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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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Pope Francis, leader of the world’s Roman Catholics, met Saturday in Iraq with the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a leading Shiite Muslim figure.
 
The historic session between 84-year-old pontiff and the reclusive al-Sistani took place in the 90-year-old Muslim leader’s modest home in the holy city of Najaf.  
 
Al-Sistani said Christians have the same rights as other Iraqis and that they should have peaceful lives.  
 
Al-Sistani is one of the most important figures in Shiite Islam and wields considerable influence in Iraq and beyond.
 
Iraqi Christians are hoping al-Sistani’s statement and Francis’ message of coexistence will help to ease their lives in the mainly Muslim country, where they find themselves frequently under attack from Shiite militia members.
 
A religious official in Najaf told the Associated Press that the meeting was “a private visit without precedent in history, and it will not have an equal to any previous visits.”  
 
The encounter between the two religious leaders also comes against the tense backdrop of the possibility of rocket firings into Iraq from rogue Iranian-back groups and the global COVID-19 pandemic.  
 
After his meeting with al-Sistani, Francis attended an interfaith meeting in the ancient city of Ur where he again delivered his message of peaceful coexistence.
 
“From this place, where faith was born, from the land of our father Abraham, let us affirm that God is merciful and that the greatest blasphemy is to profane his name by hating our brothers and sisters,” Francis said.
 
Ur is believed to be the birthplace of Abraham, revered by three religions – Islam, Judaism and Christianity.
 
Later Saturday the pope will celebrate mass at the Chaldean Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Baghdad.
 
Francis will also visit Mosul, Irbil, and Qaraqosh before leaving Iraq.  
 
The pope will give 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 pope’s 33rd trip outside Italy and his first in the last 15 months due in most part to COVID-19.   
 
The pontiff is scheduled to return to Rome Monday morning.
 
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Once the seat of a powerful maritime empire, Portugal is attracting attention from today’s great powers. Analysts warn that unless the U.S. moves quickly, China will soon expand its control over a key Portuguese seaport.A month from now, the fate of a new terminal at the Port of Sines on Portugal’s southwestern coast is scheduled to be decided.Sines is “the first deep water port if you go from the United States to Europe, so it’s a very important infrastructure,” Domingos Fezas Vital, Lisbon’s ambassador to the United States, said in a phone interview.In 2012, the People’s Republic of China acquired a stake in one of the four terminals at the port, drawing attention to Beijing’s strategic design.“We now have an international bid for a fifth terminal, which will be a second container terminal,” Fezas Vital told VOA. “We would very, very, very much like to have American companies competing for this bid; I think it will be very important to have an American presence in Sines.”He said it was unimportant whether that bid was “American only (or) American together with friends and allies.”Eric Brown is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute with a focus on Asia and global strategy.“It’s clear when you look at the PRC’s Maritime Silk Road — the oceans-focused component of the Belt and Road Initiative — that one of their ambitions is to control the littorals of Eurasia and large parts of Africa,” he said in a phone interview. “And I would say that in the grander imaginings of things, that also includes Latin America.“One of the ways in which they’re attempting to acquire that control is through politically directed economic investments through state-owned enterprises and state-directed enterprises in critical ports that skirt the Pacific, the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean, and increasingly the North Sea and the Baltic states,” he said.Seen from that perspective, “control of Sines, which is important for the Iberian economy and for southwestern Europe as a whole, is of enormous consequence,” he said.Brown sees Chinese behavior as that of a “power trader,” an idea recently put forward by Robert D. Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. PortugalThe thesis that Germany acted as a “power tradet” that used trade as a key instrument to gain commercial and military advantage over its adversaries was originally put forth by the late economist Albert O. Hirschman in a book entitled FILE – Ship containers are moved at the Port of Sines, in Sines, Portugal, Feb. 12, 2020.In order to not lose out to Chinese state-backed bids for key infrastructure projects like the Port of Sines, Washington may just have to take a page from Beijing’s playbook, Prestowitz suggested, and put more government muscle behind corporate initiatives.While American conservatives have traditionally been most skeptical about government efforts to direct the economy, Prestowitz welcomed a Republican-led move under former President Donald Trump in 2019 to reorganize two existing agencies into the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.The move, he said, was a good start toward giving the United States the tools to fight back against China.Atkinson, for his part, proposes the establishment of a NATO-like trade alliance that would be able to respond “bravely, strategically, and expeditiously” to Chinese economic expansionism and power projection.
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Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center has recorded more than 116 million global coronavirus cases. The U.S. is on the verge of having 30 million infections, followed by India with 11 million and Brazil with 10.8 million.Earlier this week, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had callous words for fellow Brazilians unhappy with the president’s response to the pandemic.“Stop all this fussing and whining,” the president said. “How long are you going to keep on crying?” Bolsonaro was speaking in the Brazilian state of Goiás, where almost 9,000 people have died.Only the U.S. has more COVID deaths than Brazil. According to Hopkins, the U.S. has more than 522,000 COVID deaths, while Brazil has reported more than 262,000.Russia’s statistics agency said Friday more than 200,000 Russians diagnosed with COVID-19 have died, more than double the figure used by the government’s coronavirus task force.The figures released Friday from Rosstat, a government agency that releases coronavirus data infrequently, said it had recorded 200,432 deaths through January. Those figures include nearly 70,000 people who had the virus at the time of death, but whose main cause of death was not deemed to be COVID-19.The tally is significantly more the government’s coronavirus task force’s data, which had recorded 88,285 deaths as of Friday. The government’s task force does not count deaths in which the virus was present but is not ruled the main cause.Using the figures from Rosstat, Russia would have the third most COVID-19 fatalities in the world, behind only the United States and Brazil.Rosstat also reported Friday that Russia has recorded 394,000 more deaths since the start of the pandemic until the end of January than in the previous period — suggesting that coronavirus-related deaths in the country could be even higher.In another development Friday, the World Health Organization said investigators who conducted an inspection in China to determine origins of the COVID-19 virus would release a report on their findings in mid-March.Peter Ben Embarek, who led the mission, clarified at a regular coronavirus news briefing Friday in Geneva that an interim report would not be released as previously reported.“To clarify, there was never a plan for an interim report, first of all,” Embarek said. “It was hoped we would get a summary report out,” but “the director-general [Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus] will receive that report from the team in the near future and we will discuss the recommendations.”The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday the WHO team decided not to release its interim account “amid mounting tensions between Beijing and Washington.”Another international group of scientists has called for the WHO to conduct a new inquiry into the origins of COVID-19. The scientists calling for a new probe said in an open letter Thursday that the WHO team “did not have the mandate, the independence, or the necessary accesses to carry out a full and unrestricted investigation.”The scientists also noted in their letter that the WHO investigators in China were accompanied by their Chinese counterparts.The first cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019.Throughout his term, former U.S. president Donald Trump strongly suggested, without evidence, the coronavirus leaked from a Wuhan laboratory.A global team of inspectors began its four-week investigation in Wuhan in January and finished it last month.Italy on Friday surpassed 3 million confirmed coronavirus cases since the pandemic began. The health ministry reported 24,036 new confirmed cases Friday, the third straight day this week that daily new caseloads exceeded 20,000 cases.The government said it would further tighten coronavirus restrictions in three of its 20 regions after health officials warned of the increase of cases of more contagious variants.France reported 23,507 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Friday, which is down from the previous week, however officials said the number of people in intensive care with COVID-19 reached its highest level this year.Canada’s drug regulator announced Friday that it had approved Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, the fourth such inoculation to get approval. Canada has also approved vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca.Mickey Mouse may once again scamper on Disneyland’s streets, according to California officials who said Friday the state’s theme and amusement parks could open as early as April 1.There are, of course, COVID-19 restrictions on the openings. The parks would open under restricted capacity. They would also have to be in a county that is not under certain constraints, designed to slow the coronavirus transmission rate.A purple county has the most restrictions due to its coronavirus rate of infection, under California’s color-code system. Disneyland is in a purple country, but at the present rate of transmission, officials expect the theme park would likely be eligible for reopening sometime in April.
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Pope Francis, leader of the world’s Roman Catholics, met Saturday in Iraq with the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a leading Shiite Muslim figure.The historic session between 84-year-old pontiff and the reclusive al-Sistani took place in the 90-year-old Muslim leader’s modest home in the holy city of Najaf.Al-Sistani said Christians have the same rights as other Iraqis and that they should have peaceful lives.Al-Sistani is one of the most important figures in Shiite Islam and wields considerable influence in Iraq and beyond.Iraqi Christians are hoping al-Sistani’s statement and Francis’ message of coexistence will help to ease their lives in the mainly Muslim country, where they find themselves frequently under attack from Shiite militia members.A religious official in Najaf told the Associated Press that the meeting was “a private visit without precedent in history, and it will not have an equal to any previous visits.”The encounter between the two religious leaders also comes against the tense backdrop of the possibility of rocket firings into Iraq from rogue Iranian-back groups and the global COVID-19 pandemic.After his meeting with al-Sistani, Francis attended an interfaith meeting in the ancient city of Ur where he again delivered his message of peaceful coexistence.“From this place, where faith was born, from the land of our father Abraham, let us affirm that God is merciful and that the greatest blasphemy is to profane his name by hating our brothers and sisters,” Francis said.Ur is believed to be the birthplace of Abraham, revered by three religions – Islam, Judaism and Christianity.Later Saturday the pope will celebrate Mass at the Chaldean Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Baghdad.Francis will also visit Mosul, Erbil, and Qaraqosh before leaving Iraq.The pope will give an open-air Mass at the Erbil 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 pope’s 33rd trip outside Italy and his first in the last 15 months due in most part to COVID-19.The pontiff is scheduled to return to Rome on Monday morning.
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U.S. border agents detained nearly 100,000 migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in February, according to two people familiar with preliminary figures, the highest monthly total since a major border surge in mid-2019.The figures, which have not been previously reported, show the scope of a growing migrant influx at the southwest border as U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, seeks to roll back some of the restrictive policies of former President Donald Trump, a Republican. February was Biden’s first full month in office.Last month’s total would represent the highest tally for the month of February since 2006. The sources who provided the figures to Reuters spoke on the condition of anonymity.An increasing number of children arriving at the border without a parent or legal guardian has forced U.S. officials in recent weeks to scramble for housing options and take steps to speed up their release to sponsors in the United States.February’s number of detained migrants represents an increase over 78,000 in January. February’s total appears to be the highest monthly number since June 2019 during a large border surge that Trump cited as justification for a broad immigration crackdown.A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said official statistics for last month likely will be released next week.U.S. Border Patrol agents caught more than 4,500 migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in a single day on Wednesday, according to government figures shared with Reuters, a sign that illegal entries could continue to rise in March.Republicans have criticized Biden for rolling back Trump’s hard-line immigration policies, saying the shift will lead to more illegal immigration.Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican in the House of Representatives, sent a letter to Biden on Friday that requested a meeting to discuss the issue, saying he had “great concern” with the administration’s approach to border.”We must acknowledge the border crisis, develop a plan, and, in no uncertain terms, strongly discourage individuals from Mexico and Central America from ever making the dangerous journey to our southern border,” McCarthy wrote in the letter.The recidivism rate among migrants attempting to cross the border illegally increased over the past year under a Trump-era policy known as Title 42. That policy, issued on public health grounds amid the coronavirus pandemic, allowed U.S. authorities to rapidly expel migrants caught crossing. In some cases, migrants attempt to cross the border again.Biden exempted unaccompanied children from the policy in February.
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Relations between Britain and the European Union were thrown into a fresh crisis Friday, just weeks after the two concluded a trade deal to end the long-running saga of Brexit, the British departure from the bloc after four decades of membership.EU officials say they plan to launch legal action soon against Britain for its unilateral decision to delay by several months the implementation of part of the Brexit deal that requires customs checks on goods being traded between Britain and its Northern Ireland province.The delay, London says, will give traders and consumers in British-ruled Northern Ireland time to adjust to the new and complicated trading arrangements that require, among other things, health inspections and certificates for food and livestock shipments.Britain and the EU agreed to the new rules to avoid the establishment of a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which would have breached the U.S.-brokered 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.’Very negative surprise’Under the Brexit deal, the British province remains in Europe’s tariff-free single market. Since the final Brexit deal was inked in December, the province’s supermarkets have complained of shortages of basic British food staples.Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission’s vice president, told the Financial Times that the announcement midweek by the British government of a delay in implementation was a “very negative surprise.”On Thursday, EU officials threatened to impose trade tariffs on Britain and to suspend parts of the Brexit trade deal if London didn’t back down. Sefcovic said officials were preparing a legal action, which would most likely be brought before the European Court of Justice, and “it would be really something coming to our table very soon.”FILE – Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, left, speaks with Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok during a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the Europa building in Brussels, Dec. 9, 2019.Simon Coveney, Ireland’s foreign minister, told reporters the EU would have no option but to resort to legal action because it was negotiating with a partner “it simply couldn’t trust.” Because of the dispute, the European Parliament this week announced it was postponing setting a date for ratifying the Brexit deal.The dispute may appear at first glance to be a dry and even obscure trade matter, but analysts say it has the potential not only to worsen already frayed relations between Britain and Europe but also risks dangerous political developments in Ireland.Those in turn could impact Britain’s relationship with the Biden administration, which has emphasized that Brexit should in no way undermine the Good Friday peace agreement.That agreement ended decades of sectarian violence between mainly Protestant pro-British loyalist groups and the mainly Catholic IRA, which waged an insurgency to try to push British forces out of Northern Ireland and London to relinquish control of the province.Pressure on JohnsonLondon’s decision to delay implementation for six months of the protocol requiring customs checks came as lawmakers from Britain’s ruling Conservative Party and from pro-British unionist parties in Northern Ireland increased their efforts to persuade Prime Minister Boris Johnson to abandon or to renegotiate the Brexit deal with the EU.They argue the Northern Ireland protocol is unworkable and will increase costs for the province’s businesses, which in turn will be passed on in higher prices to consumers. The province’s supermarkets say they have found it hard to get staple British food products because imports have been blocked at ports by an overzealous application of the Brexit trading rules, as well as confusion over what paperwork is required.The Conservative and unionist lawmakers also fear that the new trading arrangements will end up tearing the province away from Britain.Ominously, Northern Ireland’s loyalist paramilitary groups warned Johnson this week that they were withdrawing their support for the Good Friday peace agreement until the Brexit protocol was abandoned. Their withdrawal prompted fears of a return to violence, although David Campbell, a leading loyalist figure, said loyalist opposition to the Brexit deal would be “peaceful, democratic and constitutional.””We are looking to the prime minister to use every effort he can to rectify the problems with the protocol. Let’s hope that those issues are resolved,” Campbell told the BBC. “I have no doubt that but for the present pandemic you would have already seen street protests and demonstrations. Our history shows that street protests and demonstrations are very difficult to control and maintain peacefully.”A hope for no violenceAfter the announcement by loyalist groups, Jonathan Powell, a chief negotiator for the British government in the 1998 peace talks, said he was dismayed.”I think it’s a mistake, but I do pin my hopes on the promise that they will not go back to violence and that there’s no intention of returning to the old days. I think we should deal with this as a political issue to which people object strongly and find the solution that way,” he said in a broadcast interview.FILE – Northern Ireland Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster, center,  speaks to journalists at European Union headquarters in Brussels, April 11, 2019.The first minister of Northern Ireland’s devolved government, Arlene Foster, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, accused the EU of taking a “very belligerent approach” to the difficulties caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol. She welcomed Johnson’s decision to delay implementation.Johnson has threatened before to scrap customs checks on trade between Britain and Northern Ireland — a threat that nearly wrecked the overall Brexit deal signed in December. This time he’s said a delay is needed to avoid significant immediate disruption to everyday life in Northern Ireland. He has said the move is “temporary and technical” and designed “to ensure there are no barriers in the Irish Sea, to make sure things flow freely.”Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, warned British ministers recently that their efforts to negotiate a trade deal with the U.S. would be rebuffed if Brexit ended up wrecking the 1998 peace agreement.Just before last November’s U.S. presidential elections, Joe Biden was similarly blunt, saying in a tweet: “We can’t allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit.” He added: “Any trade deal between the U.S. and UK must be contingent upon respect for the Agreement and preventing the return of a hard border. Period.”  
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Meghan Markle, Britain’s Duchess of Sussex, says she is now “ready to talk” along with husband Prince Harry, ahead of a highly anticipated weekend airing of an interview with Oprah Winfrey.Markle credits her newfound freedom for opening up about the limitations put on her by the royal family and her appreciation for making her own decisions.”It’s really liberating to be able to have the right and the privilege in some ways to be able to say, ‘Yes … I’m ready to talk,’ ” she said.Markle believes now is the time to share her side of the story and how life has changed since leaving the royal family.“We’re on the other side of a lot of, a lot of life experience that’s happened,” Markle said. “And also that we have the ability to make our own choices in a way that I couldn’t have said yes to you then, that wasn’t my choice to make.”Markle and Prince Harry, who tied the knot in May 2018, stunned the royal family in January when they announced they would step down from their official royal duties to live independently in Montecito, California.Since coming to Montecito, the couple announced their new commonwealth project, Archewell Foundation, named after their son Archie. Teaming with chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen, the foundation said it would create Community Relief Centers in regions of the world prone to climate disasters.Sunday’s interview comes after Buckingham Palace announced Wednesday it would be launching an investigation into claims Markle bullied her staff while still living as a royal in London.“I don’t know how they could expect that after all of this time, we would still just be silent if there is an active role that the firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us,” Markle said.Oprah with Meghan and Harry will air this Sunday at 8 p.m. EST on the CBS television network. 
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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was among of former President Donald  Trump’s most outspoken ideological allies when Trump was in office. Now, with President Joe Biden in the White House, many in Brazil are expecting changes that some dread and others welcome.  For VOA, Edgar Maciel reports from Sao Paulo. 
Camera: Edgar Maciel   Producer: Marcus Harton
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With new cases and COVID-19-related deaths surging and hospitals reaching capacity in Brazil, the country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, told Brazilians on Thursday to “stop whining” about the pandemic.Speaking at an event for the opening of a new rail line in Sao Simao in south-central Goias state, the far-right leader and COVID-19 skeptic lashed out at lockdown measures, saying deaths are regrettable, but questioned how long people will be “staying home and closing everything,” saying no one can stand it anymore.Brazil’s Sao Paulo state Governor, Joao Doria, holds a box of China’s Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine at Sao Paulo International Airport in Guarulhos, near Sao Paulo, Brazil, March 4, 2021.João Doria, the governor of Brazil’s largest state, Sao Paulo, responded angrily to the comments, telling the British Broadcasting Company that Bolsonaro is “a crazy guy” who, he said, attacked the nation’s “governors and mayors who want to buy vaccines and help the country to end this pandemic.”More than 260,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Brazil, second only to the United States.Bolsonaro has consistently opposed quarantine measures introduced by governors, arguing the collateral damage to the economy will be worse than the effects of the virus itself.But Brazil’s health officials say the nation is facing its worst phase of the epidemic yet, pushing its hospital system to the brink of collapse.Despite the president’s comments, new restrictions have been implemented in the nation’s capital, Brasilia, and its largest city, Sao Paulo. Tourist mecca Rio de Janeiro on Thursday announced a citywide curfew and early closing times for restaurants. 
 
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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was among of former President Donald  Trump’s most outspoken ideological allies when Trump was in office. Now, with President Joe Biden in the White House, many in Brazil are expecting changes that some dread and others welcome.  For VOA, Edgar Maciel reports from Sao Paulo. 
Camera: Edgar Maciel   Producer: Marcus Harton
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Pope Francis begins a long-desired trip to Iraq Friday, the first to the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham by any head of the Catholic Church. It is the first trip by Pope Francis to a foreign country since the pandemic, and everyone on the papal plane has been vaccinated against COVID-19. It will be a challenge all the same, though, as cases in the country have surged and there are fears that those hoping to see the pope will forget the social distancing rules. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi welcomes Pope Francis as he arrives at Baghdad International Airport to start his historic tour in Baghdad, Iraq, March 5, 2021.The Vatican’s ambassador to Iraq, Archbishop Mitja Leskovar, recently tested positive for COVID and is currently self-isolating, but the pope has insisted on going ahead with the visit.In a video message to the Iraqi people, Francis told them how he longed to meet them, see their faces and visit a land that is ancient and an extraordinary cradle of civilization.The pope said he was coming to Iraq as a “penitent pilgrim” to implore forgiveness and reconciliation after years of war and terrorism.My dear Christian brothers and sisters from Pope Francis arrives at Baghdad International Airport where a welcoming ceremony is held to start his historic tour in Baghdad, Iraq, March 5, 2021.Security is also a concern during the papal visit, as attacks have increased in recent weeks on civilian and military targets. The pope is expected to travel in an armored vehicle and not his usual popemobile. Vatican officials have said they are satisfied that Iraqi authorities will be able to provide the required protection for the papal visit. Francis is planning to visit several Iraqi cities during his visit, including Mosul, Erbil and Qaraqosh where he will meet people rebuilding their communities and churches. He will also visit Ur, the birthplace of the prophet Abraham. One of the highlights of his trip will undoubtedly be when he travels to the holy city of Najaf to meet the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the influential 90-year-old Shia Muslim cleric. A man takes selfies as he waits for the arrival of Pope Francis, at Baghdad Airport Road, in Baghdad, Iraq March 5, 2021.   
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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was among of former President Donald  Trump’s most outspoken ideological allies when Trump was in office. Now, with President Joe Biden in the White House, many in Brazil are expecting changes that some dread and others welcome.  For VOA, Edgar Maciel reports from Sao Paulo. 
Camera: Edgar Maciel   Producer: Marcus Harton
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The United States on Thursday agreed to a four-month suspension of retaliatory tariffs imposed on British goods such as Scotch whisky over a long-running aircraft subsidy row, with both sides pledging to use the time to resolve the dispute. The U.S. administration under former President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Scotch whisky and other European Union food, wine and spirits, which the industry says have put its future at risk. The multibillion-dollar tit-for-tat tariff battle involving the United States, the European Union and Britain relates to a long-running row over state subsidies for plane manufacturers Airbus and Boeing. Britain is party to the dispute as a former member of the EU and maker of key Airbus components. “The United Kingdom and the United States are undertaking a four-month tariff suspension to ease the burden on industry and take a bold, joint step towards resolving the longest running disputes at the World Trade Organization,” a joint statement said. “This will allow time to focus on negotiating a balanced settlement to the disputes and begin seriously addressing the challenges posed by new entrants to the civil aviation market from nonmarket economies, such as China.” FILE – The vertical tail wing of an Airbus A350 is seen on the final assembly line in Toulouse, southwestern France, Oct. 23,2012.White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the decision would give both sides time to work out a solution. “It was meant to deescalate the issue and create space for a negotiated settlement to the Airbus and Boeing disputes,” she told a White House briefing. The tariff truce is separate from broader U.S.-Britain talks on a post-Brexit trade agreement but sends a positive signal about those discussions. Psaki declined to say if the U.S.-Britain tariff deal foreshadowed a similar truce with Brussels. Britain and the United States were hoping to reach a trade deal before the expiration of fast-track trade promotion authority granted to the U.S. federal government by Congress in July. To hit that deadline, U.S. trade officials would have to notify Congress about a likely trade deal sometime in April. Reaction to suspensionAirbus spokesman Clay McConnell welcomed the suspension of what he called “lose-lose tariffs” and said the company supports all efforts to reach an agreement. U.S. company Boeing said: “A negotiated settlement will allow the industry to move forward with a genuinely global level playing field for aviation.” Ivan Menezes, chief executive of Diageo, the maker of Johnnie Walker and Talisker whiskies, said a permanent solution would help safeguard thousands of jobs across Scotland and the rest of Britain. The agreement to lift tariffs is temporary and applies only to British goods. U.S. tariffs will continue to apply to EU goods, according to a U.S. administration official. U.S. President Joe Biden’s top trade nominee, Katherine Tai, is headed to confirmation by the full Senate next week. She told the Senate Finance Committee last month that Washington had completed four rounds of negotiations with Britain since announcing the start of talks. She said she would make it a priority to resolve the aircraft subsidy dispute. Tai, asked if she would prioritize an agreement with Britain, told the committee in written responses to questions released this week that Britain was “an important trading partner and ally.” The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States welcomed Thursday’s decision but said it was disappointed that British tariffs on U.S. whiskey relating to a separate dispute over steel were still being applied.
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The World Health Organization’s Europe director reported Thursday that new COVID-19 cases rose 9% to just over a million in the region last week.  
 
Hans Kluge said it was the first increase in new infections after six weeks of decline.
 
At a virtual news briefing from his headquarters in Copenhagen, Kluge told reporters that more than half the region saw increases in new cases.
 
Kluge said most of the resurgence was seen in central and eastern Europe, although new cases were also on the rise in several western European countries where rates were already high.  
 
 “Over a year into the pandemic, our health systems should not be in this situation. We need to get back to the basics,” he said.
 
He said the high rates of transmission and rapid spread of variants require increased vigilance, improved testing and isolation of cases, tracing and quarantining contacts, and care.  
 
Kluge said the so-called British variant has been reported in 43 of 53 countries in the region; the South African variant in 26 countries; and the variant originally identified in Brazil and Japan in 15 countries.  
 
The WHO Europe chief urged nations to accelerate the rollout of vaccines, saying they are already saving lives, with hospitalizations and deaths in most at-risk groups declining significantly.  
 
Kluge said 45 countries have started vaccinations in the European region.
 
He also called on leaders to reengage with their communities to counter “pandemic fatigue” to prevent people from putting aside preventative measures.
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Europe’s far right has suffered some setbacks recently: Germany’s top opposition party is under surveillance for extremism and France shut down a right-wing youth group.  Experts say these groups are using old and new grievances and are inspired by their U.S. counterparts. For VOA, Lisa Bryant reports from Paris.
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The Biden administration has declined to comment on whether Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will be extended for Haitians.“By law, TPS designations are made by the Department of Homeland Security after consultation with the appropriate agencies,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told VOA. “So, we wouldn’t want to comment on any sort of internal deliberations when it comes to TPS.”TPS is a designation made by the secretary of homeland security to individuals from countries severely impacted by natural disasters or armed conflicts. It allows beneficiaries to live and work in the United States for a period of time.The TPS status Haitians currently hold was enacted by the Obama administration on January 21, 2010, nine days after a massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit the island nation, killing at least 250,000 people and displacing 5 million others.In October 2020, then-candidate Joe Biden made a campaign stop in the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami, Florida, where he courted the Haitian-American vote and promised to act on an immigration issue high on their list of priorities, the TPS program.More than 55,000 Haitians are enrolled in the program, according to the Bocchit Edmond, Haiti’s ambassador to the United States. (Twitter)Haiti’s position Haiti’s ambassador to the U.S., Bocchit Edmond, has called on the Biden administration to work with Congress to find a solution.“We do hope that the Biden administration, with the help of the U.S. Congress, will find a final resolution to this very sensitive issue impacting a number of Haitians. The human impact should be considered,” Edmond told VOA. “The Embassy of Haiti will continue to work with U.S. officials as we advocate for Haitians in the United States.”Prominent Haitian immigration advocate reaction Reacting to the State Department’s stance on TPS, the Miami-based Family Action Network Movement (FANM), a grassroots immigration advocacy group, called on the Biden administration to act quickly.“This is something FANM has been advocating for, along with other immigrant rights organizations. The time to do this is now,” Marleine Bastien, executive director of FANM, told VOA.Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holder Kerlyne Paraison, foreground, of Haiti, holds up a sign as she demonstrates during a rally for a permanent solution for TPS holders in front of the Citizenship And Immigration Services Field Office.What’s happening in Haiti?Haiti has battled political turmoil and a spike in violent crime over the past year. President Jovenel Moise is at odds with members of the opposition about when his term expires. He plans to step down on February 7, 2022, when a newly elected president takes power. But the opposition cites an article in the Haitian constitution that states Moise’s term should have ended on February 7, 2021.Moise was sworn in on February 7, 2017, for a five-year term after winning a 2016 presidential election. That vote was a re-do after the 2015 election results were annulled over fraud allegations.The U.S. and much of the international community back Moise’s claim that his term will end next year.However, both the Trump and Biden administrations have repeatedly criticized Moise for ruling by decree since January 2020, when two-thirds of the parliament’s terms expired. They have also called on him to organize elections as soon as possible.The United Nations, the Organization of American States and the European Union have expressed the same concerns.Moise defended his decision not to organize elections last year, citing the pandemic, a crippling economic crisis, a spike in violent crimes and “peyi lok,” a series of massive anti-government protests that halted operations of businesses, schools and transportation.Moise announced in February that a constitutional referendum was planned for April and legislative and presidential elections would be held in September.A demonstrator takes part in a march during a protest against Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti February 14, 2021. REUTERS/Jeanty Junior Augustin TPX IMAGES OF THE DAYNew wave of asylum seekers?Asked by VOA if the current political instability in Haiti could cause more Haitians to seek asylum in the U.S., the State Department’s Price did not give a direct answer.“What I would say is that it is the responsibility of Haiti’s government to organize elections in 2021 that are free, that are fair, that are credible,” Price told VOA. “We join the international community in calling Haitian stakeholders to come together to find a way forward. What we have said is that the Haitian people deserve the opportunity to elect their leaders and to restore Haiti’s democratic institutions.”Nike Ching at the State Department and Elizabeth Lee in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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It’s a new era for Russian women, at least if they’re aspiring truckers, boat drivers, or pilots. Russia’s government has opened up several hundred professions that previously barred women under late-Soviet-era labor restrictions.  From Moscow, Charles Maynes reports.Videographer: Ricardo Marquina Montanana, Producer: Henry Hernandez
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Glenda Andrew pulls a tray of salmon from the oven, filling the community center’s kitchen with the aroma of garlic, cayenne and lemon rising from its crackling skin.
It is the scent of memory, of family dinners and church socials — the warmth of the Caribbean in the middle of a gray English winter made gloomier by COVID-19.  
This is food for the soul, Andrew says, and it’s needed now more than ever by Britain’s older immigrants who have been isolated from friends and family by the pandemic. Once a week the 57-year-old joins other volunteers to prepare hot meals with the zing of the islands, which they distribute for free to people in Preston and surrounding communities in northwestern England.
The area has recorded some of the U.K.’s highest coronavirus infection rates.
“It’s a great way to connect and build that relationship, but I didn’t know that at the time,” Andrew said of the project’s beginnings. “I just knew that I wanted to do something and make sure that they were getting a hot meal — not sandwiches, not soup — getting something that they’re accustomed to eating and hope that they would enjoy it.”
Once a week, for the last 42 weeks, the lucky seniors on Andrew’s list have been treated to delicacies such as jerk pork, curry goat and cow foot soup accompanied by rice and peas, yams and plantains. Portions are hefty, so there’s enough to go in the freezer for another day. Last week, some 400 meals were packed into yellow foam packages and delivered by volunteers.
The meal program grew out of Andrew’s work with Preston Windrush Generation & Descendants, a group organized to fight for the rights of early immigrants from the Caribbean and other former British colonies who found themselves threatened with deportation in recent years.  
The Windrush Generation, named after the ship that carried the first migrants from the Caribbean in 1948, came to Britain in response to a government call for workers from throughout the Empire to help rebuild the country after World War II.
The Windrush Scandal rocked Britain in 2018 amid a crackdown on illegal immigration. Long-term legal residents lost jobs, homes and the right to free medical care because many arrived as children and couldn’t produce paperwork proving their right to live in the U.K. Some were detained, and an unknown number were deported to countries they barely remembered.
When the coronavirus pandemic struck Britain, the free-spirited Andrew didn’t want the community to be victimized again. She decided to create her own food program tailored to the taste buds of the people she grew up with.
Nothing is too good for Andrew’s people. They get the best. No pilchards here.
“Salmon is a delicacy, isn’t it? You know what I mean? They’re worth it,” she said. “They brought us up, they’ve taught us so many things. They gave up their life in the Caribbean to come here.”
In addition to food, the volunteers offer a bit of human contact.  
The loneliness and isolation of the past year is painful for many of the seniors. When deliveries arrive, they seek out friendly gossip with the volunteers about what their neighbors are up to.
Sylius Toussaint, 81, who came from Dominica in 1960, said chatting with volunteers like Dave Williams helps as much as the food.
“They say hello and give you a meal, and maybe for just a few seconds at least you see someone new; someone you haven’t seen all week,” Toussaint said as his wife, Bridget, shot him a bemused look. “If you are on your own, it is so nice to see a fresh face — especially bringing gifts.”
Andrew wants to keep the meals flowing, even as optimism grows that Britain’s mass vaccination program may soon allow lockdown restrictions to be eased.
The project runs on donations and the energy of Andrew, who seemed to be in a dozen places at once as she marshaled her volunteer chefs last week. For now, they use a donated kitchen in a community center, but there’s a glimmer of hope for a more permanent venue at some point — maybe a place the community can gather.
But that’s in the future. For now, the volunteers plan to just keep going, gluing the community together with plates of rice and peas.
“Initially it was the food and, as I said, I didn’t know what we were creating,” Andrew said. “And it’s been amazing.”
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The Biden administration has declined to comment on whether Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will be extended for Haitians. “By law, TPS designations are made by the Department of Homeland Security after consultation with the appropriate agencies,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told VOA. “So, we wouldn’t want to comment on any sort of internal deliberations when it comes to TPS.” TPS is a designation made by the secretary of homeland security to individuals from countries severely impacted by natural disasters or armed conflicts. It allows beneficiaries to live and work in the United States for a period of time. The TPS status Haitians currently hold was enacted by the Obama administration on January 21, 2010, nine days after a massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit the island nation, killing at least 250,000 people and displacing 5 million others. In October 2020, then-candidate Joe Biden made a campaign stop in the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami, Florida, where he courted the Haitian-American vote and promised to act on an immigration issue high on their list of priorities, the TPS program. More than 55,000 Haitians are enrolled in the program, according to the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holder Kerlyne Paraison, foreground, of Haiti, holds up a sign as she demonstrates during a rally for a permanent solution for TPS holders in front of the Citizenship And Immigration Services Field Office.Prominent Haitian immigration advocate reaction   Reacting to the State Department’s stance on TPS, the Miami-based Family Action Network Movement (FANM), a grassroots immigration advocacy group, called on the Biden administration to act quickly. “This is something FANM has been advocating for, along with other immigrant rights organizations. The time to do this is now,” Marleine Bastien, executive director of FANM, told VOA. What’s happening in Haiti?Haiti has battled political turmoil and a spike in violent crime over the past year. President Jovenel Moise is at odds with members of the opposition about when his term expires. He plans to step down on February 7, 2022, when a newly elected president takes power. But the opposition cites an article in the Haitian constitution that states Moise’s term should have ended on February 7, 2021. Moise was sworn in on February 7, 2017, for a five-year term after winning a 2016 presidential election. That vote was a re-do after the 2015 election results were annulled over fraud allegations. The U.S. and much of the international community back Moise’s claim that his term will end next year. However, both the Trump and Biden administrations have repeatedly criticized Moise for ruling by decree since January 2020, when two-thirds of the parliament’s terms expired. They have also called on him to organize elections as soon as possible. The United Nations, the Organization of American States and the European Union have expressed the same concerns. Moise defended his decision not to organize elections last year, citing the pandemic, a crippling economic crisis, a spike in violent crimes and “peyi lok,” a series of massive anti-government protests that halted operations of businesses, schools and transportation. Moise announced in February that a constitutional referendum was planned for April and legislative and presidential elections would be held in September. New wave of asylum seekers?Asked by VOA if the current political instability in Haiti could cause more Haitians to seek asylum in the U.S., the State Department’s Price did not give a direct answer.“What I would say is that it is the responsibility of Haiti’s government to organize elections in 2021 that are free, that are fair, that are credible,” Price told VOA. “We join the international community in calling Haitian stakeholders to come together to find a way forward. What we have said is that the Haitian people deserve the opportunity to elect their leaders and to restore Haiti’s democratic institutions.”
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Since U.S. President Joe Biden’s election, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been making diplomatic overtures to the West, pledging democratic reforms at home and promising a serious effort to improve ties with Turkey’s NATO partners.The Turkish leader told France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, in a video call Tuesday that cooperation has “very serious potential,” and he added that dialogue has an important role to play.“As two strong NATO allies, we can make significant contributions to peace, stability, and peace efforts in a wide geography — from Europe to the Caucasus, the Middle East, and Africa,” Erdogan said in a statement following the conversation.Also Tuesday, Erdogan unveiled a long-awaited action plan he has trailed heavily since Biden’s election win last November, which he says is aimed at improving human and civil rights in Turkey.“The ultimate aim of Turkey’s action plan is a new civilian constitution,” the Turkish president highlighted in his speech. The plan originates from the state’s “obligation to protect, in all of its affairs and acts and with all of the state institutions and organizations, the physical and moral integrity and the honor and dignity of individuals,” he announced.FILE – Members of Reporters Without Borders hold stencils representing portraits of imprisoned Turkish journalists, during a demonstration in front of the Turkish Embassy, in Paris, Jan. 5, 2018.But Erdogan’s critics say the action plan sits oddly with his government’s quashing of dissent — Turkey jails more journalists than any other country in the world — and the imprisoning of the Turkish leader’s political opponents, as well as a rolling crackdown on dissident groups, which became more expansive after a 2016 coup attempt failed to topple the Islamist populist leader.Wariness, skepticismDespite the overtures to Biden and Brussels, which have included the appointment of a new Turkish ambassador to the U.S. and Erdogan’s stated hopes to turn a new page in relations with the West after years of strained relations, the diplomatic charm offensive has been received so far in Washington with wariness and skepticism.U.S. officials say only last year Erdogan was engineering a dangerous standoff in the eastern Mediterranean with Greece and Cyprus over lucrative gas and oil drilling rights. Western Europeans and Turkey’s other regional neighbors accused Ankara of brinkmanship in a deadlock that saw opposing warships come close to clashing. And even in December, the Turkish president was continuing to complain about a Western conspiracy being formed against Turkey aimed at frustrating the projection of Turkish power and influence abroad.FILE – A handout photograph released by the Turkish Defense Ministry Aug. 12, 2020, shows Turkish seismic research vessel Oruc Reis, center, as it is escorted by Turkish Naval ships in the Mediterranean Sea, off Antalya, Aug. 10, 2020.“There are few signs that the leopard really has changed its spots,” an American official told VOA on Wednesday. He was speaking just hours after Turkey said it is considering purchasing a second S-400 anti-aircraft missile system from Russia, despite strong disapproval from the U.S. and NATO.FILE – The first parts of a Russian S-400 missile defense system are unloaded from a Russian plane near Ankara, Turkey, July 12, 2019.Ankara’s original purchase last year of the Russian air defense system, which NATO members say is incompatible with membership in the Western alliance, prompted even the more forbearing Trump administration to impose sanctions on Turkey.U.S. and Western officials say it is hardly surprising they remain skeptical about Erdogan’s intentions. “It is hard not to conclude that he is talking from both sides of his mouth,” said a Western diplomat. “There are no signs of him easing his crackdown on domestic dissent nor turning aside from a marriage of convenience with Russia.”Biden has taken an even harder line on Turkey than his White House predecessor, Donald Trump. Before being elected, Biden tagged Erdogan as an autocrat, and the new administration has rebuked Ankara for rights abuses and urged the release of prominent activist Osman Kavala.FILE – A journalist stands in front of a poster featuring jailed philanthropist Osman Kavala, during a press conference given by his lawyers, in Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 31, 2018.Biden and Erdogan have yet to speak. The only high-level contact so far featured a phone conversation between Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, and Ibrahim Kalin, a security adviser to the Turkish leader.  EU, Turkish relationsLater this month, European Union heads of state and government are scheduled to review the bloc’s relations with Turkey. “There is no doubt that EU governments want a calmer, more predictable relationship with Ankara,” according to Marc Pierini, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Europe research organization.He says they want to see improved relations with Turkey for economic reasons and because they fear that any further deterioration could prompt Erdogan to break his deal with the EU to block refugees from using Turkey again as a gateway to Europe.But in a commentary for Carnegie Europe, Pierini notes that Erdogan’s diplomatic charm offensive places the Europeans in a tricky spot. They don’t want to be seen “giving a blessing to Turkey’s autocratic leanings at a time when the country blatantly disregards and mocks Europe’s fundamental values,” he said. “Ankara is striving to dodge punitive measures and fill the agenda with reforms that are palatable to the Europeans. Yet, domestic developments in Turkey keep pointing in the opposite direction.” Rights issuesWestern diplomats say Ankara wants to limit any dialogue with the U.S. and Europe just to trade and economic matters with rights issues and Erdogan’s adventurism in Syria, Libya and Central Asia off the agenda.So far, that doesn’t seem to be working.FILE – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the State Department in Washington, Feb. 4, 2021.On Monday, 170 U.S. lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans, sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging the Biden administration to address “troubling” human rights issues as it shapes its policy toward Turkey.Lawmakers noted in the letter that Turkey has long been an important partner, but they say Erdogan is responsible for the strains in the relationship.“Strategic issues have rightfully received significant attention in our bilateral relationship, but the gross violation of human rights and democratic backsliding taking place in Turkey are also of significant concern,” the lawmakers said, pointing to the weakening of Turkey’s judiciary, the appointment of Erdogan’s political allies to key military and intelligence positions, and the wrongful imprisonment of political opponents, journalists and members of minority groups. 
 
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