Month: April 2023

Climate Envoy Kerry: No Rolling Back Clean Energy Transition 

Posted on by SeeUS

So much has been invested in clean energy that there can be no rolling back of moves to end carbon emissions, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said Sunday.

Kerry noted that if countries deliver on promises to phase out polluting fossil fuels, the world can limit average global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), better than the worst case scenarios.

“We’re in a very different place than where we were a year ago, let alone two and three years ago,” Kerry said in an interview with The Associated Press.

“But we’re not doing everything we said we’d do,” he said, after attending a meeting of energy and environment ministers of the Group of Seven wealthy nations. “A lot of countries need to step up including ours to reduce emissions faster, deploy renewables faster, bring new technologies online faster all of that has to happen.”

Kerry said the G-7 talks in northeastern Japan’s Sapporo were “really constructive” in yielding a show of unity for phasing out use of unabated fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases.

A meeting Thursday of President Joe Biden’s Major Economies Forum, which includes leaders of 20 nations that account for more than three-quarters of global carbon emissions, offers another opportunity for committing resources to the goal of reaching zero emissions by 2050, Kerry said.

“The United States and all the developed world has the responsibility to help the developing world through this crisis,” he said. “Those countries will really determine what happens. If they will reduce, if they will take the lead, if they will start deploying the new technologies, if they will stop using unabated fossil fuels, we’ll up the chance of winning this battle.”

Kerry held out hope for cooperation with China on climate despite friction over Taiwan, human rights, technology and other issues, saying he had a “very good conversation” with his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, just days earlier.

“We agreed that we need to get back together personally, visit and try to see what we can find to work on together to accelerate the process. Is that doable? I hope so,” Kerry said.

The Biden administration has moved aggressively to entice companies to invest in electric vehicles and other cleaner energy technologies. While the U.S. still lags some other countries in use of EVs, the market is changing as consumer preferences evolve and manufacturers invest billions.

No one person can roll back what’s happening in the climate sector, Kerry said, “because private companies have made major bets on the future and they’re not going to reverse them.”

One area where much more needs to be done is in climate financing, Kerry said, even though developed countries were close to their $100 billion goal in annual support for developing nations. In 2020, $83 billion was committed.

The annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund last week in Washington were a start, “but they’re not enough. They didn’t produce enough of a change, in our judgement, to really unleash the kind of finance support that’s necessary.

“Our hope … is that over the course over the next weeks and months more will be put on the table, more will be agreed upon and we can move faster,” he said.

The hope is to reform the structure of finance to get such multilateral development banks to lend more and at better rates.

“Anyone is going to look pretty critically at what’s going to happen with their money,” Kerry said, noting that “there’s a lot of money and it’s looking for these deals right now.”

The Inflation Reduction Act is a major step toward incentivizing climate-friendly investments, “sending a signal to the market place that there’s money to be made by transitioning and moving in the direction of clean energy technologies,” he said.

In the U.S., money will not be invested in new coal-fired power plants, because “there’s no such thing as clean coal,” Kerry said. “The marketplace is not supporting that. Investors are not supporting that.”

Some countries, including Japan, have balked at setting a clear timeline for phasing out coal-fired plants, citing energy security. And for some countries, it’s a valid concern, Kerry said, though he added, “I think energy security is being exaggerated in some cases.”

The greater imperative is to do whatever is possible to draw down carbon emissions, given the millions of people who die each year due to unclean air, extreme heat and other dire consequences of climate change.

“If we’re going to be responsible, we have to turn around and figure out how we are going to more rapidly terminate the emissions. We have to cut the emissions that are warming the planet and heading us inexorably toward several tipping points beyond which there is no reverse,” Kerry said.
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Latest in Ukraine: Respected Russian Military Leader Returns to Ukraine

Posted on by SeeEU

New developments:

Eleven people were killed and 21 were injured in Russian airstrikes in the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk. Rescue crews are trying to reach victims trapped in the rubble of an apartment building.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has enacted a law making it easier to mobilize Russians into the military, even as one of his allies says it’s time to end military operations in Ukraine.
America’s top diplomat says Russia is not granting U.S. officials access to Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters at a news conference in Hanoi, that “we need consular access now.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily address Saturday that he had a long conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, and they discussed the Ukrainian peace formula that Zelenskyy described as being, “absolutely realistic and quite concrete.” The two leaders also discussed, according to Zelenskyy, their participation in the Vilnius NATO summit this summer.

The British Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence update Sunday on the Russian invasion of Ukraine that it is “highly likely” that General Colonel Mikhail Teplinsky, commander of Russia’s corps of airborne troops, the VDV, has returned to a major role in Ukraine, after being dismissed in January 2023.

The ministry described Teplinsky as “likely one of the few senior Russian generals widely respected by the rank-and-file” and that his “recent turbulent career suggests intense tensions between factions within the Russian General Staff about Russia’s military approach in Ukraine.”

His return means he will “highly likely” promote the VDV’s traditional role as an elite force, according to the intelligence update, and it is “unlikely” that his role will be limited to VDV units.

“In recent days,” the intelligence report said, “the VDV have resumed a key mission in the battle for Bakhmut, and likely undertaken novel integration with TOS-1A thermobaric rocket launchers in the Kremina sector.”

Bakhmut, the main target of Russia’s offensive in the east and the scene of months of grinding warfare, is experiencing some of its bloodiest fighting, Ukraine’s military said Saturday.

“Bloody battles unprecedented in recent decades are taking place in the middle of the city’s urban area,” Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern military command, said of the eastern Ukrainian city that was once home to 70,000 people.

“Our soldiers are doing everything in bloody and fierce battles to grind down [the enemy’s] combat capability and break its morale. Every day, in every corner of this city, they are successfully doing so,” he told the 1+1 television channel.

His comments came as the Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that the Wagner mercenary group now controlled two more areas on the northern and southern outskirts of the city. Reuters could not independently confirm the report.

Wagner’s reported gains Saturday came one day after the group’s founder said Russia has should end its “special military operation” against its neighbor.

“Russia has achieved the results it wanted” and has “eradicated most of active male population of Ukraine and intimidated the rest,” Yevgeny Prigozhin posted Friday on Telegram, omitting any of Ukraine’s victories over Russia.

Death toll rising in Sloviansk

The death toll from a Russian airstrike Friday rose to at least 11 people, with 21 wounded in the eastern Ukrainian city of, northwest of Bakhmut.

In his nightly video address Saturday, Zelenskyy said that the rescue operation continues in Sloviansk and Donbas after Friday’s Russian missile strike.

“It is reported that under the rubble of buildings, there are still bodies of the dead, unfortunately,” he said. Among them, he said, is a 2-year-old boy. Fifty residential buildings, of which more than 30 are apartment buildings, were damaged or destroyed, he said.

“None of those who are guilty of this aggression can be forgiven and forgotten,” he added.

Gershkovich prisoner swap

Russia has not allowed access of U.S. officials to Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich since he was detained last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday.

“We continue to call for his immediate release,” Blinken told reporters during a news conference in Hanoi. “We need consular access now,” The Washington Post reported.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Russia could consider a prisoner exchange for the jailed reporter once a Russian court reaches a verdict on espionage charges against him, a senior Russian official said.

Poland curbs imports

Poland’s government said Saturday it would temporarily stop grain and other food imports from Ukraine to stem the rising anger of Polish farmers, who say they cannot compete with the lower-priced Ukrainian grain on the market.

Ruling party leader Jarosław Kaczyński said at a party convention in eastern Poland that while Poland supports Ukraine, it is forced to act to protect its farmers who are facing a “moment of crisis.”

“Today, the government has decided on a regulation that prohibits the importation of grain, but also dozens of other types of food, to Poland,” Kaczyński said. The government announced its import ban on agricultural products such as sugar, eggs, meat, dairy and vegetables would last until June 30.

Farmers in neighboring countries also have complained they are losing money because of Ukrainian grain flooding into their countries, causing prices to fall.

Orthodox Easter

Russian President Vladimir Putin attended Easter services Saturday in Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral.

He crossed himself several times during the midnight service, known as the Divine Liturgy. When Patriarch Kirill announced, “Christ has risen,” Putin, along with other members of the congregation, replied, “Truly he is risen.”

Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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Pickleball Is Booming in the US, and Not Everyone Is Happy

Posted on by SeeUS

Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the United States. It’s simple and can be played in small spaces so popular with all age groups. But not everyone loves it. Maxim Moskalkov reports.
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US States Confront Medical Debt That’s Bankrupting Millions

Posted on by SeeUS

Cindy Powers was driven into bankruptcy by 19 life-saving abdominal operations. Medical debt started stacking up for Lindsey Vance after she crashed her skateboard and had to get nine stitches in her chin. And for Misty Castaneda, open heart surgery for a disease she’d had since birth saddled her with $200,000 in bills.

These are three of an estimated 100 million Americans who have amassed nearly $200 billion in collective medical debt — almost the size of Greece’s economy — according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Now lawmakers in at least a dozen states and the U.S. Congress have pushed legislation to curtail the financial burden that’s pushed many into untenable situations: forgoing needed care for fear of added debt, taking a second mortgage to pay for cancer treatment or slashing grocery budgets to keep up with payments.

Some of the bills would create medical debt relief programs or protect personal property from collections, while others would lower interest rates, keep medical debt from tanking credit scores or require greater transparency in the costs of care.

In Colorado, House lawmakers approved a measure Wednesday that would lower the maximum interest rate for medical debt to 3%, require greater transparency in costs of treatment and prohibit debt collection during an appeals process.

If it became law, Colorado would join Arizona in having one of the lowest medical debt interest rates in the country. North Carolina lawmakers have also started mulling a 5% interest ceiling.

But there are opponents. Colorado Republican state Sen. Janice Rich said she worried that the proposal could “constrain hospitals’ debt collecting ability and hurt their cash flow.”

For patients, medical debt has become a leading cause of personal bankruptcy, with an estimated $88 billion of that debt in collections nationwide, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Roughly 530,000 people reported falling into bankruptcy annually due partly to medical bills and time away from work, according to a 2019 study from the American Journal of Public Health.

Powers’ family ended up owing $250,000 for the 19 life-saving abdominal surgeries. They declared bankruptcy in 2009, then the bank foreclosed on their home.

“Only recently have we begun to pick up the pieces,” said James Powers, Cindy’s husband, during his February testimony in favor of Colorado’s bill.

In Pennsylvania and Arizona, lawmakers are considering medical debt relief programs that would use state funds to help eradicate debt for residents. A New Jersey proposal would use federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to achieve the same end.

Bills in Florida and Massachusetts would protect some personal property — such as a car that is needed for work — from medical debt collections and force providers to be more transparent about costs. Florida’s legislation received unanimous approval in House and Senate committees on its way to votes in both chambers.

In Colorado, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts and the U.S. Congress lawmakers are contemplating bills that would bar medical debt from being included on consumer reports, thereby protecting debtors’ credit scores.

Castaneda, who was born with a congenital heart defect, found herself $200,000 in debt when she was 23 and had to have surgery. The debt tanked her credit score and, she said, forced her to rely on her emotionally abusive husband’s credit.

For over a decade Castaneda wanted out of the relationship, but everything they owned was in her husband’s name, making it nearly impossible to break away. She finally divorced her husband in 2017.

“I’m trying to play catch-up for the last 20 years,” said Castaneda, 45, a hairstylist from Grand Junction on Colorado’s Western Slope.

Medical debt isn’t a strong indicator of people’s credit-worthiness, said Isabel Cruz, policy director at the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative.

While buying a car beyond your means or overspending on vacation can partly be chalked up to poor decision making, medical debt often comes from short, acute-care treatments that are unexpected — leaving patients with hefty bills that exceed their budgets.

For both Colorado bills — to limit interest rates and remove medical debt from consumer reports — a spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Jared Polis said the governor will “review these policies with a lens towards saving people money on health care.”

While neither bill garnered stiff political opposition, a spokesperson for the Colorado Hospital Association said the organization is working with sponsors to amend the interest rate bill “to align the legislation with the multitude of existing protections.”

The association did not provide further details.

To Vance, protecting her credit score early could have had a major impact. Vance’s medical debt began at age 19 from the skateboard crash, and then was compounded when she broke her arm soon after. Now 39, she has never been able to qualify for a credit card or car loan. Her in-laws cosigned for her Colorado apartment.

“My credit identity was medical debt,” she said, “and that set the tone for my life.”
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Ukraine Waits for US Missile System in Wake of Latest Russian Strike

Posted on by SeeEU

In the wake of Friday’s deadly Russian missile strikes, Ukraine’s air force said the country would soon have weapons with which to try to prevent such attacks: a Patriot air defense system.

The delivery of the Patriot is expected in Ukraine sometime after Easter, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said. The primarily Orthodox Christian country observes Easter on Sunday.

Speaking Saturday on Ukrainian state TV, Ihnat declined to give a precise timeline for the arrival of the defensive missile system but said the public would know “as soon as the first Russian aircraft is shot down.”

A group of 65 Ukrainian soldiers completed their training last month at Fort Sill, a U.S. Army post in Oklahoma, and returned to Europe to learn more about using the defensive missile system to track and shoot down enemy aircraft.

Officials said at the time that the Ukrainians would then go back to their country with a Patriot missile battery, which typically includes six mobile launchers, a mobile radar, a power generator and an engagement control center.

Germany and the Netherlands also have pledged to provide a Patriot system each to Ukraine. In addition, a SAMP/T anti-missile system pledged by France and Italy “should enter Ukraine in the near future,” Ihnat said this week.

The Ukrainian military is looking to beef up its ability to intercept missiles as it prepares for an expected spring counteroffensive to retake Russian-occupied areas of the country.
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VOA Immigration Weekly Recap, April 9–15

Posted on by SeeUS

Editor’s note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com. 

Growing Number of Migrants from China Arriving at US-Mexico Border

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 4,366 migrants from China encountered Border Patrol officials after crossing the southern border without authorization from October 2022 to February 2023. That compares with the 421 migrants who were encountered during the same period in 2021 and 2022. VOA Mandarin Service’s Tracy Wen Liu and VOA’s immigration reporter Aline Barros have the story. 

UN Warns of Spike in Migrants Crossing the Darien Gap

Two United Nations agencies said Thursday that more than 100,000 migrants have made the treacherous journey through the Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia this year trying to reach the United States. The U.N. refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration said in a joint statement that the spike in numbers is a “worrying increase.” VOA News reports.  

US, Panama and Colombia Aim to Stop Darien Gap Migration

The United States, Panama and Colombia announced Tuesday that they will launch a 60-day campaign aimed at halting illegal migration through the treacherous Darien Gap, where the flow of migrants has multiplied this year. Details on how the governments will try to curb the flow of migrants that reached nearly 90,000 in just the first three months of this year through the dense, lawless jungle were not provided in the joint statement. The Associated Press reports.

US to Test Faster Asylum Screenings for Migrants Crossing Border Illegally

The Biden administration this week was to begin testing faster asylum screenings for migrants caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, the Department of Homeland Security said on April 8, part of preparations for the end of COVID-19 border restrictions in May. Reuters reports.

Head of Mexico’s Immigration Agency Under Criminal Investigation

The office of Mexico’s attorney general says it has launched a criminal investigation into the head of the country’s immigration agency in connection with last month’s deadly fire at an immigrant detention facility. A statement released late Tuesday night said National Immigration Institute chief Francisco Garduno failed to take steps to prevent the fire at the agency’s facility in the city of Ciudad Juarez that killed 40 migrants on March 27. VOA News reports. 

US, Cuba to Hold Fresh Round of Migration Talks This Week

The United States and Cuba will hold another round of migration talks Wednesday, officials said, as the Biden administration braces for the end of COVID-era border restrictions that have blocked Cubans in recent months from crossing into the U.S. from Mexico. Reuters reports. 

Biden Seeks Expanded Health Insurance Access for DACA Participants

The Biden administration is seeking to allow immigrants illegally brought to the United States as children greater access to health insurance through federal programs, the White House said on Thursday. The proposal would allow participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to access health insurance under Medicaid and Affordable Care Act exchanges, it said. Reuters reports.

VOA Day in Photos

Migrants are identified by Italian authorities as they disembark from a ship in the Sicilian port of Catania.

Immigration around the world

First Quarter Was Deadly for Migrants in Mediterranean, UN Says

The first three months of 2023 were the deadliest first quarter in six years for migrants crossing the central Mediterranean Sea in smugglers’ boats, the U.N. migration agency reported Wednesday, citing delays by nations in initiating rescues as a contributing factor. The Associated Press reports.

VOA60 Africa – Tunisia: Police destroy makeshift migrant camp outside U.N. human rights office

Asylum-seekers sift through the remains of a makeshift camp outside the U.N. human rights office in Tunis after police destroyed it Tuesday. Sub-Saharan migrants have been targeted since February, when President Kais Saied blamed them for the nation’s crimes.

VOA60 Africa – Mediterranean: Boat with 400 migrants in distress

German humanitarian organization Sea-Watch said its reconnaissance aircraft, Sea Bird 2, on Sunday filmed a boat in distress in the central Mediterranean with hundreds of people on board and the group has seen at least 19 boats in distress in recent days.

News Brief

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services updates its policy on how to handle documents for “persons eligible for and recipients of victim-based immigration relief, specifically Violence Against Women Act self-petitioners as well as those who are seeking or currently hold T or U nonimmigrant status (protected persons).”
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Sudanese Paramilitary Force Ready to Ease Return of Egyptian Troops

Posted on by SeeAF

The head of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces said on Saturday that his forces were ready to cooperate with Egypt to ease the return of Egyptian troops who had handed themselves over to the group in the northern Sudanese town of Merowe.

Two Egyptian security sources said Egyptian officials were able to contact the leader of the Egyptian unit to confirm they were safe.

After clashes erupted across Sudan between the RSF and the army, the RSF shared a video they said showed Egyptian troops who had surrendered to them in Merowe, about halfway between the Sudanese capital Khartoum and the border with Egypt.

Egypt’s military said Egyptian forces were in Sudan to conduct exercises with their Sudanese counterparts, and that it was coordinating with Sudanese authorities to guarantee their safety.

The video showed several men dressed in army fatigues crouched on the ground and speaking to members of the RSF, Sudan’s main paramilitary group, in an Egyptian Arabic dialect.

RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo told Sky News Arabia TV that the Egyptian soldiers were safe, that the RSF had provided them with food and water, and was ready to facilitate their return.

Egypt has long been wary of political change in Sudan. It strongly supports Sudan’s army and has recently promoted negotiations with pro-army political parties, in parallel to a plan for a transition toward elections.

Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah el-Sissi received a call from United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, during which el-Sissi expressed his concern for events in Sudan and called for dialogue, according to a statement from the presidency.

Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s foreign minister, received a call from EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to coordinate on events in Sudan, the foreign ministry said. Shoukry discussed Egypt’s efforts to stop the violence, which Borrell said the EU supported, the statement said.
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Nigerian Police Say 10 Die in Attack by Militants

Posted on by SeeAF

At least 10 people were killed by Boko Haram militants in Nigeria’s northeastern Yobe state, police said Saturday, the latest attack in a region where security forces are battling a long-running insurgency.

The Boko Haram insurgency, which erupted in northeast Nigeria in 2009, has killed more than 350,000 people and forced at least 2 million to flee their homes, international aid groups say.

Yobe state police spokesperson Dungus Abdulkarim said the latest incident occurred in Buni Gari Gujba local government area Friday, when a group of villagers searching for a missing villager were ambushed by Boko Haram militants.

“Ten bodies were recovered in all. The security operatives have been dispatched to the area now to face the insurgents who from time to time frequent that particular area,” Abdulkarim told Reuters by phone.

Boko Haram has split over time, with an active offshoot called Islamic State West Africa Province, an affiliate of Islamic State, also claiming responsibility for several attacks in the West African country.
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Guitarist Mark Sheehan of Irish Band The Script Dies At 46

Posted on by SeeEU

Ireland’s president has led tributes to Mark Sheehan, guitarist with Irish rock band The Script, after his death at 46.

The band said Sheehan died in a hospital Friday after a brief illness. In a statement, The Script called him a “much-loved husband, father, brother, band mate and friend.”

Formed in Dublin in 2001 by Sheehan, singer Danny O’Donoghue and drummer Glen Power, The Script topped U.K. and Irish charts with its self-titled debut album in 2008. It included the hits We Cry, Breakeven and The Man Who Can’t Be Moved, which reached No. 1 in five countries.

The band’s pop-inflected rock sound made it one of Ireland’s biggest bands in the 2010s. The Script went on to have six Top 10 albums in the U.K. and one top three album in the U.S.

Irish President Michael D. Higgins praised the band’s “originality and excellence” and sent condolences to Sheehan’s family.

“Through their music, Mark and The Script have played an outstanding part in continuing and promoting this proud tradition of Irish musical success across the world,” Higgins said.

Sheehan is survived by his wife, Rina Sheehan, and their three children.
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Abortion Bans Raise Fears Inside Republican Party About Backlash in 2024

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As a new election season begins, the Republican Party is struggling to navigate the politics of abortion.

Allies for leading presidential candidates concede that their hardline anti-abortion policies may be popular with the conservatives who decide primary elections, but they could ultimately alienate the broader set of voters they need to win the presidency.

The conflict is unfolding across the United States this week, but nowhere more than in Florida, where Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law one of the nation’s toughest abortion bans on Thursday. If the courts ultimately allow the new measure to take effect, it will soon be illegal for Florida women to obtain an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, which is before most realize they’re pregnant.

Even before he signed the law, DeSantis’ team was eager to highlight his willingness to fight for, and enact, aggressive abortion restrictions. The Florida governor’s position stands in sharp contrast, they say, with some Republican White House hopefuls — most notably former President Donald Trump — who are downplaying their support for anti-abortion policies for fear they may ultimately alienate women or other swing voters in the 2024 general election.

“Unlike Trump, Governor DeSantis doesn’t back down from defending the lives of innocent unborn babies,” said Erin Perrine, a spokesperson for DeSantis’ super political action committee, when asked about Florida’s six-week ban.

‘An electoral disaster’

DeSantis’ latest policy victory in the nation’s third-most populous state offers a new window into the Republican Party’s sustained political challenges on the explosive social issue. In recent days alone, Republican leaders across Iowa, New Hampshire and Washington have struggled to answer nagging questions about their opposition to the controversial medical procedure as Republican-controlled state legislatures rush to enact a wave of new abortion restrictions.

Republicans have suffered painful losses in recent weeks and months across Michigan, New Hampshire, Nevada and even deep-red Kansas in elections that focused, at least in part, on abortion. Last week in Wisconsin, an anti-abortion candidate for the state Supreme Court was trounced by 11 points in a state President Joe Biden carried by less than 1 point.

“Any conversation about banning abortion or limiting it nationwide is an electoral disaster for the Republicans,” said New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, a Republican who describes himself as “pro-choice” but also signed a law banning abortions in the state after 24 weeks.

Privately, at least, strategists involved with Republican presidential campaigns concede that the Republican Party is on the wrong side of the debate as it currently stands. While popular with Republican primary voters, public polling consistently shows that the broader collection of voters who decide general elections believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

Anti-abortion activists have been particularly vocal in warning Republican presidential candidates that the party’s base will not tolerate any weakness on abortion given that Republican leaders have been vowing for decades to ban abortion rights if given the chance.

Praise for DeSantis

Before this week, Kristan Hawkins, the president of the anti-abortion group, Students for Life of America, was unwilling to describe DeSantis as a leader in the abortion fight.

“This is his opportunity to show himself as a leader on this issue. That’s what’s exciting about this moment,” Hawkins said of DeSantis’ six-week ban. “He has done a lot, but we really needed to see action at the legislative level. I think this ‘heartbeat law’ fully cements his pro-life street cred.”

Such pressure ensures that the issue will remain central to the 2024 campaign as Republican presidential prospects begin to fan out across America to court primary voters. At the very same time, an escalating court battle over access to an FDA-approved abortion pill is forcing Republican leaders to answer more questions.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, long a vocal abortion opponent, condemned the abortion pill during an interview this week with Newsmax while vowing to “champion the right to life.”

“We’re going to continue to champion the interests of women born and unborn and pushing back against the abortion pill,” Pence declared.

Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley told Iowa voters this week that abortion is “a personal issue” that should be left to the states, although she left open the possibility of a federal ban without getting into specifics.

And in New Hampshire, just a day after launching a presidential exploratory committee, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott outlined his support for a federal law that would ban abortions nationwide after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

He tried repeatedly to refocus the conversation on Democrats’ “radical position” on the issue because they generally oppose any abortion restrictions whatsoever.

Sununu, the New Hampshire governor, said he counts Scott as a friend, but was surprised that he would openly discuss his support for a federal abortion ban in New Hampshire, a state long known for supporting abortion rights.

“Of all places to talk about a federal ban of abortion, New Hampshire ain’t it,” Sununu said. “He’s a good candidate and does a great job in the Senate. But know your audience here, man.”

Republican officials in Washington are still looking for answers as well.

Republican strategist Alice Stewart said Republicans must find a way to keep the focus on the failings of the Biden administration, the economy, crime and education in the 2024 campaign.

“Abortion poses a challenge for Republicans. There’s no denying it,” said Stewart, who initially cheered the Supreme Court’s Roe reversal. “Politically, it has become problematic.”
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Bird Flu: Scientists Find Mutations, Say Threat Still Low

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A man in Chile is infected with a bird flu that has concerning mutations, but the threat to people from the virus remains low, U.S. health officials said Friday.

Past animal studies suggest these mutations could cause the virus to be more harmful or spread more easily, health officials said. But they also said there is no evidence that the mutations would make it easier for it to take root in a person’s upper lungs — a development that would raise concerns about it spreading among people.

The mutations do not change public health officials’ assessment of the overall risk to people from the H5N1 virus, which “continues to be low,” said Vivien Dugan of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The mutations, which have appeared only in the one hospitalized patient, may have occurred after the man got sick, CDC officials said. There’s no evidence that the mutated virus spread to other people, mixed with other flu viruses, or developed the ability to fight off current medicines or evade vaccines, agency officials said.

Such genetic changes have been seen in past bird flu infections.

“Nevertheless, it’s important to continue to look carefully at every instance of human infection,” Dugan said. “We need to remain vigilant for changes that would make these viruses more dangerous to people.”

Threat first identified in 1997

This type of flu, called Type A H5N1, was first identified as a threat to people during a 1997 outbreak in Hong Kong, when visitors to live poultry markets caught it.

Sporadic outbreaks have followed, and more than 450 people have died in the past two decades from bird flu infections, according to the World Health Organization. Most infected people got it directly from birds.

As bird flu hits other species, however, scientists fear the virus could evolve to spread more easily among people. And it has been spreading widely to birds and animals in scores of countries.

Millions of chickens dead

In the U.S., it has recently been detected in wild birds in every state, as well as in commercial poultry operations and backyard flocks. Since the beginning of last year, tens of millions of chickens have died of the virus or been killed to stop outbreaks from spreading, one of the reasons cited for soaring U.S. egg prices.

The new lab analysis looked at the virus found in the lungs of a 53-year-old man living in Chile’s Antofagasta region. It may be that he became infected through contact with sick or dead birds or infected sea lions, according to a WHO summary of the case.

The man was healthy and had not traveled recently. On March 13, he started getting a cough, sore throat and hoarseness, the WHO said.

His symptoms worsened and eventually he was sent to an intensive care unit and treated with antiviral medicines and antibiotics. He is still hospitalized and being monitored, CDC officials said.

Genetic sequencing this week revealed the two concerning mutations. Chilean and American health officials have been working together on the investigation.

Andrew Pekosz, a flu researcher at Johns Hopkins University, said he hasn’t seen the preliminary analysis of the Chilean patient’s infection.

“When these viruses get into humans, there’s a likelihood that they start to adapt to grow better in us,” and this is a sign that is happening, he said.

There are three or four kinds of mutations that would need to be seen in a H5N1 virus “before that would really raise the alarm signal that something is happening of concern,” he added.
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Fierce Fighting Between Sudan’s Army and Paramilitary in Coup Attempt

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Fierce fighting erupted Saturday in Sudan’s capital between the military and the country’s powerful paramilitary force, raising fears of a wider conflict in the chaos-stricken country. A doctors’ group said at least three people were killed and dozens injured.

The clashes between the military and the Rapid Support Forces group capped months of heightened tensions between both sides that forced the delay of a deal with political parties to restore the country’s short-lived transition to democracy.

The sound of heavy firing could be heard across the capital, Khartoum, and its sister city of Omdurman, where both the military and the RSF have amassed tens of thousands of troops since an October 2021 military coup that derailed Sudan’s fragile path to democracy.

Residents described chaotic scenes in Khartoum and Omdurman as firing and explosions rang out in densely populated neighborhoods. “Fire and explosions are everywhere,” said Amal Mohamed, a doctor in a public hospital in Omdurman. “All are running and seeking shelter.”

Another Khartoum resident, Abdel-Hamid Mustafa, said soldiers from both sides on armored trucks were seen firing at each other in the streets and residential areas. “We haven’t seen such battles in Khartoum before,” she said.

One of the flashpoints was Khartoum International Airport, where clashes grounded commercial Sudan-bound flights from Saudi Arabia turned back after nearly landing at the airport, flight tracking data showed Saturday.

Saudi Arabia’s national airline said one of its Airbus A330 aircraft was involved in “an accident.” Video showed the plane on fire on the tarmac. Another plane also appeared to have caught fire in the attack. Flight-tracking website FlightRadar24 identified it as a SkyUp Airlines Boeing 737. SkyUp is a Kyiv, Ukraine-based airline. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate said two civilians were killed at the airport, without specifying the circumstances. The committee said in a statement that another man was shot to death in the state of North Kordofan.

TV footage showed smoke rising over several areas of Khartoum.

Meanwhile, the BBC reported that a correspondent for BBC News Arabic in Khartoum, Mohamed Osman, was beaten by a Sudanese soldier. The broadcaster said the army had stopped Osman’s car while he was en route to his work and that he was taken to army headquarters in Omdurman. While explaining his movements to officers, he was hit in the head from behind by a soldier, the BBC said.

The fighting comes after months of escalating tensions between the generals and years of political unrest after an October 2021 military coup.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top diplomats expressed extreme concern over the outbreak of violence. “We urge all actors to stop the violence immediately and avoid further escalations or troop mobilizations and continue talks to resolve outstanding issues,” Blinken wrote on Twitter.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres; the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell; the head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat; the Arab League chief, Ahmed Aboul Gheit; and Qatar all called for a cease-fire and for both parties to return to negotiations to settle their dispute.

Former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was ousted in the 2021 coup, warned of a possible regional conflict if the fighting escalates. He urged the leaders of the military and the RSF to immediately cease hostilities.

“Shooting must stop immediately,” he said in a video message posted on his Twitter account.

The military and the RSF traded blame for triggering the clashes, which centered in Khartoum but also took place in other areas across the country including the Northern province, the conflict-ravaged Darfur region, and the strategic coastal city of Port Sudan on the Red Sea, a military official said.

Current tensions between the military and the paramilitary stem from a disagreement over how the RSF, headed by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, should be integrated into the military and what authority should oversee the process. The merger is a key condition of Sudan’s unsigned transition agreement with political groups.

The fighting began at a military base south of Khartoum, with both sides trading accusations of initiating an attack. Clashes then spread in many areas across the capital, including around the military’s headquarters, the airport and the Republican Palace, the seat of the country’s presidency.

“Khartoum has become a battlefield,” said Tahani Abass, a prominent Sudanese rights advocate who lives close to the military’s headquarters. “The situation is very dire, and we don’t know when it will be ended.”

The RSF alleged in a statement that its forces controlled many strategic places in Khartoum and the northern city of Merowe some 350 kilometers (215 miles) northwest of Khartoum. The military dismissed the claims as “lies.”

In a series of statements, the military also declared the RSF as a rebel force and unleashed the powerful air force against RSF positions in and around Khartoum.

Volker Perthes, the U.N. envoy for Sudan, urged both parties for “an immediate cessation of fighting to ensure the safety of the Sudanese people and to spare the country from further violence.”

Perthes and Saudi Ambassador in Sudan, Ali Bin Hassan Jaffar, were leading communications with Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the country’s top military official, and Dagalo to embark on a dialogue to settle their dispute, said a U.N. official who asked for anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates called on those fighting in Sudan to exercise restraint and work toward a political solution in the county.

The U.S. Ambassador to Sudan, John Godfrey, wrote online that he was “currently sheltering in place with the Embassy team, as Sudanese throughout Khartoum and elsewhere are doing.” He urged both sides to cease fire.

“Escalation of tensions within the military component to direct fighting is extremely dangerous,” Godfrey wrote. “I urgently call on senior military leaders to stop the fighting.”
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Italy’s Meloni Acknowledges ‘Anomalies’ in Russian Escape

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Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni acknowledged “anomalies” in the handling of a Russian businessman who escaped from house arrest in Italy to avoid extradition to the United States and said Saturday she would speak with the justice minister to understand what happened.

During a visit to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Meloni termed the case of Artyom Uss “grave” and vowed to get to the bottom of it when she returned to Rome.

Uss, the 40-year-old son of a Russian regional governor, was detained in October 2022 at Milan Malpensa Airport on a U.S. warrant accusing him of violating sanctions. In November, a ruling from a Milan appeals court resulted in him being moved from jail to house arrest and outfitted with an electronic monitoring bracelet.

He escaped from Italy on March 22 — a day after a Milan court recognized as legitimate the U.S. extradition request — and surfaced in Russia earlier this month.

“For sure there are anomalies,” Meloni told reporters in Ethiopia. “The principal anomaly, I’m sorry to say, is the decision of the appeals court to offer him house arrest with a frankly debatable motivation, and to then maintain that decision even after there was an extradition request. Because obviously in that case, the flight risk becomes more obvious.”

Meloni welcomed the decision by Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio to undertake a disciplinary investigation, saying “we have to have clarity.” But she said Italy didn’t have detailed intelligence information from the U.S. Justice Department “about the nature of the person.”

Italian daily newspaper la Repubblica reported Saturday that U.S. authorities made clear that the Russian presented a “very high flight risk” in two notes to Nordio’s office — one from October 19, two days after Uss’ arrest, and the other sent after he was granted house arrest November 25.

The U.S. asked for Uss to remain jailed pending the outcome of extradition proceedings and cited six cases in the past three years in which suspects escaped from house arrest in Italy while extradition requests were pending, la Repubblica quoted the notes as saying.

The newspaper said Nordio assured the U.S. in a December 6 note that the electronic monitoring bracelet put on Uss and his required periodic check-ins with police were sufficient. The newspaper cited the Milan court’s reply to Nordio’s investigation as saying the justice minister had the authority at any time to impose tougher restrictive measures on someone in extradition proceedings.
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Starving Followers Found at Kenyan Pastor’s Property; 4 Die

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Police in coastal Kenya found 15 emaciated parishioners on the property of a church pastor, and four of the people died after the group was rescued and taken to a hospital, authorities said.

Police officials said investigators received a tip that dozens of people were starving to death after their pastor told them it was a way to meet Jesus. Most of the followers could not walk or talk when officers found them.

The pastor of Good News International Church, Paul Makenzi, surrendered Friday to police in the town of Malindi.

Makenzi was arrested and charged last month in the deaths of two children whose parents were members of his church. He pleaded not guilty and was released on bond while proceedings in the case continued.

The people who died Friday have not been identified, and their bodies were taken to a morgue in Malindi.

Residents had complained to local authorities about the pastor, accusing him of fostering growing cultism in the area. Cults are common in Kenya which has a largely religious society.

Police received information about a possible mass grave on the pastor’s property, but initial searches did not locate one.

Investigations are ongoing, according to Malindi sub-county police boss John Kemboi.
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In Eastern Ukraine: Holding the Line, Waiting to Attack

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In a muddy trench under fire from Russian forces 200 meters away, Ukrainian servicemen injured while holding the line near the bloodiest battle of Moscow’s invasion face a precarious extraction.

“If someone gets unlucky, we have to carry them between 1 and 3 kilometers to the nearest place they can be collected,” a Ukrainian soldier, who calls himself Begemot, told AFP journalists several kilometers from the embattled city of Bakhmut.

“Even a light injury can be fatal in these conditions,” he added, the sound of artillery thundering behind him.

The difficulty of hauling out injured troops is one of the myriad factors dictating the timing of a highly anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian positions across the sprawling front line.

Ukraine is understood to be stockpiling precision ammunitions, mass recruiting assault battalions and mastering Western-supplied arms in preparation for a decisive pushback against Russian forces.

Observers of the Kremlin’s invasion say that after fending off a months-long lackluster Russian offensive in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukraine could hit back within weeks.

But in the water-logged eastern industrial Donetsk region, Ukrainian soldiers tasked with holding the line against waves of Russian forces say: not yet.

“Any military hardware that passes here, their undercarriage will get stuck in the mud. They’ll be targets. We can’t talk about a counteroffensive yet,” Begemot said.

‘We have to grind them down’

AFP journalists moving toward a front-line position near Bakhmut saw Ukrainian troops dislodging by hand their transport stuck in the mud.

Watching over that same battlefield from footage streamed by drones over the trenches, 42-year-old battalion commander Evgeny sees assault as inevitable.

“It’s going to happen. Clearly. The situation on the front line dictates that. But a counteroffensive can only happen when the enemy’s forces are exhausted,” he told AFP.

He said that in the weeks his troops have been tasked with containing Russian forces from advancing around Bakhmut’s flanks, the attackers have lost steam.

“We have to grind them down so they can’t relocate their forces,” he said, describing in detail how Russian forces send waves of dispensable, then more experienced fighters toward his trenches.

Based on intercepted radio communications and footage his drones feed back to the bunker, he believes Russian forces — still pushing deeper inside Bakhmut — are preparing for Ukraine to attack, too.

“The enemy has started to lay mines along sections of their lines, which means they are tired. They’re preparing to defend,” he said.

Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said as much this week.

“Now only one thing remains: gain a firm foothold and dig into the territories that we already control,” the 61-year-old Kremlin ally said.

‘I’ll live in my basement’

For civilians in the crossfire, those who haven’t fled more than a year of intense fighting, the prospect of an escalation changes little.

Several kilometers west of Bakhmut, in the village of Kalynivka, 71-year-old Vera Petrova gestured to the artillery damage to her home to explain why she wasn’t making preparations to flee a counteroffensive.

“We’ve already been shelled. Half the kitchen roof was destroyed. Our neighbor’s roof was destroyed. This isn’t even serious,” she said referring to thuds, near and distant, of incoming and outgoing shelling.

Her street, lined with cherry trees and abandoned one-story homes, has about two dozen residents remaining, a fraction of those who once called it home.

“If my home is destroyed. I’ll live in my basement,” she added, without flinching at each boom.

In the trenches, Begemot said even if Ukraine managed to increase the rhythm of the artillery fire, it would be senseless to attack now.

“Even if there are a lot of us, and we had a bunch of artillery, how far could we go in one day? Five kilometers? Maybe 10?”

“They won’t have any strength left and you are not just walking, you need to fight,” he said.
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China Protests US Sanctioning of Firms Dealing with Russia

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Beijing Saturday protested U.S. sanctions against additional Chinese companies over their alleged attempts to evade U.S. export controls on Russia, calling it an illegal move that endangers global supply chains.

The U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday put five firms based in mainland China and Hong Kong on its “entity list,” barring them from trading with any U.S. firms without gaining a nearly unobtainable special license.

Washington has been tightening enforcement of sanctions against foreign firms it sees as aiding Russia in its war against Ukraine, forcing them to choose between trading with Moscow or with the U.S. A total of 28 entities from countries ranging from Malta to Turkey to Singapore were added to the list.

A statement from China’s Commerce Ministry said the U.S. action “has no basis in international law and is not authorized by the United Nations Security Council.”

“It is a typical unilateral sanction and a form of ‘long-arm jurisdiction’ which seriously damages the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises and affects the security and stability of the global supply chain. China firmly opposes this,” the statement said.

“The U.S. should immediately correct its wrongdoing and stop its unreasonable suppression of Chinese companies. China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies,” it added.

The latest sanctions were leveled against Allparts Trading Co., Ltd.; Avtex Semiconductor Limited; ETC Electronics Ltd.; Maxtronic International Co., Ltd.; and STK Electronics Co., Ltd., registered in Hong Kong.

The list identifies entities — essentially businesses — that the U.S. suspects “have been involved, are involved, or pose a significant risk of being or becoming involved in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States,” the department said.

Entities named were designated as “military end users” for “attempting to evade export controls and acquiring or attempting to acquire U.S.-origin items in support of Russia’s military and/or defense industrial base,” it said.

The Chinese protest was like one issued in February after the U.S. announced sanctions against the Chinese company Changsha Tianyi Space Science and Technology Research Institute Co. Ltd., also known as Spacety China.

The department said the company supplied Russia’s Wagner Group private army affiliates with satellite imagery of Ukraine that support Wagner’s military operations there. A Luxembourg-based subsidiary of Spacety China was also targeted.

At that time, China’s Foreign Ministry accused the U.S. of “outright bullying and double standards” for sanctioning its companies while intensifying efforts to provide Ukraine with defensive weapons.

China has maintained it is neutral in the conflict, while backing Russia politically, rhetorically and economically at a time when Western nations have imposed punishing sanctions and sought to isolate Moscow for the invasion of its neighbor.

China has refused to criticize Russia’s actions, blasted Western economic sanctions on Moscow, maintained trade ties and affirmed a “no limits” relationship between the countries just weeks before last year’s invasion.

Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Moscow last month and China announced Friday that Defense Minister General Li Shangfu would visit Russia this coming week for meetings with counterpart Sergei Shoigu and other military officials.

However, Foreign Minister Qin Gang said Friday, China won’t sell weapons to either side in the war, responding to Western concerns that Beijing could provide outright military assistance to Russia.

“Regarding the export of military items, China adopts a prudent and responsible attitude,” Qin said at a news conference alongside visiting German counterpart Annalena Baerbock. “China will not provide weapons to relevant parties of the conflict, and manage and control the exports of dual-use items in accordance with laws and regulations.”
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US Secretary of State, Vietnamese PM Talk of Deeper Ties Between Nations

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Hanoi on his first visit to Vietnam since becoming the top U.S. diplomat and he met Saturday with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh as they discussed strengthening ties between the two nations. 

Blinken’s visit to Vietnam is part of the Biden administration’s campaign to counter China’s increasing influence in the region.   

 

He met with other top officials that included Vietnamese General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong as they talked about upgrading diplomatic and security connections. 

“For President [Joe] Biden, for Washington, this is one of the most dynamic and one of the most important relationships we’ve had,” Blinken said at a news conference after a full slate of engagements in Hanoi. 

 

“It has had a remarkable trajectory over the last couple of decades. Our conviction is that it can and will grow even stronger,” said Blinken. 

It is not clear when an upgrade of formal ties could happen, although Blinken expressed hope it could happen “in the weeks and months ahead.” 

Blinken noted to reporters that security is the top priority and he pointed out Washington is finalizing the shipment of a third naval cutter to support Vietnam’s coast guard. 

Washington and U.S. defense firms have emphasized they would like to bolster their military supplies to Vietnam, which currently is mostly limited to coast guard ships and training aircraft, as the country aims to diversify from its main supplier, Russia. 

Military deals with the U.S. face myriad challenges, though, because Washington’s lawmakers could block arms sales over human rights issues. Additionally, analysts point out that U.S. weapons are expensive, they risk triggering Chinese reactions, and they might be difficult to integrate with Vietnam’s legacy weapons. 

The U.S. is building a $1.2 billion embassy compound in Hanoi, a move intended to show a U.S. commitment to improving ties with the Southeast Asian trading partner.  

 

Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow at the Vietnam Studies Program of the ISEAS research organization in Singapore, said it is an extremely important trip by Blinken to Hanoi. “It will be a very strong boost for an upgrade to a higher bilateral relationship between Vietnam and Washington.” 

 

“I don’t think they will announce the strategic partnership when Blinken is in Hanoi,” Nguyen said. “But I think his visit might be a formation for potential Biden’s visit to Hanoi or the General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit to Washington, and probably, that moment the bilateral relation might be upgraded.” 

 

Vietnam has a delicate balance to maintain, however, and does not want to antagonize its powerful neighbor, China, while building up a relationship with the U.S.  

 

Blinken’s visit to Vietnam comes just two weeks after the 50th anniversary of former U.S. President Richard Nixon’s administration’s withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Vietnam, marking the end of the Vietnam War.  

 

VOA’s Mandarin Service contributed to this report, and some information was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.  
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Sudan Paramilitaries Clash With Army in Apparent Coup Bid

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Sudan’s main paramilitary group said it had seized the presidential palace, the army chief’s residence and Khartoum international airport Saturday in an apparent coup attempt, but the military said it was fighting back. 

The Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, which accused the army of attacking them first, also said they had taken over the airports in the northern city of Merowe and in El-Obeid in the west. 

The situation on the ground was unclear. The army said it was fighting the RSF at sites the paramilitaries said they had taken. The army also said it had taken some RSF bases and denied that the RSF had taken Merowe airport. 

A major confrontation between the RSF and the army could plunge Sudan into widespread conflict as it struggles with economic breakdown and tribal violence, and it also could derail efforts to move toward elections. 

The clashes follow rising tensions between the army and the RSF over the integration of the RSF into the military and who should oversee the process. The disagreement has delayed the signing of an internationally backed agreement with political parties regarding a transition to democracy. 

On Saturday, the RSF accused the army of carrying out a plot by loyalists of former strongman President Omar Hassan al-Bashir – who was ousted in 2019 – and attempting a coup itself. 

The RSF is headed by former militia leader General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti. He has been deputy leader of Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council headed by army General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan since 2019. 

The army said the Sudanese air force was conducting operations against the RSF. Footage from broadcasters showed a military aircraft in the sky above Khartoum, but Reuters could not independently confirm the material. 

Gunfire could be heard in several parts of Khartoum and eyewitnesses reporting shooting in adjoining cities. 

A Reuters journalist saw cannon and armored vehicles deployed in the streets of the capital and heard heavy weapons fire near the headquarters of both the army and RSF. 

TV footage showed smoke rising over several areas of Khartoum. 

Doctors said at least three civilians had been killed. 

Clashes were also taking place at the headquarters of Sudan’s state TV, said an anchor who appeared on screen. 

The Sudanese armed forces spokesman told the Al Jazeera Mubasher television station that the army would respond to any “irresponsible” actions, as its forces clashed with the RSF in Khartoum and elsewhere in the country. 

Brigadier-General Nabil Abdallah said there was a heavy presence of RSF troops at the TV headquarters in Khartoum. 

Gunfire 

Eyewitnesses reported gunfire in many other parts of the country outside the capital. Those included heavy exchanges of gunfire in Merowe, eyewitnesses told Reuters. 

Eyewitnesses said clashes had also erupted between the RSF and army in the Darfur cities of El Fasher and Nyala. 

International powers — the U.S., Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Nations and the European Union — all called for an end to the hostilities. 

Civilian political parties that had signed an initial power-sharing deal with the army and the RSF also called on the two sides to end the violence. 

The army said the RSF had tried to attack its troops in several positions. 

The RSF, which analysts say is 100,000 strong, said its forces were attacked first by the army, saying in a statement earlier on Saturday that the army surrounded one of its bases and opened fire with heavy weapons. 

Hemedti’s RSF evolved from so-called Janjaweed militias that fought in a conflict in the 2000s in the Darfur region. An estimated 2.5 million people were displaced and 300,000 killed in the conflict. International Criminal Court prosecutors accused government officials and Janjaweed commanders of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. 

Hemedti had put himself at the forefront of a planned transition towards democracy, unsettling fellow military rulers and triggering a mobilization of troops in the capital Khartoum. 

The rift between the forces came to the surface on Thursday, when the army said that recent movements, particularly in Merowe, by the RSF were illegal. 

The RSF, which together with the army overthrew Bashir four years ago, began redeploying units in Khartoum and elsewhere amid talks last month on its integration into the military under a transition plan that would lead to new elections. 
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Germany Ends Nuclear Era as Last Reactors Power Down

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Germany will switch off its last three nuclear reactors Saturday, exiting atomic power even as it seeks to wean itself off fossil fuels and manage an energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.

While many Western countries are upping their investments in atomic energy to reduce their emissions, Germany is bringing an early end to its nuclear age.

Europe’s largest economy has been looking to leave behind nuclear power since 2002, but the phase-out was accelerated by former chancellor Angela Merkel in 2011 after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.

The exit decision was popular in a country with a powerful anti-nuclear movement, stoked by lingering fears of Cold War conflict and atomic disasters such as Chernobyl in Ukraine.

“The risks of nuclear power are ultimately unmanageable,” said Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, who this week made a pilgrimage to the ill-fated Japanese plant ahead of a G-7 meeting in the country.

But the challenge caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which put an end to cheap gas imports, and the need to quickly cut emissions has upped calls in Germany to delay the withdrawal from nuclear power.

The environmental activism organization Greenpeace, at the heart of the anti-nuclear movement, organized a celebratory fete at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to mark the occasion.

“Finally, nuclear energy belongs to history! Let’s make this April 15 a day to remember,” the organization said.

In contrast, conservative daily FAZ headlined its Saturday edition “Thanks, nuclear energy,” as it listed benefits it said nuclear had brought the country over the years.

A mistake

Initially planned for the end of 2022, Germany’s nuclear exit had already been pushed back once.

As Russian gas supplies dwindled last year, officials in Berlin were left scrambling to find a way to keep the lights on, with a short extension agreed until mid-April.

Germany, the largest emitter in the European Union, also powered up some of its mothballed coal-fueled plants to cover the potential gap left by gas.

The challenging energy situation had increased calls domestically for the exit from nuclear to be delayed.

Germany had to “expand the supply of energy and not restrict it any further” in light of potential shortages and high prices, the president of the German chambers of commerce Peter Adrian told the Rheinische Post daily.

The conservative leader of Bavaria Markus Soeder meanwhile told the Focus Online website that he wanted the plants to stay online and three more to be kept “in reserve.”

Outside observers have been similarly irked by Germany’s insistence on exiting nuclear while ramping up its coal usage, with climate activist Greta Thunberg in October slamming the move as “a mistake.”

 

Sooner or later

At the Isar 2 complex in Bavaria, technicians will progressively shut down the reactor from 10 p.m. (2000 GMT) Saturday, severing it from the grid for good.

By the end of the day, operators at the other two facilities, in northern Emsland and southwestern Neckarwestheim, will have taken their facilities offline as well.

The three final plants provided just 6% of Germany’s energy last year, compared with 30.8% from all nuclear plants in 1997.

“Sooner or later” the reactors will start being dismantled, Economy Minister Robert Habeck told the Funke group ahead of the scheduled decommissioning, brushing aside the idea of an extension.

The government has the energy situation “under control,” Habeck assured, having filled gas stores and built new infrastructure for the import of liquefied natural gas to bridge the gap left by Russian supplies.

Instead, the minister from the Green party, which was founded on opposition to nuclear power, is focused on getting Germany to produce 80% of its energy from renewables by 2030.

To this end, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for the installation of “four to five wind turbines a day” over the next few years — a tall order given that just 551 were installed last year.

But the current rate of progress on renewables could well be too slow for Germany to meet its climate protection goals.

Despite planning to exit nuclear, Germany has not “pushed ahead enough with the expansion of renewables in the last 10 years,” Simon Mueller from the Agora Energiewende think tank told AFP.

To build enough onshore wind capacity, according to Mueller, Germany now must “pull out all the stops.”
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Sudan’s Army and Rival Force Clash, Wider Conflict Feared

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Fierce clashes between Sudan’s military and the country’s powerful paramilitary force erupted Saturday in the capital and elsewhere in the African nation, raising fears of a wider conflict in the chaos-stricken nation. 

In Khartoum, the sound of heavy firing could be heard in several areas, including the city center and the neighborhood of Bahri. 

In a series of statements, the Rapid Support Forces militia accused the army of attacking its forces at one of its bases in south Khartoum. They claimed they seized the city’s airport and “completely controlled” Khartoum’s Republican Palace, the seat of the country’s presidency. The group also said it seized an airport and air base in the northern city of Marawi, some 350 kilometers (215 miles) northwest of Khartoum. The Associated Press was unable to verify those claims. 

The Sudanese army said fighting broke out after RSF troops tried to attack its forces in the southern part of the capital. Later, the military declared the RSF a “rebel force,” describing the paramilitary’s statements as “lies.” 

The clashes came as tensions between the military and the RSF have escalated in recent months, forcing a delay in the signing of an internationally backed deal with political parties to revive the country’s democratic transition. 

Commercial aircraft trying to land at Khartoum International Airport began turning around to head back to their originating airport. Flights from Saudi Arabia turned back after nearly landing at the airport, flight tracking data showed Saturday. 

Tensions between the army and the paramilitary stem from a disagreement over how the RSF, headed by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, should be integrated into the military and what authority should oversee the process. The merger is a key condition of Sudan’s unsigned transition agreement. 

However, the army-RSF rivalry dates to the rule of autocratic former president Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in 2019. Under al-Bashir, the paramilitary force grew out of former militias known as Janjaweed that carried out a brutal crackdown in Sudan’s Darfur region during the decades of conflict there. 

In a rare, televised speech Thursday, a top army general warned of potential clashes with paramilitary forces, accusing it of deploying forces in Khartoum and other areas of Sudan without the army’s consent. The RSF defended the presence of its forces in an earlier statement. 

The RSF recently deployed troops near the northern Sudanese town of Merowe. Also, videos that circulated on social media Thursday showed what appeared to be RSF-armed vehicles being transported into Khartoum, farther to the south. 

According to a statement issued by the Sudan Doctors Committee — a part of the country’s pro-democracy movement — clashes have led to “varying injuries.” The casualty toll from the fighting remained unclear. 

The U.S. Ambassador to Sudan, John Godfrey, wrote online that he was “currently sheltering in place with the Embassy team, as Sudanese throughout Khartoum and elsewhere are doing.” 

“Escalation of tensions within the military component to direct fighting is extremely dangerous,” Godfrey wrote. “I urgently call on senior military leaders to stop the fighting.” 

In Saturday’s statement, the RSF said it was contacted by three former rebel leaders who hold government positions in an apparent bid to de-escalate the conflict. 

In a joint statement, civilian signatories to December’s framework agreement also called for an immediate de-escalation. “We call on the leadership of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to stop hostilities immediately,” it said. 

Sudan has been marred in turmoil since October 2021, when a coup overthrew a Western-back government, dashing Sudanese aspirations for democratic rule after three decades of autocracy and repression under Islamist ruler Omar al-Bashir. 
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Latest in Ukraine: Wagner Group Chief Says It’s Time for ‘Firm End’ to War

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Ukrainian soldiers evacuate parts of Bakhmut as fighting there intensifies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a bill to make it easier to mobilize Russians into the military.
China has promised not to sell weapons to either Ukraine or Russia, The Associated Press reports.
Russian forces have brought large amounts of provisions and water to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and may barricade a skeleton staff inside, says Kyiv’s state atomic agency, Energoatom.

The head of the Wagner Group wants Russia to get out of Ukraine. The time has come for a “firm end” to the war in Ukraine, Yevgeny Prigozhin posted on Telegram on Friday. He said Russian “government and society now need a firm end” to the war in Ukraine.

He said, “Russia has achieved the results it wanted” and has “eradicated most of active male population of Ukraine and intimidate the rest,” failing to mention any of Ukraine’s triumphs over Russia.

Prigozhin said Russia forces should now “hold on for dear life to the territories we already have.”

The Wagner Group has provided mercenaries for Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.  

Meanwhile, At least eight people were killed and 21 were wounded Friday in a Russian airstrike in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, northwest of Bakhmut.

Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told national television that seven missiles had been fired on the city. According to Ukrainian national police, S-300 missiles struck 10 apartment buildings and other sites. The top two floors of a five-story building collapsed after the strike. Rescue teams were looking for survivors.

A child was pulled alive from the rubble but died on the way to a hospital, Daria Zarivna, a senior official in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, said. Kyrylenko also said people were believed to be trapped under the debris.

“Not a single hour of this week before Orthodox Easter passed without murders and terror,” Zelenskyy tweeted Friday. “This is an evil state, and it will lose. To win is our duty to humanity as such. And we will win!” he said.

Later, in his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said that “for every Russian attack on our cities and villages, on our positions, for every killing of Ukrainians, the occupier must suffer the most tangible losses.”

Russian conscription law

The latest strikes come as Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill Friday allowing authorities to issue electronic conscription notices. The law has raised concern that Russia is planning another mobilization drive.

Previously, Russian law required an in-person delivery of conscription notices, which led some Russians to avoid the draft by staying away from their homes.

Under the new law, the conscription notices are considered valid as soon as they are sent electronically. The law also prohibits those who are conscripted from leaving the country and allows authorities to suspend the drivers’ licenses of conscripts who fail to report for duty.

In September, Putin announced the mobilization of about 300,000 reservists to fight in Ukraine. The Associated Press reports the order is estimated to have prompted an exodus of hundreds of thousands of Russian men.

Bakhmut withdrawal

In the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, fighting continues to intensify. According to Reuters, analysts said Friday that Ukrainian forces there were trying to push back against a coordinated three-pronged attack by the Kremlin’s forces and against Russian attempts to intercept supplies to Ukrainian soldiers.

In its Friday intelligence update, the British Ministry of Defense wrote that Ukrainian troops had been forced to withdraw from parts of Bakhmut after a renewed Russian assault on the ravaged city. According to the update, “Russia has re-energized its assault on the Donetsk Oblast town of Bakhmut as forces of the Russian MoD [Ministry of Defense] and Wagner Group have improved co-operation.”

Ukrainian officials say Russia has been drawing down troops from other areas on the front for a major push on Bakhmut, which Moscow has been trying to capture for nine months to regain the momentum of the all-out invasion it launched more than a year ago.

“The enemy is using its most professional units there and resorting to a significant amount of artillery and aviation,” Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

“Every day, the enemy carries out in Bakhmut from 40 to 50 storming operations and 500 shelling episodes,” she said. The British intelligence update said Ukraine still held western districts of the town but had been subjected to intense Russian artillery fire the previous two days.

“Ukrainian forces face significant resupply issues but have made orderly withdrawals from the positions they have been forced to concede,” it said.

China weapons

In other key developments, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said Friday his country would not sell weapons to Russia or Ukraine. His pledge was a response to Western concerns that Beijing could assist Russia militarily.

China has asserted its neutrality in the conflict, while Western nations have imposed sanctions against Moscow.

Qin added that China would also regulate the export of items with dual civilian and military use.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces say they are discovering a growing number of Chinese components in Russian weaponry used in Ukraine. Vladyslav Vlasiuk, senior adviser to Zelenskyy, told Reuters via a video call that in “the weapons recovered from the battlefield, we continue to find different electronics.”

Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

Russian forces have brought large amounts of provisions and water supplies to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP), which they captured in southeastern Ukraine after invading last year, Kyiv’s state atomic agency, Energoatom, said Friday.

The agency said this activity might indicate Russia was preparing to hold employees inside because of a dire shortage of qualified staff at Europe’s largest nuclear plant and in anticipation of Ukraine’s anticipated counteroffensive.

“Given the intense shortage of nuclear specialists needed to operate the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and fearing a Ukrainian offensive, the [Russians] are preparing for the long-term holding of ZNPP employees as hostages,” Energoatom said.

“The invaders have already brought a lot of provisions and water to the station,” the agency added in a statement. “The occupiers will probably not allow the station staff to leave after one of the regular work shifts, forcibly blocking them at the ZNPP,” it said.

There was no immediate comment from Russia.

Zelenskyy soldier beheading

In a tweet Friday, Zelenskyy thanked British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for condemning the “inhumane execution” of a Ukrainian soldier. “Together we must stop the aggressor & put an end to terror,” he said.

Ukrainian officials on Wednesday opened an investigation into a video on social media purportedly showing one of Kyiv’s soldiers being beheaded.

News agencies could not immediately verify the authenticity of the video. Zelenskyy said that the video showed the “execution of a Ukrainian captive” and that “everyone must react. Do not expect that it will be forgotten that time will pass.”

Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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US Secretary of State Meets with Vietnamese Prime Minister

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Hanoi on Saturday, his first visit to Vietnam since becoming the top U.S. diplomat.

Blinken met Saturday with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

His visit to Vietnam is part of the Biden administration’s campaign to counter China’s increasing influence in the region.

The U.S. is building a $1.2 billion embassy compound in Hanoi, a move designed to demonstrate a U.S. commitment to improving ties with the Southeast Asian trading partner.

Vietnam, however, has a delicate balance to maintain. It does not want to antagonize its powerful neighbor, China, while strengthening its relationship with the U.S.

Blinken’s visit to Vietnam comes just two weeks after the 50th anniversary of former U.S. President Richard M. Nixon’s administration’s withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Vietnam, marking the end of the Vietnam War.

Some information in this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.
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‘The Most Irish of All American Presidents’ Ends Ireland Visit

Posted on by SeeUS

“Remember, Joey, the best drop of blood in you is Irish,” President Joe Biden said, quoting his grandfather.

Such fierce ethnic pride from “the most Irish of all American presidents,” as the Taoiseach describes him, was guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser, and Biden knew it.

Biden displayed an endless supply of that pride during a three-day visit that culminated in a Friday night speech in Ballina, County Mayo, where his paternal ancestors once lived. The speech was the last item on his schedule before he returned to Washington.

“Being here feels like coming home,” he told the crowd of 27,000, diving into his family background stretching back before the Irish famine of the mid-1800s.

The Irish “always believe in a better tomorrow,” he said. “Our strength is something that overcomes everyday hardships.”

Biden’s love of his Irish roots and, in turn, the affection shown in the rapturous applause of Irish lawmakers listening to his speech to parliament and in the cheering crowds lined up waiting for his motorcade in blustery weather, could also reach another audience — American voters.

“Ireland is one of the few countries where an American president can guarantee an uncritical welcome,” said Brendan O’Leary, the Lauder professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania.

This visit, designed to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, is especially important. The 1998 peace deal helped end 30 years of bloody conflict over whether Northern Ireland should unify with Ireland or remain part of the United Kingdom.

By showing the U.S. is playing a constructive role in sustaining peace, Biden is sending an important message to Americans, in contrast to less successful foreign policy outcomes such as the chaotic U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, O’Leary told VOA.

Biden’s Republican Party rivals had a different view. On Tucker Carlson’s show on Fox News, former President Donald Trump slammed Biden’s tour of his ancestral homeland.

“The world is exploding around us. You could end up in a third world war and this guy is going to be in Ireland!” he said Tuesday night.

Foreign policy credits aside, O’Leary said Biden clearly represents his Irish American experience as typical of the American middle-class experience.

“I think that facilitates his ‘Ordinary Joe’ campaigning,” he added.

‘My plan is to run again’

Speaking to reporters before departing Ireland on Friday, Biden said he would announce his reelection bid “relatively soon.”

“I told you, my plan is to run again,” he said.

His campaign will again center on his middle-class agenda, a message deeply interwoven with his Irish roots and working-class family background.

The latest U.S. government census indicates that about 10% of Americans, 31 million people, claim Irish ancestry. In presidential elections of the past few decades, Irish Americans traditionally backed Democratic candidates until 2016, when Trump won about half of their support.

But more than ancestries, elections are determined by programs and values. In his 50 years in politics, Biden, who says he was raised “with a fierce pride in our Irish ancestry,” often highlights the egalitarianism and communal solidarity captured in his family’s creed — that everyone is your equal.

“I don’t know that a lot of other politicians would say something like that,” said Timothy Meagher, a former associate professor at Catholic University of America who studies ethnic history focusing on Irish Americans.

“There’s a kind of sense, from him, of an identification with working class people, with regular people,” Meagher told VOA. “That follows, I think, from that kind of Irish heritage, that we’re all in this together.”

Other values include the dignity of work, which Biden has linked to legislative calls for job-creating policies that enable workers to earn a living wage, form unions and receive paid family and medical leave.

His outlook on immigration is also imbued by his Irishness. On at least two occasions during his trip, he told the story of how his maternal ancestor, shoemaker Owen Finnegan, emigrated to New York in 1849, about the same time as former President Barack Obama’s maternal ancestor Joseph Kearney, also a shoemaker from a nearby county.

“Isn’t that amazing?” he said to reporters Thursday. “The idea that they both would seek a new life and think that their great-great-grandsons would end up being president of the United States is remarkable.”

It’s the story of how poor immigrants can live the American dream, said Eoin Drea, a senior researcher at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies. “I think that’s how President Biden views his family’s transition into where they are now,” he told VOA.

Possibilities

Biden’s origin story shapes how he understands the country’s psyche, often repeating what he said he told Chinese leader Xi Jinping, that the United States can be defined in one word: possibilities.

His optimism could resonate with another group of voters — naturalized citizens and descendants of immigrants. In the 2020 presidential race, more than 23 million immigrants, comprising about 10% of the electorate, were eligible to vote, according to a Pew Survey based on census data.

The cynical view is that political expediency motivates Biden to lean into his image of a scrappy son of a working-class family from Scranton, Pennsylvania. But for the endless “Bidenisms” and quotes of his parents that always begins with “Joey…,” Meagher said Biden comes across as genuine.

“There is a sort of politics to it, but it’s one that he seems to fit into naturally,” he said.

Through his rhetoric and legislative proposals, Biden has woven a consistent theme in his first term — build the economy from the bottom up and middle out by creating jobs, including for people who don’t have college degrees.

Whether that will carry him to a second term remains to be seen. Especially if he again faces Trump, the leading Republican contender, according to a recent poll.

In 2020, Trump’s nativist “Make America Great Again” message secured him 66% of the votes from white men without a four-year college degree, compared with Biden’s 31%.
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Colorado Offers Haven for Abortion, Transgender Care

Posted on by SeeUS

A trio of health care bills enshrining access in Colorado to abortion and gender-affirming procedures and medications became law Friday as the Democrat-led state tries to make itself a safe haven for its neighbors, whose Republican leaders are restricting care. 

The main goal of the legislation signed by Democratic Governor Jared Polis is to ensure people in surrounding states and beyond can go to Colorado to have an abortion, begin puberty blockers or receive gender-affirming surgery without fear of prosecution. Bordering states of Wyoming and Oklahoma have passed abortion bans and Utah has severely restricted transgender care for minors. 

Many states with abortion or transgender care bans are also criminalizing traveling to states for the purpose of accessing legal health care. 

The contradicting laws are setting the stage for interstate disputes comparable to the patchwork of same-sex marriage laws that existed until 2015, or the 19th-century legal conflict over whether fugitive enslaved people in free states remained the property of slaveholders when they escaped. 

The governor’s office was packed with lawmakers, advocates and health care providers, many of them women, for a ceremony with a celebratory feel that resembled a rally at times with loud applause and call-and-response chants. 

“We see you and in Colorado, we’ve got your back,” Democratic state Senator Julie Gonzalez said during the ceremony. 

With the new laws, Colorado joins Illinois as a progressive place offering reproductive rights to residents of conservative states. Illinois abortion clinics now serve people living in a 2,900-kilometer (1,800-mile) stretch of 11 Southern states that have largely banned abortion. 

Florida, temporarily a haven for abortion seekers in those states, outlawed abortions after six weeks. The bill, signed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis on Friday in a closed-door ceremony, doesn’t go into effect right away. 

California and New York are considering similar bills, with the U.S. Supreme Court having knocked down Roe. v. Wade, putting abortion laws in the hands of state legislatures. 

Colorado’s southern neighbor, New Mexico, is also controlled by Democrats and passed a similar abortion protection bill earlier this year. It legally shields those who seek abortions or gender-affirming care, and those who provide the treatments, from interstate investigations. 

Ashley Blinkhorn, a graduate student and activist who testified in favor of the Colorado bills during legislative hearings, said they would help people across the country, including possibly her recently married friends in their 30s and her queer friends in her former homes of Texas and Florida. 

“It’s a real comfort to know that Colorado … will provide health care to them if they visit or if they move here,” she said. 

Visits to Colorado’s abortion clinics have increased by about a third since the Supreme Court ruling, and wait times for an appointment have increased from one or two days up to three weeks, according to state lawmakers. They also expect an increase in wait times for gender-affirming care. 

Colorado House Minority Leader Mike Lynch said he feared the legislation would make Colorado an abortion destination that will attract “the vulnerable, the indigent and frightened minors from all over the country” and said the package of laws does not protect choice. 

“They deny a new mother the choice to consider alternative options other than to end her pregnancy,” Lynch, a Republican from Wellington, said in a statement. 

Karen Middleton, president of Cobalt Advocates, a Denver-based organization that pushes for abortion access, said most of the women traveling to Colorado since the Supreme Court ruling have come from Texas and Wyoming. The organization spent $220,000 to help women get access to abortion in Colorado last year, most of them from other states, up from $6,000 in 2021, she said. 

Polis added the first layer of abortion protection a year ago, signing an executive order that bars state agencies from cooperating with out-of-state investigations regarding reproductive health care. One of the bills he signed Friday codifies that order into law. Like the New Mexico law, it blocks court summonses, subpoenas and search warrants from states that decide to prosecute someone for having an abortion. 

Colorado’s abortion law extends the protections to transgender patients dodging restrictions in their own states. Gender-affirming health care has been available for decades, but some states have recently barred minors from accessing it, even with parental consent. Hospitals in some of those states say gender-affirming surgeries are rarely recommended for minors anyway. Puberty blockers are more common. 

Conservative states are pushing back. Idaho passed a bill that outlaws providing a minor with abortion pills and helping them leave the state to terminate a pregnancy without their parents’ consent. 

The Colorado law comes as medication abortions are in limbo across the U.S. and mail-order prescriptions of a crucial abortion drug are virtually banned pending the outcome of a federal court case. 

Also on Friday, Polis signed a measure that outlaws “deceptive practices” by anti-abortion centers, which are known to market themselves as abortion clinics but don’t actually offer the procedure. Instead, they attempt to persuade patients to not terminate their pregnancies. The bill also prohibits sites from offering what’s called an abortion pill reversal — an unproven practice to reverse a medical abortion. 

A third bill signed Friday requires large employers to offer coverage for the total cost of an abortion, with an exception for those who object on religious grounds. It exempts public employees because Colorado’s constitution forbids the use of public funds for abortions.
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