The killing of George Floyd prompted a wave of promises from corporate America to advance racial equity. Nearly a year later, large U.S. companies are under pressure to show progress on fulfilling those promises.Shareholders will vote in the coming weeks on some of those initiatives, including whether Walmart should report on the fairness of its pay scale and whether Facebook and Google/Alphabet should appoint a civil rights specialist to their boards.Another frequently proposed option is a racial equity audit that compares a company’s record with statements made in its glossy marketing materials.Proponents characterize this report as a risk-management tool that can help protect brands.“There are a good number of shareholders that recognize that this is an issue that could cause some reputational damage on a significant level,” said Tejal Patel, corporate governance director at CtW Investment Group, an activist group that organized the drive at several leading companies.Proposals calling for a racial equity audit garnered support of around 30% or more of shareholders at several large companies, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Johnson & Johnson. And later this month, Amazon shareholders will weigh a similar audit plan.“It is a work in progress,” said Olivia Knight, racial justice manager at As You Sow, another advocacy group that has been active on proposals aimed at addressing racial justice and diversity, equity and inclusion or DEI.‘Banking deserts’The current push by activists is a response to events last spring, when police killings of Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other African Americans sparked mass protests and a national reckoning on racial justice.In the aftermath of that uprising, large companies were quick to issue statements supporting Black Lives Matter and promising to do more to be responsive to non-white consumers, employees and communities.Activists have greeted these pledges somewhat skeptically, in part because of corporate America’s lack of progress on promoting diversity at the highest levels. The largest U.S. companies are still overwhelmingly led by white men.CtW and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) late last year drafted resolutions calling for racial equity audits at eight large financial groups, several of which have settled multi-million government probes on lending discrimination in recent years.Large mainstream banks also have a reputation for shunning inner-city neighborhoods, creating “banking deserts” that make it more likely that residents will be forced to turn to predatory lenders.The resolutions called for a once-over of firm operations, including lending practices and political contributions, that would be prepared in consultation with civil rights experts and released publicly.“I think if there was someone peeking in, it would be more transparent,” said Toni Smith, who said her New Orleans branch of Chase Bank discouraged her when she needed a car loan and a loan for business equipment.Smith, who works in home health care and cosmetology, is struggling to pay off lenders who charged interest rates above 20%. She told AFP she plans to file for bankruptcy.“If we’re not sitting on money, you don’t get the opportunities,” she said. “We can’t work our way up.”The challenges Black Americans have faced in building wealth over generations due to lack of access to credit and racially motivated restrictions on where they can purchase housing has been another focus of racial justice movements.Independent once-overTemplates for the audit include reviews similar to those already undertaken at Facebook, Starbucks and other companies, said Patel, who stressed that the check must be independent of management.The Facebook audit, written by civil liberties attorney Laura Murphy and civil rights law firm Relman Colfax, praised the social media giant’s efforts to address voter suppression and some other steps, but faulted other moves as “serious setbacks for civil rights.”They also said the platform should have taken down statements from former President Donald Trump that they said encouraged violence against civil rights protesters.CtW withdrew a proposal at Morgan Stanley after the investment bank agreed to an independent review of its talent program. Sponsors also dropped a campaign at BlackRock after the asset management firm agreed to commission an audit.Six other firms opted to fight the resolutions, pointing to large philanthropic and business announcements addressing racial equity.JPMorgan in October announced a $30 billion push to advance racial equity that includes pledges to originate 40,000 home purchase loans for Black and Latinx households, opening new community center branches in underserved communities and public progress reports.But the CtW proposal alluded to the bank’s “conflicted history” on race, including a $55 million settlement of a U.S. lawsuit on mortgage discrimination, the bank’s rollout of a U.S. aid program to small businesses that disproportionately benefitted mostly white areas and donations to police foundations in New York and New Orleans.“We believe we are taking appropriate action to address the issues raised in the proposal,” JPMorgan said in response to the measure. “Conducting a racial equity audit at this point in time would not provide us with useful additional information.”At Tuesday’s annual meeting, JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said advancing racial equity is “complex, and we’re determined to get it right.”Moments later, bank officials announced that CtW’s proposal had garnered 39% of the vote.
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Month: May 2021
US to Expand Haitian Eligibility for Deportation Relief Program
The United States will expand Haitian eligibility for a humanitarian program that grants deportation relief and work permits to immigrants who cannot safely return to their home countries, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told lawmakers in an email Saturday.A new designation of so-called Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will cover an estimated 150,000 Haitians living in the United States, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez said in a written statement.Democratic lawmakers and pro-immigrant advocates had pressed the administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat, to expand deportation relief for Haitians. Former President Donald Trump, a Republican, sought to end most TPS enrollment, including that of Haitians, but was stymied by federal courts.The TPS program grants deportation relief and work permits to immigrants whose home countries experience a natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary event.Haitians were granted TPS in 2010 following a devastating earthquake in the Caribbean nation, but the latest move would expand the program to Haitians in the United States as of May 21.”Haiti is currently experiencing serious security concerns, social unrest, an increase in human rights abuses, crippling poverty, and lack of basic resources, which are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in an email to lawmakers obtained by Reuters.“After careful consideration, we determined that we must do what we can to support Haitian nationals in the United States until conditions in Haiti improve so they may safely return home.”
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New COVID-19 Cases in US Fall to Lowest Levels Since Last June
New coronavirus cases across the United States have tumbled to rates not seen in more than 11 months, sparking optimism that vaccination campaigns are stemming both severe COVID-19 cases and the spread of the virus.As cases, hospitalizations and deaths steadily dropped this week, pre-pandemic life in America has largely resumed. Hugs and unmasked crowds returned to the White House, a Mardi Gras-style parade marched through Alabama’s port city of Mobile, and even states that have stuck to pandemic-related restrictions readied to drop them.Health experts cautioned, however, that not enough Americans have been vaccinated to completely extinguish the virus, leaving the potential for new variants that could extend the pandemic.FILE – Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifies during a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 18, 2021.As the seven-day average for new cases dropped below 30,000 per day this week, Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pointed out that cases have not been this low since June 18, 2020. The average number of deaths over the last seven days also dropped to 552 — a rate not seen since July last year. It’s a dramatic drop since the pandemic hit a devastating crescendo in January.”As each week passes and as we continue to see progress, these data give me hope,” Walensky said Friday at a news conference.Health experts credit an efficient rollout of vaccines for the turnaround. More than 60% of people older than 18 have received at least one shot, and almost half are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. But demand for vaccines has dropped across much of the country. President Joe Biden’s administration is trying to persuade other Americans to sign up for shots, using an upbeat message that vaccines offer a return to normal life.White House health officials on Friday even waded into offering dating advice. They are teaming up with dating apps to offer a new reason to “swipe right” by featuring vaccination badges on profiles and in-app bonuses for people who have gotten their shots.Ohio, New York, Oregon and other states are enticing people to get vaccinated through lottery prizes of up to $5 million.FILE – People enjoy their time in a wave swinger, May 14, 2021, at Chicago’s Navy Pier. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has eased its guidelines, saying fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing masks.Across the country, venues and events reopened after shuttering for much of the last year.On Saturday, Karen Stetz readied to welcome what she hoped would be a good crowd to the Grosse Pointe Art Fair on Michigan’s Lake St. Clair. In Michigan, nearly 38% of people have been fulling vaccinated.”I feel like most people are ready to get out,” Stetz said by phone shortly before opening the fair, which usually draws 5,000 to 10,000 people. “It seems like people are eager, but it’s hard to know still. I’m sure there’s a percentage of people that are going to wait until they’re comfortable.”Parade in MobileIn Mobile, thousands of joyful revelers, many without masks, competed for plastic beads and trinkets tossed from floats Friday night as Alabama’s port city threw a Mardi Gras-style parade. But only about a quarter of the county’s population is fully vaccinated. Many went without masks, though health officials had urged personal responsibility.Alabama’s vaccination rate — almost 27% of people are fully vaccinated — is one of the lowest in the country. It’s part of a swath of Southern states where vaccine uptake has been slow. Health experts worry that areas with low vaccination rates could give rise to new virus variants that are more resistant to vaccinations.”My biggest concern is new strains of the virus and the need to remain vigilant in the months ahead,” said Boston College public health expert Dr. Philip J. Landrigan.A medical center in Louisiana reported Friday that it had identified the state’s first two cases of a COVID-19 variant that has spread widely since being identified in India. It has been classified as a “variant of concern” by Britain and the World Health Organization, meaning there is some evidence that it spreads more easily among people, causes more severe disease, or might be less responsive to treatments and vaccines. The variant has also been reported in several other states, including Tennessee, Nebraska and Nevada.Though Landrigan said the big drop in cases nationwide was “the best news we’ve had on the pandemic” and showed that vaccines are working, he warned that people should remain vigilant for local flare-ups of new cases.FILE – Scott Johnson, foreground, participates in a fitness class at Lift Society May 21, 2021, in Studio City, Calif. California will no longer require social distancing and will allow full capacity for businesses when the state reopens on June 15.Many states have largely dropped orders to wear masks and stay distanced from other people. Meanwhile, even places such as California — the first state to issue a statewide shutdown as the virus emerged in March 2020 — prepared to remove restrictions on social distancing and business capacity next month.State health director Dr. Mark Ghaly said Friday that the decision was based on dramatically lower virus cases and increased vaccinations.Reluctance in VermontBut in Vermont — the state with the highest percentage of people who have received one shot — Governor Phil Scott has tied the lifting of restrictions to the vaccination rate. He offered to lift all remaining restrictions before a July 4 deadline if 80% of those eligible get vaccinated.Landrigan figured it would take a nationwide vaccination rate of at least 85% to snuff out the virus. But for now, the steep drop in cases gave him hope that pandemic-level infection rates will soon be a thing of the past.”It is getting to the point to where by the Fourth of July we might be able to declare this thing over,” he said.
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In Fast-Aging China, Elder Care Costs Loom Large
China’s latest census shows that the country’s population is quickly growing older, creating a policy challenge familiar to many governments: how to cover elder care costs while ensuring continued prosperity for everyone else.Over the past decade, China’s overall population grew at the slowest pace since the first modern census in 1953, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). This came even though the one-child policy was abolished in 2016.In about 25 years, one-third of China’s population will be retirees, and their living and health care expenses will eat up a quarter of the country’s GDP, according to the NBS census report, which was released last week. But by 2035, the government-run basic pension system for corporate employees will likely be depleted, according to a 2019 Chinese Academy of Social Sciences report.China’s “increasing elderly population will reduce the supply of labor force and increase the burden on families’ elder care and the pressure on the supply of basic public services,” said Ning Jizhe, head of the NBS, at a May 11 press conference in Beijing marking the release of the census.”The aging of the population has further deepened, and in the coming period, (we will) continue to face pressure for the long-term balanced development of the population,” Ning said.”I think it’s a serious problem,” Mrs. Su, a retired teacher living in Beijing, told VOA Mandarin. “But to be honest, I couldn’t care less about our country’s family planning policies and what the government is going to do from now on. I only care about my retirement benefits and how I can enjoy my remaining years.” She asked to be identified by only one name to avoid attracting the attention of authorities.Africa bucks trendChina is not alone in facing this demographic tension.In many developing and developed nations, younger working people pay part of their income into pension plans, offsetting the costs of an aging population. As birthrates fall in the Americas, Europe and elsewhere in Asia, this construct is challenging governments. Only in Africa do demographers see population growth, at least over the next two decades.China’s current economy was built on lives spent in poorly paid manufacturing jobs which offered little to workers for their retirement. Male workers become eligible to retire at 60; female office workers, 55; and female blue-collar workers, 50. Officials set the ages in the 1950s, when China’s life expectancy was less than 45. As of 2019, life expectancy was 77.3 years nationwide, with city dwellers expected to keep going past 80 years.In China, families have traditionally been the caregivers and major source of financial support for older adults. According to a study published in the China Economic Journal in 2015, roughly 41% of Chinese 60 and over live with an adult child. Another 34% have an adult child living nearby.Yet that pattern is gradually changing. China enforced the one-child policy between 1979 and 2015, aiming to control population growth. This means that people born in the 1940s could have three or four children to care for them when they are old, while people born in the 1950s and 1960s usually have only one adult child. Mrs. Su, the retired teacher in Beijing, is from the latter group.Mr. Chen, a retired professor living in Beijing, said that the one-child policy is not the only thing that’s contributing to today’s demographic trend. He asked to be identified by only one name to avoid attracting the attention of authorities.”Modern medicine has prolonged our life expectancy, so it’s inevitable for China to have an aging population,” he said. “In addition, just as many young people in the developed countries, young people in China today don’t really want to have kids because of the high cost. So even with the policy change, not a lot of young people choose to have a second kid since the cost of living is so high.”Official census data for 2020 alone showed a fertility rate of 1.3 children per couple.Chinese policymakers “have been studying — and adjusting for — the effects of demographic change on China’s economy for more than three decades,” wrote Lauren Johnston, a research associate at SOAS China Institute, in a 2019 post for the World Economic Forum.Effect on economic growthOfficials understood that an aging population coupled with a low birthrate could slow economic growth — and undercut the ruling Communist Party’s promises of continued prosperity. In 2018, an editorial in the official People’s Daily newspaper said, “To put it bluntly, the birth of a baby is not only a matter of the family itself, but also a state affair.”In 2020, the Chinese government created a strategy for responding to its aging population and added it to its next five-year plan. China would increase the retirement age, develop the elder care sector and improve the quality of service for senior citizens, according to the official China Daily newspaper, which did not report any details of how the plan would be carried out.According to the latest official census data, those 60 and over now make up 18.7% of the population, or 264 million people. In 2010, the over-60 cohort was 13.3% of a total population of 1.34 billion, or 178 million people. Those 65 and above accounted for 13.5% of the population in 2020. In 2010, 8.9% were 65 or older, compared with just under 7% in 2000 and 5.6% in 1990. China uses age 60 as the marker for being elderly, while the United Nations uses 65 years.The U.N. and the World Health Organization define an “aging society” as having at least 7% of the total population over 65 years old. When the percentage reaches 14%, it is called an “aged society.” A “super-aged society” is one in which more than 20% of the population is over 65. China became an “aging society” in 2002, according to a study published in BioScience Trends in 2019.According to a 2014 study by consulting firm Deloitte, developed countries generally do not become “aging societies” until their average gross domestic product reaches $10,000 per person.”By contrast, China became an aging society in 2011 when its average GDP was only $5,416 per person. Today, the elderly in China depend on pensions, family care, and income from work,” the report said, adding that the shortage in China’s pension fund will reach $1.4 trillion in 2050.China’s state media Xinhua News Agency reported in 2019 that from 2005 to 2016, the average monthly pension payment for enterprise retirees increased to about $350 (2,400 RMB) from just under $100 (640 RMB).Nursing home shortageAs the demand for elder care increases in China, so does the shortage of affordable assisted living facilities and nursing homes. According to The Rooth Law Firm of Chicago, in 2014, less than 3% of China’s aged population could find accommodation in nursing homes.In cities such as Shanghai or Beijing, the cost of a nursing home ranges from $310 (2,000 RMB) per month to $3,100 (20,000 RMB per month), with the requirement of purchasing at least a one-year lease.In Shanghai, according to China Daily, only 3% of the city’s elderly population is cared for in nursing homes. The majority — 90% — remain at home, and they or their families hire a caregiver to provide some form of assistance at a monthly cost of $450-$700 (3,000-4,500 RMB).”Obtaining a spot in a nursing home has become incredibly competitive,” the law firm said, “The top social welfare home in Beijing has a waiting list of more than 10,000 applicants, and only approximately 1,100 beds in the facility, with only about 12 spots opening up annually.”Mrs. Wang, a retired doctor, said she has seen numerous cases of elderly adults failing to get a bed in nursing homes. She asked to be identified by only one name to avoid attracting the attention of authorities.”If you want to get into a private nursing home, you’ve got to have money first,” she told VOA Mandarin. “On top of that, you have to prepare gifts for the staff so you can receive good care.”
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More Than 125,000 Myanmar Teachers Suspended for Opposing Coup
More than 125,000 schoolteachers in Myanmar have been suspended by military authorities for joining a civil disobedience movement to oppose the military coup in February, an official of the Myanmar Teachers’ Federation said.The suspensions have come days before the start of a new school year, which some teachers and parents are boycotting as part of the campaign that has paralyzed the country since the coup cut short a decade of democratic reforms.A total of 125,900 schoolteachers had been suspended as of Saturday, said the official of the teachers’ federation, who declined to give his name for fear of reprisals. He is on the junta’s wanted list on charges of inciting disaffection.Myanmar had 430,000 schoolteachers according to the most recent data, from two years ago.”These are just statements to threaten people to come back to work. If they actually fire this many people, the whole system will stop,” said the official, who is also a teacher. He said he had been told that the charges he faces would be dropped if he returns.Reuters was unable to reach a junta spokesman or the education ministry for comment. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper has called on teachers and students to return to schools to get the education system started again.The disruption at schools echoes that in the health sector and across government and private business since the Southeast Asian country was plunged into chaos by the coup and the arrest of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.Around 19,500 university staff have also been suspended, according to the teachers’ group.Registrations begin next week for the school term that starts in June, but some parents said they also plan to keep their children out of school.”I am not going to enroll my daughter because I don’t want to give her education from military dictatorship. I also worry about her safety,” said 42-year-old Myint, whose daughter is 14.Students, who have been at the forefront of daily protests, also said they planned to boycott classes. Since the coup, more than 800 people have been killed by security forces and more than 4,200 have been arrested, charged or sentenced, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).”I will only go back to school if we get back democracy,” said Lwin, 18.Myanmar’s education system was one of the poorest in the region and ranked 92 of 93 countries in a global survey last year.Even under the leadership of Suu Kyi, who had championed education, spending was below 2% of gross domestic product. That was one of the lowest rates in the world, according to World Bank figures.A National Unity Government, set up underground by opponents of the junta, said it would do all it could to support the teachers and students, calling on foreign donors to stop funding the junta-controlled education ministry.”We will work with Myanmar’s educators who are refusing to support the cruel military,” Sasa, who goes by one name and is a spokesperson for the national unity government, said in an email to Reuters. “These great teachers and brave teachers will never be left behind.”
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China’s ‘Father of Hybrid Rice’ Dies; His Research Helped Feed World
Yuan Longping, a Chinese scientist who developed higher-yield rice varieties that helped feed people around the world, died Saturday at a hospital in the southern city of Changsha, the Xinhua News agency reported. He was 91.Yuan spent his life researching rice and was a household name in China, known by the nickname “Father of Hybrid Rice.” Worldwide, a fifth of all rice now comes from species created by hybrid rice following Yuan’s breakthrough discoveries, according to the website of the World Food Prize, which he won in 2004.On Saturday afternoon, large crowds honored the scientist by marching past the hospital in Hunan province where he died, local media reported, calling out phrases such as: “Grandpa Ye, have a good journey!”In the 1970s, Yuan achieved the breakthroughs that would make him famous. He developed a hybrid strain of rice that recorded an annual yield 20% higher than existing varieties — meaning it could feed an extra 70 million people a year, according to Xinhua.His work helped transform China from “food deficiency to food security” within three decades, according to the World Food Prize, which was created by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug in 1986 to recognize scientists and others who have improved the quality and availability of food.Yuan and his team worked with dozens of countries around the world to address issues of food security as well as malnutrition.In his later years, Yuan did not stop researching. In 2017, working with a Hunan agricultural school, he helped create a strain of low-cadmium indica rice for areas suffering from heavy metal pollution, reducing the amount of cadmium in rice by more than 90%.
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Rock Band Maneskin Wins Eurovision Song Contest for Italy
Move over sequins, disco beats and power ballads. A four-piece band of Italian rockers won the Eurovision Song Contest in the early hours of Sunday.Maneskin’s win was only the third victory for Italy in the immensely popular contest and the first since Toto Cutugno took the honor in 1990.Italy, the bookmakers’ favorite, trailed Switzerland, France and Malta after the national juries delivered their votes but were propelled to victory by votes from the viewing public.Ahead of the show, crowds gathered outside the Ahoy arena in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. Drag queens mingled with families as a man in a gold suit waited to get into the venue.The hugely popular music festival that oozes flamboyance is seen as a significant step toward a post-pandemic return to live entertainment, but not everybody managed to avoid the virus.The popular Icelandic band Dadi og Gagnamagnid, known for its kitsch dance moves and green leisurewear costumes, is in the final, but can’t perform live because one member tested positive for the virus earlier in the week. Instead, viewers will see a recording of one of the band’s dress rehearsals.”The point was to go and actually experience how it was to compete in Eurovision, and that’s just really not happening,” lead singer Dadi Freyr said from isolation in Rotterdam.While the entertainment world has changed in the pandemic, the Eurovision final formula familiar to its worldwide legion of fans has not. The event is being hosted as usual by the last winner, the Netherlands, except that it won in 2019.After acts from 26 countries perform their songs Saturday night, they are awarded points by panels of music industry experts and by members of the public voting by phone, text message or via the contest’s app. The winner takes home a glass microphone trophy and a potential career boost.For the fans, there is still plenty of the over-the-top spectacle that has become Eurovision’s trademark.Norwegian singer Andreas Haukeland, whose stage name TIX is a reference to growing up with Tourette syndrome, sings his song “Fallen Angel” in a pair of giant white wings while chained to four prancing devils.Cyprus’ Elena Tsagrinou is flanked by four dancers in skintight red costumes as she performs “El Diablo,” a song that ignited protests among Orthodox Christians in the Mediterranean island nation who claim it glorifies satanic worship. Tsagrinou says it’s about an abusive relationship.San Marino has enlisted the help of U.S. rapper Flo Rida to join performer Senhit in her bid to win the title for the first time for the tiny city-state surrounded by Italy.
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Virgin Galactic Shuttle’s First Rocket-powered Flight Reaches Edge of Space
Virgin Galactic on Saturday made its first rocket-powered flight from New Mexico to the fringe of space in a manned shuttle, as the company forges toward offering tourist flights to the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere.High above the desert in a cloudless sky, VSS Unity ignited its rocket to hurtle the ship and two pilots toward space. A live feed by NASASpaceFlight.com showed the ship accelerating upward and confirmed a landing later via radar.Virgin Galactic announced that the shuttle achieved a speed equal to three times the speed of sound and an altitude of just more than 89 kilometers (55 miles) above sea level before making its gliding return through the atmosphere.British billionaire and Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson said the flight and landing brought the roughly 15-year-old venture tantalizingly close to commercial flights for tourists. Virgin Galactic said those flights could begin next year.’They all worked'”Today was just an incredible step in the right direction,” Branson told The Associated Press shortly after the flight landing. “It tested a lot of new systems that the teams have been building and they all worked.”Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said at least two more undated test flights lie ahead — the next with four mission specialist passengers in the cabin. Pending trials also include a flight that will take Branson to the edge of space.”The flight today was elegant, beautiful,” Colglazier said. “We’re going to analyze all the data that we gather on these flights, but watching from the ground and speaking with our pilots, it was magnificent. So now it’s time for us to do this again.”Virgin Galactic said the flight provided an assessment of upgrades to a horizontal stabilizer, other flight controls and a suite of cabin cameras designed to provide live images of flight to people on the ground. The shuttle also carried a scientific payload in cooperation with NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program.Preparations for the latest flight included a maintenance review of the special carrier plane that flies the six-passenger spacecraft to a high altitude, where it is released so it can fire its rocket motor and make the final push to space.Several delaysThe first powered test of the rocket ship in New Mexico from Spaceport America was delayed repeatedly before Saturday’s launch. In December 2020, computer trouble caused by electromagnetic interference prevented the spaceship’s rocket from firing properly. Instead of soaring toward space, the ship and its two pilots were forced to make an immediate landing.While Virgin Galactic’s stock price ticked up this week with the announcement of the latest test being scheduled for Saturday, it wasn’t enough to overcome the losses seen since a peak in February. Some analysts have cautioned that it could be a while before the company sees profits as the exact start of commercial operations is still up in the air.Virgin Galactic is one of a few companies looking to cash in on customers with an interest in space.Elon Musk’s SpaceX will launch a billionaire and his sweepstakes winners in September. That should be followed in January 2022 by a flight by three businessmen to the International Space Station.Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launched a new capsule in January as part of testing as it aims to get its program for tourists, scientists and professional astronauts off the ground. It’s planning for liftoff of its first crewed flight on July 20, the date of the Apollo 11 moon landing.Virgin Galactic has reached space twice before. The first time was from California in December 2018.New Mexico taxpayers have invested more than $200 million in the Spaceport America hangar and launch facility, near Truth or Consequences, after Branson and then-Governor Bill Richardson, a Democrat, pitched the plan for the facility, with Virgin Galactic as the anchor tenant.Richardson watched Saturday’s flight from the ground below and later thanked residents of local counties that committed early on to a sales tax increase to support the venture.
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Ethiopia Expels New York Times Reporter Who Covered Tigray War
Ethiopia has expelled a foreign correspondent working for The New York Times after earlier revoking his license over “unbalanced” reporting, a government official has confirmed. The decision to kick out Simon Marks, an Irish journalist living in Ethiopia, drew swift condemnation from Reporters Without Borders, which said it was “the first time that a foreign journalist is expelled from the country” under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.In a story on Marks’ Friday expulsion, the Times said Ethiopian officials summoned him to a meeting Thursday and held him at the airport for eight hours before putting him on a flight early Friday.”It is alarming that the government of Ethiopia treated the journalist, Simon Marks, like a criminal, expelling him from the country without even letting him go home to get a change of clothing or his passport,” said Michael Slackman, the paper’s assistant managing editor for international news, according to the Times.Describing the experience on Twitter, Marks wrote: “Not only did Immigration officers prevent me from going home to collect my belongings but also from kissing goodbye to my beautiful 2-year-old son and two dogs, despite my polite requests. At least I could give my partner a kiss at the airport.”No license, no jobMohammed Idris, head of the Ethiopian Media Authority, told AFP on Friday that Marks had no business staying in the country without a media license.”You are here for a job. If you have the license, you will stay here. If you don’t have the license, if we revoke the license, the responsible body will send you back,” Mohammed said.Marks has filed a series of hard-hitting reports on the war in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region. His accreditation was canceled shortly after he returned from a trip to Tigray in March.Ethiopia’s government has imposed tough restrictions on journalists covering the conflict.A number of Ethiopian journalists and translators working for a range of international media organizations — including AFP, Reuters, the BBC and the Financial Times — have been detained while doing their jobs in recent months.Journalists and human rights groups have nonetheless uncovered growing evidence of atrocities committed by armed groups in the region, including Ethiopian soldiers and Eritrean troops fighting on the government’s behalf.The revelations have contributed to growing international diplomatic pressure on Abiy, the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who will seek a new term in elections scheduled for June 21.The government has said it is committed to investigating human rights abuses committed during its fight against troops loyal to the region’s former ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.
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Volcano in Eastern DRC Erupts, Triggering Panic in Goma
Mount Nyiragongo in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, erupted Saturday, sending panicked residents of the nearby city of Goma fleeing, although a volcanologist said the city did not appear to be in danger.People grabbed mattresses and other belongings and fled toward the frontier with neighboring Rwanda as a red glow filled the sky above the city.Dario Tedesco, a volcanologist in the lakeside city of around 2 million, told Reuters that Goma did not appear to be at risk, and lava appeared to be flowing east in the direction of the Rwandan border. Earlier he had said he thought lava might hit Goma, but he later said this was not the case.”I can see high lava fountains,” Tedesco told Reuters.A U.N. source said a reconnaissance flight by a U.N. helicopter appeared to show the lava was not flowing toward Goma or any major population centers.Nyiragongo last erupted in 2002, killing 250 people and leaving 120,000 people homeless after the lava flowed into Goma.”The government is closely monitoring the situation in Goma,” Congo’s government spokesman, Patrick Muyaya, said on Twitter. “The local authorities are currently evaluating the situation with the volcanological observatory in Goma. … The population is encouraged to remain calm.”Volcano watchers have been worried that the volcanic activity observed in the last five years at Nyiragongo mirrors that in the years preceding eruptions in 1977 and 2002.Volcanologists at the Goma Volcano Observatory, which monitors Nyiragongo, have struggled to make basic checks since the World Bank cut funding amid embezzlement allegations.
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Ex-BBC Head Quits Gallery Job Amid Diana Interview Fallout
Tony Hall, who was director of BBC news and current affairs at the time of the public broadcaster’s explosive 1995 interview with Princess Diana, resigned Saturday as board chairman of Britain’s National Gallery.Hall, who subsequently rose to the top job at the BBC, was heavily criticized in a report this week for a botched inquiry into how journalist Martin Bashir obtained the blockbuster interview.In a statement, the 70-year-old said his continued presence at the gallery would be a “distraction to an institution I care deeply about.”“As I said two days ago, I am very sorry for the events of 25 years ago and I believe leadership means taking responsibility,” said Hall, who served as the BBC’s director-general from 2013 until 2020.John Kingman, the deputy chair of the National Gallery’s board of trustees, will assume Hall’s role for the time being. He said the gallery is “extremely sorry” to lose Hall but that “we entirely understand and respect his decision.”The 126-page report by retired Judge John Dyson, published Thursday, found the internal BBC investigation had covered up “deceitful behavior” by Bashir, who was little-known as a journalist when he interviewed Diana.The BBC also has faced questions about why Bashir was rehired in 2016 as the broadcaster’s religious affairs correspondent.Diana’s sons, Princes William and Harry, have excoriated the BBC since the report’s publication, saying there was a direct link between the 1995 interview and their mother’s death in a traffic accident two years later as she and a companion were being pursued by paparazzi.The BBC commissioned the report after Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, complained that Bashir used false documents and other dishonest tactics to persuade Diana to grant the interview.In the interview, Diana said her marriage to Prince Charles had failed because he was still in love with former lover Camilla Parker Bowles, whom Charles would go on to marry a decade later.Diana, then 34, said she was devastated when she found out in 1986 — five years after her marriage — that Charles had renewed his relationship with Camilla. Diana said she was so depressed that she deliberately hurt herself in a desperate bid for help.“There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded,” Diana famously remarked.The fallout from the report has raised serious doubts about the BBC’s integrity, while the British government has said it would review the rules governing the oversight of the editorially independent national broadcaster.The BBC, which was founded in 1922, is funded by a license fee payable by everyone. The rules governing its operations are set out in a royal charter that requires the corporation to be impartial, act in the public interest and be open, transparent and accountable. A mid-term review of the BBC’s governance is scheduled to begin next year.
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US Blacklists 13 Russian Ships in Nord Stream 2
The United States formally blacklisted more than a dozen Russian ships involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, days after exempting the pipeline’s Russian operator and CEO.The widely expected move, announced late on May 21 by the U.S. Treasury Department, came amid vehement criticism from congressional Republicans about the White House’s earlier announcement that it would not include the pipeline’s Russian-owned operator in the new sanctions.Nearly complete, the Baltic Sea pipeline will bring Russian gas directly to Germany, bypassing land routes through Ukraine, Belarus, and other countries.Critics said it will increase German dependence on Russian energy supplies and make Berlin more susceptible to Russian politics. It will also deprive Ukraine and other countries of lucrative transit fees.However, the pipeline has been backed by the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Political observers said President Joe Biden appeared to not want to pick a fight with a U.S. ally over the issue.The State Department earlier this week announced the intention not to sanction the pipeline’s Russian-owned operator, Nord Stream 2 AG, or its CEO, Matthias Warnig, who is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.Republican senators say they will introduce legislation to reinstate the sanctions.”I don’t understand. Do they not want to make Putin mad? I don’t get that. Do they not want to get Germany mad?” Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters on May 20.Some information for this report came from Reuters.
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Myanmar Junta Says Deposed Leader to Appear in Court
The head of Myanmar’s military government said Saturday that ousted leader
Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health and would appear in court in coming days.
“She is at her home and healthy. She is going to face trial at the court in a few days,” junta leader Min Aung Hlaing said in a May 20 virtual interview with Hong Kong-based broadcaster Phoenix Television, parts of which were released on Saturday. It was his first interview since overthrowing Suu Kyi on February 1.
Suu Kyi is facing multiple criminal charges, including the possession of unlicensed walkie-talkies, violating COVID-19 restrictions, breaching telecommunication laws and incitement to cause public unrest. She has also been accused by the junta of accepting $600,000 in illegal payments.
The coup triggered a crisis in the Southeast Asian country that led to deadly anti-junta demonstrations and clashes between several armed ethnic groups and the ruling junta.
One such group, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), attacked an army post early Saturday in the Sagaing region, according to local media reports. A KIA spokesman confirmed the attack with Reuters news agency but did not give details.
Junta leaders have sought to justify their coup by saying the November 8 election won by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy was fraudulent, an accusation the electoral commission rejected.
Protesters have been demanding the return of the civilian government that led 10 years of democratic reforms under Suu Kyi’s watch.
In a campaign to quell the protests, the government has killed more than 800 protesters and bystanders since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which tracks casualties and arrests.
When the military removed Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy government, it detained Suu Kyi and President Win Myint and imposed martial law across Myanmar.
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Video: Shackled Black Man Ordered Facedown in Deadly Arrest
Beaten and shackled by Louisiana state troopers, Black motorist Ronald Greene desperately tried to roll over in what may have been a struggle to breathe but was ordered to stay on his belly, according to body-camera video newly obtained by The Associated Press.And the long-secret autopsy report, also newly secured, cited Greene’s head injuries and the way he was restrained as factors in his 2019 death. It also noted he had high levels of cocaine and alcohol in his system as well as a broken breastbone and a torn aorta.“I beat the ever-living f— out of him, choked him and everything else trying to get him under control,” Trooper Chris Hollingsworth can be heard telling a fellow officer in the newly obtained batch of video. “All of a sudden he just went limp. … I thought he was dead.”“You all got that on bodycam?” the other officer asks over the phone, at which point Hollingsworth switches his camera off.The footage and the autopsy report add to the growing wealth of details about Greene’s death, which has long been surrounded by allegations of a cover-up and is now the subject of a federal civil rights investigation. Louisiana State Police initially blamed his death on a car crash and made no mention of use of force by officers.On Friday, after two years of refusing to explain Greene’s death and under mounting public pressure, the state police released all body camera footage related to Greene’s arrest, despite the ongoing investigations. Gov. John Bel Edwards, in an about-face, said he “strongly supported” the release, calling the video “disturbing and difficult to watch.”But the AP had already obtained those materials and FILE – This undated file photo provided by his family in September 2020 shows Ronald Greene.York then kneels on Greene’s back and tells him again, “You better lay on your f—— belly like I told you to! You understand?”“Yes, sir,” Greene replies.“The trooper’s wrong and what he did is excessive,” said Charles Key, a use-of-force expert and former Baltimore police lieutenant. “It’s a mistake because he can’t breathe. You see Greene drawing his legs up, and that may be because he can’t freaking breathe.”Police are highly discouraged from leaving handcuffed suspects in a prone position, particularly when they are not resisting, because it can greatly hinder their breathing — a point made repeatedly at the trial this spring of the former Minneapolis officer convicted of murder in the death of George Floyd.State Police Superintendent Col. Lamar Davis, who was not in charge at the time of Greene’s death, would not comment on the conduct of the troopers involved or whether he believed they should be charged. But he said he had spoken with Greene’s family and offered his condolences: “I can feel their pain and feel it in my heart.”“The officers who are subject to these investigations are afforded due process,” Davis said. “You have my commitment that we will follow the facts and hold our personnel accountable.”While the autopsy on Greene listed his cause of death as “cocaine induced agitated delirium complicated by motor vehicle collision, physical struggle, inflicted head injury and restraint,” it did not specify the manner of death — a highly unusual move that did not make it clear whether Greene’s death could be deemed a homicide, an accident or undetermined.Arkansas State Crime Lab pathologists Jennifer Forsyth and Frank J. Paretti, who conducted the autopsy in May 2019 for the Union Parish Coroner’s Office, found Greene had a “significant” level of cocaine in his system — 1,700 nanograms per milliliter — and a blood-alcohol content of 0.106, just above the 0.08 level that amounts to drunken driving in Louisiana.They said it “cannot be stated with certainty” whether many of Greene’s injuries — including a fracture of the sternum, or breastbone, and a laceration of his aorta — were attributable to the car crash or the struggle with troopers.“There were lacerations of the head inconsistent with motor vehicle collision injury,” they wrote. “These injuries are most consistent with multiple impact sites from a blunt object.”This image from video from Louisiana state Trooper Lt. John Clary’s body-worn camera shows troopers and medical personnel with Ronald Greene on May 10, 2019, outside of Monroe, La.In the latest video, Greene, his legs shackled and his hands cuffed behind his back, is prone on the ground, and two troopers can be seen hovering over him before he suddenly cries out. One of the officers tells him, “Yeah, yeah, that s—— hurts, doesn’t it?”“OK! Oh, Lord Jesus. Oh, Lord!” Greene screams out. “OK, OK. Lord Jesus! OK, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”It is not clear from the video what the officer is describing, but several law enforcement officials who reviewed the footage indicated this might be the moment when one of them sprays Greene with pepper spray. A use-of-force document not previously made public shows pepper spray was used in the arrest.“If they pepper-sprayed him at that point, that’s excessive,” Key said. “There has to be some threat. He’s handcuffed.”Minutes after Greene’s outburst, he begins to moan and make gurgling noises as two troopers keep holding him down.The new video, recorded on Lt. John Clary’s body camera, remained under wraps for months even within State Police but was recently turned over to the FBI as part of its investigation, according to three law enforcement officials. They were not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity.At one point, after medical help arrives, a paramedic is heard saying, “He’s not getting enough air” and appears to put his blood oxygen level at 86, which Key described as critically low. Yet nobody appears to be giving Greene oxygen.Louisiana officials had for two years rebuffed repeated calls to release footage and details about what caused Greene’s death after the chase, which began over an unspecified traffic violation. Troopers initially told his family he died on impact after crashing into a tree. State Police later released a brief statement acknowledging only that Greene struggled with troopers and died on his way to the hospital.That secrecy extended to the autopsy, which pathologists said was hindered by the State Police’s failure to provide even the most routine documents relating to Greene’s arrest, including police reports, collision details or emergency medical records.Andrew Scott, a former Boca Raton, Florida, police chief who testifies as an expert use-of-force witness, said Greene’s case is an example of how “stonewalling is the Achilles’ heel of law enforcement.”“The only reason I can even conjecture that this information would not be provided to the medical examiner’s office is because they didn’t want them to see it,” Scott said. “They intentionally thwarted the facts of this case to be truly revealed.”
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Ethiopia Convicts 3 Troops of Rape, Charges 28 For Killings
Ethiopia’s military prosecutors have convicted three soldiers of rape and pressed charges against 28 others suspected of killing civilians in the ongoing conflict in the northern Tigray region, the attorney general’s office announced Friday.In addition, 25 other soldiers are charged with rape and other forms of sexual violence, the statement said.The 6-month-old Tigray conflict is blamed for the deaths of thousands of people and atrocities including rape, extrajudicial killings, and forced evictions, according to local authorities and aid groups.The statement by the attorney general’s office also confirmed reports of two massacres in Tigray. It said that 229 civilians were killed in the town of Mai Kadra at the beginning of November. And it said that 110 civilians were killed in the city of Axum on Nov. 27 and 28 “by Eritrean troops.”“The investigation shows that 70 civilians have been killed in the city [of Axum] while they were outdoors,” said the report, adding that some of those killed might have been “irregular combatants.” “Forty civilians seem to have been taken out of their homes and killed in home-to-home raids conducted by Eritrean troops,” said the report.The deadly Tigray conflict started on Nov. 4 after Ethiopia accused former leaders of the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, or TPLF, of ordering an attack on an Ethiopian army base in the region.Ethiopia’s leader, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, sent troops that quickly ousted the TPLF from Tigray’s major cities and towns, but a guerilla fight is widely reported to be continuing across the region.Reports of atrocities have led U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to allege that “ethnic cleansing” is taking place in the western Tigray area.On Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution condemning “all violence against civilians” in Tigray and calling for the withdrawal of troops from neighboring Eritrea, which also sent troops to Tigray to support the Ethiopian government.On Friday, some Ethiopians both at home and abroad staged a “Hands Off Ethiopia” social media campaign in which they urged foreign countries to stop “meddling in Ethiopia’s affairs.”Abiy, who came to power in 2018 and introduced sweeping democratic reforms for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, has promised that the upcoming parliamentary elections on June 21 will be free and fair. His Prosperity Party must win a majority of seats in Ethiopia’s parliament for him to remain prime minister.In addition to the Tigray conflict, Abiy’s government is struggling to contain ethnic violence in several regions of Ethiopia. The opposition Oromo Federalist Congress has pledged to boycott the vote, saying it is being harassed by the authorities. Several of its leaders are still in prison following a wave of violent unrest sparked last summer by the killing of an Oromo musician.
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US Seizes $90,000 From Man Who Sold Footage of US Capitol Riot
U.S. authorities have confiscated roughly $90,000 from a Utah man who sold footage of a woman being fatally shot during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump, according to court filings.Prosecutors also have filed additional criminal charges against the man, John Earle Sullivan, a self-described political activist who is accused of entering the Capitol building and participating in the riot, the filings unsealed on Thursday showed.Sullivan now faces a total of eight criminal counts, including weapons charges, related to the riot. Sullivan’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Prosecutors have charged more than 440 people in connection with the attack in which Trump supporters stormed the Capitol after he gave a speech to them repeating his false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud. The mob smashed windows, fought police and sent lawmakers into hiding. Five people died.Many participants, including Sullivan, posted their actions on social media.According to the court filings, Sullivan portrayed himself as an independent journalist who was reporting on the chaos, but actually encouraged other participants to “burn” the building and engage in violence.Sullivan recorded video of the confrontation between rioters and police just outside the U.S. House of Representatives chamber that included the shooting of protester Ashli Babbitt and, according to court filings, boasted to an unnamed witness that “my footage is worth like a million of dollars, millions of dollars.”Sullivan sold that footage to several news outlets for a total of $90,000, according to a seizure warrant. The news outlets were redacted from the warrant.According to media reports, Sullivan participated in Black Lives Matter protests last year. Other Black Lives Matter activists in his home state have disavowed him.
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Biden Announces US-South Korea Vaccine Partnership
COVID-19, climate change and cooperation in high-tech industries were the focus of a summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House Friday. While the leaders also discussed North Korea, prospects for a breakthrough on denuclearization appear dim. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
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Taiwan Says China is Spreading Fake News During COVID Spike
A Taiwanese official accused China on Saturday of spreading fake news about the COVID-19 situation on the island, saying this was why the government was publicizing and refuting instances of false information that have been circulating online.After months of keeping the pandemic under control, Taiwan is dealing with a surge in domestic infections, and the whole island is under a heightened state of alert with people asked to stay at home and many venues shut.Taiwan has repeatedly warned that China, which claims the democratically governed island as its own, is trying to use “cognitive warfare” to try and undermine trust in the government and its response to the pandemic.Speaking to reporters, Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen said they had “clearly felt” the danger represented by Chinese propaganda and misinformation against Taiwan.“The reason we are continuing to explain the contents of the fake information to everyone is to call attention to it. We must immediately intercept this, and not let cognitive warfare affect Taiwan’s society,” he added.Chen listed examples of what he said was fake news circulating online, including that Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen had been infected and it was being covered up.“I want to say to everyone that this is really vile fake news,” he said.Tsai tested negative this week after a worker at her residence was confirmed to be infected.A security official watching Chinese activity in Taiwan told Reuters this week the Taipei government believed Beijing was engaged in cognitive warfare to “create chaos” and undermine public trust in how the pandemic is being handled.China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, in a statement to Reuters on Thursday, said Taiwan’s accusations were “imaginary,” and that the government was trying to draw attention away from real problems.Taiwan should “stop playing political games, and take practical measures to control the pandemic as soon as possible,” it added.Taiwan says this weekend is critical to breaking the chain of transmission and has urged people to stay at home.The health ministry brought out its social media dog mascot, a shiba inu called Zongchai, to suggest songs about being alone people could sing at home to keep themselves entertained, like Taiwanese rocker Wu Bai’s hit Lonely Tree, Lonely Bird.“At the weekend, don’t go out unless absolutely necessary,” the ministry said, showing Zongchai wearing glasses in front of a microphone.
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US Expected to Focus on Gaza Recovery Efforts
U.S. President Joe Biden cited his administration’s “quiet, relentless diplomacy” in helping to broker a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports on what role the United States will likely play going forward to facilitate a lasting peace.
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US to Pull El Salvador Funds, Has ‘Deep Concerns’ Over Recent Dismissals
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is pulling aid from El Salvador’s national police and a public information institute and will instead redirect the funding to civil society groups, the agency’s head said in a statement Friday.The statement cited concerns over votes earlier this month by legislative allies of President Nayib Bukele to oust the attorney general and top judges.USAID Administrator Samantha Power expressed “deep concerns” with the dismissals as well as “larger concerns about transparency and accountability” in the Central American country.The earmarked funds will now go to “promoting transparency, combating corruption and monitoring human rights” in concert with local civil society groups, the statement said, without specifying the amount of money in question.In an apparent response to Power, Bukele heaped scorn on the civil society groups that were poised to benefit from the shift in U.S. funding in a post on Twitter minutes after the announcement.”It’s good they receive foreign financing, because they will not receive a cent from the Salvadoran people,” Bukele wrote.USAID, the international development arm of the U.S. government, provides funding to a wide variety of programs in mostly poor countries across the globe.”Respect for an independent judiciary, a commitment to the separation of powers and a strong civil society are essential components of any democracy,” it said in its statement.Growing disputeIt is the latest salvo in an intensifying spat between the two countries. On Tuesday, the U.S. government released a list of allegedly corrupt Central American politicians, including a couple with close ties to Bukele. That prompted the Salvadoran leader to praise China, in an apparent swipe at Washington.Bukele, 39, who is popular at home, has argued that the high-profile dismissals were justified and legal.Bukele’s party accused the five ousted judges of impeding the government’s health strategy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and the attorney general of lacking independence.The abrupt votes to remove them were criticized as a dangerous power grab by the tiny opposition to Bukele in El Salvador, as well as the U.S. government and international rights groups like Amnesty International.Bukele’s critics also accuse him of misusing the national police and the public information institute for political ends.El Salvador, which has an economy closely tied to the United States by trade and a large migrant population, is negotiating a more than $1 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where Washington wields significant influence.The IMF earlier this week cited progress in the ongoing talks.
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Biden, Moon Announce US-South Korea Vaccine Partnership
President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced at a White House meeting Friday a U.S.-South Korea vaccine partnership to expand the manufacture of vaccines and scale up global vaccine supplies. “We will strengthen our ability to fight the pandemic and respond to future biological threats,” Biden said during a joint press conference with Moon. South Korea has vaccinated only 3% of its 52 million residents, but aims to reach herd immunity by November. Under the agreement, the U.S. will help Seoul reach that goal, including by providing vaccines for 550,000 members of the Korean military who work alongside U.S. forces in the region. FILE – A South Korean elderly woman receives her first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination center in Seoul, South Korea, April 1, 2021.The leaders also focused on climate change and regional security, including partnerships with other allies in the region. They discussed the democratic crisis in Myanmar, tensions in the Taiwan Strait and cooperation regarding high-tech industries. Biden thanked South Korean companies, including Samsung, Hyundai, SK and LG, which announced more than $25 billion in new investments in the U.S. Those investments are intended to support the Biden administration’s goal of building supply chain resilience in its rivalry with China. Last month, the two countries reached a Special Measures Agreement (SMA) on Seoul’s contribution to the cost of stationing U.S. forces in South Korea. Negotiations for the SMA deadlocked last year when then-President Donald Trump demanded a fivefold increase in South Korean contributions. “The atmospherics is very good between the two countries, so they really want to showcase the strength of the alliance relationship,” said Sue Mi Terry, a senior fellow for Korea at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Moon is only the second world leader Biden has hosted since taking office in January, after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s visit in April. The visits demonstrate the importance Washington attaches to Asia as it seeks to counter China’s influence and reflect Seoul’s increasing confidence in its U.S. engagement. FILE – Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and U.S. President Joe Biden hold a joint news conference in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, April 16, 2021.”South Korea has been very ambivalent about how to respond to the Sino-U.S. rivalry,” said Scott Snyder, director of the U.S.-Korea policy program at the Council on Foreign Relations. Snyder said that by framing regional cooperation in the context of providing public goods (including vaccines), supply chain resiliency and climate change cooperation, the Biden administration has shifted regional engagement away from the anti-China focus under the Trump administration. “That’s a more fruitful basis upon which the South Korean government can engage in cooperation with the United States and other partners without necessarily casting that cooperation in opposition to China,” Snyder said. North Korea Both leaders reiterated their commitment to halt the North Korean nuclear program. “We both are deeply concerned about the situation,” Biden said The U.S. president announced that he has appointed Sung Kim, a career diplomat with expertise on North Korea policy, to serve as a special envoy to North Korea as the administration seeks to establish diplomatic relations with the hermit nation. “Our two nations also share a willingness to engage diplomatically with the DPRK to take pragmatic steps that will reduce tensions as we move toward our ultimate goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” Biden said. Moon stressed that the two countries are aligned on the timeline for denuclearization. FILE – A man watches a television news program showing file footage of North Korea’s missile test, at a railway station in Seoul, Jan. 1, 2020.”The principle of the negotiation toward North Korea has already been announced by the U.S. government: very calibrated, practical, gradual, step-by-step manner and very flexible,” Moon said. “That is the common understanding that we have with the United States.” Moon is eager to cement a legacy as peacemaker before he leaves office next year. But analysts say the prospects of halting Kim Jong Un’s nuclear ambitions are dim. “There’s no momentum when it comes to North Korea. There’s no breakthrough that can be expected,” said Terry of CSIS. Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and fuel stockpile have advanced in the past four years, despite personal diplomacy between Trump and the North Korean leader. “We’re in an impasse with North Korea, and most likely North Korea would revert to a campaign of provocation sometime soon,” Terry said. Just a few weeks earlier, the Biden administration finalized its monthslong review of North Korea policy, one that signals a departure from previous administrations by pursuing a “calibrated, practical approach,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. She framed the approach as a middle way between Trump’s strategy of aiming for a grand bargain and the Obama-era “strategic patience.” Analysts say the administration’s North Korea policy is scant on details. “The administration wants to leave itself as much space as possible,” said Snyder of the Council on Foreign Relations. “Both to keep the door open for possible dialogue with North Korea, but also not to be embarrassed in the event that North Korea reverts to provocations.” Also Friday, the two leaders awarded the Medal of Honor to retired Colonel Ralph Puckett Jr. from the U.S. Army for conspicuous gallantry during the Korean War, the first time that a foreign leader has participated in the award event.
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New York Governor Condemns Spate of Violent Attacks Against NYC Jews
A spate of violent attacks on visibly Jewish people in New York City has prompted the governor of New York to issue a statement condemning the attacks.“I unequivocally condemn these brutal attacks on visibly Jewish New Yorkers and we will not tolerate antisemitic violent gang harassment and intimidation,” Governor Andrew Cuomo wrote on Twitter.“Those of all faiths, backgrounds and ethnicities must be able to walk the streets safely and free from harassment and violence,” he added.Dueling protestsSeveral videos of Jewish people being attacked emerged on social media after pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups held dueling protests in the city.At least one Jewish man was taken to the hospital following what police called a “gang assault.” His injuries were not believed to be serious.Twenty-six were reportedly arrested in the violence, according to ABC News. The violence came as Israel and Hamas militants announced a cease-fire in their 11-day conflict.“Justice needs to be done and I am directing the New York State Police Hate Crimes Task Force to offer their assistance in the investigation of these attacks,” Cuomo wrote.Attacks caught on videoAntisemitic attacks have been rising around the country in recent days.In Los Angeles, police are investigating an antisemitic attack on restaurant diners that was captured on video.Several synagogues have been vandalized, including in Tucson, Arizona, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Chicago.Antisemitism has also increased online with the Anti-Defamation League reporting 17,000 tweets mentioning “Hitler was right,” published between May 7 and 14.“As the violence between Israel and Hamas continues to escalate, we are witnessing a dangerous and drastic surge in anti-Jewish hate right here at home,” said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. “We are tracking acts of harassment, vandalism and violence as well as a torrent of online abuse. It’s happening around the world — from London to Los Angeles, from France to Florida, in big cities like New York and in small towns, and across every social media platform.”
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US Sanction of Former Albanian PM Sends Message but Raises Questions
The sanctioning of Albania’s former leader for “significant corruption” is being cast as part of a drive by the new U.S. administration to fight corruption and promote democracy worldwide. But some analysts are questioning the wisdom of punishing a foreign politician for actions not directly affecting the United States. In announcing the sanctions on Sali Berisha and members of his family this week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Berisha “was involved in corrupt acts” during his term as prime minister of Albania, including “misappropriation of public funds and interfering with public processes.” FILE – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, May 20, 2021.Blinken added that Berisha had used power “for his own benefit and to enrich his political allies and his family members at the expense of the Albanian public’s confidence in their government institutions and public officials.” Under the sanctions, Berisha, his wife, Liri Berisha, his son, Shkëlzen Berisha, and his daughter, Argita Berisha Malltezi, are barred from travel to the United States. Berisha, who resigned as leader of his conservative party but remained in Parliament after being defeated as prime minister in 2013, rejected the allegations during a press conference Thursday. “There is no one in Albania or the world that can say that I am implicated in any corrupt affair,” he said. Dominant figure Berisha has been Albania’s dominant political figure since the end of more than four decades of Stalinist rule in 1991. He is the historical leader of the right-wing Democratic Party, which emerged from a popular revolt in Albania that brought the era of pluralism to the country. Berisha served as president from 1992 to 1997, after the fall of communism in Albania, and as prime minister from 2005 to 2013. He was credited with taking Albania into NATO in 2009 and onto the first rung of EU membership. Berisha’s opponents, however, accused him of undermining democracy and allowing graft and organized crime to flourish. Differing opinions The U.S. designation comes on the heels of the ruling left-wing Socialist Party’s third win in parliamentary elections and a time of reckoning for the Democratic Party. Berisha’s successor, Lulzim Basha, has been under pressure to resign from within the party, and some have called on him to cut ties with Berisha, who has retreated from leading roles since 2013. Some American analysts are questioning the decision to act against Berisha eight years after he left high office. “The timing is not good,” said Janusz Bugajski of the Jamestown Foundation, a defense policy research group. “I don’t understand why a former political leader who’s no longer in office is being singled out. I mean, this should be something that needs to be done domestically at home. If there’s hard evidence, they should push for some sort of trial for some sort of investigations and so on and so forth,” he told VOA Albanian. FILE – Matthew Palmer, U.S. special representative for the Western Balkans, attends a press conference in Belgrade, Nov. 4, 2019.But Matthew Palmer, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, with responsibility for the Western Balkans, said one should not “read too much into the timing of this.” “What I would do is, is underscore the seriousness with which the United States takes the issue of public corruption,” he told VOA. “This is a demonstration of our commitment to using those instruments that we have available, including sanctions, as appropriate, in order to reinforce the fight against public corruption and to ensure that there is accountability for those who abuse the public trust.” Thomas Countryman, a former senior State Department official who held Palmer’s position in 2010-2011, said the administration has used the authority given it by the U.S. Congress to deny entry visas “in hundreds of cases.” FILE – Thomas Countryman, then-assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill, Dec. 17, 2015.”Certainly not just in southeast Europe, but from Ukraine, from Russia, from Latin America, from Africa,” he said. The United States has barred three other top Albanian officials from entering the United States on the ground of corruption, but Berisha is the highest-profile one. Countryman sees the move as reflecting new foreign policy priorities for the United States under President Joe Biden. “I think the Biden administration has made clear that fighting global corruption is going to be a priority and it has already made several designations similar to that affecting Mr. Berisha in other cases,” he said. He said the news did not surprise him. “I don’t think that the audience in Albania is unaware of the degree of public corruption that has affected politicians from multiple parties, so there is a factual basis for the designation,” Countryman said. Bugajski, however, worries that Washington will be seen as taking sides in Albania’s domestic politics. “Is this now going to include other political leaders? I mean, there’s been a lot of discussion actually about the current Albanian government, the prime minister, the president. What are their positions going to be? What about neighboring countries?” Bugajski asked. But Countryman maintains that the action against Berisha “is not a partisan step” by the United States. “It should be seen as a clear signal that continued corruption by any party in Albania, by any party in other countries, has consequences that go beyond the immediate local consequences that affect the relationship with the United States as well,” he said. A 2020 report on human rights by the U.S. State Department said corruption in Albania is “pervasive in all branches of government.” The latest Nations in Transit report issued last month by Freedom House ranks the country as a transitional or hybrid regime and registered declines in its overall democracy score. Ilir Ikonomi and Milena Durdic contributed to this report.
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Nigerian Army Chief Dies in Air Force Plane Crash
Nigeria’s army chief, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, died in a plane crash Friday on an official visit to the northern state of Kaduna, which has had security challenges in recent months, the presidency said.The air force said in a statement that its plane crashed near the Kaduna airport and that it was investigating the cause.The presidency said that in addition to the army general, other military officers died in the crash.President Muhammadu Buhari, in a presidency statement, described the crash as a “mortal blow … at a time our armed forces are poised to end the security challenges facing the country.”The crash occurred three months after a small Nigerian air force passenger plane went down just outside the Abuja airport following what was said to be an engine failure, killing all seven people on board.Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has had a poor air safety record in the past, although it has improved in recent years.Buhari appointed Attahiru alongside other military chiefs in January after years of mounting criticism over spreading violence by Islamist insurgents and armed gangs.Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province, have waged a decadelong insurgency estimated to have displaced about 2 million people and killed more than 30,000. They want to create states based on their extreme interpretation of Islamic sharia law.
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