Germany, France and Britain pressed Iran on Saturday to back off the latest planned violation of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, saying that Tehran has “no credible civilian use” for uranium metal.The International Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday that Iran had informed it that Iran began installing equipment for the production of uranium metal. It said Tehran maintained its plans to conduct research and development on uranium metal production were part of its “declared aim to design an improved type of fuel.”Uranium metal can also be used for a nuclear bomb, however, and research on its production is specifically prohibited under the nuclear deal — the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — that Tehran signed with Germany, France, Britain, China, Russia and the United States in 2015.Since the unilateral American withdrawal from the deal in 2018, the other members have been working to preserve the accord. Iran has been using violations of the deal to put pressure on the other signatories to provide more incentives to Iran to offset crippling American sanctions reimposed after the U.S. pullout.’Grave’ implicationsA joint statement from the German, French and British foreign ministries said they were “deeply concerned” by the latest Iranian announcement.”Iran has no credible civilian use for uranium metal,” it said. “The production of uranium metal has potentially grave military implications.””We strongly urge Iran to halt this activity and return to compliance with its JCPoA commitments without further delay if it is serious about preserving the deal,” the statement added.The ultimate goal of the deal is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, something Iran insists it does not want to do.President-elect Joe Biden, who was vice president when the deal was signed during the Obama administration, has said he hopes to return the U.S. to the deal.
…
Month: January 2021
Distrust, Division and Doubt Cloud Palestinian Election Call
Beset by political infighting, split between three territories and distrustful of their institutions, many Palestinians are skeptical that their first national elections in 15 years will bring change – or even happen at all.
President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday that parliamentary and presidential elections would be held later this year in a bid to heal long-standing divisions. His main rival, the militant Islamist group Hamas, welcomed the move.
The announcement is widely seen as a gesture aimed at pleasing U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, with whom the Palestinians want to reset relations after they reached a low under Donald Trump.
But a December poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found 52% of Palestinians think elections held under present conditions would not be fair and free.
If Hamas won, 76% thought Fatah – the party led by Abbas – would not accept the result and 58% believed Hamas would reject a Fatah victory.
“We have taken an important step, but we still have a long way to go,” said veteran West Bank political analyst Hani al-Masri. “Great obstacles remain and without overcoming these obstacles the whole operation will be doomed to fail.”
Palestinian observers said those hurdles include disagreements within Hamas and Fatah – long the dominant faction in the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization.
It is unclear what mechanism would be put in place to ensure a free election, whether international observers would take part and whether Abbas, aged 85 and in poor health, would run.
The United States, Israel and European Union would likely refuse dealings with any Palestinian government that included Hamas, which is designated by the West as a terrorist group.
Power struggle
Israeli officials did not immediately comment, and it was unclear whether Israel would permit election activity to take place in East Jerusalem, as it did previously. Palestinians want to hold the elections there, as well as the West Bank and Gaza.
“We have other alternatives, and what is important is that people from Jerusalem can take part in the election,” Hanna Nasir, chairman of the Palestinian Central Election Committee, said Saturday.
The last parliamentary ballot, in 2006, ended in a surprise win by Hamas in their first-ever national elections, creating a rift with Fatah that plunged into civil war when Hamas seized control of Gaza the following year.
Gaza is now a Hamas stronghold, while Abbas’s power base is in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The two groups have failed to achieve lasting reconciliation, and previous pledges to hold elections went unfulfilled. Rights groups have accused both of suppressing political opposition.
Abbas said the parliamentary election will be held on May 22 and the presidential vote on July 31. He won in 2005 but his term was only meant to last four years.
Many ordinary Palestinians are skeptical.
“They will find a thousand reasons to call it off; Israel, the resistance, power-sharing, anything. I don’t have any hopes,” said one Gaza man, who asked not to be named because he was breaking a coronavirus lockdown.Zuheir al-Khatib, a 57-year-old doctor from Bethlehem, was more optimistic. “This is a 100% good decision, merited for over 15 years, if not more, we are supposed to be initiating a state and thus should have democracy,” he said.
…
Campaign Aims to Convince Americans COVID Vaccine Safe
Two years ago, in January 2019, the World Health Organization said vaccine hesitancy was among the top 10 threats to global health. That was before COVID-19 spread around the globe. VOA’s Carol Pearson tells us how doctors are working to overcome that hesitancy.
…
Biden Names Geneticist for New Cabinet-level Post on Science
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden named pioneering geneticist Eric Lander as the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy on Friday, elevating the post to Cabinet-level status for first time.Lander, a Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who helped lead the Human Genome Project, will also serve in the role of presidential science adviser, Biden’s team said.”Science will always be at the forefront of my administration — and these world-renowned scientists will ensure everything we do is grounded in science, facts and the truth,” Biden said in a statement, which announced several personnel appointments to the White House science team.”Their trusted guidance will be essential as we come together to end this pandemic, bring our economy back and pursue new breakthroughs to improve the quality of life of all Americans,” Biden said.Lander, 63, will succeed meteorologist Kelvin Droegemeier, who was named director by President Donald Trump in 2019 after the role was left vacant for nearly two years.Biden, who will be sworn in as president on January 20, excoriated Trump repeatedly during the election campaign for undermining faith in science, whether it was Trump’s downplaying of evidence of climate change or suggesting injecting disinfectants might treat COVID-19.Biden has pledged to increase funding in U.S. research and development, including medical research and clean energy. He also appointed former Secretary of State John Kerry as a special presidential envoy for climate.”Tremendously excited to work alongside so many bright minds to advise the President-elect and push the boundaries of what we dare to believe is possible. We need everyone,” Lander said in a tweet.The duties of OSTP, the White House’s top body for space policy formation under former President Barack Obama, could clash with the National Space Council that Trump revived in 2017.Biden’s transition team is weighing whether to disband or keep the council, a person familiar with the team’s planning said.
…
Arrests Mount in US Capitol Riot With Nearly 300 Suspects Identified
U.S. prosecutors aggressively pursuing the perpetrators of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol have identified nearly 300 individuals suspected of involvement in the violent rampage that left five people dead, officials announced Friday.The number of suspects under investigation – 275 as of Friday morning – was expected to top 300 by the end of the day and exponentially grow in the coming days, said Michael Sherwin, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.Sherwin’s office is leading a wide-ranging investigation that includes hundreds of prosecutors and FBI agents trying to identify and charge supporters of President Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol last week. Complicating their work, all but a handful of the rioters were allowed to walk away from the Capitol on the day of the riots and are believed to have traveled back to their home states.FILE – Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin speaks during a news conference, Jan. 12, 2021, in Washington.To date, Sherwin told reporters during a press call, prosecutors have filed 98 criminal cases in connection with the rioting, the majority of them for felony offenses.Authorities in some cases relied initially on misdemeanor charges to arrest the rioters, but “as the investigation continues, as the days and weeks progress, we’re looking at more significant federal felony charges,” Sherwin said.The felony charges range from assault on a law enforcement officer to seditious conspiracy, a charge that carries up to 20 years in prison.Steven D’Antuono, assistant FBI director for the Washington field office, said more than 100 suspects have been taken into custody around the country. The FBI made more than 40 of those arrests, he said.”We have methodically followed all the leads to identify those responsible and hold them accountable,” D’Antuono said.FILE – Supporters of President Donald Trump are confronted by U.S. Capitol Police officers outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. The Arizona man seen in the fur hat, Jacob Chansley, was taken into custody Jan. 9.Among the recently charged defendants, Sherwin cited Peter Francis Stager, an Arkansas man who was captured on video beating a police officer with a flagpole inside the Capitol. Stager was charged on Thursday with one count of obstructing, impeding and interfering with a police officer during a civil disorder.“I think that’s really the height of hypocrisy, that [he] was beating [a Metropolitan Police Department] officer with a flagpole and at the other end of that flagpole was attached the American flag,” Sherwin said.Several current and former members of law enforcement and the military have also been arrested on charges of rioting at the Capitol. On Wednesday, Jacob Fracker and Thomas Robertson – two off-duty officers from Rocky Mount, Virginia, who allegedly traveled 200 miles to take part in the event – were arrested and charged in federal court.In the nine days since the attack, the FBI has received more than 140,000 videos and photographs of the riots from the public, D’Antuono said, adding that the tips proved critical in identifying some of the culprits.Warnings by the FBI about armed protests in Washington as well as all 50 state capitals have led to unprecedented security measures in the nation’s capital ahead of Biden’s inauguration Wednesday.
…
National Rifle Association Files for Bankruptcy as Part of Restructuring
The National Rifle Association on Friday filed petitions with a U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeking protection from creditors by restructuring, the gun rights advocacy group announced. The NRA filed the Chapter 11 petitions in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas, it said in a news release. The NRA said it would restructure as a Texas nonprofit to exit what it said was a “corrupt political and regulatory environment in New York” state, where it is currently registered. The influential group said in a statement there would be no immediate changes to its operations or workforce, and that it “will continue with the forward advancement of the enterprise — confronting anti-Second Amendment activities, promoting firearm safety and training, and advancing public programs across the United States.” The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to keep and bear arms. Pending litigationFILE – New York State Attorney General Letitia James listens to a question at a press conference in New York City, Aug. 6, 2020.Last August, New York state Attorney General Letitia James sued to dissolve the NRA, alleging senior leaders of the nonprofit group had diverted millions of dollars for personal use and to buy the silence and loyalty of former employees. The lawsuit filed by James in a state court in Manhattan alleges NRA leaders paid for family trips to the Bahamas, private jets and expensive meals that contributed to a $64 million reduction in the NRA’s balance sheet in three years, turning a surplus into a deficit. The NRA responded by suing James, a Democrat, in federal court, saying she had violated the NRA’s right to free speech and seeking to block her investigation. The litigation remains pending. The NRA in recent decades has been one of the leading voices opposing proposed or existing gun control measures. The NRA’s actions will likely put the attorney general’s lawsuit on hold, and a reincorporation could strip her of the ability to seek the group’s dissolution. In her lawsuit, James had said the NRA’s incorporation as a nonprofit in New York gave her authority to dissolve it.
…
WHO Calls on All Nations to Begin Vaccination Programs Within 100 Days
World Health Organization officials said Friday that they would like to see vaccination programs under way in every country in the world within the next 100 days, with frontline health workers and high-risk groups prioritized.Speaking at the agency’s regular briefing at its headquarters in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the WHO emergency committee met this week and stressed the need for equitable access to vaccines around the world.FILE – Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director- general of the World Health Organization, attends a session on the coronavirus, in Geneva, Switzerland, Oct. 5, 2020.Tedros said the committee recommended use of the WHO-organized COVAX vaccine cooperative to ensure this is happening. The WHO’s European division Thursday noted 95% of the vaccines that have been administered in the world so far have gone to 10 countries.The WHO chief, who is from Ethiopia, said he knows what it is like to come from a continent where not all health services are available. He said AIDS drugs were available only to rich nations until international health advocates put pressure on manufacturers. Likewise, he said, low-income nations did not receive H1N1 drugs until that pandemic was over.Tedros said that he went into public health to ensure this does not happen again. “It is critical this momentum on equitable vaccine rollout continues in the weeks ahead,” he said.On the subject of COVID-19 variants that have developed around the world, Tedros said the WHO emergency committee called for a global expansion of genomic sequencing and sharing of data, along with greater scientific collaboration to identify and address the new strains.Tedros said the more a virus spreads, the more it mutates, and preventing the spread of COVID-19 is the best way to stop the development of variants.
…
Pandemic Closes, Repurposes Kenya’s Private Schools
Scores of privately owned schools in Kenya have closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. But some of the school buildings have been repurposed as businesses, such as providing residential housing and even selling coffins. Brenda Mulinya reports from Nairobi.
Camera: Amos Wangwa
…
US COVID Death Toll Rapidly Approaching 400k, Says Johns Hopkins
The numbers for the coronavirus pandemic continue upward, with more than 93 million global infections and nearly 2 million worldwide deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.The U.S. remains at the top of the list with the most cases and deaths. Johns Hopkins reports more than 23 million COVID-19 cases in the U.S., with a death toll rapidly approaching 400,000.Some states, having vaccinated their frontline workers, have opened vaccinations to older people, but have been overrun with requests. Medical facilities are on the verge of running out of vaccines. In many instances, the technology used to take the requests has crashed.President-elect Joe Biden announced a nearly $2 trillion American Rescue Plan for the pandemic and the U.S. economic crisis Thursday, with $400 billion of the package slated for the COVID-19 outbreak.“A crisis of deep human suffering is in plain sight,” Biden said.China has reported its first COVID-19 death in eight months amid a surge in the country’s northeast as a World Health Organization team arrived in Wuhan to investigate the beginning of the pandemic.China’s death toll is more than 4,600, a relatively low number resulting from the country’s stringent containment and tracing measures.China has imposed various lockdown measures on more than 20 million people in Beijing, Hebei and other areas to contain the spread of infections before the Lunar New Year holiday in February.The relatively low number of COVID-related deaths in China has raised questions about China’s tight control of information about the outbreak.The investigative team arrived Thursday after nearly a year of talks with the WHO and diplomatic disagreements between China and other countries that demanded that China allow a thorough independent investigation.Two members of the 10-member team were stopped in Singapore after tests revealed antibodies, while the rest of the team immediately entered a 14-day quarantine period in Wuhan before launching their investigation.The coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan in late 2019 and quickly spread throughout the world.Officials said Thursday that infections in the northeastern Heilongjiang province have surged to their highest levels in 10 months, nearly tripling during that period.Elsewhere in Asia, Japanese authorities have expanded a state of emergency to stop a surge in coronavirus cases.Coronavirus infections and related deaths have roughly doubled in Japan over the past month to more than 310,000, according to Johns Hopkins.The emergency was initially declared a week ago and was expanded to cover seven new regions. The restrictions are not binding, and many people have ignored requests to avoid nonessential travel, prompting the governor to voice concern about the lack of commitment to the guidelines.Indonesia reported 12,818 new infections Friday, its largest daily tally.Hungary says it plans to buy vaccines from China’s Sinopharm. If the country’s medical officials sign off on the deal, Hungary would be the first European Union country to purchase the Chinese product.
…
Warming Planet, EU’s Space Plans, and Wines Return to Earth
The European Space Agency previews a big 2021 starting with a new boss. Data show last year’s temperatures tied the hottest on record, and French wines return to Earth after a year aboard the International Space Station. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week in Space. Producer: Arash Arabasadi.
…
Ugandan Military Enters Opposition Leader’s House After Election Fraud Accusations
Ugandan soldiers entered the home of opposition leader Bobi Wine on Friday, after he said Thursday’s presidential election was marred by widespread fraud. Wine claimed victory and declared himself president-elect, even as early results showed longtime leader Yoweri Museveni ahead 65 to 28 percent. The military moved in just hours after Wine said he would reject final election results – even before they were in — due to what he called the worst fraud in Uganda’s election history. We are under siege. The military has jumped over the fence and has now taken control of our home— BOBI WINE (@HEBobiwine) Election officials count the ballots after polls closed in Kampala, Uganda, Jan. 14, 2021.Wine declared himself president-elect over Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, despite early results from Uganda’s Electoral Commission showing the president with a strong lead over his challenger. “I am very confident that we defeated the dictator by far,” Wine told reporters. “I call upon all Ugandans to reject the blackmail. General Museveni and his small click of oppressors are trying yet again to impose themselves on the people of Uganda.”If authorities had nothing to hide, asked Wine, why did they impose an Internet blackout since Wednesday? “We do not want to deal with speculation and allegations,” Uganda Electoral Commission spokesman Paul Bukenya said, responding to Wine’s allegations. “We’ve not declared the final results and they are already being challenged. So, I think let’s continue with what we are doing and if someone has an issue with them, they can challenge them.”Spokesman for Museveni’s ruling National Resistance Movement party Emmanuel Dombo said the president’s lead was no surprise.“Given our old track record, we are not surprised that people have continued to trust us. But we didn’t know we would be this overwhelming. And we are grateful to the population for demonstrating that they still love the old man in the hut.”Security forces patrol the streets of Kampala, Uganda, Jan. 14, 2021.If 76-year-old Museveni is declared the winner over Wine, who is half his age, he would enter a sixth, five-year term as president. But it’s not necessarily his last. Uganda removed term limits in 2005. Ahead of the election, U.N. rights officials warned the elections were unlikely to be free and fair due to violence, rights violations, and restrictions on opposition candidates and supporters.
The U.S. Embassy in Uganda declined to observe the election after authorities denied more than 75 percent of their accreditation requests. Sadly, I announce 🇺🇸 decision not to observe #Uganda’s elections due to @UgandaEC’s decision to deny more than 75% of our accreditation requests (see https://t.co/QmNqFHQFmg). A robust contingent of observers, including local entities, promotes transparency & accountability. pic.twitter.com/66nV9M52mU— U.S. Ambassador to Uganda (@USAmbUganda) January 13, 2021
…
US Vice President Makes Unscheduled Visit to Troops Guarding Capitol
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence made an unscheduled visit to the U.S. Capitol late Thursday and thanked military troops guarding the facility for their service.
Pence talked to several soldiers and thanked them as a group for “stepping forward to provide security at our nation’s Capitol at such an important time in the life of our nation.” He told the soldiers it had been his great honor to serve as their vice president.
Several thousand National Guard troops have been stationed at the Capitol grounds since supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump stormed the building January 6 in an apparent effort to stop the Electoral College certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s win.
Vice President Pence said he expects at least 20,000 total troops will be guarding the Capitol, along with other federal law enforcement agencies by the time Biden is sworn into office on January 20.“We’re going to deliver to the American people a safe inauguration, we’re going to swear in a new president, a new vice president, we’re going to move our nation forward,” he told the National Guard members Thursday. It was Pence’s first visit to the Capitol since the riot. Pence was presiding over the certification process inside the Senate at the time of the siege and was forced to move to a safe location, unable to leave the Capitol until it was determined safe to do so.
…
Biden on COVID-19: ‘Crisis of Deep Human Suffering is in Plain Sight’
The numbers for the coronavirus pandemic continue upward, with more than 93 million global infections and nearly 2 million worldwide deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.The U.S. remains at the top of the list with the most cases and deaths. Johns Hopkins reports more than 23 million COVID-19 cases in the U.S., with a death toll rapidly approaching 400,000.Some states, having vaccinated their frontline workers, have opened vaccinations to older people, but have been overrun with requests. Medical facilities are on the verge of running out of vaccines. In many instances, the technology used to take the requests has crashed.President-elect Joe Biden announced a nearly $2 trillion American Rescue Plan for the pandemic and the U.S. economic crisis Thursday, with $400 billion of the package slated for the COVID-19 outbreak.“A crisis of deep human suffering is in plain sight,” Biden said.China has reported its first COVID-19 death in eight months amid a surge in the country’s northeast as a World Health Organization team arrived in Wuhan to investigate the beginning of the pandemic.China’s death toll is more than 4,600, a relatively low number resulting from the country’s stringent containment and tracing measures.China has imposed various lockdown measures on more than 20 million people in Beijing, Hebei and other areas to contain the spread of infections before the Lunar New Year holiday in February.The relatively low number of COVID-related deaths in China has raised questions about China’s tight control of information about the outbreak.The investigative team arrived Thursday after nearly a year of talks with the WHO and diplomatic disagreements between China and other countries that demanded that China allow a thorough independent investigation.Two members of the 10-member team were stopped in Singapore after tests revealed antibodies, while the rest of the team immediately entered a 14-day quarantine period in Wuhan before launching their investigation.The coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan in late 2019 and quickly spread throughout the world.Officials said Thursday that infections in the northeastern Heilongjiang province have surged to their highest levels in 10 months, nearly tripling during that period.Elsewhere in Asia, Japanese authorities have expanded a state of emergency to stop a surge in coronavirus cases.Coronavirus infections and related deaths have roughly doubled in Japan over the past month to more than 310,000, according to Johns Hopkins.The emergency was initially declared a week ago and was expanded to cover seven new regions. The restrictions are not binding, and many people have ignored requests to avoid nonessential travel, prompting the governor to voice concern about the lack of commitment to the guidelines.Indonesia reported 12,818 new infections Friday, its largest daily tally.Hungary says it plans to buy vaccines from China’s Sinopharm. If the country’s medical officials sign off on the deal, Hungary would be the first European Union country to purchase the Chinese product.
…
Cuba Tweaks Socialist Model to Encourage Work Amid Crisis
For more than 60 years, Cuba supplied at least some rice, milk, beans, sugar, chicken, electrical power and even cigarettes to its people nearly free of cost regardless of whether they worked, allowing many to survive without a job or depend solely on remittances. But this year, the government is implementing a deep financial reform that reduces subsidies, eliminates a dual currency that was key to the old system and raises salaries. It hopes to boost productivity to alleviate an economic crisis and reconfigure a socialist system that will still grant universal benefits such as free health care and education. People wearing protective face masks amid the new coronavirus pandemic wait their turn to enter a state-run store in Havana, Cuba, Jan. 14, 2021.”It’s a major shift in focus for a society that has lived and functioned one way for 62 years,” said Cuban economist Ricardo Torres. “This sends a message: If you want to be in a fairly comfortable situation, then you have to get a job.” The changes come as Cuba struggles with the pandemic, an 11% drop in gross domestic product and the loss of what the government estimates is nearly $5.6 billion as a result of economic sanctions imposed by outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump. Until December 31, Cubans would pay 75 cents for a monthly basket filled with 19 basic products including meat, coffee, eggs and soap. Now that will cost them $7, according to Betsy Díaz Velázquez, minister of internal trade. Education and health services remain free, and the government will still subsidize milk for children up to age 7 and provide food to vulnerable groups, though some worry the reforms will lead to problems. “It increases inequality without there being a concrete plan to reduce it,” said Harold Cárdenas, a political analyst living in the U.S. who is part of a group that advocates a more democratic socialist Cuba. “It would be an exaggeration to say this is how the aspiration to socialism in Cuba ends, but this is definitely not how it is achieved.” But he said that encouraging people to work rather than discouraging it “will make the difference between success and failure for years to come.” Elimination of ‘convertible peso’About 7 million of the island’s 11 million inhabitants are of working age, with some 2.7 million unemployed or not looking for a job. As a result, it hasn’t been unusual to see young people playing dominoes on street corners, idly talking with friends for hours or leaving work early. FILE – A worker shows a wad of Cuban pesos in Havana, Cuba, Dec. 11, 2020.Authorities haven’t immediately said where the idle will find productive jobs. They have promised a law by year’s end that could encourage more private businesses but haven’t given details of what it might entail. The most visible immediate change may be elimination of the “convertible peso,” a dollar-linked currency aimed at drawing money from abroad that was necessary to buy many goods, often even essentials, hard to find in regular pesos. That dual currency system introduced in 1994 was meant to alleviate the crisis caused by the loss of aid and subsidized trade with the recently collapsed Soviet Union. But it snarled government accounts, discouraged exports and employment, and financed inefficient state-owned companies that now have a year to prove their viability or face closure. Now, only the Cuban peso will remain in circulation. Raising salaries, pricesIn addition, the government is increasing salaries — quadrupling them in some cases — and raising the minimum wage from $20 to $87 a month. But few Cubans are celebrating the change because the prices of many goods, including food and gas, also have soared. A pound of rice used to cost 25 centavos, for example. It’s now 7 pesos — a 28-fold increase. Prices for cooking gas jumped more than 20 times. Bus fares quintupled. FILE – Workers wearing ill-fitting masks used to curb the spread of the new coronavirus push a cart loaded with sacks in Havana, Cuba, Dec. 23, 2020.”You don’t solve anything by raising prices,” said Lorena Durañón, 23, a medical student. “It’s hitting people really hard.” There was such a flurry of complaints about the new prices, especially for electrical power, that authorities recently went on public TV to announce a reduction. The reform also hits the island’s burgeoning private sector, which the government has periodically expanded and squeezed after it emerged in 1993 and which has created 600,000 jobs since a major reopening over the past decade. “It’s hard because they’ve already increased the prices of raw material, which is already expensive and scarce,” said Isabel Viera, 60, an artisan who used up her savings after the pandemic dried up tourism. “The situation is very difficult.” Despite the worries, President Miguel Díaz-Canel has promised that no one will be left behind. The aim, he said, is to guarantee all Cubans greater equality to opportunities, rights and social justice — not through egalitarianism, but “by promoting interest and motivation in work.”
…
A Warming Planet, EU’s Space Plans, and Wines Return to Earth
The European Space Agency previews a big 2021 starting with a new boss. Data show last year’s temperatures tied the hottest on record, and French wines return to Earth after a year aboard the International Space Station. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week in Space. Producer: Arash Arabasadi.
…
WHO Europe Chief: 95% of World’s Vaccines Being Administered in 10 Countries
The World Health Organization’s ((WHO)) European chief says 95% of the 23.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines that have been administered around the world so far have been given out in just 10 countries.
At a Copenhagen news briefing Thursday, WHO Europe Director Hans Kluge voiced perhaps the health agency’s most recurring theme of the COVID-19 pandemic: To effectively stop the virus, the world’s vaccines must be shared equitably, with low-income nations as well as poor ones.
In the global effort to end the pandemic, Kluge said, “collectively, we simply cannot afford to leave any country, any community behind.” The WHO and its partners in the COVAX cooperative, he added, are making “huge efforts to get the vaccines into every country; we need every country capable of contributing, donating and supporting equitable access and deployment of the vaccines, to do so.”
WHO Public Health Specialist Ihor Perehinets joined Kluge at the news conference and expressed confidence that those who need vaccines will get them.
“The scope and availability of vaccines will increase at a rapid rate in all countries and we will reach the necessary level of immunity to protect not just vulnerable groups, but the whole population of the European region and the world,” he said. “The question isn’t if this will happen, but when.”
Kluge said public health measures designed to fight the pandemic must be based on what he called humanity’s “core values:” solidarity, equity and social justice.
“It is the only way out of these uncertain times because no one is safe until everyone is safe.”
…
Europe’s Populists Fearful of Social Media Restrictions
Europe’s populist leaders are outraged by the decision of U.S. social-media giants to block U.S. President Donald Trump from posting on their sites. They fear Facebook, Twitter and other major social media companies could start banning them, too.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki condemned the internet giants Tuesday. “The censorship of freedom of speech, the domain of totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, is returning today in the form of a new, commercial mechanism fighting against those who think differently,” he wrote on Facebook.
Poland’s ruling populist Law and Justice Party (PiS) already has introduced legislation aimed at limiting the power of social media giants to remove content or ban users.
The draft law was proposed after Twitter started flagging as misleading content tweets by Trump and supporters disputing the U.S. election result. PiS lawmakers say there shouldn’t be any censorship by social media companies or curtailment of speech because debate is the essence of democracy.
Opposition critics say the proposed measure sits oddly with the ruling party’s efforts to muzzle the national media and to turn the public broadcaster into a propaganda vehicle. Those moves are currently being investigated by the European Union, which has accused the PiS government of rolling back democratic norms.
The Polish government also has vowed to bring foreign-owned media outlets in the country under Polish control, which critics fear means turning them into government propaganda outlets.
Under the draft law, if content is removed, a social media company would have 24 hours to respond to a complaint from a user and any decision could be appealed to a newly created special court.
Populist leaders aren’t alone in denouncing the moves by social media giants. Across Europe there is unease regardless of political affiliation at censorship by social media giants and their expulsion of Trump, a response to last week’s bid to derail the certification of the U.S. election results by pro-Trump agitators storming the U.S. Capitol. Twitter cited violations of its civic integrity policies to block Trump.
Facebook is blocking and deleting content that uses the phrase “stop the steal,” which refers to false claims by Trump supporters of election fraud. And Twitter says it has suspended more than 70,000 accounts of adherents of the QAnon conspiracy, who believe Trump is waging a secret war against elite Satan-worshipping pedophiles in government, business and the media.FILE – A figure representing hate speech on Facebook is seen featured during a carnival parade in Duesseldorf, Germany, Feb. 24, 2020.German Chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed her concerns about the actions of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, saying they are a step too far.
“The right to freedom of opinion is of fundamental importance,” her spokesperson Steffen Seibert told reporters this week. But campaigns are mounting in Germany and in other European countries for social media giants to block hate speech, populist misinformation and fake news from their sites, regardless of authorship.
Additionally, political pressure is mounting for a tightening of regulatory restrictions that some European governments have already introduced aimed at policing social media.
When voicing concern about the social media blocking of Trump, Merkel’s spokesperson cited Germany’s Network Enforcement Act, which was approved in 2018 and requires social media platforms to remove potentially illegal material within 24 hours of being told to do so, or face fines of up to $60 million.
Seibert said free speech should only be restricted in line “with the laws and within a framework defined by the legislature, not by the decision of the management of social media platforms.”
But some German lawmakers want the law toughened and are also urging social media companies to be more forward-leaning in efforts to block what they see as dangerous speech. German Social Democrat lawmaker Helge Lindh told broadcaster Deutsche Welle that Germany is “not doing enough,” saying more restrictions are needed.
The German parliament approved legislation last year that would ensure prosecution for those perpetrating hate or for inciting it online. Under the legislation, social media companies would have been obliged to report hate comments to the police and identify the online authors.
Final passage of the legislation was halted, though, because of objections raised by the country’s Constitutional Court, which ruled parts of the new legislation were in conflict with data protection laws. The court called for adjustments that are scheduled to be debated this month by German lawmakers.
Populist politicians stand to lose more from the renewed focus on misinformation on the internet, whether the outcome from the new focus is more stringent state regulations or just social media giants being more restrictive in Europe.
Populists tend to be able to galvanize support using social media more than mainstream politicians and parties have managed, says Ralph Schroeder, an academic at the Oxford Internet Institute, part of Britain’s University of Oxford.
“They stand to lose most along with other politicians, on the left and the right and beyond, that seek a politics that is anti-establishment and exclusionary toward outsiders,” he told VOA. “The reason is that social media gives them a means to express ideas that cannot be expressed in traditional news media or in traditional party affiliations.”
…
New Research Suggests Digestive Tract Bacteria Affect Coronavirus Severity
A new study indicates the kind of bacteria found in a person’s digestive tract can affect the severity of coronavirus infections and the body’s immune response. The study, conducted by researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and published Monday in the medical journal Gut, shows there is growing evidence that the health of the human gastrointestinal tract, or gut, has direct influence on the immune system and hence its response to infections like the coronavirus.The researchers examined 100 patients who had tested positive and divided them by the severity of their cases. Through blood and stool testing, the researchers compared the microbiome in their tracts with patients without coronavirus infections.Netherlands Begins Mass Testing to Isolate COVID-19 Variant Testing center set up after new strain found in 30 schoolchildren Across the board, the microbiome makeup differed significantly between patients with and without COVID-19. Dr. Siew Ng, one of the authors of the study, said they found “COVID-19 patients lack certain good bacteria known to regulate our immune system.” The presence of an abnormal assortment of gut bacteria, or dysbiosis, can persist after the virus is gone and prolong symptoms. COVID-19 is the illness caused by the coronavirus.Ng said her team developed an oral formula of “good” bacteria — known as probiotics — which they gave to the patients. The study showed that more COVID-19 patients who received the probiotics “achieved complete symptom resolution,” and developed neutralizing antibodies to the virus.Other researchers who have reviewed the research say more study is needed to determine whether the altered gut bacteria found in the COVID-19 patients is an effect of the disease or was already present in the patients and was an underlying cause of the disease development.
…
China Reports First COVID Death in 8 Months
China has reported its first COVID-19 death in eight months amid a surge in the northeast as a World Health Organization team arrived in Wuhan to investigate the beginning of the pandemic. The death, reported Thursday, raises the country’s death toll to more than 4,600, a relatively low number resulting from the country’s stringent containment and tracing measures. China has imposed various lockdown measures on more than 20 million people in Beijing, Hebei and other areas to contain the spread of infections before the Lunar New Year holiday in February. The relatively low number of COVID-related deaths in China has raised questions about China’s tight control of information about the outbreak. A worker in protective coverings directs members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team on their arrival at the airport in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province, Jan. 14, 2021.The investigative team arrived Thursday after nearly a year talks with the WHO and diplomatic disagreements between China and other countries who demanded that China allow a thorough independent investigation. Two members of the 10-member team were stopped in Singapore after tests revealed antibodies, while the rest of the team immediately entered a 14-day quarantine period in Wuhan before launching their investigation. FILE – The Wuhan Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market, where a number of people fell ill with a virus, sits closed in Wuhan, China, Jan. 21, 2020.The coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan in late 2019 and quickly spread throughout the world, resulting in nearly 2 million deaths and more than 92 million cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. Officials said Thursday that infections in the northeastern Heilongjiang province have surged to their highest levels in 10 months, nearly tripling during that period. Elsewhere in Asia, Japanese authorities have expanded a state of emergency to stop a surge in coronavirus cases. Coronavirus infections and related deaths have roughly doubled in Japan over the past month to more than 310,000, according to Johns Hopkins University. The emergency was initially declared a week ago and was expanded to cover seven new regions. The restrictions are not binding, and many people have seemed to ignore requests to avoid nonessential travel, prompting the governor to voice concern about the lack of commitment to the guidelines. FILE – A lab technician works during research on coronavirus, COVID-19, at Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceutical in Beerse, Belgium, June 17, 2020.The world appears to be on the verge of another effective COVID-19 vaccine. A study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine found that an experimental vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson generated a strong immune response in both young and elderly volunteer participants in early-stage trials. Unlike the vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one dose, making it easier to both transport and refrigerate for long periods of time. The vaccine is currently undergoing late-stage trials involving 45,000 volunteers. Johnson & Johnson is expected to seek emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sometime next month. The company has signed a $1 billion contract with the U.S. government to provide up to 100 million doses of the vaccine once it is granted approval.
…
As WHO Begins COVID-19 Probe, Speculation, Tensions Abound
After months of negotiations and accusations that China was obstructing an independent investigation, a team of World Health Organization experts has landed in Wuhan, China, where they will try to uncover the origin of the coronavirus that has killed nearly 2 million people globally.Chinese state media on Thursday reported the arrival of the WHO team, composed of researchers from top universities around the world, including experts in animal science and epidemiology. The 15-member team will spend about a month in China. At the insistence of Chinese authorities, the scientists will spend their first two weeks in quarantine.Its goals are to discover how the virus emerged, how it transferred to humans, and how such outbreaks can be prevented in the future. Those tasks won’t be easy; it has been more than a year since COVID-19 was first detected, with the initial outbreak linked to a Wuhan market selling wild animals for food.Their task will also be tricky from a diplomatic and political perspective. Though China has promised to give WHO officials adequate access, Beijing has often become defensive and sought to deflect blame for the devastation brought by the global pandemic.There have also been repeated delays in the arrival of the WHO experts. Earlier this month, the team was held up because of a visa issue that Chinese officials later attributed to a “misunderstanding.”Those delays continued Thursday. The WHO reported that two of its scientists are still in Singapore completing COVID-19 tests. Although it said all team members “had multiple negative PCR and antibody tests for COVID-19 in their home countries prior to traveling,” two members tested positive for IgM antibodies, which the body produces as its first response to a new infection. It is not clear when the two scientists will arrive in China.More than 120 countries have called for an independent investigation into the origins of the virus, with many governments accusing Beijing of not doing enough to contain its spread. Outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump has been especially outspoken, frequently speaking of the “China virus” and demanding the United Nations hold Beijing accountable.Won’t assign blameBut several members of the WHO team, as well as other officials in the global health agency, say their mission is not to assign blame.“This is not about finding China guilty or saying ‘it started here, give or take three meters.’ This is about reducing the risk. And the media can help by avoiding Trump style finger-pointing,” WHO team member Fabian Leendertz, a biologist at Germany’s Robert Koch Institute, told The Guardian newspaper.“Let this mission and let other missions be about the science, not about the politics,” WHO Health Emergencies Program chief Mike Ryan said at a Monday press briefing.” We are looking for the answers here that may save us in (the) future — not culprits and not people to blame.”China for months rejected calls for an international probe. In July, China and the WHO finally agreed on a framework for the investigation. As part of that plan, China insisted on allowing its scientists to do the initial research, including testing sewage and blood samples and interviewing the earliest known coronavirus patients.“It’s not like nothing’s been happening for the last 12 months. There’s a lot that’s been happening and a lot of evidence that’s been generated. So one of the tasks of the WHO team is to go to China and meet with the scientists and to look at the evidence,” said professor Archie Clements, an infectious diseases epidemiologist at Australia’s Curtin University.So far, China has not revealed publicly what its scientists have found. But many experts hope the WHO team will gain access to that data during the trip.“A big part of this investigation is actually around developing relationships with people. Having that personal contact. Being able to ask questions privately in a safe environment. Building rapport. Having the sort of open-ended conversations that may bring out things that you hadn’t previously anticipated might be important,” Clements said.But WHO officials have cautioned the team may not conclusively trace the exact origin of the virus. That’s in part because, experts say, viruses change very quickly.Virus originThe coronavirus was first discovered in late 2019 in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province. Many experts believe the virus had long been present in bats but was transferred to humans via another wild animal sold at the Wuhan food market.Some U.S. officials, including Trump, have suggested the virus may have accidentally emerged from the nearby Wuhan Institute of Virology, one of China’s top research labs that had been studying bat coronaviruses for years. U.S. officials have offered no proof of that hypothesis.China has been criticized for initially downplaying the seriousness of the outbreak and attempting to silence those who tried to speak out.Perhaps most notably, Li Wenliang, a doctor at the Wuhan Central Hospital, was investigated and chastised by police for “spreading rumors” after he tried to warn fellow medical professionals about the disease. Li later died of the virus.China also imposed strict controls on domestic conversation about the outbreak. A recent investigation by The Associated Press found that Chinese scientists have been barred from speaking to reporters and that the publication of any data or research must be approved by a task force managed by China’s cabinet, under direct orders from President Xi Jinping.In recent months, Beijing has repeatedly suggested the virus did not originate in China. Many state media reports now claim COVID-19 may have emerged in Italy, suggesting it was brought to China via frozen seafood. (The WHO says it is “highly unlikely that people can contract COVID-19 from food or food packaging.”)A team of Chinese scientists recently argued the virus originated in the summer of 2019 in India. In March, a Chinese foreign ministry official offered an unfounded theory the U.S. military may have brought the epidemic to Wuhan.With disinformation and speculation abounding, many public health experts hope the WHO team will soon be able to offer some credible answers.“What I would hope is that politicians, global leaders, give the investigative team some space to do their job, which is a scientific task,” Clements said. “It isn’t a political investigation.”
…