The killing of African American George Floyd in Minneapolis last year sparked Black Lives Matter protests around the world, alongside demands for a reexamination of injustice, racism and colonial history.Now, how will the guilty verdicts rendered this week against Floyd’s murderer — white former police Officer Derek Chauvin — influence those demands for change?Britain was among the first nations outside the United States to witness demonstrations demanding justice for Floyd. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, a British racial equality activist and author, welcomed Chauvin’s conviction.”What we must do, those who are actively anti-racist, is to continue to push this. This is not a time to be quiet or to think that finally we’ve got a result. No, no, no,” Mos-Shogbamimu said Wednesday.”This does not even begin to deal with healing Black people. It’s a step in the right direction, but we must have real reform. You cannot reform racism. You can’t reform white supremacy. We must eradicate institutional racism. We must eradicate white supremacy. That is what must be done. We must call it out and stop excusing racism in our society.”But how can racism, with its roots in centuries of colonial history, be eradicated?FILE – People take to the streets to march in London, July 11, 2020, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis.In Britain and across Europe, colonial-era statues became the target. In Bristol, a port city in the west of England that made its fortune in the international slave trade, a monument to slave trader Edward Colston was torn down and thrown into the harbor.On the plinth that remains, local Black artist and activist Helen Wilson-Roe replaced the Colston statue with a portrait of Floyd.”Even though this is a victory in America and for Black people and for us in regard to George Floyd, having Derek Chauvin being convicted for the murder of another Black brother, we’ve got a long way to go. And we can’t stop here,” Wilson-Roe said.Marvin Rees was elected Bristol’s mayor in 2016, making Bristol the first major European city to elect a mayor of Black African heritage.”My reaction to the verdict is one of relief overwhelmingly, because it shows there can be accountability for police officers killing people in the United States, and relief because of what could have happened if he was found not guilty,” Rees said Wednesday.”But this image, this narrative around Black men being a threat, and their lives being of less value within the criminal justice system in particular, but in society as a whole, is still with us. And how we get beyond that after being built up after centuries … is a huge challenge for us. And I don’t think there are any easy answers,” he said.It is a challenge for minority communities across Europe.FILE – A man holds a placard reading “George Floyd, Herve Mandundu, Mike Ben Peter and Adama Traore” during a protest against racism and police brutality in Lausanne, France, June 7, 2020.French citizen Adama Traoré of Malian descent died in French police custody in 2016 at age 24. His family said he suffocated when he was pinned down by officers, though French police strongly deny this. No one has been charged, and investigations are ongoing.Protests erupted across France last year, demanding justice for Floyd and Traoré. Traoré’s sister, Assa Traoré, said there is one key difference between the two deaths.”Clearly, if there had been a video [of Traoré’s death], the situation would have been different,” she said. “There is no video. How many cases are there in France, in the world, where there is no video? What should we do with these dead, these victims?”In South Africa, many Black communities say police brutality is endemic, though not necessarily driven by race. Diversity activist Asanda Ngoasheng said the conviction of Chauvin can have significance beyond the borders of the United States.”Does it mean Black people across the world are no longer going to be killed by policemen or other state apparatus? No. But what it does is it begins to send a message that the color of your skin should not and cannot be a reason for somebody to send you to your death,” she said,Ngoasheng said Floyd’s death resonated in a nation once under apartheid.”Globally, we feel the yoke of white supremacy. We feel the foot on our necks as Black people. And so, when incidents like this happen, they amplify, they remind us that globally, we have a common suffering as people of color in general,” she told VOA.”I’m hoping that as the United States reckons with its history of violence, it’s going to mean less emboldenment of white supremacists in South Africa in particular, and I think globally, as well.”Anita Powell contributed to this report.
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Month: April 2021
Uzbekistan Recommended for Religious Freedom Watchlist Designation
A U.S. government body that monitors global religious freedom is recommending that the State Department include Uzbekistan on its special watchlist (SWL) because of Tashkent’s incarceration of 2,000 mostly observant Muslims on charges of religious extremism.In its 22nd annual report published Wednesday, the independent, bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said Uzbekistan merits the designation for engaging in or tolerating “severe violations” of religious freedom.The USCIRF 2021 report recommends an additional 11 countries for the State Department’s SWL: Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Egypt, Iraq, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nicaragua and Turkey.”We urge the Uzbek government to continue to make tangible improvements on its religious freedom and human rights records,” USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel told VOA, calling on the government of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to release an estimated 2,000 people incarcerated for religious activity nationwide.”Mirziyoyev’s government has been trying to make some notable improvements to religious freedom conditions in Uzbekistan in recent years,” Turkel said. “Nevertheless, the Uzbek government still has to release those religious prisoners of conscience, some of whom have remained locked up for many years.”Home to nearly 33 million people, the majority Muslim Central Asian republic had been designated a “country of particular concern” (CPC) by U.S. officials from 2006 to 2019, after which the State Department elevated Uzbekistan to the SWL, citing some progress toward broader religious freedom.CPC is a State Department designation for countries that engage in or tolerate “‘particularly severe violations of religious freedom” under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, whereas the second-tier SWL designation is reserved for countries that engage or tolerate “‘severe’ violations.”Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is seen in this undated photo. (Courtesy, president.uz)According to the USCIRF 2021 report, Mirziyoyev, who assumed power in 2016 following the death of former President Islam Karimov, had in 2020 made some reforms to improve religious freedom conditions in Uzbekistan that “trended positively.””Over the course of [2020], the government registered at least eight non-Muslim religious organizations, ended a de facto ban on children attending mosques, interceded to prevent the eviction and demolition of a synagogue located in Tashkent, and released some religious prisoners,” the report said.Independent MuslimsUSCIRF also noted, however, that Uzbek authorities continued to harass, detain and imprison Muslims who practiced Islam independently of strict state controls or possessed unauthorized “extremist” sermons and other religious texts in print or electronic form.According to the USCIRF report, although the government of Uzbekistan had pardoned and reduced sentences for some religious prisoners throughout 2020, thousands remained imprisoned.”Moreover, in 2020 the government arrested an undetermined number of individuals under broad and ill-defined charges of ‘extremism’ that many observers viewed with skepticism given Uzbekistan’s ‘history of alleging extremism accusations to target political opposition’ and religious individuals,” the report charges.Uzbekistan, which defends its religious freedom record, has downplayed the accusations. Discussing religious freedom with journalists in February, Uzbek Justice Minister Ruslanbek Davletov denied that any restrictions exist.”We must recognize Uzbekistan’s achievements in freedom of thought, conscience and religion,” Davletov said at the time, adding that the Ministry of Justice would continue to work to ensure the religious rights and freedoms of every person.In March, the U.N. Human Rights Committee expressed its concerns about the persistence of torture in prisons and other detention facilities and the use of arbitrary arrest, detention and torture of independent Muslims in the country.Using its religious freedom findings, USCIRF makes policy recommendations to the White House, State Department and U.S. Congress.The watchdog commission also listed Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan for CPC redesignation.It also called for adding India, Russia, Syria, and Vietnam to the CPC list.
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India’s Hospitals Buckle Under Lethal Second Pandemic Wave
Hospitals in India are running desperately short of beds, medical oxygen and key drugs for coronavirus treatment as a lethal second wave of the pandemic brings the country’s health care system to a breaking point.
India reported 314,835 new COVID-19 infections Thursday, the highest one-day total posted by any nation during the year-long global pandemic.
The public health emergency in India is on a scale doctors have never seen before. “It is worse than a tsunami, worse than carpet bombing,” says Jalil Parkar, senior pulmonary consultant at Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai, India’s financial capital that boasts of some of the country’s best hospitals and medical infrastructure.
In locked-down cities, the wail of ambulance sirens is the only sound that breaks the silence on streets and the only crowds seen are outside hospitals and crematoriums as families scramble to get beds or cremate loved ones.
“The influx of patients is so much that we have to treat patients on the wheelchair, sometimes in the ambulance itself and we are doing our best,” according to Parkar.
India’s Capital Shuts Down as Pandemic Chokes Health Care SystemNew Delhi is not the only one struggling to cope – in other cities too like financial capital Mumbai – people are scrambling for hospital beds As oxygen ran scarce, the Delhi High Court ordered the federal government to divert oxygen from industries to hospitals. “You can’t have people die because there is no oxygen,” a two-judge bench said late on Wednesday. “Beg, borrow or steal, it is a national emergency.”
The order came after one of the city’s leading private sector hospital chains, Max Healthcare, told the court that most of its hospitals were working on “dangerously low levels of oxygen supply.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called India’s second wave a “storm.”
“The corona crisis has led to a huge demand for oxygen throughout the country,” Modi said in a nationwide address Tuesday night. “We are taking steps to address this very quickly.” He said authorities were working with states and private firms to deliver oxygen with speed.
It will be too late for many already mourning dead relatives. A man walks past burning funeral pyres of people, who died due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a crematorium ground in New Delhi, India, April 22, 2021.
As the virus ravaged Delhi, doctors said they were flooded with endless calls from desperate people seeking help for beds and oxygen.
“My phone kept ringing all night. People said my son is dying, mother-in-law is dying, or another relative is suffering, so I am troubling you. I had the same request from all – their oxygen level is falling, where should they go?” said Arvind Kumar, a chest surgeon at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram, an affluent business district near New Delhi.
“I don’t think even nightmare is a correct word which expresses the gravity of the situation. There is not a single hospital bed in Delhi today,” Kumar said.
The northern Haryana state ordered police to escort vehicles carrying oxygen cylinders after authorities said one tanker was looted. Local television showed people crowding with empty oxygen cylinders around refilling facilities in the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh. Social media has become a helpline filled with pleas for getting beds or oxygen.
India’s health minister, Harsh Vardhan, said that to address the exponential spike in demand, the government has increased the quota of oxygen for the seven worst-hit states in the country. A worker loads empty oxygen cylinders onto a supply van to be transported to a filling station, at a COVID-19 hospital, amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Ahmedabad, India, April 22, 2021.
Daily infections have risen at a staggering pace in the past seven days, making it India’s deadliest week since the pandemic.
The swift rise has taken aback a country where a steadily downward graph of infections from last September to February brought hope the virus was in retreat – in early February it was counting just around 10,000 cases a day. The optimism was short lived as the case count began rising and then exploded this month.
Prime Minister Modi’s government been criticized for allowing super spreader events in recent weeks, such as a massive Hindu religious festival and packed political rallies led by top leaders. The gatherings took place without COVID-19 protocols, as tens of thousands jostled close to each other mostly without masks. As many as 2.8 million pilgrims took a dip in the Ganges River in Haridwar city on April 12.
Experts say more infectious variants of the coronavirus also could be driving the relentless rise in cases. One such variant called the “double mutant” was first found in the western state of Maharashtra in February, but it failed to ring alarm bells. “It’s known that this variant is more transmissible, moves more easily between people and is able to evade the immune response in some cases,” says Gautam Menon, Physics and Biology Professor at Ashoka University. “We should have been more careful. Certainly, we should step up genomic sequencing that is needed to detect variants.”
The second wave, which has made India the epicenter of the global pandemic, is not expected to peak soon, according to Menon.
“The situation is worrying. We are already at around 300,000 cases, and at 2,000 odd deaths daily. Our vaccination program is faltering a little bit. All this suggests the next couple of weeks is not going to be good for India,” says Menon.
That will be a challenge for an exhausted health care system.
“I think we have nearly crumbled and crashed, I should say. I don’t know how we are going to resurrect,” says pulmonary consultant Parkar, even as he says he is fervently hoping for a dip in the second wave. “Let us all vaccinate everybody, let us save lives. Let there be more beds, let there be more oxygen.”
That is also what people are demanding as they question why authorities did not prepare adequately for a second wave.
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UN Security Council Calls for More Aid Access to Ethiopia’s Tigray
As the conflict in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region enters its sixth month, the U.N. Security Council broke its silence Thursday to call for scaled-up humanitarian access and “a restoration of normalcy.”The statement from the 15-nation council also expressed “deep concern” about reports of sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls in Tigray, calling for investigations and accountability, but did not directly condemn them.Disturbing and horrifying reports have emerged from survivors coming out of Tigray of being raped and gang-raped by men, mostly in uniforms. A senior U.N. official said this week that it may be many months before the full scale and magnitude of atrocities being committed against women and girls in Tigray is known. Council members also reiterated their strong support for regional mediation efforts, particularly the African Union and IGAD, and underscored the importance of their continued engagement. Ireland led the negotiations to achieve the consensus statement. Since assuming a two-year rotating council seat in January, Ireland has convened two informal meetings on Tigray, as Ethiopia is not formally on the council’s agenda. At an event on Wednesday at Georgetown University, Ireland’s U.N. envoy Geraldine Byrne Nason said the council’s silence on Tigray had been “deafening” and was not helping the situation. She struck a more positive note on Thursday.“For the first time, this council speaks with one voice to express its collective concern about the dire humanitarian situation on the ground,” she said in a statement. “While acknowledging the initial steps taken by the Ethiopian government, the Security Council today recognizes that humanitarian actors on the ground need nothing less than unfettered access to people in need.”The region, in Ethiopia’s north, has been the epicenter of hostilities since November, when fighters from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) attacked army bases in the region, according to the federal government. The attack prompted the government to launch a military offensive to push the group out, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said.Ethiopia’s U.N. Mission responded to the Security Council, posting a statement on Twitter.“The Mission wishes to underscore that the law enforcement operation in Ethiopia is an internal affair regulated by the laws of the country, including human rights laws,” the statement said. “The operation undertaken to restore law and order in the Tigray region is within the sovereign purview of the state.”Statement from @Ethiopia_UN on the Press Statement of the United Nations Security Council on the situation in the Tigray region of #Ethiopia. pic.twitter.com/yr3UZYFmTi— Ethiopia at the UN (@Ethiopia_UN) April 22, 2021The government reiterated its commitment to investigate and ensure accountability for human rights violations, including sexual violence. It also said it is providing a “significant portion” of humanitarian assistance and urged the international community to scale up assistance to satisfy needs in Tigray and beyond.The Tigray interim administration estimates that at least 4.5 million of Tigray’s nearly 6 million people need humanitarian assistance. The United Nations has appealed for $1.5 billion to assist 16 million people in Tigray and across Ethiopia this year.
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China Eyes More Bases in Africa, US Military Official Says
U.S. forces in Africa are keeping a watchful eye on China, worried Beijing is getting closer to establishing a network of military and naval bases across the continent.”We know the Chinese desire a network of bases around the globe,” the head of U.S. Africa Command, General Stephen Townsend, told lawmakers Thursday, adding, “My concern is the greatest along the Atlantic coast of Africa.”China established its first military base in on Africa’s east coast, in Doraleh, Djibouti, in 2017, raising concern among U.S. military officials who described the Chinese facility as being “right outside our gates” of the U.S. base at Camp Lemonnier.Townsend said that since then, Beijing has worked on expanding its footprint in Djibouti as it eyes additional locations.”What they have done in the last two years is completed a very large and capable naval pier that adjoins their base,” Townsend said of Chinese expansion at Doraleh. “This pier has a capability to dock their largest ships, to include the Chinese aircraft carrier as well as nuclear submarines.”Now U.S. officials say China is looking to set up a presence farther south along the eastern Africa coast, in Tanzania, and has an even more ambitious plan for Africa’s Atlantic coastline.”This is the most significant threat from China,” Townsend told members of the Senate Armed Service Committee, saying Beijing wants “something more than a place where they can make port calls and get gas and groceries.””I’m talking about a port where they can rearm with munitions and repair naval vessels,” he said. “They’re working aggressively to get that.”Townsend’s testimony followed similar warnings about Chinese military ambitions from other defense officials.In March, the commander of U.S. Southern Command, Admiral Craig Faller, warned of China’s attempt to reach farther into Central and South America.”I look at this hemisphere as the front line of competition,” Faller said.Top US Commander Warns ‘Front Line’ With China Now South of Border Head of US Southern Command tells lawmakers Central and South America are ‘sinking in Chinese influence’ Other U.S. military and intelligence officials have warned of China’s efforts to supplant the United States on the world stage.US Intelligence Warns China, Russia Determined to Erode Washington’s Influence Long-standing threats, pandemics and changing environment are expected to present greatest challenges to US security in coming year U.S. officials note Beijing has been investing heavily in Africa, pledging $60 billion in infrastructure and development funding over the past 10 years, while also expanding the number of embassies on the continent to 52, three more than the U.S. has.There are also growing concerns about Chinese arms sales.Despite those efforts, however, Africa Command’s Townsend said the U.S. is in a position to maintain its influence and relationships.”We don’t have to compete with China head-to-head, dollar for dollar,” he said. “We can target where our investments are best made.”
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Navalny Ally Urges Him to End Hunger Strike
An ally of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has urged Navalny to end his hunger strike, which is in its third week.”To continue [the strike] would be dangerous for his life and health,” Anastasia Vasilyeva, head of the Doctors Alliance union, told Reuters. “We very much hope Alexei will end the hunger strike tomorrow.”The news comes a day after more than 1,900 Navalny supporters were detained during protests in cities across the country.In a Thursday Instagram post, Navalny said he felt “pride and hope” after learning about the protests.“Here it is — the salvation of Russia. You. Those who came out. Those who didn’t come out but supported it. Those who didn’t support it publicly, but sympathized,” Navalny wrote.On Sunday, Navalny, whose health reportedly is deteriorating, was moved from a penal colony east of Moscow to the hospital at a prison in Vladimir, which is 180 kilometers east of Moscow.Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny stands inside a defendant dock during a court hearing in Moscow, Russia, Feb. 20, 2021, in this still image taken from video. (Press Service of Babushkinsky District Court of Moscow/Handout)On Monday, Russia’s prison service said Navalny’s condition was “satisfactory,” but another one of his physicians, Dr. Yaroslav Ashikhmin, said Navalny was suffering from high levels of potassium, which could cause a heart attack, and increased creatinine levels, showing potentially weakened kidney function.Navalny, 44, began his hunger strike at the end of March to protest what he said was a lack of medical care for severe back and leg pain.Navalny survived a near-fatal poisoning last year and was arrested when he returned to Moscow in January following lifesaving treatment in Germany. The Kremlin denies any role in the poisoning.He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison in February on an embezzlement charge and was being held at the Pokrov correctional colony, which he described as “a real concentration camp.”The United States and other countries have sanctioned Kremlin officials over the poisoning, and many are calling for Navalny’s release.As Navalny’s health deteriorates, Russian authorities have asked the Moscow prosecutor’s office to declare Navalny’s organization, the Foundation for Fighting Corruption, an extremist organization.
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US General Warns Afghan Forces Facing Possible Failure
The withdrawal of U.S. and coalition forces from Afghanistan could lead to the eventual collapse of the country’s own security forces, according to the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East and South Asia.U.S. Central Command’s Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie told lawmakers Thursday that the presence of some 10,000 American and coalition troops has allowed Afghan security forces to maintain a stalemate with the Taliban, but that things could change rapidly once Afghan forces are on their own.Marine General Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, speaks with U.S. troops while visiting Forward Operating Base Fenty in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Sept. 9, 2019.”My concern is the ability of the Afghan military to hold the ground that they’re on now without the support they’ve been used to for many years,” McKenzie told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.”I am concerned about the ability of the Afghan military to hold on after we leave, the ability of the Afghan air force to fly, in particular, after we remove the support for those aircraft,” McKenzie said, noting the U.S. and NATO no longer provide direct support to Afghan forces. “It’s the enabling things that actually give them an edge over the Taliban.”McKenzie’s assessment runs counter to assurances given by other U.S. officials as well as by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who expressed confidence in his forces on Twitter.”Afghanistan’s proud security and defense forces are fully capable of defending its people and country, which they have been doing all along,” Ghani wrote last week.Afghanistan’s proud security and defense forces are fully capable of defending its people and country, which they have been doing all along, and for which the Afghan nation will forever remain grateful.— Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) April 14, 2021But concern about the Afghan security forces, and the future stability of Afghanistan, has been growing since U.S. President Joe Biden announced last week, after months of deliberations, that he would begin pulling U.S. forces from the country starting May 1.”It’s important the American people understand that the repercussions of this are not going to be pretty,” said Republican Senator Mike Rounds. “We will see reports of atrocities in those areas as committed by the Taliban if these Afghan national forces are not able to hold their own.”Threat of increased violenceThere has also been concern about the safety of U.S. and coalition forces during the withdrawal.Some lawmakers and analysts see the likelihood of a Taliban attack on withdrawing U.S. forces as high, citing threats from Taliban officials that “problems will certainly be compounded” if U.S. troops do not adhere to the original terms of the deal and vacate Afghanistan by May 1..@PentagonPresSec on @nytimes report @CENTCOM wants an aircraft carrier for #Afghanistan withdrawal@SecDef “has made clear that we will execute the drawdown in Afghanistan in a safe, orderly & deliberate manner & that we will do everything possible to protect our troops…”— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) April 22, 2021U.S. military officials say planning and coordination with the Afghan government and other allies is still under way, but McKenzie said the U.S. and its allies would be ready.”We will have additional capabilities, and I’m confident that we and our coalition partners will be able to extract ourselves,” he told lawmakers Thursday. “We’re prepared if the Taliban want to take shots at us.”But McKenzie said the bigger concern is what happens to Afghan security forces once U.S. and NATO forces are gone, admitting that the Taliban have at least 50,000 fighters at their disposal and control more territory now than they did a decade ago.”If we don’t provide them some support, they certainly will collapse, and I think that’s not in our best interest,” he said.Those concerns are not new. The U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), John Sopko, warned in March that without U.S. and international assistance, and in absence of a viable peace agreement, “Taliban forces could be at the gates of Kabul in short order.”SIGAR further warned that without U.S. and international contractors, all of whom are slated to leave as part of the withdrawal, the Afghan air force could be effectively grounded within months. JUST IN: Pentagon says that as of this month (April 2021) there are 16,832 @DeptofDefense contractors in #AfghanistanUS Citizens: 6,1473rd Country Nationals: 6,399Afghans: 4,286 https://t.co/O2uVIO2lfm— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) April 16, 2021An opening for terror groupsA study group mandated by Congress also sounded alarms in February, noting that a U.S. withdrawal would create opportunities for terror groups, including al-Qaida and Islamic State.”We believe a U.S. withdrawal will provide the terrorists an opportunity to reconstitute,” retired General Joseph Dunford, study group co-chair and former chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the time. “That reconstitution will take place in about 18 to 36 months.”MORE: “The probability of civil war is high in the wake a precipitous withdrawal of the #UnitedStates” per ret. Gen Joseph Dunford, calling #Afghanistan a “fragile state”#AfghanistanStudyGroup— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) February 3, 2021On Thursday, however, U.S. Central Command’s McKenzie expressed more immediate fears.”Protection of an embassy is the responsibility of the host nation,” he told lawmakers. “It is a matter of great concern to me, and I think everyone, whether or not the future government of Afghanistan is going to be able to do that after we leave.”Several lawmakers, though, voiced support for the decision to pull U.S. troops from Afghanistan despite the risks.”We should have learned by now that a conditions-based withdrawal is just a recipe for staying in Afghanistan forever,” Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said during Thursday’s hearing.”Defense officials have come before this committee year after year to proclaim that the U.S. has ‘turned the corner’ in Afghanistan,” she said. “But all I see is a vicious cycle that damages our nation’s reputation abroad and keeps our troops in harm’s way while producing little tangible benefit for our security.”
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Ukraine’s President Says Russian Troop Pullback Eases Tensions
Ukraine’s president said Thursday that Russia’s troop reduction near the Ukraine border was reducing tensions between the countries but cautioned his country must remain alert.Russia earlier ordered tens of thousands of troops to return to their home bases following large-scale drills.“The reduction of troops on our border proportionally reduces tension,” tweeted President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. “Ukraine is always vigilant, yet welcomes any steps to decrease the military presence & deescalate the situation in Donbass.”Donbass is a region in southeastern Ukraine where conflict between the countries has persisted since 2014, when Russia seized Crimea and began supporting separatists in the region.The U.S. and NATO have said the recent Russian troop buildup was the largest since Russia’s annexation of Crimea.Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered the troop reduction after declaring an end to the maneuvers in Crimea and western Russia.“The troops have shown their capability to defend the country, and I decided to complete the drills in the South and Western military districts,” Shoigu said.While Shoigu ordered the troops back to their bases by May 1, he said they should leave their weapons near the border in western Russia for more exercises later this year.Russia’s troop buildup occurred as more frequent violations of a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine raised concerns in the West, which called on Russia to pull back its forces.Russia, in turn, has long criticized the deployment of NATO troops near its borders.The Kremlin began conducting more military exercises as relations with the West deteriorated to post-Cold War lows over its seizure of Crimea, its interference in foreign elections, global cyberattacks and other issues.
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A Look at Why Ghana Is Attracting IT Firms
Ghanaian social media users were in a state of ecstasy earlier this month when the U.S. social networking service, Twitter, announced it was setting up its first African office in Ghana. President Nana Akufo-Addo described the move as “excellent news.” A statement by Twitter said Ghana’s democratic credentials and support for free speech and online freedoms made it the company’s choice. Twitter joins Google and other IT firms with offices in Ghana. But why are top IT firms like Twitter choosing the West African country instead of other African nations? Ghana’s minister of communications and digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, says apart from good governance, the country has set high standards for doing business. “We’re the envy and the toast of many countries around the world. We hold ourselves to high standards,” she said. “The pull factor with Twitter here [is] if their business thrives, other global tec.h giants will also say Ghana is not such a bad place to locate your business on the continent after all.” According to Hootsuite’s Digital 2021 Report, there were 14.7 million internet users in Ghana in January 2020 while internet use in the country stood at 48 percent. Ghana also has six million social media users. For his part, the head of the international non-profit Hacklab Foundation, Foster Akugri, says Ghana’s attraction for tech giants is not simply about the numbers. He said the firms have taken note that the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area is located in Accra. “The gateway to Africa is Ghana. So, for Twitter to have chosen Ghana, I believe it’s very strategic. As a multinational I believe you want to be closer to where the decisions are made,” he said.Meanwhile, Twitter is looking to fill jobs in Ghana, including positions in engineering and marketing. All this has spurred Ghanaians to look forward to scoring another first on the continent in hopes of bringing more opportunities and development to the country.
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Beijing Condemns Pakistan Suicide Blast Targeting Chinese Diplomats
Officials in Pakistan said Thursday the death toll had risen to at least five from an overnight suicide car bombing of a luxury hotel in a southwestern city, which apparently targeted visiting Chinese diplomats. The powerful explosion ripped through the parking lot of Serena Hotel in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, late Wednesday, injuring at least 13 others, some of them critically.Security sources said the bomber detonated the “vehicle-born” explosives just before China’s ambassador to Pakistan, Nong Rong, was due to arrive back at the hotel from a dinner party elsewhere in the city.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing Thursday that Beijing “strongly condemns” the bombing and extended sympathies to the victims. Wenbin confirmed that Rong had been leading a delegation to the city and that they were staying at the Serena Hotel.“The Chinese delegation was not in the hotel when the attack happened. So far, no Chinese casualties have been reported in the attack,” Wenbin said. He offered no indication as to whether Rong’s delegation might have been specifically targeted in the attack. Suicide Blast Rips Through Parking Lot of Pakistan Hotel Pakistani Taliban claims responsibility for late-night bombing at Quetta’s Serena Hotel targeting local, foreign officials The outlawed Pakistani Taliban militant group claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying the intended target of the suicide bombing was a “high-profile meeting involving foreign officials.” It did not elaborate further. “At present, the relevant departments in Pakistan are making full effort to investigate the incident,” said Wenbin. “We believe that the Pakistani side will find out the truth at an early date and bring the perpetrators to justice.”The Chinese spokesman said that China will continue to “firmly support” Pakistan’s efforts against terrorism and “jointly maintain and promote regional security and stability and ensure the safety of Chinese personnel and institutions in Pakistan.”“I am deeply saddened by the loss of innocent lives in the condemnable & cowardly terrorist attack in Quetta yesterday,” Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted Thursday. I am deeply saddened by the loss of innocent lives in the condemnable & cowardly terrorist attack in Quetta yesterday. Our nation has made great sacrifices in defeating terrorism & we will not to allow this scourge to rise again. We remain alert to all internal & external threats— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 22, 2021He added that Pakistan has made “great sacrifices in defeating terrorism” and it will not allow this “scourge” to resurge. “We remain alert to all internal & external threats.”Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that the attack was a “major security breach” and a high-level investigation would be conducted to hold those responsible to account.”We condemn in the strongest terms last night’s bombing in #Quetta, a senseless act of terrorism that killed and injured several people,” the U.S. embassy in Islamabad tweeted Thursday. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families, and we wish a speedy recovery for the survivors.” We condemn in the strongest terms last night’s bombing in #Quetta, a senseless act of terrorism that killed and injured several people. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families, and we wish a speedy recovery for the survivors.— U.S. Embassy Islamabad (@usembislamabad) April 22, 2021Baluchistan is at the center of a Chinese-funded, multibillion-dollar infrastructure development project, an extension of Beijing’s global Belt and Road Initiative. The bilateral cooperation, known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor or CPEC, has built the deep-water Arabian Sea port of Gwadar in the province and constructed new roads, as well as power plants elsewhere in Pakistan, over the past six years.Ethnic Baluch secessionist groups are waging an insurgency in Baluchistan, the country’s natural resource-rich and largest province. The separatists also routinely claim credit for plotting attacks against Pakistani security forces and other installations.
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African Children Missing Out on Life-Saving Vaccines Due to COVID-19
The World Health Organization warns that millions of children in Africa are not receiving life-saving vaccinations against preventable killer diseases because most efforts are focused on ending the COVID-19 pandemic. Latest WHO figures find more than 4.4 million COVID-19 cases on the African continent, including 118,000 deaths.Crucial immunization campaigns against diseases such as measles, polio and yellow fever have been put on hold while countries tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.For example, the World Health Organization reports that 15 African countries last year delayed measles immunization campaigns to deal with the pandemic. WHO regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, says seven of these countries have since completed the campaigns, but eight have not, risking outbreaks of this deadly disease. WHO: Africa Left Behind in Race for COVID-19 Vaccine World Health Organization says Africa’s rollout of COVID-19 vaccine is being hampered by supply shortages and delays in planned deliveries”Preliminary data show that an estimated 16.6 million children in Africa missed planned supplemental measles vaccine doses between January 2020 and April 2021,” Moeti said. “As we fight COVID-19, we cannot leave anyone dangerously exposed to other preventable diseases.”Moeti says hopes are growing that vaccines will help bring the COVID-19 pandemic to an end. At the same time, she says many of the millions of African children who are not being reached by routine vaccinations are at risk of dying. She says this must not and need not happen.Sierra Leone’s minister of health and sanitation, Austin Demby, agrees. He says vaccines really do work, and regular vaccinations for children must be maintained. He says immunization coverage in his country has improved steadily in the past five years before the COVID-19 outbreak. As a consequence, he says Sierra Leone has gone for a number of years without major outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases like measles and yellow fever.”Despite the gains that have been made in immunization coverage over the years, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to adverse effects on vaccination coverage across the country. … With all eyes focused on COVID-19 vaccines, other crucial vaccination commitments must not be forgotten,” said Demby.WHO reports 41 African countries so far have received over 18 million doses through the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility. This number, it says, includes seven countries that received their first deliveries last week due to shipment delays.Moeti says Africa’s vaccine rollout also has been delayed because of production limitations in India, which is facing a severe wave of COVID-19. However, she says WHO has been informed that India will resume vaccine supplies to Africa in early May.
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French Foreign Minister Backs Chad’s Transitional Military Council
France’s foreign minister is defending the takeover of Chad’s government by a transitional military council. Jean-Yves Le Drian said during a television interview Thursday that “exceptional circumstances” made it necessary for Chad’s military to dissolve the National Assembly and form an 18-month transitional council, following the death of President Idriss Deby this week. The speaker of the National Assembly should have become president under Chad’s constitution, but speaker Haroun Kabadi issued a statement that he agreed with the council’s takeover “given the military, security and political context.” Le Drian said Kabadi’s position justified the military taking control. Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, 37, the son of Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno, is seen during a military broadcast announcing the death of his father on state television, April 20, 2021.The council named Deby’s son, 37-year-old General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, as interim president of the central African nation. The army said Tuesday the elder Deby died from injuries sustained while visiting troops on the front line. A rebel force known as the Front for Change and Concord in Chad, known by its French acronym FACT, has advanced from the north in recent days toward the capital, N’Djamena. The group had been based in neighboring Libya. The rebel group released a statement Tuesday vowing to take the capital and depose the younger Deby. “Chad is not a monarchy,” the statement read. “There can be no dynastic devolution of power in our country.” A day before his death, the 68-year-old Deby was declared the winner of Chad’s April 11 election with 79 percent of the vote, giving him a sixth term in office. Most opposition groups had boycotted the poll, citing arrests and a government ban on opposition rallies. Deby had ruled Chad since coming to power in a December 1990 coup, making him one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders. Opponents called him an autocrat and criticized his management of Chadian oil revenue. In 2008, a different rebel force reached N’Djamena and came close to toppling Deby before French and Chadian army forces drove them out of the city. FILE – France’s President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Chad’s President Idriss Deby at the Elysee presidential palace for a lunch as part of the Paris Peace Forum, Nov. 12, 2019.In the West, however, Deby was seen as an important ally in the fight against Islamist extremist groups in West Africa and the Sahel, like Nigeria-based Boko Haram.
The Libya-based FACT had attacked a border post on the day of the election and then moved hundreds of kilometers toward the capital. On Monday, the Chadian army said it had inflicted a heavy loss on the rebels, killing more than 300 of them.
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India’s Hospitals Buckle Under Second Pandemic Wave
India reported 314,835 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, the highest one-day total posted by any nation during the year-long global pandemic. The devastating second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the world’s second most populous country has brought its health system to the brink of collapse even in its biggest cities. Experts say super spreader events and a more infectious variant could have caused the surge in India that is now the epicenter of the global pandemic. Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi.
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Russia Will Face Sanctions If Navalny Dies, France Says
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Thursday that Russia and President Vladimir Putin will face sanctions if opposition leader Alexey Navalny dies.
Speaking to France 2 television, Le Drian said, “We will take the necessary sanctions and it will be the responsibility of Mr. Putin and the Russian authorities. I hope we won’t go to that extreme.”
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan made similar comments to CNN Sunday, warning of unspecified “consequences” in the event of Navalny’s death.
Navalny was arrested in January after returning to Russia from Germany where he spent five months recovering from nerve agent poisoning. Navalny blames the Russian government for the attack, while Russian officials deny the accusation.
The opposition leader and frequent critic of Putin has been in declining health since launching a hunger strike three weeks ago.
His supporters have turned out for rallies calling for his release.
Police arrested more than 1,700 protesters on Wednesday as demonstrations took place in dozens of Russian cities.
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Haitian Protesters Use Vodou to Persuade the President to Step Down
A group of Haitian protesters is using Vodou and a battle tactic inspired by a Bible passage to get President Jovenel Moise to step down.About 20 demonstrators circled Haiti’s national palace seven times around midday Wednesday, a tactic taken from a Bible passage that was used by the Israelites to eliminate their first major obstacle on their path to the Promised Land — the fortified city of Jericho.In the Bible passage, the Israelites walked around the walls of Jericho once a day for six days and seven times on the seventh day, then shouted, causing the walls to come tumbling down.Haitian protest organizer Etzer Jean Louis explained why he took this tactic.“It represents seven tours of deliverance. Seven tours that broke the walls of Jericho. Seven tours that will eliminate the mafia (gangs). Seven tours that will eliminate the criminals (holding us hostage). Today, you can already see the miracles these seven tours have made happen,” he told VOA, without citing any examples.Vodou symbols were also drawn using a white substance on a street near the presidential palace. A bundle of firewood was placed to the side and then set on fire, as protesters standing in a circle watched.Haitian protesters used Voodoo and a battle tactic taken from the Bible to get president Jovenel Moïse to step down. #Haitipic.twitter.com/V7E5zbPGYM— Sandra Lemaire (@SandraDVOA) April 21, 2021“God will strike them down so the Haitian people can breathe freely. COVID-19 has not stricken us down, but we are struggling, nonetheless. We are climbing up a steep hill,” Jean Louis said. “Haiti must be liberated. And to make that happen, the first thing is to get Jovenel Moise out. We won’t back down.”Moise said he will step down when his term expires February 7, 2022. The international community supports that stance but urged him to organize legislative and presidential elections as soon as possible. A constitutional referendum is planned for June 27, followed by legislative and presidential elections in September and November.A spike in kidnappings during the past month has terrorized Haitians and threatens to derail the electoral process. Gangs are currently holding five Catholic priests, two nuns and three relatives of a priest they kidnapped on April 11. The abduction sparked national and international outrage and prompted condemnation from the religious sector.The Catholic Church called for a three-day closure this week of all its institutions, including schools across Haiti.VOA Creole’s reporter on the scene said the president’s motorcade arrived at the national palace as protesters were making their third round. National palace guards were in position outside the gates, preventing them from interacting with Moise.On their fourth circle around the palace, police fired tear gas to disperse them. Although some of the protesters ran away, the majority remained to finish as planned.Opposition politician Abel Loreston. (VOA/Renan Toussaint)It’s not the first time protesters have used this tactic to effect change, according to anti-corruption activist Reginald Dume.“On April 7, we circled the palace seven times, so today’s seven tours (and the seven tours we made in March) will make it 21 tours of the palace in total,” Dume told VOA. The activist said he also joined the protest to show support for the abductees.“We’re out here in a show of solidarity with all priests and nuns who are being subjected to a series of acts that people should never be subjected to. It’s important for the Haitian people to know we don’t have a choice. We should show the world that we are dignified people and continue mobilizing against the government,” Dume said.Opposition politician Abel Loreston, who participated in the protest, said progress has been made.“We’re advancing, we’re fighting against state-sanctioned kidnappings, planned acts of violence, human rights violations. Too much blood has been shed, too many people have died. The nation can’t take it anymore,” said Loreston, who spoke to VOA during his fourth march around the national palace.Moise denies having ties to gang members and has taken measures to shore up security in the capital.During a national speech in March, he warned kidnappers that they would be hunted down and severely punished. An anti-kidnapping cell has been established within the national police force, and a state of emergency has been declared in neighborhoods where gangs are most active, the president announced. Despite these measures, the kidnappings continue.A protester who declined to give his name said they know it won’t be an easy fight.“We knew the battle against Jovenel Moise and the PHTK (ruling party) wouldn’t be easy. But we can’t get discouraged. We must continue fighting. When you’re at war, you may not know how long the battle will last, but we will fight until we get a victory,” he said.“Everyone should find what is happening (in Haiti) today revolting,” Dume said.
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India Reports World’s Biggest Single-Day Total of COVID-19 Infections
India reported 314,835 new COVID-19 infections Thursday, the highest one-day total posted by any nation during the yearlong global pandemic.By contrast, the United States posted 300,310 single day new cases on Jan. 2, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.India, the world’s second-most populous country, is dealing with a second wave of infections that has pushed the country’s health care system to the brink of collapse, with hospitals near capacity and facing an acute shortage of oxygen canisters. The oxygen shortage is so acute that the high court in the capital, New Delhi, ordered the national government to divert oxygen from industrial use to hospitals.“Beg, borrow or steal,” the judges said in response to a petition by a New Delhi hospital.Thursday is the eighth consecutive day India has posted more than 200,000 new coronavirus cases, pushing the country’s total number of infections to well over 15.9 million, second only behind the 31.8 million in the United States. India’s health ministry also revealed that 2,104 people died Thursday, raising the overall death toll to 184,657, as the current surge has overwhelmed cemeteries and crematories.Experts have blamed the surge on the spread of more contagious variants of the virus, as well as lifting restrictions on large crowds when the outbreak appeared to be under control earlier this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come under fire for holding packed political rallies and allowing an annual Hindu religious festival that attracted millions of pilgrims.The latest figures from Johns Hopkins puts the total number of COVID-19 infections at 143,863,870, including more than 3 million deaths. In addition to the total number of confirmed cases, the U.S. leads in the number of total fatalities with 569,402.A preliminary study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine shows the two-shot vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna do not pose any serious risk during pregnancy.The study used data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s smartphone-based vaccine surveillance system, where participants complete regular surveys about their health and any side effects they may be experiencing after being inoculated. More than 35,000 pregnant women who received either vaccine between December 14, 2020 and February 28, 2021 reported the same general side effects experienced by non-pregnant women, including pain at the injection site, fatigue, headaches and muscle pain.
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