The European Union’s medications watchdog is due to release initial results Thursday of its investigation into whether there is a connection between the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and cases of recipients developing blood clots.The European Medicines Agency has been examining 30 reported blood coagulation disorders among the 5 million people in the EU who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine. Among the considerations is whether that rate is more common than the incidence found in the general population.The World Health Organization said Wednesday it is conducting its own assessment of the latest available safety data for the vaccine, but that at this time the agency considers the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its risks.“In extensive vaccination campaigns, it is routine for countries to signal potential adverse events following immunization,” the WHO said in a statement.  “This does not necessarily mean that the events are linked to vaccination itself, but it is good practice to investigate them.”India said Wednesday it would continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine.Concerns about the vaccine prompted a number of EU countries to suspend its use, including Germany, France, Italy and Spain.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed confidence in AstraZeneca on Wednesday, but continued criticism of the company’s pace of vaccine deliveries.“AstraZeneca has unfortunately under-produced and under-delivered, and this painfully, of course, reduced the speed of the vaccination campaign,” she told reporters.Von der Leyen said the EU is targeting vaccinating 70% of all adults by September.
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Tensions are rising between the United States and Russia following sharp statements from President Joe Biden on Vladimir Putin over the Russian president’s attempt to undermine the 2020 U.S. election. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story.
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Protesters freed four police officers from behind bars in Haiti’s capital on Wednesday, local media reported, as demonstrations over a botched police raid on a gang stronghold and anger at state authorities roiled the city for a fifth day.A deepening economic and political crisis in the poorest country in the Americas has led to a surge in kidnappings and murders as gangs have gained power, turning ever more areas of the capital and other cities into no-go areas.Masked, heavily armed members of the Fantom 509 group, who describe themselves as disaffected police officers and ex-officers, told local media they believed their colleagues had been unjustly detained in a Port-au-Prince police station.The police had no immediate comment on the incident or why the officers had been detained. Lawyers for the officers said in a statement they were victims of the politicization of Haiti’s police force and the failures of its justice system.The Fantom 509 members said they were also protesting the fact authorities had not recovered the bodies of four policemen who died last Friday in a botched attack on a gang stronghold where kidnapping victims are often held.Trainee police officers joined in the jail break while citizens took to the street for a fifth day to block roads with vehicles, debris and burning tires, also vandalizing a car dealership.President Jovenel Moise declared on Wednesday a state of emergency in the worst gang-controlled areas for one month in order to allow state security forces to regain control of the situation.Critics accuse the government of not sufficiently equipping the police to confront gangs, even if it has slightly raised its budget for the police this year.They also accuse it of fostering gang activity either by design, to intimidate opponents, or simply by inaction. Gang leaders or even former government officials implicated in massacres in opposition strongholds have not been arrested.
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Officials in Washington are reacting calmly to Moscow summoning home its ambassador to the United States for consultations about the deteriorated bilateral relationship.  
 
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, in explaining Anatoly Antonov’s temporary return home, stated: “The most important thing for us is to identify ways of rectifying Russia-U.S. relations, which have been going through hard times as Washington has, as a matter of fact, brought them to a blind alley. We are interested in preventing an irreversible deterioration in relations, if the Americans become aware of the risks associated with this.”  
 
The announcement from Moscow came shortly after a taped ABC television interview aired Wednesday morning in which U.S. President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin “will pay a price” for his malevolent actions.  
 
Biden also recounted in the interview that he had told Putin, “I don’t think you have a soul.” He said Russian leader replied, “We understand each other.”  
 
Asked by the ABC interviewer if he believes Putin is a killer, Biden replied, “I do.”FILE – U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, March 11, 2021.According to a RAND Corporation adjunct senior fellow, William Courtney, “It is rare for a U.S. president to refer to the leader of a major adversarial power as a killer.”  
 
Courtney, who was a negotiator in U.S. defense talks with the Soviet Union, told VOA that “sometimes ambassadors are withdrawn after insults.”
 
“And, of course, the Biden administration is talking about more sanctions with regard to the SolarWinds cyberattack. So, both of those could be factors” in the move by Moscow, he said.
 
At Wednesday’s press briefing, White House press secretary Jen Psaki declined to specify whether the president believes the Russian president, literally or metaphorically, is a killer.  
 
“He’s not going to hold back in his direction communications [with Russia]. He’s not going to hold back publicly,” Psaki said.   
 
When asked about Moscow recalling its ambassador, the press secretary said Biden’s administration “is going to take a different approach in our relationship to Russia than the prior administration. …We are going to be straightforward and we are going to be direct in areas where we have concerns.”FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with government members via a video conference call at Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, Feb. 10, 2021.State Department Deputy Spokesperson Jalina Porter told reporters “even as we work to work with Russia to advance U.S. interests, we’ll be able to hold Russia accountable for any of their malign actions.”  
 
The Biden administration has expressed interest in working with Moscow on areas of mutual concern, such as a new nuclear arms pact and mitigating the effects of climate change.  
 
Biden earlier ordered the release of a declassified version of an intelligence assessment that “Russian state media, trolls, and online proxies, including those directed by Russian intelligence, published disparaging content about President Biden, his family, and the Democratic Party, and heavily amplified related content circulating in U.S. media, including stories centered on his son.”
 
Russia, as well as Iran, according to the report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, engaged in broader efforts to undermine U.S. public confidence in the election.  
 
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday the U.S. intelligence report was “wrong and has absolutely no foundation and evidence.”
 
The U.S. government on Wednesday also announced additional sanctions on Russia for using chemical weapons against dissidents.
 
The Commerce Department said it is blocking export of items controlled for national security reasons that are destined for Russia. It is also suspending licenses that granted specific exceptions for exports to Russia, targeting replacement parts and equipment, technology and software and “additional permissive re-exports.”Putin enjoyed a more amicable relationship during the past four years with Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump. During his presidency, Trump frequently praised Putin and rejected intelligence community conclusions that Moscow meddled in the 2016 presidential election in which the property investor with no political experience defeated former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to counter what he called the “systemic challenge” posed by China as he set out the government’s 10-year defense strategy Tuesday.Some ruling Conservative Party lawmakers, however, have accused Johnson of “going soft” on Beijing.Britain is seeking to carve out a new role on the world stage outside the European Union. The government’s “Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy” says Russia remains the most acute threat facing the country but warns that China poses a “systemic challenge to our security, prosperity and values.”Uyghurs, Hong Kongers“The U.K. … has led the international community in expressing our deep concern over China’s mass detention of the Uyghur people in Xinjiang province, and in giving nearly 3 million of Hong Kong’s people a route to British citizenship,” Johnson told lawmakers.“There is no question that China will pose a great challenge for an open society such as ours, but we will also work with China where that is consistent with our values and interests, including in building a stronger and positive economic relationship and in addressing climate change,” he said.He added that changing defense priorities would enable the country to fulfil his post-Brexit pledge of a “global Britain.”FILE – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a news conference on Downing Street in London, Dec. 24, 2020.“Britain will remain unswervingly committed to NATO and preserving peace and security in Europe. From this secure basis, we will seek out friends and partners wherever they can be found, building a coalition for openness and innovation, and engaging more deeply in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.“I have invited the leaders of Australia, South Korea and India to attend the G-7 summit in Carbis Bay in June, and I am delighted to announce that I will visit India next month to strengthen our friendship with the world’s biggest democracy. Our approach will place diplomacy first. The U.K. has applied to become a dialogue partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and we will seek to join the trans-Pacific free trade agreement,” Johnson said.Carrier’s voyageTo demonstrate that engagement, Britain’s new aircraft carrier, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, will make its maiden voyage to the Indo-Pacific later this year.However, several ruling Conservative Party lawmakers accused Johnson of “going soft” on China for seeking deeper trade links.Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative chairman of Parliament’s Defense Select Committee, wrote on Twitter that China was “still not seen as a geo-strategic threat but a competitive trading partner.”FILE – Britain’s opposition Labor Party leader Keir Starmer speaks in the House of Commons in London, Dec. 2, 2020.Opposition Labor Party leader Keir Starmer also criticized the government’s approach.“We welcome the deepening of engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, but that comes on the back of an inconsistent policy towards China for a decade. Conservative governments have spent 10 years turning a blind eye to human rights abuses while inviting China to help build our infrastructure,” Starmer told MPs.Johnson said those seeking a “new Cold War” with Beijing were mistaken.Britain’s Ministry of Defense is set to detail later this month how the new strategy outlined in the “Integrated Review” would be implemented. Countering China’s assertiveness will require a broad response, said analyst Veerle Nouwens of Britain’s Royal United Services Institute.“This won’t just be about sending ships to the region or planes to the region. It will really be about equally investing in new technologies, be that quantum, A.I., cyber, space, you name it. So, it really is a broader challenge than just the immediate visible military things that we know of when we speak about China’s rise and assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific itself,” Nouwens told VOA.Focusing on strengths“It would be very difficult to compete with China match for match, point for point, but I think that’s the situation that most countries are heading to,” Nouwens said. “We do have limited resources, and so, it is really about finding those angles that the U.K. already has real strength in and working with partners and allies or others to try and shore up capability, shore up knowledge, and come out with products and technologies that allies can share alike.”Johnson added that the United States would remain Britain’s closest ally.“In all our endeavours, the United States will be our greatest ally and a uniquely close partner in defense, intelligence and security,” he told lawmakers. “Britain’s commitment to the security of our European home will remain unconditional and immovable.”U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is pictured upon his arrival at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, March 17, 2021.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are visiting Japan and South Korea this week, with China at the top of the agenda. Speaking Wednesday in Seoul, Blinken underlined the threat posed by Beijing.“China is using coercion and aggression to systematically erode autonomy in Hong Kong, undercut democracy in Taiwan, abuse the human rights situation in Tibet and assert maritime claims in the South China Sea that violate international law,” Blinken said at a news conference.China accused the U.S. of disrupting regional peace and stability. Beijing has yet to respond to Britain’s plans for greater engagement in the Indo-Pacific.Meanwhile, Britain also announced it would raise the cap on its nuclear arsenal to 260 warheads from 180. Critics said that would breach Britain’s commitment under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The government said the figure was a cap, not a target.Johnson confirmed a $33 billion multiyear boost to military spending. He said Britain’s total defense budget stood at 2.2% of GDP, above the NATO spending commitment of 2%. Part of the new investment will fund a new counterterrorism operations center and a new National Cyber Force. 
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Britain pledged to counter what it called the strategic threat posed by China as it set out its new t10-year defense strategy this week. Britain is seeking to carve out a new role on the world stage outside the European Union, according to the policy review, as Henry Ridgwell reports from London.Producer: Jason Godman. Camera: Henry Ridgwell. 
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U.S. homeland security officials are pushing back against claims that known and suspected terrorists are trying to sneak into the country from Mexico, calling such incidents “very uncommon.” Republican lawmakers have been sounding alarms about what they say is a growing immigration crisis along the U.S southern border. And in an interview Monday with Fox News, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy alleged terrorists were using the situation to infiltrate the country. “It’s not just people from Mexico or Honduras or El Salvador,” McCarthy said. “They’re now finding people from Yemen, Iran, Turkey – people on the terrorist watch list.”  FILE – House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy speaks to the press during a tour for a delegation of Republican lawmakers of the U.S.-Mexico border, in El Paso, Texas, March 15, 2021.But in a statement late Tuesday to VOA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection rejected the notion of a major security breach.  “Encounters of known and suspected terrorists at our borders are very uncommon,” a CBP spokesperson said. “Our border security efforts are layered and include multiple levels of rigorous screening that allow us to detect and prevent people who pose national security or public safety risks from entering the United States.” CBP and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, did not provide any data on the number of suspected terrorists who have been caught trying to enter the U.S. at the border.
The U.S.-based news site Axios, citing a congressional aide briefed on correspondence from CBP, reported late Tuesday that, since October 2020, four people on the FBI’s terror watchlist were caught trying to enter the U.S. from the southern border — including three people from Yemen and one from Serbia.
 
“I am concerned if one tries to come,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told lawmakers during a hearing Wednesday.
 
“That’s not a new phenomenon,” he added. “Individuals who match that profile have tried to cross the border, the land border, [and] have tried to travel by air into the United States, not only this year, but last year.””It is because of our multi-layered security apparatus, the architecture that we have built since the commencement of the Dept of Homeland Security, that we are in fact able to identify & apprehend them & ensure that they do not remain in the United States” per @SecMayorkas— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) March 17, 2021Other officials, though, have warned that the situation bears watching. “I have seen intelligence that gives me reason to be concerned about what comes across the border,” General Glen VanHerck, the commander of U.S. Northern Command, told reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday in response to a question from VOA. “We need to know exactly who is coming across that border and what their intent is,” he said. “How we get there is a policy decision but it has homeland, defense and national security implications.” This is not the first time lawmakers or officials have raised concerns about terrorists trying to get into the United States by posing as migrants or refugees. In January 2019, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen issued a series of tweets, alleging “the number of terror-watchlisted (people) encountered at our Southern Border has increased over the last two years,” and that “Thousands of terror-watchlisted individuals transit our hemisphere each year.”The threat is real. The number of terror-watchlisted encountered at our Southern Border has increased over the last two years. The exact number is sensitive and details about these cases are extremely sensitive.— Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen (@SecNielsen) January 8, 2019But U.S. counterterrorism officials took issue with the DHS assessment, telling VOA at the time, “We do not see any evidence that ISIS or other Sunni terrorist groups are trying to infiltrate the southern U.S. border.”  US Counterterror Officials See No Signs of IS, al-Qaida on Southern Border

        U.S. counterterrorism officials are sticking by their assessment that terror groups like Islamic State and al-Qaida are not actively trying to sneak operatives into the country from Mexico, despite claims by the White House and Homeland Security officials that "the threat is real.""We do not see any evidence that ISIS or other Sunni terrorist groups are trying to infiltrate the southern U.S. 

More recently, the State Department’s 2019 Country Reports on Terrorism, released in June 2020, also rejected the idea that terrorists are trying to get into the U.S. via Mexico. “There was no credible evidence indicating international terrorist groups established bases in Mexico, worked directly with Mexican drug cartels, or sent operatives via Mexico into the United States,” the report found. NEW: @StateDept report finds “no credible evidence” terrorists using #Mexico to enter US”There was no credible evidence indicating int’l terrorist groups established bases in #Mexico, worked directly w/Mexican drug cartels, or sent operatives via Mexico into the #UnitedStates” pic.twitter.com/zdvQ8j1nYh— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) June 24, 2020A September 2020 whistleblower complaint, released by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a Democrat, alleged DHS officials, under then-President Donald Trump, made false statements to Congress about the terror threat along the southern border. The complaint charged the false claims were part of an effort to “politicize, manipulate and censor intelligence in order to benefit President Trump.”  Per @RepAdamSchiff, the complaint alleges @DHSgov & administration officials also made false statements to Congress about terror threats on the southern border & minimizing the threat posed by white supremacists— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) September 9, 2020
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Pope Francis Wednesday appealed for peace in Myanmar, where clashes between police and coup protesters have left around 200 people dead.
At the end of his weekly audience at the Vatican, the pope said with great sorrow, he felt the urgent need to mention the situation in Myanmar, where, he added, “Many people, especially the young, are losing their lives to offer hope to their country.”  
Daily nationwide protests have continued in Myanmar since the February 1 military coup pushed out the government of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
In his comments, Francis said, “Even I kneel on the streets of Myanmar and say, ‘stop the violence.’ Even I open my arms and say, ‘Let dialogue prevail.'”
The pope referenced a dramatic scene captured in pictures and video last week when a Catholic nun, Sister Ann Roza Nu Tawng, during a rally in the streets of the city of Myitkyina, dropped to her knees in front of armed police in riot gear and pleaded with them not to shoot the protesters. At least two of the officers dropped to their knees with her.
The nun later described to reporters how she told the police the demonstrators were merely shouting slogans and urged them not to beat or arrest them. The nun said when they told her they must stop the protesters, she told them they must go through her.
Despite her efforts, the police fired tear gas into the crowd and gunshots could be heard a short time later.  
In his concluding comments Wednesday, the pope urged “that a path of sincere dialogue may be found” to end the clashes. “Let us remember that violence is always self-destructive. Nothing is gained through it, but much is lost, sometimes everything,” he said. The pope visited Myanmar in 2017.
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Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday a U.S. intelligence report indicating Russia meddled in 2020 U.S. elections was “wrong and has absolutely no foundation and evidence.”Peskov was reacting to a report released Tuesday by the Office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence (DNI) saying Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized influence operations aimed at denigrating U.S. President Joe Biden, boosting former President Donald Trump, undermining confidence in the election and exacerbating social divisions in the United States.The report said they did not see – as in 2016 – a persistent effort on the part of Russia to gain access to U.S. election infrastructure.In a telephone briefing with reporters, Peskov said Russia did not interfere with U.S. elections in 2016 or 2020 as mentioned in the report.  “Russia has nothing to do with any campaigns against any candidates,” the Russian presidential spokesman said.  He added he expects the U.S. government to use the report to impose additional sanctions against Russia, which he said, “harms painful Russian-American relations.”  The DNI report also found that Iran carried out a “multi-pronged covert influence campaign” designed undercut former president Trump’s chances in last year’s election, though without boosting his rival. The report says Iran also attempted to undercut public confidence in the U.S. election process. The assessment also concludes that, despite repeated warnings by several top U.S. officials, China ultimately decided to sit the election out and “did not deploy interference efforts.”The report goes on to say that Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Venezuela and Cuba all made efforts to influence the 2020 U.S. election, but were on a smaller scale.
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Haiti is under enormous pressure from the United States, United Nations, Organization of American States and members of the international community to organize elections as soon as possible. President Jovenel Moise has ruled by decree since January 2020 when the terms of two-thirds of the parliament expired. Elections planned for 2020 were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic and a series of mass protests that paralyzed the country. Complicating matters, a spike in kidnappings and violent crimes targeting Haitians from all sectors of society has raised security concerns.In January 2021, President Moise named millionaire entrepreneur Mathias Pierre as minister-designate in charge of overseeing elections. Pierre has a unique insight into the electoral process as a former candidate who opposed Moise in the 2016 election. He spoke to VOA via Skype about the upcoming elections.  VOA: Good Morning Minister Pierre. What do you see as the biggest obstacle to holding these elections? MINISTER PIERRE: I think the election challenge today is to get the political leaders to understand that democracy is the power of the people to elect their leaders. We understand that a lot of the political leaders from the opposition are afraid of elections and what we as a government are doing is, we are trying to show everyone that we are working toward free and fair elections. We’ll work with BINUH ([the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti), which is the U.N. on the ground, through UNDP (United Nations Development Program) and UNOPS (United Nations Office for Project Services) through a contract to provide logistical support and assistance … to make sure that the electoral process will go technically well and that we’ll be supporting the electoral council.VOA: Are people willing to sign up for voter cards? We’ve heard that people are afraid due to lack of security, kidnappings, crime.  MINISTER PIERRE: Historically, every time elections are going to happen you have a tendency of [people saying] “if I don’t control power, then I’m afraid of the election.” So then, when there is a transition of power, it’s easier for me to [participate in] elections. Why? Because I need to be in power in order to find more resources to participate in elections. That’s something we need to overcome as political leaders. We understand there is a major security issue. At the same time, the president has been doing everything he can to address [that]. A cell has been put in place with the head of the police — we call it an anti-kidnapping cell — the purpose is to work toward addressing the kidnapping issue and putting every resource that the country can do addressing that issue. Very soon there will be measures taken to make sure that we control insecurity and also neutralize the gangs that are creating unrest around the country. But again, democracy is about elections.  Inclusivity  VOA: Is there a way to be more inclusive at this late date and encourage the opposition to participate so that these elections will be more credible in their eyes? This is something the U.S., the UN, OAS have all asked for. MINISTER PIERRE: Well, I think by choosing myself … a fierce former opponent of the president, he sent the right signal that he wants an inclusive election. I’m engaged in that process because I believe there should be a fair, transparent and inclusive election.But the president is … doing everything he can to invite his opponents and the political leaders into a dialogue, a dialogue that will get us together and do whatever is necessary… in terms of looking at the electoral council and in terms of the new constitution. That is ongoing.  VOA: The opposition doesn’t seem willing to change their position on not participating in the process and they seem to not want dialogue. As a former presidential candidate, is there a unique role you can play?MINISTER PIERRE: I think there are two parts to my job. One is to facilitate and talk to all the partners that are in the electoral process to make sure that the process is streamlined. The second aspect of my job is a relationship with the political parties.Since my arrival I’ve been actively … talking to political parties, to political leaders to see what can be done. At my first event, more than 100 political parties were invited to sit and discuss the constitution. We are preparing other events. I am pretty confident that major political leaders will join the election when they see signs that we are doing everything we can to alleviate issues that we have, but at the same time create conditions for fair, transparent elections that are also inclusive.  Election security VOA: A lot of people question whether the Haitian National Police force is capable of getting security under control after what happened in Village de Dieu on March 12 when at least eight police were killed in an anti-gang operation. We hear Haiti is going to get some help from the international community on security. What can you tell us about that? MINISTER PIERRE: We have confidence in the national police, and we will keep having confidence in the national police. We also understand we have weak structures. We also understand their lack of resources and that is why I think during the meeting with the president and [Luis Almagro, head of the Organization of American States] yesterday, international support was requested to assist the police. We have the manpower; we have the expertise we have a lot of officers that are experienced. They have been trained for the past 25 years.  They know what to do. Certainly, we understand gangs are well equipped in some parts [of the country]. The police failed [on March 12]. Why? Because they were avoiding [civilian casualties] — don’t forget these gangs are using poor people as shields. I think in the days to come there [will be] strong measures announced. There are strong decisions being taken to address that issue and provide the adequate response to what happened in Village de Dieu on Friday. VOA: Let’s talk about logistics. You said there’s a lot to do. Will the constitutional referendum happen in June? MINISTER PIERRE: For sure. Everything is underway. UNOPS which will assist the electoral council on logistics — the technicians from UNOPS are already in Haiti and certainly this is the first time we are going have an election without the logistical support of [the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti] but what we’ve done, there is [an electoral security] cell that has been created inside the BINUH that is specifically in charge of the logistics and security for the election. The army also is mobilizing their soldiers and all of the equipment from Port-au-Prince to the different departments. We have 1,700 [electoral council] poll centers that will be [working with] 11,000 poll offices, so I think everything will be done… we have the expertise on the ground. VOA: Does Haiti have enough money to organize these elections? MINISTER PIERRE: For now, the budget is $125 million — which is under revision. The agreement signed with UNDP is $72 million. I know the U.S. government has been pushing the U.N. to reduce that. Haiti already disbursed $20 million to the [U.N.] basket fund. That’s why materials have been ordered. And another $3 million was disbursed to the CEP (Provisional Electoral Council) to start renting space, pay people, etc… I think as a sovereign country, we have a responsibility to organize elections — with or without international support. Certainly, we encourage our international partners to contribute to the basket fund.  VOA: Haiti has been under a lot of pressure to organize these elections. Give us some insight on how that pressure feels for you. MINISTER PIERRE: I believe that we and the international community have the same goal. The president has been clear — elections this year is the number one priority. The president understands the challenge. Everything he has done for the past year, any legacy that he has — organizing elections and handing power over to a new elected president is key to his success. We understand the concerns of the international community, our partners — particularly the United States. We are communicating to our partners regularly … [we are addressing] issues along the way and respond adequately so that we provide the Haitian people with one of the things most important for them — leaders that are elected.Voter fraud VOA: What steps are you taking to counter potential fraud?MINISTER PIERRE: When I was an opponent to President Jovenel Moise one of my major concerns was electoral fraud. I [looked] everywhere in the system to understand whatever could create fraud and one of them was the national identification card. [With] the new system, you have your picture, fingerprint, all the biometric information is included in your card. There is one unique number for every Haitian that has their card. [If you] lose your card [you can] get a replacement card but you will always have one unique identification number. And that unique number — will be transferred into the electoral registry. As of today, we have over 4.2 million people registered in the system and [they] will be able to vote. And I encourage them to go out there to vote. No one will be able to vote twice or three times as happened in the past. We will make sure this cannot happen in the system this time. VOA: How many people are you aiming to have registered by the time the referendum rolls around? MINISTER PIERRE: We have one constraint with the CEP and the UN who have requested that the registry be closed 60 days before the vote. If that happens, we’re trying to see how we can reduce two months into either one month or 1 1/2 months. I just had a meeting with a technician to see how we can address that in order to give more people the possibility to register.According to the UN people working with the CEP, those registries that would provide the list of people able to vote have to be printed outside of Haiti. At the same time, the secretary general of the UN is telling us don’t leave 2.5 million people out. VOA: What is your message to Haitians and to the opposition about this election? Why should they trust you to organize it?MINISTER PIERRE: If we’re looking to have stability … to have peace in the country, if we have to come together and fight poverty, there is no way in a democracy for leaders to get to the top [unless it’s] by the people. The power of the people to cast a ballot and decide who their next leader [will be].I know there might be a lack of confidence in the government, but the president [is committed] to holding fair elections.  
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Brazil’s fourth health minister in a year is promising a continuation of the anti-COVID restriction policies of President Jair Bolsonaro, ahead of his formal appointment on Wednesday. Cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga assumes his post, a day after Brazil logged a record one-day total of 2,841 COVID-19 deaths. Following the spike in deaths, Queiroga urged people to continue wearing masks and washing their hands but did not propose restrictions such as lockdowns, which are not favored by Bolsonaro, who has downplayed the virus even after he became infected. Queiroga has reportedly been working with outgoing Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello, who also backed Bolsonaro, but it is unclear when he will take over as the fourth health minister since the pandemic began one year ago. Brazil has one of the highest COVID-19 infections rates in Latin America, with more than 11,519,000 infections and 279,286 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University Covid Resource Center. 
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A just-released assessment by U.S. intelligence officials finds Russia and Iran, joined by a handful of other countries and groups, did seek to influence the outcome of the November 2020 presidential election. But the assessment also concludes that, despite repeated warnings by a number of top officials, China ultimately decided to sit it out. The declassified report, issued Tuesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, is the U.S. intelligence community’s final take on foreign meddling in the hotly contested race, in which then-presidential candidate Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump. FILE – A newspaper with a front picture of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is seen at a newsstand in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 8, 2020.Initially completed and shared with the Trump administration in a classified form in January, the unclassified version, required by law, seeks to give U.S. voters an overview of the threats and of their impact on American democracy.  While the assessment concludes no adversary managed to infiltrate critical systems or change how votes were cast, the conclusions on China could lead to new questions about how the intelligence was initially presented to the public. “We assess that China did not deploy interference efforts and considered but did not deploy influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the US Presidential election,” the newly released ODNI report said, adding it had “high confidence” in its finding. “China sought stability in its relationship with the United States, did not view either election outcome as being advantageous enough for China to risk getting caught meddling, and assessed its traditional influence tools — primarily targeted economic measures and lobbying — would be sufficient to meet its goal of shaping U.S. China policy regardless of the winner,” the report stated. Earlier warnings Those findings contrast with earlier warnings from intelligence officials who spent months warning voters of the potential threats, specifically calling out efforts by China along with Russia and Iran. “China is expanding its influence efforts to shape the policy environment in the United States, pressure political figures it views as opposed to China’s interests, and counter criticism of China,” then National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director FILE – Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe waits on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Dec. 12, 2020.In August, then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe grouped China with Russia and Iran in an interview with Fox Business News. “I don’t want to say this is only about China,” Ratcliffe said at the time. “China, Russia, Iran, other actors, are all trying to interfere or influence our elections for their own gain.” He added, however, that Beijing’s efforts stood apart. “China’s using a massive and sophisticated influence campaign that dwarfs anything that any other country is doing,” Ratcliffe said.  Another top Trump official, National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, echoed those thoughts less than a month later. “The intelligence community has made very clear, first you have China, which has the most massive program to influence the United States politically,” O’Brien told reporters at the time. White House Defends Trump’s Concerns About Mail-In Voting National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien defended the president’s warning of fraud while dismissing an intel bulletin that suggested Russia is using mail-in voting to sow confusion ahead of the November electionTrump, himself, also played up the notion China was seeking his defeat. “China would love us to have an election where Donald Trump lost to sleepy Joe Biden,” Trump said during a news conference last August. “They would own our country.” Declassified report In the newly declassified report, however, U.S. intelligence officials concluded Beijing did not use its well-developed influence machine to alter the results. “We did not identify China attempting to interfere with election infrastructure or provide funding to any candidates or parties,” the report said. It said Beijing had previously sought to influence U.S. politics, including in the 2018 U.S. elections. “We did not, however, see these capabilities deployed for the purpose of shaping the electoral outcome,” the report said. Report Puts Russia, China and Iran in Line for Sanctions for Election Meddling

        Voters who went to the polls last month in the United States' midterm elections can rest assured that their votes were registered and counted properly.However, a new report by the U.S. 

While stating it had high confidence in its findings regarding China, the ODNI report admitted there was some disagreement. “The National Intelligence Officer [NIO] for Cyber assesses that China took at least some steps to undermine former President Trump’s reelection chances, primarily through social media and official public statements and media,” it said, explaining the NIO gave more weight to indications that Beijing preferred Biden, seeing him as more predictable than Trump. The NIO also argued, with moderate confidence, that evidence suggested China increased its influence operations from June to August 2020, while calibrating its effort so as to “avoid blowback.” Still, several former intelligence officials who spoke to VOA about the ODNI report said its prevailing view in regard to China was not surprising. “[Former Director of National Intelligence] John Ratcliffe had the political mission of downplaying the whole Russian influence issue, with one way of doing that being to play up the idea that Chinese influence was at least as likely and significant as anything the Russians did,” said Paul Pillar, a former senior CIA officer who has been critical of Trump. Pillar, now with Georgetown University, said, in his view, the more notable conclusion from the ODNI report was how Russia sought to push Trump’s candidacy. FILE – Then-nominee for national intelligence director Avril Haines speaks during a confirmation hearing in Washington, Jan. 19, 2021. (Joe Raedle/Pool via AP)”Foreign malign influence is an enduring challenge facing our country,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said in a statement Tuesday.   “Addressing this ongoing challenge requires a whole-of-government approach grounded in an accurate understanding of the problem, which the Intelligence Community, through assessments such as this one, endeavors to provide,” she added. A separate report Tuesday, from the departments of Justice and Homeland Security, reaffirmed earlier findings that foreign adversaries failed to impact the tallying of ballots. “We … have no evidence that any foreign government-affiliated actor prevented voting, changed votes, or disrupted the ability to tally votes or to transmit election results in a timely manner; altered any technical aspect of the voting process; or otherwise compromised the integrity of voter registration information of any ballots cast during 2020 federal elections,” the report said. The second report also rejected claims made after the November 2020 U.S. election that foreign governments, including Venezuela, Cuba and China, were in any way in control of critical election infrastructure to manipulate the election’s outcome. Such claims “are not credible,” the Justice Department and DHS concluded. Some key lawmakers, though, reacted to the reports by warning it is more critical than ever for the U.S. to maintain its guard. “The problem of foreign actors trying to influence the American electorate is not going away,” Democratic Senator John Warner, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. “Given the current partisan divides in this country, [it] may find fertile ground in which to grow.” 
 
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Just as top U.S. defense and diplomatic officials are meeting with allies in Asia to find ways to counter the threat from a rising, more aggressive China, a key military commander is warning the front line in the competition for global dominance between Washington and Beijing is much closer to home. The commander of U.S. forces in Central and South America, Southern Command’s Admiral Craig Faller, told lawmakers Tuesday that China has become the leading threat in the region, taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic and increased lawlessness to impose its will on a growing number of countries.  FILE – U.S. Navy Adm. Craig Faller listens during a briefing at U.S. Southern Command, in Doral, Fla., July 10, 2020.”I look at this hemisphere as the front line of competition,” Faller told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, further describing Beijing’s efforts as a “full-court press.” “I feel a sense of urgency,” he added. “Our influence is eroding.”  Region “is sinking in the violence & it is sinking in FILE – U.S. Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck speaks during a news conference on the campus of California State University of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, Feb. 16, 2021.”They are absolutely in the NOTHCOM AOR [area of responsibility] attempting to influence in the Bahamas, working through 5G for example,” VanHerck said. “The same thing in Mexico.” U.S. military officials likewise expressed concern about the growing relationship between Chinese operations in Central and South America and transnational crime, described by SOUTHCOM’s Faller as the second biggest threat to the U.S. in the Americas. “They market in drugs, and people and guns and illegal mining,” Faller said of the various crime organizations that have secured a foothold across the region. “And one of the prime sources that underwrites their efforts is Chinese money laundering.” To counter China, Faller urged lawmakers to help ensure a continued U.S. presence and partnership. “It’s important that we remain engaged in this hemisphere,” he said. “It’s our neighborhood, That proximity matters.” “What I hear from my partners is … ‘We want to partner with you, but when you’re drowning, you need a life ring — you’re going to take the life ring from whoever throws it,” Faller said. 
 
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It’s been two months (Jan. 18), since Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny returned home following a lengthy recovery abroad from a near fatal poisoning attack.  Navalny — and western governments — blame the Russian government for the attempt on his life — a charge the Kremlin denies.  Yet a Russian court has since sentenced Navalny to just over two and a-half years in prison for alleged past parole violations.  The question now: can Russia’s opposition thrive — or even survive — without its leading figure?  From Moscow for VOA, Charles Maynes reports.Camera: Ricardo Marquina, Agencies,  Produced by: Ricardo Marquina/Rob Raffaele   
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The independent Russian investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta has called on Moscow authorities to investigate a “chemical attack” against its premises after a security camera recorded a person spraying its office entrance with an unknown liquid.The media outlet, which shares the premises with several other companies in the Russian capital, demanded the investigation on March 16, a day after a strong chemical odor swept through the building. Late on March 15, a video allegedly taken by a CCTV camera  at the building circulated on the Internet showing a man in a Yandex.Food delivery uniform spraying an unknown liquid near the building’s entrance from a device on the back wheel of the bike he was riding.”Look, it is now a device for terrorist acts — a false courier sprays a poisonous gas that is in a container installed on a bicycle. The idea is clear: the employees step in the poison and then distribute it to all of the floors in the building,” Novaya Gazeta said in a statement.A spokeswoman at Yandex.Food told the website Mediazona that the company did not receive any orders from the address where Novaya Gazeta is located.Novaya Gazeta’s staff members have said the odor in the building was very similar to one that was present when the home and car of correspondent Yulia Latynina was sprinkled with an unknown chemical in 2017.That same year the newspaper received a letter with an unknown white powder inside, which later was shown to be harmless.In October 2018, unknown people brought three cages with sheep wearing vests with the inscription PRESS on them.Several days before that, unknown individuals threw a funeral wreath in front of the periodical’s building with notes threatening Denis Korotkov, a correspondent for the newspaper. Days later a sheep’s head was found near the office with a note threatening all reporters at Novaya Gazeta.Six Novaya Gazeta journalists, including well-known reporters Yury Shchekochikhin, Anna Politkovskaya, and Anastasia Baburova, have been killed since 2001. 
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told parliament Tuesday that his government will seek to strengthen ties with countries in the Indo-Pacific region in the wake of the nation’s departure from the European Union.The shift is part of his government’s so-called Integrated Review of national security and international policy, a year-long study by his government that he highlighted for lawmakers. Calling it the most comprehensive review of British defense and foreign relations since the Cold War ended, Johnson said its purpose is to make the nation safer, stronger and more prosperous, while standing up for its values.”The review describes how we will bolster our alliances, strengthen our capabilities, find new ways of reaching solutions and relearn the art of competing against states with opposing values,” he told members of parliament.As part of Britain’s pivot toward Asia, Johnson said he has invited the leaders of Australia, South Korea and India to attend the G-7 summit in the British resort town of Carbis Bay, in June. Johnson plans to visit India next month and announced that Britain has applied to become a dialogue partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). He said Britain will also seek to join the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement.The prime minister said his plan calls for Britain to invest at least $9.1 billion to fund advanced and next-generation research and development in areas including space, directed energy weapons, and advanced high-speed missiles.To reaffirm that Britain is “unswervingly committed” to leadership in NATO, Johnson said the government will increase its defense budget by more than $33 billion over the next four years and remain the largest European spender on defense in NATO, with expenditures now standing at 2.2% of its gross domestic production. Britain will deploy more of its armed forces overseas more often and for longer periods of time, while cybersecurity will also be strengthened, he said.Johnson also told lawmakers the United States remains Britain’s most important bilateral relationship in defense, intelligence and security.He added that while China would pose a great challenge to what he described as Britain’s “open society,” his government would continue to work with Beijing whenever it was “consistent with our values and interests.”
 
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Faced with a burgeoning migration crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border, the Biden administration vowed Tuesday to continue to expel most single adults and families trying to reach the United States but to help unaccompanied children find relatives in the U.S. or place them with vetted care givers.Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the U.S. is on pace to encounter the highest number of migrants arriving from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico recorded in the past 20 years.  “The situation at the southwest border is difficult,” he said in a statement. “We will also not waver in our values and our principles as a nation. Our goal is a safe, legal, and orderly immigration system that is based on our bedrock priorities: to keep our borders secure, address the plight of children as the law requires, and enable families to be together.”“We are both a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants,” he said. “That is one of our proudest traditions.”The number of migrants at the border is quickly becoming an early defining moment for U.S. President Joe Biden. He stopped construction of the border wall championed by former president Donald Trump and has advanced what he says are more humanitarian immigration policies, while also continuing to reject entry for adult immigrants and families.FILE – Tents used by migrants seeking asylum in the United States line an entrance to the border crossing, March 1, 2021, in Tijuana, Mexico.He said authorities are trying to reunite the children with family members already living in the United States or with other sponsors who have been vetted to care for them. Initially after the apprehension of the children at the border, immigration officials by law are supposed to transfer them to the Department of Health and Human Services within 72 hours, but Mayorkas said that because of the growing number of migrants, that deadline is “not always met.”  Mayorkas said poverty, high levels of violence, and corruption in Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries “have propelled migration to our southwest border for years,” but that “adverse conditions have continued to deteriorate. Two damaging hurricanes that hit Honduras and swept through the region made the living conditions there even worse, causing more children and families to flee.”In addition, the Homeland Security chief claimed the Trump administration “completely dismantled the asylum system. The system was gutted, facilities were closed, and they cruelly expelled young children into the hands of traffickers. We have had to rebuild the entire system, including the policies and procedures required to administer the asylum laws that Congress passed long ago.”     He said the Biden administration is building additional facilities in the southwestern states of Texas and Arizona to shelter unaccompanied children, while working with Mexico to expand its ability to house expelled families.Last weekend, Homeland Security said that for the next 90 days, the Federal Emergency Management Agency would help process the large number of unaccompanied migrant children.In Dallas, the city convention center will be used to house as many as 3,000 migrant boys, ages 15-17, for up to 90 days starting next week, with the U.S. providing food, security and medical care.  Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax said in a statement that “collective action is necessary, and we will do our best to support this humanitarian effort.”The Health and Human Services agency will also house youths in Midland, Texas, at a converted oilfield workers camp with help from the American Red Cross, which sent 60 volunteers. Biden’s Immigration Reform Proposal ExplainedBill would create eight-year path to citizenship for millions On Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters “the Biden administration is trying to fix the broken system that was left to them by the Trump administration. The Biden administration will have a system based on doing the best possible job, understanding this is a humanitarian crisis.”Trump weighed in with his immigration thoughts at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference, contending that Biden “wants it all to go to hell.”  “When I left office just six weeks ago, we had created the most secure border in U.S. history,” Trump claimed, ignoring the increased number of illegal crossings during his last months in office.  “It took the new administration only a few weeks to turn this unprecedented accomplishment into a self-inflicted humanitarian and national security disaster by recklessly eliminating our border security measures, controls, all of the things that we put into place,” Trump argued.  Aside from dealing with the current quandary at the border, Democrats in the House of Representatives this week are trying to advance two pieces of immigration legislation.  One would establish a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children and have lived, attended school and worked in the country since then.  The House is also considering a measure in which a migrant worker in the agricultural industry could earn temporary status to stay in the U.S. with an eventual option to become a permanent resident.  Democrats strongly support both bills and also passed them in 2019. Even if they are approved again, however, their fate in the politically divided Senate is uncertain, at best.
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Despite the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, France is once again under pressure to take new measures to curb a new spread of the virus in the country.  The situation is once again deteriorating rapidly in the French capital. Hospitals in the Paris region are close to capacity and health professionals are rushing daily to find beds for their COVID patients. As of Monday, more than 4,200 patients were in intensive care units across France. The pandemic’s third wave is a reality in France and health workers have been evacuating seriously ill COVID patients to other parts of the country to cope with bed shortages. Enrique Casalino, a medical director with Hopitaux de Paris, the largest health system in Europe, describes the epidemic situation as deteriorating in the Paris region where every 12 minutes a new patient enters an intensive care unit. Casalino thinks medical evacuation to other French regions is just a temporary solution that does not solve the current crisis. He says there are only two options: a quick and massive immunization campaign to safeguard 70% of the population, which he doubts is currently achievable in France. The other would be a strict lockdown to prevent the virus from spreading further.On top of a delay in the delivery of vaccines, France is among European nations that are pausing the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to public concerns about side effects.Lockdowns have already been imposed in some hotspots in France, including Dunkirk and Nice, but not in the capital region.  A national nighttime curfew has been in force since the end of January, and bars, restaurants, museums, and movie theaters remain closed.  Still, a general lockdown in the Paris region has not been ordered.  Jerome Béglé, deputy director at Le Point, a French weekly, sees a lockdown of the Paris region as equivalent to a national lockdown as this region is the main economic center of France with 12 million people living there and a few tourists still visiting.With neighboring Italy imposing new restrictions Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron resisted the idea of a third national lockdown.Jean Castex, France’s prime minister says a national lockdown would be a last resort that cannot be ruled out due to the current situation. He says he would like to avoid one as it would place a heavy burden on the population.More than 90,000 people have died so far in France due to the COVID. The country is expected to reach a dreaded 100,000-death milestone next month.
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Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders appeared until recently to have faded into political irrelevance, thanks partly to the country’s mainstream parties’ adoption of some of his populist positions. Rivals on the populist right, notably Thierry Baudet, started to eclipse Wilders.  But the controversial firebrand seems to be on the brink of pulling off a strong electoral showing with his party, the Party for Freedom, PVV, likely to place second in Wednesday’s parliamentary elections, according to opinion polls.Pollsters say the PVV is on course to retain the 20 seats it won in 2017, and analysts and commentators say that if that holds true, it will amount to a comeback by Wilders, whose party has struggled to keep its political footing and stumbled in 2019 when it went from nine seats to five in elections for the national parliament’s upper house. Dutch anti-immigration, anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders speaks to the media following the verdict in his appeal in Schiphol near Amsterdam, Netherlands, Sept. 4, 2020.In the same year, his anti-immigrant and anti-EU party just scrambled to reach the electoral threshold to gain a single seat in the European Parliament. Wilders was dismissed as a has-been. Baudet was seen as the new face of alt-right in the Netherlands. Euro-skeptics gainingWilders also stood out less with other parties embracing, to varying degrees, euro-skepticism.A record number of 37 parties are competing for seats in the 150-strong lower house. All the eve-of-election polls are giving the right-wing liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, VVD, of incumbent Prime Minister Mark Rutte a clear lead in the elections. His party is projected to get at least 30 seats in the lower house.EU negotiations last year over a coronavirus recovery fund for member states ran into an impasse partly thanks to Rutte, who took on the leadership role of the so-called “frugal four” north European countries opposed to an $857 billion EU stimulus package. Rutte was nicknamed “Mr. No No No!” for his opposition to the package and he’s seen as the leader of what Eurocrats dub “the awkward squad.” Third place in the elections is likely to go to the Christian Democratic Appeal party, CDA, which has moved further to the right under the leadership of Wopke Hoekstra, the country’s finance minister, who was also an outspoken critic of the EU’s post-pandemic financial stimulus plan, which will see richer European countries help out poorer ones. Wilders said this week that the three largest parties after the election should immediately enter into coalition discussions, but Rutte has ruled that out, saying he won’t include the PVV in talks about forming a new government.  The same happened in 2017 when the PVV was shut out of government.That, according to Wilders, is “undemocratic.” “Voters are in charge, not Mark Rutte,’ Wilders told NPO Radio 1 Monday. But he still harbors hopes, saying Rutte is a “full-blooded power broker” who will cut whatever deal he needs to stay in office. Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders of the PVV party and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the VVD Liberal party take part in a televised debate in Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 11, 2021.Some analysts question whether Wilders has any interest in actually joining a government. If he had, they say, he would have been more circumspect in his rhetoric in the lead-up to the polls. Controversial figureWilders says that he wants the Netherlands to return to “a country without headscarves, but with traditional Dutch coziness,” and backs the contentious tradition of Black Pete, when children and adults dress as “blackface” during the December holiday of Sinterklaas.  
“We express that our own culture is best. And we’re proud of that! Unfortunately, the attack on the Netherlands’ culture went into high speed last year because of the glorification of dangerous activist groups like Black Lives Matter and Kick Out Black Pete,” Wilders says in the PVV manifesto. The folklore character of Black Pete is a helper of the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas and has been the focus of fierce debate for years in the Netherlands.Racial inequality has been debated in the election campaigning, mainly pushed by minor parties. Sylvana Simons, a former TV presenter who leads a small party called ‘Together,’ says she hopes those who gathered last year to support Black Lives Matter, which head to the polls.Simons, who was born in Suriname and at 18 months moved with her parents to the Netherlands,  told Associated Press: “It was good to see that so many people said, ‘enough is enough’ and they came out and spoke out. And I do also hope that they will use that same voice when we have our general elections.” But pollsters say Simons’ party will struggle to gain even one seat.Housing shortages, the environment, health care and education have all figured in election campaigning. Rutte’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has also been an issue. The 54-year-old’s favorability ratings had held up well for most of last year, but a prolonged lockdown has begun to dent his popularity in recent weeks. And Wilders has sought to profit from the Dutch impatience. “What are you doing Premier Rutte? You are holding an entire country hostage in fear and captivity,” Wilders has charged. 
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Jamaica will begin administering COVID-19 vaccinations Tuesday to top government officials, including Cabinet members, Parliamentarians and heads of ministries and government agencies who are at least 60 years of age. The Ministry of Health announced Monday night the group follows healthcare workers, police and members of the military who have already gotten their shots against the virus. Since Jamaica began its immunization program six days ago, some 15,000 people have been vaccinated.  The Caribbean island received its latest batch of COVID-19 vaccines Monday, when 14,400 doses of arrived under the COVAX Facility. The global COVAX vaccine distribution plan aims to deliver tens of millions of vaccine doses to low- and middle-income countries.The initiative was launched by the World Health Organization, the European Commission and France to assist nations facing difficulty affording the vaccines, and middle-income counties unable to make deals with vaccine manufacturers.   So far, Jamaica has confirmed more than 30,400 infections and 485 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University Covid Resource Center, a U.S.-based research institute constantly updating information with COVID-19 data and expert input. 
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