Tanzanian police said Tuesday that 45 people were killed in a stampede last week at a public viewing of the body of late President John Magufuli. The fatalities were much higher than the five originally reported.The March 21 stampede was triggered when a wall collapsed after some people climbed it to view Magufuli’s body at Uhuru Stadium outside Dar es Salaam, according to the city’s police chief, Lazaro Mambosasa.Mambosasa said some of the mourners died of oxygen starvation due to overcrowding at the memorial service.Magufulii died of heart failure on March 17, the government said, although opposition leaders maintain he died of complications from COVID-19.The late president was among Africa’s most prominent skeptics of the coronavirus pandemic, drawing criticism from some African and foreign health experts.Magufuli shunned the use of face masks, vaccinations and lockdown measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.Despite the criticism, many Tanzanians applauded him for his contentious leadership style and efforts to root out government corruption.Former Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan succeeded Magufuli, becoming Tanzania’s first female president.She nominated Finance Minister Philip Mpango on Tuesday as vice president. His nomination was unanimously supported by members of Parliament.
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Month: March 2021
Cameroon Hopes for Stability as CAR President Is Sworn In
Cameroon Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute said chaos in the Central African Republic has stalled development efforts and peace initiatives in Cameroon. Ngute met Monday night with Faustin-Archange Touadéra before Tuesday’s second inauguration of the C.A.R. leader.Ngute said Cameroon President Paul Biya, who sent him to Bangui for the inauguration, has hope that Touadéra’s leadership will bring back peace to the C.A.R. and, by extension, to Cameroon.He said both Cameroon and the C.A.R. can never have peace or develop if there is a crisis in any of the two states. He said the two countries are neighbors that must accept one another’s citizens in case there is a crisis.Ngute said Cameroon and the C.A.R. both have a common economic interest in the road linking Cameroon’s coastal city of Douala to Bangui, capital of the landlocked C.A.R. He said the road must be protected to stop any rupture in the supply of goods and services in the two countries.Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadéra delivers a speech during his inauguration ceremony in Bangui on March 30, 2021.Touadéra officially began a second term in office on January 19 after the C.A.R.’s December 27 presidential polls. His victory was confirmed on January 18 by the C.A.R.’s Constitutional Court but was rejected by the opposition.The C.A.R. accused former president Francoise Bozize of organizing a rebel alliance to overthrow Touadéra, a charge Bozize denied.Cameroon reported that after the election, hundreds of C.A.R. civilians fled across the border to escape election-related violence. Cameroon said it pushed back hundreds of C.A.R. rebels that crossed the border.Ngute said election violence stopped at least 4,000 trucks from transporting humanitarian assistance and goods to the C.A.R. He said thousands of containers destined for the C.A.R. were blocked at the Doula seaport and would only be transported if peace returns to the C.A.R.Rosaline Ndembe is a political analyst at the University of Bangui. In spite of the tension, she is optimistic Touadéra can bring back peace to the C.A.R. She spoke via a messaging app from Bangui.Ndembi said Faustin-Archange Touadéra’s inauguration after years of fighting and chaos in the C.A.R. indicates there is some level of acceptance of his leadership. She said C.A.R. history has been marked by military coups since David Dackos became the first C.A.R. president in 1960. She said Touadéra is the only C.A.R. leader that has been inaugurated for a second consecutive time after a democratic election.Touadera secured his position by gathering more than 53% of the vote in the December 27 election that was marred by violence.Jean Marie Noel Ndina Noah, conflict resolution lecturer at the university of Yaounde, said Touadéra will succeed because he has the support of the U.N. and the African Union. He said the C.A.R. leader should continue dialogue for peace to return.Noah said Touadéra should call for a national conference as part of ongoing negotiations to solve the power crisis in his country. He said if Touadéra opts for the use of force, which is also a legitimate way of protecting civilians, he may still have a very long way to go to bring back the needed peace in the C.A.R. He said what civilians want now is an urgent return to peace.In the last seven years of fighting, close to a million Central Africans have fled to neighboring Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria. Last week Cameroon said some of the displaced persons were returning to the C.A.R. with the hope of finding peace.
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UN Steps Up Relief Effort for Rohingya Fire Survivors
A huge relief operation is under way to support tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees affected by a massive blaze last week in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. An estimated 48,000 Rohingya lost their shelters in the fire that ripped through parts of Kutupalong-Balukhali, the world’s largest refugee camp. The camp houses some 600,000 Rohingya refugees who fled violence and persecution in Myanmar in August 2017. The U.N. refugee agency reports the Rohingya are being sheltered temporarily on site with family and friends while housing and other vital infrastructure, including hospitals, learning centers and aid distribution points, are being rehabilitated. This combination of Nov. 12, 2020, left, and March 23, 2021, satellite images provided by Planet Labs Inc shows Balukhali refugee camp before/after a fire, in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, March 23, 2021.UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic says his agency and partners are distributing thousands of relief items to the refugees, and mobile medical teams are helping those in need of first aid. He says more than 4,000 refugees affected by the fire are being treated for psychological distress. “Our teams on the ground are monitoring the safety and security of refugees. We are also working to address the critical needs of separated children,” Mahecic said. “Since the fire, together with our partners, we have identified more than 600 separated girls and boys who have now been reunited with their families. Our partners are also establishing two child protection helplines and four unification help desks.” He says the Bangladeshi government has established a high-level committee to investigate the cause of the blaze. Eleven deaths have been confirmed, but Mahecic notes more than 300 people are missing. FILE – Volunteers from aid agencies rebuild shelters for Rohingya refugees who lost their dwellings to a fire at Balukhali camp at Ukhiya in Cox’s Bazar district, Bangladesh, March 24, 2021.In addition to the aid from the U.N. agency, hundreds of volunteers have been helping refugees affected by the fire. “Last week, they were among the first responders in the collective efforts to extinguish the fire,” Mahecic said of the volunteers. “Since then, they have been helping other refugees, older children, pregnant women to find safe shelters, escorting people to health care facilities, cleaning the debris, identifying and referring refugees with specific needs to the relevant services.” The UNHCR is appealing for $5.9 million in international support to deal with the aftermath of the fire. That amount is only a small portion of the $294.5 million it needs to implement its humanitarian operation in Bangladesh this year. To date, only 20 percent of that amount is funded.
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Turkey’s Reliance on Chinese COVID-19 Vaccines Seen as Gamble
Turkey’s announcement of new restrictions in the face of surging COVID-19 infections is putting the spotlight on Ankara’s decision to rely almost solely on Chinese vaccines. With those deliveries repeatedly delayed, there is growing suspicion Beijing could be using the vaccines as leverage — as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.Producer: Jon Spier
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US, 13 Other Nations Concerned About WHO COVID Origins Report
The United States and 13 other nations issued a statement Tuesday raising “shared concerns” about the newly released World Health Organization report on the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19.
The statement, released on the U.S. State Department website, as well as the other signatories, said it was essential to express concerns that the international expert study on the source of the virus was significantly delayed and lacked access to complete, original data and samples.
The WHO formally released its report earlier Tuesday, saying while the report presents a comprehensive review of available data, “we have not yet found the source of the virus.” The team reported difficulties in accessing raw data, among other issues, during its visit to the city of Wuhan, China, earlier this year.
The researchers also had been forced to wait days before receiving final permission by the Chinese government to enter Wuhan.
The joint statement by the U.S. and others went on to say, “scientific missions like these should be able to do their work under conditions that produce independent and objective recommendations and findings.” The nations expressed their concerns in the hope of laying “a pathway to a timely, transparent, evidence-based process for the next phase of this study as well as for the next health crises.”
Along with the U.S., the statement was signed by the governments of Australia, Britain, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Republic of Korea, and Slovenia.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday further study and more data are needed to confirm if the virus was spread to humans through the food chain or through wild or farmed animals.
Tedros said that while the team has concluded that a laboratory leak is the least likely hypothesis, the matter requires further investigation.
WHO team leader Peter Ben Embarek told reporters Tuesday that it is “perfectly possible” COVID-19 cases were circulating as far back as November or October 2019 around Wuhan, earlier than has been documented regarding the spread of the virus.
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ICC Upholds Convictions of Former Congolese Warlord
The International Criminal Court upheld the convictions and a prison sentence of a former Congolese warlord Tuesday, dismissing his lawyers’ arguments that legal errors tainted his original trial. Bosco Ntaganda was sentenced to 30 years in prison after the ICC found him guilty in 2019 of 18 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, sexual slavery and using child soldiers.Ntaganda commanded members of the Union of Congolese Patriots militia, who committed brutal acts during an ethnic conflict in a mineral-rich area of the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2002 and 2003.Hundreds of civilians lost their lives in the violence, and thousands of others were forced to flee the country where many of its 90 million citizens live in extreme poverty.Earlier in March, the ICC ordered $30 million in reparations for Ntaganda’s victims.Ntaganda, a 47-year-old Rwandan native known as “The Terminator,” showed no emotion as presiding judge Howard Morrison read the summary of the appeals court’s findings.Prosecutors described Ntaganda as a merciless leader of Tutsi uprisings during civil wars that decimated the DRC following the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in neighboring Rwanda. He received the longest sentence the ICC has handed down and was the first person to be convicted of sexual assault by the court.The ICC was established in 2002 to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity when member states are unable to prosecute such crimes or refuse to do so.
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COVID Pandemic Has Big Effect in Small Nation of eSwatini
Eddie Simelane is a patient. Every two months, this 46-year-old, HIV-positive father of four wakes up early to line up at a government clinic near eSwatini’s capital for his supply of free anti-retroviral medication. The emaSwati are no strangers to pandemics. This small nation, formerly known as Swaziland, has one of the world’s highest HIV prevalence rates, estimated at over 27%. But it’s not that pandemic that scares him, Simelane says. It’s coronavirus. He says he’s lucky to have not fallen ill, but says it’s thrown his life into disarray. “Here in eSwatini, COVID-19 has taken many lives that I’ve heard of,” he said outside a clinic on a foggy morning last week. “And the difficult part of it is the economy. The economy has been down and there’s been no jobs for everybody for something like a year now.” He’s not exaggerating the effect of this pandemic — in a nation that is smaller than all but three U.S. states, everything feels like it hits closer to home. While eSwatini has only reported some 17,000 cases, and just under 670 deaths, its small size makes each loss seem much bigger. eSwatini, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control, has seen 1,400 confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people — and 55 deaths per 100,000 people. But the population is just over a million people. According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, eSwatini’s COVID-19 mortality rate stands at 3.9%. That’s more than twice the U.S. death rate, of 1.8%, and also higher than the death rate in the continent’s epicenter — and eSwatini’s biggest neighbor — South Africa, which is 3.4%. And it has affected lives at all levels of society. Acting Prime Minister Themba Masuku fell into this job because Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini died of COVID-19 in December. He said the past year has been tough. “It’s something that we had never seen before, we had never experienced before,” he said. “So, when it started, we tried to manage it. The first wave, I think we fairly managed that, but the second wave, which was brutal, this is when we felt overwhelmed. But it taught us certain things that we have now put in place so that if the next, the anticipated — which I really don’t want — the third wave, we think we will be more prepared than the first and second waves because we didn’t have the experience.” But health minister Lizzy Nkosi says their records found that HIV-positive COVID-19 patients did not fare as badly as they had feared. “What we’ve learned — not just us, but across the world — is that HIV turned out not to be such a major factor,” she said. “It is a factor, but in terms of the people that get severely ill and the people that we’ve lost — I mean, from our death audit that we did recently, we found that 82% of the people that have died have had comorbidities, and about 80% of those had either diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure and the combination of those.” She said the nation is starting to vaccinate health workers and will soon expand the vaccination plan. That is cold comfort for Simelane. He is a careful man, he says — he faithfully takes his medication and takes meticulous care of his possessions, mending a small rip in his red backpack with a row of neat stitches. But, like people across the globe, he says he struggles with COVID-19 anxiety. “I’m worried, because I actually don’t know how you contract the virus,” he said. “That is what worries me the most. Because you can say that you have protected yourself with masks and everything, only to find out at the end of the day that you caught COVID, not knowing how.”
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3 Female Polio Vaccinators Killed in Afghanistan
Unknown gunmen have shot dead three female anti-polio workers in Afghanistan, one of the two countries in the world along with its neighbor Pakistan, where the crippling children’s disease remains endemic.
Tuesday’s violence came on the second day of a five-day polio immunization drive, this year’s first in the conflict-torn country, that officials say aims to reach nearly one million Afghan children under five years of age in 32 out of the country’s 34 provinces.
Officials said the slain women were administering polio drops to children in parts of Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province.
No one immediately took responsibly for the violence.
Afghanistan reported 56 new cases of polio in 2020, and officials have already detected around two dozen new cases this year.
Continued fighting and a ban on door-to-door vaccinations in areas held by Taliban insurgents are blamed for hampering efforts to eradicate the polio virus in the country.
The Afghan health ministry estimates about three million children were deprived of the polio vaccine in the past three years.
Health Minister Waheed Majroj told a gathering Monday while launching the polio immunization campaign that security concerns may again deprive about one million children from receiving polio drops in 2021.
Pakistan also launched its five-day nationwide door-to-door vaccinations of children against polio on Monday amid a substantial surge in coronavirus infections.
The polio immunization drive targets more than 40 million children under the age of five across 156 Pakistani districts, said Faisal Sultan, special assistant to the Pakistani prime minister on national health services.
FILE – A boy receives polio vaccine drops, during an anti-polio campaign, in a low-income neighbourhood in Karachi, Pakistan.Sultan said the government has engaged some 285,000 frontline workers, respecting coronavirus safety guidelines, to administer polio drops to the targeted population.
Anti-polio drives have also suffered setbacks in Pakistan in recent years due to attacks on vaccinators and police personnel guarding them, leading to a spike in new infections. The violence has killed scores of polio workers and security guards escorting them.
Islamist militants see the polio vaccine as an effort to collect intelligence on their activities while radical religious groups in conservative rural parts of majority-Muslim Pakistan reject the immunization as a Western-led conspiracy to sterilize children.
Pakistani officials insist attacks on polio teams have particularly increased since 2011 when the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency arranged a fake vaccination campaign with the help of a local doctor, enabling U.S. forces to locate and kill fugitive al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden deep inside Pakistan.
Pakistan, where polio infected 84 children in 2020, has reported one confirmed case so far this year.
”The year 2021 presents a unique opportunity to leverage the gains made in 2020, despite the challenges of the (COVID-19) pandemic,” said a government statement released in connection with Monday’s launch of the immunization drive.
The South Asia nation’s second polio drive of 2021 comes amid a third wave of coronavirus infections, with Pakistani officials reporting more than 4,000 new cases and 100 deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in the last 24 hours.
Hours after Monday’s polio vaccination drive began, authorities imposed partial lockdowns in “high-risk” Pakistani districts, including the capital, Islamabad, citing a “very dangerous” spike in new coronavirus cases.
Since the coronavirus outbreak in the country 13 months ago, the government has recorded nearly 14,400 deaths from COVID-19 and more than 663,000 infections.
Pakistani officials said the rate of people testing positive for COVID-19 had alarmingly risen to nearly 12% from a low of about 3% a few weeks ago, suggesting the actual number of infections is likely much higher than the reported cases.
Sultan said the current wave of coronavirus infections has the “potential to be worse than the first one in the summer of 2020,” when Pakistan had to impose a nationwide lockdown to contain the virus.
Pakistan President Arif Alvi tweeted Monday that he had been tested positive for COVID-19 as did the country’s defense minister, Shaukat Khattak.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had also tested positive for the virus earlier this month. Faisal tweeted Sunday that Khan had made “steady clinical recovery” and had been advised to resume building up his official work routine.
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Pakistan Launches Polio Vaccination Drive Amid Surge in COVID-19 Infections
Pakistan began nationwide door-to-door polio vaccinations Monday of children as the South Asian nation of about 220 million people battles a substantial surge in COVID-19 infections.
Pakistan is one of two countries in the world, along with neighboring Afghanistan, where the polio virus remains endemic and efforts to eradicate the crippling disease continue to face challenges.
The five-day polio immunization drive is aimed at vaccinating more than 40 million children in the country under five years old, said Faisal Sultan, special assistant to the Pakistani prime minister on national health services.
Sultan said the government has engaged some 285,000 front-line workers in 156 Pakistani districts to administer polio drops to the targeted population.
Hours after Monday’s vaccination drive began, authorities imposed partial lockdowns in “high-risk” Pakistani districts, including the capital, Islamabad, citing a “very dangerous” spike in new coronavirus cases.
Since the coronavirus outbreak in the country 13 months ago, the government has recorded nearly 14,300 deaths from COVID-19 and 260,000 infections, including 41 deaths and more than 4,500 new cases in the last 24 hours.
FILE – Students wear protective masks as they have their temperature checked before entering classrooms as secondary schools reopen amid the second wave of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Jan. 18, 2021.Pakistani officials said the rate of people testing positive for COVID-19 has risen to an alarming 12% from a low of about 3% a few weeks ago, suggesting the actual number of infections is likely much higher than the reported cases.
Sultan said the current wave of coronavirus infections has the “potential to be worse than the first one in the summer of 2020,” when Pakistan imposed a nationwide lockdown to contain the virus.
“COVID-19 continues to challenge us, but we are committed to ensure continuity of the essential public health services during these difficult times,” Sultan said. “It is an absolute must that all our eligible children stay protected against vaccine-preventable diseases, including polio.”
Sultan urged the public to cooperate with polio teams and instructed authorities to ensure the protection of health care workers.
Anti-polio drives in Pakistan have suffered setbacks in recent years due to attacks on vaccinators and police personnel guarding them.
Islamist militants see the polio vaccine as an effort to collect intelligence on their activities, while radical religious groups in conservative rural parts of majority-Muslim Pakistan reject the immunization as a Western-led conspiracy to sterilize children.
The false information has triggered attacks during immunization campaigns, killing scores of health care workers and security forces in the last decade.
Pakistani officials insist the attacks on polio teams have particularly increased since 2011 when the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency arranged a fake vaccination campaign with the help of a local doctor, enabling U.S. forces to locate and kill fugitive al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden deep inside Pakistan.
Pakistan, where polio infected 84 children in 2020, has reported one confirmed case so far this year.
“The year 2021 presents a unique opportunity to leverage the gains made in 2020, despite the challenges of the (COVID-19) pandemic,” said a government statement released in connection with Monday’s launch of the immunization drive.
“We have started witnessing the impact of our hard work over the last six months in terms of improved epidemiology. This is reflected by the declining polio cases and decreased detection of viruses in sewage samples,” said Dr. Shahzad Baig of the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI), who is quoted in the government statement.
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Brazil’s Bolsonaro Forced Into Cabinet Reshuffle, Fires Top Diplomat
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro reshuffled his Cabinet on Monday amid intense pressure to sack his foreign relations minister whose tenure has been characterized by an anti-globalism bent that made him a lightning rod for critics. In addition to replacing foreign minister Ernesto Araújo, the president shifted three other ministers into new positions — chief of staff, defense minister and attorney general. His announcement on Twitter said he also named a new justice and public security minister and government secretary. The statement did not provide any reasons for the changes. The shake-up underscores recent turmoil for Bolsonaro, who has seen his approval ratings slide this year. The president in mid-March replaced the health minister whose tenure coincided with most of Brazil’s 314,000 COVID-19 deaths and became the target of fierce criticism. In February, Bolsonaro tapped an army general to take over state-run oil behemoth Petrobras, seeking to appeal to his constituency of truck drivers who had threatened to strike over fuel price increases. Araújo had most recently faced fierce criticism and calls to resign for comments and actions that his opponents said had impeded faster access to coronavirus vaccines. FILE – Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo delivers a statement to members of the media at the Department of State in Washington, Sept. 13, 2019.Senate insistence became too overpowering for Bolsonaro to withstand, said Maurício Santoro, professor of political science and international relations at the University of the State of Rio de Janeiro.”The vaccine issue was the spark that lit the fire,” Santoro said. “The general context is Araújo failed in all the most important tasks he had to do as a minister. Brazil is facing bad political dialogue with its biggest trade partners — China, the U.S., the EU and Argentina — all for different reasons. Araújo is being replaced by Carlos França, who is likewise a career diplomat. Unlike Araújo, França isn’t a follower of far-right ideologue Olavo de Carvalho, the newspaper O Globo reported. He is an adviser to Bolsonaro and former ceremonial chief at the presidential palace and is considered to be pragmatic rather than ideological. By contrast, Araújo has denied climate change, which he has called a leftist dogma, and made comments perceived as critical of China, Brazil’s biggest trading partner. In just more than two years, he repeatedly dismayed foreign policy veterans by breaking with Brazil’s tradition of multilateralism and adopting policy based on ideology, particularly aligning with the U.S. during the Trump administration. On Saturday, a group of 300 diplomats published a letter saying Araújo had tarnished Brazil’s image abroad and demanded his removal, according to the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo. Brazil was one of the last countries in the world to recognize U.S. President Joe Biden’s election victory, and Araújo declined to attend his inauguration. Instead, he took a vacation. Santoro, the professor, said Araújo’s climate change position was an impediment to Brazil dealing with the U.S. and Europe on curbing Amazon deforestation. That issue has been the focus of European governments and many foreign investors, and Biden has said he intends to prioritize the issue. Early in the pandemic, Araújo wrote on a personal blog that globalists were seeking to use the coronavirus as a means to subvert liberal democracy and market economics in order to install communism and enslave humans. He made other comments that angered China. Clamor for the minister’s resignation grew as Brazil’s COVID-19 death toll surged this year and the nation suffered delays in getting active ingredients needed to bottle vaccines, mostly from China. Slow arrival was widely speculated to be political retribution by the Asian power, although both Araújo and Chinese authorities in Brazil claimed technical reasons. “When the country needed Araújo and the foreign relations ministry to operate to guarantee what we needed to vaccinate people, they kept playing at highly ideological foreign policy,” said Hussein Kalout, formerly Brazil’s special secretary for strategic affairs and now a research scholar at Harvard University. Aráujo defended his ministry’s actions for nearly five hours before a Senate hearing last week. Center-right Sen. Tasso Jereissati told the minister that he no longer had the standing to remain in the post and that his exit would end the help end the crisis.
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UN: Increase in Child Migrants Through Dangerous Darien Gap
The number of child migrants passing through the perilous Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama has risen dramatically, the U.N. child welfare agency said Monday. Underage migrants made up only about 2% of those using the jungle corridor in 2017. In 2020, children made up 25% of the migrants making the hard trek on foot, UNICEF’s report said. The Darien Gap is a 60-mile (97-kilometer) stretch of roadless jungle that provides the only land route north out of South America. There is little food or shelter on the weeklong trek and bandits and wild animals prey on migrants. FILE – Aerial view of La Penita indigenous village, Darien province, Panama, May 23, 2019. Migrants cross the border between Colombia and Panama through the Darien Gap on their way to the United States.Most migrants making the hike are from Haiti or Cuba, with smaller numbers from African nations, such as Cameroon and Congo, and South Asian countries, such as India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. “I have seen women coming out of the jungle with babies in their arms after walking for more than seven days without water, food or any type of protection,” said Jean Gough, the UNICEF regional director who made a two-day trip to the zone. “These families go beyond their limits and put their lives at risk, often without realizing the risks they are taking,” Gough said. The risks for children are particularly serious. “The migrants who get trapped there (in the jungle) are exposed to many threats, including death,” the U.N. report said. “In this context, women, especially pregnant women, girls, children and adolescents, are the most vulnerable.” While 109 children made the journey in 2017, that swelled to 3,956 in 2019. The coronavirus pandemic and travel restriction reduced both adult and child numbers in 2020, with the latter falling to 1,653. Over the last four years, a total of at least 46,500 migrants had made the trek, and in total for those years they included 6,240 minors. “The socioeconomic repercussion of the COVID-19 pandemic, together with violence, racism, unemployment and extreme climate events will probably increase poverty and lead more families to migrate north in the coming months,” the report added. The U.S. government has been facing an increase in the number of unaccompanied minors and families with children arriving at its southern border in recent months. Last week there were about 18,000 unaccompanied children in government custody.
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Islamic State Claims Dayslong Attack on Mozambique Town
Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility Monday for a dayslong attack on the northern Mozambique town of Palma that began last week and has prompted thousands of people to flee.Dozens of people have been killed in the ongoing fighting that began last week in the Southern African nation, according to government officials.IS said Monday through its Amaq News Agency that it was now in control of Palma, a town of about 75,000 people. The claim could not be independently verified.On Sunday, Mozambique officials said they were fighting the rebels in several locations to regain control of the town.Islamist insurgents began a coordinated attack last Wednesday on the town, which is about 10 kilometers from a multinational gas project run by oil majors, including French energy company Total.Agence France-Presse reported Monday that the town was all but deserted after thousands of people fled the fighting.Many residents ran into the tropical forest surrounding the town to escape the violence.However, The Associated Press reported that a few hundred foreign workers from South Africa, Britain and France gathered at hotels that quickly became targets for the rebel attacks.The total number of dead and missing from the violence remains unclear.A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday, “We are deeply concerned by the still evolving situation in Palma where armed attacks began on 24 March, reportedly killing dozens of people, including some trying to flee a hotel where they had taken shelter.”Henrietta Fore, director of UNICEF, the United Nations’ children’s fund, said in a statement Monday that the town was hosting more than 35,000 people forcibly displaced from other areas of the province because of previous attacks, with half of those children.“We still do not know the full impact that the deadly militant attack in Palma, northern Mozambique, has had on children, but we fear that it will be brutal,” Fore said.Islamist rebels affiliated with IS have been carrying out attacks in northern Mozambique since 2017. Earlier rebel attacks prompted Total to suspend work in January on a project to extract gas from offshore sites.The United Nations says the insurgency has left more than 2,600 people dead and displaced an estimated 670,000 people.
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Attack on Transmitters Cuts Power to Nigerian City — Again
Residents of Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state capital are struggling without electricity after suspected militants damaged two transmission towers just days after power had been restored following a previous attack. The power outage in Maiduguri occurred just before 6 a.m. local time Saturday. “Again, two towers along Maiduguri-Damaturu line have been vandalized,” the Transmission Company of Nigeria said in a statement. Ndidi Mbah, an official for the company, said it was working to restore power. Last Wednesday, power was restored to the city of 3 million after militants from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) sabotaged the power grid in late January, French news agency Agence France-Presse reported. No one had claimed responsibility as of Monday, but ISWAP and Boko Haram both have acknowledged attacks on telecom and electrical equipment. Boko Haram is active in the area where the towers were damaged. The blackouts are interfering with daily life.Grema Umar, who sells ice blocks, told the news service, “It is a disaster for us to be left without power … especially in this hot season when people would require ice blocks for cold drinks.”
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Pandemic Apologies and Defiance: Europe’s Leaders Increasingly Rattled
European leaders are handling rising public frustration, economic distress and mounting coronavirus case numbers in different ways, with most showing the strain of dealing with a yearlong pandemic, say analysts and commentators, who add that the leaders seem to be rattled by a third wave of infections sweeping the continent.A defiant French President Emmanuel Macron defended his decision to avoid a lockdown as the infection rate climbed in January, telling reporters last week he had “no remorse” and would not acknowledge any failure for the deepening coronavirus crisis engulfing France.“There won’t be a mea culpa from me,” said Macron.In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel last week apologized to Germans for her initial decision — now rescinded — to lock the country down tight for Easter. She called the idea a mistake and apologized after a hastily arranged videoconference with the country’s 16 state governors.German Chancellor Angela Merkel answers questions from lawmakers at German parliament Bundestag in Berlin, March 24, 2021.But she urged fellow Germans to be more optimistic and stop complaining about restrictions and vaccine delays.“You can’t get anywhere if there’s always a negative,” she said. “It is crucial whether the glass is half full or half empty.”Merkel has likened the third wave of rising coronavirus infections to “living in a new pandemic” and encouraged Germans to test themselves once a week with rapid tests provided by authorities.In France, medical directors from the Paris public health system warned in a statement to Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper that soaring infections are overwhelming the capital’s hospitals. As in Bergamo, Italy, a year ago, they say medical staff will soon have to choose which patients to treat.“We’re going straight into the wall,” said Catherine Hill, an epidemiologist in France. “We’re already saturated, and it’s become totally untenable. We can no longer take in non-COVID patients. It is completely mad,” she told French radio.France’s Health Ministry reported 37,014 new coronavirus cases Sunday, bringing the country’s total number of infections to over 4.5 million. Over 94,000 people in the country have died from the virus.Medical staff work in the intensive care unit where COVID-19 patients are treated at Cambrai hospital, France, March 25, 2021.Across Europe, 20,000 people are dying per week, more than a year ago, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO has urged governments to get back to basics in their handling of the pandemic. Central Europe, the Balkans and the Baltic states are also being hit hard with cases, hospitalizations and deaths — among the highest in the world.Political repercussionsThe pandemic has claimed two political positions, as well. The coalition government in Italy headed by Giuseppe Conte collapsed last month amid a dispute about how to spend European Union recovery funds.On Sunday, embattled Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovič announced his resignation to end a monthlong political crisis sparked by his decision to buy the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine to make up for a shortfall in vaccines distributed by the EU.Prime Minister Igor Matovic, front, announces the resignation of Health Minister Marek Krajci, left, in Bratislava, March 11, 2021.Matovič will switch places with current Finance Minister Eduard Heger, who will become the new prime minister of the fractious four-party coalition government.Under public pressure to get a grip on the crisis, some leaders appear to be increasingly nervous about the possible electoral repercussions from more lockdowns, deaths and likely more months of reduced economic activity, which means more bankruptcies.According to a pan-Europe opinion poll conducted for the International Republican Institute, a U.S.-based NGO in partnership with European parliamentary groups, Europeans, especially in the East and center of the continent, are becoming increasingly gloomy about their economic prospects. Pessimism is especially pronounced among low-income Europeans.More than 40% of respondents from Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Italy, Romania, Poland and Spain told pollsters they feel their financial situation will get worse. With the gloom mounting, governments appear to be lashing out, according to some commentators, with efforts being made to find scapegoats for the worsening crisis.A vendor waits outside her stall at a deserted market in Budapest, Hungary, March 25, 2021.British officials argue that the ongoing dispute between Britain and the EU over supplies to Europe of the AstraZeneca vaccine are part of an effort to shift blame. The EU claims it is not getting a fair share of doses, thanks to behind-the-scenes British shenanigans — an accusation London vehemently denies.The British media have also lambasted European leaders for what they say are false accusations, with Macron being seen as largely behind the distraction. “There is now a systematic attempt by his (Macron’s) entourage to blame the unfolding debacle on the British, trying to create a sense that everything would be on track were it not for the U.K.’s refusal to hand over AstraZeneca vaccines,” said British columnist Ambrose Evans-Pritchard.Policy U-turns are coming thick and fast — another sign of political disarray, analysts say.Merkel on Sunday — just days after relenting on a tight Easter lockdown — blamed regional governments for failing to take the crisis seriously enough and for easing restrictions despite rapidly rising infection rates.She threatened to centralize Germany’s pandemic response and override regional powers, a move that would be legally and politically risky and would undermine traditional German federalism.
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Vatican Banishes Retired Polish Archbishop Over Sex Allegations
The Vatican banished the former archbishop of Gdansk in Poland on Monday following an investigation into negligence over sex abuse allegations. The announcement came from the Vatican’s embassy in Warsaw. The investigation into Archbishop Leszek Slawoj Glodz, who retired last August, began in November of last year. “Acting on the basis of the provisions of the Code of Canon Law … the Holy See, as a result of formal notifications, conducted proceedings concerning the reported negligence of Archbishop Slawoj Leszek Glodz in cases of sexual abuse committed by some clergy towards minors and other issues related to the management of the archdiocese,” said the apostolic nunciature. A statement from the apostolic nunciature said Glodz may not live in the territory of the archdiocese of Gdansk, nor may he attend religious celebrations or secular meetings there. In addition, Glodz will be paying a “suitable sum” to the Saint Joseph Foundation, an organization that provides assistance to victims of abuse. In 2019, priests in Gdansk accused Glodz of covering up cases of sexual abuse. At the time, Glodz denied any wrongdoing. Glodz was included in a report by people who said they were survivors of abuse. The report identified two dozen current and retired Polish bishops who have been accused of protecting predator priests. The report was delivered to Pope Francis on the evening of his 2019 global abuse prevention summit at the Vatican. Glodz could not be contacted for comment as his whereabouts were not known. The Gdansk archdiocese told Reuters it had received the decision but did not provide any further comment.
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Trial Opens in 2004 Bombing of French Base in Ivory Coast
A trial opened in Paris Monday over the 2004 bombing of a French military base in then war-torn Ivory Coast that killed an American soil scientist and nine French soldiers. The defendants are being tried in absentia. Nearly two decades later, the attack—and the French government’s response—raises many questions.Two Ivorian soldiers and a mercenary from Belarus stand accused of the 2004 bombing of the French army base near Bouake—Ivory Coast’s second largest city held by rebels at a time, when the country was in the middle of a civil war. The whereabouts of the three men are unknown—one of the many mysteries surrounding this trial. Relations between Ivory Coast and its former colonial power France were at a low point when the bombing took place. Anti-French sentiment — especially against its Licorne peacekeeping operation there — was high.Paris was accused of aiding rebels fighting then-president, Laurent Gbagbo. France responded to the Bouake attack by destroying Ivory Coast’s tiny air force. Some believe the attack was a blunder by Ivorian authorities. Former French ambassador to Ivory Coast, Jean-Marc Simon, told Radio France International he believed even former President Gbagbo had not been informed of it in advance – but suggested high-level members of Gbagbo’s government must have given the orders. FILE – Former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo talks to his members of his legal team at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 6, 2020.Lawyer Lionel Bethune de Moro, representing some of the civil parties in the case, told Agence France-Presse news service he believes the attack was deliberate by Ivorian authorities — as a way to get France to leave Ivory Coast.Still, others suggest the bombing was a plot by France to trigger Gbagbo’s departure. It’s a hypothesis raised by another lawyer of the victims, but dismissed by ambassador Simon as a conspiracy theory. There are also questions about why the three defendants were never caught, and international arrest warrants against them not carried out. France’s former ministers of defense, interior and foreign affairs have been called as witnesses in this trial.Bernadette Delon, sister of one of the victims, told AFP she doesn’t expect this trial to resolve anything. It comes as the International Criminal Court in The Hague rules Wednesday on whether to uphold its earlier acquittal of Gbagbo on charges related to post-electoral violence in Ivory Coast, in 2010. If that happens, reports say, the former president plans to go home. In Abidjan, Willy Neth, coordinator for the International Federation for Human Rights in Ivory Coast, says many Ivorians have turned the page on the traumatic events of 2004. He expects few will closely follow this Paris trial. Still, Neth says, political opinions remain sharply divided on France. They’re mostly negative when it comes to opposition figures supporting former president Gbagbo, while the current government of President Alassane Ouattara and his supporters consider France a key international partner.
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