Month: March 2022

Idaho Governor Signs Abortion Ban Modeled on Texas Law

Posted on by SeeUS

Idaho on Wednesday became the first state to enact a law modeled after a Texas statute that bans abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy and that can be enforced through lawsuits to avoid constitutional court challenges.

Republican Governor Brad Little signed into law the measure that allows people who would have been family members to sue a doctor who performed an abortion after cardiac activity had been detected in an embryo. Still, he said he had concerns about whether the law was constitutional.

“I stand in solidarity with all Idahoans who seek to protect the lives of preborn babies,” Little wrote in a letter to Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin, who is also president of the Senate.

Yet he also noted: “While I support the pro-life policy in this legislation, I fear the novel civil enforcement mechanism will in short order be proven both unconstitutional and unwise.”

The law in the conservative state is scheduled to take effect 30 days after the signing, but court challenges are expected. Opponents call it unconstitutional, noting six weeks is before many women know they’re pregnant.

Advanced technology can detect the first flutter of electric activity within an embryo’s cells as early as six weeks. This flutter isn’t a beating heart; it’s cardiac activity that will eventually become a heart. An embryo is termed a fetus after the eighth week of pregnancy, and the actual heart begins to form between the ninth and 12th weeks of pregnancy.

The law allows the father, grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles of a “preborn child” to each sue an abortion provider for a minimum of $20,000 in damages within four years after the abortion. Rapists can’t file a lawsuit under the law, but a rapist’s relatives could.

‘Vigilante aspect’

“The vigilante aspect of this bill is absurd,” said Idaho Democratic Representative Lauren Necochea. “Its impacts are cruel, and it is blatantly unconstitutional.”

A Planned Parenthood official called the law unconstitutional and said the group was “committed to going to every length and exploring all our options to restore Idahoans’ right to abortion.”

“I want to emphasize to everyone in Idaho that our doors remain open. We remain committed to helping our patients access the health care they need, including abortion,” said Rebecca Gibron of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana and Kentucky, which operates Idaho’s three abortion clinics.

Backers have said the law was Idaho’s best opportunity to severely restrict abortions in the state after years of trying. Most recently, the state last year passed a six-week abortion ban law, but it required a favorable federal court ruling in a similar case to take effect, and that hasn’t happened.

The law is modeled after a Texas law that the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed to remain in place until a court challenge is decided on its merits. The Texas law allows people to enforce the law in place of the state officials who normally would do so. The Texas law authorizes lawsuits against clinics, doctors and anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion that is not permitted by law.

Other states are pursuing similar laws, including Tennessee, which introduced a Texas-styled abortion bill last week.

The Biden administration knew the Texas law would lead to other states passing similar laws, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, and called on Congress to send the president a bill to “shut down these radical steps.”

“This development is devastating for women in Idaho, as it will further impede women’s access to health care, especially those on low incomes and living in rural communities,” Psaki said in a statement Wednesday.

Republicans in Idaho have supermajorities in both the House and Senate. The measure passed the Senate 28-6 and the House 51-14 with no Democratic support. Three House Republicans voted against the measure.

Governor’s concerns

Little on Wednesday noted his concerns with the legislation.

“Deputizing private citizens to levy hefty monetary fines on the exercise of a disfavored but judicially recognized constitutional right for the purpose of evading court review undermines our constitutional form of government and weakens our collective liberties,” he wrote.

He said that he worried some states might use the same approach to limit gun rights.

He also noted his concern with the part of the law allowing a rapist’s relatives to sue.

“Ultimately, this legislation risks retraumatizing victims by affording monetary incentives to wrongdoers and family members of rapists,” he wrote.

He concluded the letter by encouraging lawmakers to fix those problems to avoid unintended consequences “to ensure the state sufficiently protects the interests of victims of sexual assault.”

Little is facing a primary challenge from the far-right in McGeachin, the lieutenant governor, who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

Republican state Representative Steven Harris, the bill’s sponsor, said in a statement after the vote on March 14: “This bill makes sure that the people of Idaho can stand up for our values and do everything in our power to prevent the wanton destruction of innocent human life.”
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Putin Tells Europe to Pay for Natural Gas in Rubles

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President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia will only accept payments in rubles for gas deliveries to “unfriendly countries,” which include all EU members, after Moscow was hit by unprecedented sanctions over Ukraine.

Immediately after his announcement, the ruble, which has plummeted since the start of the Ukraine conflict, strengthened against the dollar and euro, while gas prices rose.

“I have decided to implement a set of measures to transfer payment for our gas supplies to unfriendly countries into Russian rubles,” Putin said during a televised government meeting.

He added, however, that Russia will continue supplying the volume of gas outlined in its contracts.

Putin ordered Russia’s central bank to implement the new payment system within a week, saying it must be transparent and will involve the purchase of rubles on Russia’s domestic market.

Putin also hinted that other Russian exports may be affected.

Later Wednesday the Russian space agency Roscosmos announced it too will insist its international partners pay it in rubles.

“We will also conclude all our external agreements in rubles,” Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin was quoted as saying by the official Tass news agency.

“It is clear that delivering our goods to the European Union, the United States and receiving dollars, euros, other currencies no longer makes sense to us,” Putin said.

Ukraine was quick to denounce Russia’s “economic war” on the EU and its efforts to “strengthen the ruble.”

“But the West could hit Russia with an oil embargo that would cause the Russian economy to plunge,” Ukrainian presidential advisor Andriy Yermak said on Telegram.

“This is now a key economic battle, and the West must collectively win it,” he added.

Crippling sanctions

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck, whose country imported 55% of its natural gas from Russia before the conflict, said Putin’s demand was a breach of contract and that Berlin will discuss with European partners “how we would react to that.”

Austria’s OMV energy company said Wednesday that it would keep paying for Russian gas in euros despite the announcement.

“We don’t have any other basis for the contract. I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise,” OMV CEO Alfred Stern told Austrian television.

Western countries have piled crippling sanctions on Moscow since it invaded Ukraine.

The West froze about $300 billion of Russia’s foreign currency reserves abroad, a move that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday described as theft.

But while the United States banned the import of Russian oil and gas, the EU, which received around 40% of its gas supplies from Russia in 2021, has retained deliveries from Moscow.

Brussels, however, has set a target of slashing Russian gas imports by two-thirds by the end of the year and is eyeing an oil embargo.

“Russia is now trying to pressure the West with counter sanctions — and reduce its dependence on foreign currencies,” Swissquote senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya told AFP.

‘Upend opponents’

Analyst Timothy Ash of BlueBay Asset Management said, however, that it was “hard to see Putin’s move as ruble positive.”

Ash said Putin is essentially trying to force Western countries to trade with Russia’s central bank, which they have sanctioned.

“It will just accelerate diversification away from Russian energy,” he added.

According to investment group Locko Invest, the countries declared “unfriendly” by Russia account for more than 70% of Russia’s energy exports in terms of earnings.

The group also highlighted the danger for Gazprom of running out of foreign currency to honor its debts in the future.

But Andrew Weiss of the Carnegie Foundation said: “Putin definitely knows how to build and exploit leverage.”

“Putin has routinely used escalation in such situations to upend his opponents’ best-laid plans. No reason to doubt that that’s changed,” Weiss said on Twitter.
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As Ukrainians Wait for Humanitarian Aid, More Talk at UN

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The U.N. General Assembly began a lengthy debate Wednesday over two draft resolutions that seek to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, where millions wait for food, water and medical supplies or the chance to escape their besieged country safely.  

  

“Thousands of Ukrainians have lost their lives over this month: young and old, women and men, civilians and military,” Ukraine’s U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said of Russia’s war, which began in the early hours of February 24. “They died because Russia decided to attack — attack Ukraine, attack peace, attack all of us. Every day of the Russian war against Ukraine aggravates the humanitarian situation further and further.”  

  

The numbers are staggering. In barely one month, the United Nations says, 3.5 million people have fled to neighboring countries, and 6.5 million are displaced within Ukraine. The U.N. estimates that 12 million people in the country need humanitarian assistance. The situation deteriorates daily.  

U.N. member states have before them two resolutions. Both call for an immediate cease-fire and protection of civilians, critical civilian infrastructure, aid workers and medical personnel.  

  

But there is one glaring difference: One text names Russia as the aggressor and calls on it to cease its actions against Ukraine, while the second text names no aggressor and essentially puts Ukraine — which was attacked — on the same level as its attacker.  

  

Mexico and France, along with Ukraine, were among the 25 countries that drafted the text that names Russia, and their resolution has more than 80 co-sponsors in the General Assembly.  

South Africa is the author of the second text.  

“South Africa believes that the political and strategic issues pertaining to the conflict in Ukraine should be discussed but not in the context of a resolution addressing the humanitarian situation,” Ambassador Mathu Joyini told the assembly. She said her government’s draft resolution attempts to do that.  

Wednesday’s debate saw more than 60 delegations take the floor. The discussion will continue Thursday morning, and a vote is expected to follow.  

Any result would not have a legally binding effect on Russia, but with strong international backing, it would express the will of the world that the hostilities should stop and people should be helped.  

  

An overwhelming number of speakers expressed support for the Western draft, underscoring Russia’s destruction of Ukraine, including its siege on the southern port city of Mariupol, and the indiscriminate shelling and bombing of civilians and critical infrastructure.  

“In light of the tragedy that is unfolding, the General Assembly has to take its responsibility to address this humanitarian catastrophe and urgently call on Russia to respect the basic principles of international humanitarian law that applies to everyone,” European Union Ambassador Olof Skoog said on behalf of the 27-member bloc.  

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield pointed to the humanitarian impact of the war, which is disrupting global supplies of critical items such as wheat and fuel, which was also addressed in the resolution under consideration.  

“The accelerating spike of food prices, food shortages and corresponding insecurity threatens to further destabilize fragile societies, increase hunger and drive migration,” she said. “And this comes at a time when the global humanitarian system was already stretched more than ever before — a time when the World Food Program is feeding more than 138 million people in over 80 countries.” 

  

Only Syria took the floor to support Russia. Moscow has provided military backing to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad since 2015 in its brutal war against its population. Even Belarus, which hosts Russian troops on its territory and is believed to be considering involving its own military in Ukraine to support Russia, did not address the General Assembly.  

Also absent from the debate were Eritrea and North Korea, which round out the countries that have publicly supported Moscow at the United Nations.  

  

Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia dismissed the Western text as having “blatantly anti-Russian elements.”  

“Let me be clear: This scenario will make a resolution to the situation in Ukraine more difficult,” Nebenzia said. “Because more likely, it will embolden Ukrainian negotiators and would nudge them to maintaining the current unrealistic position, which is not related to the situation on the ground nor to the need to tackle the root causes, which meant that Russia had to start, almost a month ago, its special military operation in Ukraine.”  

Isolation 

  

Nebenzia said if countries want to help the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, they should vote for Moscow’s draft resolution in the U.N. Security Council.  

That draft went for a vote late Wednesday. Non-council members Belarus, Syria and North Korea were the co-sponsors.  

Of the 15 council members, only Russia and China supported the text (China was not a co-sponsor, though). In a rare occurrence, 13 council members abstained from voting. Without nine positive votes and no vetoes, the measure failed.  

Several council members pointed out that the resolution did not call for an immediate and unconditional end to the hostilities or name the cause of the humanitarian crisis — Russia’s invasion.  

Honoring Albright 

On Wednesday, former U.S. Secretary of State and onetime U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Madeleine Albright died. Council members stood for a moment of silence in tribute to her. Thomas-Greenfield cited her ahead of the vote.  

“Secretary Albright once warned, ‘Take it from someone who fled the Iron Curtain, I know what happens when you give the Russians a green light.’ And that is what we will do today if we pass this resolution.” Thomas-Greenfield warned. 

  

Meanwhile, humanitarians continue, without strong guarantees for their safety, to try to bring livesaving aid to millions of Ukrainian civilians, many of whom are stranded in areas with active hostilities.  
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US, NATO Allies Watching China Carefully

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Western leaders meeting in Brussels about Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine are expected to spend a significant amount of time talking about China.

U.S. security officials say they have yet to see any sign that Beijing is providing Moscow with military equipment or other aid to boost the Russian forces. But Western officials warn China’s refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion and its willingness to parrot Kremlin propaganda are cause for concern.

“We face a fundamentally changed security environment where authoritarian powers are increasingly prepared to use force to get their way,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters Wednesday, the day before a meeting of the alliance’s heads of state.

“Beijing has joined Moscow in questioning the right of independent nations to choose their own path,” he added. “So, I expect we will also address the role of China in this crisis.”

So far, China has sought to avoid political conflict over the war in Ukraine, saying it recognizes Ukraine’s sovereignty while also agreeing with Russia that NATO expansion has raised “legitimate security concerns.”

At the same time, analysts caution that China has used social media to echo the Kremlin’s talking points about the war.

Posts by Chinese officials and news outlets have “remained largely aligned with Russian messaging,” according to analysis by the Washington-based Alliance for Securing Democracy, which tracks online propaganda.

” ‘NATO’ was the tenth most used key phrase in Chinese tweets last week, as Chinese officials and state media continue to frame potential NATO enlargement as the root cause of Russia’s invasion,” the alliance said, noting Beijing also repeated Russian disinformation efforts tying the U.S. to biological weapons labs in Ukraine.

But what NATO members find most concerning is Beijing’s willingness to side with Moscow against core values such as self-determination, Stoltenberg said.

“China now for the first time has questioned some of the key principles of our security, including the right for every nation in Europe to choose his own path,” he said. “That’s new.

“I expect the leaders, when they meet tomorrow, to call on China to condemn the invasion and to engage in diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful way to end this war as soon as possible and not provide material support,” Stoltenberg said.

Some U.S. lawmakers think Russia’s stalled military efforts in Ukraine may be giving Chinese leadership reason to have second thoughts about using force, specifically in relation to Taiwan.

“China is looking at Russia, too, and they’re beginning to ask questions,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed told the Defense Writers Group on Wednesday, noting that China has yet to truly test its newfound military might.

“I think the Chinese are constantly thinking about their posture towards Taiwan,” he said. “Now they have some more data. … They might be getting second thoughts.” 
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US Accuses Russia of War Crimes in Ukraine

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The Biden administration on Wednesday accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine.

“Today, I can announce that, based on information currently available, the U.S. government assesses that members of Russia’s forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

The accusations come as both Blinken and President Joe Biden head to Europe for an emergency NATO summit to address the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Blinken said he would share information with allies and partners.

“We’ve seen numerous credible reports of indiscriminate attacks and attacks deliberately targeting civilians, as well as other atrocities. Russia’s forces have destroyed apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, critical infrastructure, civilian vehicles, shopping centers, and ambulances, leaving thousands of innocent civilians killed or wounded,” Blinken said, citing ongoing attacks in Mariupol and other areas.

“The U.S. government will continue to track reports of war crimes and will share information we gather with allies, partners, and international institutions and organizations, as appropriate. We are committed to pursuing accountability using every tool available, including criminal prosecutions,” Blinken added.

Last week, Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press.
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Sanctions Halt Millions of Dollars in Kenyan Trade to Russia

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Kenya’s tea and flower exporters say global sanctions to punish Russia for invading Ukraine have halted millions of dollars of Kenyan trade with Russian importers. While they hope for peace, Kenyan traders are looking for alternative buyers. Victoria Amunga reports from Kajiado, Kenya.
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US Supreme Court Nominee Defends Record in Day 3 of Hearings 

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Ketanji Brown Jackson, U.S. President Joe Biden’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, on Wednesday again defended her record to Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on her third day of confirmation hearings.

Wednesday’s hearing followed a marathon session Tuesday that went well into the evening. During that question-and-answer session, Democrats spent much of their allotted time speaking cordially with Jackson rather than asking more questions.

Republicans, on the other hand, cross-examined the first Black women ever nominated for the nation’s highest court, highlighting what they believe is her liberal record and suggesting she is soft on crime.

Republicans returned to that theme Wednesday, with Senator Thom Tillis suggesting Jackson possessed a kind nature that made her too lenient in sentencing decisions as a federal trial judge.

Jackson gave a lengthy response, saying she often sought to explain to defendants the impact of their actions, with the aim of reducing the likelihood that they would commit more crimes upon their release.

Republican Senator Lindsay Graham was more combative as he continued to ask Jackson about her sentencing decisions as a judge, repeatedly interrupting her when she tried to answer. He also brought up the contentious 2018 confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

A friendlier questioner, Senator Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, asked Jackson why she felt it was important for U.S. democratic institutions such as the courts to reflect the diversity of the nation.

Jackson answered that among other reasons, it “bolsters public confidence in our system.”

“We have a diverse society in the United States. There are people from all over who come to this great nation and make their lives,” she said.

Thursday, the third and final day of the committee hearings, was to feature testimony from outside witnesses.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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Madeleine Albright, First Female US Secretary of State, Dies

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Madeleine Albright, the first female U.S. secretary of state, has died of cancer, her family said Wednesday. She was 84.

President Bill Clinton chose Albright as America’s top diplomat in 1996, and she served in that capacity for the last four years of the Clinton administration.

At the time, she was the highest-ranking woman in the history of U.S. government. She was not in the line of succession for the presidency, however, because she was a native of Czechoslovakia.
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Mali Attaches Conditions to Handing Over Late PM’s Body, Says Family

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Relatives of the late former prime minister of Mali say the country’s military government has refused to turn over his body unless they agree not to request an autopsy.  

Soumeylou Boubèye Maiga died March 21, 2022, at a Bamako hospital after seven months in detention.  

Maiga served under former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who was deposed in a 2020 coup. Maiga was arrested in August 2021 on charges of fraud. 

His health deteriorated while in jail, and his family repeatedly sought permission to get him released for treatment. For the last three months, he has been under guard at a Bamako clinic.  

At Maiga’s home in central Bamako on March 22, where his family gathered to receive guests, his brother Mohamed Boubèye Maiga said the military government has refused to hand over his body unless the family agrees not to request an autopsy. 

He added that Maiga’s family, friends and lawyers had been refused access to Maiga in recent months as his health deteriorated, so no loved ones were present when Maigi died. 

Several Malian political parties, along with the head of Mali’s U.N. mission and the president of neighboring Niger, have publicly reacted to Maiga’s death.  

The spokesperson for a group of opposition parties, Ismael Sacko, talked to VOA from Bamako via a messaging app.  

Sacko said Maiga’s death could have been a form of political assassination, so an investigation is crucial.   

Aguibou Bouare, president of Mali’s National Human Rights Commission, a governmental agency that investigates human rights abuse accusations, said that the commission monitored Maiga’s case, but it was denied access to the former prime minister while he was in the hospital. 

Bouare said that all prisoners, including Maiga, who had not yet been tried have the right to medical treatment and to receive visits from family. Human rights must be respected at all times, in all places, and in all circumstances, he said, especially during exceptional circumstances and periods of crisis. 

VOA attempted to reach a Malian army spokesman for comment, but got no response. 

The government released a short statement Monday announcing Maiga’s death “after a long illness.”

The military government ordered Radio France Internationale and France 24 off the air last week after RFI and Human Rights Watch reported on alleged human rights abuses by Mali’s army. 

 
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Millions in East Africa Face Hunger if Rainy Season Fails Again 

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 Aid agencies working in East Africa warn of a massive humanitarian crisis if the coming rainy season falls short of expectations. The aid groups say persistent drought has left 44 million people in urgent need of assistance across Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan.

Millions of people are on the move in East Africa as drought takes their livelihoods and most are forced to flee their homes in search of food and water.

Francesco Rigamoti is the regional humanitarian coordinator for Oxfam Horn East and Central Africa. He says if nothing is done, the situation is poised to get worse in coming weeks.

“The crisis can actually worsen until and beyond June if the March to May rains fail to be average or below average,” he said. “There is a concrete possibility that in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, only between 15 and 20 million people will be in IPC 3 phase and above and unfortunately, the experts are telling us in South Sudan already between May and July 8.3 million people will be in this situation.”

The aid agencies use the IPC scale to classify households’ food insecurity. IPC phase 3 means the households have food consumption gaps that can lead to acute malnutrition.

Since January, at least 13 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia have been displaced in search of water and pastures for their livestock.

In Kenya, crop production has dropped by 70%.

Oxfam International head Gabriela Bucher traveled to Somali regions to witness the drought situation and what it is doing to people. She says communities are finding it difficult to adapt to the change in weather patterns.

“For centuries pastoralists have had an extremely resilient and incredible coping mechanism in very harsh conditions but the current situation, the severity of the long drought extension and how many countries are affected is breaking those traditional mechanisms and in reality, we see that the climate crisis is present there and they are suffering the worst consequences of something that [they did] nothing to generate. So we know this is an issue of justice because it’s us, the global community that needs to be aware and respond,” she said.

The aid agencies say more than 650,000 Somalis have fled their homes due to drought, leaving almost half of the children under the age of five acutely malnourished.

Javier Rio Navarro is head of ECHO Somalia, a European Union emergency response organization. He says the country is facing famine.

“Today, we face a number of hard truths in Somalia,” he said. “The consequences of the drought are catastrophic and pose a very real threat of famine in the country. The other real truth is that the capacities of the partners are overstretched and the additional reality is that additional funding is hard to come by. Hence collectively, we need to recognize that the single common priority of humanitarians in Somalia today is to save lives.”

In 2017 humanitarian organizations averted possible famine by getting supplies to communities in hard-to-reach areas on time and using the lessons learned during the 2011 famine which killed a quarter of a million people.

Aid agencies are appealing for more funding to reach millions and save lives.
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Aid Rushed to Mozambique Cyclone Survivors

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The U.N. refugee agency and partners are working with Mozambique’s government to aid thousands of families devastated by Cyclone Gombe, which struck the island nation earlier this month.

Cyclone Gombe swept across central and northern Mozambique on March 11, destroying homes, flooding farmland, and forcing tens of thousands of people to flee in search of safety.

Initial relief efforts were delayed because of storm damage to many key roads. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says about 60 people were killed, more than 80 injured and some 488,000 were affected by Gombe.

It was the strongest storm to strike Mozambique since Cyclones Idai and Kenneth wreaked havoc on the island nation in 2019.

U.N. refugee agency spokesman Boris Cheshirkov said more than 380,000 people were affected in Nampula province alone. He said the victims, who include tens of thousands of displaced people, need urgent humanitarian assistance.

“While the intensity and impact of Cyclone Gombe appears to be less severe than Idai and Kenneth, this was a category 4 storm which brought fierce winds of up to 190 kilometers per hour, heavy rain, and thunderstorms,” Cheshirkov said. “It damaged critical infrastructure. It cut power and communications in Nampula City, as well as the nearby Maratane refugee settlement.”

He said sites in Cabo Delgado province hosting tens of thousands of people displaced by violent armed attacks also have been badly affected. He says the UNHCR is distributing essential items from its stockpiles to help them. Those goods will assist 62,000 refugees, internally displaced people, and host communities.

“Every region in the world is experiencing climate hazards…Those with the least means to adapt are hit the hardest, including refugees, internally displaced and stateless people,” Cheshirkov said. “Women, children, older people, people with disabilities, and indigenous peoples are disproportionately affected.”

The United Nations says the full impact and magnitude of damage done by Cyclone Gombe is not yet known and is likely to be more serious than initial findings indicate.

Cheshirkov said the UNHCR and its partners are assessing the protection and humanitarian needs of displaced cyclone survivors. Besides basic needs for shelter, food and healthcare, he expects many will require protection from sexual exploitation and abuse as well as counseling to help them deal with mental trauma.
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American Basketball Player Reportedly in Good Condition in Russian Jail

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U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price says officials from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow visited American basketball player Brittney Griner in a Russian prison and reported she is in good condition.

Griner, 31, was detained in February at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport on a flight from New York. When authorities scanned her luggage, they say they found illegal cannabis vaping cartridges.

If convicted, she could face five to 10 years in prison.

Earlier this month, Griner learned she would be in jail until at least May 19 while the investigation continues.

Griner, who plays in Russia during the WNBA offseason, is reportedly sharing a cell with two others.

Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about the case.

“There’s only so much I can say given the privacy considerations at this point,” Blinken said. “Whenever an American is detained anywhere in the world, we of course stand ready to provide every possible assistance, and that includes in Russia.

“We have an embassy team that’s working on the cases of other Americans who are detained in Russia. We’re doing everything we can to see to it that their rights are upheld and respected.”

Some information in this report comes from Reuters.
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Reports: Noted Post-Soviet Reformer Chubais Leaves Post as Putin Envoy

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Well-known post-Soviet reformer Anatoly Chubais has reportedly left his post as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy for stable development, a move that could signal a high-profile protest inside the Kremlin against Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
 

News agencies Bloomberg and Reuters on March 23 quoted Kremlin sources as saying that Chubais, who was responsible for relations with international organizations, had left the country.

Russia’s state news agency TASS quoted a source as saying that Chubais had left his position but did not confirm whether he was still in Russia or not.

 

No reason was given for Chubais’s departure. He is the highest-profile official on Putin’s team to resign since Russia launched its attack against Ukraine on February 24.

 

The 66-year-old Chubais was first deputy prime minister, finance minister, and chief of the presidential office when Boris Yeltsin was Russia’s first president following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

 

Chubais was a key reformer and an ideologue of the privatization program in Russia in the early 1990s.

 

Since the start of the war, many Western countries have implemented crippling sanctions on Russia and those close to Putin.

Information from Reuters was used in this report
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Powerful Tornado Strikes New Orleans, Killing At Least One Person

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Storm part of storm system that killed one woman in Texas Monday and left a trail of destruction in its wake  
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After Russia’s Ukraine Invasion, Baltics Push for Permanent NATO Presence 

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Baltics long seen as one of NATO’s most vulnerable regions
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Biden Travels for NATO Talks on Ukraine, Will Announce More Russia Sanctions 

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US officials warn situation could worsen as Moscow grows increasingly frustrated, targets civilians 
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Latest Developments in Ukraine: March 23

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Full developments of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine   
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Biden Heads to Europe to Coordinate Next Steps for Ukraine

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On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden heads to Brussels and Warsaw to coordinate with Western allies on the next phase of military, economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. White House Bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report, narrated by correspondent Anita Powell from Brussels.
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US Announces Deal With UK to End Steel, Aluminum Tariffs

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The United States on Tuesday announced an agreement with Britain to end tariffs on steel and aluminum imports imposed by former president Donald Trump. 

“By allowing for a flow of duty-free steel and aluminum from the UK, we further ease the gap between supply and demand for these products in the United States,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement. 

“And by removing the UK’s retaliatory tariffs, we reopen the British market to beloved American products.” 

The deal was the latest in a series of efforts by President Joe Biden to settle trade spats with U.S. allies, some of which were long running. Others had started under the Trump administration. 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson cheered the announcement of the deal “with our American friends.” 

“This is fantastic news and a very welcome boost to our steel and aluminum industries,” he said on Twitter. 

Washington and London in January announced the start of negotiations to end the dispute, which began in 2018 when Trump imposed levies of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum imports from Britain and other nations to protect U.S. industry. 

U.S. companies for years have struggled to compete with the glut of supply coming out of China, but Trump, citing national security concerns, penalized close trade partners, which worsened relations with major U.S. allies. 

The Biden administration in October reached a deal to end the tariffs on the European Union, and in early February did the same with Japan. 

Ending retaliation 

Under the deal announced Tuesday, Britain will lift retaliatory tariffs it imposed on $500 million in American imports, including alcohol and consumer goods, the statement said. 

It also stipulates that any British steel company “owned by a Chinese entity must undertake an audit of their financial records to assess influence from the People’s Republic of China government,” the results of which will be shared with the United States, the Commerce Department said. 

Britain’s International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who met with Raimondo in Washington to finalize the agreement, said the deal was “good news for our steel and aluminum industries, who have been unfairly hit by these tariffs, and the 80,000 people employed across the sector.” 

U.S. industry was more cautious in its praise, noting the benefits the tariffs provided to aluminum and steel manufacturers. 

“The Russian invasion of Ukraine should remind us all just how critical the domestic steel industry is to our national and economic security,” said Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing.  

“Section 232 quotas and tariffs have permitted the American steel industry to recover, invest, hire, and contribute robustly to our national defense,” he said, calling for a pause in more such deals to allow the industry to adjust. 

The announcement followed two days of talks between U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Trevelyan in the U.S. port city of Baltimore on the broader trade relationship. 

In a statement, Tai said the deal to remove the metal tariffs “delivers on President Biden’s vision to repair relationships with our allies while also helping to ensure the long-term viability of our steel and aluminum industries.” 

Free trade deal? 

Trevelyan and Tai said they would continue their talks next month in Scotland. 

“Hopefully we can now move forward and focus on deepening our thriving trading relationship with the U.S.,” the British official said. 

There was no indication of progress toward a free trade agreement between the two countries, however — a priority of Britain following its departure from the EU. 

Marjorie Chorlins, senior vice president for European Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who took part in discussions in Baltimore on Monday, said a trade pact is not likely, “at least not anytime soon.” 

Trump officials seemed ready to make a new bilateral arrangement with London and had even opened negotiations, but the Biden administration has shown little indication of wanting to continue them. 

 
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Somaliland Upbeat Despite Lack of US Recognition

Posted on by SeeAF

The president of Somaliland is wrapping up a U.S. visit without the formal recognition he had sought for the self-declared republic. But he nonetheless is viewing his trip as a success.  

“The most important thing to us which we discuss with people is recognition” as an independent sovereign nation and not as part of Somalia, Muse Bihi Abdi told VOA’s Somali Service in an interview Saturday.  

He arrived March 13 for a series of meetings to court support from U.S. government officials, U.N. personnel, think tanks and civil society leaders. He plans to return to Somaliland later this week.   

While the U.S. State Department emphasized the Biden administration’s commitment to a unified Somalia, it also held out the possibility of stronger ties with Somaliland.  

“Welcomed the opportunity to meet … and discuss strengthening U.S. engagement with Somaliland within the framework of our single Somalia policy,” the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs tweeted March 14 after Bihi met with its assistant secretary, Molly Phee. 

 

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s ranking member, Republican Jim Risch of Idaho, responded by tweeting that the United States “should not limit ourselves to a ‘single #Somalia’ policy.” He added that the administration “should explore ALL areas of engagement in the region.”  

 

Risch and two fellow committee members – Republican Mike Rounds and Democrat Chris Van Hollen – introduced a bill last week that would require the State Department to report to Congress on its engagement with Somaliland and would authorize a study on the feasibility of establishing a direct U.S.-Somaliland partnership. 

Bihi – who was welcomed at a bipartisan congressional reception Thursday – has invited the United States to establish a diplomatic presence in Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa. 

Somaliland projects itself as a comparatively calm and stable partner in the tempestuous Horn of Africa region, where Somalia has been battling al-Shabab militants for more than a decade and neighboring Ethiopia has been caught up in civil war since November 2020.  

The breakaway state also is strategically located on the Gulf of Aden, near Djibouti — home to the only permanent U.S. military base in Africa and the first overseas base for China — the Heritage Foundation pointed out in introducing Bihi’s keynote address last week at the conservative think tank’s Washington offices.    

Talks have faltered 

Somaliland in 1991 declared its independence from Somalia, which views it as a northern breakaway region, not a separate nation. The two sides have held repeated rounds of talks, most recently in June 2020 in Djibouti, when they agreed to appoint technical committees to continue discussions. No meetings have taken place since then. 

Bihi blames the stalemate on the Mogadishu government, saying it doesn’t want to negotiate with Somaliland.  

“Despite nine rounds of talks … the status of Somaliland never materialized,” he said in his Heritage Foundation remarks.   

Somaliland sees “no future in the continuation of that dialogue with Somalia and is prepared to pursue all available avenues for its international recognition,” Bihi continued. “Somaliland believes that the international community has a moral obligation to support Somaliland’s pursuit of international recognition.”   

But he noted in his interview with VOA, the United States “stood where other governments and Europe stand, which is ‘this issue is for Africa'” to determine. 

The African Union has not recognized Somaliland as a sovereign and independent nation, nor has any individual country. 

Somali’s presidential palace, the ministry of foreign affairs and the information minister did not respond to VOA’s requests for comment on Somaliland.  

But last June 26, three decades after Somaliland gained independence from Britain, Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed expressed hope for a unified country. 

“I ask Allah to realize our dream, which is the return of our unity,” said Mohamed, widely known as Farmaajo. “The people in the North and South need each other. Let us come back to each other and leave out minor interests.”  

Relations with Taiwan 

Speaking with VOA, Bihi compared Somaliland’s status with that of Taiwan, an East Asian self-governing island that China has considered part of its territory since the Communist takeover in 1949. 

“Taiwan and us: We have the same cause. We are two countries that are not recognized,” Bihi said. 

Somaliland’s leader said the Taiwanese “are developed economically, successful in education. We need to learn from their experiences on how they maneuvered.”    

Somaliland and Taiwan established diplomatic relations in July 2020. At the time, Taiwan’s foreign ministry said of the agreement to establish good relations: “We’re thousands of miles apart but share a deep-seated love of freedom & democracy.”  

Somalia and China, which has veto power on the U.N. Security Council, condemned the move.  

But Bihi said Somaliland-Taiwanese ties were not meant to antagonize any other government.  

China has “no right to get angry,” he said. “We are an independent country, and we can establish relations with anyone we want.    

“We are ready to have good relations with China,” Bihi said of Somaliland. “China needs us, we need them. We would like to have good relations. We don’t harbor ill will toward them, and we hope it’s the same on their side.” 

This report originated in VOA’s Somali Service.    

 
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Ukraine Forces Launching Counterattacks as Russian Invasion Stalls

Posted on by SeeEU

Nearly a month after Russian forces invaded Ukraine, there are growing indications Ukrainian forces are going on the offensive, targeting Russian troops and, in some cases, retaking lost ground. 

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that its forces had retaken Makariv, a suburb of the capital of Kyiv, following heavy fighting.  

Ukraine’s military also appeared to launch counteroffensives in the eastern city of Izyum, 120 kilometers southeast of Kharkiv, and in areas near the city of Kherson in the southern part of the country. 

U.S. officials declined to comment on the Ukrainian efforts, but they did say that in some parts of the country, the momentum appears to be shifting. 

“We have seen indications that the Ukrainians are going a bit more on the offense now,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters late Tuesday. 

“They have been defending very smartly, very nimbly, very creatively in places that they believe are the right places to defend,” he said. “And we have seen them now in places, particularly in the south near Kherson, they have tried to regain territory.” 

 

 

Other U.S. officials were even more blunt about the state of Russian military operations. 

“Russia has thus far manifestly failed,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters about the Kremlin’s plans for Ukraine. 

“Whether Russia takes a city, takes a town or takes more territory, they are never going to be able to achieve the purpose they set out … which was to bring this country to heel,” he said. “The brave citizens of Ukraine are refusing to submit. They are fighting back.” 

On its English-language Telegram feed, Russia’s Ministry of Defense portrayed a vastly different war effort, praising Russian forces as they advanced on parts of southeastern Ukraine while Ukrainian forces fled, and claiming success in taking out Ukrainian fuel depots and positions with “high-precision long-range” weapons. 

A senior U.S. defense official, briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss intelligence, confirmed Russian ships in the Sea of Azov had begun shelling the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which has been under heavy fire for days. 

But the official said other intelligence suggests Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has become a logistical nightmare, with Russian forces still struggling to overcome shortages of fuel, food and precision-guided munitions. 

Pentagon officials said Tuesday those shortages could be part of the reason Russia has “at least in one instance” used an advanced hypersonic missile to take out a Ukrainian military storage facility, a move one official described as a “head-scratcher.”  

 

Even basic supplies seem to be lacking. 

“We picked up some indications that some of their soldiers are suffering from frostbite because they lack the appropriate cold weather gear,” the official said. “Troops have actually suffered and [have been] taken out of the fight.” 

Civilians, too, are taking a toll as fighting rages across the country. 

The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said Tuesday that more than 3.5 million people are believed to have fled Ukraine, seeking refuge in Poland, Romania, Moldova and Hungary.  

Those who have not been able to escape are facing an increasingly dire situation. 

“There is nothing left” in Mariupol, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared in a video address Tuesday to the Italian parliament, a day after the government in Kyiv rejected a Russian ultimatum to surrender the city by dawn. 

And hopes of reaching survivors with aid appear to be fading. 

“The reality is that right now the humanitarian system is entirely broken down,” Steve Gordon, the humanitarian response adviser for a Mercy Corps, said in a statement. 

Cities and towns experiencing the most intense fighting “don’t have more than 3-4 days’ worth of essentials, like food,” he added. 

The U.S., meanwhile, warned Russia is increasingly taking out on civilians its inability to achieve its objectives in Ukraine. 

“Clearly, there are civilian casualties, and clearly, they’re mounting every day because of the indiscriminate attacks that the Russians are conducting … as they become more frustrated,” Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon. 

“We believe we should call it like we see it, and we believe that there are war crimes being conducted by the Russian forces,” he added. 

Russia has repeatedly rejected accusations of war crimes, even as the United States and other Western countries raise concerns that Russia may be preparing to use chemical and biological weapons in Ukraine, or even nuclear weapons. 

“If it is an existential threat for our country, then it can be used in accordance with our concept,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN Tuesday when asked whether Moscow might consider unleashing some of its nuclear arsenal. 

“We have a concept of domestic security, and it’s public. You can read all the reasons for nuclear arms to be used,” he added. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin put his country’s nuclear deterrent forces on high alert, something officials at the White House and Pentagon continue to monitor. 

“We are constantly monitoring for that potential contingency, and of course we take it as seriously as one could possibly take it,” Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, told reporters. “We will be consulting with allies and partners on that potential contingency … and discussing what our potential responses are.” 

U.S. President Joe Biden is set to travel to Brussels on Wednesday to meet with NATO and European allies. 

They are expected to announce a new round of sanctions against Russia as well as longer-term adjustments to NATO’s force posture in Europe. 

While in Brussels, Biden will also meet with G-7 and European Union leaders before traveling to Poland. 

U.N. correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.  

 
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Ukraine-Russia War: Africa Undercuts Ability to Mediate, Analysts Say

Posted on by SeeAF

Political analysts say South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has undercut his own utility as a potential mediator of the war in Ukraine with a controversial suggestion that NATO’s own actions are to blame for Russia’s invasion of its western neighbor.

Ramaphosa has said he prefers negotiations over weapons or economic sanctions, in reference to sanctions piled on Russia by the United States and Western allies in the aftermath of the invasion, now in its fourth week.

“The war could have been avoided if NATO had heeded the warnings from amongst its own leaders and officials over the years that its eastward expansion would lead to greater, not less, instability in the region,” Ramaphosa told parliament last Thursday.

But he added that South Africa “cannot condone the use of force and violation of international law.”

The South African president said South Africa had been asked to mediate in the conflict, but he did not mention who requested the intervention.

University of Western Australia analyst Dr. Muhammad Dan Suleiman told VOA that Ramaphosa’s “outrageous” comment is “more like stoking the fire of conflict (and) projecting a paradigm of war rather than peace.” He said the comment undercuts any possibility for Ramaphosa to mediate peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Longtime allies

Africa’s most industrialized nation has long-standing relations with the Kremlin dating back to the 1960s. During South Africa’s apartheid regime, the Soviet Union backed anti-apartheid freedom fighters.

After majority control came to South Africa in 1994, politicians, including those of the ruling African National Congress, maintained ties with Moscow, which observers say makes it no surprise that South Africa has not condemned Russia’s invasion.

Suleiman said there is no historical reason that gratitude for Soviet support during the apartheid era should translate to a defense of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

”For whatever reason, (Ramaphosa) seems to be equating Russia to the Soviet Union. And that is not true, because Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. And so, whatever help the Soviet Union gave to the ANC during apartheid also had the contribution of Ukraine,” Suleiman said.

Prince Mashele, executive director at the Center for Politics and Research in Pretoria, said Ramaphosa’s position doesn’t reflect the current thinking of most South Africans.

”You can’t have a foreign policy that is frozen in the past. Foreign policy has to be dynamic. If (Ramaphosa) had a flexible policy, he would appreciate that the Russia of today is not the Russia of yesteryear.”

Mashele told VOA, “Ramaphosa is trapped by his own political party, the ANC, and so, the position he articulates doesn’t reflect his own personal preference. In the ANC, there are relics of the old world aligned with the Communist Party of South Africa and (are) still active,” Mashele said.

Mashele disagrees with some analysts’ assertions that Black South Africans in 2022 continue to look to Moscow for support.

”I am Black. I come from Black communities. The majority of Black South Africans are actually inspired by the West. Their culture, mannerisms, are an extension of the West, in terms of thinking.”

He added, ”Black South Africans don’t even wish to visit Moscow. They wish to visit New York, or Dubai in the East, or Europe. And so, the position that is articulated by Ramaphosa on behalf of South Africans doesn’t reflect the thinking of Black people. It only represents the thinking of a political clique in the ANC.”
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Azores on Alert for Large Quake, Eruption After Three Days of Shaking

Posted on by SeeEU

Multiple, small earthquakes that have been rattling a mid-Atlantic Portuguese island for three days could trigger a stronger tremor or a volcanic eruption, experts said on Tuesday, as authorities urged people not to travel there. 

The number of earthquakes recorded on the volcanic island of Sao Jorge in the Azores archipelago since Saturday afternoon has increased to around 1,800 from an earlier figure of 1,329, said Rui Marques, head of the region’s CIVISA Seismovolcanic Surveillance and Information Center. 

Only 94 of the 1,800 earthquakes, with a magnitude of between 1.7 to 3.3 registered so far have been felt by the population, Marques told the Lusa news agency. 

Sao Jorge, one of nine islands that make up the Azores, is home to around 8,400 people and is part of the archipelago’s central group, which includes the popular tourist destinations of Faial and Pico, which are also volcanic. 

The series of small quakes, known as a swarm and which have caused no damage so far, were reported along the island’s volcanic fissure of Manadas, which last erupted in 1808. 

Sao Jorge’s municipalities have activated emergency plans as a precaution. 

“All scenarios are on the table,” Marques told Antena 1 radio station. “On one hand, we could see an earthquake of greater magnitude that can cause some destruction. … On the other hand, we have the scenario of an eruption.” 

‘Seismic crisis’ 

Marques urged inhabitants to remain vigilant, although he said the earthquakes were of tectonic origin, referring to movement of the Earth’s tectonic plates, rather than volcanic. 

“We should not treat this as a purely tectonic crisis but as a seismic crisis that is taking place in an active volcanic system,” Marques said. 

CIVISA set up two additional seismic monitoring stations on the island and deployed a team to measure soil gases, an indicator of volcanic activity. Levels seemed normal so far, Marques said. 

The Civil Protection authority said earlier on Tuesday it was working with other entities to prepare a response in case a big earthquake or eruption took place. 

In a separate statement on Tuesday evening, it advised people to avoid all but essential travel to the lush green island to ensure authorities face no “additional constraints” if they need to help the local population. 

The sudden increase in seismic activity is reminiscent of the earthquake swarms detected prior to the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on Spain’s La Palma Island last year, some 1,400 km southeast of the Azores.  

 
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Day Two of Jackson Confirmation Hearing Is Partisan Roller Coaster

Posted on by SeeUS

In a marathon second day of Senate hearings on her nomination to the Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson faced hours of questioning from members of the Judiciary Committee, focusing on everything from her overall judicial philosophy to highly specific queries about rulings she has issued and briefs she has filed. 

Jackson, the first Black woman to be nominated to a seat on the nation’s highest court, appeared at the hearing one day after she and members of the committee spent several hours delivering their opening statements. Republicans on the panel had signaled that they would challenge her on a variety of issues. On Tuesday, each member had 30 minutes to question Jackson. 

Democrats spent much of their allotted time speaking cordially with Jackson, rather than asking pointed questions.  

They alternated with Republicans, who generally pressed Jackson more forcefully on topics ranging from same-sex marriage to sentencing those convicted of possessing child pornography. 

Committee chairman, Democrat Dick Durbin, started off the questioning and used much of his time giving Jackson the opportunity to preemptively address some of the controversial topics that Republicans were expected to bring up. 

Hot-button issues 

On the topic of expanding the number of justices on the court — a strategy that some Democrats have advocated as a way of diluting the influence of conservative justices, and which Republicans deride as “court packing” — Jackson told Durbin she shouldn’t express an opinion. 

“My North Star is the consideration of the proper role of a judge in our constitutional scheme,” she said. “And in my view, judges should not be speaking to political issues — and certainly not a nominee for a position on the Supreme Court.”  

The answer aligned Jackson with sitting Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who offered a similar answer in her own 2020 confirmation hearing.  

Durbin let Jackson address several other controversial topics expected to arise, including her representation of terrorism suspects as a federal public defender, and her sentencing decisions in cases related to child pornography. 

Referencing her representation of terrorism subjects held at the U.S. military facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, she pointed out that public defenders do not choose their clients, but are obligated to provide them with the most effective defense possible. It is that respect for the rights of the accused, she said, that makes the American system of justice “the best in the world.” 

On allegations by some Republicans that she has “gone easy” on individuals found guilty in child pornography cases, Jackson said, “Nothing could be further from the truth.”  

She said her sentences had been within federal guidelines and that she often supplemented them with restrictions preventing the perpetrator from accessing certain technology often used to distribute such material. 

Specific legal questions 

Some Republican members of the committee pressed Jackson on very specific legal issues.

Senator Charles Grassley, the most senior Republican on the panel, asked about her position on allowing cameras in the Supreme Court’s chamber. Jackson dodged the question, saying she would not be comfortable answering until she had spoken to other justices on the topic.  

Grassley also asked her to address the False Claims Act, a federal law that allows whistleblowers to receive a share of money recovered in cases of fraud against the federal government. Jackson said she was “loath to comment” on an issue that had not yet been presented to the court.  

Senator Mike Lee asked Jackson to comment on the Ninth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which includes the concept of “unenumerated rights.” He asked her what rights have been identified as flowing from the amendment. 

Conservatives have long been concerned that the amendment has been used to “create” new rights not mentioned in the Constitution, such as the right to an abortion, or for same-sex couples to marry. 

“As I understand, it (the Constitution) has not identified any particular rights flowing directly from the Ninth Amendment, although, as you said, the text of the amendment suggests that there are some rights that are not enumerated,” Jackson replied. 

Lee asked Jackson if she and President Joe Biden had discussed the right to abortion before her nomination. She replied that they had not. 

Odd moments 

 

The hearing produced its share of unusual moments. Early in the day, Republican Senator Lindsay Graham asked Jackson, “So, on a scale of one to 10, how faithful would you say you are, in terms of religion?” 

Jackson balked at the question, reminding Graham that there is no religious test of officeholders in the U.S. 

Graham quickly made it clear that his interest was not in Jackson’s own religious beliefs, but rather in calling attention to what he felt was the mistreatment of Barrett, who was asked about her association with a Catholic organization during her hearings. 

Later, Republican Senator John Cornyn demanded of Jackson, “Why in the world would you call (former) Secretary of Defense (Donald) Rumsfeld and (former President) George W. Bush war criminals in a legal filing?” 

Jackson seemed momentarily confused by the question. It was later revealed in the hearing that in a court filing made while she represented a detainee at Guantanamo Bay, she had argued that cases in which the United States used torture on prisoners “constitute war crimes and/or crimes against humanity in violation of the law of nations under the Alien Tort Statute.” Bush and Rumsfeld were both named as respondents in the brief. 

‘Racist babies’ 

Republican Senator Ted Cruz sparred with Jackson over critical race theory, demanding to know if the obscure legal theory about racism in U.S. institutions is taught at Georgetown Day School, where Jackson serves on the board of directors.  

At one point, Cruz held up a children’s picture book called “Antiracist Baby” that he said had been assigned at the school. He asked Jackson if she agreed with the book, which he characterized as saying “babies are racist.” 

Jackson sighed audibly and said, “I do not believe that any child should be made to feel as though they are racist, or as though they are not valued, or as though they are less than. That they are victims, they are oppressors. I don’t believe in any of that.” 

She then reminded Cruz that she was there to speak about her work as a judge. 

Expected conclusion 

The end result of Jackson’s nomination process is not seriously in doubt, because her nomination can be approved with a simple majority vote in the Senate. 

Because Democrats hold 50 of the 100 seats in the Senate, and Vice President Kamala Harris can break a tie, it is widely expected that Jackson’s nomination will be reported to the Senate favorably by the Judiciary Committee, and will ultimately be approved. 

 
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