wounded or killed young people like him.
Senjovu said government has never investigated whether the people they maimed and killed are helped. He said, I hoped that the president we chose was meant to be sworn]in today, but that hasn’t happened. Someone else has sworn in. Museveni rigged the election but we will never settle until Uganda gets the change it deserves, Senjovu said.
The shootings during the campaign generated harsh criticism against Museveni, both at home and internationally.
But on Wednesday, Museveni dismissed his critics, saying Uganda never experienced democracy during times of colonialism and much of the post-colonial era. This is why he says he developed a democratic structure for Uganda.
“It is therefore quite comic and laughable to hear some actors in the world, giving us lectures about democracy. We built this system for our people. We neither seek nor need any approbation from anybody outside Uganda,” Museveni said.
In his inaugural speech, witnessed by eleven presidents, Museveni preached African security, a united front and the need to defend Africa from foreign enemies.
The majority of the over 4,000 invited guests were supporters of the ruling party.
Minister for the Presidency Esther Mbayo was elated about the swearing-in.
“Now he’s starting a new term, that’s the importance. To the NRM party, it is victory on and on,” Mbayo said.
Museveni is now expected to head Uganda until 2025 when he would turn 82.
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Sudan Protesters Demand Justice After Being Fired on by Security Forces
Sudan’s transitional government is under fire after security forces used live ammunition Tuesday to disperse people marking the two-year anniversary of a pro-democracy protest, leaving two people dead. On June 3, 2019, soldiers opened fire on pro-democracy demonstrators who had surrounded military headquarters in Khartoum, killing more than 100 people. Relatives of the victims gathered Tuesday around military headquarters in the capital to remember those killed. A few hours after Tuesday’s gathering, security troops fired live ammunition to disperse the remaining protesters and killed two people. Dozens more were injured, and witnesses say many were arrested after the attack. Sudan’s military denied any connection to the attack and said it did not issue instructions to use live ammunition. The military said it will open an investigation. FILE – Sudan Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok speaks during press conference in Khartoum, Sudan, Sept. 3, 2019.On Wednesday, the office of Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok said Hamdok met with the generals, the heads of the interior and defense ministries, and other officials to discuss Tuesday’s incident. In a news release, Hamdok expressed the transitional government’s sorrow for the bloody events and the excessive use of power and called on the military and justice system to help with an investigation. The embassy of the United States expressed its shock and condemned the use of live ammunition, urging the transitional authorities to fully investigate the attack. Many officials and parties who have roles in the transitional government called on top officials to resign if authorities fail to name and prosecute the troops who opened fire. The transitional government came to power in 2019 after generals ousted longtime president Omar al-Bashir following months of mass protests against his rule. That August, protest leaders and the generals signed a power-sharing agreement. According to the agreement, military generals are due to hand over power to a civilian leader named by the protest leaders later this month. June 3 marks the two-year anniversary of the massacre. Pro-democracy protesters have proclaimed that date as a deadline for the transitional authorities to start prosecuting those behind that event and the killing of the two people on Tuesday.
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Pope Holds First In-Person Public Audience at Vatican in Six Months
A joyful Pope Francis greeted a group of about 300 faithful in a Vatican courtyard Wednesday as he resumed his in-person weekly general audience with members of the public for the first time in six months. The COVID-19 pandemic shut down the pope’s public audiences last year as the pandemic swept through Italy. He instead taped his weekly message in a Vatican library. He attempted to resume them again in September, only to be forced back into the library when infection rates rose in November. Pope Francis holds the weekly general audience while coronavirus disease restrictions are eased at the Vatican, May 12, 2021.The crowd of about 300 cheered as the pope stepped out of a car that drove him into San Damaso Courtyard at the Vatican. He removed his mask and smiled and waved at the social-distanced group, all of whom had their temperatures checked as they entered the area. As he made his way to the front of the courtyard, the pope greeted a baby, signed a book and put on a red knit Filipino hat given to him by an audience member. In his opening remarks, the pope told the audience how happy he was to be back, face to face, with them. “I will tell you something — it is not nice to speak in front of nothing, to a camera. It is not nice,” he said. Later in the day, he held a private audience with German Foreign Minister Heiko Mass. The 84-year-old pope has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as have all residents of the Vatican.
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Calls Grow at UN for China to Admit Rights Chief to Xinjiang
Western nations and human rights groups Wednesday called on China to allow the U.N. human rights chief unobstructed access to the Xinjiang region to investigate the situation of ethnic Uyghur Muslims and other Turkic Muslim minorities.FILE – British Ambassador to the United Nations Barbara Woodward is pictured Jan. 5, 2021, in New York.“We are here … to ask China to allow immediate, meaningful and unfettered access to the U.N. high commissioner for human rights and her office,” said Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward, whose government is one of the 18 nations that co-sponsored the virtual meeting. “To prevent her access asks the question: why?”The high commissioner, Michelle Bachelet, has been pressing Beijing to allow her to visit Xinjiang for some time. In late February, the Chinese government said it had invited her, but no visit has materialized.Bachelet and other human rights experts want to investigate firsthand the situation of the Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities in the autonomous province in northwest China.FILE – U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks during a news conference at U.N. headquarters, March 1, 2021.“In Xinjiang, people are being tortured; women are being forcibly sterilized,” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Wednesday. “There are incredible reports, and credible reports, that many Uyghur people and other ethnic and religious minorities – who only wish to practice basic freedoms of religion, belief, expression and movement – are being forced to work until they drop, manufacturing clothes and goods at the behest of the state.”Sanctions, trade restrictionsThe United States has described the treatment of the Uyghur population as genocide. Washington imposed sanctions on several Beijing officials in March, and the European Union followed suit. The U.S. also has restricted trade with Xinjiang and sanctioned some Chinese companies accused of using Uyghurs for forced labor.On Wednesday in Washington, the U.S. also expressed concern about the treatment of the Uyghurs during the release of its annual report on international religious freedom.China’s suppression against FILE – Members of the Uyghur community living in Turkey hold a placard with pictures of Uyghurs they say they fear are being kept in detention camps in China, during a protest near China’s consulate in Istanbul, Feb. 10, 2021.Personal tollJewher Ilham, a Uyghur activist and member of the diaspora, said her father Tohti’s arrest in 2014 has been difficult on her family. An intellectual and scholar, he was detained and given a life sentence for what Ilham says was encouraging dialogue between ethnic Han Chinese and Uyghurs. The family has had no news about his condition in four years, and they do not even know if he is still alive.”If the treatment of an internationally known scholar like my father is already this cruel, I wonder how cruel the situation and conditions are for the other Uyghurs who don’t have family relatives that are able to speak up for them overseas,” she said.Ilham said her community constantly lives in fear, particularly of pervasive government surveillance. She described speaking on the phone with her relatives in Xinjiang and their panic when she used traditional Muslim greetings of “peace be upon you” and “Allah wishes you peace.” She said they replied, “Xi Jinping wishes you peace,” referring to China’s president.“This is the amount of pressure they are living in. People no longer feel safe to greet you in our cultural or Islamic traditional greetings anymore,” Ilham said. “This is how much surveillance people are under.”International pressure”China goes to great lengths, it seems, to cover up what is happening in Xinjiang,” said Amnesty International’s new secretary-general, Agnès Callamard.She said that despite Beijing’s “bully boy tactics,” support for a multilateral response to the situation is growing, and she called for a transparent U.N. investigation – either by going to Xinjiang or working remotely.“Silence, heads in the sand and unseemly concessions embolden China, tarnish the human rights system, weaken the U.N. overall and betrays our duty to the people of China,” she added.Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth urged states to press for a resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.“Crimes against humanity deserve a commission of inquiry to collect the evidence and to build the case for prosecution,” he said. “At minimum, we should press for a resolution of condemnation.”He noted that the international community united to defend Rohingya Muslims persecuted in Myanmar in 2017, and it should do the same for Uyghurs.“Yes, the persecutor is much more powerful, but rights should not vary according to the violator,” Roth said.
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Hearing on Jan. 6 US Capitol Violence Exposes Stark Partisan Divisions
Republicans sought to shift the narrative on the violent Jan. 6 insurrection during a congressional hearing Wednesday, with some painting the Trump supporters who stormed the building as patriots who have been unfairly harassed, as Democrats clashed with the former Pentagon chief while drilling into the government’s unprepared response.
The colliding lines of questioning, and a failure to settle on a universally agreed-upon set of facts, underscored the challenges Congress faces as it investigates what law enforcement officials have described as a deadly act of domestic terrorism carried out by Trump loyalists bent on overturning the election.
The hearing before the House Oversight Committee unfolded as the House Republicans removed Rep. Liz Cheney from her leadership post after she rebuked former President Donald Trump for his false claims of election fraud and his role in inciting the Capitol attack.
Former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller and former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen testified publicly for the first time about Jan. 6, defending their respective agencies’ responses to the chaos. But the hearing soon devolved into partisan bickering about how that day unfolded, with Democrats accusing Republicans of rewriting history and GOP lawmakers insisting their party had been unfairly vilified for objecting to election results.
“I find it hard to believe the revisionist history that’s being offered by my colleagues on the other side,” Rep. Stephen Lynch, a Massachusetts Democrat, proclaimed in exasperation. Other Democrats made similar accusations, with Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland urging his Republican colleagues to stop with the “evasions” and “distractions.”
Republicans sought to refocus attention from the hundreds of Trump supporters who stormed into the Capitol as Congress was certifying the election results. Instead, they suggested that Democrats had failed to forcefully condemn violence in American cities last summer during periods of civil unrest.
In ways that clearly rewrote the facts of the day and the investigations that resulted, Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona said the Justice Department was “harassing peaceful patriots.” He described a California woman who was fatally shot by an officer during the insurrection after climbing through the broken part of a door as having “been executed,” even though prosecutors have said the officer won’t be prosecuted.
“It was Trump supporters who lost their lives that day, not Trump supporters who were taking the lives of others,” said Rep. Jody Hice of Georgia, overlooking that loyalists to the president instigated the riot, smashing through windows and spraying officers with pepper and bear spray.
One Capitol Police officer who was injured while confronting rioters suffered a stroke and died a day later of natural causes. Dozens more were severely injured, some of whom may never return to duty.
Democrats, for their part, clashed with Miller repeatedly over the hours-long delay in dispatching the National Guard to the Capitol, with Rep. Ro Khanna of California saying he was dumfounded “we had someone like you in that role.” After Miller described Lynch’s line of questioning as ridiculous, Lynch shot back that he was ridiculous.
“You were AWOL, Mr. Secretary,” said Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois.
“That’s completely inaccurate,” Miller replied. “That’s completely inaccurate.”
In testimony aimed at rebutting broad criticism that military forces were too slow to arrive even as the pro-Trump rioters violently breached the building and stormed inside, Miller told the committee he was concerned before the insurrection that sending troops to the Capitol could fan fears of a military coup and cause a repeat of the deadly Kent State shootings in 1970.
“No such thing was going to occur on my watch, but these concerns, and hysteria about them, nonetheless factored into my decisions regarding the appropriate and limited use of our armed forces to support civilian law enforcement during the Electoral College certification,” Miller said. “My obligation to the nation was to prevent a constitutional crisis.”
He said that though Trump had encouraged his supporters to protest the election results, he did not believe Trump’s rhetoric — which led to his impeachment — was the “unitary” factor in the riot. Trump was ultimately acquitted by the Senate.
Miller denied that Trump had any involvement in the Defense Department’s response, saying the men did not speak that day. But Democrats made clear their focus on Trump and his role in the riot.
“The failures of Jan. 6 go beyond the craven lies and provocations of one man,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat and the committee’s chairwoman.
Some Republicans sought to attack what they said was a false narrative that Trump had instigated the riot and focused instead on violence that roiled American cities last summer in the days following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. A white police officer had pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes as the Black man said he couldn’t breathe and went motionless.
“What is wrong is when individuals take to crime, violence and mob tactics,” said Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the committee’s top Republican. “This was wrong on Jan. 6, and this was wrong last summer when several cities across the country were attacked by rioters.”
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio also asserted that Republicans were being unfairly maligned for doubting election results when he said Democrats have done so in the past — although a riot at the Capitol aimed at halting the certification of those results was an unprecedented moment in history.
“It’s not about revisionist history,” Jordan said. “It’s about the double-standard that Democrats want to have. That’s the part that bothers me most.”
Rosen in his testimony defended the Justice Department’s preparation and also said there was no evidence of widespread election fraud that could have caused the results to be voided. His former boss, William Barr, has said the same.
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US Homeland Security Chief Vows Broad Response to Pipeline Cyberattack
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is leading a government-wide response to the cyberattack that shut down the largest gasoline pipeline in the United States and has the capability to counter the threat, according to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “We’re working at the direction of the president in an all-of-government way to address the cyber security threat that Colonial suffered and that other businesses and institutions across all our country all are vulnerable to,” Mayorkas told lawmakers during a congressional hearing on Wednesday. A Colonial Pipeline station is seen in Smyrna, Ga., near Atlanta, May 11, 2021.The Colonial Pipeline system on Friday was forced to shut down its entire network along the U.S. East Coast in the wake of the cyberattack that the company said was caused by ransomware used by hackers. A cybersecurity firm FireEye has linked at least five Russian-speaking hackers to the malware. The pipeline network is responsible for nearly half of the U.S. East Coast’s fuel supply. Testifying before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Mayorkas said that the Biden administration is considering invoking the Jones Act and other authorities to ensure that gasoline carried by ships reaches the regions impacted by the pipeline shutdown. The Jones Act requires that goods shipped between U.S. ports be carried by U.S. vessels. “We’re working very closely with the Department of Transportation and the Department of Energy [as well as other federal agencies] to bring all of the resources and capabilities to bear to ensure the well-being of the American people and those impacted in the regions within Colonial Pipeline’s jurisdiction,” Mayorkas said. Colonial has said it will restore operation of the pipeline by the end of the week. U.S. Law enforcement officials have recently sounded the alarm about the growing threat of ransomware. Mayorkas said he recently warned business leaders about the “very type of attack” that Colonial suffered and that “has galvanized correctly our attention.” Ransomware is a type of malicious software criminal actors use to encrypt data on a computer system, holding the computer hostage until a ransom is paid. Ransomware attacks have resulted in losses of more than $350 million this year, an increase of more than 300 percent over the past year,” Mayorkas said. Meanwhile, Mayorkas also announced at the hearing that his department has created a dedicated intelligence unit to focus on domestic violent extremism. The new branch will “ensure we develop the expertise necessary to combat this threat by using sound, timely intelligence,” Mayorkas told the committee. In addition, DHS has also renamed a separate office that is focused on combating violent extremism to the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, Mayorkas said. Working with community organizations and law enforcement agencies, the rebranded center will ensure “our prevention efforts are grounded in an approach to violence prevention that leverages behavioral threat assessment and management tools and addresses early-risk factors that can lead to radicalization to violence,” Mayorkas said. Mayorkas testified alongside Attorney General Merrick Garland on domestic violent extremism. The hearing comes as law enforcement officials warn that some domestic violent extremists may have been emboldened by the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former president Donald Trump.FILE – Rioters storm the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021.The attack left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer, and more than 100 other officers injured. President Joe Biden has made combating domestic terrorism a top priority of his administration, and in January he directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to conduct a review of the threat of domestic terror. In March, ODNI released the intelligence community’s assessment of the threat, warning that domestic violent extremists pose “an elevated threat” to the homeland in 2021. In particular, the ODNI warned that racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists, known as RMVEs, and anti-government violent militia members present the most lethal threats, with the first group most likely to carry out mass casualty attacks. Between 2015 and 2020, racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists were responsible for most deadly domestic terrorism attacks, Jill Sanborn, the FBI’s top counter terrorism official told a House panel last month. According to a recent report by the non-partisan Center for Strategic and International Studies, white supremacist groups were responsible for 41 of 61 “terrorist plots and attacks” carried out during the first eight months of 2020.
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Injured Toll in Russian School Shooting Rises to 23
Twenty-three people remain hospitalized Wednesday in the Russian city of Kazan following a school shooting that killed nine people, seven of whom were children. The attack occurred Tuesday morning when a gunman opened fire on a school there.”We have lost seven children … four boys and three girls,” Rustam Minnikhanov, the president of the Republic of Tatarstan, told state TV, according to Reuters.Authorities have said all 23 wounded remain in stable condition and at least eight — three adults and five children — will be transferred to Moscow for further treatment.Men carry a coffin with the body of Elvira Ignatieva, a teacher who was killed in a shooting at a school on Tuesday, in Kazan, Russia, May 12, 2021.Russian officials have promised to pay 1 million rubles to each of the families of those killed and said the payments will be wired by the end of day Wednesday.Wednesday was declared a day of mourning in Tatarstan, the region where Kazan is the capital.The attacker has been identified as a 19-year-old and has been arrested. No details were given by authorities regarding a motive.Russian media has said the gunman was a former student at the school, who called himself “a god” on his Telegram messaging account and promised to “kill a large amount of biomass” on the morning of the shooting. Russian lawmaker Alexander Khinshtein said on Telegram that the suspect received a permit for a shotgun less than two weeks ago, and the school he targeted had no security besides a panic button.Attacks on schools are rare in Russia, and Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the head of the country’s National Guard to revise regulations on the types of weapons available for civilian use.
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International Olympic Committee Confident of Successful Tokyo Games Despite Opposition
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday said it supported Japanese measures to counter COVID-19 and was confident the Tokyo Olympics would be a “historic” event, despite wide public opposition. With less than three months to go before the games begin on July 23, Japan is battling a surge in coronavirus infections. A majority of its population wants the Olympics canceled or postponed for a second time, according to several polls, with about 70% of the 10,500 athletes — about 7,800 — already qualified for the games. “We are now very much in an implementation phase with 78 days to go and fully concentrated on delivering the games,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams told an online news conference. “When the games happen and the Japanese people are proud hosts of an event that will be an historic moment, I think I am very confident we will see public opinion hugely in favor of the games.” FILE – People protest the Tokyo 2020 Olympics amid the coronavirus outbreak, around Olympic Stadium (National Stadium) as an Olympic test event for athletics is held inside the venue in Tokyo, Japan, May 9, 2021, in this photo taken by Kyodo.His online news conference, however, ended with a protester, who had signed up as a journalist to ask a question, unfurling a banner reading “No to Olympics” and shouting profanities and “No Olympics anywhere” before being cut off. Japan has extended a state of emergency in Tokyo and three other areas until the end of May as the number of cases rises daily, forcing IOC President Thomas Bach to postpone a visit to Japan in May. An opinion survey conducted from May 7-9 by the Yomiuri Shimbun daily showed 59% of respondents wanted the games canceled as opposed to 39% who said they should be held. “Postponement” was not offered as an option. Another poll conducted at the weekend by TBS News found 65% wanted the games canceled or postponed again. More than 300,000 people have signed a petition to cancel the games since it was launched about five days ago. “In terms of Japan and Tokyo we understand the caution,” Adams said. “We are fully in solidarity with them. People are very cautious. We have to fully trust Japanese authorities.” “There will be ups and downs (in public opinion).We have to take account of public opinion on a longer term. As things stand now we are moving full ahead. We continue to plan for full games. That’s the way it has to be for us.”
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Freedom of Speech, Assembly Under Attack in Algeria, UN Warns
U.N. human rights officials are expressing concern about increasingly repressive actions by the Algerian government, which they say are stifling peoples’ rights to freedom of opinion and assembly. Demonstrations have not been held in the streets of Algeria for most of the past year because of COVID-19. However, since they resumed February 13, the U.N. human rights office says it has received reports of security forces using unnecessary and disproportionate force against peaceful protesters. The protesters are part of the Hirak movement, which began two years ago after then-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced he would run for a fifth term. While he is no longer in power, the movement continues to call for the ouster of the ruling elite, which it considers corrupt. FILE – Demonstrators march in support for the Hirak pro-democracy movement., in Algiers, May 7, 2021.Human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said student marches were blocked on four occasions in April and May, and security forces have arrested hundreds of protesters. He noted some detainees reportedly were released after being forced to sign a document promising not to participate in protests. “Currently, around 70 people are still reportedly detained for exercising their legitimate human rights,” Colville said. “Some of them are serving lengthy sentences, while others are in pre-trial detention. New allegations of physical and sexual violence in detention have also been surfacing in recent days.” Colville said activists, human rights defenders, journalists, and ordinary citizens peacefully expressing dissent continue to face criminal prosecution. He added that Hirak activists continue to be prosecuted even after a presidential pardon was announced in February. “So, we urge the Algerian authorities to stop using violence to disperse peaceful demonstrations, to halt arbitrary arrests and detention of individuals for exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of opinion, expression and peaceful assembly … and to cease all forms of harassment and intimidation against them,” he said. The U.N. human rights office is calling on Algerian authorities to conduct prompt, impartial and effective investigations into all allegations of human rights violations, to hold perpetrators accountable, and to provide redress for the victims. In response to past criticisms, government spokesman and Minister of Communication Ammar Belhimer has said people who are arrested “are not detained by the judiciary for expressing their opinion, but for reasons relating to maintaining public security.”
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Germany to Use Digital Immunity Certificate
German Health Minister Jens Spahn said Wednesday the nation is prepared to roll out a digital “immunity app” to show proof of vaccination for Germans by the end of June.
Spahn told reporters the digital certificate is designed to allow people to more easily prove they have been vaccinated and travel to different areas and countries. He said all the standards, interfaces and “technical terms” for the certificate have been agreed to, and after regional testing is complete next month, he expects it to be ready for distribution.
The health minister said the goal is for the certificate to be compatible with the certification system currently being developed and debated by the European Union.
“If we manage to do this for the EU in the coming weeks, then we’ll likely set a global benchmark,” Spahn said, noting that no other countries have agreed to a system at the national level.
Tuesday, the European Parliament began discussing how the certificate could be used. While EU officials want it to allow unconditional entry to member states, some members are balking at surrendering the power to control their own borders.
Spahn said the good news is that COVID-19 infection rates have been dropping for all age groups throughout the country and that vaccinations continue at a steady pace, with at least one-third of the German population having received at least one shot and about 10% fully vaccinated.
Speaking at the same news briefing, Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases (RKI) President Lothar Wieler told reporters that schoolchildren and young adults remain the group with the highest infection rates, with over 150 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people.
RKI reports that as of Tuesday, Germany’s national average infection rate was 115 per 100,000 people.
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Independent Panel Says Coronavirus Pandemic was ‘Preventable Disaster’
An independent panel released a report Wednesday saying the coronavirus pandemic was a “preventable disaster,” exacerbated by a slow and weak World Health Organization (WHO) and lack of global political leadership.
The panel, formed to examine the cause of and response to the pandemic, said that while there had been years of warnings about the threat of pandemics, initial signs of the threat from clinicians in Wuhan, China were not acted on. It said coordinated, global leadership was absent, and global tensions undermined efforts by international, multilateral institutions to take cooperative action.
The panel also concluded that the international threat warning could have been declared at least a week earlier than it was on January 30, 2020.
Close to 160 million cases have been recorded globally, along with more than 3.3 million deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.
The independent panel faulted countries worldwide for their “wait and see” approach, rather than enacting aggressive containment strategies that might have slowed or prevented the crisis. The group also criticized restrictive international health laws that hindered the WHO’s response.
The independent panel was formed last year by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the request of the organization’s membership. Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark led the panel.
In its final report, the panel made a series of recommendations, such as creating a global health threats council through the United Nations. It would include heads of state, giving the WHO more power and financial independence and have it work with the World Trade Organization with vaccine-producing countries and manufacturers to quickly reach deals to boost the world’s global supply of coronavirus shots.
The panel also suggested that Tedros, WHO’s current director-general, should be limited to a single seven-year term. As it stands, the WHO chief is elected to a five-year term that can be renewed once.
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UN Calls for More International Pressure Against Myanmar Junta
The U.N. human rights office is calling for more international pressure against Myanmar’s military junta, which it says has continued a brutal crackdown on opponents despite a recent agreement to halt violence and begin dialogue.Credible sources report at least 782 people have been killed since Myanmar’s military authorities seized control of the country on February 1 and ousted its democratically elected leaders.The U.N. Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights says the military shows no sign of easing its crackdown on opponents, who remain defiant and continue to protest against the coup leaders.The High Commissioner’s spokesman, Rupert Colville, said besides killing protesters, military authorities continue to commit other gross violations of human rights against Myanmar’s people.“There are daily raids on private homes and offices, and more than 3,740 people are currently in detention. We are deeply alarmed that the whereabouts and fate of hundreds of these individuals are unknown. These are situations that may amount to enforced disappearances,” he said.Over the past month, Colville said the military has issued more than 1,500 arrest warrants targeting civil society activists, trade unionists, journalists, and academics, and public personalities. He said military authorities increasingly are taking family members of wanted people into custody to force them to turn themselves in to the police.Tw // violence
More than 30 Schoolteachers, Students and general public were abducted by Terrorists during a violent crackdown on a coalition strike on 118th St., (72×73 St.), Mandalay, today morning. #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar#May12Couppic.twitter.com/O2bZIUC5xA
— Kim Hsu#Save Myanmar (@HsuMyatAung17) May 12, 2021He said the international community must put greater pressure on Myanmar’s generals to abide by a five-point plan they agreed to at a meeting of the regional bloc ASEAN on April 24. The plan includes a call for an immediate cessation of violence and for a constructive dialogue among all parties to look for a peaceful solution.Colville said the military leadership is taking no steps to make this happen. “As a result, we are seeing a continuation of the violence, a continuation of arbitrary detention and arrests, continuation of–people starting to flee the country. And, as you say the economy and the whole structure of society being really badly damaged. When you lose your teachers, your university professors, your civil servants, your journalists, you start to have a really crumbling social structures,” he said.The U.N. human rights office is calling on ASEAN to react quickly and to intensify efforts to make the military keep its commitments. It adds the 10 Southeast Asian countries that form this bloc should hold Myanmar’s leaders accountable for failing to do so.The military has justified its takeover of the country by claiming, without evidence, that the 2020 general election won by the ruling National League for Democracy was riddled with fraud.
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Why Some Americans Are Moving from California to Texas
The two most populous U.S. states, California and Texas, have long competed to attract companies and talent. The 2020 U.S. Census data shows Texas is drawing more people – including Californians. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee explains why.
Camera: Spike Johnson, Elizabeth Lee, Roy Kim, Christian von Preysing, Matt Dibble
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Families Seek Justice for Victims of June 2019 Crackdown in Khartoum
Sudanese investigators recently questioned top military chiefs on the ruling Sovereign Council about a deadly June 2019 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. But right defenders and relatives of victims doubt the generals will ever face justice. Those being investigated include the head of the ruling Sovereign Council, General Abdelfatah al-Burhan, and the head of the controversial Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who rights groups blame for the violent dispersal that left more than 120 people dead. A special investigation committee was formed in October 2019 and 3,000 witnesses provided testimony to the committee. In a televised interview, the chief of the committee, Nabeel Adeeb, confirmed the investigations with military generals. Adeeb says they summoned anyone they thought is relevant or has information to provide. No one objected it and they were not prevented from summoning any person, with no exceptions. The crackdown took place on June 3, 2019, when security forces attacked and dispersed thousands of pro-democracy protesters in Khartoum. In June 2019, a spokesman for the then-ruling military junta, General Shams Eldin al-Kabashi, admitted on national television that generals planned the dispersal. Kabashi says they called for a meeting that was attended by all of the transitional military council and the chief of security forces and took advice from the legal apparatuses to deal with the sit-in. We then directed the military leaders to plan the dispersal of the sit-in; they put their plan and executed it and then what happened has already happened, we are sorry about it, there were some mistakes and committing of abuses. Al-Kabashi now says he misspoke that day. Kabashi says he mentioned the dispersal of the sit-in in his previous statements but what he said was taken out of context. In April 2021, a group known as the Families of the December Revolution Victims asked the International Criminal Court to investigate the dispersal for possible crimes against humanity. Farah Abbas, a father of a victim and the chief of the organization, says he expects the committee of the sit-in dispersal will say what happened cannot be changed as the military leaders said. The case files are in front of the ICC and the ICC is completing the gaps and defects in the local justice system and courts when there is no willingness to achieve justice and when there is an absence of law. Relatives of victims like Eman Ismail, a mother of a June 3 crackdown victim, doubt any of the military generals will face justice. She says there is a sluggishness about the procedures of the opened cases regarding the victims and that refers to the unqualified and non-transparent justice system. The sit-in dispersal committee isn’t useful and is unnecessary as the evidence is abundant. Truth requires courage from the killers to admit to the Sudanese people that they committed violence and let people decide the path of justice. The families of the victims called for a gathering around the military headquarters in Khartoum Tuesday, but the Sudanese military blocked access with barricades and heavy vehicles.
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Why Some Americans Are Leaving California for Texas
The two most populous states in the United States, California and Texas, have long competed to attract companies and talent. Data from the 2020 U.S. census show that Texas is drawing more people, including Californians.Texans have a saying: “Everything is bigger in Texas.” By size, it is the largest state in the contiguous U.S. There are many reasons why the state’s population is also getting bigger. “Your quality of life is so much higher here in Austin,” said Alex Backus, who moved with his teenage daughter from San Jose, California, to the Texas capital almost two years ago. Backus has been bouncing back and forth between the two states over the years. He said that while he missed the outdoor activities and mild weather in California’s Bay Area, it is not a financially friendly place for young adults such as his daughter. “Most of the kids that are in the Bay Area and they graduate, they kind of need to leave the Bay Area because it’s so expensive. I kind of figured in Austin, there was a shot that she might actually choose to try to stay in Austin to go to college and start her life,” Backus explained. Correlation between states “They each have a singular history. Both of them were governed by Spain and Mexico. They both have a sort of a nation-state identity unlike any other state,” said Bill Fulton, director of Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, in Houston.Fulton moved to Texas from California for his current job. He has been studying the migration patterns between the two states through census data and noticed a correlation.”When home prices in California go up, more people move to Texas. When home prices in California go down, fewer people move to Texas,” Fulton said. James, 9, and Will, 11, the children of Kate Sullivan Morgan and William Morgan, who relocated so children could attend school in-person, play in the family’s new home in Austin, Texas, March 12, 2021.Census and politics While California still has 10 million more residents than Texas, the migration patterns of each state have been going on for years, and Texas has won the popularity contest, according to the 2020 census results. For the first time in the state’s history, California, a Democratic bastion, lost one U.S. congressional seat determined by the state’s population. Republican-leaning Texas, the biggest winner of all 50 states, gained two seats.While the impact will be felt in Washington, Fulton said its political significance depends on who is moving from California to Texas — whether they are conservative Republicans who do not like liberal-leaning California with its state tax and more regulations, or Democrats from California looking for better opportunities in Texas. “It may well be that a flow from California to Texas increases the likelihood that at some point in the future, Texas will turn blue. And if it does, of course, that’s good news for the Democrats and bad news for the Republicans nationally because then the two largest states are locked in to be Democratic states. But that would still be a way off if it happens,” Fulton said. Impact of pandemic During the pandemic, out-migration from expensive states such as California and New York picked up. States with lower costs of living, including Texas and Florida, are seeing an influx of new residents, said Los Angeles-based Eric Willett, director of research and thought leadership for the Pacific Southwest division at commercial real estate firm CBRE. He studied the impact of the pandemic on people’s decision to move by looking at data from the U.S. Postal Service. With people working from home, there was a trend of people across the U.S. leaving denser urban regions for homes in the suburbs.”Whether it’s a backyard or an extra bedroom, those sorts of living environments became much more highly desired during the pandemic,” Willett said. The urban dwellers who moved tend to be young, affluent, highly educated and childless. While Willett found that most Californians who moved did so within the state, the migration patterns of people who chose to move out of state were consistent with pre-pandemic trends.”The states that saw the most out-migration last year are also the states that saw the most outmigration in 2019. It just was an accelerated path of out-migration,” Willett said. FILE – Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks before unveiling the Model Y at Tesla’s design studio in Hawthorne, California, March 14, 2019.Texas appeal Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX, moved last year from California to Texas, where his business priorities are located.Tesla Cybertruck and SpaceX’s spaceport are in Texas. Tech companies Oracle and HP Inc., as well as CBRE, have relocated their headquarters to Texas. Japanese automaker Toyota also chose to relocate its North American headquarters from California to Texas, which is not only known for its ample housing and lower cost of living but also its business-friendly environment.Nicknamed “Silicon Hills,” Austin has been an attractive location for many tech companies. “There’s no question that Texas has fewer business regulations than California,” Fulton said. Texas may be popular, but Willett said it does not mean there is a mass exodus of businesses from California. “Increasingly, companies are looking to diversify their talent base, and California is a mature market in many industries. And it makes sense for these companies to look elsewhere to continue to expand their access to talent,” Willett explained. “Facebook and Google are constantly fighting for downtown office space of more than a million square feet (92,903 square meters). They’re looking for additional properties, and it just seems like every company is trying to expand their presence here in Austin,” said Job Hammond of the Austin Board of Realtors. Hammond, originally from Northern California, moved to Austin 14 years ago when he relocated for his then-employer Oracle. He is now a relocation expert who helps people from other cities find homes in Austin.”They all seemingly want the same sort of thing — a good quality of life, a reasonable price in terms of a home, and, in some cases, to avoid state income tax,” Hammond said.Texas Realtors, the state-level association of realtors, reported that in the first quarter of 2021, the median sales price of single-family homes in the state reached $275,000. In contrast, the California Association of Realtors reported that the median price of a single-family home in the state in March was $758,990. “A California family will cash in their home equity to get a bigger house in Texas, and they’re probably not going to reverse that pattern,” Fulton said.Foreign investors are also noticing Texas. Hammond has helped investors from Malaysia, Nepal, China, Europe and Mexico find properties. “I was on the phone about 12 o’clock midnight with somebody in Shanghai who’s interested in not having cash in the bank because she’s worried about things like inflation,” Hammond said.California dreaming Backus has enjoyed the live music and arts scene in Austin and picked up surfing on Lake Austin.But Texas summers are a lot hotter than they are in Northern California, with its milder climate, diverse geography, and plentiful biking opportunities and outdoor activities, which Backus misses. “I still have my home there. It’s rented out there, and I’m questioning whether I should keep it, because I might want to go back. I do miss going snow skiing,” he said.
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