Islamist militant attacks in southern Burkina Faso have raised concerns that young people across the border in Ghana may be drawn to extremism due to a lack of economic opportunities. Aid group Rural Initiatives for Self-Empowerment, or RISE-Ghana, is using arts and entertainment to rally youth against extremism through a program they call “Peace in Schools.” Senanu Tord reports from Bolgatanga, Ghana.
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Month: March 2023
German Transportation Unions Strike for Higher Wages
Germany’s public transportation workers are striking Monday as unions demand higher wages for their members.
The schedules of trains, buses and planes are being disrupted by the 24-hour work stoppage.
The strike is intended to pressure employers as a new round of negotiations begins this week.
German news outlet Deutsche-Welle reports that Frank Werneke, head of Verdi, one of the unions involved in the strike, said, “What employees right up into the middle-income groups find to be a burden, above all, are the enormous price increases for electricity, gas, and groceries.”
Some German airports began canceling flights Sunday in anticipation of Monday’s strike.
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US Vice President Meets with Ghanian President
In Ghana Monday, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Ghanian President Nana Akufo-Addo. The two leaders are expected to discuss a wide range of topics, including economic and regional stability, and speak with reporters afterwards.
The vice president is also scheduled Monday to visit Vibrate Space, a community recording studio for young artists in Accra. Actors Idris Elba and Sheryl Lee Ralph will join Harris on her tour of the facility where they will meet with the musicians and artists. Vibrate is located at Freedom Skatepark, Ghana’s first fully functioning skateboard park.
Later Monday, President Akufo-Addo and first lady Rebecca Akufo Addo will host a state banquet for Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. There will be approximately 300 guests, including members of the African Diaspora in the United States.
Tuesday Vice President Harris speaks at Cape Coast Castle, a place where enslaved Africans boarded ships headed to the Americas, an unsavory time in both countries’ histories.
The vice president will meet with businesswomen Wednesday, while her husband visits a chocolate factory started by two sisters.
Later Wednesday, the vice president heads to Tanzania.
Some information in this story came from the Associated Press.
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Many Rely on Radio Broadcasts in Zimbabwe and Across Africa
Just the size of his hand, the radio set hung in the busy marketplace stall is essential to Mark Nyabanda.
“I can’t do without it,” said the 25-year-old, taking a break from selling fertilizer in Mbare market in the capital, Harare, to listen to a radio weather report warning of possible floods.
Radio bulletins also provide him with information on disease outbreaks, political news and entertainment, he said.
“I don’t trust these new technologies,” he said, referring to social media. “They are full of falsehoods. We saw it during the coronavirus outbreak.”
In many Western countries, conventional radio has been overtaken by streaming, podcasts and on-demand content accessed via smartphones and computers.
But in many of Africa’s 54 countries, with a combined population of 1.3 billion people, traditional radio sets are widely used, highlighting the digital divide between rich countries and those still struggling to have reliable internet.
Radio sets are all over the place in Zimbabwe. Rural livestock herders dangle them from their necks while tending animals while those in the cities listen to their radio sets for news.
When schools closed during the coronavirus pandemic, sub-Saharan African had the highest proportion of schoolchildren who lacked internet connectivity to participate in remote learning online lessons, according to the United Nations children’s agency.
Many students relied on lessons beamed via tiny solar-powered radio sets at home.
More than 80% of people in Africa own a mobile phone with access to a mobile phone network, according to Afrobarometer, a leading research institute. But “fewer than half” have mobile phones with internet access. The number of those who have access to computers at home is even lower at 28% of people polled in 34 African countries in a survey on the digital divide published in December last year.
“Closing the digital divide remains a critical issue for most African countries, and for the continent as a whole,” said Afrobarometer.
The lack of internet connectivity means traditional radio “remains king,” said Afrobarometer in another survey last year.
Radio is “overwhelmingly” the most common source of news in Africa, according to the survey. About 68% of respondents said they tuned in at least a few times a week, compared to about 40% who use social media and the internet.
Traditional radio sets are easy and inexpensive to use versus the higher cost and logistical problems of getting access to the internet.
Many small radio sets now come with inbuilt solar panels that allow people to listen to broadcasts even when they don’t have electricity. Especially in vogue are radios that also now come with a cell phone charger and a flashlight — all huge conveniences in a continent where electricity outages are rampant and internet connection spots are often distant.
“People don’t have to worry about network or data expenses. And one can’t be switched off for not paying license fees,” said Stanley Tsarwe, coordinator of journalism studies at the University of Zimbabwe. “The radio set has become very powerful and multi-functional and that becomes critical in Africa where access to power and access to the internet are very limited” he said.
Many people trust information from their radio sets over other sources, said John Masuku, a veteran radio broadcaster of five decades.
“There is a lot of disinformation and misinformation, so people still want to check … if it is not said on radio then it is not fact. That is why radio is popular and celebrated in Africa,” he said.
Broadcasts in local languages also attract radio listeners. Zimbabwe’s state radio and a host of community stations offer broadcasts in Shona, Ndebele and 12 other local languages, he said.
However, the way many in Africa listen to the radio is changing as internet penetration improves. The number of people getting news at least “a few times a week” from either social media or the internet or both has almost doubled from 24% to 43% over the past decade, according to Afrobarometer.
The falling prices of mobile phones that can access FM radio stations is also shifting how people listen to radio in Africa, said Tsarwe of the University of Zimbabwe.
“There is an ongoing convergence between radio and digital mobile technologies, especially the mobile phone,” he said. “Radio is integrating more rapidly with the mobile phone because it is much more accessible in Africa. The mobile phone is the future of radio in Africa.”
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New Russian Campaign Tries to Entice Men to Fight in Ukraine
Advertisements promise cash bonuses and enticing benefits. Recruiters are making cold calls to eligible men. Enlistment offices are working with universities and social service agencies to lure students and the unemployed.
A new campaign is underway this spring across Russia, seeking recruits to replenish its troops for the war in Ukraine.
As fighting grinds on in Ukrainian battlegrounds like Bakhmut and both sides prepare for counteroffensives that could cost even more lives, the Kremlin’s war machine badly needs new recruits.
A mobilization in September of 300,000 reservists — billed as a “partial” call-up — sent panic throughout the country, since most men under 65 are formally part of the reserve. Tens of thousands fled Russia rather than report to recruiting stations.
The Kremlin denies that another call-up is planned for what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, now more than a year old.
But amid widespread uncertainty of whether such a move will eventually happen, the government is enticing men to volunteer, either at makeshift recruiting centers popping up in various regions, or with phone calls from enlistment officials. That way, it can “avoid declaring a formal second mobilization wave” after the first one proved so unpopular, according to a recent report by the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War.
One Muscovite told The Associated Press that his employer, a state-funded organization, gathered up the military registration cards of all male employees of fighting age and said it would get them deferments. But he said the move still sent a wave of fear through him.
“It makes you nervous and scared — no one wants to all of a sudden end up in a war with a rifle in their hands,” said the resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisal. “The special operation is somewhat dragging on, so any surprises from the Russian authorities can be expected.”
It’s been more than a week since he handed in his card, he said, and exemptions usually get resolved in a day or two, heightening his anxiety.
Russian media report that men across the country are receiving summonses from enlistment offices. In most of those cases, men were simply asked to update their records; in others, they were ordered to take part in military training.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week that serving summonses to update records in enlistment offices is “usual practice” and a “continued undertaking.”
Other unconfirmed media reports say authorities have told regional governments to recruit a certain number of volunteers. Some officials announced setting up recruitment centers with the goal of getting men to sign contracts that enable them to be sent into combat as professional soldiers.
Ads have appeared on government websites and on the social media accounts of state institutions and organizations, including libraries and high schools.
One of them, posted by a municipal administration in the western Yaroslavl region, promised a one-time bonus of about $3,800 to sign up, and if sent to Ukraine, a monthly salary of up to $2,500, plus about $100 a day for “involvement in active offensive operations,” and $650 “for each kilometer of advancement within assault teams.”
The ad said the soldier would also get tax and loan repayment breaks, preferential university admission status for his children, generous compensation for his family if he is wounded or killed in action, and the status of a war veteran, which carries even more perks.
In the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, officials asked universities, colleges and vocational schools to advertise for recruits on their websites, said Sergei Chernyshov, founder of a private vocational school there.
Chernyshov posted the ad on his social media account “so that everyone knows what our city hall is up to,” but he told the AP that he doesn’t plan to put it on the school website. “It’s weird” to target vocational school students, he said.
Other efforts include enlistment officials meeting with college students and unemployed men, or phoning men to volunteer.
A Muscovite who spoke on condition of anonymity for his own safety said that he received such a call and was surprised at how polite it was: “After my ‘No,’ there were no threats or (attempts to) convince me -– (just) ‘Thanks, goodbye.'”
There have only been isolated cases of enlistment officials really pressuring men to sign up, said Grigory Sverdlin, founder of a group called Go by the Forest that helps men avoid mobilization.
The group gets up to 100 messages a day from men seeking advice on dealing with summonses or enlistment officials, he said, compared with dozens per day in recent months. In most cases, the officials wanted to update their records with addresses and phone numbers, and they might try to recruit men during that process.
But Sverdlin said some cases stand out.
In the Vologda region, about 400 kilometers north of Moscow, the group received messages saying that almost everyone going to the enlistment office after receiving a summons “is forced to sign a paper barring them from leaving the region,” he said.
Lawyer Alexei Tabalov, who runs the Conscript’s School legal aid group, believes there’s nothing unusual in authorities handing out summonses now. Some of the notices are traditionally served before Russia’s spring conscription draft, scheduled to begin April 1 for those eligible for mandatory service.
All Russian men from age 18 to 27 must serve one year in the military, but a large share avoid the draft for health reasons or get student deferments. The share of men who avoid the draft is particularly big in Moscow and other major cities, and many simply evade enlistment officials bearing conscription summonses.
Tabalov said that men have reported going to enlistment offices to update their records but have officials there who “beat around the bush and promote the idea of signing the contract, talk about how one should love their motherland and defend it.”
He doubted anything could make volunteering attractive after 13 months of a war that has killed and wounded tens of thousands.
“People already understand what it means to sign a contract,” he said. “Those who got burned once are unlikely to fall into the same trap.”
Tabalov said that his group continues to get messages from soldiers who want to terminate their contracts, but that isn’t legally possible until President Vladimir Putin ends the partial mobilization, which began in September, with a new decree.
“Getting out of the war automatically means criminal prosecution,” Tabalov said, adding there has been a flurry of criminal cases since December, with prosecutions of soldiers who desert or go AWOL.
The news outlet Mediazona counted 247 verdicts in 536 criminal cases on these and similar charges, adding that over a third of those convicted got suspended sentences, which allows authorities to send them back to the front line.
The current recruitment campaign is similar to one enacted last summer, before the September call-up, said Kateryna Stepanenko, a Russia analyst with the Institute for the Study of War.
Back then, authorities also used financial incentives, and various volunteer battalions were formed, but the effort clearly wasn’t successful, because Putin eventually turned to the partial mobilization.
Whether this one will succeed or not is not clear.
“They’ve already recruited a significant portion of people that were financially incentivized last summer. And they struggled to do so last year,” Stepanenko said.
The current recruitment effort shows the military’s awareness of manpower needs in Ukraine.
“What the mobilization campaign of 300,000 servicemen told us is that it’s not enough to form a sufficient strike group for Russia to push forward with its offensive operations,” she said.
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Biden Widens Net in New Democracy Summit as Russia, China Concerns Grow
The United States on Tuesday opens its second Summit for Democracy with its eyes firmly on the rest of the world, seeking a united front against authoritarianism as Russia attacks Ukraine and as China launches a diplomatic offensive.
President Joe Biden took office pledging to champion democracy, and in his first year made good with the inaugural summit, which sought to reaffirm U.S. leadership.
This time round, in a nod to concerns that the first edition was too focused on the U.S., Biden has tapped co-hosts on each continent — the presidents of Zambia, Costa Rica and South Korea and prime minister of The Netherlands.
In total, he has invited 121 leaders for the three-day, mostly virtual summit — eight more than in 2021.
The summit comes as threats to democracy evolve “from what was seen as an important issue, albeit sort of a slow-moving threat, to one that is now both important and extremely urgent,” said Marti Flacks, director of the human rights initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The sessions will bring in civil society representatives for discussions on a range of challenges to democracy including surveillance technology, which the United States sees as a growing threat as China makes rapid technological advances.
“In the absence of pending congressional action in that space, it is important that the administration is engaging bilaterally with other countries and also with companies on voluntary actions that can be taken in the interim,” Flacks said.
Shunning Turkey, Hungary
The summit will open Tuesday with a virtual conversation on peace in Ukraine featuring President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Not only the message but the setting will be a striking contrast from the first summit where Zelenskyy, now a wartime leader in military fatigues, was clean-shaven and wearing a crisp black suit.
While Biden has kept his campaign pledge on the democracy summit, he has disappointed some human rights activists by easing his earlier vows to shun autocratic leaders.
Biden last year visited both Saudi Arabia, acknowledging the kingdom’s role in oil markets, and Egypt, the host of a climate summit and U.S. partner in regional security, and has increasingly worked with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Ukraine.
None of those three countries are being invited to the summit, a backhanded criticism especially of Erdogan, who faces reelection on May 14 after two decades in power in which he is accused of creeping authoritarianism.
Uniquely among European Union states, Biden is not inviting Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban won a fourth term last year but has been accused of deviating from liberal values by clamping down on the press, denouncing non-European refugees and speaking favorably of Moscow.
U.S. partners shunned for the summit include Singapore, whose elections are generally considered free but which limits free assembly and regulates media, and Bangladesh, where hundreds have been arrested under the Digital Security Act.
The U.S. State Department declined to discuss criteria for inclusion in the summit.
“However, we reiterate that for the summit we aim to be inclusive and representative of a regionally and socioeconomically diverse slate of countries,” a State Department spokesperson said. “We are not seeking to define which countries are and aren’t democracies.”
Growing U.S. partner India, billed as the world’s largest democracy, is on the attendance list days after opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was expelled from parliament, the latest step under Prime Minister Narendra Modi that has alarmed rights groups.
India’s neighbor and arch-rival Pakistan, where Imran Khan was last year ousted as prime minister and later charged, is also on the list.
More African nations invited
Of the countries that received invitations after being kept away in 2021, five are in Africa, including Tanzania, where President Samia Suluhu Hassan has promised to restore competitive politics, and Ivory Coast, where tensions have eased since 2021 elections passed off calmly, as well as The Gambia, Mauritania and Mozambique.
In Latin America, Biden is for the first time inviting Honduras, which won praise for authorities’ improved conduct of 2021 elections, despite persistent violence and its recent dumping of Taiwan ties for China.
The summit comes as the United States focuses on Africa, where China and Russia have both been making inroads.
Vice President Kamala Harris is traveling this week to Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia — whose president, Hakainde Hichilema, has been held up by Washington as a model on democracy and will hold his own events as a summit co-host.
Freedom House, the U.S.-backed research group, in its latest annual report saw an overall deterioration in global democracy but also a growing number of bright spots.
Katie LaRoque, the group’s coordinator for the summit, said that while a single meeting would not in itself be decisive, the gathering gives an opportunity.
Democracies can “coordinate policy changes that can contain rampant authoritarian aggression,” she said.
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Army Pulls Recruiting Ads after Jonathan Majors’ Arrest
The arrest of actor Jonathan Majors has upended the Army’s newly launched advertising campaign that was aimed at reviving the service’s struggling recruiting numbers.
Majors, who authorities said was arrested Saturday in New York on charges of strangulation, assault and harassment, was the narrator of two ads at the heart of a broader media campaign that kicked off at the start of the NCAA’s March Madness college basketball tournament.
Army leaders were hopeful that the popularity of the star of the recently released “Creed III” and “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania,” would help them reach the youth audience.
In a statement Sunday, the Army’s Enterprise Marketing Office said that the Army was aware of Majors’ arrest and was “deeply concerned by the allegations.” It added that while Majors “is innocent until proven guilty, prudence dictates that we pull our ads until the investigation into these allegations is complete.”
New York City police said the actor was involved in a domestic dispute with a 30-year-old woman. “The victim informed police she was assaulted,” a police spokesperson said in a statement.
A lawyer for Majors, Priya Chaudhry, said in a statement Sunday there was evidence clearing Majors and that the actor “is provably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows.”
The Army ads, titled “Overcoming Obstacles” and “Pushing Tomorrow,” are part of the plan to revive the Army’s “Be All You Can be” motto. They highlighted the history of the Army and some of the many professions that recruits can pursue.
The “Be All You Can Be” slogan dominated its recruiting ads for two decades starting in 1981. A nearly two-minute preview video, made available before the campaign rollout in early March, featured soldiers jumping out of airplanes, working on helicopters, climbing obstacle courses and diving underwater. A voiceover said: “We bring out the best in the people who serve, because America calls for nothing less.”
In the Army’s worst recruiting year in recent history, the service fell 25% short of its goal to enlist 60,000 recruits in 2022. The new ads were a key element in the Army’s drive to find creative new ways to attract recruits and ensure that the service has the troops it needs to help defend the nation.
Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said the Army has set a difficult goal for this year: aiming to bring in 65,000 recruits, which would be 20,000 more than in 2022.
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Casualties Mount in Pennsylvania Chocolate Factory Explosion
A fifth body has been recovered from the site of a powerful explosion at a chocolate factory in a small town in eastern Pennsylvania and two remained unaccounted for Sunday.
West Reading Mayor Samantha Kaag said in an email to the Associated Press that the fifth body was found Sunday morning by first responders and confirmed dead by the Berks County Coroner’s Office. The coroner was unable to confirm the identity of that person, Kaag said.
West Reading Borough Chief of Police Wayne Holben confirmed the body of a fourth victim was found under debris early Sunday at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in the borough of West Reading, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia.
Holben asked for continued prayers from the community and vowed that rescuers and officials “will not rest until every single person affected by this tragedy has been accounted for” from the blast that occurred just before 5 p.m. Friday.
Rescue crews have been using heat imaging equipment and dogs to search for possible survivors after the blast destroyed one building and damaged a neighboring building. Crews were now using heavy equipment to methodically and carefully pull debris from the site, Holben said.
Borough Fire Chief Chad Moyer said Saturday night that the chance of finding survivors was “decreasing rapidly” due to the explosion’s force and the amount of time that had passed. Kaag said officials were “still hopeful to at least get some answers and get some recoveries so that people have that reassurance and that closure.”
“We’re just trying to hold out as much hope as we can to get the right answers, to get quality answers, to get information to those that are affected and then let it go over to the investigation,” Kaag said.
Officials said they had no update on the condition of a woman pulled alive from the rubble early Saturday. Kaag said she had apparently been on the second floor and was found in a “hopeful circumstance,” calling out to rescuers despite her injuries after a dog located her.
Officials also reported no updates on the conditions of those taken to hospitals. Reading Hospital said it received 10 patients and transferred two to other facilities, while two others were admitted in good and fair condition respectively and the others had been discharged.
R.M. Palmer said in a statement Saturday afternoon that everyone at the company was “devastated” and it was reaching out to employees and their families through first responders and disaster recovery organizations because its communication systems were down.
Kaag, a volunteer firefighter herself, said rescue crews had been working 12- to 16-hour shifts and were so dedicated to continuing the search that “you have to pull them away at this point” to swap out and get some rest.
Gov. Josh Shapiro visited the site Saturday and vowed support from the state.
Kaag said some residents have reported damage to windows from the blast, and she asked people to “take a walk around your house” and report any damage.
State and local fire investigators are continuing to examine the scene to try to determine the cause of the blast.
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DR Congo Militia Executes 17 Hostages
A notorious militia in eastern DR Congo executed 17 people Sunday it took hostage the previous day, local sources said.
The CODECO insurgents killed at least 17 people captured in the Djugu territory, around 45 kilometers (30 miles) north of Bunia in Ituri province, local community leader Banguneni Gbalande told AFP.
Gbalande said he had been alerted by the families of some of those killed.
The “hostages are dead, they have been executed by the CODECO militia,” another local traditional leader, Toko Kagbanese, told AFP.
CODECO, the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, is one of myriad armed groups operating in the restive, mineral-rich region.
The people were taken hostage after three CODECO members were killed in a clash with a rival militia, said one local resident in Bambu, one of the two villages attacked Saturday. Among those taken hostage was a pregnant woman, said the source, who did not want to be identified for security reasons.
Since the end of 2022, dozens of people have been killed in the gold-rich Ituri province every week.
In recent days, CODECO fighters have been blamed for a series of massacres, claiming the lives of 30 people, including women and children.
The CODECO is a militia that claims to protect the Lendu community from another ethnic group, the Hema and the army.
Eastern Congo is plagued by dozens of armed groups, many of which are a legacy of regional wars that flared in the 1990s and 2000s.
Ituri province is one of the violent hot spots, where attacks claiming dozens of lives are routine.
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Churches Provide Solace in Tornado-Ravaged Mississippi Delta
As a deadly tornado tore through the lower Mississippi Delta, the Rev. Mary Stewart clung to a door in the hallway of her Rolling Fork home, shielding herself from the branches and chunks of debris that came flying through her shattered windows.
Friday’s storm flattened entire town blocks, but the Rolling Fork Methodist Church withstood the high winds. And so, the first Sunday after the twister would commence just like any other Sunday — with congregants reaffirming their faith and finding solace together.
“We are a very religious community,” said Laura Allmon, a fourth-generation congregant. “It just means a lot for us to be able to get together and pray and be thankful for what we have.”
At least 26 people were killed, and dozens of others were injured late Friday in Mississippi as the storm ripped through one of the poorest regions in the country, leaving a swath of destruction in its wake.
With their homes unlivable, many Rolling Fork residents flocked Sunday to the network of churches dotting their rural Southern town of about 2,000, where agriculture and faith shape local life.
Founded nearly 135 years ago, the Rolling Fork Methodist Church has long been a source of support and resilience in hard times, its members said.
“So many people here know patience from farm work,” Stewart said. “With their dependence on the rain for their crops — their livelihood — and having to leave it in God’s hands … it’s a wonderful reaffirmation that God is in control.”
Since the church building was without power Sunday morning, roughly two dozen worshipers gathered on its historic steps and bowed their heads while Stewart delivered a short sermon.
“We’re grateful, Lord, that you brought us through this storm,” she said, standing in the sunshine beneath a clear blue sky. “We have a lot to do and a lot of rebuilding, and there are people that we’ve lost in our town. … We pray for their families.”
Elsewhere, President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration for Mississippi early Sunday, making federal funding available to the hardest hit areas.
Based on early data, the tornado received a preliminary EF-4 rating, with top wind gusts between 166 mph and 200 mph (265 kph and 320 kph), according to the National Weather Service office in Jackson. Officials said the twister was on the ground for more than an hour.
Watch related video by Arash Arabasadi:
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves issued a state of emergency and vowed to help rebuild as he viewed the damage in the region, which boasts wide expanses of cotton, corn and soybean fields and catfish farming ponds. He spoke with Biden, who also held a call with the state’s congressional delegation.
More than a half-dozen shelters were opened in Mississippi to house displaced residents.
Just a few blocks down the road from the Rolling Fork Methodist Church, pastor Britt Williamson spoke from the pulpit at First Baptist Church, addressing rows of weary congregants. During the service, attendees hugged, shook hands and wiped away tears.
“The Delta is a hard soul for the gospel,” Williamson said. “Through the calamity of what happened, God has brought a plow bigger than any of these farmers could have.”
He said faith gives people something to hold onto during life’s challenges.
“We don’t want to help people just to give them a place to live. We don’t want to feed them for a day,” he said. “We want to give them an eternal home.”
Marlon Nicholas, a congregant of the church, said his family’s attendance at a local high school prom Friday night meant they stayed safe even as their home was destroyed. He said other relatives also lost their homes but escaped without serious injuries.
“Miracles,” he said.
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‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ Film Comes Out Blazing With $73.5M
“John Wick: Chapter 4,” the fourth installment in the Keanu Reeves assassin series, debuted with a franchise-best $73.5 million at the box office, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The Lionsgate film, starring Reeves as the reluctant-but-not-that-reluctant killer John Wick, exceeded both expectations and previous opening weekends in the R-rated franchise. Since first launching in 2014 with “John Wick” ($14 million on its opening weekend), the Chad Stahelski-directed series has steadily grown as a ticket-seller with each sequel. The 2017 follow-up opened with $30.4 million, and the 2019 third chapter, “Parabellum,” debuted with $56.8 million.
But “Chapter 4,” running two hours and 49 minutes and costing at least $100 million to produce, is the biggest film yet in the once-lean action series. Critics also said it was a franchise high point, scoring 95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. The film, which drew a 69% male audience, added $64 million overseas. It’s Lionsgate’s biggest success of the pandemic era.
“When you make a fourth in an action franchise, you have to expect it to go down. That is the nature of these franchises,” said Joe Drake, chairman of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group. “But we kept seeing signals and it was wonderful to see the movie they delivered. We saw the audience wanting more.”
Though “John Wick” has been bigger at the box office with each new release — an enviable and rare trajectory among Hollywood franchises — “Chapter 4” brings some finality to Reeves’ character. The actor hasn’t entirely dismissed continuing the series, telling interviewers, “Never say never.”
Regardless, the franchise is set to keep humming. A spin-off titled “Ballerina” starring Ana de Armas and co-starring Reeves has already been shot. The miniseries “The Continental,” with Mel Gibson, is upcoming on Peacock.
“Chad and Keanu have created this world and that world continues to expand. I don’t know what all the edges of that world are, still,” said Drake. “As best they can, they’ll continue to try to seduce Keanu to come back and do things. He gets beat up in these shows. He really does. And at the end he’s like, ‘I’m not doing it anymore.’ Then you watch him sit in the theater and feel that audience.”
“So, we’re going to continue to look for ways to meet that demand.”
The release of “John Wick: Chapter 4,” which included a surprise premiere at SXSW, was also bittersweet. Lance Reddick, who plays the Continental Hotel concierge, Charon, in the films, unexpectedly died at the age of 60 a week before the film’s release.
But the success of “John Wick: Chapter 4” adds to a strong start in 2023 for Hollywood. After ticket sales rebounded to about 67% of pre-pandemic levels last year, the release lineup is steadier and more packed this year. Sequels have led the way, including “Creed III” and “Scream VI.” Ticket sales are up 28% from last year, according to the data firm Comscore.
But there have been some exceptions. After its disappointing $30.5 million debut last weekend, the superhero sequel “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” slumped to second place with $9.7 million in its second weekend. The Warner Bros. release dropped steeply, tumbling 68% from its launch.
“Scream VI” took third place with $8.4 million in its third weekend, bringing its total thus far to $90.4 million domestic and $139.3 million worldwide. “Creed III” followed in fourth with $8.4 million. Michael B. Jordan’s sequel is up to $140.9 million domestic.
The weekend’s other new releases were more modest.
Zach Braff’s “A Good Person,” starring Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman, opened at 530 theaters. The MGM release grossed $834,000. IFC Films’ “The Lost King,” with Sally Hawkins and Steve Coogan, debuted with $575,000 in 753 locations.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
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“John Wick: Chapter 4,” $73.5 million.
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“Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” $9.7 million.
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“Scream VI,” $8.4 million.
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“Creed III,” $8.4 million.
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“65,” $3.3 million.
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“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” $2.4 million.
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“Cocaine Bear,” $2.1 million.
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“Jesus Revolution,” $2 million.
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“Champions,” $1.5 million.
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“Avatar: The Way of Water,” $1.4 million.
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Situation in Central African Republic Worrisome, Research Group Says
Nearly two hundred people demonstrated this week in support of Russia and China in the Central African Republic after nine Chinese workers were killed by gunmen in an attack.
The CAR is one of Africa’s poorest countries and has been battling rebel groups for a decade.
Without evidence, the CAR government blamed rebels for the killings. But the rebels are pointing the finger at Russia’s Wagner group, which has been deployed in the capital Bangui since 2018 to protect the CAR government.
At the demonstrations that took place in Bangui Wednesday inscriptions on banners ranged from “Support for China” to “Russia is Wagner, we love Russia. We love Wagner.”
The show of support follows the killing of nine Chinese employees Sunday in a shooting at the Gold Coast Group gold mine.
Abdoul Asy Babia, a third-year public law student, participated in the protests.
“We stand in solidarity with the embassy and China because China is a great country that has helped the Central African Republic a great deal. We have the example of the Amities … and the Domicien hospitals.”
This iwas not the first time Chinese workers have been killed an attack in the CAR, said Charles Bouessel, a senior consultant at the International Crisis Group.
“In 2019 for instance, three Chinese workers were killed in the northwest of the country, he said. “They were lynched by the population, which accused them of not respecting the law. … This manifestation happened the day after [Russian President] Vladimir Putin met with [Chinese President] Xi Jinping. We see on the international side that China and Russia are allied and the accusations [by the Coalition of Patriots for Change] that Wagner was behind this attack could’ve harmed the relationship between China and Russia.”
Without evidence, Prime Minister Felix Moloua, last Sunday, blamed the attack on the CPC, an alliance of rebel groups.
“The CPC is composed of six of the most powerful armed groups of the country,” said Bouessel. “It was created in late 2020 to overthrow the current regime [of President Austin Archange Touadera]. CPC launched an attack in January 2021 but it failed and it brought CPC to reorganize itself. … Until a few months ago, the CPC leader was Francois Bozize.”
But exiled former CAR President Francois Bozize has relocated recently to Guinea Bissau. So, the CPC leadership seems to have shifted, Bouessel told VOA.
“For now, we see the two warlords may be the most important leaders of this coalition right now,” he said. It’s Noureddine Adam, former leader of SPSC armed group, which is part of the CPC and the other one is Ali Darassa who runs the UPC armed group.”
In a statement, the CPC denied being involved in the gold mine attack and accused Russia’s Wagner mercenary group of being behind it, also without providing evidence.
Russian paramilitaries were deployed to the CAR in 2018 to fend off an assault on the capital by the CPC.
Abdoulaye Diarra, an Amnesty International researcher based in Dakar, Senegal, told VOA it’s difficult to say who’s responsible for the killings because of conditions in the area where they took place.
“The Chimboro area is near 25 kilometers from Bambari and this area is at the heart of rivalries for access to resources, in particular gold,” he said. In the past, the area was occupied by armed groups belonging to CPC and they use to take illegal taxes from gold miners to help them finance their activities, but since December 2020, they were driven out and the authorities have relative control actually of the gold mine …. Security is not fully restored and you still have some insecurity that remains in this area.”
Diarra’s team has spoken to residents.
“Local sources told us that the attacks started at 5 am and [lasted] for at least one hour. They don’t know who exactly the perpetrators are.”
Earlier this week, Chinese President Xi called on Bangui to “severely punish” the killers.
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Spain Tells ‘Fire Tourists’ to Stay Away From Forest Blaze
Officials told “fire tourists” to keep away from blazes raging in eastern Spain on Sunday, saying onlookers were putting themselves at risk and disrupting efforts to quell the flames.
More than 500 firefighters backed by 20 planes and helicopters were battling the fire four days after it broke out near the village of Villanueva de Viver in Valencia region, emergency services said.
Police had spotted 14 cyclists near the scene trying to get a closer look, Gabriela Bravo, the regional head of interior affairs in the Valencia region, told reporters.
“We ask once again and above all tourists not to engage in fire tourism, not to approach the perimeter area,” she said.
Spain’s first major wildfire of the year has destroyed more than 4,000 hectares of forest and forced 1,700 villagers to leave their homes in the Valencia and Aragon regions, officials said.
One firefighter slightly injured his hand as he battled the blaze, emergency services said.
Around 200 residents from the Teruel area of Aragon were allowed to return home on Sunday, authorities said.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was due to visit the area on Monday, his office said.
Residents said the fire could have a devastating impact on the local economy which depended on tourism.
“The people here live from cycling, hiking, and the few bars,” said Jorge Grausell, 72.
“You see this and it is a disaster for anyone who likes nature.”
An unusually dry winter across parts of southern Europe has raised fears there could be a repeat of last year’s devastating wildfires.
Last year, about 785,000 hectares were destroyed in Europe, more than double the annual average for the past 16 years, based on European Commission statistics.
In Spain, 493 fires destroyed a record 307,000 hectares of land last year, according to the Commission’s European Forest Fire Information System.
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North Sea Shell Survey Brings Out Volunteers
Hundreds of volunteers descended on the beaches of the North Sea coast this weekend to collect sea shells as a measure of the sea’s biological diversity.
While there is a serious scientific purpose to the exercise, it is also a fun day out on the coast for Belgian, French and Dutch families with kids.
On Saturday, Natascha Perales and her children marked a wide spiral pattern on the sand in Middelkerke, in Flanders, and filled their plastic buckets with shells.
The harvests were taken to a sorting center run by volunteers, to be counted and divided up by species.
“We found mussels, oysters, cockles, at least six different species,” 40-year-old Perales told AFP. “It’s a great activity, despite the weather.”
Braving stiff gusts of wind, the dozen participants kept the Middelkerke collection point busy.
Laurence Virolee, 41, came with her three children.
“We learned a lot of things,” she said. “Last year we took part in a clean-up day on the beach. It’s important for the kids to see the evolution in biodiversity and make them aware of the climate.”
The collections took place along 400 kilometers of coastline and around 800 people took part in three countries, with France joining the sixth annual event for the first time.
In total, around 38,000 shells were brought in, roughly as many as in last year’s event.
Invasive species
“Shells are a good indicator of the state of biodiversity in the North Sea, ” explained Jan Seys, who organizes the survey for the Flanders Marine Institute.
“Last year, 15% of the shells found belonged to exotic species,” he said, amid fears that foreign shellfish species might become an invasive danger to native organisms. “We have seen, for example the Atlantic Jackknife Clam appearing on our coasts.”
The volunteers were also on the lookout for shells with holes in them, trying to measure the spread of predatory sea snails preying on shellfish.
Near the beach, retired biologist Joris Hooze, 75, taught volunteers how to examine mollusks under his microscope and distinguish their differences.
“We’ve seen organisms that normally live in warm waters turning up more and more,” he said. “It’s a sign of climate change.”
The European Union wants to clean up the seas around its coasts and restore the natural ecosystem by 2030. To do that, it has assigned 800 million euros ($861,600,000) in funding to the task.
“If we’re going to hit that target, we’ll need the general public,” said Seys. As well as its scientific value, the shell hunt served to raise awareness, he added.
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Russia’s Putin to Deploy Tactical Nukes in Belarus
As the United States prepares to co-host the second Summit for Democracy in Washington, Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports on how the weapons that Russia has used so far in its war on Ukraine have already taken a heavy toll not only on the civilian population in Ukraine, but also on that country’s environment. Video editor: Marcus Harton.
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Powerful Tornadoes Tear Through Parts of American South
Powerful tornadoes tore through mostly rural parts of the American South, killing dozens over the weekend. Search and rescue efforts are under way as tens of thousands of people are without power or running water. President Joe Biden declared the region a “disaster area,” clearing the way for federal aid in support of recovery efforts. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more.
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Berlin Votes on Tighter Climate Goals in Test of Germans Commitment to Change
Berlin votes on Sunday on making the city climate neutral by 2030, in a binding referendum that will force the new conservative local government to invest heavily in renewable energy, building efficiency and public transportation.
Climate campaigners gathered over 260,000 signatures in support of the referendum, which will make Berlin one of few major European cities with a legally binding goal to become carbon neutral in seven years.
The European Union last year started a scheme to help 100 cities inside and outside of the bloc become climate neutral by 2030, but the scheme and the financial support it offers are not legally binding.
The referendum’s results would show whether Germans, or at least Berliners, want Germany’s climate policy, which now aims to make Europe’s biggest economy carbon-neutral by 2045, to be more ambitious.
Climate activists who initiated the vote say the government’s target is too far in the future to prevent global warming from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“At the moment, climate policy is simply not sufficient to ensure a future worth living in our city,” Jessamine Davis, a spokesperson for Climate New Start Berlin, told Reuters.
Unlike Berlin’s previous referendums, including one calling for expropriation of large landlords or on keeping the former Tempelhof airport free from development, Sunday’s climate referendum will be legally binding for the government in Berlin.
“The new version will automatically apply if Berlin population votes if favor,” Davis said.
The initiative, if approved, will only oblige the local government to achieve climate-neutrality in seven years, but the group says various scientific studies offer a wide range of specific measures to reach that goal.
They include a mandate to install solar panels on all suitable roofs in the city to generate around 25% of the city’s electricity, in addition to expanding wind power turbines in the neighboring Brandenburg state to supply the capital.
Installing a large heat pump on the Spree river and renovating buildings across the city to replace oil and gas heaters with efficient heat pumps are also among the measures that will be needed if Berliners back the new 2030 goal.
Germany’s capital would also have to expand electric vehicles usage and add bike lanes while making public transport more attractive, the group suggested on its website.
The referendum comes as Germany’s conservative CDU party is negotiating a possible coalition with the Social Democrats in the city after its clear victory in a repeat election, driving the environmentalist Greens into opposition.
Stefan Taschner, a Greens Berlin lawmaker, said a positive referendum result would force the new ruling coalition in the city-state to conduct a more active climate policy.
According to the initiative organizers, around 455,000 Berliners have requested to cast their votes via mail so far. In addition to a majority of positive votes, the initiative needs at least 608,000 “Yes” votes to make the results binding.
Danny Freymark, a CDU Berlin lawmaker, said the initiative had a high chance of winning approval, but he would vote against it, saying a new binding target would deprive the new government of any leeway and would lead to disappointment.
“Because even if we do everything we can, we wouldn’t make it in 2030,” Freymark told Reuters.
As a city of four million, with few renewable energy sources nearby or geothermal heating, Berlin lacks what is necessary to make that target more achievable, said Bernd Hirschl from Berlin’s Institute for Ecological Economy Research.
Still, the referendum is a way to revive the debate over climate policy and the changes people must accept to reach climate neutrality regardless of the deadlines, Hirschl told Reuters.
“Because it’s not about 2030. It’s about the question of whether we want to send a signal to politicians or not,” he added.
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In Ghana, Kamala Harris ‘Excited About Future of Africa’
Vice President Kamala Harris was greeted by schoolchildren, dancers and drummers as she arrived Sunday in Ghana for the start of a weeklong visit to Africa intended to deepen U.S. relationships amid global competition over the continent’s future.
“We are looking forward to this trip as a further statement of the long and enduring very important relationship and friendship between the people of the United States and those who live on this continent,” Harris said.
The children cheered and waved Ghanaian and American flags as she stepped off her plane after an overnight flight. She smiled broadly and placed a hand on her heart as she passed by the dancers.
“What an honor it is to be here in Ghana and on the continent of Africa,” Harris said. “I’m very excited about the future of Africa.” She said she wanted to promote economic growth and food security and welcomed the chance to “witness firsthand the extraordinary innovation and creativity that is occurring on this continent.”
Ghana is one of the continent’s most stable democracies, but Harris is arriving at a time of severe challenges for the West African nation. Its economy, among the fastest growing in the world before the COVID-19 pandemic, faces a debt crisis and soaring inflation that is driving up the cost of food and other necessities.
A country of 34 million people that’s slightly smaller than Oregon, Ghana is also wary of threats from instability in the region. Burkina Faso and Mali have each endured two coups in recent years, and local offshoots of al-Qaida and the Islamic State group operate in the area known as the Sahel, which is north of Ghana. Thousands of people have been killed and millions more have been displaced.
The fighting has created an opening for the Russian mercenary outfit known as Wagner, which maintains a presence in Africa despite participating in the invasion of Ukraine as well. Mali welcomed Wagner after it pushed out French troops that were based there, and there are fears that Burkina Faso will do the same.
The economic and security challenges will likely be discussed on Monday when Harris meets with Ghana’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo. They also are expected to hold a joint news conference.
The two leaders have met twice before, both times in Washington.
During their first meeting, in September 2021, Akufo-Addo said “our big challenge — and it is a challenge of all those who want to develop democratic institutions on our continent — is to ensure and reassure our people that democratic institutions can be a vehicle for the resolution of their big problem — that is economic development as the means to eradicate poverty on the continent.”
Harris is the highest-profile member of President Joe Biden’s administration to visit Africa this year. After Ghana, she plans to visit Tanzania and Zambia. She returns to Washington on April 2.
The expanded outreach is intended to counter China’s influence, which has become entrenched in recent years through infrastructure initiatives, lending money and expanding telecommunications networks. Ghana, for example, reached a $2 billion deal with a Chinese company to develop roads and other projects in return for access to a key mineral for producing aluminum.
Most of Harris’ events in Ghana will focus on young people. Africa’s population has a median age of 19.
On Monday, she plans to visit a skate park and co-working space that has a recording studio for local artists. Her husband, Doug Emhoff, who is accompanying her on the trip, will hold a town hall meeting with actors from a local television show and attend a girls basketball clinic.
In the evening, they will attend a state banquet with the Ghanaian president and first lady.
On Tuesday, Harris will give a speech and visit Cape Coast Castle, where enslaved Africans were once loaded on ships bound for the Americas.
Before leaving for Tanzania on Wednesday, Harris will meet with women entrepreneurs and Emhoff will tour a chocolate company that was founded by two sisters. The name of the company, ’57 Chocolate, is a reference to when Ghana became independent.
Cameron Hudson, an Africa expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Ghana has been “a bright spot in the region” but “it’s facing some very stiff headwinds.”
He noted that the country’s south, where the capital of Accra is located, is primarily Christian, while the northern area is mostly Muslim, and there are fears that militants could expand their operations there.
“These terrorist groups are able to prey on existing fault lines within these societies,” he said.
Hudson said Ghanaian authorities have intercepted weapons shipments and human smugglers. Sometimes there are bursts of violence, and the number of incidents spiked last year.
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Tunisia Coastguard Recovers 29 Bodies After Migrant Vessels Capsize
Tunisia’s coastguard said Sunday the bodies of 29 migrants from sub-Saharan African countries had been recovered after three vessels capsized.
It also “rescued 11 illegal migrants of various African nationalities after their boats sank” off the central eastern coast, it said in a statement, citing three separate sinkings.
In one incident, a Tunisian fishing trawler recovered 19 bodies 58 kilometers (36 miles) off the coast after their boat capsized.
A coastguard patrol off the coastal city of Mahdiya also recovered eight bodies and “rescued” 11 other migrants after their boat sank as it headed towards Italy.
Fishing trawlers in Sfax meanwhile recovered two other bodies.
A string of shipwrecks have left dozens of migrants dead and others missing since President Kais Saied made an incendiary speech last month, accusing sub-Saharan Africans of representing a demographic threat and causing a crime wave in Tunisia.
Black migrants in the country have faced a spike in violence and hundreds have been living in the streets for weeks in increasingly desperate conditions.
People fleeing poverty and violence in Sudan’s Darfur region, West Africa and other parts of the continent have for years used Tunisia as a springboard for often perilous attempts to reach safety and better lives in Europe.
The Italian island of Lampedusa is just 150 kilometers (90 miles) off the Tunisian coast, but Rome has pressured Tunisian authorities to rein in the flow of people, and has helped beef up the coastguard, which rights groups accuse of violence.
Italy’s hard-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned Friday that Tunisia’s “serious financial problems” risked sparking a “migratory wave” towards Europe.
She also confirmed plans for a mission to the North African country involving the Italian and French foreign ministers.
Meloni echoed comments earlier in the week by Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, who warned Tunisia risks economic collapse that could trigger a new flow of migrants to Europe — fears Tunis has since dismissed.
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Burhan Says Sudan’s Army Will Be Under Leadership of Civilian Government
Sudan’s leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said on Sunday that the country’s army will be brought under the leadership of a new civilian government.
Speaking before a session for security and army reforms in Khartoum Burhan said his country will build a military force that will not intervene in politics and will be trusted by the Sudanese people in building a modern and democratic state.
More than a year after the military took power in a coup, the military and its former civilian partners and other political forces have agreed on a framework to form a new transitional government and write a new constitution to be announced next month.
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Biden Issues Disaster Declaration for Mississippi After Tornadoes
U.S. President Joe Biden issued a disaster declaration early Sunday for four Mississippi counties following the powerful tornadoes that swept through them Friday that leveled buildings and killed at least 26 people, including one in Alabama.
The Mississippi counties included in the declaration are Carroll, Humphreys, Monroe and Sharkey. The towns of Rolling Fork and Silver City were especially hard hit by the twisters.
The declaration frees money to help people in the recovery process and includes both grants and loans.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell are scheduled to travel to Mississippi Sunday.
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Renewed interest comes as states scramble for alternatives to lethal injection after pharmaceutical companies barred use of their drugs
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Poland’s Ruling Nationalists Push John Paul II’s Legacy to Election Center Stage
A controversy over John Paul II’s legacy looks set to spur some undecided voters in Polish elections due by November, political analysts say, as allegations that the late pope concealed child abuse deepen rifts in the predominantly Catholic country.
Claims in a new book and TV documentary that the late pope, born Karol Wojtyla, knowingly hid clerical pedophilia scandals as archbishop of Krakow have led some Poles to demand that his legacy be reassessed.
This has provoked a furious response from religious conservatives, with politicians from the ruling nationalists Law and Justice (PiS) defending John Paul II in the face of what they say is a left-wing plot to discredit the nation’s biggest moral authority.
“Defending the pope’s stance, even against documents and facts, may be crucial for those that in normal circumstances would not have voted, but in this case they might go to defend John Paul II’s legacy,” Olgierd Annusewicz, a political scientist at Warsaw University, told Reuters.
Support for PiS has risen by 3 points to 31%, a March 14-16 Kantar opinion poll for private broadcaster TVN24 showed, while liberal opposition party Civic Platform (PO) has fallen 3 points to 26%.
While political analysts say it is too early to attribute this to the papal controversy, a PiS’ vocal stance backed by a resolution passed in the lower house of parliament on March 9 to defend his name has pushed the issue onto the election agenda.
“I’m not a ruling party supporter, but others that were not backing it till now may change their minds because our pope is being insulted,” pensioner Elzbieta Molag, 67, told Reuters in Krakow.
The opposition PO abstained from voting on the resolution. Its leader, Donald Tusk, said on March 19 that pedophilia in church cannot be excused but should not be a reason to question the pope’s role in Polish political history.
The Polish Catholic church urged Poles to respect the late pope’s memory, saying that a review of its archives did not confirm the accusations against the church hierarchy, adding that some files could be opened in future. The Vatican has not responded to requests for comment about the allegations in the book, called “Maxima Culpa.”
“Opening the files that contain sensitive personal data requires care and consent from a local bishop, and possibly also the Vatican. It won’t be a quick process,” priest Lukasz Michalczewski, spokesman for the archbishop of Krakow, told Reuters.
Abuse
The account of Slawomir Mastek, a 56-old photographer from the late pope’s hometown Wadowice, opens the book by a Dutch investigative journalist published on March 8. Mastek said he was molested by two priests when he was a 13-year-old altar boy.
While one of the priests acknowledged his guilt, when Mastek confronted the church about the other case in 2011, he says local priests banned him from filming religious ceremonies and he lost up to 80% of his business.
Michalczewski said he was not familiar with Mastek’s case, adding that the church has apologized to those that feel hurt by its actions and is ready to apologize again.
Mastek’s studio on John Paul II central square Wadowice remains open but he now makes his living renovating houses. With elections due in autumn, he worries the politicization of the issue will delay justice for other victims.
“If politicians want to help they should speak to the church so that it finally starts dialogue and opens its archives,” Mastek told Reuters.
In the 1980s, the Catholic Church was a voice of freedom in Poland, inspiring people to stand up against communist rule.
However, it is slowly losing ground partly due to clerical sex abuse scandals, and accusations of cover-ups that have rocked the Church in recent years not only in Poland but in many countries, and involved John Paul II’s successors. As many as 70% of Poles support abortion rights, up 17 points since 2019, and children’s attendance at religion classes has been falling since 2010, polls show.
Attack
Filip Kaczynski, a PiS lawmaker from Wadowice, said he has not seen the documentary but is convinced it aims to smear the late pope.
“Given that it was aired by a TV station that is openly supporting the opposition it’s not an accident, it’s an attack on the church that may be part of a political infighting,” he said.
In Wadowice, the Museum of the Family Home of John Paul II has no plans to include the controversy, Deputy Director Katarzyna Coufal-Lenczowska said.
“You can’t redefine the most important values and that’s what this exhibit is about,” she told Reuters.
However, despite around three dozen people in Wadowice refusing to comment on camera, some residents voiced criticism of the town’s relationship with the church.
“In Wadowice everybody knows each other and PiS rule here, so if somebody works in a school or a public institution and talks loudly about their views they could face consequences,” a 46-year-old woman working as a freelance tutor told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
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Roxham Road Destination for Asylum-Seekers Busy After Biden-Trudeau Pact
Asylum-seekers warned by police that they could be sent back continued to walk into Canada through the unofficial United States border crossing into Quebec at Roxham Road a day after the two countries amended a 20-year-old asylum pact trying to stem the influx.
On Saturday afternoon, as snow began to fall at Roxham Road, a Canada Border Services Agency spokesperson said officials had just begun to process asylum-seekers apprehended under the new protocol and had sent one back to the U.S.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced changes to the Safe Third Country Agreement on Friday after a record number of asylum-seekers arrived in Canada via unofficial border crossings, putting pressure on Trudeau to address it.
The Safe Third Country Agreement, which was signed in 2002 and went into effect in 2004, originally meant asylum-seekers crossing into Canada or the U.S. at formal border crossings were turned back and told to apply for asylum in the first safe country they arrived in.
Now it applies to the entire 6,416-km land border. Under the revised pact, anyone who crosses into either country anywhere along the land border and who applies for asylum within 14 days will be turned back.
Roxham Road, which had become a well-known unofficial crossing for asylum-seekers into Canada, closed at midnight Friday. But dozens crossed anyway, including one group with a baby and a toddler just after midnight. Police took them into custody, warning them they could be turned around.
Police unveiled a new sign near the dirt path linking New York State with the province of Quebec, informing people they could be arrested and returned to the United States if they crossed.
The Canada Border Services Agency, which polices ports of entry, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which polices the rest of the border, referred questions about enforcement to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, a federal government department.
The department referred questions about enforcement back to the CBSA and RCMP, saying in a statement the two bodies will “work together to uphold Canada’s border integrity.”
Quebec RCMP did not immediately respond on Saturday morning to questions about what will happen to people intercepted at Roxham Road.
A 30-year-old man from Pakistan, who did not want to be identified, said he had taken a taxi from New York City.
“I don’t have anywhere to go,” he said.
He crossed into Canada.
Confusion reigned at a bus station early on Saturday, where about 25 people from Venezuela, Haiti, Ecuador and Peru milled about, wondering what to do next. One told Reuters he had heard about the new rules on the bus; another had heard on arrival.
The new deal’s stated aim is to promote orderly migration and ease pressure on communities overwhelmed by a spike in asylum-seekers who crossed at places like Roxham Road to avoid being turned back at official entry points.
But enforcing the amended agreement by apprehending people who cross anywhere along the land border could be a logistical nightmare and put people at risk, critics say.
If the purpose of this change is to deter irregular crossings, said University of Toronto law professor Audrey Macklin, “it will simply fail.”
When asylum-seekers crossed at Roxham Road, they sought out the authorities because they knew that was the way to file refugee claims. If the incentive becomes evasion, critics fear, people will be driven underground and toward riskier modes of travel. They will want to sneak into the country and hide for two weeks before claiming refugee status.
“This will divert people into more dangerous, more risky, more clandestine modes of entry across 6,000 kilometers of border,” Macklin said.
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