South Africa has been gripped by the mystery of whether a woman has, as has been claimed, actually given birth to 10 babies, in what would then be the world’s first recorded case of decuplets.Gosiame Thamara Sithole from the Tembisa township near Johannesburg gave birth to the babies on Monday, according to the Pretoria News newspaper which quoted the parents. The babies — seven boys and three girls — have not made a public appearance or been captured on camera, although they were born prematurely, the newspaper reported.The South African government said it is still trying to verify the claim.That’s led to South Africans obsessing on social media over whether the story of the “Tembisa 10″ is indeed true.The father, Teboho Tsotetsi, told the paper his wife had given birth in a hospital in the capital Pretoria. He said it was a big surprise for the parents after doctors only detected eight babies in prenatal scans.”It’s seven boys and three girls. She was seven months and seven days pregnant. I am happy. I am emotional,” the newspaper quoted Tsotetsi as saying.The couple already have 6-year-old twins, which would make the total an even dozen kids, if the claim is true.South Africans are eagerly waiting for proof of what would be a world record. Relatives and neighbors of the couple have insisted the news is true.”For her to receive 10 blessings at one given time, we thank God for that,” Wilson Machaya, a neighbor of the family in Tembisa, told The Associated Press. “And because we are neighbors we will have to assist in any way possible.”A Malian woman gave birth to nine babies only last month in Morocco, in what was hailed as the world’s first case of nonuplets. The Department of Social Development in South Africa’s Gauteng province confirmed tracing Sithole and spokesperson Feziwe Ndwayana said they would make an announcement after meeting with the family. Another local government department said earlier this week that it had no record of the babies’ births in any of the province’s hospitals.The Pretoria News initially broke the story with an interview with Sithole and her husband, Tsotetsi, at their home, which was conducted nearly a month ago and when they thought they were having eight babies. They requested that the story only be published after the babies were born for safety and cultural reasons, the newspaper said. According to the report, Sithole went on leave earlier than expected from her job as a retail store manager because she could no longer cope. Tsotetsi is unemployed. One organization has given $70,000 to the couple to help and other South Africans are being encouraged to donate. Alongside #Tembisa10, the term #NationalBabyShower has been trending on Twitter.
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Month: June 2021
Puerto Rico Suffers Power Outages After Private Firm Takes Over Grid
A private company that took over power transmission and distribution in Puerto Rico this month has struggled with widespread outages and growing anger as it scrambled Thursday to control a large fire at a main substation that left thousands in the dark.Officials say outages have affected more than 1 million customers so far this month, notwithstanding those affected by the explosion and fire at the substation in the capital of San Juan. Several mayors had declared a state of emergency as they distributed ice and generators to those most in need before Thursday’s fire, whose cause was under investigation.Many in Puerto Rico had hoped for a quick improvement in service, but clients complain it has gotten even worse in Luma Energy’s first few days of operations — with problems complicated by heavy rains this week followed by the explosion.”This has turned into chaos,” said Javier Jiménez, mayor of the western town of San Sebastián, which had established its own brigade of workers to make repairs after Hurricane Maria largely destroyed the U.S. territory’s electrical grid in 2017, leaving some people without electricity for nearly a year.Jiménez said he was forced to activate that brigade once again this week because Luma Energy, which took over the transmission and distribution system of Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority on June 1, told him it did not have enough manpower to restore electricity to the more than 1,000 families left in the dark over the weekend in his town.”I could not believe it,” he said. “A company that has been here just days.”Jiménez also noted that Puerto Ricans have complained that when they call the company, they are placed on hold for hours with no response.A Luma spokesperson did not return a message for comment, while a company representative, José Pérez, told local radio stations that the outages could be acts of sabotage or instances of too many people using the system at one time. Then on Thursday afternoon, Luma reported that its website had become the target of a cyberattack, saying that the 2 million hits per second it was receiving was preventing customers from accessing the site.Government officials have urged patience, noting that Luma inherited thousands of outages and had just taken over a system running on rickety infrastructure, much of it patched together after Hurricane Maria.In early June, Luma CEO Wayne Stensby told reporters that the company had more than 350 line workers and that the number was sufficient.On Tuesday, Luma issued a statement urging municipal officials and private contractors to stop trying to fix the system independently, saying that such efforts were illegal and dangerous.”Luma is aware of the outages affecting communities across Puerto Rico and working safely and strategically to restore power across the island,” it said.But many customers are seething, including José Aquino, a 38-year-old gymnastics instructor, who said he and his family have been without power for 14 hours at a time on several occasions this week. His father is a diabetic and had to throw away his insulin before buying a small cooler to store it on ice.”He hasn’t had to do that since (Hurricane) Maria,” Aquino said, adding that neither he nor his wife has been able to report the outages to Luma. “They don’t answer.”Luma, a consortium made up of Calgary, Alberta-based Atco and Quanta Services Inc. of Houston, serves some 1.5 million customers. It will operate the transmission and distribution system under a 15-year contract with Puerto Rico’s government.
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More Arrests Made in Capitol Attack; FBI Mum on Whether Trump Is Being Investigated
Nearly 500 supporters of former President Donald Trump have now been charged in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and the number of arrests is growing, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Thursday, while rejecting charges by Democratic lawmakers that the FBI failed to see the attack coming.At the same time, Wray declined to say whether the FBI was investigating Trump and his associates for allegedly inciting the rioters to storm the Capitol in an attempt to disrupt Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the November presidential election.Early this year, Trump was impeached for a second time. In this case, he was charged with inciting insurrection for delivering a fiery speech to supporters, urging them to march on the Capitol and “fight like hell” to block Biden’s election.Although the Senate acquitted Trump on February 13, Democrats have long called for the Department of Justice to investigate Trump’s conduct for possible criminal violations.In his first appearance before the House Judiciary Committee since the attack, Wray condemned the January 6 riot as an act of domestic terrorism but refused to term it an “insurrection,” as many Democrats have. Wray made similar comments during a March appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee.FILE – U.S. Capitol Police push back rioters trying to enter the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021.More arrests ThursdayNearly 800 Trump fans stormed the Capitol on January 6, leading to the deaths of five people, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer, and many injuries.Wray said the number of arrests related to the riot was “sure” to grow.Indeed, late in the day, the Justice Department announced that six California men – four of whom identify as members of the right-wing Three Percenters militia – were arrested on accusations related to the Capitol breach.The men were charged with federal offenses including conspiracy, obstructing an official proceeding and unlawful entry on a restricted building or ground. One was also charged with possession of a dangerous weapon.Wray said that “almost none” of those arrested so far were previously under investigation by the FBI. He dismissed suggestions that the FBI had failed to prevent them from traveling to Washington.The majority of the rioters arrested so far face trespassing and other minor charges.But more than three dozen members of two far-right groups — the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys — have been charged with conspiracy and other crimes. Wray said the FBI was in the midst of bringing more serious charges.”This is an ongoing investigation,” Wray said. “There is a lot more to come, and I’d expect to see more charges, some more serious charges.”FILE – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., speaks during a meeting in Washington, June 24, 2020.Threat missed, or underestimated?Democrat Jerrold Nadler, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, slammed the FBI for failing to anticipate the bloody and hourslong attack on the Capitol. He said “the attack was planned in public view,” with Trump supporters openly sharing maps of the Capitol tunnels online and calling for “breaking” into the Capitol.”It is hard to tell whether FBI headquarters merely missed the evidence, or whether the bureau saw the intelligence, underestimated the threat and simply failed to act,” Nadler said.At issue was a January 5 intelligence report by the FBI’s Norfolk, Virginia, office, which warned that pro-Trump extremists were preparing to travel to Washington and engage in violence.Wray said that the report was based on raw, unverified intelligence but that the bureau had found it “concerning” enough that it quickly shared it with U.S. Capitol Police and other law enforcement agencies.“The most important thing I’d say is we did not dismiss the Norfolk situational information report,” Wray said. “Quite the contrary, often when we get online chatter or raw information, we take time, which would be our preference, to run it and figure out whether it’s real or not.”US Senate Committees Highlight Intelligence, Security Failures in Capitol Attack January 6 assault disrupted certification of presidential election result Wray’s testimony came days after a bipartisan Senate report on the Capitol attack found that an intelligence breakdown contributed to the violent breach. Despite issuing more than a dozen reports about violent extremism throughout 2020, neither the FBI nor the Department of Homeland Security issued “a threat assessment warning of potential violence targeting the Capitol on January 6,” according to the Senate report.Given its bipartisan nature, the report did not address the root causes of the riot, which Democrats have squarely blamed on Trump’s rhetoric about a stolen election following his electoral loss.Wray said he was “not aware” of any investigation specifically examining the role Trump rhetoric played in the lead-up to the violence at the Capitol and how Trump and other officials responded during the riot.Pressed by Democratic Representative Steve Cohen about whether the FBI was investigating the former president’s activities on the day of the riot, Wray said, “I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to be discussing whether or not we’re … investigating specific individuals.”
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US Drops Sanctions on Former Iranian Officials; Step Called Routine
The United States said Thursday it had removed sanctions on three former Iranian officials and two companies that previously traded Iranian petrochemicals, a step one U.S. official called routine but that could show U.S. readiness to ease sanctions when justified.Speaking on condition of anonymity, the U.S. official said the moves by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) were unrelated to efforts to revive Iranian and U.S. compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.”Today, OFAC and the Department of State are also lifting sanctions on three former Government of Iran officials, and two companies formerly involved in the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or marketing of Iranian petrochemical products,” the Treasury said in a statement.It said the delisting reflected “a verified change in behavior or status” of those sanctioned and “demonstrate the U.S. government’s commitment to lifting sanctions in the event of [such] a change.”A Treasury spokesperson said the three individuals had established “that they are no longer in their positions within entities affiliated with the Government of Iran,” adding there was no reason to maintain sanctions on them.The oil market briefly plunged after being spooked by media reports suggesting sanctions were lifted on Iranian oil officials, showing the potential impact of additional Iranian barrels if a deal is struck and sanctions lifted. U.S.-Iran talksU.S. and Iranian officials are expected to begin their sixth round of indirect talks in Vienna this weekend about how both sides might resume compliance with the nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).Under the deal, Iran limited its nuclear program to make it harder to obtain fissile material for atomic weapons in return for relief from U.S., EU and U.N. sanctions.Former U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the deal in 2018, arguing it gave Tehran too much sanctions relief for too few nuclear restrictions, and reimposed sanctions that slashed Iran’s oil exports.Iran retaliated about a year later by violating the limits on its nuclear program. Hope for negotiationsU.S. President Joe Biden hopes to negotiate a mutual return to compliance, a task that requires defining the nuclear limits Iran will accept, the U.S. sanctions to be removed, and how to sequence these.Asked about the talks, State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters: “We’ve made progress, but, and you’ve heard this before; challenges do remain, and big issues do continue to divide the sides.”The Treasury statement did not name the three former Iranian officials or the two companies dropped from its sanctions lists. However, on its website, OFAC said it removed three men from one of its sanctions lists: Ahmad Ghalebani, a managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company; Farzad Bazargan, a managing director of Hong Kong Intertrade Company; Mohammad Moinie, a commercial director of Naftiran Intertrade Company Sarl.OFAC said it removed some sanctions on Sea Charming Shipping Company Limited and on Aoxing Ship Management Shanghai Limited.”This is just a decision by Treasury in the normal course of business and has nothing to do with JCPOA,” said the U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity, describing it as the “regular process of delisting when [the] facts so dictate.”
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Cyber Regulation Could Be Coming Following Spate of Hacks, Ransomware Attacks
The United States may soon look to regulate private companies, mandating higher standards for cybersecurity following a series of damaging hacks and ransomware attacks against key firms and critical infrastructure.U.S. President Joe Biden’s nominees to fill two top cyber roles in his administration warned Thursday that malign actors are currently operating with impunity and that too many private sector organizations have, so far, failed to take the necessary precautions.FILE – In this June 8, 2013 photo, Chris Inglis, then deputy director of the National Security Agency testifies on Capitol Hill. Inglis is being nominated as the government’s first national cyber director at the Department of Homeland Security.”Enlightened self-interest, that’s apparently not working,” Chris Inglis, tapped to be the country’s first national cyber director, told members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “Market forces, that’s apparently not working.””When they’re conducting critical activities upon which the nation’s interests depend, it may well be we need to step in and we need to regulate or mandate in the same way we’ve done that for the aviation industry or the automobile industry,” he added.Jen Easterly, nominated to head up the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, agreed.”As a nation, we remain at great risk of a catastrophic cyberattack,” she said. “It seems to me that voluntary standards are probably not getting the job done and that there is probably some sort of role for making some of these standards mandatory, to include notification.”The question of how best to take on a range of cyberthreats, from state-sponsored hackers to ransomware networks, has been thrust into the spotlight following a series of high-profile attacks in recent months, starting with discovery of the hack of SolarWinds, a Texas-based software management company, last December.That breach, described by U.S. intelligence agencies as a Russian espionage operation, exposed as many as 18,000 A JBS meatpacking plant is seen in Plainwell, Michigan, June 2, 2021.More recently, ransomware networks forced Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, pauses to speak with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, June 10, 2021.”Congress needs to act,” Mark Warner, the Democrat who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, told Axios Thursday at a virtual event, when asked about the recent attacks.”The Biden administration has moved aggressively, but they can only do a certain amount of things,” Warner said. “We need to put this mandatory reporting bill in place.”Last month, Biden signed an executive order that requires internet service providers to share certain information about breaches into their networks, mandates higher standards for software development, and creates a playbook for how government agencies should respond to a breach.On Thursday, Inglis told lawmakers that the recent series of high-profile hacks and ransomware attacks “signal the urgent need to secure our national critical infrastructure” and that if confirmed as national cyber director, he would work to strengthen not just the technology but the people using the technology, as well.”What we need to do is make these systems defensible — they’ll never be secure,” Inglis said. “We need to then defend them … such that we can change the decision calculus of adversaries.”Every one of us needs to learn how to cross the cyber street in the same way we learned to cross a physical street when we were young,” he added.
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White House Launches Broader Scrutiny of Foreign Tech
An executive order signed by President Joe Biden this week dropped a Trump-era measure that barred Americans from downloading TikTok and several other Chinese smartphone apps. But analysts say the order also broadens the scrutiny of foreign-controlled technology.Biden’s move replaced three Trump administration executive orders that sought to ban downloads of TikTok and WeChat and transactions with eight other Chinese apps. The FILE – A counter promoting WeChat, a product of Tencent, for reading books for the blind is displayed at a news conference in Hong Kong, March 18, 2015.”This means that TikTok may have to go through another review, and any decision won’t be easily challenged in court,” he added. “This is the start of Round 2, and TikTok may not get off as easily this time.”When asked during a briefing Wednesday if the White House still intended to ban TikTok or WeChat, an administration official told reporters that all apps listed on the revoked executive orders would be reviewed under the new process and criteria.Key order standsJulian Ku, a law professor at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, told VOA that Biden had maintained one of Trump’s most important executive orders. Trump signed the “Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain” order in May 2019, declaring a national emergency posed by foreign adversaries “who are increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in information and communications technology and services.”Biden is “not revoking the basic framework, which is that the U.S. government should be trying to prevent transfer of personal data to a foreign adversary,” Ku told VOA in a phone interview. “He reserves the right in theory to come back and go after those companies or other companies that would potentially be threatening the personal data of America.”Both TikTok and WeChat did not respond to VOA’s request for comment.TikTok, a social networking app for sharing short, user-produced video clips, and WeChat, an app that includes messaging, social media and payment platforms, both collect extensive data on their users. The core concern is that the Chinese government will be able to access this data and potentially leverage it for espionage or blackmail. U.S. officials also worry that the heavy censorship of these apps will result in biased political opinions and increased spread of misinformation.A Ban on WeChat and TikTok, a Disconnected World and Two Internets Some policy analysts from America’s closest allies welcome the latest hardline approach by the Trump AdministrationThe American Civil Liberties Union applauded Biden’s move but warned against “taking us down the same misguided path by serving as a smokescreen for future bans or other unlawful actions” with the requirement of a new security review. The rights group considered the Trump-era bans a violation of First Amendment rights.BREAKING: The Biden administration has revoked Trump-era executive orders that targeted TikTok and WeChat and violated our First Amendment rights.— ACLU (@ACLU) June 9, 2021Senator Josh Hawley criticized Biden’s move, calling it a “major mistake.”It “shows alarming complacency regarding China’s access to Americans’ personal information, as well as China’s growing corporate influence,” he said on Twitter.This is a major mistake – shows alarming complacency regarding #China’s access to Americans’ personal information, as well as #China’s growing corporate influence https://t.co/AP8KswDHNW— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) June 9, 2021Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng said in Thursday’s daily briefing that the revocation of Trump-era bans was “a step towards the right direction” and that officials hoped to see Chinese companies “treated fairly.”
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Somalia Denies Reports Its Troops Fought in Tigray
Somalia’s Ministry of Information has denied reports that Somali troops were trained in Eritrea and fought in Ethiopia’s war in Tigray. The rejection came as parents of allegedly missing troops held another protest demanding to know their whereabouts.The federal government of Somalia has strongly rejected a report by the U.N. Human Rights Council this week that said thousands of Somali troops have taken part in Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict.Speaking at a news briefing Thursday, Minister for Information Osman Dubbe said there are no Somali troops inside the troubled region.He said there are no Somali troops fighting in Ethiopia nor in the northern region of Tigray or in the ancient city of Axum.Some parents of soldiers in the Somali army say their sons are missing, and have demonstrated in Mogadishu, demanding answers and vowing they will continue to protest until the president speaks up.One parent of a soldier said the government took their children to Eritrea to take part in the fighting in the Tigray region. He said if the government does not bring them back home, parents will continue their demonstrations in the city and close down major roads.According to political analyst Mohamed Dahir, the government and opposition are trying to divert the public’s attention from key issues ahead of upcoming elections.”All these circumstances of claims and counterclaims, it is important to mention that important service delivery to the Somali population are being missed. It is just a way of creating confusion, also the government not substantiating its claims about the troops and not providing either independent media or the Somali media with spaces,” he said.Somalia is scheduled to hold its already-delayed presidential and parliamentary elections before August.
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Turkish, US Presidents Set for Pivotal Meeting
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden Monday on the sidelines of the upcoming NATO summit for discussions seen as pivotal given the strained relations between the two nations. From Istanbul, Dorian Jones has this preview.Produced by: Rob Raffaele
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US Again Condemns Nigeria’s Twitter Ban
The U.S. has condemned Nigeria’s continuing ban of Twitter in the country, saying the action “has no place in a democracy.”“Freedom of expression and access to information both online and offline are foundational to prosperous and secure democratic societies,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Thursday in a statement calling for the African nation to reverse its Twitter suspension.He said the U.S. “condemns the ongoing suspension of Twitter by the Nigerian government and subsequent threats to arrest and prosecute Nigerians who use Twitter. The United States is likewise concerned that the Nigerian National Broadcasting Commission ordered all television and radio broadcasters to cease using Twitter.”The U.S. had joined the European Union, Britain, Ireland and Canada last weekend in criticizing the Nigerian action. The Abuja government indefinitely banned Twitter after the U.S. social media company deleted a tweet from President Muhammadu Buhari’s account for violating its rules.Tweet about unrestBuhari’s tweet referred to the country’s civil war four decades ago in a warning about recent unrest, referring to “those misbehaving” in violence in the southeastern part of the country. Officials there blame the prohibited separatist group IPOB for attacks on police and election offices.”Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,” the president had posted on Twitter.Buhari’s office denied the Twitter suspension was a response to the removal of that post.”There has been a litany of problems with the social media platform in Nigeria, where misinformation and fake news spread through it have had real-world violent consequences,” presidency spokesperson Garba Shehu said in a statement.Shehu said the removal of Buhari’s tweet was “disappointing” and that “major tech companies must be alive to their responsibilities.”Twitter said it was working to restore the social media network in Nigeria, but government officials warned they would prosecute violators.
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US Sanctions Smugglers Generating Millions of Dollars for Yemen’s Houthi Movement
The U.S. imposed sanctions Thursday on “members of a smuggling network” that generate millions of dollars for the Iranian-affiliated Houthi movement in Yemen. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned individuals from Yemen, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Somalia and India. Also sanctioned were entities in Dubai, Istanbul and the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital of Sanaa. “This network generates tens of millions of dollars in revenue from the sale of commodities, like Iranian petroleum, a significant portion of which is then directed through a complex network of intermediaries and exchange houses in multiple countries to the Houthis,” the Treasury Department said in a statement. The agency also said the sanctions freeze any U.S. assets the individuals and entities hold and generally prohibit Americans from conducting business with them. “The United States will maintain pressure on Houthis to accept a ceasefire and engage in real talks to resolve the Yemen conflict,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter. The conflict in Yemen began in 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and other cities in the country’s north. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to support the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansur Hadi.
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Sunrise Special: Solar Eclipse Thrills World’s Northern Tier
The top of the world got a sunrise special Thursday — a “ring of fire” solar eclipse. This so-called annular eclipse began at the Canadian province of Ontario, then swept across Greenland, the North Pole and finally Siberia, as the moon passed directly in front of the sun.An annular eclipse occurs when a new moon is around its farthest point from us and appearing smaller, and so it doesn’t completely blot out the sun when it’s dead center. The upper portions of North America, Europe and Asia enjoyed a partial eclipse, at least where the skies were clear. At those locations, the moon appeared to take a bite out of the sun. The moon is seen blotting out 81 percent of the sun during a solar eclipse in Washington, D.C., Monday, Aug. 21, 2017. (Photo by Diaa Bekheet)It was the first eclipse of the sun visible from North America since August 2017, when a dramatic total solar eclipse crisscrossed the U.S. The next one is coming up in 2024.A total lunar eclipse graced the skies two weeks ago.
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Sudanese Protest Lifting of Fuel Subsidies
Sudanese protesters burned tires in part of the capital, Khartoum, Wednesday night, after the government lifted all subsidies on gasoline and diesel. Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim announced Tuesday that prices will be determined by the cost of importing and transporting gas and diesel, along with taxes and profit margins. The new fuel prices are in line with import costs, said a Finance Ministry statement. Under the new pricing system, fuel will increase from about 35 cents to nearly 70 cents per liter, while the price of diesel will more than double. Sudan has been moving to implement financial reforms monitored by the International Monetary Fund in hopes of turning around its economy and attracting foreign financing. Freelance reporter Amira Saleh said the higher prices will negatively affect her work and family. “The salary of an ordinary Sudanese employee is not enough to cover all the needs and therefore, with this increase on fuel, the situation is going to be worse,” Saleh told VOA’s “South Sudan in Focus” show.Amu Adil, who works as an electronic technician in Khartoum’s Jabra neighborhood, said the fuel price hike will lead to higher prices for other basic commodities, which will make life difficult for ordinary citizens. “Fuel is connected to all sorts of lives. Traders will charge any single cost of transportation they paid during the process of transporting goods. They will be forced to put that cost on the commodities and ordinary [citizens] will be the ones paying for the cost,” Adil told “South Sudan in Focus.” Hajir al-Sir al-Awad, a third-year business administration student at the International University of Africa in Khartoum, said that lifting fuel subsidies at a time when the country faces serious economic challenges is a bad decision. “Whenever there is an increase on the fuel, the public transport fees will be increased as well. Not only this, but I expect everything to increase. The decision will definitely affect me as a student and my family. They will be forced to look for other sources of income to allow me go to college,” he said. The government will continue to subsidize cooking gas or furnace oil, and wheat this year, although there are frequent shortages of those commodities.
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Navalny-linked Groups Vow to Fight on After Russian Ban
The anti-corruption group of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny is pledging to continue its work after a Russian court outlawed Navalny-affiliated organizations and labeled them “extremist.”“We will continue to fight corruption!” Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation posted Thursday on Twitter.The ruling Wednesday by the Moscow court prevents people linked to the Navalny-affiliated groups from seeking public office, including seats in parliament. Russia has a parliamentary election in September.Prosecutors accused Navalny and his associates of trying to destabilize Russia.The U.S. State Department condemned the ruling Wednesday.“We urge Russia to cease the abuse of “extremism” designations to target nonviolent organizations, end its repression of Mr. Navalny and his supporters, and honor its international obligations to respect and ensure human rights and fundamental freedoms,” spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement. “The Russian people, like all people, have the right to speak freely, form peaceful associations to common ends, exercise religious freedom, and have their voices heard through free and fair elections.”Nalvany, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critic, is serving a 2 1/2-year prison sentence for parole violations stemming from a 2014 embezzlement conviction he maintained was politically motivated.Nalvany was arrested in January in Russia after spending five months in Germany recovering from a nerve agent poisoning, he accuses the Kremlin of committing. Russia has denied the allegation.U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said she expects President Joe Biden to speak with Putin about Navalny’s poisoning and other human rights issues when they meet next week in Geneva.
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India’s Second Wave Did Not Spare Remote Himalayan Villages
A deadly second wave of the novel coronavirus has hit India’s remote areas, many of which had not been affected by the first wave last year. Anjana Pasricha looks at the impact of the pandemic in the mountain villages in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh.Camera: Rakesh Kumar
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US Jobless Benefit Claims Drop for 6th Straight Week
New claims for jobless benefits in the United States continued to fall last week, dropping for the sixth straight week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, as the world’s biggest economy continues its marked recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. A total of 376,000 out-of-work employees filed for unemployment compensation, down 9,000 from the revised figure of the week before, the agency said. The figure was the lowest total since mid-March 2020 when the pandemic first swept into the country and marked the second straight week the weekly total had dropped below 400,000 in more than a year.
More than 53% of U.S. adults have now been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, boosting the economic recovery, although the pace of inoculations has dropped markedly from its peak several weeks ago. Officials in many states are now offering a variety of incentives to entice the unvaccinated to get inoculated, including entry into lucrative lotteries.The continuing drop in the number of jobless benefit claims is linked to more hiring. The U.S. added 559,000 jobs in May, more than twice the 266,000 in April. Still, about 9.3 million people remain unemployed in the U.S., according to the government. With the steady recovery, many employers are reporting a shortage of workers, particularly for low-wage jobs such as restaurant servers and retail clerks. Many businesses complain they are unable to find enough applicants for the job openings. The jobless rate fell to 5.8% in May, still higher than the 3.5% rate in March of last year before the pandemic was declared. The federal government approved sending $300-a-week supplemental unemployment benefits to jobless workers through early September on top of less generous state-by-state payments. But at least 25 of the 50 states, all led by Republican governors, have started ending participation in the federal payments program, contending that the stipends let workers make more money than they would by returning to work and thus are hurting the recovery by not filling available job openings.
Some economists say, however, other factors prevent people from returning to work, such as lack of childcare or fear of contracting the coronavirus.FILE – Shoppers wearing masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic cross a street on The Promenade in Santa Monica, California, June 9, 2021.The U.S. government has determined that it has no authority to force the states to continue to make the payments into September. President Joe Biden recently reaffirmed rules for accepting the extra federal aid so unemployed workers could not game the system. “We’re going to make it clear that anyone collecting unemployment who is offered a suitable job must take the job or lose their unemployment benefits,” Biden said. “That’s the law.”The economic picture in the U.S. has been boosted as money from Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package filters through the economy. The measure has likely boosted consumer spending, as millions of Americans, all but the highest wage earners, are now receiving $1,400 stimulus checks from the government or have already been sent the extra cash. With more money in their wallets and more people vaccinated, Americans are venturing back to some sense of normalcy, going out to restaurants and spending money on items they had not purchased for a year. But consumers are encountering higher retail prices, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting Thursday that prices jumped 0.6% in May, up 5% over the last year.Biden is proposing an additional $4 trillion in government spending on infrastructure repairs and assistance for children and families, but the assistance has been met with stiff resistance from Republicans. The fate of the proposals in the politically divided Congress remains uncertain and talks ended this week between Biden and a group of opposition Republicans. Further talks are underway between the White House and a bipartisan group of Republicans and Democrats. Numerous Republican lawmakers have voiced opposition to the size of the Democratic president’s spending plans and his proposals to pay for them with higher taxes on corporations and the wealthiest Americans. Absent an agreement with Republicans, Democratic congressional leaders say they could attempt to push through Biden’s proposals solely with Democratic votes without any Republican support, as occurred with passage of the coronavirus relief package.
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Pope Refuses to Accept Resignation of German Cardinal
Pope Francis has refused to accept the resignation of a German cardinal who requested to step down as archbishop of Munich and Freising over the Catholic Church’s handling of sex abuse cases.Cardinal Reinhard Marx offered to resign earlier this month, maintaining he must share the church’s responsibility for decades of sex abuse by clerics.But in a letter published Thursday, Francis rejected Marx’s resignation. The pope acknowledged reform was needed and said Marx must stay on to “shepherd my sheep.”The 67-year-old Marx is part of a small group of cardinals who advise the pope on various issues. He has not been linked to any investigative reports, but the prelate said all members of the hierarchy had some responsibility for the church’s failures. A report about the handling of sex abuse cases in Marx’s archdiocese is due to be released this summer.Marx wrote in his resignation letter that probes in the last decade indicated there had been “a lot of personal failures and administrative mistakes but also institutional or ‘systemic’ failure.”The church launched an investigation into abuse allegations at the German archdiocese in Cologne after a report released in March uncovered hundreds of victims there.“I agree with you that this is a catastrophe. The sad history of sexual abuse and the way the church approached it until recently,” Francis said.Earlier this month, the pope criminalized priests’ sexual abuse of adults in the most comprehensive changes to church law in nearly four decades.As a result, the law now says adults can also be exploited by priests who abuse their authority and that laypeople who hold positions in the church can be punished for comparable sex crimes, as well as for abusing minors.
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Biden Says US Will Donate 500 Million COVID Vaccines to World
With Thursday’s announcement by U.S. President Joe Biden that his administration is donating 500 million doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to 92 low- and middle-income countries, the United States aims to liberate itself from the uncomfortable reputation of being a vaccine hoarder. Biden could not have chosen a more opportune time and place for the announcement — a day before the start of the G-7 summit, a meeting of the world’s most advanced democracies in Cornwall, United Kingdom. In doing so, he is setting a high bar for wealthy nations to do the same. WATCH LIVE at 1:15pm ESTAccording to the White House, the half a billion Pfizer doses will be delivered by June of next year, including 200 million to be delivered by the end of 2021. The administration said the donation will “serve as the foundation for a coordinated effort by the world’s democracies to vaccinate people around the world.” The doses, delivered by the U.S. through FILE – Boxes of AstraZeneca/Oxford coronavirus vaccines, redeployed from the Democratic Republic of Congo, arrive at a cold storage facility in Accra, Ghana, May 7, 2021.Humanitarian organizations applauded the move. Tom Hart, acting CEO at The ONE Campaign, an organization that works to end poverty and preventable diseases, urged other G-7 countries to follow. “This action sends an incredibly powerful message about America’s commitment to helping the world fight this pandemic and the immense power of U.S. global leadership,” Hart said in a statement. Will other G7 countries follow? British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday also pledged “millions” of doses for the world’s poorest. “At Carbis Bay, the G-7 will pledge to distribute vaccines to inoculate the world by the end of next year, with millions coming from surplus UK stocks,” Johnson announced FILE – Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during the weekly question time debate in Parliament in London, Britain, May 19, 2021, in this screen grab taken from video. (Reuters TV via Reuters)But it’s unclear whether other G-7 members will immediately follow. The countries are at different stages of vaccinating their own populations. Japan and Canada, which have vaccination rates of under 10%, are not in a position to be as generous. Aside from donating vaccines, the G-7 is also under pressure to waive vaccine patents. The U.S. has supported waiving intellectual property rights on vaccines, the so-called TRIPS waiver at the World Trade Organization. But the European Union is pushing for a different proposal, compulsory licensing to scale up vaccine production. U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told VOA that the different approaches will not be a point of contention at the G-7. “I anticipate convergence, because we’re all converging around the idea that we need to boost vaccine supply in a number of ways,” said Sullivan. The Biden administration knows that Europe will likely hold firm on not supporting the waiver, said Vinjamuri of Chatham House. Getting all the members of the WTO to agree on a waiver is a long and challenging process, it’s simply easier to donate vaccines rather than allow countries to produce them without fear of being sued. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told VOA the U.S. will continue WTO negotiations but would not provide details on whether Biden will put his diplomatic weight behind it at the G-7. Biden-Johnson summit President Biden and Prime Minister Johnson will meet later Thursday. The world will be watching how the two leaders interact considering past disagreements, including on Brexit, the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union, which the Obama-Biden administration had opposed. “The chemistry hasn’t been good. President Biden had called Boris Johnson a clone of Donald Trump,” said Dan Hamilton, the director of the Global Europe Program at the Wilson Center. Biden, who is of Irish descent, is also concerned that Brexit could undermine the Good Friday Agreement, the 1998 deal, facilitated by the United States that brought peace to Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K. FILE – Pro-Union Loyalists demonstrate against the Northern Ireland Protocol implemented following Brexit, on the road leading to the Port of Larne in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, April 6, 2021. Under the Brexit deal, Northern Ireland remains party to the EU’s single market, yet is no longer part of the union, which means a customs border must be implemented. The Biden administration wants to ensure that nothing in Brexit could endanger prospects for peace. Biden’s support for the Good Friday Agreement is “rock-solid,” National Security Advisor Sullivan told VOA. “That agreement must be protected, and any steps that imperil or undermine it will not be welcomed by the United States,” said Sullivan. He would not say whether Johnson is undermining the agreement. Despite these tensions, Biden is very committed to anchoring the G-7 in the U.S. — U.K. partnership, said Vinjamuri. “Really using America’s deep and historic relationship with Britain, to affirm the values of democracy, of liberalism, of freedom.” Johnson’s government has just concluded an integrated review of its foreign policy strategy, which included a reaffirmation of the special relationship between the two allies. The leaders agreed to a new Atlantic Charter, modeled on statement made by then-British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and then-U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 to promote democracy and free trade was instrumental in shaping the world order post World War I. The 2021 Atlantic Charter underscores that, with similar values and combined strength, the two countries will work together to face the enormous challenges facing the planet — from COVID, climate change to maintaining global security.
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Plan to Upgrade WWII-era Pacific Ocean Airstrip Sparks Unease
Australian and U.S. officials are closely monitoring a contentious plan to upgrade a World War II-era airstrip on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.Kiribati is a remote country of 33 scattered coral atolls that straddle the equator. It has a population of about 100,000 but it is at the center of a geopolitical intrigue between China on the one hand, and the United States, and its allies, including Australia, on the other.
The Kiribati island of Kanton is a narrow strip of land with a rich military history. In World War II, the U.S. Navy built a 2-kilometer airstrip there to boost the campaign against Japanese forces in the Pacific. It was used into the 1970s for missile and space research, but is now rundown and rarely used.
Kiribati now has a plan to potentially upgrade the dilapidated runway and China has funded a study to see if it is feasible.
Authorities in Kiribati have insisted the project would be for civilian and nonmilitary use only and would help Kanton become a “high-end niche tourism destination.”
Given the island’s strategic location midway between Asia and the Americas, though, there are concerns in Australia and beyond that Beijing could be planning a new military base in the region.
Anna Powles, a senior lecturer at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at New Zealand’s Massey University, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that Chinese involvement in the runway is causing unease.
“Kanton sits across major sea lanes between America, Australia and New Zealand and Asia. It is around 3,000 kilometers southwest of Hawaii, where the United States Indo-Pacific command is headquartered, which is part of that strategic anxiety,” Powles said.Kiribati has few natural resources and is one of the least developed countries in the Pacific.
In 2019, it severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of Beijing.
The islands’ government has said speculation linking the runway project to Chinese military expansion in the region was unfounded. Opposition politicians in Kiribati have said they do not trust China’s government, though.
Australia has indicated it would be willing to help pay for an upgrade to the Kanton Island airstrip.
Kiribati was formerly the Gilbert Islands that became a British colony in 1915. They were captured by the Japanese during World War II in 1941, before being liberated by Allied forces.
The archipelago became independent from Britain in 1979 under the new name of Kiribati.
China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has said previously that Beijing was exploring plans for upgrading and improving the airstrip on Kanton Island at the invitation of the Kiribati government.
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160 Million of World’s Children Forced to Work During Pandemic, UN Says
A new report finds 160 million children or nearly one child in ten is involved in child labor globally, an increase of 8.4 million since 2016. AFILE – Children work with relatives to load a brick kiln for firing in Tobati, Paraguay, Sept. 4, 2020.The picture that emerges from this study varies by region. The report finds child labor is continuing to decrease in Asia and the Pacific, as well as in Latin America and the Caribbean. However, child labor has risen substantially in Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. ILO Director General, Guy Ryder, says in Africa as a whole, 20 million more children are in child labor today than they were four years ago. Of those, he says 16.6 million are in sub-Saharan Africa. “So, if you look at that in percentage terms, it means that almost one in five African children are in child labor, one in four in the sub-Saharan sub region. They are losing out on their education. They are working at a young age. They are working too many hours. They often are working in hazardous occupations,” he said. Executive Director of UNICEF Henrietta Fore expresses concern at the alarming rise in younger children who are toiling in child labor. She says half of all children in child labor around the world are aged 5 to 11 years. She says the COVID-19 pandemic is making this terrible situation even worse. “Faced with job losses and rising poverty, families are forced to make heartbreaking decisions. We estimate that nine million more children could be pushed into child labor by the end of next year, a number that could rise as high as 46 million if social protection coverage falls victim to countries’ austerity measures,” she said. To reverse the upward trend in child labor, the ILO and UNICEF are calling for adequate social protection for all, including universal child benefits and for quality education and increased spending in getting children back to school. They say decent work for adults must be promoted so children do not have to be sent out to work to help support their families.
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Biden in UK to Meet with Allies, Putin
U.S. President Joe Biden meets Thursday with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on a European trip that includes high-level talks with other Western heads of state and a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The world will be watching how Biden and Johnson will interact Thursday afternoon after past disagreements on policies, including Brexit, the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union, which the Obama-Biden administration opposed. “The chemistry hasn’t been good. President Biden had called Boris Johnson a clone of Donald Trump,” said Dan Hamilton, the director of the Global Europe Program at the Wilson Center. Biden, who is of Irish descent, is also concerned that Brexit could undermine the Good Friday U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive at Cornwall Airport Newquay, June 9, 2021.Biden kicked off his United Kingdom visit Wednesday with remarks to U.S. troops stationed at the Royal Air Force Mildenhall in Suffolk. The military base is used almost exclusively by American soldiers and home to the U.S. Air Force 100th Air Refueling Wing. “Thank you. We owe you. We’re so damn proud of you,” said Biden, noting the sacrifices that service members and their families have made. ”You are the solid steel spine of the United States,” he said. ”You are not only warriors. You are diplomats and bridge builders.” Biden spoke of his agenda at the G-7, NATO and European Union summits in the days ahead, as well as his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week. “I will tell Putin what I will tell him,” Biden said. ”I am going to communicate that there are consequences for violating the sovereignty of democracies in the United States, Europe and elsewhere.” The president underscored his belief that world democracies will not only endure but thrive. “We have to discredit those who believe that the age of democracy is over, as some of our fellow nations believe,” said the president, saying that even though things are changing rapidly, democracies can still get together to reach a consensus to respond to autocrats. First lady Jill Biden, speaking before the president, showed her appreciation for military members’ sacrifice. She has recently relaunched Joining Forces, a support facility for American troops. G-7 summit goals The president’s main agenda in the U.K. is to attend the G-7 summit, a meeting of the world’s seven most advanced democracies: the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. “Strengthening the alliance, making clear to Putin and to China that Europe and the United States are tight. The G-7 is going to move,” Biden said of his goal for the summit to reporters as he boarded Air Force One. Now Biden is under pressure to shore up a global pandemic recovery strategy with other G-7 leaders, including how to help vaccinate the world’s population. “I have one and I’ll be announcing it,” Biden said to VOA. The White House said early Thursday that Biden would be announcing a U.S. program to buy 500 million more doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to donate to 92 low- and lower middle-income countries and the African Union over the next year. The U.S. plan calls for the donation of 200 million doses — enough to fully vaccinate 100 million people — by the end of this year, with the remainder sent overseas in the first half of 2022. The White House also said Biden would “call on the world’s democracies to do their part in contributing to the global supply of safe and effective vaccines.” The United States has vaccinated more than half of its adult population, but impoverished countries are trailing far behind that level of inoculations. The United States has just joined Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation countries in reaffirming support to waive vaccine patents, the so-called TRIPS waiver at the World Trade Organization. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told VOA negotiations on the waiver at the WTO are being pursued by United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai, but Psaki would not provide details on whether Biden will put his diplomatic weight behind it at the G-7. “The president has certainly spoken about his support on the waiver. He believes it’s an important component of addressing the global threat of COVID, and he will continue to play a constructive role,” Psaki said. The G-7 leaders last met in August 2019 in Biarritz, France. That summit did not produce the usual communique because of disagreements between then-U.S. President Donald Trump and other leaders on key issues. Sullivan told VOA aboard Air Force One en route to England that a communique is expected at the end of this G-7. The three-day G-7 sessions commence on Friday, at the Carbis Bay Hotel & Estate and Tregenna Castle Resort, in St. Ives, Cornwall. The summit is expected to encounter extraordinary logistical challenges to meet COVID-19 health protocols.
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Aung San Suu Kyi Facing New Corruption Charges
News reports out of Myanmar say authorities have filed new corruption charges against deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said Thursday the Anti-Corruption Commission has uncovered evidence the 75-year-old Suu Kyi has committed “corruption using her rank” in relation to previous charges that she accepted illegal payments of $600,000 in cash plus gold, as well as new accusations involving misuse of land for her charitable foundation. The report said Suu Kyi has been charged under Section 55 of the Anti-Corruption Law, which calls for a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison if convicted. Suu Kyi has been detained since the military overthrew her civilian government on February 1. She is also facing multiple criminal charges for possessing unlicensed walkie-talkies, violating COVID-19 restrictions, breaching telecommunication laws and incitement to cause public unrest. The Nobel Peace laureate is due to go on trial on two of those charges next Monday in, the capital, Naypyidaw. Suu Kyi’s civilian government was overthrown nearly three months after her National League for Democracy party won parliamentary elections in a landslide. The junta has cited widespread electoral fraud in the November 8 election as a reason for the coup, an allegation the civilian electoral commission denied. The junta has threatened to dissolve the NLD over the allegations. 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. 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.
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Biden in UK on Trip to Meet with Allies, Putin
U.S. President Joe Biden meets Thursday with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on a European trip that includes high-level talks with other Western heads of state and a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The world will be watching how Biden and Johnson will interact Thursday afternoon after past disagreements on policies, including Brexit, the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union, which the Obama-Biden administration opposed. “The chemistry hasn’t been good. President Biden had called Boris Johnson a clone of Donald Trump,” said Dan Hamilton, the director of the Global Europe Program at the Wilson Center. Biden, who is of Irish descent, is also concerned that Brexit could undermine the Good Friday U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive at Cornwall Airport Newquay, June 9, 2021.Biden kicked off his United Kingdom visit Wednesday with remarks to U.S. troops stationed at the Royal Air Force Mildenhall in Suffolk. The military base is used almost exclusively by American soldiers and home to the U.S. Air Force 100th Air Refueling Wing. “Thank you. We owe you. We’re so damn proud of you,” said Biden, noting the sacrifices that service members and their families have made. ”You are the solid steel spine of the United States,” he said. ”You are not only warriors. You are diplomats and bridge builders.” Biden spoke of his agenda at the G-7, NATO and European Union summits in the days ahead, as well as his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week. “I will tell Putin what I will tell him,” Biden said. ”I am going to communicate that there are consequences for violating the sovereignty of democracies in the United States, Europe and elsewhere.” The president underscored his belief that world democracies will not only endure but thrive. “We have to discredit those who believe that the age of democracy is over, as some of our fellow nations believe,” said the president, saying that even though things are changing rapidly, democracies can still get together to reach a consensus to respond to autocrats. First lady Jill Biden, speaking before the president, showed her appreciation for military members’ sacrifice. She has recently relaunched Joining Forces, a support facility for American troops. G-7 summit goals The president’s main agenda in the U.K. is to attend the G-7 summit, a meeting of the world’s seven most advanced democracies: the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. “Strengthening the alliance, making clear to Putin and to China that Europe and the United States are tight. The G-7 is going to move,” Biden said of his goal for the summit to reporters as he boarded Air Force One. Now Biden is under pressure to shore up a global pandemic recovery strategy with other G-7 leaders, including how to help vaccinate the world’s population. “I have one and I’ll be announcing it,” Biden said to VOA. Later, The New York Times and The Washington Post, as well as other media, cited sources familiar with the issue who said that the United States will buy 500 million more doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to donate to 92 lower-income countries and the African Union over the next year. The U.S. has vaccinated more than half of its adult population, but impoverished countries are trailing far behind that level of inoculations. The U.S. plan calls for the donation of 200 million doses — enough to fully vaccinate 100 million people — by the end of this year, with the remainder sent overseas in the first half of 2022, the sources said. The United States has just joined Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation countries in reaffirming support to waive vaccine patents, the so-called TRIPS waiver at the World Trade Organization. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told VOA negotiations on the waiver at the WTO are being pursued by United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai, but Psaki would not provide details on whether Biden will put his diplomatic weight behind it at the G-7. “The president has certainly spoken about his support on the waiver. He believes it’s an important component of addressing the global threat of COVID, and he will continue to play a constructive role,” Psaki said. The G-7 leaders last met in August 2019 in Biarritz, France. That summit did not produce the usual communique because of disagreements between then-U.S. President Donald Trump and other leaders on key issues. Sullivan told VOA aboard Air Force One en route to England that a communique is expected at the end of this G-7. The three-day G-7 sessions commence on Friday, at the Carbis Bay Hotel & Estate and Tregenna Castle Resort, in St. Ives, Cornwall. The summit is expected to encounter extraordinary logistical challenges to meet COVID-19 health protocols.
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Biden Administration Weighs New Sanctions Against Belarus
The top U.S. envoy to Belarus told U.S. lawmakers Wednesday that the country’s dependence on Russia had significantly increased. The warning came as a U.S. Senate panel considered policy options in response to Belarus’ detention last month of opposition blogger Raman Pratasevich. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more from Capitol Hill.Producer: Katherine Gypson. Camera: Alexei Gorbachev.
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Biden Kicks Off UK Tour
U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrived in Newquay, Cornwall, Wednesday evening in anticipation of the G-7 summit, which starts Friday.Biden kicked off his United Kingdom visit earlier Wednesday with remarks to U.S. troops stationed at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, an air force station in Suffolk. The military base is used almost exclusively by American soldiers and home to the U.S. Air Force 100th Air Refueling Wing.”Thank you. We owe you. We’re so damn proud of you,” said Biden, noting the sacrifices that service members and their families have made. “You are the solid steel spine of the United States. You are not only warriors. You are diplomats and bridge builders.”President Joe Biden speaks to American service members at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, England, June 9, 2021, after arriving in Europe for meetings with U.S. allies and Russian President Vladimir Putin.Biden spoke of his agenda at the G-7, NATO and European Union summits in the days ahead, as well as his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week.”I will tell Putin what I will tell him,” Biden said. ”I am going to communicate that there are consequences for violating the sovereignty of democracies in the United States, Europe and elsewhere.”The president underscored his belief that world democracies will not only endure but thrive.”We have to discredit those who believe that the age of democracy is over, as some of our fellow nations believe,” said the president, explaining that even though things are changing rapidly, democracies can still get together to reach a consensus to respond to autocrats.The first lady, speaking before Biden, showed her appreciation for military members’ sacrifice. She has recently relaunched Joining Forces, a support facility for American troops.G-7 summit goalsThe president’s main agenda in the U.K. is to attend the G-7 summit, a meeting of the world’s seven most advanced democracies: the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.President Joe Biden points as he boards Air Force One, June 9, 2021, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. Biden embarked on the first overseas trip of his term, eager to reassert the United States on the world stage and steady European allies.”Strengthening the alliance, making clear to Putin and to China that Europe and the United States are tight. The G-7 is going to move,” Biden said of his goal for the summit to reporters as he boarded Air Force One.Now Biden is under pressure to shore up a global pandemic recovery strategy with other G-7 leaders, including how to help vaccinate the world’s population. “I have one and I’ll be announcing it,” Biden said to VOA.Later, The New York Times and The Washington Post, as well as other media, cited sources familiar with the issue who said that the U.S. would buy 500 million more doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to donate to 92 lower-income countries and the African Union over the next year. The U.S. has vaccinated more than half of its adult population, but impoverished countries are trailing far behind that level of inoculations.US planThe U.S. plan calls for the donation of 200 million doses — enough to fully vaccinate 100 million people — by the end of this year, with the remainder sent overseas in the first half of 2022, the sources said.The U.S. has just joined Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation countries in reaffirming support for waiving vaccine patents, the so-called TRIPS waiver, at the World Trade Organization. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told VOA that negotiations on the waiver at the WTO were being pursued by U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, but Psaki would not provide details on whether Biden would put his diplomatic weight behind it at the G-7.”The president has certainly spoken about his support on the waiver. He believes it’s an important component of addressing the global threat of COVID, and he will continue to play a constructive role,” Psaki said.FILE – Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson meets then-U.S. President Donald Trump for talks during the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France, Aug. 25, 2019.The G-7 leaders last met in August 2019 in Biarritz, France. That summit did not produce the usual communique because of disagreements between then-U.S. President Donald Trump and other leaders on key issues. National security adviser Jake Sullivan told VOA aboard Air Force One en route to England that a communique was expected at the end of this G-7.Biden-Johnson meetingFrom Mildenhall, Biden headed to the summit’s location in Cornwall, a one-hour flight away. On Thursday afternoon, he is scheduled to meet with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The world will be watching how the two leaders will interact after past disagreements on policies, including Brexit, the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the EU, which the Obama-Biden administration opposed.”The chemistry hasn’t been good. President Biden had called Boris Johnson a clone of Donald Trump,” said Dan Hamilton, the director of the Global Europe Program at the Wilson Center, a global policy research group in Washington.Biden, who is of Irish descent, is also concerned that Brexit could undermine the FILE – Loyalist protesters opposed to the Northern Ireland Protocol on Brexit make their point under the statue of former Unionist leader Lord Edward Carson at Stormont, Belfast, Northern Ireland, April 8, 2021.Under the Brexit deal, Northern Ireland remains party to the EU’s single market, yet is no longer part of the union, which means a customs border must be implemented. The Biden administration wants to ensure that nothing in Brexit could endanger prospects for peace.”President Biden has been crystal clear about his rock-solid belief in the Good Friday Agreement as the foundation for peaceful coexistence in Northern Ireland. That agreement must be protected, and any steps that imperil or undermine it will not be welcomed by the United States,” Sullivan told VOA, adding that Biden would be making “statements of principle” on this issue. He would not say whether Johnson was undermining the agreement.Special tiesDespite these tensions, Hamilton said, the leaders will commit to pursuing transatlantic relations to the best of their countries’ interests. Johnson’s government has just concluded an integrated review of its foreign policy strategy, which included a reaffirmation of the special relationship between the two allies.The three-day G-7 sessions commence Friday at the Carbis Bay Hotel & Estate and Tregenna Castle Resort in St. Ives, Cornwall. The summit is expected to encounter extraordinary logistical challenges to meet COVID-19 health protocols.Steve Herman contributed to this report.
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