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The independent Russian investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta has called on Moscow authorities to investigate a “chemical attack” against its premises after a security camera recorded a person spraying its office entrance with an unknown liquid.The media outlet, which shares the premises with several other companies in the Russian capital, demanded the investigation on March 16, a day after a strong chemical odor swept through the building. Late on March 15, a video allegedly taken by a CCTV camera  at the building circulated on the Internet showing a man in a Yandex.Food delivery uniform spraying an unknown liquid near the building’s entrance from a device on the back wheel of the bike he was riding.”Look, it is now a device for terrorist acts — a false courier sprays a poisonous gas that is in a container installed on a bicycle. The idea is clear: the employees step in the poison and then distribute it to all of the floors in the building,” Novaya Gazeta said in a statement.A spokeswoman at Yandex.Food told the website Mediazona that the company did not receive any orders from the address where Novaya Gazeta is located.Novaya Gazeta’s staff members have said the odor in the building was very similar to one that was present when the home and car of correspondent Yulia Latynina was sprinkled with an unknown chemical in 2017.That same year the newspaper received a letter with an unknown white powder inside, which later was shown to be harmless.In October 2018, unknown people brought three cages with sheep wearing vests with the inscription PRESS on them.Several days before that, unknown individuals threw a funeral wreath in front of the periodical’s building with notes threatening Denis Korotkov, a correspondent for the newspaper. Days later a sheep’s head was found near the office with a note threatening all reporters at Novaya Gazeta.Six Novaya Gazeta journalists, including well-known reporters Yury Shchekochikhin, Anna Politkovskaya, and Anastasia Baburova, have been killed since 2001. 
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told parliament Tuesday that his government will seek to strengthen ties with countries in the Indo-Pacific region in the wake of the nation’s departure from the European Union.The shift is part of his government’s so-called Integrated Review of national security and international policy, a year-long study by his government that he highlighted for lawmakers. Calling it the most comprehensive review of British defense and foreign relations since the Cold War ended, Johnson said its purpose is to make the nation safer, stronger and more prosperous, while standing up for its values.”The review describes how we will bolster our alliances, strengthen our capabilities, find new ways of reaching solutions and relearn the art of competing against states with opposing values,” he told members of parliament.As part of Britain’s pivot toward Asia, Johnson said he has invited the leaders of Australia, South Korea and India to attend the G-7 summit in the British resort town of Carbis Bay, in June. Johnson plans to visit India next month and announced that Britain has applied to become a dialogue partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). He said Britain will also seek to join the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement.The prime minister said his plan calls for Britain to invest at least $9.1 billion to fund advanced and next-generation research and development in areas including space, directed energy weapons, and advanced high-speed missiles.To reaffirm that Britain is “unswervingly committed” to leadership in NATO, Johnson said the government will increase its defense budget by more than $33 billion over the next four years and remain the largest European spender on defense in NATO, with expenditures now standing at 2.2% of its gross domestic production. Britain will deploy more of its armed forces overseas more often and for longer periods of time, while cybersecurity will also be strengthened, he said.Johnson also told lawmakers the United States remains Britain’s most important bilateral relationship in defense, intelligence and security.He added that while China would pose a great challenge to what he described as Britain’s “open society,” his government would continue to work with Beijing whenever it was “consistent with our values and interests.”
 
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Faced with a burgeoning migration crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border, the Biden administration vowed Tuesday to continue to expel most single adults and families trying to reach the United States but to help unaccompanied children find relatives in the U.S. or place them with vetted care givers.Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the U.S. is on pace to encounter the highest number of migrants arriving from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico recorded in the past 20 years.  “The situation at the southwest border is difficult,” he said in a statement. “We will also not waver in our values and our principles as a nation. Our goal is a safe, legal, and orderly immigration system that is based on our bedrock priorities: to keep our borders secure, address the plight of children as the law requires, and enable families to be together.”“We are both a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants,” he said. “That is one of our proudest traditions.”The number of migrants at the border is quickly becoming an early defining moment for U.S. President Joe Biden. He stopped construction of the border wall championed by former president Donald Trump and has advanced what he says are more humanitarian immigration policies, while also continuing to reject entry for adult immigrants and families.FILE – Tents used by migrants seeking asylum in the United States line an entrance to the border crossing, March 1, 2021, in Tijuana, Mexico.He said authorities are trying to reunite the children with family members already living in the United States or with other sponsors who have been vetted to care for them. Initially after the apprehension of the children at the border, immigration officials by law are supposed to transfer them to the Department of Health and Human Services within 72 hours, but Mayorkas said that because of the growing number of migrants, that deadline is “not always met.”  Mayorkas said poverty, high levels of violence, and corruption in Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries “have propelled migration to our southwest border for years,” but that “adverse conditions have continued to deteriorate. Two damaging hurricanes that hit Honduras and swept through the region made the living conditions there even worse, causing more children and families to flee.”In addition, the Homeland Security chief claimed the Trump administration “completely dismantled the asylum system. The system was gutted, facilities were closed, and they cruelly expelled young children into the hands of traffickers. We have had to rebuild the entire system, including the policies and procedures required to administer the asylum laws that Congress passed long ago.”     He said the Biden administration is building additional facilities in the southwestern states of Texas and Arizona to shelter unaccompanied children, while working with Mexico to expand its ability to house expelled families.Last weekend, Homeland Security said that for the next 90 days, the Federal Emergency Management Agency would help process the large number of unaccompanied migrant children.In Dallas, the city convention center will be used to house as many as 3,000 migrant boys, ages 15-17, for up to 90 days starting next week, with the U.S. providing food, security and medical care.  Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax said in a statement that “collective action is necessary, and we will do our best to support this humanitarian effort.”The Health and Human Services agency will also house youths in Midland, Texas, at a converted oilfield workers camp with help from the American Red Cross, which sent 60 volunteers. Biden’s Immigration Reform Proposal ExplainedBill would create eight-year path to citizenship for millions On Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters “the Biden administration is trying to fix the broken system that was left to them by the Trump administration. The Biden administration will have a system based on doing the best possible job, understanding this is a humanitarian crisis.”Trump weighed in with his immigration thoughts at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference, contending that Biden “wants it all to go to hell.”  “When I left office just six weeks ago, we had created the most secure border in U.S. history,” Trump claimed, ignoring the increased number of illegal crossings during his last months in office.  “It took the new administration only a few weeks to turn this unprecedented accomplishment into a self-inflicted humanitarian and national security disaster by recklessly eliminating our border security measures, controls, all of the things that we put into place,” Trump argued.  Aside from dealing with the current quandary at the border, Democrats in the House of Representatives this week are trying to advance two pieces of immigration legislation.  One would establish a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children and have lived, attended school and worked in the country since then.  The House is also considering a measure in which a migrant worker in the agricultural industry could earn temporary status to stay in the U.S. with an eventual option to become a permanent resident.  Democrats strongly support both bills and also passed them in 2019. Even if they are approved again, however, their fate in the politically divided Senate is uncertain, at best.
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Despite the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, France is once again under pressure to take new measures to curb a new spread of the virus in the country.  The situation is once again deteriorating rapidly in the French capital. Hospitals in the Paris region are close to capacity and health professionals are rushing daily to find beds for their COVID patients. As of Monday, more than 4,200 patients were in intensive care units across France. The pandemic’s third wave is a reality in France and health workers have been evacuating seriously ill COVID patients to other parts of the country to cope with bed shortages. Enrique Casalino, a medical director with Hopitaux de Paris, the largest health system in Europe, describes the epidemic situation as deteriorating in the Paris region where every 12 minutes a new patient enters an intensive care unit. Casalino thinks medical evacuation to other French regions is just a temporary solution that does not solve the current crisis. He says there are only two options: a quick and massive immunization campaign to safeguard 70% of the population, which he doubts is currently achievable in France. The other would be a strict lockdown to prevent the virus from spreading further.On top of a delay in the delivery of vaccines, France is among European nations that are pausing the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to public concerns about side effects.Lockdowns have already been imposed in some hotspots in France, including Dunkirk and Nice, but not in the capital region.  A national nighttime curfew has been in force since the end of January, and bars, restaurants, museums, and movie theaters remain closed.  Still, a general lockdown in the Paris region has not been ordered.  Jerome Béglé, deputy director at Le Point, a French weekly, sees a lockdown of the Paris region as equivalent to a national lockdown as this region is the main economic center of France with 12 million people living there and a few tourists still visiting.With neighboring Italy imposing new restrictions Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron resisted the idea of a third national lockdown.Jean Castex, France’s prime minister says a national lockdown would be a last resort that cannot be ruled out due to the current situation. He says he would like to avoid one as it would place a heavy burden on the population.More than 90,000 people have died so far in France due to the COVID. The country is expected to reach a dreaded 100,000-death milestone next month.
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Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders appeared until recently to have faded into political irrelevance, thanks partly to the country’s mainstream parties’ adoption of some of his populist positions. Rivals on the populist right, notably Thierry Baudet, started to eclipse Wilders.  But the controversial firebrand seems to be on the brink of pulling off a strong electoral showing with his party, the Party for Freedom, PVV, likely to place second in Wednesday’s parliamentary elections, according to opinion polls.Pollsters say the PVV is on course to retain the 20 seats it won in 2017, and analysts and commentators say that if that holds true, it will amount to a comeback by Wilders, whose party has struggled to keep its political footing and stumbled in 2019 when it went from nine seats to five in elections for the national parliament’s upper house. Dutch anti-immigration, anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders speaks to the media following the verdict in his appeal in Schiphol near Amsterdam, Netherlands, Sept. 4, 2020.In the same year, his anti-immigrant and anti-EU party just scrambled to reach the electoral threshold to gain a single seat in the European Parliament. Wilders was dismissed as a has-been. Baudet was seen as the new face of alt-right in the Netherlands. Euro-skeptics gainingWilders also stood out less with other parties embracing, to varying degrees, euro-skepticism.A record number of 37 parties are competing for seats in the 150-strong lower house. All the eve-of-election polls are giving the right-wing liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, VVD, of incumbent Prime Minister Mark Rutte a clear lead in the elections. His party is projected to get at least 30 seats in the lower house.EU negotiations last year over a coronavirus recovery fund for member states ran into an impasse partly thanks to Rutte, who took on the leadership role of the so-called “frugal four” north European countries opposed to an $857 billion EU stimulus package. Rutte was nicknamed “Mr. No No No!” for his opposition to the package and he’s seen as the leader of what Eurocrats dub “the awkward squad.” Third place in the elections is likely to go to the Christian Democratic Appeal party, CDA, which has moved further to the right under the leadership of Wopke Hoekstra, the country’s finance minister, who was also an outspoken critic of the EU’s post-pandemic financial stimulus plan, which will see richer European countries help out poorer ones. Wilders said this week that the three largest parties after the election should immediately enter into coalition discussions, but Rutte has ruled that out, saying he won’t include the PVV in talks about forming a new government.  The same happened in 2017 when the PVV was shut out of government.That, according to Wilders, is “undemocratic.” “Voters are in charge, not Mark Rutte,’ Wilders told NPO Radio 1 Monday. But he still harbors hopes, saying Rutte is a “full-blooded power broker” who will cut whatever deal he needs to stay in office. Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders of the PVV party and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the VVD Liberal party take part in a televised debate in Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 11, 2021.Some analysts question whether Wilders has any interest in actually joining a government. If he had, they say, he would have been more circumspect in his rhetoric in the lead-up to the polls. Controversial figureWilders says that he wants the Netherlands to return to “a country without headscarves, but with traditional Dutch coziness,” and backs the contentious tradition of Black Pete, when children and adults dress as “blackface” during the December holiday of Sinterklaas.  
“We express that our own culture is best. And we’re proud of that! Unfortunately, the attack on the Netherlands’ culture went into high speed last year because of the glorification of dangerous activist groups like Black Lives Matter and Kick Out Black Pete,” Wilders says in the PVV manifesto. The folklore character of Black Pete is a helper of the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas and has been the focus of fierce debate for years in the Netherlands.Racial inequality has been debated in the election campaigning, mainly pushed by minor parties. Sylvana Simons, a former TV presenter who leads a small party called ‘Together,’ says she hopes those who gathered last year to support Black Lives Matter, which head to the polls.Simons, who was born in Suriname and at 18 months moved with her parents to the Netherlands,  told Associated Press: “It was good to see that so many people said, ‘enough is enough’ and they came out and spoke out. And I do also hope that they will use that same voice when we have our general elections.” But pollsters say Simons’ party will struggle to gain even one seat.Housing shortages, the environment, health care and education have all figured in election campaigning. Rutte’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has also been an issue. The 54-year-old’s favorability ratings had held up well for most of last year, but a prolonged lockdown has begun to dent his popularity in recent weeks. And Wilders has sought to profit from the Dutch impatience. “What are you doing Premier Rutte? You are holding an entire country hostage in fear and captivity,” Wilders has charged. 
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Jamaica will begin administering COVID-19 vaccinations Tuesday to top government officials, including Cabinet members, Parliamentarians and heads of ministries and government agencies who are at least 60 years of age. The Ministry of Health announced Monday night the group follows healthcare workers, police and members of the military who have already gotten their shots against the virus. Since Jamaica began its immunization program six days ago, some 15,000 people have been vaccinated.  The Caribbean island received its latest batch of COVID-19 vaccines Monday, when 14,400 doses of arrived under the COVAX Facility. The global COVAX vaccine distribution plan aims to deliver tens of millions of vaccine doses to low- and middle-income countries.The initiative was launched by the World Health Organization, the European Commission and France to assist nations facing difficulty affording the vaccines, and middle-income counties unable to make deals with vaccine manufacturers.   So far, Jamaica has confirmed more than 30,400 infections and 485 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University Covid Resource Center, a U.S.-based research institute constantly updating information with COVID-19 data and expert input. 
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An investment deal between China and the European Union restricts Europeans from investing in Chinese media and entertainment companies but does not block Chinese firms from investing in European ones, according to newly released details.  Despite mounting alarm about Chinese disinformation and propaganda campaigns in Europe, the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment pact, announced Friday, gives Chinese firms a significant advantage in the media sector, critics say.  FILE – National security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Feb. 4, 2021.The deal, which was signed in principle in December, has drawn fire from Washington. Days before the agreement was struck, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan urged the Europeans to delay completing negotiations, calling in a tweet for “early consultation with our European partners on our common concerns about China’s economic practices.” Critics on both sides of the Atlantic say the deal will give China preferential access to European markets while Beijing continues to tamp down Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement and maintain detention centers in Xinjiang province, where China’s Communist government has interned more than a million Uyghurs, according to rights groups. Growing criticismThe agreement still has several stages to go before adoption and needs to be ratified by the European Parliament. The rules governing investment access to the media and entertainment sector are quickly becoming the focus of criticism from some European lawmakers, mostly members of the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), the largest grouping in the European Parliament.  In a statement, the EPP has urged European commissioners to “develop an EU-wide regulatory system to prevent media companies either funded or controlled by governments to acquire European media companies.”  China has invested around $3.5 billion in European media firms in the past decade. EU officials say the investment deal is merely enshrining access rules that the bloc and China had agreed under World Trade Organization terms.  FILE – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet remotely, in Brussels, Dec. 30, 2020.The deal “does not create any new rights for the Chinese investors in (the) media sector,” according to a European Commission spokesperson. Under the terms, Chinese investors in media companies should be treated the same as European investors and enjoy similar market access. But the deal does not afford European investors the same rights. French lawmaker Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, a liberal in the European Parliament, has “even more questions than before,” since further details of the investment deal became public last week.  She said the EU is treating China as a partner, but Beijing is not reciprocating. Other lawmakers point to recent studies tracking Chinese influence that show when Chinese firms, mainly state-owned, invest in European media, China’s coverage of the new acquisitions turn more positive. In a study published last year, MapInfluenCE, a foreign policy research group operated by the Association for International Affairs, concluded that “local audiences in Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia have increasingly become direct targets of not only ‘mask diplomacy,’ but more complex propaganda efforts promote a positive image of China, strain transatlantic relations and directly attempt to rewrite narratives around sensitive issues.” Eleven member states, mostly central European, including Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, remain concerned about the deal and are reserving the right to treat Chinese investors differently.  Media restrictionsChina is a major trading partner for the EU. Over the past 20 years, European companies have invested $174 billion in China. The European Commission said the investment agreement will provide overall improved market access and fairer rules for European companies in China, investors and service providers.  FILE – European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis speaks at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, March 10, 2021.”The agreement provides a clear and enforceable framework of rules, which will give EU businesses greater access and more certainty when investing in China,” the bloc’s trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said in a statement last week. Critics of the deal say there is no level playing field when it comes to the media. China’s state-controlled CCTV channels are broadcast without hindrance across Europe, but restrictions are placed by China on European broadcasters.  Outside the EU, Britain and China have disagreed over the media. Last month, the Beijing government banned BBC World News after the channel ran a string of reports on accusations of systematic rape of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.  FILE – Britain’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Dominic Raab walks outside Downing Street in London, Britain, Feb. 3, 2021.British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called the move an “unacceptable curtailing of media freedom.”  The U.S. State Department condemned the decision, calling it part of a wider campaign to suppress free media in China. China’s National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) said BBC World News had “seriously violated” broadcast guidelines, including a “requirement that news should be truthful and fair” and not “harm China’s national interests.”  Earlier this year, British media regulator Ofcom revoked state broadcaster China Global Television Network’s (CGTN) license to broadcast in Britain. The details of the EU-China investment pact will likely add to the Biden administration’s dismay over the EU’s decision to advance the deal. U.S. President Joe Biden wants a “united front” when it comes to China to increase leverage on Beijing.  Analysts have warned for weeks that the EU and the Biden administration will not see eye to eye on the best ways to handle an increasingly assertive China. 
 
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British lawmakers are set to vote Monday on whether misogyny constitutes a hate crime in the aftermath of the killing of a woman in London. Lawmakers are proposing an amendment to the Domestic Abuse Bill, which would require police in both England and Wales to keep track of cases of violence motivated by misogyny. Set to be debated in the House of Lords, Britain’s upper parliamentary chamber, the amendment has cross-party support. “This is our moment for change,” said parliamentarian Stella Creasy of the Labor Party, who proposed the amendment. “Rather than telling women not to worry about violence or to stay home at night if they want to be safe, it’s time to send a message that women should be equally able to live free from fear of assault or harm from those who target them simply for who they are.” Labor Party parliamentarian Alicia Kennedy added that “this is a simple measure that we could take now to start making sure every woman is safer at home and on our streets.”  The change was inspired by the slaying of Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive, who was kidnapped and killed on her way home on March 3. Wayne Couzens, a police officer who has been charged with kidnapping and murder in her death, will appear in court Tuesday. FILE – A sign is seen as people gather at a memorial site in Clapham Common Bandstand, following the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard, in London, Britain, March 13, 2021.A September report from the British Law Commission concluded that misogyny should be treated in the same way as discrimination against other groups. In Britain, protections — that can carry harsher sentences — already exist for race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and transgender identity. The bill also has the support of conservative and cross-bench parliamentarians, as well as of human rights organizations such as Citizens U.K., U.N. Women U.K., and the Fawcett Society.  
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Germany, France and Italy are the latest European countries to halt the rollout of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine following reports of possible adverse side effects – but as Henry Ridgwell reports, the World Health Organization says the drug is safe. Camera: Henry Ridgwell    
 
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Haitian rights activists, a former ambassador to the country and civil society groups are pressing the U.S. government to drop its support for Haiti’s president’s plan to hold a referendum and elections at a time of rising violence and kidnappings in the country. During a virtual hearing last week on Capitol Hill, Congressman Gregory Meeks, a New York Democrat, was blunt. “Haiti’s a mess. The people are suffering. This has to stop!”  Two members of Haitian civil society, a former U.S. ambassador to Haiti and the leader of a Haitian American nongovernmental organization working on immigration issues testified before American lawmakers Friday, saying no elections can be held because the Haitian Provisional Electoral Council lacks credibility and gang violence is rising.  FILE – Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise speaks during a news conference at the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, March 2, 2020.The panel urged officials not to support Haitian President Jovenel Moise’s plan to hold a constitutional referendum in June, followed by legislative and presidential elections in September and November of this year.   “It is difficult for me to imagine having successful elections this year in Haiti,” said Pamela A. White, who served as U.S. ambassador to Haiti from 2012 to 2015. “I do not believe right now the necessary institutions are in place to assure a smooth transition.”   Some Haitians, including the political opposition and civil society members, view Moise’s electoral council as illegitimate because it was named unilaterally and without input from civil society. Members were not sworn in by the Supreme Court as mandated by the constitution, and they answer only to the president.  Moise has largely ignored the criticism while expressing support for the electoral council. He also says he is willing to hold discussions with the opposition. “As Haitians and patriots, we need to stand together for dialogue for a better tomorrow for our people. We stand ready to engage in meaningful dialogue with the opposition for a brighter future for our children and our nation while rejecting Violence,” he tweeted on February 26.  As Haitians and patriots we need to stand together for dialogue for a better tomorrow for our people . We stand ready to engage in meaningful dialogue with the opposition for a brighter future for our children and our nation while rejecting Violence. FILE – A man throws a tear gas canister back at the police during a protest against Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Feb. 10, 2021.Lawyer Rosy Auguste, program director for the human rights organization Reseau National de Defense de Droits Humains (RNDDH), said the country needs a credible electoral council before it can hold a vote. “Stop supporting an electoral process that will lead to political instability,” Auguste said. Haiti’s Ambassador to the U.S. Bocchit Edmond did not participate in the congressional hearing, but later in an interview with VOA dismissed their complaints as political posturing.“I think this is just a group of people who want to fight a government that was democratically elected, who want to overthrow it and replace it with a transitional government because the transition will do their bidding — that’s all it is,” the ambassador said.Edmond said Haiti’s woes are not Moise’s fault and that Haitians should work together on a solution.A Haitian solution to the political crisis is one of the few things all sides agree on.So far, President Joe Biden has maintained the U.S. backing for Moise that existed during the Trump administration. The State Department and U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Michele Sison have repeatedly said free, fair and credible elections, the restoration of democratic institutions, and adherence to the rule of law are essential. The Organization of American States (OAS) and the United Nations have made similar statements. FILE – Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington.During testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on March 10, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was pressed on Haiti by Congressman Andy Levin, a Michigan Democrat who has been outspoken about his lack of confidence in Moise’s ability to organize free and fair elections.“I share your concern about some of the authoritarian and undemocratic actions that we’ve seen,” Blinken said, “particularly this irregular rule by decree and decrees getting into the heart of Haiti’s democratic institutions. So we’re making it very clear that for now, while we have this, decrees need to be limited to essential functions and to your point, we need to see the Haitians organize with international support — genuinely free and fair elections this year.”For all of the concern over the upcoming votes, Laurent Weil, a Latin America and Caribbean country analyst for The Economist magazine’s intelligence unit, says he does not expect the congressional hearing will have a meaningful impact on U.S.-Haiti relations.“This is the second hearing organized by Congress since the current crisis in Haiti started in 2018. It was organized by the same committee as the previous one, held in December 2019, and included the same witnesses as last time. While the previous hearing received media attention, it did not cause a shift in U.S. foreign policy towards Haiti. I don’t expect this one to change things dramatically either,” Weil told VOA via email.Weil believes the Biden approach will be similar to policies pursued by the Obama administration.“As was the case during the Obama era, the U.S. under the leadership of Joe Biden is likely to explore diplomatic solutions to the crisis by focusing its attention on efforts to organize elections,” Weil told VOA. “Given that the Haitian administration of Jovenel Moïse is committed to organizing elections, Mr. Moïse will remain part of the solution to the crisis, he will keep his seat at negotiating tables.”Vote legitimacy With dissenting voices pressing to drop a vote, it’s unclear if the referendum and elections are held, how many people will take part in voting. White, Douyon and Auguste say inclusivity is essential for credible and fair elections.“I think the entire question of a referendum to change the constitution is extremely dubious,” she said. “If we do not get minimal consensus among the relevant actors, Haiti will not be able to pull off credible elections — period.”Weil says most Haitians do not share the view that the referendum must be stopped.“Although many political actors, including those who participated in the hearing, and interest groups have echoed the view that Mr. Moïse must step down and abandon his project of a constitutional referendum, it does not represent the view of the majority of Haitians. In fact, according to recent opinion polls, the broad majority (over 80%) of Haitians agree that a referendum should be held to change the constitution,” Weil told VOA.    A local opinion survey published in December by America Elects, a poll aggregation and election analysis group, indicated some 87% of Haitians support the referendum.  Haiti, BRIDES poll:Those in favour of…A new constitution: 87.4%Abolishing the post of Prime Minister: 72.3%Abolishing the Senate: 75.1%Fieldwork: November 2020Sample size: 14,400#Haiti#Ayiti#NouvelleConstitution#JovenelMoïse#Moïse#Elections2021— America Elects (@AmericaElige) December 23, 2020
   
“Moreover, many of Mr. Moïse’s opponents are actually in favor of the referendum, but they do not trust Mr. Moïse to run the process. So, the real question is on the referendum’s feasibility amid the security crisis and deepening political polarization,” he added.Congressman Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican and ranking member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, says the U.S. will continue to support Haiti.   “No matter how difficult the situation, the United States remains committed to supporting the Haitian people. Haiti is the second largest recipient of U.S. assistance in the Western Hemisphere receiving over $180 million in FY 20 (Fiscal Year 2020),” McCaul noted.“However, given the huge challenges facing Haiti, I think it’s fair to ask how effective our assistance has been and explore how our aid can achieve the desired outcome.” 
 
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Former Bolivian interim president Jeanine Anez claimed Sunday that she had the people’s support, after a judge in the capital La Paz sentenced her to four months pre-trial detention for inciting a coup d’état against her predecessor. “I have the support of the people because we defend the rule of law and of all those who believe in democracy,” Anez, former interim president of Bolivia said speaking in Spanish. “I cannot have the support of the MAS (Movement for Socialism) party because they obviously despise democracy.” MAS won the elections in October 2020 and currently controls the presidency and the Congress.Bolivia’s Socialist Candidate Seen Winner of Presidential Election  An authoritative pollster indicates Luis Arce has over 52% of the vote, so no need for run-off In a tweet later she said “[t]hey are sending me to detention for four months to await a trial for a ‘coup’ that never happened,” adding “[f]rom here I call on Bolivia to have faith and hope. One day, together, we will build a better Bolivia.” Earlier Anez told reporters that the rule of law in the country was being “undermined” and that Bolivia could become a “no man’s land.” Judge Regina Santa Cruz ruled in a virtual hearing on Sunday to send Anez, 53, and two ministers in her caretaker government to pre-trial detention after prosecutors had initially for six months as a “precautionary” measure. Anez was arrested Saturday on terrorism, sedition and conspiracy charges. The United States, European Union, and right groups, including InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights have called on Bolivia to follow due process without political interference. Anez, a lawyer and former senator for the center-right Democrat Social Movement, took power after her predecessor Evo Morales and most parliamentarians from his MAS party resigned and fled the country in November 2019 as violent protests erupted across Bolivia amid accusations that he rigged the election.  The claims were supported by international organizations.    At least 33 people were killed, 30 of them after Anez took office. Morales returned to Bolivia from exile after his former economy minister, current President Luis Arce led MAS to win the elections last October.  
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Russia said Wednesday it was restricting the use of Twitter on the grounds the company has not removed banned content. State communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said if Twitter does not comply with Russian law, there will be further actions against the service, including a complete ban. The agency said Wednesday’s action involved slowing service speeds for all those in Russia accessing Twitter on mobile devices and half of those using the service in other ways. Twitter did not immediately comment on the new restrictions. The move is the latest by Russia to tighten control of the internet. It previously banned a number of websites, including Dailymotion and LinkedIn. 
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A Jamaica based armored courier service is offering a $16,000 reward for information leading to arrests in the shooting of three of its guards. Gunmen ambushed the Guardsmans Armored Ltd guards during a drop off at a financial institution in Santa Cruz, St. Elizabeth a week ago, killing a 50-year-old guard and wounding two others, who were treated and released. The suspects are believed to have been wounded but managed to get away. The reward being offered expires at the end of April. Since the deadly attack, Guardsman announced it will provide bulletproof vests four all guards. 
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Authorities in Nicaragua are keeping a close watch on the San Cristobal volcano, as residents clean up from Tuesday’s eruption that showered ash over the northwestern city of Chinandega. There were no reports of injuries as a result of the eruption of Nicaragua’s tallest volcano. One witness told the Associated Press there was a single big explosion followed by 30 minutes of spewing gasses.  The ash and gasses reduced visibility in the area to nearly zero, prompting some businesses to close. The AP reported late Tuesday that Vice President Rosario Murillo asked Nicaraguans to remain calm, but there was no mention of evacuations. The San Cristobal volcano erupted nearly a month ago, sending a huge ash plume into the air. 
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Greece’s prime minister appealed for calm Tuesday night after youths protesting an incident of police violence attacked an Athens police station with firebombs and severely injured one officer. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis issued a statement strongly condemning the violence at the march.  “Blind rage leads nowhere,” Mitsotakis said. “These scenes of violence must be the last.” The violence came during a demonstration by about 5,000 people, according to a police estimate, in the southern Nea Smyrni district, about 4 kilometers southwest of central Athens. Hundreds of youths threw firebombs and stones at police, who tried to repel them with water cannons, tear gas and stun grenades. At one point in the clashes, rioters pulled down a police officer riding pillion in a column of motorcycle police. Dozens rushed at him, hitting him with clubs and stones and raining blows on him. Other officers eventually succeeded in repelling the mob, and the injured police officer was taken to hospital. A police officer stands over an injured companion during a demonstration against a police crackdown on gatherings, in Athens, Greece, March 9, 2021.“It should serve as a wake-up call that the life … of a young policeman was endangered,” Mitsotakis said. “At this point everyone must display restraint and calm.” Opposition parties also condemned the riots. Police said another two officers were injured, and 10 people were arrested on suspicion of taking part in the riots. There were no immediate reports on injured demonstrators. Rioters also caused extensive damage to parked vehicles. Before the demonstration started, police said they had confiscated quantities of firebombs destined for use by violent protesters. They said several participants in the march were armed with iron bars. The march to the Nea Smyrni police station was in reaction to an incident on Sunday during police enforcement of pandemic lockdown measures in a square in the same area. Video showed a police officer repeatedly beating with a baton a man who did not appear to have engaged in any threatening behavior. Police said officers had earlier been attacked by dozens of people who objected to them trying to issue fines to people who were not obeying lockdown restrictions. An investigation has been ordered into Sunday’s incident. 
 
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Buckingham Palace said Tuesday the British royal family is “saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the past few years have been” for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, popularly known as Harry and Meghan.Following a widely publicized CBS interview Sunday with Oprah Winfrey, in which issues of race, family dynamics and suicidal thoughts were raised, a Buckingham Palace statement issued on behalf of Queen Elizabeth said, “While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.”The statement, published on Twitter, also said the couple and their son Archie will always be “much loved family members.”The statement comes after Markle, who is biracial, said a member of the family raised concerns over “how dark” Archie would be. The former actress is now pregnant with her second child.In February, the palace announced the duke and duchess would not return as working royals, almost a year after it was announced that they would be stepping down from their duties as working members of the royal family. The couple moved to North America later that year. They currently reside in California.Tuesday marks the first time the royal family has publicly responded to the issues raised in the Sunday interview. 
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With the Kremlin cutting deals to ship its Sputnik V vaccine to countries struggling to combat the coronavirus, Russian soft power is on display. Yet the global outreach campaign is happening amid signs the government is struggling to inoculate its own population at home.  For VOA from Moscow, Charles Maynes reports.Camera: Ricardo Marquina
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The European Parliament voted Tuesday to waive the immunity of the former head of Spain’s Catalonia region and two other separatists, raising the prospect they could be extradited to Spain to face sedition charges.
 
Carles Puigdemont and former cabinet members Toni Comin and Clara Ponsati have had immunity since winning seats in the European Parliament, and they plan to appeal Tuesday’s decision.
 
The Spanish government welcomed the European Parliament vote, saying the country’s matters should be settled internally.
 
Puigdemont and other separatists fled after a 2017 independence referendum for the Catalonia region.  Puigdemont and Comin have been in self-imposed exile in Belgium, while Ponsati has been in Scotland.
 
Voters overwhelmingly approved the referendum, but the Spanish government called it illegal.  A police crackdown injured hundreds of people in Catalonia.
 
In addition to sedition charges, Puigdemont and Comin are also facing charges of misusing public funds.
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Jamaica is set to launch its vaccination program against the spread of COVID-19 amid an uptick in cases. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Dunstan Bryan announced Monday that healthcare workers will be the first of more than 3,280 people to get their shots on Wednesday. Prime Minister Andrew Holness accepted the first 50,000 doses of vaccines from India on Monday. Jamaica is launching its vaccination program as Holness warned there will be a national lockdown if the COVID-19 safety protocols do not slow infections over the next three weeks. During Monday’s news conference, the prime minister also said the desire of people “to party and go about not wearing your mask has to be balanced against the need against someone who will be deprived of care because we simply have no beds,” a reference to people ignoring safety protocols. So far, Jamaica has confirmed a little more than 26,026 infections and 453 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University Covid Resource  Center. 
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A Brazilian Supreme Court justice annulled all sentences against former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Monday, paving the way for him to run in the country’s 2022 presidential election.Da Silva was convicted twice for corruption and money laundering. In 2017, the left-wing former president was sentenced to nine years and six months in relation to a triplex in the beach town of Guarujá. Two years later, he was sentenced to 12 years in a similar case.Supreme Court Justice Edson Fachin found the federal court in the southern city of Curitiba that issued both sentences did not have the jurisdiction to try the former president. The justice determined that both cases must be relaunched at a federal court in the capital, Brasilia.Da Silva governed the largest country in Latin America between 2003 and 2011, a period in which Brazil became one of the largest developing economies in the world. His hand-picked successor, former President Dilma Rousseff, was impeached in 2016 after Brazil experienced an economic downturn.The leftist firebrand and former union leader hoped to run against far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro in the 2018 presidential election, but due to the Clean Record law that prohibits those sentenced from running for office, the former president was forced to step down from the ticket. His substitute and former education minister, Fernando Haddad, lost in the runoff to Bolsonaro.With the annulment of the sentences, da Silva’s political rights are restored, and he is now eligible to run for office in 2022.“Today’s decision reaffirms the incompetence of the Curitiba Federal Court (and) the recognition that we have always been right in this long juridical battle,” the former president’s defense team said in a statement.
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The United States denounced Monday what it called a Russian disinformation campaign against U.S.-made COVID-19 vaccines, saying Moscow was putting lives at risk. The Global Engagement Center, an arm of the State Department whose activities include monitoring foreign propaganda, said that Russian intelligence was behind four online platforms involved in a campaign. The sites have “included disinformation about two of the vaccines that have now been approved by the FDA in this country,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters, referring to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “It is very clear that Russia is up to its old tricks, and in doing so is potentially putting people at risk by spreading disinformation about vaccines that we know to be saving lives every day,” Price said.A medical specialist holds a vial of Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus in a department store in Moscow, Russia, Feb. 2, 2021.The Wall Street Journal first reported on the Global Engagement Center’s findings, which said that the websites played up risks of the U.S.-made Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines in an apparent bid to boost Russia’s homegrown Sputnik V. In an assessment provided last year to AFP, the Global Engagement Center said that thousands of Russian-linked social media accounts have run a coordinated campaign to undermine official narratives on COVID-19 including by spreading allegations of U.S. involvement. The center found that China briefly made a similar effort but ultimately decided it made more traction by highlighting Beijing’s own efforts. U.S. intelligence has long suspected Russia in disinformation campaigns on health, including spreading the myth in the 1980s that U.S. scientists created the HIV virus that causes AIDS. 
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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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