Aid agencies say 350,000 people affected by the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo near the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo are in need of urgent assistance.
Mount Nyiragongo erupted on May 22, turning the sky a fiery red and spewing lava into nearby villages. More than 30 people were killed. Fears of a second volcanic eruption caused a mass exodus from Goma of most of its 450,000 residents on May 27. Around a quarter of that population fled to the neighboring town of Sake in the eastern province of North Kivu. The U.N. refugee agency left behind a team of nine people in the area to evaluate the needs of the displaced. The agency and partners immediately began distributing plastic sheeting, water and other aid. The head of the UNHCR office in Goma, Jackie Keegan, says she and her team since have returned to Goma. Speaking on a video link, she describes the situation in the city as one of uncertainty and unease. “Yes. I am scared of the aftershocks, of course. Less scared now than I was when the windows were shaking every minute, which was happening about four days ago. But—yeah, it is scary. We are living on an active volcano… Like everybody else who ran away from the volcano, we are trying to figure out how to be as useful as possible in a challenging time,” she said. The International Organization for Migration reports the eruption has displaced more than 415,000 people, nearly half of them minors. Most have travelled to towns in the eastern DRC, while roughly 52,000 have crossed the border into Rwanda. FILE – Residents flee Goma after the military governor of North Kivu province issued an evacuation order, May 27, 2021.IOM spokesman Paul Dillon says about a quarter of those who have fled Goma are very vulnerable and in need of special aid. These groups, he says, include breastfeeding women, the chronically ill, pregnant women, unaccompanied children, the elderly and the disabled. “Should the displacement last, it is essential that we consider how we are going to prevent the spread of epidemics, facilitate humanitarian assistance and get kids back to school. IOM is particularly concerned by the health hazards linked to the eruption itself, the displacement to areas with pre-existing outbreaks, the lack of access to clean water and the increased burden placed on health facilities,” he said.Aid agencies warn that people in Goma are at increased risk of cholera, which is endemic in the region and easily spread in areas with poor hygiene and sanitation and insufficient clean water.FILE – People who fled Goma, Congo, gather at a food distribution point in Sake, some 25 kms (16 miles) west of Goma, where they found shelter following an official evacuation order, May 28, 2021.The World Food Program reports it has started providing emergency food rations to thousands of people displaced from Goma. Based on assessments carried out over the past week, the WFP says it aims to reach 165,000 people in three cities of refuge. It says additional emergency food assistance is being provided to Congolese who have gone to Rwanda.
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Month: June 2021
Cyberattack Forces World’s Largest Meat Supplier to Shut Down Operations
JBS Foods, the world’s largest meat supplier, has been forced to shut down operations in Australia and North America Monday, as the company has been a target of a cyberattack over the weekend, according to officials at its headquarters in Brazil. Authorities said they are working to resolve the impact. A U.S. subsidiary, JBS USA, issued a statement following the attack saying they are taking “immediate action, suspending all affected systems, notifying authorities, and activating the company’s global network of IT [Information Technology] professionals and third-party experts,” to address the issue, Reuters reported. Some transactions with customer and suppliers might be delayed due to the cyberattack, the company statement added. There is no evidence, so far, that the personal data of customers and suppliers or employees had been compromised, the statement said. The company’s backup IT system was not hit by what the company said was an “organized cybersecurity attack.” The largest global meatpacker has operations in Canada, Britain, Europe, New Zealand and Mexico.
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Busan Adopts Smart Technology on Public Transportation for Visually Impaired South Koreans
Cities around the world are installing new technology that connects to the personal devices of pedestrians, drivers, and riders on public transportation. Some cities are using these systems to make transportation easier for people with disabilities, such as those who are blind. For VOA, Jason Strother has the story from Busan, South Korea.
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New Vatican Criminal Code Includes Punishment for Sexual Abuse
Pope Francis on Tuesday issued revisions to the Catholic Church’s criminal code, including punishments for priests and others who use “force, threats or abuse of his authority” to engage in sexual acts.
Priests who commit such offenses against minors or adults can be defrocked, while laypeople face losing their jobs or paying fines.
The revisions state that bishops and other superiors can be held responsible for failing to properly investigate and sanction priests.
A new provision also criminalizes the act of priests “grooming” or inducing a minor to engage in pornography.
The changes come after 14 years of study and as the Catholic Church continues to reckon with reports of decades of sexual assault and abuse by priests.
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New Smart Tech Helps Visually Impaired South Koreans Increase Mobility
South Korea’s second largest city is using new, inclusive technology to bring down barriers to mobility for people who are blind.Park Hyoung-bae glides his long, white cane along a strip of raised yellow blocks that form a trail through an underground metro station. The tactile paving leads blind commuters from the street all the way to the train platform.But Park, who is walking arm in arm with his mother, says the tiles still don’t make him feel comfortable enough to travel far from his home on his own.Information boards, maps and other signage direct travelers to exits, restrooms and other station amenities, but all of these visual indicators are inaccessible for the 32-year-old.Without help from a family member or a hired guide, he explains Busan’s metro system can be overwhelming.“I’ve gotten lost in subway stations and asked people where I am, but sometimes they ignore me and I have no idea if they’ve walked away or not and that makes me feel isolated,” he said. “It’s hard to ask for help as someone who’s blind.”Cities across the globe are installing new ICT, or information and communications technology, that connect public infrastructure with the electronic devices of pedestrians, drivers and commuters. And some governments are using these systems to make public spaces more accessible for people with disabilities.In Busan, a new smart city initiative could help people with a vision impairment travel more independently.How it works
In March, Busan launched a mobility service called Dagachi Naranhi, or Side By Side, that uses GPS technology to provide localized directional information inside one of its metro stations via a smartphone app. Users select a destination within the facility, like the subway platform, elevator, or a way out, and the software sends meter by meter instructions that update in real-time as the traveler moves.Park is trying-out the app for the first time and uses his iPhone’s Voice-Over utility to turn the directions into speech that is read out loud. He picks one of two accessible kiosks and is told to walk straight for 98-meters.After getting used to the app’s interface, Park arrives at the machine, which receives data from Bluetooth beacons placed around the station and displays maps and other information on a large touchscreen or by voice in multiple languages.Park, who participated in some of the pre-launch testing of this device, says what he likes most about the kiosk is its Braille touchpad, which can transform into a tactile map.“When I select a destination, the Braille display lets me feel the layout of the station and then I can memorize where I need to go,” he said.Plans for expansion
City officials say they hope to eventually expand Dagachi Naranhi throughout the four-line, 114-station subway network.The Busan Transportation Corporation’s Jeon Byeong-jun explains that while the smart system could improve visually impaired metro riders’ independence, the app and kiosk can also benefit an even larger swath of the city’s nearly three and a half million residents.“It’s not just for people with disabilities, it can be convenient for pregnant women and the elderly, or even foreign visitors can use it,” he told VOA. “It’s for everyone.”As cities adopt these new systems, there’s concern that smart technology could in fact raise barriers for people with physical, sensory, or intellectual impairments. Some disability advocates say that is why it is essential to create electronic devices or apps with universal design principles — so they really can be used by everyone.Disabled people input
Go Mi-sook is a technology trainer and handles customer support for Dot, the Seoul-based firm that partnered with Busan to implement the Dagachi Naranhi program and created the accessible kiosks.She says ever since losing her vision as a teenager, assistive technology, such as screen-reading software on her computer or phone has “empowered” her. But not every company ensures that differently abled consumers can use their products.Roughly 250,000 South Koreans have a visual disability, according to the country’s Blind Union — a relatively small demographic in a nation of about 52 million.One way to ensure that the needs of this minority group is considered is to bring more designers with a vision impairment to the table, Go says.“There’s a difference in how people without a disability think about making products that can be used by someone who is blind,” said the 34-year-old. “It’s important that visually impaired people be part of the planning and design process.”Inside the Busan metro station, Park Hyoung-bae and his mother await the train back to their neighborhood. He says if Dagachi Naranhi were installed in more places, he would feel greater confidence about venturing-out without assistance.Park adds this inclusive technology does not just improve mobility. It could also reduce social barriers.“Non-disabled people don’t often see people with a disability using the subway,” Park said. “If this technology makes it easier for us to use public transportation, I think the overall all perception of people with disabilities will improve.”
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Four-Time Grand Slam Champ Osaka Out of French Open, Cites Anxiety
Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open on Monday and wrote on Twitter that she would be taking a break from competition, a dramatic turn of events for a four-time Grand Slam champion who said she experiences “huge waves of anxiety” before speaking to the media and revealed she has “suffered long bouts of depression.”pic.twitter.com/LN2ANnoAYD— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) May 31, 2021Osaka’s agent, Stuart Duguid, confirmed in an email to The Associated Press that the world’s No. 2-ranked tennis player was pulling out before her second-round match at the clay-court tournament in Paris.
The stunning move came a day after Osaka, a 23-year-old who was born in Japan and moved with her family to the United States at age 3, was fined $15,000 for skipping the postmatch news conference after her first-round victory at the French Open. She also was threatened by all four Grand Slam tournaments with possible additional punishment, including disqualification or suspension, if she continued with her intention — which Osaka revealed last week on Twitter — to not “do any press during Roland Garros.”
She framed the matter as a mental health issue, saying that it can create self-doubt to have to answer questions after a loss.
“First and foremost we are sorry and sad for Naomi Osaka. The outcome of Naomi withdrawing from Roland Garros is unfortunate,” French tennis federation President Gilles Moretton said Monday. “We wish her the best and the quickest possible recovery. And we look forward to having Naomi in our tournament next year.”
Moretton said the four major tournaments, and the professional tennis tours, “remain very committed to all athletes’ well-being and to continually improving every aspect of players’ experience in our tournament, including with the media, like we always have.”
In Monday’s post, Osaka spoke about dealing with depression since the 2018 U.S. Open, which she won by beating Serena Williams in a final filled with controversy.
“I would never trivialize mental health or use the term lightly,” Osaka wrote, explaining that speaking with the media makes her anxious.
“I think now the best thing for the tournament, the other players and my well-being is that I withdraw so that everyone can get back to focusing on the tennis going on in Paris,” Osaka wrote. “I never wanted to be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal and my message could have been clearer.”
She continued: “Anyone that knows me knows I’m introverted, and anyone that has seen me at the tournaments will notice that I’m often wearing headphones as that helps dull my social anxiety. … I am not a natural public speaker and get huge waves of anxiety before I speak to the world’s media.”
Williams was asked about Osaka on Monday after winning her opening match in the first scheduled night session in French Open history.
“I feel for Naomi. I feel like I wish I could give her a hug because I know what it’s like. … I’ve been in those positions,” Williams said. “We have different personalities, and people are different. Not everyone is the same. I’m thick; other people are thin. Everyone is different and everyone handles things differently. You just have to let her handle it the way she wants to, in the best way she thinks she can, and that’s the only thing I can say. I think she’s doing the best that she can.”
Osaka has never been past the third round on the French Open’s red clay. It takes seven victories to win a Grand Slam title, which she has done four times at hard-court tournaments: the U.S. Open in 2018 and 2020; the Australian Open in 2019 and this February.
“Here in Paris I was already feeling vulnerable and anxious so I thought it was better to exercise self-care and skip the press conferences,” she wrote.
Tennis players are required to attend news conferences if requested to do so.
The maximum fine of $20,000 is not a big deal to Osaka, the world’s highest-earning female athlete thanks to endorsement contracts totaling tens of millions of dollars.
“Mental health and awareness around it is one of the highest priorities to the WTA,” the women’s tennis tour said in a statement emailed by a spokeswoman.
“We have invested significant resources, staffing and educational tools in this area for the past 20-plus years and continue to develop our mental health support system for the betterment of the athletes and the organization. We remain here to support and assist Naomi in any way possible and we hope to see her back on the court soon.”
Other players, notably 13-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal and No. 1-ranked Ash Barty, have said they respect Osaka’s right to take a stance but explained that they consider speaking to reporters part of the job.
After Osaka’s post Monday, several athletes in tennis and other sports tweeted their support.
Martina Navratilova, an 18-time Grand Slam champion, wrote: “I am so sad about Naomi Osaka. I truly hope she will be ok. As athletes we are taught to take care of our body, and perhaps the mental & emotional aspect gets short shrift. This is about more than doing or not doing a press conference. Good luck Naomi- we are all pulling for you!”
Two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry wrote that it was “impressive taking the high road when the powers that be don’t protect their own. major respect.”
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Hundreds Gather at Historic Tulsa Church’s Prayer Wall
Hundreds gathered Monday for an interfaith service dedicating a prayer wall outside historic Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church in Tulsa’s Greenwood neighborhood on the centennial of the first day of one of the deadliest racist massacres in the nation.
National civil rights leaders, including the Revs. Jesse Jackson and William Barber, joined multiple local faith leaders offering prayers and remarks outside the church that was under construction and largely destroyed when a white mob descended on the prosperous Black neighborhood in 1921, burning, killing, looting and leveling a 35-square-block area. Estimates of the death toll range from dozens to 300.
Barber, a civil and economic rights activist, said he was “humbled even to stand on this holy ground.”
“You can kill the people but you cannot kill the voice of the blood.”
Although the church was nearly destroyed in the massacre, parishioners continued to meet in the basement, and it was rebuilt several years later, becoming a symbol of the resilience of Tulsa’s Black community. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
As the ceremony came to an end, participants put their hands on the prayer wall along the side of the sanctuary while soloist Santita Jackson sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Traffic hummed on a nearby interstate that cuts through the Greenwood District, which was rebuilt after the massacre but slowly deteriorated 50 years later after homes were taken by eminent domain as part of urban renewal in the 1970s.
Among those who spoke at the outdoor ceremony were Democratic U.S. Reps. Barbara Lee of California, and Lisa Brunt Rochester and U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, both from Delaware. Rochester connected the efforts toward reparations in Tulsa with a wider effort: pending House legislation that would create a commission to study and propose reparations for African Americans.
“We’re here to remember, to mourn, to rebuild equitably,” Rochester said.
Through the course of a drizzly afternoon, visitors wearing rain gear walked along Greenwood Avenue, photographing historic sites and markers.
Many took time to read plaques on the sidewalk, naming numerous Black-owned buildings and businesses that were destroyed during the 1921 massacre, and indicating whether they had ever been rebuilt.
Monday’s slate of activities commemorating the massacre was supposed to culminate with a “Remember & Rise” headline event at nearby ONEOK Field, featuring Grammy-award-winning singer and songwriter John Legend and a keynote address from voting rights activist Stacey Abrams. But that event was scrapped late last week after an agreement couldn’t be reached over monetary payments to three survivors of the deadly attack, a situation that highlighted broader debates over reparations for racial injustice.
In a statement tweeted Sunday, Legend didn’t specifically address the cancellation of the event, but said: “The road to restorative justice is crooked and rough — and there is space for reasonable people to disagree about the best way to heal the collective trauma of white supremacy. But one thing that is not up for debate — one fact we must hold with conviction — is that the path to reconciliation runs through truth and accountability.”
On Monday night, the Centennial Commission planned to host a candlelight vigil downtown to honor the victims of the massacre, and President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Tulsa on Tuesday.
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China Reports Human Case of H10N3 Bird Flu, a Possible First
A man in eastern China has contracted what might be the world’s first human case of the H10N3 strain of bird flu, but the risk of large-scale spread is low, the government said Tuesday.
The 41-year-old man in Jiangsu province, northwest of Shanghai, was hospitalized April 28 and is in stable condition, the National Health Commission said on its website.
No human case of H10N3 has been reported elsewhere, the commission said.
“This infection is an accidental cross-species transmission,” its statement said. “The risk of large-scale transmission is low.”
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New Zealand Assures Australia There Is No Rift Over China
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has insisted relations with close ally Australia are not going to be negatively impacted by China. The Ardern government has been accused of going soft on Beijing in order to profit from better trade relations with the East Asian nation.Ardern has also been holding annual talks with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to discuss trade, security and the challenges linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the New Zealand skiing and adventure sports resort of Queenstown, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison, have downplayed signs of division over relations with China. Earlier this year, New Zealand said it was “uncomfortable” using the 70-year-old Five Eyes intelligence grouping, which includes the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada, to criticize China. That was widely interpreted as an attempt by Wellington to avoid damaging its lucrative trading relationship with Beijing. A television news documentary accused New Zealand of abandoning Australia “for a fast Chinese buck.” New Zealand was reluctant to sign joint statements from its alliance partners condemning China’s crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong and its treatment of its minority Uyghur Muslim population. The declarations have angered China’s government. But after annual talks Monday with the Australian prime minister, Ardern said she stood in solidarity with her trans-Tasman neighbor. “At no point in our discussions today did I detect any difference in our relative positions on the importance of maintaining a very strong and principled perspective on issues around trade, on issues around human rights, and you will see that Australia and New Zealand have broadly been positioned in exactly the same place on these issues consistently. So, I really push back on any suggestion that we are not taking a strong stance on these incredibly important issues,” Ardern said.New Zealand has also indicated it will support Australia in its ongoing trade dispute with China. Tensions between Canberra and Beijing have increased in recent years over geopolitical disputes and allegations of Chinese interference in Australian politics. Canberra’s call for a global investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, which first emerged in China in late 2019, sent the relationship into a tailspin, resulting in sweeping Chinese tariffs on many Australian exports, including wine, barley and coal. Morrison said his country’s relationship with New Zealand remained strong. “As great partners, friends, allies and indeed family, there will be those far from here who would seek to divide us, and they will not succeed,” Morrison said. There are, however, areas of disagreement. Canberra’s controversial deportation of New Zealanders convicted of crimes, including children, has strained the two countries’ relationship. A senior Australian minister compared the policy to “taking the trash out.” In response, New Zealand officials said practice was “deplorable” and that the minister’s inflammatory remarks served only to “trash his reputation.” Both countries also discussed how to ease tough COVID-19 border controls to eventually reconnect with the rest of the world. In a joint statement, Ardern and Morrison urged China to respect human rights in Hong Kong and criticized its incarceration of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. In response, China said that Australian and New Zealand leaders had made “irresponsible remarks” on its internal affairs and made groundless accusations against Beijing. China has been a subject of global condemnation over the treatment of a million Muslim Uyghurs held in internment camps, including a U.S. classification of Chinese policies toward Uyghurs as ‘genocide.’
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Report: N. Korea’s Ruling Party Sets Up New Post Under Leader Kim
North Korea’s ruling party has amended its rules to create a de facto second-in-command under leader Kim Jong Un as he looks to revamp domestic politics, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said on Tuesday. Citing an unidentified source familiar with North Korea, the agency said the holder of the new post of “first secretary” would chair meetings on behalf of Kim Jong Un. Kim cemented his power at a congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) in January, where he was elected its general secretary, taking a title last held by his late father, Kim Jong Il. Now Kim wants the party to play a greater role in government, as compared to the more-military centered administration of his father, the agency added. “The term ‘military-first politics,’ a major keyword in the Kim Jong Il era, is known to have been scrapped from the preface of the party by-laws,” it said. In a statement, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said new party by-laws were publicized in North Korea after the January meeting. But the ministry, which is responsible for relations with the neighboring nation, cannot disclose details, it added. Kim Jong Un himself used the “first secretary” designation from 2012 to 2016. The new post is the most senior of the party’s seven secretaries and is likely to have been taken by Jo Yong Won of the politburo’s five-member presidium, Yonhap said. Jo is considered one of Kim’s closest aides, whose appointment to the presidium was reported by state media. At the time of the January meeting, analysts viewed him as holding the government’s No. 3 position, after Kim and Choe Ryong Hae, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly. Kim Jong Un has wielded almost absolute power in North Korea’s dynastic system since taking over after Kim Jong Il’s death in 2011. Last year a South Korean lawmaker said the country’s intelligence agency believed that Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, was serving as his “de facto second-in-command” but had not necessarily been designated his successor. Kim has increasingly engaged with party members this year, particularly the cell secretaries, who are responsible for groups numbering up to 30 grassroots members each.
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World’s Largest Meat Supplier a Target Cyberattack
JBS Foods, the world’s largest meat supplier, has been forced to shut down operations in Australia and North America Monday, as the company has been a target of a cyberattack over the weekend, according to officials at its headquarters in Brazil. Authorities said they are working to resolve the impact. A U.S. subsidiary, JBS USA, issued a statement following the attack saying they are taking “immediate action, suspending all affected systems, notifying authorities, and activating the company’s global network of IT [Information Technology] professionals and third-party experts,” to address the issue, Reuters reported. Some transactions with customer and suppliers might be delayed due to the cyberattack, the company statement added. There is no evidence, so far, that the personal data of customers and suppliers or employees had been compromised, the statement said. The company’s backup IT system was not hit by what the company said was an “organized cybersecurity attack.” The largest global meatpacker has operations in Canada, Britain, Europe, New Zealand and Mexico.
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