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For her studies in quieting wind turbines and making other forms of renewable energy more competitive, a University of California-Merced student from Germany has been awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University in the U.K. In October, Selina Brinkmann will start four years of study, all expenses paid, courtesy of the Rhodes program that awards a mere 102 scholarships each year to academically outstanding applicants around the world. Brinkmann told VOA she is passionate about renewable energy and has focused her research on desalinating farm wastewater in the agriculturally lush Central Valley of California. The valley produces half of all fruits and vegetables in the U.S., but requires massive irrigation, some of which requires desalination.  “I’m working on the third alternative, which will allow them to reuse the wet content of their drainage water — the water, because that’s valuable, especially here because it’s so dry — while also not having any salt, like on the ground,” Brinkmann said.  Prior to UC-Merced, Brinkmann attended the University of Siegen in Germany and spent a year in the U.S. at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma. Brinkmann said that her parents were very supportive of her and her three siblings growing up. They expected her to achieve, but weren’t strict about it, she said.   “My parents would never be upset with me if I had bad grades if I showed that I actually tried it,” she said. “My parents would really get annoyed at me though, if I was just like not doing anything and then got a bad grade — that was bad. So, they were definitely into education.”  After graduating high school in Germany, Brinkmann spent a year in Edinburgh, Scotland, before attending the University of Siegen. “I went to my local university and I stayed at home, which was nice,” Brinkmann said. “It allowed me to save up money for traveling and doing my own hobbies,” which include backpacking, dancing and ultimate frisbee.  In her third year, she studied abroad on a grant in the U.S. at the University of Tulsa. A graduate student fellowship followed through the DAAD — the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, or the German Academic Exchange Service. Brinkmann applied to the German Rhodes Scholarship in fall 2020, working toward her Ph.D. to follow the master’s degree she is working on now. The Rhodes interview was conducted over video. “Yeah, so and then the unique thing is, you obviously hear back the same day, which considering the time difference was really nice, because I just went to bed and woke up in the morning to get the email,” she explained to VOA.  Her plans for Oxford fit in with her experience and passion for renewable energy. She reached out to two professors at Oxford before even applying to the Rhodes Scholarship. “I’ll be joining the center for doctoral training in wind and marine energy systems and structures,” she said. She noted that the program combines her precise interests: sustainable energy and turbo machinery. Brinkmann is excited for the opportunity, but acknowledged how daunting studying at Oxford is.  “It’s not like any university,” she said.  
 
Other famous Rhodes Scholars include former President Bill Clinton, U.S. senator Cory Booker, American actor and songwriter Kris Kristofferson, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow.  
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New controversy is brewing for Britain’s royal family after an interview on U.S. television with Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle raised questions of possible racism in the royal family. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.Camera: Henry Ridgwell    
 
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France may soon join a handful of countries with laws aimed at repatriating stolen money and assets to their countries of origin. But anti-corruption watchdogs say the draft legislation needs changes to ensure the assets don’t go back to corrupt leaders.  Lisa Bryant reports from Paris. 
Camera: Lisa Bryant, agencies 
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The U.S. State Department recognized 21 women who demonstrated leadership in advocating for human rights, gender equality, and women’s empowerment, giving them an “International Women of Courage Award” during a ceremony in Washington Monday.This year seven Afghan women were given the award posthumously after they were assassinated in 2020 while serving their communities during a pivotal moment in Afghanistan’s history. Other award-winners are from Belarus, Myanmar, China, Iran, Somalia, Turkey and Venezuela.Among this year’s honorees are jailed Belarusian opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova who fights for democratic movement in the aftermath of the disputed election; Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Yu who was imprisoned and now remains in China under an exit ban; Iranian chess arbiter Shohreh Bayat, who chose to be a champion for women’s rights after being accused of violating her country’s strict Islamic dress code; Venezuelan labor rights advocate Ana Rosario Contreras, who fights for the healthcare professionals; and Congolese human rights activist Julienne Lusenge who fights against gender-based violence.Watch the award ceremonyChinese Lawyer AbsentChinese human rights lawyer Wang did not take part in Monday’s virtual award ceremony, in which the State Department played a pre-taped message from Wang.”We’ve not been in regular communication over the past two days.  We are concerned because we know that she wanted to attend today’s ceremony.  We will be following up and if necessary speaking out on her case,” said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Monday.In her pre-taped message, Wang said “as a lawyer by training, I think I have the obligation to push for the rule of law; therefore, I would like to see more people stand up and speak out for the rule of law, fairness, and justice in China.”Wang added she had witnessed “judicial corruption and degeneration” while handling multiple politically sensitive cases.In 2016, the Chinese government barred human rights activist Ni Yulan from traveling to Washington to accept the International Women of Courage Award.  Ni continues to face threats and physical assault.International Women’s Day Marked with Increased Hardships for WomenAround the globe, women have suffered more loss of employment than men, according to the UNBurmese Award-WinnerThe United Nations says that in Myanmar more than 50 people have been killed in violence following a coup and the arrest of the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.Phyoe Phyoe Aung, co-founder of the Wings Institute for Reconciliation, an organization that aims to bring young people together to bridge cultural and religious differences was recognized in Monday’s ceremony.”It is a time of dramatic change in my country.  There are women leaders from all walks of life… who courageously joined the anti-coup movement,” she told VOA’s Burmese service.”I feel awkward, uncomfortable, and sad to receive this award in this difficult time.  Even though I do not deserve this award compared to those who sacrificed most, I am accepting it on behalf of all courageous women who fight for democracy and freedom for our country,” she said.During the ceremony U.S. first lady Jill Biden spoke about the common struggles of the awardees.”Your fight is our fight. And your courage causes us to come together again, and again, and again,” said Biden.”Diplomacy at its best is a recognition of this connection that freedom for women in Afghanistan strengthens communities everywhere, that education in Burma creates opportunity far away, that fair elections in Belarus will bolster our own democracy too,” added the first lady.The IWOC award, now in its 15th year, has recognized more than 155 awardees from over 75 countries since March of 2007.
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The Italian Health Ministry Monday changed course and signed an order approving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for people 65 and older. Even though Europe’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, fully approved the vaccine, the Italian government initially balked, as did Germany, at giving the vaccine to people over 65 due to “limited data” on its efficacy within that age group. Germany has reversed course on its use, as well. The doubts raised by some health officials prompted people to turn down the vaccine, resulting in doses going unused and slowing down the vaccination process throughout the continent. Italy’s decision comes as the nation’s COVID-19 death toll approaches 100,000 since the pandemic started. The nation is expected to pass the milestone by Tuesday. Syrian President and First Lady Test Covid-19 Positive ‘They are in good health and their condition is stable,’ the statement added. Meanwhile, Britain reopened all its schools Monday for the first time since late 2020. The openings come as the country experiences some of its lowest coronavirus death tolls since October. The coronavirus causes the COVID-19 disease. Also on Monday, Vietnam launched its COVID-19 vaccination program, with its front-line health care workers and first responders receiving the first shots.  In Japan, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the country will speed up its vaccination program after a slow start due to vaccine and syringe shortages. Three weeks in, a little more than 46,500 front-line medical workers have received their shots. The elderly will be next in line.  The Reuters news agency reported that Suga promised to have enough of the shots to vaccinate the entire population by the start of the Summer Olympics in July.  The European Union has warned member states against buying Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, since the EU has not yet completed a review of it. Despite the warning, several nations have made moves to purchase the vaccine.  The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Monday that there are almost 117 million global coronavirus cases.   The United States has more infections than any other location with nearly 30 million, followed by India with 11.2 million and Brazil with 11 million. 
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 Italian state police arrested an Algerian citizen in Italy’s southern city of Bari Monday who is suspected of belonging to Islamic State and providing help for the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.  Police identified the 36-year-old Algerian as Athmane Touami, also known as Tomi Mahraz.   According to investigators, Touami gave direct support for the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks at the Bataclan concert hall, the Stade de France, and in three boroughs of Paris on Nov. 13, 2015. The Paris attacks in which hundreds more people were wounded, were France’s deadliest since World War II. Touami is also believed to have provided counterfeit documents to the gunmen and bombers who participated in the attacks, a statement by the Bari police said. Athmane Touami, his brothers Medhi and Lyes, and several other individuals, some of them not yet identified, had been operating in Italy and Algeria, as well as in France, Belgium, Spain and Syria, with links to radical jihadist circles, the statement said. Athmane Touami has been in prison in Bari since 2019, because while in the Temporary Detention Center for migrants in Bari, he was found in possession of false documents used to move freely in the countries of the Schengen zone.    He was tried and sentenced to two years in prison, and due for release on June 19, 2021.  
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Britain opened all its schools Monday. The openings come as the country has experienced some of its lowest coronavirus death tolls since October.Vietnam began its COVID-19 vaccination program Monday with its front-line health care workers as the first recipients of the shots.Japan’s rollout of its COVID vaccine program has been slow, hampered by vaccine and syringe shortages. Three weeks in, a little over 46,500 front-line medical workers have received their shots. The elderly will be the next in line.Japan, however, intends to speed up its vaccination program. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has promised to have enough of the shots to vaccinate Japan’s entire population by the start of the Summer Olympics in July, according to Reuters.The European Union has warned member states against purchasing Russia’s COVID vaccine since the EU has not yet finished its review of Sputnik V. Despite the warning, several nations have made moves to purchase the vaccine.Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Monday that there are almost 117 million global coronavirus cases.The U.S. has more infections that any other location with nearly 30 million, followed by India with 11.2 million and Brazil with 11 million.
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Thousands of Haitians filled the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, again Sunday to call on President Jovenel Moise to step down and to demand a crackdown on kidnappers, who they say are holding the nation hostage.“We cannot accept this kind of society,” said a doctor, who was part of the protest but did not give his name. “We have an incapable government. We need the proper conditions to work and treat patients.”#Haiti people back in the streets of Port au Prince today protesting against dictatorship and kidnappings @VOAKreyol is in the crowd ?Renan Toussaint pic.twitter.com/02LTIMkQxS— Sandra Lemaire (@SandraDVOA) March 7, 2021Medical professionals who spoke to VOA said they are outraged over the Feb. 28 attempted kidnapping and killing of one of their colleagues. They organized a two-day work stoppage March 2 in a show of solidarity and took to the streets Sunday.Haiti has seen a spike in the last year in abductions targeting citizens from all sectors of society.  The criminals have been indiscriminate in their targets, asking for ransoms as large as $5 million from the poor as well as the rich. Protesters hold the president responsible for failing to bring the perpetrators to justice.During the first week of March, Moise took several steps to respond to the kidnappings, which have raised alarm among officials from the U.S., the United Nations and the European Union. The president held a series of meetings with law enforcement officials and members of his cabinet. Moise said a special anti-kidnapping unit of Colombia’s police force will help Haiti shape a more targeted response.“Law enforcement has been instructed to intensify their efforts against insecurity. They must better coordinate their strategies, share intelligence, launch interventions and take all necessary actions to this end,” Moise tweeted on March 2.Les forces de l’ordre sont instruites en vue d’intensifier leurs efforts pour lutter contre l’insécurité. Elles doivent mieux coordonner leurs stratégies, les renseignements obtenus, leurs interventions, également toutes les actions nécessaires à cette fin. pic.twitter.com/jVfOM4ebk0— Président Jovenel Moïse (@moisejovenel) March 1, 2021Lawyers from the legal human rights group Collectif des Avocats pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (CADDOH) also joined Sunday’s protest, offering free legal assistance to anyone who might be arrested. Lawyer Arnel Remy decried the government’s disregard for the rule of law and had a message for the international community.“It’s important for the international community to respond to this protest. … Jovenel (Moise the president) has been here for five years, and the judicial system has not functioned properly during that time,” he told VOA.Remy took issue in particular with a communique announced this week by Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe that outlaws tinted glass on all vehicles except government and diplomatic cars. The measure outraged Haitians who have spent a lot of money to have their windows tinted as a measure against kidnappers and will now lose their investment and that protection.The prime minister defended his communique, saying it was aimed at kidnappers who ride around in cars with tinted windows, preying on victims.“Kidnapping is state-sponsored. So of course it will never be defeated,” alleged ex-Senator Steven Benoit, who marched with protesters. “Just wait, two or three weeks after Jovenel (Moise) is no longer in power, the kidnappings will stop.”The president has denied any link to kidnappers.Businessman Wolfi Hall, himself a kidnapping victim, said people need to understand that the trauma of the crime lingers long after a person is freed.“There are pains that remain with you for the rest of your life,” he told VOA. “God only knows why your life was spared. Because after you’ve been traumatized, it doesn’t go away in a day. It’s an ugly experience — I don’t wish this on anyone — and you can only understand what I mean if you’ve been kidnapped.”A blind woman who spoke to VOA said she decided to brave the possible dangers of marching to send a clear message to the president and the international community.“Jovenel Moise, you are Haitian just like me, you say you love the country, please leave us the key to the (national) palace. You can’t be pleased with the situation we are in now. You represent everything that is wrong,” she said.She then turned her attention to U.S. officials.“You say you are the friends of Haiti. Jovenel Moise does not represent us. I know the United States can’t do anything for Haiti — we know you have your own interests (to defend),” she said. “You take good care of dogs in your country, they get special care — I know you love people, too — well, we the handicapped are in the streets of Haiti today. You understand what that means.”On March 5, two men linked to kidnappings were arrested in Haiti and turned over to U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and FBI agents.Peterson Benjamin, also known as Ti Peter Vilaj, and Lissner Mathieu, also known as Ti Nwa and has used the last name of Joseph, were flown to the United States where they are wanted in connection with drug trafficking, violating terms of probation and kidnapping.Mathieu, a U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty in 2006 to drug charges in the U.S. but fled to Haiti in 2008.Benjamin has been linked to a dozen kidnapping cases, some of which involved U.S. citizens, the Miami Herald reported.US fugitive, suspected gang member tied to kidnappings in custody after arrests in Haiti https://t.co/NFH5di9qYC— Jacqueline Charles (@Jacquiecharles) March 6, 2021
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Meghan, the wife of Prince Harry, accused Britain’s royal family of raising concerns about how dark their son’s skin might be and pushing her to the brink of suicide, in a tell-all television interview that could send shockwaves through the monarchy.The 39-year-old, whose mother is Black and father is white, said she had been naive before she married into royalty in 2018, but that she ended up having suicidal thoughts and considering self-harm after pleading for help but getting none.Meghan said that her son, Archie, now 1, had been denied the title of prince because there were concerns within the royal family about “about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.””That was relayed to me from Harry, those were conversations that family had with him,” Meghan recounted in an interview with Oprah Winfrey aired on CBS late Sunday.Meghan declined to say who had aired such concerns, as did Harry, who said his family had cut them off financially and that his father, Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, had let him down and refused to take his calls at one point.Buckingham Palace had no immediate comment about the interview, which aired in the early hours of Monday morning in Britain.The sit-down conversation with Winfrey was the most anticipated royal interview since Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana, shared intimate details of her failed marriage to Charles in 1995, denting the heir’s reputation and the family’s standing in the eyes of the British public.Nearly three years since her star-studded wedding in Windsor Castle, Meghan described some unidentified members of the royal household as brutal, mendacious and guilty of racist remarks.She also accused Kate, the wife of her husband’s elder brother, Prince William, of making her cry before her wedding.While the family came in for open criticism, neither Harry nor Meghan attacked Queen Elizabeth directly.Still, Meghan said she had been silenced by “the Firm” — which Elizabeth heads — and that her pleas for help while in distress at racist reporting and her predicament had fallen on deaf ears.”I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought. And I remember how he (Harry) just cradled me,” Meghan said, wiping away tears.’Really let down’Harry and Meghan’s announcement in January 2020 that they intended to step down from their royal roles plunged the family into crisis. Last month, Buckingham Palace confirmed the split would be permanent, as the couple looks to forge an independent life in the United States.Harry, 36, said they had stepped back from royal duties because of a lack of understanding, and he was worried about history repeating itself — a reference to the death of his mother, Diana, who was killed in a 1997 crash as her car sped away from pursuing photographers.Asked what his mother would say about events, he said: “I think she would feel very angry with how this has panned out and very sad.”He felt “really let down” by his father and added: “My family literally cut me off financially.”Harry denied blindsiding Queen Elizabeth, his grandmother, with his decision to shun life within the monarchy, but said his father stopped taking his calls at one point.”I had three conversations with my grandmother, and two conversations with my father before he stopped taking my calls. And then he said, ‘Can you put this all in writing?’”Detractors say the couple wanted the limelight but were not willing to live with the attention it brought. To supporters, their treatment shows how an outdated British institution lashed out against a modern, independent biracial woman.Lies and tearsThere have also been allegations of bullying against Meghan which appeared in The Times newspaper in the buildup to the couple’s appearance. Buckingham Palace said it would investigate the claims, adding it was “very concerned.”Meghan told Winfrey that people within the royal institution not only failed to protect her against malicious claims but lied to protect others.”It was only once we were married and everything started to really worsen that I came to understand that not only was I not being protected, but that they were willing to lie to protect other members of the family,” Meghan said.Meghan denied a newspaper story that she had made Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, cry before the wedding and said it was a turning point in her relations with the media and the palace.”The reverse happened,” Meghan said. “A few days before the wedding she (Kate) was upset about something, pertaining to yes, the issue was correct about the flower girl dresses, and it made me cry. And it really hurt my feelings.”Meghan, who said they were not paid for the interview, conceded she had not realized what she was marrying into when she joined the British monarchy and “went into it naively.”The couple also revealed that Meghan, who is pregnant with their second child, was expecting a girl.Harry said Meghan had “saved” him from his trapped royal life. “I would disagree, I think he saved all of us. You made a decision that certainly saved my life,” Meghan said.”This is in some ways just the beginning for us.”
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Canada’s postal service is trying to bridge the socially distanced gap of the coronavirus pandemic by encouraging people to send postcards to loved ones.To facilitate that effort, Canada Post is delivering a postcard to every residential address in the country that people can then send to anyone they want at no charge.The postcards come in one of six different designs with messages such as “Sending hugs” and “Wishing I were there.”Doug Ettinger, Canada Post’s president and CEO, said in a video describing the program that “everyone is missing someone.”“We want all Canadians to send these postcards to loved ones to remind them that they’re missed, they’re special and they matter,” he said.
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For more than 100 years, International Women’s Day has been celebrated by honoring the achievements of women globally.But this year, because of lost jobs and increased burdens of care at home, women have fared worse economically than men.According to data from the International Labour Organization, a United Nations agency, globally women have suffered more job losses related to the pandemic than men. About 5% of women in 2020 lost work, which could mean losing a job or experiencing reduced hours, compared with 3.9% of men.”Every time something happens in the world, women are hit with twice the violence,” Anchia Mulima, coordinator of Lemusica, an organization supporting women and girls in Mozambique, told VOA.Throughout the pandemic, the United Nations has highlighted the disparities between how women have been affected by the crisis compared with men.“Gender inequalities have increased dramatically in the past year, as women bear the brunt of school closures and working from home,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.According to U.N. Women, 58% of employed women globally work in “informal employment,” or jobs without much regulation and often without taxes or benefits. Women are also more likely to work in industries hardest hit by the pandemic, such as hospitality and child care.In the United States, Black and Latinx women faced more layoffs in 2020 and have seen slower gains in recent months than their white counterparts.A man holds a sign and the portrait of a victim of femicide in front of a metal fence with the names of other victims surrounding the National Palace ahead of the International Women’s Day in Mexico City on March 7, 2021.According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 8.9% of Black women and 8.5% of Latinx women were unemployed in February — compared with 5.2% of white women.“It’s easy for us to make general sweeping statements of COVID-19 is affecting women in the workplace, but it’s affecting different groups of women disproportionately,” Minda Harts, an author and advocate for Black women in the workplace, told VOA.“Hospitality, leisure — some of those industries have a very high concentration of Black and brown women. And so in 2020, we realized that a lot of those industries were heavily affected,” Harts said.Even as women around the world have faced economic challenges, higher unemployment, and the burden of child care as schools close, they have found ways to use their skills and inspire others.Nubia Rocío Gaona Cárdenas, a farmer in Colombia, said it broke her heart to see mothers struggling to feed their children in the capital of Bogota. She and her son had an idea.“My son told me, ‘Mom, let’s do something productive. Some YouTube channels … don’t teach anything, let’s teach them how to farm, or teach them something. Let’s give them hope,’” Cárdenas told VOA.Their channel on YouTube, which they launched in April 2020, now has more than 700,000 followers.Across the globe, women working as tailors and seamstresses answered the surge in demand for face masks to curb the spread of the coronavirus.“We believe that women are strong and can make a change. We too have abilities and can work alongside men,” Niga Mohammed, an Iraqi tailor, told VOA.With so much work shifted to remote employees, Harts sees an opportunity for industries to diversify their workforce.“I do believe there will be a lot more opportunities for Black and brown women to work at the high-tech companies, to work at the Fortune 500 companies from rural places that they might live, or from certain areas where they just don’t have the capacity to up and move to a big city,” she said.But as numbers from the BLS indicate from the past few months, those changes may be slow to arrive.This year, the theme of International Women’s Day is “Choose to Challenge.”“A challenged world is an alert world. And from challenge comes change,” according to the International Women’s Day website.For many women around the world amid the pandemic, the immediate challenge may be staying afloat economically. 
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A report coinciding with International Women’s Day on Monday finds the number of women parliamentarians globally is increasing, but so slightly that it barely dents the global male-dominated system.The Inter-Parliamentary Union reports more than one quarter of the world’s parliamentarians are women; however, at the current rate of progress, the IPU says it will take another 50 years to achieve gender parity.Rwanda, Cuba and the United Arab Emirates were the three top-ranked countries in 2020, accounting for 50% or more female members. The IPU attributes much of this success to gender quotas. On average, it notes parliaments with quotas have elected nearly 12% more women to lower chambers and 7.4% more women to upper chambers.IPU Secretary-General Martin Chungong said discrimination against women prevents them from becoming parliamentarians. In some cases, he said, governments have laws that prevent women from running for office.“We have in recent years brought to light the phenomenon of violence against women, and there is ample evidence out there that women are now refraining from entering the dangerous terrain of politics on account of harassment, sexism and outright violence, which is something we need to combat,” he said.The IPU report finds progress has been made in all regions of the world. It says the Americas once again tops all other regions with women making up 32.4% of MPs. This, the report says, was despite political upheaval across Latin America. It notes women represented nearly 27% of membership in the U.S. Congress, the highest level in its history.In sub-Saharan Africa, the report finds Mali and Niger have made significant gains in women’s representation, despite grave security risks. It says a few countries in Europe have achieved 30% female representation, while the Middle East and North Africa have lagged with 17%.The worst-performing countries are in the Asia-Pacific region. The IPU says Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea have no female representation. IPU officials call this a matter of great concern.The report shows the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on elections last year, noting that national parliamentary elections were postponed in nearly 20 countries due to restrictions.
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A particularly spectacular blast from Italy’s Mount Etna volcano belched out a towering cloud of ash and lava stone Sunday onto Sicilian villages, the latest in a series of explosions since mid-February.Italy’s national geophysics and volcanology institute INGV said the powerful explosion at 2 a.m. local time was the 10th such big blast since February 16, when Europe’s most active volcano started giving off an impressive demonstration of nature’s fire power, coloring the night sky in hues of orange and red.  Increasing tremors rattled the mountain throughout much of the night. Ash and small lava stones rained down on eight villages on Etna’s slopes Sunday morning, while lava flowed from the southeast crater slowly down an uninhabited side, as it has been doing for the last three weeks, the institute said.  The column of ash and lava reached a height of 10,000 meters (33,000 feet) on Sunday, according to scientists who monitor volcanic activity with specialized instruments from an observatory at Etna in eastern Sicily.Locals swept ash and lava stones from their front steps and balconies. They have taken to covering cars parked outdoors with carpets, blankets and sheets of cardboard to make cleanup easier after each blast. Winds helped carry the ash eastward, INGV said.No injuries or serious damage have been reported after the recent blasts. Geologically active, Etna occasionally becomes particularly noisy and explosive as it has been lately.By midmorning, Etna’s latest display of activity had slowed somewhat with the lava flow ending, although the volcano was still puffing out a “weak emission of ash” from the southeast crater. A few hours later, the volcanic tremors picked up again, the INGV said in a statement.  The INGV scientists say there is no way of predicting when this current round of particularly robust volcanic activity might subside.
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Illegal migrants and refugees in Greece will take a back seat in the nation’s coronavirus vaccination drive, the government in Athens has said, stoking concerns that more than 70,000 asylum-seekers, stuck in squalid living conditions, may become more vulnerable, according to aid workers and the United Nations.In rolling out the vaccine program last month, the center-right government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis vowed to make asylum-seekers eligible for the jab.
 
But Aristotelia Peloni, a government spokesperson, said this past week that thousands of migrants and refugees stuck in some 30 camps across the country or left adrift without proper accommodation, waiting for years to have their asylum requests heard, were not a priority.
 
“There is a provision for [migrant] inoculations to take place in closed areas, but for the time being others have priority, mainly elders … and vulnerable groups that will soon be added into the program regardless of age,” she told a news conference.
 
As of February 1, only the Netherlands and Spain have included migrants into their vaccination programs, according to the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM). Britain also offers free coronavirus testing and vaccinations for undocumented migrants. And Germany, most recently, said migrants would be second in line in its ongoing vaccination drive.
 
People older than age 85 have led Greece’s vaccination campaign, including senior government officials, health workers, police, coast guard personnel and the military. Jabs for those 60 and older have followed in recent weeks in a second and third wave of inoculation against the deadly virus that causes the COVID-19 disease.
 
But the government’s “Greeks first” vaccination policy has critics here fearing it echoes strong anti-immigrant sentiment and rhetoric once trumpeted by the leaders of Golden Dawn, one of Europe’s most violent neo-Nazi groups.
 
Humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations’ refugee agency, UNHCR, are urging the government to clarify its policy regarding migrants.
 
“No one is safe until everyone is safe,” said Peter Kessler, the senior communications officer for the U.N.’s agency in Greece. “Ensuring that refugees and other non-nationals are included in the vaccine rollout and have access to vaccinations is key to protecting everyone and ending the pandemic.”
 
At least 70% of the population worldwide needs immunity to “sustainably slow the transmission of the virus.” And key to ending the pandemic, experts say, is ensuring that refugees are included in the vaccine rollout.
 
Since taking power in 2019, Mitsotakis’s center-right government has adopted a tougher stance on illegal migration, coming under increasing fire by aid organizations and the UNHCR for mistreating migrants and refugees, and by orchestrating covert operations to forcibly evict asylum-seekers.
 
In a report issued last month, aid group Aegean Boat Report documented the cases of 13 men, women and children it says were beaten, robbed and forced onto a life raft by Greek authorities on the island of Lesbos, only hours after illegally entering the country from Turkey.
 
The report said uniformed operatives removed the refugees from a camp on the island, claiming the refugees were being taken for COVID-19 testing.
 
“Instead,” the report said, “they were forced into an isobox, repeatedly beaten with batons, stripped of their possessions and forced into seas on an inflatable raft.”Greece has grappled with accusations of forced migrant returns and abuse since 2015, when about a million refugees, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, arrived in Europe to escape violence at home.
 
Forcing migrants to turn around is a serious breach of international law, violating asylum-seekers’ right to safe passage and protection.
 
Croatia, France, Spain, and Italy — all European Union member states that face similar migration challenges — also have been accused of engaging in unlawful, sometimes violent pushbacks.
 
Officials contacted by VOA on Sunday did not respond to requests for comment. Still, the government in Athens has repeatedly denied the allegations, claiming humanitarian groups have been aiding and abetting asylum-seekers in their quest to illegally enter Greece from Turkey and seek passage to the heart of Europe. Athens has also alleged that several of the non-governmental organizations have been working with human smugglers, allegedly facilitating illegal migration to Europe.
 
In February, NGO Mare Liberum said it alone had documented “close to 10,000 people” who were pushed back in 320 cases last year.
 
The group said the alleged pushbacks represented an “unprecedented escalation in human rights violations in the Aegean.”
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Pope Francis Sunday visited Christian communities in Iraq’s north, where the Islamic State group carried out its worst devastation, to bring encouragement and solace to those who suffered numerous atrocities and are trying to rebuild their homes and lives. Iraqis are also hoping to rebuild trust and hope for the future.Joyous celebrations welcomed Pope Francis to Iraq’s Christian heartland, first in Mosul where Iraqis shouted, “Viva Baba Francesco, long live Pope Francis, welcome to Nineveh.” Surrounded by the ruins of Islamic State militant destruction, the pope led prayers for the victims of war, saying, “Hope is more powerful than hatred.”    The pope then headed to the town of Qaraqosh, the heartland of Iraq’s once thriving Christian community of 50,000, where only half the population has returned after the jihadists destroyed infrastructure and laid mines in homes. He urged Christians to forgive injustices perpetrated by Muslim extremists against them and rebuild their lives once again.      “So do not lose hope; do not lose faith. Remember that we need to forgive. Have good courage to continue fighting, to continue to seek forgiveness. And I know it is hard, but God can bring peace to this Earth,” he said.      Pope Francis arrives to pray for the victims of war at Hosh al-Bieaa Church Square in Mosul, Iraq, March 7, 2021.French Dominican Rev. Olivier Poquillon is helping to oversee the rebuilding of Mosul’s Our Lady of the Hour Church, where Muslims, Christians and other communities “work together, engage together for the common good.”    “It’s really a bottom-up initiative,” he said. “The idea came from the people of Mosul. We saw a young neighbor, he was probably born after the time of the American invasion, so he never knew the peaceful time of Mosul. And he told us, Oh, you are Christians, come back, come back; we need you to live in peace together.”     Hassan Amer, a Muslim, works with Catholic Relief Services in the Nineveh Plains on projects to promote rebuilding devastated communities and interreligious trust. The “Shared Future Program’’ receives funding from USAID.    “We work with communities from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds to common goals and establish and strengthening the relationships. Most importantly, building the broken trust among the communities on Nineveh Plains after years of displacement,” he said.   For the Vatican, the continued presence of Christians in Iraq is vital to keeping alive faith communities that have existed since the time of Christ.   
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Swiss citizens vote Sunday on whether to prohibit women from wearing full facial coverings in public, a controversial issue that has divided the country during an exceptionally heated campaign.  
Campaigners, politicians and the media have dubbed it the “burka ban” even though the burka is not worn in Switzerland.  The burka, a full body covering with a mesh screen to see through that is worn in Afghanistan has come to symbolize the oppression of women.    This is one of the messages figuring in a heated campaign leading up to Sunday’s vote.  Campaign posters of a menacing-looking woman wearing a black niqab with only her eyes exposed reading “Stop Radical Islam” and “Stop Extremism” are plastered all over Switzerland.      Critics of the proposed ban call it deeply racist and sexist.  They say it is an attack against the Muslim community and is aimed at stigmatizing and marginalizing this minority group even more.   The right-wing Swiss People’s Party, which supports the ban disagrees.  It claims the burka initiative defends the dignity of women.  However, Swiss parliamentarian Jean-Luc Addor acknowledges the campaign is calling for an end to what supporters see as the Islamization of Switzerland.    “This is something that we find shocking.  It is fundamentally in opposition with various values of our civilization simply because, for us, free people show their faces in all circumstances outside,”  he said.  The irony of demanding a ban on full-face coverings has not escaped many at a time when Switzerland’s 8.5 million people are obliged to wear masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.    The Swiss federal government opposes the proposal.  Justice Minister Eveline Widmer Schlumpf says accepting the initiative would unnecessarily endanger religious peace in the country.   She says it would violate human rights, which are guaranteed under international conventions.  Furthermore, she says passage of the initiative would tarnish Switzerland’s reputation as a country that values the protection of fundamental rights.  Debates about various symbols of Islam, including burkas and niqabs have been going on for years.  In 2009, Swiss voters approved another Swiss People’s Party initiative to ban the building of minarets in the country.   Many people in Switzerland believe the proposed ban on full face coverings is much ado about nothing.  They note only some 30 women in Switzerland wear the niqab.  About half are Swiss converts to Islam and the other half are tourists who come to this Alpine country for vacation.   The latest opinion polls suggest the referendum will pass by a slim margin.  If it does, Switzerland will join five other European countries that have full or partial bans of face covering in place.     
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Inspectors will check an underwater pipeline for pollution after it caught fire on a frozen river in Russia’s Siberia, federal monitoring service Rostekhnadzor said Sunday.First reports suggest around 700 tons of liquefied petroleum gas (a mixture of propane and butane) could be on site, Rostekhnadzor spokesperson Andrei Vil said on his Telegram account.The pipeline’s owner Russian petrochemicals giant Sibur said the gas leak happened Saturday, causing a short fire on the frozen River Ob in the oil-rich Khanty-Mansiysk region in Western Siberia.It happened 44 kilometers (27 miles) from the nearest residential area and there were no “risks for the population and the environment”, the company added.But Vil said on Telegram that “statements indicating the absence of risk for the environment raise serious doubts” because of the amounts of liquefied petroleum gas on site.The cause of the leak is still being established, said Sibur.A Sibur regional official Alexander Teplyakov said Sunday the incident was under control but that the company would pay for any damage caused by the incident.Teplyakov, quoted in a statement from the local authorities, said 27 people and 12 units of machinery were currently on site.Samples  would be taken from the surface of the water to determine any damage to the environment, he added.Russia frequently suffers environmental disasters, often due to the country’s ageing infrastructure or to negligence.Last month, mining giant Norilsk Nickel was fined close to $2 billion for a fuel spill that leaked tons of diesel into rivers in the Russian Arctic. 
 
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The virus swept through a nursery school and an adjacent elementary school in the Milan suburb of Bollate with amazing speed. In a matter of just days, 45 children and 14 staff members had tested positive.Genetic analysis confirmed what officials suspected: The highly contagious coronavirus variant first identified in England was racing through the community, a densely packed city of nearly 40,000 with a chemical plant and a Pirelli bicycle tire factory a 15-minute drive from the heart of Milan.”This demonstrates that the virus has a sort of intelligence. … We can put up all the barriers in the world and imagine that they work, but in the end, it adapts and penetrates them,” lamented Bollate Mayor Francesco Vassallo.Bollate was the first city in Lombardy, the northern region that has been the epicenter in each of Italy’s three surges, to be sealed off from neighbors because of virus variants that the World Health Organization says are powering another uptick in infections across Europe. The variants also include versions first identified in South Africa and Brazil.Europe recorded 1 million new COVID-19 cases last week, an increase of 9% from the previous week and a reversal that ended a six-week decline in new infections, WHO said Thursday.”The spread of the variants is driving the increase, but not only,” said Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, citing “also the opening of society, when it is not done in a safe and a controlled manner.”50% more transmissibleThe variant first found in the U.K. is spreading significantly in 27 European countries monitored by WHO and is dominant in at least 10 countries: Britain, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Israel, Spain and Portugal.It is up to 50% more transmissible than the virus that surged last spring and again in the fall, making it more adept at thwarting measures that were previously effective, WHO experts warned. Scientists have concluded that it is also more deadly.”That is why health systems are struggling more now,” Kluge said. “It really is at a tipping point. We have to hold the fort and be very vigilant.”In Lombardy, which bore the brunt of Italy’s spring surge, intensive care wards are again filling up, with more than two-thirds of new positive tests being the U.K. variant, health officials said.After putting two provinces and some 50 towns on a modified lockdown, Lombardy’s regional governor announced tightened restrictions Friday and closed classrooms for all ages. Cases in Milan schools alone surged 33% in a week, the provincial health system’s chief said.The situation is dire in the Czech Republic, which this week registered a record-breaking total of nearly 8,500 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Poland is opening temporary hospitals and imposing a partial lockdown as the U.K. variant has grown from 10% of all infections in February to 25% now.Two patients from hard-hit Slovakia were expected to arrive Saturday for treatment in Germany, where authorities said they had offered to take in 10 patients.Rate of decline slowingKluge cited Britain’s experience as cause for optimism, noting that widespread restrictions and the introduction of the vaccine have helped tamp down the variants there and in Israel. The vaccine rollout in the European Union, by comparison, is lagging badly, mostly because of supply problems.In Britain, the emergence of the more transmissible strain sent cases soaring in December and triggered a national lockdown in January. Cases have since plummeted, from about 60,000 a day in early January to about 7,000 a day now.Still, a study shows the rate of decline slowing, and the British government says it will tread cautiously with plans to ease the lockdown. That process begins Monday with the reopening of schools. Infection rates are highest in people ages 13-17, and officials will watch closely to see whether the return to class brings a spike in infections.While the U.K. variant is dominant in France, forcing lockdowns in the French Riviera city of Nice and the northern port of Dunkirk, the variant first detected in South Africa has emerged as the most prevalent in France’s Moselle region, which borders Germany and Luxembourg. It represents 55% of the virus circulating there.Austria’s health minister said Saturday the U.K. variant is now dominant in his country. But the South Africa variant is also a concern in a district of Austria that extends from Italy to Germany, with Austrian officials announcing plans to vaccinate most of the 84,000 residents there to curb its spread. Austria is also requiring motorists along the Brenner highway, a major north-south route, to show negative test results.The South Africa variant, now present in 26 European countries, is a source of particular concern because of doubts over whether the current vaccines are effective enough against it. The Brazilian variant, which appears capable of reinfecting people, has been detected in 15 European countries.WHO and its partners are working to strengthen the genetic surveillance needed to track variants across the continent.The mayor of Bollate has appealed to the regional governor to vaccinate all 40,000 residents immediately, though he expects to be told the vaccine supply is too tight.Bollate has recorded 3,000 positive cases and 134 deaths — mostly among the elderly — since Italy was stricken a year ago. It took the brunt in the resurgence in November and December and was caught completely off guard when the U.K. variant arrived, racing through school-age children before hitting families at home.”People are starting to get tired that after a year there is no light at the end of the tunnel,” Vassallo said.
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Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Saturday said a metal barrier to wall off the presidential palace ahead of a planned women’s march on International Women’s Day was to avoid provocation and protect historic buildings from vandalism.In a country where femicides rose nearly 130% between 2015 and 2020, critics said the decision to erect the 3-meter-high barriers was symptomatic of Lopez Obrador’s apathy toward the crisis of violence afflicting women.Ahead of International Women’s Day on Monday, barriers were also installed around other emblematic buildings and monuments in downtown Mexico City, where a year ago tens of thousands of people protested rampant violence against women and impunity.”We have to avoid provocation of people who only want to cause damage,” Lopez Obrador said at an event in Yucatan. “Imagine, if we don’t take care of the national palace and they vandalize it. What image will this send to the world?”Lopez Obrador reiterated that women had the right to protest and cited his own movement in 2006 as an appropriate form of peaceful protest.”The presidency was stolen from us … and we protested but never broke glass. … I walked two, three times all the way from Tabasco to Mexico City,” he said. Lopez Obrador has repeatedly accused opponents of electoral fraud over the years.At least 939 women were victims of femicide last year in Mexico, official data shows.Interior Minister Olga Sanchez Cordero said on Twitter that the barriers were “for the protection of the women.”Anger among women was stoked this year after Felix Salgado, who has been accused of rape, announced his candidacy for governor for the southern state of Guerrero.A representative for Salgado did not reply to repeated requests for comment; he has denied the allegations, according to media reports.Lopez Obrador has said that those calling on him to drop support for Salgado, a member of the ruling Morena party, are politically motivated.
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Republican Senator Ted Cruz has placed a hold on President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Central Intelligence Agency to pressure the administration to put tough sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project.The Senate Intelligence Committee this week backed William Burns, a former ambassador to Russia, by a unanimous vote. Burns has been confirmed by the Senate for five previous jobs in 33 years and is expected to eventually be approved by the full Senate.FILE – Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Feb. 26, 2021, in Orlando, Fla.The hold, placed Friday, is a delaying tactic as the Texas senator pressures the administration to sanction ships and companies helping Russia’s state energy company Gazprom build the $11 billion pipeline to take gas under the Baltic Sea to Europe via Germany.”I’ll release my hold when the Biden admin meets its legal obligation to report and sanction the ships and companies building [Russia President Vladimir] Putin’s pipeline,” Cruz wrote on Twitter. The move was first reported by Bloomberg.After a year’s delay caused by sanctions, Gazprom is racing to finish the pipeline, which analysts expect could happen by September. A second vessel, the Akademik Cherskiy, has joined the construction site off Denmark.President Joe Biden believes the pipeline is a “bad deal for Europe,” the White House has said. The pipeline would bypass Ukraine, depriving it of lucrative transit fees, and could undermine its efforts against Russian aggression.”It’s hard to see how delaying the confirmation of a CIA director who enjoys strong bipartisan support makes Americans safer,” said Biden transition spokesperson Andrew Bates. “Biden has been clear that Nord Stream 2 is a bad idea and plays into Russia’s hands.”U.S. lawmakers from both parties who oppose the project believe about 15 ships are helping to build the pipeline. But the State Department last month sanctioned only one ship in a report to Congress required by sanctions law.Forty Republican senators said in a letter to Biden this week that the sanction against the Fortuna vessel would not stop the pipeline, which as of February had about 75 miles (120 km) left to go off Denmark and 19 miles (30 km) off Germany.The State Department is set to submit to Congress another report on Nord Stream 2 on May 16, which could contain more sanctions, though spokesman Ned Price has said sanctions are only “one of many tools” that can be used.  
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The Vaxi Taxi was a godsend for Leslie Reid.The 48-year-old stagehand wanted to get a COVID-19 shot, but he was worried about riding public transport to the vaccination center because his immune system had been weakened by a bout with flesh-eating bacteria that almost cost him his arm.So Reid jumped at the opportunity when his doctor called and offered him the shot, together with door-to-door transportation.”I was one of the fortunate ones,” he said after being inoculated inside a black van cab at a community vaccination event in north London. “I’m sure there are plenty more vulnerable people than me that should have gotten this. What can I say? I’m very glad.”The “Vaxi Taxi” that ferried Reid to his appointment and whisked him home again is just one initiative doctors and community organizers are promoting as they try to make sure everyone gets inoculated. While Britain has engineered one of the world’s most successful coronavirus vaccination programs, delivering at least one dose to more than 30% of its population, minority groups and deprived communities are lagging behind.A recent survey commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care found that just 72.5% of Black people in England either have received or would accept the vaccine. That compares with 87.6% for Asians and 92.6% for whites.Anxieties, discriminationThat disparity is the product of a variety of issues ranging from concerns about vaccine safety and past discrimination in Britain’s health care system to simple ones like transportation.But community leaders are trying home-grown solutions to fill the gap.Dr. Jacqueline Marshall talks to patient Margaret Duncan Williams before giving her a dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine during a pop-up vaccination drive in Kilburn, London, Feb. 28, 2021.Dr. Sharon Raymond is one of the activists trying to remove vaccination barriers. The general practitioner and head of the Covid Crisis Rescue Foundation helped organize last Sunday’s pop-up vaccination event at Cambridge Gardens, a triangle of grass and trees in a northwest London neighborhood where half the residents are from ethnic minorities.Her aim was to create an inviting space where people would feel comfortable coming forward to ask questions and discuss their concerns.”It brings it to a place that’s familiar. It becomes much more accessible,” Raymond said. “That’s why this model of bringing the vaccination out to communities in familiar places in an unthreatening way, I think, is the way forward.”So on a chilly, late winter afternoon people got their shots under a heated, bright yellow tent festooned with balloons. Neighbors munched on sandwiches, sipped drinks and stopped to talk to the doctors, nurses and firefighters on hand.’Suited to our DNA’Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi praised such local initiatives, describing them as part of a national strategy that aimed to organize uptake down to the postal code. He told The Associated Press that data are showing that people want access to the vaccine at a time of their choice and in a place they trust.”We demonstrated our ability to organize and deploy at scale in the Olympics,” he said with enthusiasm. “This is even bigger. This is the largest vaccination program in the history of the [National Health Service], in the history of the United Kingdom. But I do think it’s suited to our DNA on these isles.”And for those who needed a little help to get to the park earlier this week, there was the Vaxi Taxi. People didn’t even need to leave the back seat in order to receive their inoculation if they didn’t want to.Raymond, who has crowd-funded many of her initiatives, hopes to get more support to get iconic black cabs rolling out to help across the capital. Since they have screens, they provide a shield for those inside, are accessible for the disabled and, with few tourists these days, there are plenty of cabbies willing to take part.”This is my vision of London,” Raymond said. “The black cab saves the day!”   
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In a camp at the U.S.-Mexico border, some asylum-seekers were told by officials that the U.S. government may reopen their cases and they would eventually be able to enter the U.S. to wait out the asylum process.The new opening for people previously denied came as Mexican authorities worked to close the improvised camp along the banks of the Rio Grande that has housed thousands of asylum-seekers for more than two years.Late Friday night, an official with Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said via Twitter that the last asylum-seekers with active cases from the camp had been processed and the camp was closed. Others — about 50 people — with closed asylum cases who were told their cases could be reopened were urged to move to a shelter. But some remained in the camp Saturday.The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment Friday and Saturday.Processing beginsLast month, the Biden administration began processing asylum-seekers who had been forced to wait out the long process from Mexico during the administration of former President Donald Trump. The Matamoros camp was one of the most visible signs of a policy implemented in response to high numbers of asylum-seekers by an administration that worked in various ways to make it more difficult to access protective status in the United States.On Saturday, Juan Antonio Sierra, who runs the migrant shelter in Matamoros confirmed that he had committed to housing asylum-seekers with closed cases so that the camp could be closed.FILE – Children play at a camp of asylum-seekers in Matamoros, Mexico, Nov. 18, 2020. Some asylum-seekers were told March 5, 2021, that the U.S. may reopen their cases and allow them to enter the U.S. to wait out the asylum process.Sierra said that the day before, the U.S. consul in Matamoros, Yolanda Parra, met with officials from the U.N. refugee agency, the International Organization for Migration, Mexico’s National Immigration Institute, Sierra and some migrants. She agreed that the U.S. government would evaluate the possible reopening of closed cases for the people who remained in the camp, Sierra said.The U.S. State Department referred questions to the Department of Homeland Security.”I was going to take them to the Casa del Migrante until it was sure they were going to cross,” Sierra said. The goal, he said, was to avoid new people arriving at the camp and assure that those who were still there would cross the border only when it was clear that their cases would be reopened and that they would avoid being immediately deported.’Avalanche is already here’Asked if word of reopened cases could draw more people to the border, the Reverend Francisco Gallardo, who is in charge of the shelter, said that “the avalanche is already here. A lot of people are arriving.” He warned there were signs that a new camp would form.The shelter has more than 200 migrants staying there.By Friday afternoon, several dozen asylum-seekers remained in the riverside camp. Workers dismantled primitive shelters and hauled away portable toilets. Friday night, power was cut to the camp. But even with the promise that their cases could be reopened, many resisted abandoning the camp for fear that a less public space would allow their shrunken number to be more easily ignored by the U.S. government.FILE – A migrant walks through a refugee camp in Matamoros, Mexico, Nov. 5, 2019. Mexican authorities are working to close the improvised camp along the Rio Grande that has housed thousands of asylum-seekers.A Honduran asylum-seeker who has lived in the camp for two years with her son said that personnel from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees told her Friday that “the United States had approved the reopening of our cases and that we had to wait some days for them to authorize the crossing to the U.S.”The woman, a former police officer who requested anonymity because she did not want to jeopardize her case, said the U.S. government had rejected her case earlier. With the help of lawyers, she appealed and was turned down again in November. She has filed a subsequent appeal.”Now there’s hope,” she said.Others were informed of the same, she said. Some were told their situations could be addressed in a couple of days, others in 10 days. She said they didn’t give her a date.They advised her to move to a local migrant shelter that would provide better living conditions, but “no one wants to move because we believe they are going to forget us,” she said.’Remain in Mexico’Previously, U.S. officials have not said if people will be allowed back in the U.S. at some future date to pursue asylum claims that were denied or dismissed under the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols, better known as “Remain in Mexico.” They have described the re-entry of an estimated 26,000 people with active cases as an initial step but have not said what any subsequent measures would entail.The Matamoros camp has been an uncomfortable monument to the policy for its residents, as well as the U.S. and Mexican governments.Human Rights Watch published a report Friday that said it “has consistently found that migrants in Mexico are exposed to rape, kidnapping, extortion, assault and psychological trauma.”On Thursday, 10 Democratic members of Congress told U.S. Secretary of Antony Blinken that the U.S. government must help push for greater protections for migrants and asylum-seekers waiting in Mexico.  
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Pope Francis met with Iraq’s top Shiite religious leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, during a visit Saturday morning to the Shiite holy city of Najaf. Both men issued statements after the meeting urging peaceful coexistence among Iraq’s different religious groups.
 
Amateur video posted on social media showed a group of children in the south of Iraq chanting a welcome message to Pope Francis as he traveled to Najaf Saturday morning to meet with the country’s top Shiite religious authority. Welcome signs were also posted on billboards in many towns and cities.After traveling from Baghdad by helicopter, Pope Francis, accompanied by close advisers, walked through the narrow streets of Najaf to reach al-Sistani’s compound. Chaldean Patriarch Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako sat near the pope, as he chatted with al-Sistani in his office for close to an hour.Neither of the men could be heard on the video but each of their offices issued statements after the meeting calling for “unity among Iraqis and peaceful coexistence.”
 
Arab media reported the meeting between Francis and al-Sistani “took months to arrange,” as the Shiite cleric rarely meets with visiting foreign religious or political dignitaries. Cardinal Sako, however, is said to have close ties to al-Sistani and his advisers, and he wanted both men to deliver a message of peace and unity.Iraq analyst Hassan Mustapha told Arab media that both religious leaders are following what looks like a “roadmap” for reconciliation following the bitter conflicts in recent years.He said that both the pope and ayatollah are renouncing violence and killing, and both would like mankind to live in peace, security and faith. The statements of both, he said, read like a roadmap with al-Sistani denouncing oppression, persecution and religious tyranny while promoting freedom to choose.Al-Sistani reaffirmed that religious authorities must play a role in protecting Iraq’s small Christian community and that they should be able to live in peace and enjoy the same rights of all other Iraqis.Pope Francis, center, prepares to leave after an inter-religious meeting near the archaeological site of Ur, near Nasiriyah, Iraq, March 6, 2021.The pope’s meeting with al-Sistani was followed by a visit to the ruins of Ur, thought to have been the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham. Members of Iraq’s different religious groups held an interfaith meeting before hearing the pope speak.Chaldean religious music preceded the pope’s message along with readings from the Bible and the Quran related to Abraham. The leader of the world’s Roman Catholics urged Iraqis to “unite” and not to “surrender” to violence and oppression. He stressed that “we are all grandsons of (the Prophet) Abraham and we must not try to divide heaven since heaven calls for uniting men.”
 
Dr. Paul Sullivan, a professor at the Washington-based National Defense University, told VOA that “the adherents of the Abrahamic faiths – Islam, Christianity and Judaism have a chance to see similarities over differences.” “Let us hope,” he stressed, “they take this chance and get beyond the blind spots of prejudice and bigotry … to see their common humanity and similarities of belief.”  
Later Saturday the pope was expected to celebrate mass at the Chaldean Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Baghdad.
 
Francis also plans to visit Mosul, Irbil, and Qaraqosh before leaving Iraq.  
 
The pope will hold an open-air mass at the Irbil stadium on Sunday afternoon. Because of the COVID-19 restrictions, attendance will be limited to 10,000 people.
 
The Christian presence in Iraq dates to the first centuries of the religion, but only a few hundred thousand Christians remain today.  
 
This is the pope’s thirty-third trip outside the Vatican and his first in the last 15 months due mostly to the COVID pandemic.  
 
The pontiff is scheduled to return to Rome Monday morning.
 
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Pope Francis has addressed an interfaith gathering of Iraq’s religious and ethnic groups in Ur, said to be the birthplace of Abraham, the common patriarch for Jews, Christians and Muslims. He drove home the need for respect and unity, and he used the opportunity to condemn violent religious extremism.  
       
Pope Francis traveled to the ruins of the ancient city of Ur, considered the cradle of civilization, to remind people that what binds them is more powerful than what divides. Faithful from the Christian, Muslim, Yazidi and Mandean communities were present Saturday. The pope reinforced his call for inter-religious tolerance and fraternity during the first-ever papal visit to Iraq, where religious and ethnic divisions and conflict have torn apart the social fabric for decades.    The pontiff said that all of Iraq’s communities have suffered too long from terrorism and war. “Hostility, extremism and violence are not born of a religious heart: They are betrayals of religion,” he said. His remarks in Italian were translated into English.     “We are believers and as believers mustn’t stand silent when we see terrorism, when terrorism takes hold of religion for its own gain. It is up to us as religious men and women to destroy evil. We cannot have the light of God be darkened as it has been in this country, where war, violence and terrorism has brought darkness,” the pontiff said.Pope Francis also drew attention to the genocide perpetrated by Islamic State militants against Iraq’s minority Yazidi community and their continuing plight.   “Yazidi men and women, young children were taken from their homes and sold into slavery, subjected to violence. We must remain hopeful for the future. But there are still people to this very day, who are held captive. People who cannot return to their homeland. We pray for freedom of thought, of mind, freedom of religion to be upheld everywhere,” the leader of the world’s Roman Catholics said.Pope Francis has sought to support Christians in Iraq, whose numbers have dwindled from 1.5 million in 2003 to less than 300,000 in this majority Shiite Muslim country, by calling on leaders to protect all minority rights.
 
During his speech, the pope praised “the young Muslim volunteers of Mosul, who helped to repair churches and monasteries, building fraternal friendships on the rubble of hatred, and those Christians and Muslims who today are restoring mosques and churches together.”  He called “the greatest blasphemy” the act of “hating our brothers and sisters.”   
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