A grand parade will convey 22 ancient Egyptian royal mummies in specially designed capsules across the capital Cairo on Saturday to a new museum home where they can be displayed in greater splendor.The convoy will transport 18 kings and four queens, mostly from the New Kingdom, from the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo’s Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, about 5 kilometers to the southeast.Authorities are shutting down roads along the Nile for the elaborate ceremony, designed to drum up interest in Egypt’s rich collections of antiquities when tourism has almost entirely stalled because of COVID-19 related restrictions.Each mummy will be placed in a special capsule filled with nitrogen to ensure protection, and the capsules will be carried on carts designed to cradle them and provide stability, Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass said.“We chose the Civilization Museum because we want, for the first time, to display the mummies in a civilized manner, an educated manner, and not for amusement as they were in the Egyptian Museum,” he said.Workers prepare for the transfer of 22 mummies from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, in Cairo, Egypt, April 1, 2021.Archaeologists discovered the mummies in two batches at the complex of mortuary temples of Deir Al Bahari in Luxor and at the nearby Valley of the Kings from 1871.The oldest is that of Seqenenre Tao, the last king of the 17th Dynasty, who reigned in the 16th century BC and is thought to have met a violent death.The parade will also include the mummies of Ramses II, Seti I, and Ahmose-Nefertari.Fustat was the site of Egypt’s capital under the Umayyad dynasty after the Arab conquest.“By doing it like this, with great pomp and circumstance, the mummies are getting their due,” said Salima Ikram, an Egyptologist at the American University in Cairo.“These are the kings of Egypt; these are the pharaohs. And so, it is a way of showing respect.”
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Month: April 2021
Al-Shabab Attacks Military Bases in Southern Somalia
The militant group Al-Shabab has launched attacks on Somali military forces in Lower Shabelle region, Somali regional officials said.The attacks in the early hours of Saturday, around 4 a.m. local time, targeted military bases in the towns of Barire and Awdhegle in southern Somalia. The forward operating bases are manned by the Somali military to protect several bridges along the Shabelle river that authorities say are key to keeping vehicles carrying explosives from entering Mogadishu. Attacks started off with suicide car bombs on both bases, followed by infantry attack, regional officials said.Speaking to VOA’s Somali Service, Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur Siidi, the governor of Lower Shabelle region, confirmed the attacks. Siidi said the militants fired mortars on the nearby villages of Sabiid and Anole. More mortar attacks were reported in the vicinity of Jannaale town. In recent years, the Somali National Army, in joint operations with forces of the regional peacekeeping mission, the African Union Mission in Somalia, or AMISOM has recaptured these villages that were previously under the control of Al-Shabaab militants.The Saturday mortar attacks may have been an effort to disrupt possible reinforcements for government forces, Somali officials said.Government forces appear to have repulsed attack on Awdhegle and defended a key bridge used by civilians and the military, but there was heavy fighting in Barire town, the officials added.The Al-Shabab militant group claimed to have “overrun” the Barire military base. A regional official, who did not want to be named because he was not allowed to speak to the media, said Barire bore the brunt of the attack. Two officials said the militants entered Barire military base without providing further details. The militants have now been pushed out of Barire, an official said.Awdhegle and Barire are located 75 kilometers and 60 kilometers southwest of Somalia’s capital city of Mogadishu, respectively.State controlled national television has reported that government forces have “foiled” Al-Shabab attacks on Awdhegle and Barire. Heavy losses have been inflicted on the militants, according to broadcasts on state TV.Somali Army chief Brigadier General Odawaa Yusuf Rageh said “Somali Army killed dozens of terrorist militants including leaders after Shabab attacked SNA [Somali National Army] bases in Awdhegle and Barire in Lower Shabelle region,” on a Twitter post through the state-owned media, Somali National Television.Somali Army killed dozens of terrorist militants including leaders after Shabab attacked SNA bases in Awdhigle and Bariire in Lower Shabelle region,Somalia’s Army chief GE.Odawa Yusuf told to State Media pic.twitter.com/ML2FIH1rpI— SNTV News (@sntvnews1) April 3, 2021Barire was recaptured from Al-Shabab in May 2019, while government forces retook Awdhegle three months later. The capture and holding of the towns was hailed as a test for Somali National Army efforts to “seize and hold” areas recovered from the militants. SNA is being rebuilt to have the capacity to overtake security responsibilities from the 22,000 AMISOM peacekeeping forces who have been in the country since March 2007.In a separate but related incident, a suicide car bomb struck a military convoy travelling on the outskirts of Mogadishu on Saturday morning local time. The convoy was attacked in the vicinity of Lafole, about 20 kilometers from Mogadishu. The convoy was heading towards Awdhegle and Barire to reinforce government forces, officials told VOA’s Somali Service.Government forces also seized a vehicle carrying weapon for the militants in Lafole area, an official said.Casualties from these attacks are not yet known.
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Nigerian Fighter Jet Missing; Boko Haram Claims Attack
Nigerian authorities said an air force fighter jet lost contact days ago in Borno state while on a mission to support ground troops.The jihadist group Boko Haram released a video Friday saying it shot down the jet, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist activity.Boko Haram released a video that showed what appeared to be a plane as it exploded midair. The video also showed the remains of a man who was described as the pilot of the plane by a Boko Haram fighter who spoke in the local Hausa language.The Nigerian Air Force inscription on the plane matches the registration number of the Alpha-Jet which the Air Force said went missing during combat Wednesday.Air Force Spokesman Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet said in a statement that the Alpha-Jet lost contact with radar in Borno State “while on interdiction mission in support of ground troops.”The Air Force said Friday the plane which had two crew members might have crashed, adding that search and rescue efforts are ongoing.”At this point, the NAF is not ruling out anything regarding the incident. It however remains hopeful that the crew would soon be found and rescued,” it said in a statement.Boko Haram has killed tens of thousands of people in its more than 10-year insurgency, which has also spread to neighboring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.The Nigerian-based jihadist group in 2014 also said it shot down a Nigerian air force jet.
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EU-China Relations Enter Downward Spiral
Once-warm relations between the European Union and China have taken a sharp turn for the worse, punctuated by a series of tit-for-tat sanctions imposed by Beijing and Brussels.Only three months after China and the EU struck a landmark economic treaty, the 27 foreign affairs ministers of the EU announced sanctions last week against officials involved in China’s mistreatment of its ethnic Uyghur minority in its northwest Xinjiang region.Hours later, Beijing retaliated with its own sanctions on 10 EU individuals and four entities, including five members of the European Parliament, or MEPs.While U.S.-China relations have declined in recent years, the European countries have enjoyed a much softer ride. After years of negotiations, Beijing and Brussels finally struck a deal aimed at liberalizing trade between them in the last days of December.The breakthrough was made possible by last-minute concessions from Chinese President Xi Jinping and pushes from German officials. The deal, which remains subject to approval by the European Parliament, would ensure that European investors have better access to the fast-growing Chinese market and can compete on a more level playing field in that country.Until recently, this trend seemed to continue. According to data released by Eurostat on March 18, EU exports to China totaled 16.1 billion euros ($19 billion) in January, an increase of 6.6% year-on-year.The momentum is reversed now, however, with the tit-for-tat sanctions and a boycott of European brands being encouraged by Beijing.”It is the EU’s first sanctions against China on human rights issues since the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989,” said Grzegorz Stec, an expert at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Germany, one of the four entities sanctioned by China.Stec told VOA that the EU has imposed sanctions on China for other reasons, including a move against two Chinese people for cyberattacks last year. But this time, he said, “the EU made it clear that it was due to the human rights issue. China clearly regards this issue as China’s internal affair, and China’s countermeasures are unprecedented.”MEPs outragedAmong the individuals being sanctioned by China are five MEPs.Raphael Glucksmann, a French MEP and longtime French human rights advocate, said he sees the Chinese action, which includes a ban on visits to the country, as a recognition of his advocacy for Uyghur rights. After his election in 2019, Glucksmann was widely quoted as saying his goal was to become “the voice of the voiceless people.””Fortunately, we have worked hard to raise the public’s attention to this issue, which is why they (China) are angry with me,” Glucksmann told VOA.He pointed out that in addition to individuals, China sanctioned the Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights. “It is a sanction on the democratic institution of the Parliament.”Shortly after Glucksmann was put on the blacklist by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, he became the target of attacks on Chinese social media. In a show of solidarity with the legislator, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian met Glucksmann last week and tweeted: “On the documented human rights abuses in Xinjiang, France’s position is firm.”Another sanctioned parliamentarian, Ilhan Kyuchyuk of Bulgaria, told VOA in an email that the EU sanctions on China are based on solid legal evidence.”Our relation with China is very important. It is a strategic relationship because we both are key actors in global scene. However, we cannot remain silent when it is obvious what is happening to the Uyghurs and other minorities.”Kyuchyuk said the EU “will continue to express concerns about freedom of expression and association, including the situation of persons belonging to minorities.”Michael Gahler, the foreign policy coordinator and spokesperson of the European People’s Party, the largest political party in the European Parliament, told VOA that he suspected he had been included in the sanctions because of his role as chair of the chamber’s Taiwan friendship group. The German politician said future dialogue between the EU and China will be “more difficult and burdensome.”Gahler pointed out that the Mercartor Institute, one of the most respected European research institutes, is also on the sanctions list. He said in an email that this should be taken into consideration by all the universities and think tanks that are co-financed by the Chinese state through Confucius Institutes or Chinese companies.”Academic freedom is for all or none,” he said. “Those who engage in appeasement are also responsible.”Slovakian MEP Miriam Lexmann said she believes that “credible reports show that the (Chinese Communist Party’s) actions fulfill all criteria of a genocide under the 1949 Genocide Convention.”Lexmann, also on the Chinese sanctions list, accused China of engaging “in threats and countersanctions against those, especially democratically elected parliamentarians, who seek to raise awareness to these terrible human rights abuses.”If China continues with this kind of response, it will make clear that it is not interested in being a partner but a systematic rival that undermines fundamental values and principles which are a ‘condicio sine qua non’ for any cooperation,” Lexmann said in an email.Deal jeopardized?It took seven years and 35 rounds of talks to negotiate the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment. Now, just months later, its ratification by the European Parliament is in doubt because of the tit-for-tat sanctions.The agreement was scheduled to be reviewed and implemented this year, but three of the main political parties in the Parliament have said that as long as the sanctions remain in place, the Parliament will refuse to even open the debate for ratification.”The lifting of sanctions against MEPs is a precondition for us to enter into talks with the Chinese government on the investment deal,” said Kathleen van Brempt, an MEP from the left-leaning Socialist and Democrats group.Glucksmann, one of EU’s most effective activists on the Uyghur issue, said he believes it is time for China to pay a price.”What we should do is to announce clearly that we won’t be voting on the China-Europe investment agreement as long as the sanctions are going on,” Glucksmann said in a telephone interview.Stec, founder of the Brussels-based nonprofit platform “EU-China Hub,” said Beijing may not believe that the diplomatic turmoil will wipe out the achievements of the agreement.Eyck Freymann, a China expert at Oxford University, said last week was more of a political turning point than an economic one. “China and Europe remain deeply integrated in trade, and this relationship will not unravel overnight — if it ever does,” he told VOA.The author of the book One Belt One Road: Chinese Power Meets the World, Freymann pointed out that there are still powerful interest groups in Europe that want to maintain a good relationship with China.However, he said, “As long as human rights is on the top of the agenda, the China-Europe economic relationship cannot deepen or broaden.”
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14 Women Killed in Targeted Attacks Since January in Afghanistan, Says Afghan Rights Commission
Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission confirmed Thursday that 14 women have been killed and 22 others injured since January in targeted killings by armed militants. VOA’s Lima Niazi reports from Kabul.
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South Sudan Secures $174 Million IMF Loan
The International Monetary Fund has agreed to give the South Sudan government an economic stabilization loan of $174.2 million.The loan will be used to address two significant problems, according to South Sudan Central Bank Governor Tier Tong Ngor.“We have agreed with IMF that half of this amount will be used for budget support to pay salary arrears and the other part will remain with the central bank for a balance-of-payment support to stabilize the exchange rate and also to stabilize the market,” said Ngor.The government has not paid civil servant salaries for five months. Ngor said the central bank looks forward to getting its books in order by the end of the next fiscal year.He said South Sudan would pay back the loan on a “long-term” basis without interest. When asked when the government must begin paying down the IMF loan, Ngor did not answer. He blamed falling international oil prices, the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and last year’s floods for South Sudan’s ailing economy.Ngor said the Central Bank also was undertaking other initiatives to restore South Sudan’s economic stability.“We have stopped deficit financing and we also introduced the auction of foreign exchange to foreign exchange bureaus, so we have been auctioning about $2 million every week since December last year, and it is continuing. This action has helped stabilize the exchange rate, and it also has helped the relative stability of prices,” said Ngor.$3 million will be auctioned every two weeks to commercial banks, in addition to $2 million being auctioned to foreign exchange bureaus every two weeks, he said.Ngor also noted the bank was trying to unify the official exchange rate with the market rate.The moves will not resolve South Sudan’s economic woes, but they are a step in the right direction, said Augustino Ting Mayai, a policy analyst with the Juba-based Sudd Institute.“It is more of a supporting instrument for stabilization of the economy, but you will need more resources to be able to stimulate the economy. So, the loan is not a solution, but it provides breathing space for the government to be able to use oil money for other priorities,” Mayai told South Sudan in Focus.South Sudan functions with two different exchange rates: the official rate and the market rate, or the black market.More than a year ago, prior to the coronavirus pandemic, South Sudan’s exchange market rate was 280 South Sudanese pounds for a dollar. Today, $1 exchanges for 620 South Sudanese pounds on the black market. The official exchange rate is $1 for 183 South Sudanese pounds.
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Four UN Peacekeepers Killed in Mali Attack, UN Says
Islamic extremists have killed four U.N. peacekeepers in Mali, the U.N. mission in Mali said Friday. The incident occurred at the peacekeepers’ camp in Aguelhok, in the northern part of the country. The camp is home to mostly Chadian peacekeepers. Helicopters were dispatched to the camp to evacuate the wounded, the U.N. said, adding that several of the “heavily armed” attackers were killed. The extremist movement in northern Mali began in 2012 when rebels seized control of several northern cities. In 2013, they were forced from power in a French-led operation. The rebels have since regrouped in the desert and have launched frequent attacks on the Malian army and its allies. Late last month, officials in Mali accused the French military of killing several civilians in an airstrike in the western Gao region. The French military said the strike killed insurgents. Earlier this week, a U.N. report found that in January the French military had killed 19 civilians in an airstrike. France said those killed also were insurgents.
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After Week of Record Warmth, Europe Temperatures to Nosedive
After a week or more of temperatures from Britain to eastern Europe running as much as 20 degrees above average, forecasters are saying the region will be plunged into record cold next week with a likelihood of snow in some areas. Meteorologists say a strong high pressure system remained over much of Europe the last half of March, trapping heat below it. Monthly high temperature records have fallen in at least three countries. Germany and the Netherlands Wednesday set all-time March records, reporting highs of 27.2 degrees Celsius and 26.1 degrees Celsius, respectively. In Britain Tuesday, Kew Gardens, about 15 kilometers west of London on the River Thames, hit 24.5 degrees Celsius, the highest March temperature in Britain since 1968. French meteorologists also recorded warmth Tuesday as the nation’s average temperature was higher than on any other March day in recorded history. More than 220 weather stations, or roughly 37% of France’s network, observed new maximum March temperatures. Climate scientists say these are the latest in a series of heat records that are disproportionately outpacing the occurrence of cold extremes, largely the product of a changing climate and a planet whose temperatures are skewed hot. The warm weather also made COVID-19 restrictions all the more difficult to enforce in many areas, said officials. But forecasters say that will come to a dramatic end in the next three to five days, as models show a wave in the jet stream forcing out the high pressure and allowing much colder Arctic air into the region, swinging temperatures from record highs to record lows for this time of year. Forecasters say the frigid air is likely to drop temperatures below 0 Celsius in some areas with snow likely in Scotland and higher elevations of Italy and eastern Europe.
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Biden Affirms US ‘Unwavering Support’ for Ukraine in Call
President Joe Biden Friday expressed strong U.S. support Friday for Ukraine in a call with the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the White House said.
“President Biden affirmed the United States’ unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression in the Donbass [sic] and Crimea,” the statement said.
NATO said Thursday it was concerned about a Russian military buildup near Ukraine’s borders, as NATO ambassadors met to discuss the recent spike in violence in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, drawing Western condemnation and tit-for-tat sanctions.
Biden emphasized his administration’s commitment to a strategic partnership with Ukraine and support for Zelenskiy’s anti-corruption plans and reform agenda.
“The leaders agreed these reforms are central to Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations,” the statement said. Zelenskiy said on Twitter he was glad to speak with Biden and appreciates U.S. support on different levels.
“We stand shoulder to shoulder when it comes to preservation of our democracies. My commitment to transform [Ukraine], improve transparency & achieve peace is strong. The American partnership is crucial for Ukrainians,” Zelenskiy said.Glad to talk to @POTUS. 🇺🇦 appreciates 🇺🇸 support on different levels. We stand shoulder to shoulder when it comes to preservation of our democracies. My commitment to transform 🇺🇦, improve transparency & achieve peace is strong. The American partnership is crucial for Ukrainians— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 2, 2021In November, Biden defeated then-President Donald Trump, who was impeached in 2019 over what White House aides described as an effort to withhold nearly $400 million in security aid and a coveted White House visit unless Ukrainian officials announced investigations Trump sought into Biden.
That exchange was at the center of a charge by the Democratic-led House of Representatives that Trump abused his power for political benefit. The U.S. Senate, then controlled by Trump’s fellow Republicans, acquitted him of the charge and another of obstructing justice. Trump denied any wrongdoing.
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Kenya’s Plan to Close Two Camps Worries Refugees
The Kenya Interior Ministry’s announcement last week of its intention to close two major camps has increased uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of refugees, leaving many of them distraught.”I am not ready to be repatriated to Somalia,” fretted Muslima Abdullahi, an 80-year-old woman living in Hagadera, part of the Dadaab refugee complex in northeastern Kenya. “I have nine orphaned children here,” she added. Years ago, terrified by insecurity, she left her homeland and she’s wary of returning now. “My house has been taken. I have no property or livestock. I don’t have a job ahead of me. I am not ready for the process” of repatriation. Ready or not, Kenya’s government says she and other refugees will have no choice but to leave the country. On March 24, Interior Minister Fred Matiangi announced Kenya had given the U.N. Refugee Agency 14 days to present a plan to close Dadaab and Kakuma camps.Kakuma and Dadaab camps, KenyaAbdullahi Osman Haji was among the first refugees to arrive at Dadaab nearly 30 years ago, driven from Somalia by civil war. He married in the camp and has been raising 12 children there. He longs for Somalia but considers that unrealistic, given its fragile government and the ongoing threat of al-Shabab terrorist attacks. “Closing the camps will have [an] adverse impact on us,” Haji said of refugees. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) shares that concern. It issued a statement last week saying the decision would affect “the protection of refugees in Kenya, including in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.” The UNHCR said it was ready to support Kenya’s government in strengthening ongoing efforts “to find solutions that are orderly, sustainable and respect refugee rights.” Kenya’s announcement came without explanation about why it seeks the camps’ closures now. VOA made repeated but unsuccessful attempts to get a comment from Kenyan officials. FILE – Somali refugee families wait to be flown to Kismayo in Somalia under a voluntary repatriation program, at the airstrip of Dadaab refugee camp, in northern Kenya, Dec. 19, 2017.UNHCR refugee programs in Kenya and elsewhere are feeling the strain of insufficient funding, Glenn Jusnes, a spokesperson for UNHCR Kenya, told VOA in an email response. “The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the already dire humanitarian needs globally – particularly in the low and middle-income countries that are currently hosting more than 85% of the world’s refugees,” he wrote. The related economic slowdown has hurt. In the 2020 calendar year, UNHCR Kenya received $94 million – some $70 million less than it had sought, Jusnes said. For 2021, it had received approximately $33 million as of March 9, leaving a funding gap of more than $116 million.Globally, the UNHCR’s 2020 budget was over $9.1 billion but it received some $5.2 billion, leaving a 43% funding gap, Jusnes said. He noted that underfunding cuts into the UNHCR’s protection, assistance and resilience activities. In Kenya, infrastructure and road improvement projects in the Kakuma refugee camp and the nearby Kalobeyei settlement were suspended in early 2020. “Poor road conditions … have complicated access and assistance to refugees,” and “significant amounts” of money have gone to vehicle repairs instead of to direct aid to refugees and host communities, Jusnes said. Little choice While Kenya wants to close the camps, residents of Dadaab and Kakuma say they have no safe alternatives. Shamsa Mohamed Aden was among the refugees who voluntarily returned in 2017 to Kismayo, his southeastern Somali hometown. But he and his household, including four children, “couldn’t get the essentials of life, such as education and clean water.” They recently returned to Hagadera, a camp in the Dadaab refugee complex, and Aden is reluctant to go back. He said of himself, “All Shamsa can do is to wait for UNHCR’s help again.” This report originated in VOA’s Somali Service. Harun Maruf reported from Washington; and stringers Abdiaziz Barrow and Khadar Hared contributed from Mogadishu and Nairobi, respectively. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali contributed reporting from Dadaab refugee camp.
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Police in Brussels Clash With April Fools Partiers
Workers in Brussels were cleaning up the city’s Bois de la Cambre park early Friday after an April Fools’ Day prank brought thousands of young people there Thursday amid a COVID-19 lockdown, leading to clashes with police.A social media posting last month advertising “La Boum” (The Party) for Thursday, April 1, promising a concert was apparently intended as an April Fools’ Day joke. But police said they became concerned when nearly 20,000 people indicated plans to attend.Brussels police Wednesday issued warnings that the advertised “party” was a hoax and in violation of COVID-19 regulations. But officials say about 2,000 people showed up anyway, many of them frustrated by restrictions and drawn out by warm weather.Clashes began later Thursday when police attempted to disperse the crowd, which threw bottles and other projectiles. The police, some on horseback and others in riot gear, responded with water cannons and tear gas.Reports say at least four people were arrested and both police and party goers were injured, some seriously enough to seek treatment at local hospitals. Brussels police and prosecutors say they are investigating who was behind the social media prank.Some of the young people in the park told reporters they came not because of the promised concert or to provoke the police, but because they were bored, sick of the restrictions and wanted to get out. Belgium’s current pandemic restrictions prohibit gatherings of more than four people.
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Italy May Be in Easter Lockdown, But the Party’s On at Sea
ABOARD THE MSC GRANDIOSA — Italy may be in a strict coronavirus lockdown this Easter with travel restricted between regions and new quarantines imposed. But a few miles offshore, guests aboard the MSC Grandiosa cruise ship are shimmying to Latin music on deck and sipping cocktails by the pool.In one of the anomalies of lockdowns that have shuttered hotels and resorts around the world, the Grandiosa has been plying the Mediterranean Sea this winter with seven-night cruises, a lonely flag-bearer of the global cruise industry.After cruise ships were early sources of highly publicized coronavirus outbreaks, the Grandiosa has tried to chart a course through the pandemic with strict anti-virus protocols approved by Italian authorities that seek to create a “health bubble” on board.Passengers and crew are tested before and during cruises. Mask mandates, temperature checks, contact-tracing wristbands and frequent cleaning of the ship are all designed to prevent outbreaks. Passengers from outside Italy must arrive with negative COVID-19 tests taken within 48 hours of their departures and only residents of Europe’s Schengen countries plus Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria are permitted to book under COVID-19 insurance policies. On Wednesday, the Grandiosa left the Italian port of Civitavecchia for its week-long Easter cruise, with 2,000 of its 6,000-passenger capacity and stops planned in Naples and Valletta, Malta, before returning to its home port in Genoa.Passengers welcomed the semblance of normalcy brought on by the freedom to eat in a restaurant or sit poolside without a mask, even if the virus is still a present concern.”After a year of restrictive measures, we thought we could take a break for a week and relax,” said Stefania Battistoni, a 39-year-old teacher and single mother who drove all night from Bolzano, in northern Italy, with her two sons and mother to board the cruise.The pandemic has plunged global cruise ship passenger numbers from a record 30 million in 2019 to over 350,000 since July 2020, according to Cruise Lines International, the world’s largest cruise industry association representing 95% of ocean-going cruise capacity. Currently, fewer than 20 ships are operating globally, a small fraction of CLIA’s members’ fleets of 270 ships. The United States could be among the last cruise ship markets to reopen, possibly not until fall and not until 2022 in Alaska. Two Royal Caribbean cruise lines that normally sail out of Miami opted instead to launch sailings in June from the Caribbean, where governments are eager to revive their tourism-based economies.MSC spokeswoman Lucy Ellis said positive virus cases have cropped up on board MSC ships, particularly during the fall surge. “The important thing is we have never had an outbreak,” she said. The Grandiosa is equipped with a medical center with molecular and antigen testing facilities, as well as a ventilator. Extra cabins are set aside to isolate suspected virus cases. Because of the contact tracing wrist bands, if a passenger tests positive, medical personnel can identify anyone with whom they were in contact. Once the situation is clear, anyone who is positive is transferred to the shore.According to an independent consulting firm, Bermello Ajamii & Partners, just 23 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed on ships since the industry began its tentative relaunch last summer, for a passenger infection rate of 0.006%. But cruise industry critics say the risk isn’t worth it and add that cruise companies should have taken the pandemic timeout to address the industry’s longstanding environmental and labor problems.”All large cruise ships burn huge volumes of the dirtiest, cheapest fuel available,” said Jim Ace of environmental group Stand Earth, a member of the Global Cruise Activist Network. “Cruise ship companies could have used the COVID shutdown to address their impacts on public health and the environment. Instead, they scrapped a few of their oldest ships and raised cash to stay alive.”On board, though, passengers are relishing the chance to enjoy activities that have been mostly closed in Italy and much of Europe for a year: a theater, restaurant dining, duty-free shopping and live music in bars. The rest of Italy is heading back into full lockdown over the Easter weekend, with shops closed and restaurants and bars open for takeout only to try to minimize holiday outbreaks. In addition, Italy’s government imposed a five-day quarantine on people entering from other EU countries in a bid to deter Easter getaways.”Let’s say that after such a long time of restrictions and closures, this was a choice done for our mental health,” said Federico Marzocchi, who joined the cruise with his wife and 10-year-old son Matteo. The cruise industry is hoping for a gradual opening this spring.Cruises are circulating on Spain’s Canary islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, including the company AIDA catering to German tourists. Costa Cruises, which with MSC is one of Europe’s largest cruise companies, will resume cruises on May 1, with seven-night Italy-only cruises. Costa plans to begin sailing in the western Mediterranean from mid-June. Britain is opening to cruise ships in May, with MSC and Viking launching cruises of the British Isles, among several companies offering at-sea “staycation” cruises aimed at capturing one of the most important cruise markets. The cruise industry is hoping Greece will open in mid-May, but the country hasn’t yet announced when it will reopen tourism. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a “framework” for resuming cruises in the U.S., but the industry says the health agency hasn’t spelled out the details that companies need to operate their ships. Once the CDC provides technical requirements, industry officials say it takes about 90 days to prepare a ship for sailing.The cruise companies complain that last fall’s CDC framework is outdated and should be scrapped. They say it was issued before vaccines were available and before the restart of cruises in Europe, which they say have safely carried nearly 400,000 passengers under new COVID-19 protocols. And they complain that cruising is the only part of the U.S. economy that remains shuttered by the pandemic.The Cruise Lines International Association trade group is lobbying for an early July start to U.S. cruising.”Cruisers love to cruise, and they will go where the ships are sailing,” said Laziza Lambert, a spokeswoman for the trade group. “The longer cruises are singularly prohibited from operating in the United States, the more other places in the world will benefit from the positive economic impact generated by an influx of passengers.”
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G-7 Nations Call for Swift Withdrawal of Eritrean Troops From Tigray
G-7 foreign ministers have called for a “swift, unconditional and verifiable” withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region.
The ministers of the world’s leading economies gathered Friday for an annual meeting in Berlin and issued a statement following a recent announcement from Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Eritrea that his country’s forces will withdraw from Tigray soon.
G-7 ministers urged all parties to exercise “utmost restraint, ensure the protection of civilians and respect human rights and international law.”
The ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States, and the high representative of the European Union called for “the end of violence and the establishment of a clear, inclusive political process that is acceptable to all Ethiopians, including those in Tigray.”
The process has to lead “to credible elections and a wider national reconciliation process,” the statement said.
The ministers also expressed deep concern about recent reports on “human rights violations and abuses, and violations of international humanitarian law in Tigray.”
Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 23 MB480p | 32 MB540p | 46 MB720p | 114 MB1080p | 198 MBOriginal | 204 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioAbiy ordered Eritrean troops to move into Tigray in November to detain and disarm leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, saying that the group was responsible for inciting attacks on federal army camps.
Both countries denied for several months that Eritrean troops had entered Tigray, contrary to accounts from diplomats, aid workers, residents, and even some Ethiopian officials.The armed conflict in Tigray has taken thousands of people’s lives and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes. The region of more than 5 million people is facing shortages of food, water and medicine.
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Christians Mark Good Friday Amid Lingering Virus Woes
Christians in the Holy Land are marking Good Friday this year amid signs the coronavirus crisis is winding down, with religious sites open to limited numbers of faithful but none of the mass pilgrimages usually seen in the Holy Week leading up to Easter.The virus is still raging in the Philippines, France, Brazil and other predominantly Christian countries, where worshippers are marking a second annual Holy Week under various movement restrictions amid outbreaks fanned by more contagious strains.Last year, Jerusalem was under a strict lockdown, with sacred rites observed by small groups of priests, often behind closed doors. It was a stark departure from past years, when tens of thousands of pilgrims would descend on the city’s holy sites.This year, Franciscan friars in brown robes led hundreds of worshippers down the Via Dolorosa, retracing what tradition holds were Jesus’ final steps, while reciting prayers through loudspeakers at the Stations of the Cross. Another group carried a wooden cross along the route through the Old City, singing hymns and pausing to offer prayers.The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, died and rose from the dead, is open to visitors with masks and social distancing.”Things are open, but cautiously and gradually,” said Wadie Abunassar, an adviser to church leaders in the Holy Land. “In regular years we urge people to come out. Last year we told people to stay at home … This year we are somehow silent.”Israel has launched one of the world’s most successful vaccination campaigns, allowing it to reopen restaurants, hotels and religious sites. But air travel is still limited by quarantine and other restrictions, keeping away the foreign pilgrims who usually throng Jerusalem during Holy Week.The main holy sites are in the Old City in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured along with the West Bank in the 1967 war. Israel annexed east Jerusalem and considers the entire city its unified capital, while the Palestinians want both territories for their future state. Israel included Palestinian residents of Jerusalem in its vaccination campaign, but has only provided a small number of vaccines to those in the occupied West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority has imported tens of thousands of doses for a population of more than 2.5 million.Israeli authorities said up to 5,000 Christian Palestinians from the West Bank would be permitted to enter for Easter celebrations. Abunassar said he was not aware of any large tour groups from the West Bank planning to enter, as in years past, likely reflecting concerns about the virus.Pope Francis began Good Friday with a visit to the Vatican’s COVID-19 vaccination center, where volunteers have spent the past week administering some 1,200 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to poor and disadvantaged people in Rome.Pope Francis speaks to medical staff on Good Friday at a vaccination site in the Paul VI Hall where the poor and homeless are being inoculated, at the Vatican, April 2, 2021. (Vatican Media/Handout via Reuters)The Vatican City State bought its own doses to vaccinate Holy See employees and their families, and it has been giving away surplus supplies to homeless people. A masked Francis posed for photos with some of the volunteers and recipients in the Vatican audience hall.Later Friday, Francis was to preside over the Way of the Cross procession in a nearly empty St. Peter’s Square, instead of the popular torchlit ritual he usually celebrates at the Colosseum.In France, a nationwide 7 p.m. curfew is forcing parishes to move Good Friday ceremonies forward in the day, as the traditional Catholic night processions are being drastically scaled back or canceled. Nineteen departments in France are on localized lockdowns, where parishioners can attend daytime Mass if they sign the government’s “travel certificate.” Although a third lockdown “light” is being imposed Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron has wavered on a travel ban for Easter weekend, allowing the French to drive between regions to meet up with family on Friday.FILE – Churchgoers wearing face masks lineup outside the Notre-Dame-des-Champs church in Paris, France.Fire-ravaged Notre Dame will not hold a Good Friday Mass this year, but the cathedral’s “Crown of Thorns” will be venerated by the cathedral’s clergy at its new temporary liturgical hub in the nearby church of Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois.In Spain, there will be no traditional processions for a second year in a row, and churches will limit the number of worshippers. Many parishes are going online with Mass and prayers via video streaming services.In the Philippines, streets were eerily quiet and religious gatherings were prohibited in the capital, Manila, and four outlying provinces. The government placed the bustling region of more than 25 million people back under lockdown this week as it scrambled to contain an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases.The Philippines had started to reopen in hopes of stemming a severe economic crisis, but infections surged last month, apparently because of more contagious strains, increased public mobility and complacency.
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India Confirms More Than 80,000 New Daily COVID Cases
India’s health ministry Friday reported 81,466 new COVID cases in the previous 24-hour period. The new tally is the South Asian country’s highest daily count in six months. The western state of Maharashtra has more than half of the new cases with 43,183.India has 12.3 million COVID infections. Only the U.S and Brazil have more cases, with 30.5 million and 12.8 million respectively, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Hopkins reports there are more than 129.6 million global infections.In Brazil’s largest city, gravediggers are exhuming bodies from old graves to make way for the latest victims of the coronavirus. Gravediggers in hazmat suits are working diligently in Sao Paulo’s Vila Nova Cachoeirinha cemetery to accommodate the growing number of bodies.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that vaccine manufacturer Moderna will be allowed to place 15 doses of its COVID vaccine in the same size vial that the pharmaceutical company has been using to contain 10 doses.Moderna said in a statement on its website that “the 15-dose vials will begin shipping in the coming weeks.”Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, said recently during a Royal Society of Medicine webinar that the coronavirus “is not going to go away.” He said, “We are going to have to manage it rather like we manage the flu. … We have to accept that.”The World Health Organization says Europe’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts are “unacceptably slow” in the face of a new surge of the virus and new, more contagious variants.Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO’s European director, issued a statement Thursday urging the continent’s leaders to “speed up the process by ramping up manufacturing, reducing barriers to administering vaccines, and using every single vial we have in stock, now.”The number of new infections across Europe had fallen below 1 million just five weeks ago, but the global health agency says those numbers have since surged to 1.6 million new cases, with nearly 24,000 deaths.Kluge said barely 10% of people across Europe have received at least one dose of a vaccine, with just 4% fully vaccinated.
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Dutch Prime Minister Fights for Political Life in Tough Debate
Caretaker Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte fought for his political life Thursday in a bitter parliamentary debate about the country’s derailed process of forming a new ruling coalition following an election last month.Rutte’s conservative party, known by its Dutch acronym VVD, won the most seats in parliament in the vote, putting him in line to form his fourth governing coalition and possibly become the country’s longest-serving prime minister.That looked a long way off Thursday as lawmakers accused him of trying to sideline a popular lawmaker, a charge that Rutte denies.Negotiations halted a week ago after one of the two officials leading the coalition talks tested positive for COVID-19 and was photographed carrying notes laying out details of the talks.Sigrid Kaag, leader of the centrist D66 party that finished second in elections last month, right, gestures during a debate in parliament in The Hague, Netherlands, early Friday, April 2, 2021.Among the text was a line saying: “Position Omtzigt, function elsewhere.” That was a reference to lawmaker Pieter Omtzigt of the Christian Democrat Appeal party, who, with his tough questions, has long been a thorn in the side of the government.After the note was photographed, Rutte told reporters last week that he had not discussed Omtzigt in his coalition talks. But according to notes made by civil servants that were published Thursday, Rutte did talk about the lawmaker.Rutte told the ensuing debate that he did not remember that part of the discussion and had answered reporters’ questions “in good conscience.””I am not standing here lying. I am telling the truth,” Rutte said.One of the officials who led the coalition talks, caretaker Interior Minister Kajsa Ollongren, also told lawmakers that she did not recall discussing Omtzigt with Rutte, saying that it was the first of 17 separate discussions with party leaders.”We didn’t speak with anybody, with none of the party leaders about a function elsewhere for Mr. Omtzigt,” she said as the hourslong debate extended deep into the night.The debate around the coalition talks and Rutte’s leadership comes as the Netherlands is battling rising coronavirus infections despite a monthslong lockdown. Rutte’s popularity soared last year as he was seen as a steady hand steering the Netherlands through the coronavirus crisis, but it ebbed as the March election approached.Opposition lawmaker Geert Wilders demanded that Rutte step down immediately and called for a motion of no confidence.”Don’t you realize that your time is up?” Wilders said.Omtzigt was not present for the debate between party leaders. He is taking time off, after complaining of exhaustion.Sigrid Kaag, leader of the centrist D66 party, which finished second in the election, said she had seen a “pattern of forgetfulness, amnesia” from Rutte over his more than a decade in office.”How can you, in the greatest crisis that we face in the Netherlands, restore the trust that has again been damaged?” Kaag asked.
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