A former Mexican governor suspected of ordering the torture of an investigative journalist who had accused him of links to a pedophilia ring appeared in court Thursday to formally face charges.Mario Marin, who was the governor of the state of Puebla from 2005-11, asked to be placed under house arrest for the duration of the legal process, citing health problems and fear of catching COVID-19 in jail. The judge will decide on request next week. The 66-year-old former governor is in detention for the time being.In 2005, award-winning journalist Lydia Cacho had alleged in her book The Demons of Eden that Marin, who has been a fugitive since April 2019, and several prominent Mexican businessmen were linked to a child pornography ring.”I have been seeking justice for 14 years for having been tortured by this accomplice of child pornography networks,” the journalist wrote on Twitter.“He is the first governor arrested for acts of torture against journalists and linked, furthermore, with a ring of trafficking girls and boys,” Cacho said.In December 2005, agents of the Puebla prosecutor’s office arrested Cacho in Cancun and drove her to Puebla. She was accused of slander and defamation.Cacho was later released.She alleged that on the road from Cancun to Puebla officials psychologically tortured and threatened to sexually abuse her.The press freedom organization Artículo 19, which is representing Cacho, said that if convicted, Marin could face up to 12 years behind bars.Cacho, who now lives overseas, has won many international awards including the UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom prize.
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Some 80 journalists are included among the thousands of people who have been detained across Russia during protests over the arrest and sentencing of opposition politician Alexey Navalny.Several of the journalists were beaten. At least one was jailed because of posts on social media about the unrest.The strong tactics used by security forces to contain protests, and the retaliation against independent journalists covering them, were no surprise to Russian politicians, analysts and journalists interviewed by VOA. What was less expected was Russia’s inability to stem the flow of information about Navalny’s case and the rallies in his support.FILE – A still image taken from video footage shows Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny inside a defendant dock during the announcement of a court verdict in Moscow, Russia, Feb. 2, 2021.The protests started shortly after Navalny was detained January 17 when he returned to Russia from Germany, where he was treated after being poisoned. A Moscow court sentenced him Tuesday to two years and eight months in prison, prompting more demonstrations.Part of Navalny’s defense has been to use social media and journalism platforms to reach supporters and draw attention to President Vladimir Putin’s lavish lifestyle and what Navalny says were attempts by the Kremlin to poison him. Russia denies the allegation.Navalny has shared details of his persecution with his 6.5 million followers on Twitter and Instagram — numbers that equal or exceed the audiences of mainstream Russian news outlets. His Anti-Corruption Foundation used investigative journalism techniques and YouTube to detail allegations of high-level corruption. And news outlets, including the investigative website Bellingcat, have reported on Russia’s alleged attempts to surveil and poison him.FILE – The U.S. head office of TikTok is seen in Culver City, California, Sept. 15, 2020.Navalny’s media-savvy approach and use of new platforms have knocked Moscow off balance. With independent media largely suppressed and viewers turning away from state TV — which rarely covers issues that may anger the Kremlin — Russians have looked to international outlets or niche media for their news. They use a range of social media platforms, including TikTok, Telegram and others, to share information and reporting.Russia has attempted to block access to some of these sites through laws regulating posts and by warning platforms against sharing information about the protests. Pro-Kremlin trolls have tried to counter opposition voices on social media with limited success.The Kremlin argues the platforms are being used to incite unrest or spread what it deems to be extremist views, and that regulations are needed to prevent the spread of disinformation.The Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., did not respond to VOA’s email requesting comment.Mass protestsWhile the scenes in recent days were reminiscent of the anti-government rallies in 2011 and 2012, analysts say society has drastically changed, along with the communication channels used to share information and cover events.FILE – Russian opposition candidate Dmitry Gudkov gestures during his interview with the Associated Press in Moscow, March 11, 2020.”In 2011-2012, they stood up against fraudulent elections. Now, the protest has become more personalized,” Russian politician Dmitry Gudkov told VOA, adding that people now are out protesting against Putin.“And in response, Putin and his forces have hit back by detaining or retaliating against activists, independent journalists and social media that cover investigations into his administration,” he said.Gudkov was a member of the State Duma (lower house of the Federal Assembly) during the 2011 protests. His support for the movement led to his suspension from the Spravedlivaya Rossiya (Fair Russia) Party. He later led the opposition Civic Initiative Party, which the Supreme Court suspended in 2020.Social mediaIn 2011, Facebook was the primary platform.“Now, information is distributed across different social media and messengers,” said FILE – This picture taken on Jan. 22, 2021 in Rennes, France, shows a smartphone screen featuring messaging service applications WhatsApp, Signal, telegram, Viber, Discord and Olvid.In 2018, Russian officials tried to block Telegram. But they failed to prevent users from accessing the site, and the ban was overturned in 2020.“Authorities continuously threaten to block social media if they allow postings about protests,” Kozlovsky said. “A new law allowing the blocking of social media was adopted just a month ago,” he added, referring to legislation requiring social networks to filter information deemed to show “disrespect for society, the state, the Constitution,” or that calls for riots.Foreign broadcastsAlongside social media, another challenge to the official narrative comes from foreign media that provide coverage in Russian, including VOA, BBC, Deutsche Welle and RFE/RFL, journalists say.Audiences for foreign media have grown in Russia because of widespread censorship across major media outlets and efforts by the Kremlin to eliminate almost all local independent media in the country.”It’s clear for the Kremlin that journalists drive the liberal opposition in Russia. And they oppose the regime by reporting the truth on the internet,” said Maria Snegovaya, a visiting scholar at the George Washington University Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies. “People who know the truth about the government become an opposition, too, and we can see this in polls. In this regard, of course, the masks are pulled off, and the regime no longer pretends to be friendly. The regime considers journalists as enemies.”FILE – The logo of German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle is pictured in Berlin, Germany, Jan. 30, 2020.The recent unrest was widely covered by mostly foreign media. Live coverage of Navalny’s arrest carried by “Current Time,” a daily Russian-language news show produced by RFE/RL and VOA, and Deutsche Welle, garnered hundreds of thousands of views and was shared on social media and other outlets.This fits a wider pattern of audiences looking to investigative journalism and social media platforms for news not covered by state media.In 2020, the nonprofit investigative media outlet Proekt published several articles that looked at corruption among Putin’s acquaintances.FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a joint meeting of the country’s State Council and the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects via a videoconference at Novo-Ogaryovo state residence, Dec. 23, 2020.The Kremlin may be slow to recognize the power of these platforms, but veterans of the Russian opposition movement say they anticipate repression toward civil society and media.”I don’t know what exactly they will do, but the reaction to the protests will be tough,” Kozlovsky said.Goncharov said he suspects authorities will hire bloggers to “push their propaganda on these platforms.”A counteroffensive already appears to be in play. Popular Russian bloggers and celebrities posted similar videos on Instagram and TikTok in which they criticized the protesters and praised Putin.FILE – Pop singer Philipp Kirkorov reacts next to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin after having been decorated with the Order of Honor during an awarding ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow, Nov. 15, 2017.Russian singer Philipp Kirkorov used Instagram to call Putin “the smartest leader in the history of humankind.”“Vladimir Putin and his team don’t stop to surprise me in a positive way. Russia deserves it,” Kirkorov wrote on January 24, the day after the mass protests.Videos posted online also show protesters giving what are believed to be forced apologies. Journalists have received threatening messages from anonymous users on Telegram, some of whom share personal information and private photos, or make up stories about the reporters’ alleged connections with the West.Victor Oleynik, a VOA contributor and co-founder of “Beware of Them,” a project that catalogs wrongdoing by police, said he was falsely accused of coordinating the protests in Russia with the U.S. government. The accusation was shared by dozens of troll accounts on Twitter and Telegram, which resulted in Oleynik’s receiving threatening messages.More arrests and harassment are anticipated, according to the Russians with whom VOA spoke, some of whom said they feared persecution if they talked on the record. But they said the spread of these platforms would make the stifling of news more difficult.
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The pro-democracy group Freedom House has released a report detailing how countries such as China, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia, and Turkey systematically employ violence and intimidation against exiles and diasporas to silence dissent beyond their borders. VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
Producer: Jesse Oni
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused student demonstrators of being terrorists as Turkish police arrested them for protesting Erdogan’s appointment of a new rector at one of the country’s top universities this week.  For over a month, students, faculty members and alumni of Bogazici University in Istanbul have protested Erdogan’s appointment of Turkish politician and academic Melih Bulu, demanding an election to choose a rector among the university’s own faculty.  Bulu holds a doctorate from Bogazici’s business management program but has never been a full-time academic at the university. Critics have accused him of plagiarism in his dissertation and published articles and have called for his resignation. Bulu has denied those accusations.  Turkish police officers detain protesters during a rally in support of Bogazici University students protesting the appointment of Melih Bulu, a ruling Justice and Development Party loyalist, as rector of the university, in Istanbul, Feb. 4, 2021.His involvement in politics also stirred controversy over his appointment, since he once ran for Parliament as a candidate for Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).  He told reporters Wednesday that he does not intend to resign from his university post. Still, his appointment has been viewed as an assault on academic freedom, which has sparked other protests in the country.   Arrests This week, Turkish police detained more than 250 protesters in Istanbul and 69 students in Ankara, some of whom were released later. At least 51 of the protesters in Istanbul were referred to court on Wednesday and were released Thursday on bail. On Tuesday, academics wearing their gowns gathered on the Bogazici campus, their backs turned to the rector’s building in protest, demanding Bulu’s resignation and the release of detained students. Turkish government officials called the protesters terrorists.  Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said 79 of the detainees were linked to terror groups such as the far-left Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C).  Turkish police officers detain protesters during a rally in support of Bogazici University students protesting the appointment of Melih Bulu, a ruling Justice and Development Party loyalist, as rector of the university, in Istanbul, Feb. 4, 2021.Erdogan echoed Soylu’s statement in a video address to his ruling AKP on Wednesday, saying the protesters lack Turkey’s “national and spiritual values” and are members of terrorist groups.  “This country will not be run by terrorists,” he said. “We will do whatever is needed to prevent this. … We have not stood with terrorists, and we will not.”  Rights groups say the Turkish government has broadened the definition of anti-terrorism laws to suppress dissent. “Turkish authorities have a long history of clamping down on free expression through abusive investigations, arbitrary detentions and unfounded prosecutions under vaguely defined anti-terrorism laws,” Deniz Yuksel, a Turkey advocacy specialist at Amnesty International, told VOA. LGBT rights The dispute at Bogazici intensified after a poster depicting the Islamic holy site Kaaba with LGBT flags was displayed in an exhibition on campus as part of protests last week. On January 29, Soylu tweeted about the arrest of four students over the poster, calling them “LGBT deviants.” Later, Twitter placed a warning on Soylu’s tweet, saying it had violated the company’s rules regarding hateful conduct. Two of the detained students were arrested on charges of inciting hatred and insulting religious values.  FILE – Students walk with rainbow flags during a gathering in solidarity with Bogazici University students protesting the appointment of Melih Bulu as rector of the university, in Ankara, Turkey, Feb. 2, 2021.Over the weekend, police raided Bogazici’s LGBTI+ student club and announced that an investigation for alleged terrorist propaganda was opened against the club after an illegal publication of Kongra-Gel and rainbow flags were found in the club room.  Kongra-Gel is an umbrella organization for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its affiliates. The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey and the United States.  Following the raid, Bulu announced the club’s closure.  Some analysts believe Bogazici University’s LGBT community became the latest target of the government’s broad brush to label dissidents as terrorists.  “What is most striking in the Bogazici case is that LGBTI individuals are now demonized as criminals and terrorists simply because of their sexual orientation, reflecting how far Turkey has drifted away from fundamental rights and freedoms and the rule of law and due process,” Aykan Erdemir, director of the Turkey program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and a former Turkish Parliament member, told VOA. Erdogan praised his party’s youth Monday in a video conference, saying, “You are not the LGBT youth, not the youth who commit acts of vandalism. On the contrary, you are the ones who repair broken hearts.” Two days later, he said “there is no such thing” as LGBT, adding that “this country is national and spiritual, and will continue to walk into the future as such.”  Yuksel of Amnesty International said the Turkish authorities’ recent anti-LGBT statements were “not only a reflection of the government’s homophobia but also a calculated political strategy.” “The authorities’ attacks on LGBT [individuals] are the latest frontier in a culture war launched by President Erdogan in an effort to rally his conservative base ahead of elections scheduled for 2023, though rumors suggest they may be held earlier,” she said.  U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Wednesday that the United States was concerned about demonstrations at Bogazici University and strongly condemned the anti-LGBT rhetoric surrounding them.  The U.N. human rights agency on Wednesday condemned “homophobic and transphobic comments by [Turkish] officials” and called for a “prompt release of students and protesters arrested for participating in peaceful demonstrations.”  #Turkey: We call for prompt release of students & protestors arrested for participating in peaceful demonstrations, and urge the police to stop using excessive force. We condemn homophobic & transphobic comments by officials, inciting hatred & discrimination against LGBT people. pic.twitter.com/EXF9RvMiyQ— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) February 3, 2021Turkey’s Foreign and Interior ministries did not respond to VOA’s requests for comment. But in a separate statement released Thursday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said, “It was determined that certain groups that are not from the university and are affiliated with terrorist organizations attempted to infiltrate into and provoke the events. “In this respect, necessary and proportional measures are taken within the law against these illegal acts that go beyond the scope of the right to protest.”  Bogazici’s significance Bogazici University was established in 1863 as Robert College by U.S. missionaries and became a public university in 1971. As one of Turkey’s most prestigious universities, its admission is highly competitive, as only the top percentile of the 2.4 million students competing in a national placement exam at Turkish universities study there free of charge.   “Bogazici University has been the gold standard of meritocracy and vertical mobility in Turkey,” Erdemir of FDD said. “The university’s pioneer role in introducing Western scholarship and values has made it a target of Turkey’s various Islamist and ultranationalist factions, who accuse the institution of serving ‘foreign’ interests,’ ” he said.  Some information in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters. 
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French Prime Minister Jean Castex said Thursday that while the COVID-19 pandemic remains serious, he does not think another nationwide lockdown is necessary. But he urged people to take all necessary precautions to avoid contracting the coronavirus.During a COVID-19 news briefing from Paris, Castex said that while France’s infection rate remains too high, it is still lower than it was in October. He warned if the situation deteriorates, the government will not hesitate to call for a shutdown.The prime minster also announced that beginning Friday, the government will be scheduling a total of 1.7 million more vaccinations to be completed by end of March.He said France will begin receiving its first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which does not have the same refrigerated storage requirements of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, allowing health officials to distribute the vaccine more quickly.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing domestic and international pressure to stop a crackdown on student protests that erupted after the Turkish leader’s decision to install a new rector at one of the country’s main universities. Critics say the move was aimed at silencing dissent at what many regard as one of the last remaining centers of liberal thought in Turkey. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul. 
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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg admitted Thursday the alliance had a “challenging” relationship with the Trump administration and that he had some “difficult” conversations with former U.S. President Donald Trump.During a joint news briefing with Belgium’s prime minister, Alexander De Croo, at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Stoltenberg was asked about his relationship with the Trump administration and whether he thought the alliance would survive it.  Stoltenberg said despite the differences he and NATO may have had with the former U.S. president, those kinds of challenges are “what makes NATO strong.”  He said the alliance has always enjoyed bipartisan support in the United States and that continues.The NATO chief added that NATO and the United States are doing more together now than they have done in many years.“We have more exercises, more U.S. troops, increased activities, European and North American allies together in Europe,” the NATO chief said. “So, I think the strength of the transatlantic bond is demonstrated by what you actually do.”Stoltenberg acknowledged that Trump’s insistence on NATO members increasing their defense budgets and playing a bigger role in supporting the alliance militarily made a difference. He said European allies have been stepping up, both in terms of military readiness and increased defense spending.Prime Minister Croo agreed and said that Europe has taken important steps toward self-reliance. “If we want to have more strategic autonomy for Europe, then we have to play our role,” he said.
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European markets were mixed Thursday amid continued volatility in the technology sector and caution over corporate earnings reports.    
 
Britain’s benchmark FTSE index was down 0.3% at midday. The CAC 40 index in France was 0.1% higher, while Germany’s DAX index was up 0.2%.
 
Markets in Asia and Australia closed mostly lower earlier in the trading day. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index lost just over 1%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 0.6%, while Shanghai’s Composite index was 0.4% lower. The KOSPI index in South Korea plunged 1.3%, and Taiwan’s TSEC lost 0.4%    
 
Mumbai’s Sensex finished the trading day 0.7% higher.  
 
Australia’s S&P/ASX index fell 0.8%.
 
In commodities trading, gold was selling at $1,814.70, down 1.1%. U.S. crude oil was selling at $56.11 per barrel, up 0.7%, while Brent crude oil was 0.6% higher, selling at $58.82 per barrel.  
 
All three major U.S. indices were trending higher in futures trading ahead of Wall Street’s opening bell.  
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Testing began in Britain on Thursday to determine if different COVID-19 vaccines can be used together in a two-shot regimen.Researchers are aiming to inoculate more than 800 volunteers with one shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, followed either four or 12 weeks later with a booster shot of the vaccine developed jointly by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, or vice versa.The vaccines were developed with different technology — the Pfizer vaccine through messenger RNA (mRNA), while the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is adenovirus viral vector, or common cold virus.Health officials say if two vaccines developed with different technology are able to be used interchangeably, it could allow greater flexibility in immunization campaigns around the world.In a related development, The Guardian newspaper says an analysis of Israel’s mass vaccination program has found that a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine provides 90% protection against the novel coronavirus by 21 days. Researchers at Britain’s University of East Anglia contradict an earlier study from Israel that suggested one dose may not give adequate protection.Meanwhile, Oxford University says its COVID-19 vaccine is 76% effective at preventing infection for three months after a single dose. The findings were part of the same study released Wednesday that found the vaccine cut transmission of the virus by two-thirds.The study has not been peer-reviewed, but Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC the findings are “good news.””It does show the world that the Oxford jab works, it works well,” Hancock said.The vaccine has come under criticism from other nations in Europe in recent days with officials expressing concerns about the lack of data regarding its effectiveness in older people.Preparations for the Australian Open, the first major tennis tournament of 2021, have been thrown into disarray after a worker at a quarantine hotel in Melbourne tested positive for COVID-19. The positive case prompted tournament organizers and local health authorities to order more than 500 players and support staff to isolate in their rooms until they are tested, and several warm-up tournaments that were scheduled for Thursday were canceled.The tournament was already off to a rough start after more than 70 players were placed in a strict 14-day lockdown after at least six people who arrived in Melbourne last month tested positive for COVID-19. The cases were linked to three of 17 charter flights that arrived in the southern city carrying more than 1,000 players and their entourages, plus tournament officials and media.The new COVID-19 case in Melbourne is the first confirmed infection in Victoria state in 28 days. City officials have reimposed an order for masks in indoor public places, as well as limits on the number of people who can gather indoors.Victoria state Premier David Andrews said in spite of the new positive case, the Grand Slam tournament will still begin next Monday as scheduled, but added there were “no guarantees.”
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At an appeals hearing Tuesday, Russian prosecutors accused journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva of being a “mouthpiece of the West” as the court upheld her conviction of “justifying terrorism.” The hearing came amid a wider backdrop of Moscow taking legal action against her employer, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. A Russian court last month fined the independent U.S.-funded news network for not complying with its foreign agents law. Russia’s use of legal action against RFE/RL is an attempt to cut off access to independent media, media and regional analysts say. Moscow has been “building a web of laws and restrictions non-stop against RFE,” said Thomas Kent in an interview with VOA’s Russian service. Kent was president of the network from 2016 to 2018. The fines against RFE/RL are a sign that Russia is implementing those laws, Gulnoza Said, from the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), told VOA. FILE – The headquarters of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is seen with the United States, RFE/RL and the Czech Republic flags in the foreground, in Prague, Jan. 15, 2010.The network was fined 1.1 million rubles ($14,400 USD) last month for not complying with Russia’s newly revised foreign agents law. The fines were directed at the general director along with RFE services, including Radio Liberty and the Russian-language TV network Current Time that the produces with VOA. Current Time is a 24/7 television and digital network for Russian speakers, led by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in cooperation with Voice of America. Under amendments to the law last year, outlets receiving international funding must label their content as produced by “foreign agents.” RFE/RL is an independent grantee of the U.S. Agency For Global Media, which also oversees VOA. Both receive funding from Congress but are editorially independent. Russia’s decision to add further provisions to its law was criticized by international rights groups including Amnesty International, who in a FILE – Russian journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva, charged with publicly justifying terrorism, arrives for a court hearing in Pskov, Russia, July 6, 2020.In Prokopyeva’s case, the appeals hearing reflected a wider trend of Russian authorities using legal action against independent voices, media analysts said. The journalist was convicted last year of “justifying terrorism” — a charge upheld by the military appeals court Tuesday. The accusations stem from comments Prokopyeva made in an interview about a suicide bombing. When the lower court convicted Prokopyeva, it fined the journalist and confiscated her equipment. At the time, RFE/RL’s acting president, Daisy Sindelar, condemned the lower court’s decision, saying, “The portrayal of her words as ‘justifying terrorism’ is a deliberate and politically motivated distortion aimed at silencing her critical voices.” Said told VOA the appeal verdict was disappointing. CPJ awarded Prokopyeva last year with its International Press Freedom Award. “It’s so emblematic of how Russian authorities treat journalists, not just those who work for outlets like RFE/RL that are funded from abroad, but any journalists, including those working for local media who dare to criticize the authorities, or even say something that’s not in line with the Kremlin narrative,” Said told VOA. Russian authorities see Western reporting as an attempt to interfere in Russian affairs and don’t like its positions on human rights and press freedom, Said added. “Some of them probably very sincerely believe that the West has an agenda of destroying (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s regime by having RFE/RL report on various issues, including corruption,” she said. Kent shared a similar view, saying attempts to obstruct reporting “comes down to the government feeling that it has the right to decide what information Russian people receive and that the Russian people are not competent to figure out themselves.” VOA’s Misha Gutkin contributed to this report.
 
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Canada became the first country Wednesday to formally designate the Proud Boys a terrorist entity, according to the nation’s FILE – Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio wears a hat that says The War Boys during a rally in Portland, Ore., Sept. 26, 2020.“They don’t do anything except protest. … To be put on the level of ISIS is simply an overreach,” Tarrio said. The designation could allow Canadian police to handle crimes committed by the group as terrorist activity as well as empower authorities to seize financial assets.Tarrio said the move will only serve to inhibit the group’s “free speech.” Reputation for violenceThe Proud Boys is considered a far-right, male chauvinist extremist organization with a reputation of engaging in violent activities at political rallies in the United States and Canada. When asked about the group’s objectives, Tarrio told VOA, “We’re a beer-drinking club.” Members have been under increasing scrutiny in the United States after embracing the former Trump administration’s nationalist policies, and being a major agitator during previous protests and last month’s riot at the Capitol that left five people dead.According to the U.S.-based Southern Poverty Law Center, members of the Proud Boys were “aggressively front and center during the attack on the Capitol.” The SPLC also defines the Proud Boys as a hate group.During a presidential debate in September 2020 with then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden, then-President Donald Trump urged the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” when a moderator asked him to denounce the group. After the attack on the Capitol, Jagmeet Singh, head of Canada’s opposition New Democratic Party, urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to declare the Proud Boys a terrorist group. The Canadian government added a total of 13 groups to its terrorism list, including three other neo-Nazi or far-right organizations — The Base, and the Atomwaffen Division, which operate mostly in the U.S., and the Russia-based Russian Imperial Movement, which has operated in Europe, the Middle East and other regions.  
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The Czech Republic health ministry reported Wednesday the nation passed one million confirmed COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began. The agency also reported that the day-to-day increase in new infections reached 9,057 since Tuesday, which puts the nation over the one-million mark for confirmed cases since the first three cases were detected March 1, 2020. The current figures show the nation has the third-highest rate of infection in Europe, with more than 981 cases per 100,000 people, trailing only Portugal and Spain. The Czech Republic death rate is also among the highest in Europe, at nearly 205 per 100,000 people. The ministry reports the country of 10.7 million has registered 16,683 deaths. Although daily increases dropped after they reached a record high of almost 18,000 in early January, they have stagnated in recent days at still dangerously high levels despite a strict lockdown. Currently, 93,043 people are ill with COVID-19 in the Czech Republic. Of them, 5,811 are hospitalized while 1,002 are in intensive care.  
 
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Russian human rights monitors say authorities have arrested at least 1,400 protesters in Moscow after a court sentenced opposition politician Alexey Navalny to serve out the remaining time of a three-and-a-half year suspended sentence in a prison colony. The decision Tuesday came just weeks after Navalny returned to Russia following a poisoning attack that nearly took his life. For VOA from Moscow, Charles Maynes reports. 
Camera: Ricardo Marquina Montanana 
 
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People across Britian have been paying tribute to Tom Moore, the 100-year-old British Second World War veteran who raised millions for health workers and offered hope to Britons and others around the world during the pandemic.Moore died Tuesday.  He was being treated at a hospital for breathing difficulties after contracting pneumonia and had also been diagnosed with the coronavirus last week.In April 2020, as Britain entered lockdown at the height of the first wave of the pandemic, former army Captain Tom Moore set out to raise 1,000 pounds for the National Health Service by walking a hundred laps of his garden, inspired by the treatment he’d received for a broken hip and cancer.  People took Moore to their hearts and donations poured in for the humble 99-year-old, who became affectionately known as ‘Captain Tom.’The Wembley Stadium is illuminated in commemoration of Captain Sir Tom Moore, after his family announced that the centenarian fundraiser died, in London, Britain, Feb. 2, 2021.“The first two laps it’s a bit hard, after that I’m thinking what I’m doing and I just keep on doing it. Once I’ve started it’s fine and that’s why I keep on going,” Moore told reporters as he approached his target of 100 laps.Moore had served for the British Army in Myanmar, India and Sumatra during WWII. Troops from his home Yorkshire Regiment formed an honor guard for what was supposed to be the final lap, by which time Moore had raised more than £12 million (U.S.$16 million) for the NHS.“It’s unbelievable that people could be so kind to give that sort of money to the National Health Service. And maybe I was responsible for starting it, but not deliberately. It was purely… shall we say gratitude for what they’ve done for me,” Moore said.He decided to keep on walking. By the time he closed the donation page on April 30, his 100th birthday, Moore had raised a staggering £38 million (U.S.$53 million). He received some 150,000 birthday cards from around the world. Others took inspiration for their own fundraising endeavors, raising millions more for charity.FILE – British World War II veteran Captain Tom Moore, 99, walks a lap of his garden in the village of Marston Moretaine, 50 miles north of London, April 16, 2020.Moore scored a number one hit on the British singles chart with a rendition of the 1963 Gerry and the Pacemakers’ hit ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone.’In July, Captain Moore was knighted by Queen Elizabeth. The British Army promoted him to ‘Honorary Colonel.’ In September, he released an autobiography, the title taken from his iconic words: ‘Tomorrow will be a good day.’ “Always be optimistic whatever you’re talking about, be optimistic because it’s a good day, I mean things will get better,” Moore said at the book launch.Moore had contracted pneumonia and was diagnosed with the coronavirus on January 22. He was unable to be vaccinated due to the medication he was taking. The 100-year-old passed away Tuesday after a short stay in Bedford hospital in central England, with his family by his side.His death has triggered a national outpouring of grief and admiration.“I think everyone is sort of feeling it because so many people have lost someone that they’re connecting with that,” said 30-year-old London teacher Charlotte Turnbull.John Karssiens, an NHS Doctor, said: “Thank you so much, Captain Tom. It’s a massive, massive thing you’ve done for the country.”The royal family’s Twitter account posted the following message: ‘The Queen is sending a private message of condolence to the family of Captain Sir Tom Moore. Her Majesty very much enjoyed meeting Captain Sir Tom and his family at Windsor last year. Her thoughts and those of the Royal Family are with them.’FILE – Captain Sir Thomas Moore receives his knighthood from Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, during a ceremony at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, July 17, 2020.Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave a televised statement Wednesday. “Captain Sir Tom Moore was a hero in the truest sense of the word. In the dark days of the Second World War he fought for freedom and in the face of this country’s deepest post-war crisis he united us all, he cheered us all up, and he embodied the triumph of the human spirit,” Johnson said.In a statement, Moore’s family said: “The last year of our father’s life was nothing short of remarkable. He was rejuvenated and experienced things he’d only ever dreamed of.”Moore will be remembered most for his messages of hope. “To all those people who are finding it difficult at the moment,” he once said, “the sun will shine on you again, and the clouds will go away.” 
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A coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University cut transmission of the virus by two-thirds, according to a study released by the university Wednesday.
 
The study has not been peer-reviewed, but Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC the findings are “good news.”
 
“It does show the world that the Oxford jab works, it works well,” Hancock said.
 
The vaccine has come under criticism from other nations in Europe in recent days with officials expressing concerns about the lack of data regarding its effectiveness in older people.
 
France’s top health advisory body recommended the vaccine only be used in those under the age of 65.
 
In Belgium, the government said it would only give the vaccine to those under the age of 55.
 
“We don’t have enough info to be sure to say that it is good for the elderly,” Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said.
 
Oxford’s vaccine trial chief Andrew Pollard told the BBC on Wednesday that despite the lack of data about its exact effectiveness, the vaccine provides good immune responses in older people.
 
“We have good immune responses in older adults very similar to younger adults, the protection that we do see is in exactly the same direction, and of a similar magnitude,” Pollard said.
 New Zealand
In New Zealand, regulators on Wednesday gave approval for the provisional use of a vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech.  The first vaccinations are expected to begin by the end of the first quarter of 2021, with a priority on border workers in the country that has strict quarantine measures in place for those arriving from abroad.
 
Wednesday also brought the start of a vaccination campaign in Pakistan, which is using a vaccine from China’s Sinopharm.
 Asia
Like many countries, the first people to get the vaccine are frontline health workers.  Pakistan’s minister for planning and development said at a ceremony in Islamabad that the workers are the “real heroes” as they put their own health at risk to help those infected with COVID-19.
 
Pakistan has received 500,000 doses of the vaccine, and it plans to vaccinate 70% of its high-risk population by the end of the year.
 
In South Korea, officials are limiting travel and gatherings during next week’s Lunar New Year holidays and urging people to stay home to combat a rise in coronavirus cases.
 
Health officials also said Wednesday they have detected the first local transmissions of virus variants first identified in Britain and South Africa.
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Mexico’s regulatory agency approved emergency use of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, shortly after Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell announced Tuesday the country’s plan to combat the novel coronavirus would involve use of the vaccine. The Associated Press reports Mexico is launching its vaccination program as its capital, Mexico City, is struggling to accommodate a growing number of coronavirus patients and provide adequate oxygen to hospitals.  Meantime, Lopez-Gattel said the first batches of the 7.4 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine will arrive this month through April.    The Sputnik V vaccine’s credibility was elevated Tuesday after late-stage clinical trial results published in The Lancet international medical journal revealed it was 91.6% effective in preventing people from developing COVID-19.    Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has spoken to Russian President  Vladimir Putin about purchasing 24 million doses of the vaccine.  Argentina joins Mexico in ramping up its efforts to secure an ample supply of the Sputnik V vaccine.     Lopez Gatell said on Monday Mexico would receive between 1.6 million to 2.75 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX global vaccine sharing program this month.  Mexico has one of the highest coronavirus tallies in Latin America with about 159,100 confirmed  deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University COVID Resource Center.  
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The United States on Tuesday condemned a Russian court’s decision to sentence the Kremlin’s most outspoken critic, Alexei Navalny, to 3.5 years in prison. State Department officials says the U.S. is reviewing what actions it will take in the matter. VOA’s Jesusemen Oni has more.
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COVID-19 testing tents are popping up in the French capital as extensions of local pharmacies that allow people to walk in and get a free COVID screening. More with VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo.  
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Money sent home by Mexican migrants rose 11.4% in 2020 to a new high despite the coronavirus pandemic, Mexico’s central bank reported Monday.Migrants sent $40.6 billion to Mexico in cash transmissions, known as remittances, including $4 billion in March alone, a record for a single month.The record flow of cash for 2020 compared to $36.4 billion in remittances sent in 2019. The rise was much better than other countries, which have seen drops in remittances because of job losses or reductions in hours due to the pandemic.Most Mexican migrants live and work in the United States, where unemployment has surged because of lockdowns. Given the big drop in the value of the peso so far this year, remittances sent in dollars will go much further.   
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Britain launched an emergency program of door-to-door testing in several areas Tuesday following the discovery of hundreds of cases of the coronavirus variant, first identified in South Africa, which scientists say could be more resistant to vaccines.  Mobile testing units were deployed to several regions, including parts of central and suburban London, while firefighter units and volunteers helped to deliver home testing kits and administer door-to-door testing. Local authorities aimed to conduct 80,000 coronavirus tests. By Tuesday morning, 105 cases of the mutation first seen in South Africa were identified in eight districts across Britain. Eleven of those cases did not have any direct link to international travel, suggesting the variant is being transmitted within the community. Volunteers hand out the COVID-19 home test kit to a resident, in Goldsworth and St. Johns, amid the outbreak of coronavirus disease in Woking, Britain, Feb. 2, 2021.Meanwhile, health authorities announced they are also investigating separate cases of the virus with what they described as worrying new genetic changes. The variants, identified in the cities of Bristol and Liverpool, have the same mutation as the South African variant, called E484K. British Health Secretary Matt Hancock urged people living in the affected areas to adhere to lockdown rules and stay home. “Our mission must be to stop its spread altogether and break those chains of transmission. … It is imperative that people must stay at home and only leave home where it is absolutely essential,” Hancock told members of parliament Tuesday. People queue at a testing center amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, in Southport, Britain, Feb. 2, 2021.Britain is still battling a separate coronavirus mutation, first identified in Kent in southern England in September, which has contributed to a deadly second wave of the pandemic. An estimated 107,000 people have died in Britain within 28 days of testing positive for the virus since the pandemic began. Scientists say the variants appear to be more transmissible. Early indications from trials suggest they may also be more resistant to vaccines. “There has been a couple of observations, one from Novavax and one from Johnson & Johnson, which suggest that their vaccine trials were less successful in South Africa than they were in the United Kingdom and the United States,” Simon Clarke, a microbiologist at Britain’s University of Reading, told VOA. “(The mutation) renders antibodies less able to bind to the spike protein of the virus and stop the spike protein acting as a key to gain entrance to our cells.” That could affect people’s immunity to the coronavirus, both for individuals who have had the infection and those who have been vaccinated.  An advertisement board is seen, amid the outbreak of coronavirus disease in Woking, Britain, Feb. 2, 2021.”Even if we roll out a vaccine across the population, getting complete 100 percent coverage will be nigh on impossible,” Clarke said. “And the virus will be put under a selective pressure to accommodate and to favor mutations like this, which render it less susceptible to vaccines, or the actions of vaccines.” Britain also announced Tuesday it had given a first vaccine dose to more than 10 million people, by far the highest in Europe. It is not yet clear, however, if the vaccines are as effective against the new variants and may need to be modified. Health Secretary Hancock said such work was under way. “We’re working with pharmaceutical companies and with the scientists to understand both whether such modifications are needed, where they are needed and how they can be brought to use on the front line as quickly as safely possible.”  Scientists say the emergence of new variants around the world underlines the urgent need to roll out global vaccination programs and suppress transmission, as even fully vaccinated populations could be at risk as the virus continues to mutate. 
 
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Northern Ireland temporarily suspended some inspections at two ports late Monday after threats of violence and increased tensions have been reported in the area. Graffiti was discovered in Belfast describing port staff as “targets.” Staff have also reported suspicious behavior such as people writing down license plate numbers. Police say they are increasing patrols near ports of entry. A police vehicle patrols after threats were made to port workers implementing post-Brexit trade checks in Northern Ireland, at the Port of Larne in County Antrim, Feb. 2, 2021.A spokesman for the European Commission announced Tuesday they had withdrawn European Union staff from the Northern Ireland ports as a safety precaution and condemned the violence. Many pro-British unionists fiercely oppose the new trade barriers introduced between Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain as part of the Northern Ireland protocol, a stand-alone deal for the region after Britain left the EU. The protocol was designed to maintain the principles of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and Northern Ireland’s open border with Ireland by keeping the region in the British customs territory but also aligned with the EU’s single market for goods. The British-run region remains deeply divided along sectarian lines, even after the 1998 peace deal, with Catholic nationalists aspiring to unification with Ireland and Protestant unionists wanting to remain part of Britain. 
 
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A second lawmaker endorsed by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been elected to a critical leadership role in Congress, possibly bolstering his political future amid dozens of calls for his resignation. Congressman Arthur Lira, an ally of Bolsonaro, was elected speaker of the lower house of Congress for two years on Monday. The chamber voted overwhelmingly in favor of Lira, whose rival pushed for separation from the Bolsonaro administration. Earlier Monday, Brazil’s Congress elected Rodrigo Pacheco as Senate speaker, another ally of the far-right leader who aims to improve bruised relations with legislators. Bolsonaro has faced an uphill battle get legislation passed in Congress, while his popularity has declined over his handling of the latest surge of Covid-19 in Brazil. Bolsonaro has long downplayed the pandemic even after he contracted the virus in July, at times appearing in pubic without a protective face mask.  So far, Brazil has confirmed more than 9,204,000 coronavirus infections and 224,504 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University Covid Resource Center.  
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Washington’s immigration policy will focus on regional migration and its root causes, as well as the annulment of policies inherited from the Trump administration, according to White House officials.  President Joe Biden will make the announcement Tuesday, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a daily briefing this week.  Representatives of the governments of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala envision more U.S. attention toward the region during the Biden administration and plan to support a common development agenda based on “mutual respect.” President Biden told his Mexican counterpart, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, that Washington will address the containment of the irregular flow of migrants to Mexico and the United States, in part, through promoting economic development in Central America.FILE – In this Dec. 18, 2020 file photo, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gives his daily, morning news conference at the presidential palace, Palacio Nacional, in Mexico City.Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández told VOA that approach represents an “opportunity to retake” what the Obama administration was working on.  Guatemalan Foreign Minister Pedro Brolo told VOA that both countries have a “common agenda” beyond economic opportunities, including fighting increased organized crime and drug trafficking, and he plans to bring those issues to the table in future meetings. Cooperation and mutual respect Ariel Ruíz Soto, an analyst at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, said U.S. investment in the region is not enough.  The Northern Triangle countries need to show they are committed to solve the root causes of the immigration, including poverty and corruption, Ruiz Soto said. Bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress is also necessary to enact immigration reform, he added. “The relationship has to change its tone. It is necessary to reopen the dialogue with Central America in order to once again have cooperation, not pressure,” Ruíz Soto told VOA. Biden promised during his presidential campaign to allocate $4 billion to the Central American region and attack the issues that cause migration, including “endemic corruption,” poverty and economic insecurity.FILE – Demonstrators with the New York Immigration Coalition rally asking President Joe Biden to prioritize immigration reform, Nov. 9, 2020, in New York.Brolo indicated the three countries that make up the Northern Triangle will be more “attractive for foreign investment” to repair economies hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and last year’s natural disasters, including back-to-back hurricanes Eta and Iota. “Our people would tend to migrate less, since they would have jobs,” he explained.  A closed-door policy at the border The changes that the White House plans to implement do not represent an open border policy, said Brendan O’Brien, the United States charge d’affaires in El Salvador. “Migrants who cross the border irregularly will be returned, in accordance with legal procedures that guarantee their safety,” O’Brien said in a joint statement with the foreign minister of El Salvador. Both Brolo of Guatemala and the Honduran ambassador to the United States, Luis Fernando Suazo, said their governments are focused on discouraging the caravans to the north. “We are not going to allow irregular, disorderly and unsafe traffic,” Brolo said, while Suazo indicated his government is investigating the organization of caravans that “are not spontaneous.” The administration of former President Donald Trump put in place a zero-tolerance policy that was rescinded Tuesday by the Justice Department. Several human rights organizations and President Biden denounced the separation of hundreds of children from their parents as part of Trump’s policy. The new president’s actions include the creation of a task force to reunify the families of at least 600 children who were separated from their parents at the U.S-Mexico border. For Ruíz Soto, the challenge for the current White House will be to engage in a strategy that “sends a message to the region that the caravans and future migratory flows will not be able to enter the United States” and at the same time, establish a new approach to deal with immigration policies in the country.  Congress is key The diplomats who spoke with VOA said the intention of starting the legislative process in the United States to achieve immigration reform is good news, but they agree that it is a process that will take time. Public policy analyst Ruíz Soto said the Biden administration must set realistic expectations and specific goals for his ideas to gain bipartisan support in Congress. He said the legislative option is the only way to provide a lasting United States response to the root causes of immigration and will accomplish a comprehensive reform. President Biden faced his first setback on his immigration plans this week when a Texas judge blocked his deportation “pause,” a key component of his immigration priorities. Former President Trump faced similar obstacles when several judges blocked several of his restrictive immigration policies.  “The best solution is the legislative option, in order to avoid going to court, because it causes confusion and can send the wrong message to the region about who can or cannot enter the country,” Ruiz Soto said. 
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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appeared in a Moscow court Tuesday to face parole violation charges that could land him up to three-and-a-half years in prison.A sentence for the prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin could trigger more protests, following two weekends of rallies in several Russian cities demanding his release.Blinken Slams Putin for Crackdown on Navalny Supporters US secretary of state also had strong words for Iran and China Navalny was arrested immediately upon arrival in Moscow on Jan. 17 for alleged parole violations after returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from a nerve agent poisoning in Russia.Navalny has accused Putin of ordering Russia’s security services to poison him, a charge the Kremlin has repeatedly denied.Several European laboratories have confirmed that Navalny, 44, was poisoned with Novichok, a nerve agent developed by the former Soviet Union.A Russian court recently ruled Navalny must remain in jail, rejecting his appeal against his arrest.  The United States and other Western countries have strongly condemned Navalny’s arrest and demanded his unconditional release.Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service says Navalny violated the probation terms of his suspended sentence from a 2014 money laundering conviction, which he denounced as politically motivated. The service asked the Simonovsky District Court in Moscow to convert his three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence into one that must be served in prison. Navalny’s attorneys have argued that he was rehabilitating in Germany and, therefore, was unable to fully comply with his probation terms. His defense also maintained that due process was repeatedly violated during his arrest.As he sat in a glass cage in the courtroom during Tuesday’s hearing, Navalny said, “I came back to Moscow after I completed the course of treatment.” He added, “What else could I have done?”Navalny’s jailing has sparked very large protests across Russia over the past two weekends, with tens of thousands of people demanding his release and chanting anti-Putin slogans. Police arrested more than 5,700 people during Sunday’s rallies, including more than 1,900 in Moscow, the biggest number in the country since the Soviet era. Most demonstrators were released after being given court summonses and are subject to fines or jail terms of up to 15 days. Several protesters face criminal charges over alleged violence against police. 
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