RIYADMEDIA

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made clear to President Joe Biden on Saturday that he’s eager to forge a new U.S.-Britain trade deal.Johnson’s push for a deal came during a wide-ranging call between the two leaders that touched on the global response to the coronavirus pandemic as well as the Biden administration’s announcement this week that the U.S. would rejoin the Paris climate accord and the World Health Organization, according to a statement from Downing Street.A new trade agreement between the allies is a higher priority for Johnson than it is for Biden. Britain regained control over its national trade policy at the start of the month following the end of a post-Brexit transition period.White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that the administration had no timeline for forging a new trade deal because Biden’s attention was largely focused on getting the coronavirus pandemic under control and pressing Congress to pass the president’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan.The call with Johnson was at least Biden’s third call with a foreign counterpart since Friday. The president spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Friday evening.Aid to halt immigrationOn Saturday, Lopez Obrador said Biden told him the U.S. would send $4 billion to help development in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, nations whose hardships have spawned tides of migration through Mexico toward the United States.López Obrador said that during their Friday call, the two discussed immigration and the need to address the root causes of why people migrate. Mexico has stopped recent attempts by caravans of Central American migrants to cross Mexico.FILE – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gives his daily news conference at the presidential palace in Mexico City, Dec. 18, 2020.Biden’s call with López Obrador came at a tense moment, days after the Mexican president accused the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of fabricating drug trafficking charges against the country’s former defense secretary.But López Obrador said in a statement Friday that the conversation with Biden was “friendly and respectful.”Biden’s call to Trudeau came after the Canadian prime minister this week publicly expressed disappointment at Biden’s decision to issue an executive order halting construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. The long-disputed project was projected to carry about 800,000 barrels of oil a day from the tar sands of Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast, passing through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.Biden told Trudeau that by issuing the order he was following through on a campaign pledge, a senior Canadian government official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation.The White House said in a statement that Biden acknowledged Trudeau’s disappointment with his Keystone decision.’Perfect alignment’ is rareTrudeau told reporters before the call Friday that he wouldn’t allow his differences with Biden over the project to become a source of tension in the U.S.-Canada relationship.FILE – Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends a news conference in Ottawa, July 13, 2020.”It’s not always going to be perfect alignment with the United States,” Trudeau said. “That’s the case with any given president, but we’re in a situation where we are much more aligned on values and focus. I am very much looking forward to working with President Biden.”Biden and Trudeau also discussed the prospects of Canada being supplied with the COVID-19 vaccine from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer’s facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, according to a second senior Canadian government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation.Canada has been getting all of its Pfizer doses from a Pfizer facility in Puurs, Belgium, but Pfizer has informed Canada it won’t get any doses next week and will get 50% less than expected over the next three weeks. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has publicly asked Biden to share a million doses made at Pfizer’s Michigan facility.The U.S. federal government has an agreement with Pfizer in which the first 100 million doses of the vaccine produced in the U.S. will be owned by the U.S. government and will be distributed in the U.S.The two leaders also spoke broadly about trade, defense and climate issues. Trudeau also raised the cases of two Canadians imprisoned in China in apparent retaliation for the arrest of a top Huawei executive, who was apprehended in Canada on a U.S. extradition request, according to the prime minister’s office.  
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Tens of thousands of supporters of jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny thronged the streets of Russia on Saturday, defying warnings from authorities that those attending faced police arrest and additional health risks because of the coronavirus.The protests were called for by Navalny after he was jailed upon his return to Russia last weekend from Germany, where he’d been recovering from a poisoning attack that nearly killed him last August.Independent monitoring group OVD-Info reported about 3,200 arrests as of 1:45 a.m. Sunday Moscow time, including Navalny’s wife, Yulia, and his aide, politician Lyubov Sobol. Several dozen journalists were also detained.Yulia Navalnaya confirmed her arrest in Moscow in an Instagram post created from inside a police van, apologizing for the look of her posting.FILE – Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, speaks with the media outside a hospital, where Alexei receives medical treatment in Omsk, Russia, Aug. 21, 2020.“Sorry for poor quality. Very bad light in a paddy wagon,” she wrote Saturday.Thousands of Navalny’s supporters were in the streets of more than 60 Russian cities to demand the Kremlin critic’s immediate release, defying the measures taken by police to break up the protests, which they have declared illegal.In Moscow, thousands of masked protesters gathered in the city’s central Pushkin Square with shouts of “Let him go!” and “Alexei! Alexei!”Demonstrators also held signs that read “Freedom for Navalny” and “I’m not afraid.””If they arrest me, well, OK, I’ll miss a day or two of work,” said Dmitry, 55, in an interview with VOA.”I’m here thinking of my children and their futures. Because I absolutely don’t like what’s happening now in our country these days,” he added.Law enforcement officers stand in front of participants during a rally in support of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Kazan, Russia, Jan. 23, 2021.Many of the demonstrators were in their 20s and some even in their teens — a fact government officials have seized on, accusing Navalny of luring minors into harm’s way.“I’ve known only one president my whole life and I’m tired of him,” said Ksenia, 24, in explaining why she’d come.“I didn’t come out for Navalny. I came out for me,” said Daria, 17, a high school senior.  “I want my country to change.”Crowds also overflowed onto the surrounding side streets and along the city’s main Tverskaya thoroughfare.Drivers blared their horns in a near constant drone of support for the demonstrators.Most out on the streets appeared peaceful. Yet, toward evening, some protesters were seen pelting OMON riot police units and a car belonging to the Federal Security Services (FSB) with snowballs. The driver reportedly was injured after being hit in the eye.Nearby, a smoke grenade had been lobbed into the area, apparently from a demonstrator, filling the air with an acrid smell.Throughout the day, various witness videos posted to social media showed riot police roughly detaining protesters, in some cases beating demonstrators with batons. There were reports of multiple injuries.Riot police detain a young woman during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Pushkin square in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 23, 2021. Russian police made thousands of arrests in nationwide protests.Dozens of Navalny supporters were arrested during a standoff outside Moscow’s Matrosskaya Tishina prison where Navalny was being held.In one graphic scene in St. Petersburg, an OMON riot trooper was filmed kicking a woman in the stomach — sending her sprawling after she asked about the arrest of another demonstrator.Russia’s state RIA-Novosti news service reported 39 policemen had received minor injuries during the day.Navalny’s national reachThe turnout provided further evidence that Navalny has built a national presence across the country, despite a near total ban on coverage in state media.Indeed, Navalny’s popularity has grown largely based on a savvy social media campaign and online video investigations that purport to uncover corruption among the Kremlin elite.Even this week, with Navalny in prison, his team released a lengthy video online that alleges discovery of a lavish palace secretly built for President Vladimir Putin.Despite denials from the Kremlin of the investigation’s veracity, the film quickly garnered 70 million views.Ahead of Saturday’s rally, police rounded up key Navalny associates from his field offices and sentenced them to prison stays ranging from nine to 28 days.Law enforcement officers stand guard during a rally in support of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 23, 2021.Earlier this week, a judge sentenced Navalny to 30 days in prison pending charges of violating parole while recovering abroad.The hearing was held in a makeshift courtroom inside the police station, proceedings Navalny labeled as “beyond the height of lawlessness” before calling for Russias to take to the streets in response.“The way they arrested him was against our constitution,” said Ilya, 23, a demonstrator in Moscow. “If they can do it to a person like Navalny — with millions of followers online — they can do it to us.”Despite the large turnout, however, it was unclear whether demonstrators had made any progress on their central demand for Navalny’s release.The opposition leader’s chief strategist announced a follow-up protest would be held again next weekend.“If enough of us come out, then they’ll have to let him go,” said Yuri, 22, who was passing out small Russian flags on Pushkin Square in Moscow.“We’re the real patriots of our country. Not those who steal from the people,” he added.Wayne Lee contributed to this report.  
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Tens of thousands of supporters of jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny thronged the streets of Russia on Saturday, defying warnings from authorities that those attending faced police arrest and additional health risks because of the coronavirus.The protests were called for by Navalny after he was jailed upon his return to Russia last weekend from Germany, where he’d been recovering from a poisoning attack that nearly killed him last August.Independent monitoring group OVD-Info reported more than 2,700 arrests as of Saturday night, including Navalny’s wife, Yulia, and his aide, politician Lyubov Sobol. Several dozen journalists were also detained.Yulia Navalnaya confirmed her arrest in Moscow in an Instagram post created from inside a police van, apologizing for the look of her posting.FILE – Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, speaks with the media outside a hospital, where Alexei receives medical treatment in Omsk, Russia, Aug. 21, 2020.“Sorry for poor quality. Very bad light in a paddy wagon,” she wrote Saturday.Thousands of Navalny’s supporters were in the streets of more than 60 Russian cities to demand the Kremlin critic’s immediate release, defying the measures taken by police to break up the protests, which they have declared illegal.In Moscow, thousands of masked protesters gathered in the city’s central Pushkin Square with shouts of “Let him go!” and “Alexei! Alexei!”Demonstrators also held signs that read “Freedom for Navalny” and “I’m not afraid.””If they arrest me, well, OK, I’ll miss a day or two of work,” said Dmitry, 55, in an interview with VOA.”I’m here thinking of my children and their futures. Because I absolutely don’t like what’s happening now in our country these days,” he added.Law enforcement officers stand in front of participants during a rally in support of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Kazan, Russia, Jan. 23, 2021.Many of the demonstrators were in their 20s and some even in their teens — a fact government officials have seized on, accusing Navalny of luring minors into harm’s way.“I’ve known only one president my whole life and I’m tired of him,” said Ksenia, 24, in explaining why she’d come.“I didn’t come out for Navalny. I came out for me,” said Daria, 17, a high school senior.  “I want my country to change.”Crowds also overflowed onto the surrounding side streets and along the city’s main Tverskaya thoroughfare.Drivers blared their horns in a near constant drone of support for the demonstrators.Most out on the streets appeared peaceful. Yet, toward evening, some protesters were seen pelting OMON riot police units and a car belonging to the Federal Security Services (FSB) with snowballs. The driver reportedly was injured after being hit in the eye.Nearby, a smoke grenade had been lobbed into the area, apparently from a demonstrator, filling the air with an acrid smell.Throughout the day, various witness videos posted to social media showed riot police roughly detaining protesters, in some cases beating demonstrators with batons. There were reports of multiple injuries.Riot police detain a young woman during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Pushkin square in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 23, 2021. Russian police made thousands of arrests in nationwide protests.Dozens of Navalny supporters were arrested during a standoff outside Moscow’s Matrosskaya Tishina prison where Navalny was being held.In one graphic scene in St. Petersburg, an OMON riot trooper was filmed kicking a woman in the stomach — sending her sprawling after she asked about the arrest of another demonstrator.Russia’s state RIA-Novosti news service reported 39 policemen had received minor injuries during the day.Navalny’s national reachThe turnout provided further evidence that Navalny has built a national presence across the country, despite a near total ban on coverage in state media.Indeed, Navalny’s popularity has grown largely based on a savvy social media campaign and online video investigations that purport to uncover corruption among the Kremlin elite.Even this week, with Navalny in prison, his team released a lengthy video online that alleges discovery of a lavish palace secretly built for President Vladimir Putin.Despite denials from the Kremlin of the investigation’s veracity, the film quickly garnered 70 million views.Ahead of Saturday’s rally, police rounded up key Navalny associates from his field offices and sentenced them to prison stays ranging from nine to 28 days.Law enforcement officers stand guard during a rally in support of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 23, 2021.Earlier this week, a judge sentenced Navalny to 30 days in prison pending charges of violating parole while recovering abroad.The hearing was held in a makeshift courtroom inside the police station, proceedings Navalny labeled as “beyond the height of lawlessness” before calling for Russias to take to the streets in response.“The way they arrested him was against our constitution,” said Ilya, 23, a demonstrator in Moscow. “If they can do it to a person like Navalny — with millions of followers online — they can do it to us.”Despite the large turnout, however, it was unclear whether demonstrators had made any progress on their central demand for Navalny’s release.The opposition leader’s chief strategist announced a follow-up protest would be held again next weekend.“If enough of us come out, then they’ll have to let him go,” said Yuri, 22, who was passing out small Russian flags on Pushkin Square in Moscow.“We’re the real patriots of our country. Not those who steal from the people,” he added.Wayne Lee contributed to this report. 
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The wife of opposition leader Alexei Navalny is among hundreds of Nalvany supporters Russian police have arrested Saturday during protests across the country.Yulia Navalnaya confirmed her arrest in Moscow in an Instagram post created from inside a police van, apologizing for the look of her posting. “Sorry for poor quality. Very bad light in a paddy wagon,” she wrote Saturday.FILE – Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, speaks with the media outside a hospital, where Alexei receives medical treatment in Omsk, Russia, Aug. 21, 2020.Thousands of Navalny’s supporters were in the streets of more than 60 Russian cities Saturday to demand the Kremlin critic’s immediate release, defying the measures taken by police to break up the protests, which they have declared illegal.The protests started in the Far East and Siberia, including Vladivostok, Khabarovsk and Chita, with thousands of participants, according to Navalny supporters.In Khabarovsk, a Russian city on the border with China, about 8,000 kilometers east of Moscow, pro-Navalny protesters clashed with police trying to prevent the gathering.Law enforcement officers stand guard during a rally in support of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 23, 2021.The nationwide protests are the first organized by Navalny’s supporters since he returned from Germany, where he was recovering from poisoning by a nerve agent. He was arrested immediately on his arrival in Moscow.Navalny has openly accused President Vladimir Putin of ordering Russia’s security services to carry out the poisoning, a charge the Kremlin has repeatedly denied.The United States and other Western countries have strongly condemned Navalny’s arrest and demanded his unconditional release.
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Five members of the U.S. House of Representatives Friday urged President Joe Biden’s administration to confront what they said is a growing threat from Russia against Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.“We urge the Biden administration to engage the Russian government immediately” on the matter, the five – Democratic Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks, senior committee Republican Michael McCaul, Democrat Marcy Kaptur, Republican Adam Kinzinger, and Democrat William Keating — wrote in a letter to Biden.Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a U.S.-funded news organization, is facing multimillion-dollar fines and possible criminal charges against its employees after Russia accused it of violating the country’s foreign agents law. New amendments to the law require media organizations that receive foreign funding to label all their content as being produced by a “foreign agent.”The House members noted that RFE/RL journalists have refused to label their content as such “for fear it will discredit their work.”They urged the Biden administration to immediately make clear to the Russian government that “these restrictions on RFE/RL, its affiliates and its staff are unacceptable and, in particular, that exposing RFE/RL’s staff to criminal liability will be met with serious consequences.”The lawmakers also called for the Biden administration to consider sanctions against Russian officials as well as to demand greater reciprocity between the conditions that “Western outlets like RFE/RL face inside Russia and those faced by Russian state-run outlets, such as Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik, here in the United States.”Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is overseen by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the parent organization of the Voice of America. Critics say the new Russian laws targeting foreign agents have been arbitrarily applied to target Russian civil society organizations, human rights defenders, and political activists.The Europe and Central Asia program coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Gulnoza Said, said in a statement last week that the Russian law is being used to “censure journalists and harass and threaten media organizations.” Amnesty International said the law would “drastically limit and damage the work not only of civil society organizations that receive funds from outside Russia but many other groups as well.”
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Russian police are arresting supporters of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny as they take to the streets of more than 60 Russian cities Saturday to demand the Kremlin critic’s immediate release, defying the measures taken by police to break up the protests, which they have declared illegal.The protests started in the Far East and Siberia, including Vladivostok, Khabarovsk and Chita, with thousands of participants, according to Navalny supporters.In Khabarovsk, a Russian city on the border with China, about 8,000 kilometers east of Moscow, pro-Navalny protesters clashed with police trying to prevent the gathering.Navalny’s associates in Moscow and elsewhere in Russia have already been detained in anticipation of the rallies.Police have warned opposition supporters against protesting and independent journalists against covering them.Russian universities have told students not to attend the pro-Navalny rallies, some threatening them with disciplinary action, including expulsion.The nationwide protests are the first organized by Navalny’s supporters since he returned from Germany, where he was recovering from poisoning by a nerve agent. He was arrested immediately on his arrival in Moscow.Navalny has openly accused President Vladimir Putin of ordering Russia’s security services to carry out the poisoning, a charge the Kremlin has repeatedly denied.The United States and other Western countries have strongly condemned Navalny’s arrest and demanded his unconditional release.
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Well-placed geographically and politically between America and Europe, Britain has long marketed itself as the diplomatic bridge linking the two continents.Most British prime ministers since World War Two have reached for the metaphor at some time or other to describe what they saw as Britain’s essential and aggrandizing function in transatlantic relations.When Europeans in 2001 were assailing President George W. Bush for his foreign policy plans, including pulling the U.S. out of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate change, Britain’s then-leader, Tony Blair, emphasized his desire to “build bridges of understanding between the U.S. and Europe.”Britain’s role as a useful intermediary traditionally has been welcomed in Washington, although the role has often been resented in European capitals stretching back to the time of Charles De Gaulle, the French leader who blocked Britain from joining the then European Common Market, partly because he feared Britain would act as America’s agent inside the bloc.Post-Brexit and Joe Biden’s foreign policy team is likely to have to switch roles and act as a diplomatic bridge for Britain to an estranged European continent, say analysts.“I think you will see a concerted effort by the Biden team to engage London with Brussels, Berlin and Paris,” says Damon Wilson, executive vice president at the Atlantic Council, a foreign policy think tank based in Washington.A former senior director for European Affairs at the National Security Council in the George W. Bush administration, Wilson says Biden’s foreign policy advisers will likely decide that to maintain coherence in the transatlantic alliance they will have to make sure “London is at the table with Brussels and the other main Western powers.”Britain’s messy departure from the European Union, which saw more than four years of bruising, and sometimes petty, haggling, has left Britain’s relations with its European neighbors in tatters. They are hardly in the mood to accept Britain as an American emissary.And since Britain and its erstwhile 27 partners struck a final Brexit deal last month, defining, at least in the midterm, Britain’s trade relations with the EU, ill-feeling has persisted.This week a diplomatic row broke out between London and Brussels over the status of the bloc’s ambassador in London with Britain’s Foreign Office withholding full diplomatic recognition to the envoy on the grounds that the EU is not a sovereign state but an international body.That breaks with the practice of 142 other countries that grant full privileges to the bloc’s diplomats. Infuriated EU officials have dubbed Britain’s move “petty.”British policymakers remain highly anxious about the future of Anglo-American relations post-Brexit, and now post-Trump. Britain’s Boris Johnson at one time saw himself and Donald Trump as kindred spirits. Trump dubbed Johnson as “Britain Trump.”Special relationshipProximity to U.S. power enhances British power — hence Britain’s perennial eagerness to maintain the much-vaunted “special relationship” between London and Washington. Some observers say Britain has shown such an over-eagerness to engage that it could be construed as a sign of weakness, even desperation.The fear in London is that the Biden administration will relegate Britain, seeing Germany and France as the more important transatlantic partners. President Biden’s key foreign policy advisers, including his nominee to be the new U.S. secretary of state, Tony Blinken, a Francophone and Francophile who was raised in Paris, and Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, were disparaging of Brexit, viewing it as a strategic mistake by the British and one that would diminish Britain’s usefulness to the United States.Like Barack Obama, who openly backed Britain’s remaining in the EU, Biden also disapproved of Brexit. In a speech in Dublin the day after the 2016 Brexit referendum, Biden condemned “reactionary politicians and demagogues” for Brexit, adding, “We’d have preferred a different outcome.” Some former British diplomats have worried that Brexit “chickens will come home to roost” with a Biden administration.President Biden himself has shown little liking in the past for Johnson, describing the British leader at a fundraiser during the primary race for the Democratic nomination “a physical and emotional clone of the president [Trump].”Biden is said to have taken as much offense as Obama over a newspaper column Johnson wrote many years ago when he was mayor of London in which he accused Obama of being “part-Kenyan” and harboring an “ancestral dislike of the British Empire.”That column was written in response to Obama’s moving a bust of the great British wartime Winston Churchill from the Oval Office. Trump returned the bust where George W. Bush had placed it, and Biden has now followed Obama’s example.Johnson’s tune is different this time. In a statement, Downing Street said: “The Oval Office is the president’s private office, and it’s up to the president to decorate it as he wishes.”The fears of Britain’s ruling Conservatives about how Anglo-American relations may unfold under a Biden administration were partly assuaged in November when Biden, after his election win, chose to phone Johnson ahead of talking with France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Angela Merkel. “Special relationship maintained as Johnson is first on Joe Biden’s call list,” The Times of London exhaled on its front page.But British fears have not been banished completely. “The incoming administration of Joe Biden will seek to heal America’s relations with allies in Europe and Asia,” Robin Niblett, director of Britain’s Chatham House, wrote in a commentary. “But Brexit Britain will have to fight its way to the table on many of the most important transatlantic issues, with the EU now the U.S.’s main counterpart,” he added.The British may be over-anxious, though, according to some analysts. A key policy aim of the new U.S. administration is to steady democracies roiled by unprecedented domestic political turmoil and challenged by authoritarian powers. Biden has said he wants to convene a global summit of democracies to forge common goals. Victoria Nuland, a veteran diplomat slated for a top job at the State Department, recently said: “It’s time to stand up and defend it [democracy].”The Biden administration appears to be in no mood to leave any democracy behind.Speaking in December at an event in Washington, and before her pick to rejoin the State Department, Nuland said in her concluding remarks: “It’s going to be very, very important for all of us to relink hands with the U.K. and ensure that London stays a strong global player and is well docked into the U.S.-EU conversation, the democracy conversation, and is really the global Britain that they have said they want to be.”The Atlantic Council’s Damon Wilson says under the Biden administration “there will be a big and dramatic change when it comes to relations with Berlin and a very big emphasis on Berlin.” “Germany will have a more prominent place in consultations,” he adds.But Wilson, who knows the Biden aides well, doesn’t see that as necessary coming at the expense of Britain. “The UK is going to be valuable because it will be quicker, it will be more nimble” compared to the EU and Brussels. “You work with the British because they can move fast, they can do things and that expediency will make Britain still relevant,” he adds.Biden aides presented “strong and compelling cases about why Brexit would not be in American interests, but they won’t hold Brexit against the British,” he says.
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Former Haitian opposition Senator Nenel Cassy was freed Friday, hours after he was arrested in Miragoane, a town on Haiti’s west coast, on orders of President Jovenel Moise.Cassy, who represented former President Jean Bertrand Aristide’s Lavalas party in parliament and is a native of the region, had traveled to Miragoane on Thursday to seek the release of political activists who had been arrested during an anti-government protest earlier in the day. They were charged with committing “flagrant delinquent acts” but were released with Cassy.”What happened yesterday is unfathomable; even under the Duvalier regime this was never done,” the former senator said in recounting his ordeal for reporters during a press conference on Friday.”The attorney general arrived at the police station where lawyer Andre (Michel) and I were talking to the departmental director. Two policemen were present, and Andre was asking them to release the activists. When he (Jean Ernest Muscadin, the attorney general for Miragoane) arrived, he said, ‘We’re going to arrest the senator.’ He said, ‘The president of the republic has asked me to arrest Senator Cassy.’ When I asked him, ‘Which president? Jovenel?’ He responded, “Yes, Jovenel said I must arrest you today,’” Cassy said.The former senator said when he asked Muscadin what he was to be charged with, he was told, “This is an order from the president.””He (the attorney general) told me tremendous pressure had been exerted by the president to make the arrest and he (Moise) threatened to fire him if he didn’t do it,” Cassy said. “‘If I went against the order, I’d have to flee the country,’ he told me.”Cassy said the attorney general then handcuffed him.Muscadin, during an interview on a Haitian radio show, confirmed that Moise had asked him to arrest Cassy.No commentMoise has not commented on the arrest. But in a Jan. 18 speech, Moise warned his political opponents that the country’s new intelligence agency was keeping watch and that any “vagabonds” found to be handing out money to encourage people to protest would face consequences.News of Cassy’s arrest spread quickly on social media, sparking outrage from Haitians and the diaspora. VOA Creole reporters said they saw tires burning on some streets of the capital and that makeshift barricades were erected, including in front of the police station where Cassy was being held.Meanwhile, opposition politicians, who tend to disagree on most topics, rallied to support the senator, calling on Moise to rescind the arrest order.”Senator Nenel Cassy has just been arrested in Miragoane at the office of the director of the police department in accordance with an order from President Jovenel Moise,” lawyer and opposition leader Andre Michel tweeted from Miragoane. “The battle for the respect of the constitution must be sped up. Unacceptable. Shut down the country.”Le Sénateur Nenel Cassy vient d’être arrêté à Miragoane au bureau du Directeur départemental de la Police, conformément aux instructions du Président Jovenel Moise. La bataille pour le respect de la constitution doit prendre sa vitesse de croisière. Inacceptable!! Bloke peyi a .— Me. André Michel (@avokapepla) Senator Youri Latortue says the opposition stands united against President Jovenel Moise, Jan. 22, 2021. (Matiado Vilme/VOA)During his press conference Friday, Cassy decried the harassment he and his family have endured at the hands of the Moise government.”My security guards were arrested and released after six months because they couldn’t find anything to charge them with. They arrested my mother a few days ago in Miragoane, they shot at me, they arrested me, the country has become a living hell for me under the PHTK government (Pati Ayisyen Tet Kale – President Moise’s ruling party),” Cassy said.In the past, the opposition leader, who has frequently participated in anti-government protests, has criticized Moise for not curbing crime, addressing the economic crisis or human rights abuses and for ruling by decree. On Wednesday, he joined a group of peaceful protesters near the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince to call on the new Biden administration not to support the Moise government and to demand Moise resign on Feb. 7.Pressure from US, international communityIn 2020, Haiti faced increased pressure from the Trump administration, the Organization of American States and the United Nations to hold elections as soon as possible. On the campaign trail, then-candidate Joe Biden had promised Haitians and Haitian Americans that he would work with Haiti’s government to hold elections as soon as possible.A few days before the Christmas holiday, a joint statement issued by Representatives Andy Levin, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee; Gregory Meeks, incoming chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; and Albio Sires, chair of the Western Hemisphere civilian security and trade subcommittee, said they were watching events unfold in Haiti with “growing concern.”“Haitian President Jovenel Moise is pursuing an increasingly authoritarian course of action, issuing a series of recent decrees that include creating an extraconstitutional domestic ‘intelligence’ force,” the statement said. “His latest actions are reminiscent of past anti-democratic abuses the Haitian people have endured, including the run-up to the Duvalier dictatorship. We will not stand idly by while Haiti devolves into chaos.”Haiti’s ambassador to the United States, Bocchit Edmond, expressed outrage about the statement in an exclusive interview with VOA in December.“It saddens us to see democratic officials call for a transitional government. We don’t think that going through a transition again will help Haiti,” Edmond said.The ambassador questioned the feasibility of the January 2021 timeframe suggested by the U.S. to hold elections. He told VOA the Moise government believes an overhaul of the current constitution is necessary first and that there are plans to hold a referendum on that in spring 2021.“I think we have already met them in the middle,” Edmond told VOA. “We have agreed to elections. President Moise has done his job in naming an electoral council. We are working on possible calendars to submit now.”Haiti’s presidential and legislative elections are now scheduled for September 2021.In the meantime, the newly reinvigorated and united opposition vows to keep protesting in the streets to demand Moise respect the constitution and step down on Feb. 7.  
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Four people-smugglers convicted of killing 39 people from Vietnam who died in the back of a container truck as it was shipped to England were sentenced Friday to between 13 and 27 years in prison.The victims, between the ages of 15 and 44, were found in October 2019 inside a refrigerated container that had traveled by ferry from Belgium to the eastern England port of Purfleet. The migrants had paid people-smugglers thousands of dollars to take them on risky journeys to what they hoped would be better lives abroad.Instead, Judge Nigel Sweeney said, “all died in what must have been an excruciatingly painful death” by suffocation in the airtight container.These photos released Jan. 22, 2021, by Essex police show, from left, Ronan Hughes, Gheorghe Nica, Maurice Robinson and Eamonn Harrison, all sentenced to prison in the deaths in England of 39 Vietnamese migrants in 2019.The judge sentenced Romanian mechanic Gheorghe Nica, 43, described by prosecutors as the smuggling ringleader, to 27 years. Northern Irish truck driver Eamonn Harrison, 24, who drove the container to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, received an 18-year sentence.Trucker Maurice Robinson, 26, who picked the container up in England, was sentenced to 13 years and 4 months in prison, while haulage company boss Ronan Hughes, 41, was jailed for 20 years.Nica and Harrison were convicted last month after a 10-week trial. Hughes and Robinson had pleaded guilty of people-smuggling and manslaughter.Three other members of the gang received shorter sentences.Prosecutors said all the suspects were part of a gang that charged about 13,000 pounds ($17,000) per person to transport migrants in trailers through the Channel Tunnel or by boat.Sweeney said it was “a sophisticated, long-running and profitable” criminal conspiracy.Migrants’ last momentsJurors heard harrowing evidence about the final hours of the victims, who tried to call Vietnam’s emergency number to summon help as air in the container ran out. When they couldn’t get a mobile phone signal, some recorded goodbye messages to their families.The trapped migrants — who included a bricklayer, a restaurant worker, a nail bar technician, a budding beautician and a university graduate — used a metal pole to try to punch through the roof of the refrigerated container, but only dented it.Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Stoten, the senior investigating officer on the case, said the victims “left behind families, memories and homes, in the pursuit of a false promise of something better.””Instead, they died, in an unimaginable way, because of the utter greed of these criminals,” he said. 
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There is some evidence that a new coronavirus variant first identified in southeast England carries a higher risk of death than the original strain, the British government’s chief scientific adviser said Friday — though he stressed that the data is uncertain. Patrick Vallance told a news conference that “there is evidence that there is an increased risk for those who have the new variant.”  Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
A person receives the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine at an NHS vaccination center in York, Britain, Jan. 22, 2021.But Vallance stressed that “the evidence is not yet strong” and more research is needed. In contrast to that uncertainty, he said, there is growing confidence that the variant is more easily passed on than the original coronavirus strain. He said it appears to be between 30% and 70% more transmissible.  Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s technical lead on COVID-19, said studies were under way to look at the transmission and severity of new virus variants. She said so far “they haven’t seen an increase in severity” but that more transmission could lead to “an overburdened health care system” and thus more deaths. The evidence for the new variant being more deadly is in a paper prepared by a group of scientists that advises the government on new respiratory viruses, based on several studies. Paul Hunter, professor in Medicine at the University of East Anglia, said “the conclusion about this probable increased lethality comes from analyses made by several different groups, though working with essentially the same data.” “There is quite a bit of difference in the estimated increased risk of death between the different analyses, though most but not all show increased risk of death,” he said. A man wearing a protective mask walks along a queue for vaccinations at Lord’s Cricket Ground, amid the COVID-19 outbreak, in London, Britain, Jan. 22, 2021.Ian Jones, professor of Virology at the University of Reading, said “the data is limited and the conclusions preliminary. However, an increased case fatality rate is certainly possible with a virus that has upped its game in transmission.” British officials say they are confident that the vaccines that have been authorized for use against COVID-19 will be effective against the new strain identified in the country. But Vallance said scientists are concerned that variants identified in Brazil and South Africa could be more resistant to vaccines, adding that more research needs to be done. Travel restrictionsConcerns about newly identified variants have triggered a spate of new travel restrictions around the world. Many countries have closed their borders to travelers from Britain, and Great Britain has halted flights from Brazil and South Africa. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there could be further restrictions. “We may need to go further to protect our borders,” he said. Britain has recorded over 96,000 deaths among people who tested positive for the coronavirus, the highest confirmed total in Europe. The country is currently in a lockdown in an attempt to slow the latest surge of the coronavirus outbreak. Pubs, restaurants, entertainment venues and many shops are closed, and people are required to stay largely at home. No end in sightThe number of new infections has begun to fall, but deaths remain high, averaging more than 1,000 a day, and the number of hospitalized patients is 80% higher than at the first peak of the pandemic in the spring. Johnson, who has often been accused of giving overly optimistic predictions about relaxing coronavirus restrictions, sounded gloomy. “We will have to live with coronavirus in one way or another for a long while to come,” he said, adding that “it’s an open question” when measures could be eased. “At this stage you’ve got to be very, very cautious indeed,” he said. Vallance agreed. “I don’t think this virus is going anywhere,” he said. “It’s going to be around, probably, forever.” 
 
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After months of high seas tensions with Turkish and Greek warships facing off against one another over territorial disputes, the two nations now are set to resume talks Monday, after a nearly five-year hiatus. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
Camera: Berke Bas  Produced by: Berke Bas, Rod James 
 
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Brazil expects to receive 2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine Friday in its buildup to launching a mass immunization program.
 
The vaccine is due to arrive a day after President Jair Bolsonaro fended off criticism by health officials over whether Brazil has enough vaccine to begin its nationwide immunization program.
 
Bolsonaro, who has long played down the impact of the coronavirus, even after he contracted the disease, said the government will provide the vaccine to all Brazilians free of charge.    
 
However, health officials say the country’s 6 million doses of the China-based Coronavac vaccine and nearly 5 million doses of the vaccine on order is well below what is needed to immunize Brazilians.
 
A second wave of coronavirus cases and concern over the government’s ability to secure more vaccine prompted the new mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, to tweet Thursday that it will not be possible to host annual carnival celebrations in July.
 
Brazil has more than 8.6 million coronavirus cases and 212,831 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University Resource Center.  
 
Brazil’s COVID-19 mortality total is second only to the United States’ 406,417 deaths as of Thursday evening.
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 Russia welcomed Friday the Biden administration’s announcement Thursday it is seeking a five-year extension of the New START arms control treaty, set to expire February 5, with the Kremlin saying it is waiting to see the details.NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg gives a press briefing at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 14, 2021.Also, on Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the U.S. and Russia should extend the treaty and broaden it. ”We should not end up in a situation with no limitation on nuclear warheads, and New START will expire within days,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels.”An extension of the New START is not the end, it’s the beginning of our efforts to further strengthen arms control,” Stoltenberg said. The treaty was signed in 2010 by then-U.S. President Barack Obama and then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Under the pact, each country is limited to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads. Former U.S. President Donald Trump had attacked the deal, contending that it put the United States at a disadvantage.    
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United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement welcomed the entry into force Friday of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), the first nuclear disarmament instrument in more than two decades.The treaty, endorsed by 51 states, mandates assistance, such as medical care, rehabilitation and psychological support to all victims under their jurisdiction. It also obliges them to clear areas known to be contaminated by nuclear use or testing.“The survivors of nuclear explosions and nuclear tests offered tragic testimonies and were a moral force behind the treaty,” Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for Guterres, said in a statement.Nuclear disarmament remains the highest priority of the U.N., the statement said, adding that countries around the world must take urgent action for the elimination of such weapons and prevent the human and environmental catastrophes the use of them would cause.The secretary-general is calling on all states “to work together to realize this ambition to advance common security and collective safety,” the statement said.“Today is a victory for humanity. This treaty – the result of more than 75 years of work – sends a clear signal that nuclear weapons are unacceptable from a moral, humanitarian, and now a legal point of view,” President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Peter Maurer said in a joint statement by ICRC and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC).“The treaty presents each of us with a really simple question: Do we want nuclear weapons to be banned or not?” Francesco Rocca, president of IFRC, said. “The entry into force of the Nuclear Ban Treaty is the beginning, not the end, of our efforts.”The ICRC and IFRC urged world leaders, including those of nuclear powers, to join the path “toward a world free of nuclear weapons, in line with long-standing international obligations, notably those under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.”The world’s major nuclear-armed states, including the United States and Russia, have not endorsed TPNW.
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Brazil expects to receive 2 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine Friday in its buildup to launching a mass immunization program.The vaccine is due to arrive a day after President Jair Bolsonaro fended off criticism by health officials over whether Brazil has enough vaccine to begin its nationwide immunization program.Bolsonaro, who has long played down the impact of the coronavirus, even after he contracted the disease, said the government will provide the vaccine to all Brazilians free of charge.However, health officials say the country’s 6 million doses of the China-based Coronavac vaccine and nearly 5 million doses of the vaccine on order is well below what is needed to immunize Brazilians.A second wave of coronavirus cases and concern over the government’s ability to secure more vaccine prompted the new mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, to tweet Thursday that it will not be possible to host annual carnival celebrations in July.Brazil has more than 8.6 million coronavirus cases and 212,831 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.Brazil’s COVID-19 mortality total is second only to the United States’ 406,417 deaths as of Thursday evening.
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The new administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is planning to offer Russia a five-year extension of a nuclear arms treaty that is set to expire February 5, U.S. officials said Thursday.Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan was set to make the offer to Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Antonov, on Thursday afternoon, one official said.National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks at The Queen theater, Nov. 24, 2020, in Wilmington, Del.The move is likely to be welcomed by Moscow and American allies in Europe.NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday said the U.S. and Russia should extend the treaty and broaden it.”We should not end up in a situation with no limitation on nuclear warheads, and New START will expire within days,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels.”An extension of the New START is not the end, it’s the beginning of our efforts to further strengthen arms control,” Stoltenberg said.The treaty was signed in 2010 by then-U.S. President Barack Obama and then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Under the pact, each country is limited to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads.Former U.S. President Donald Trump had attacked the deal, contending that it put the United States at a disadvantage.
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Google and a French publishers lobby said Thursday that they had agreed to a copyright framework for the U.S. tech giant to pay news publishers for content online, a first for Europe.The move paves the way for individual licensing agreements for French publications, some of which have seen revenues drop with the rise of the internet and declines in print circulation.The deal, which Google describes as a sustainable way to pay publishers, is likely to be closely watched by other platforms such as Facebook, a lawyer involved in the talks said.Facebook was not immediately reachable for comment.Alphabet-owned Google and the Alliance de la Presse D’information Générale (APIG) said in a statement that the framework included criteria such as the daily volume of publications, monthly internet traffic and “contribution to political and general information.”Google has so far only signed licensing agreements with a few publications in France, including national daily newspapers Le Monde and Le Figaro. These take into account the framework agreed with APIG, a Google spokesman said.Google News ShowcaseGoogle’s vehicle for paying news publishers, called Google News Showcase, is so far only available in Brazil and Germany.On Thursday, Reuters confirmed it had signed a deal with Google to be the first global news provider to Google News Showcase. Reuters is owned by news and information provider Thomson Reuters Corp.”Reuters is committed to developing new ways of providing access to trusted, high-quality and reliable global news coverage at a time when it’s never been more important,” Eric Danetz, Reuters global head of revenue, said in a statement.Google and APIG did not say how much money would be distributed to APIG’s members, who include most French national and local publishers. Details on how the remuneration would be calculated were not disclosed.The deal follows months of bargaining among Google, French publishers and news agencies over how to apply revamped EU copyright rules, which allow publishers to demand a fee from online platforms showing extracts of their news.Google, the world’s biggest search engine, initially fought against the idea of paying publishers for content, saying their websites benefited from the greater traffic it brought. 
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European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said Thursday the bank will keep its COVID-19-related economic stimulus package in place as the 19-nation Eurozone economy continues facing economic threats from the pandemic. Speaking in Berlin, Lagarde said that while newly approved vaccines and vaccination programs in Europe are a plus, the surges of COVID-19 cases throughout the continent have prompted new lockdowns and restrictions that affect the service economy of most nations.  “The pandemic continues to pose serious risks to public health and to the euro area and global economies,” she said. FILE – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, wearing a face mask, attends the 16th Congress of Regions (Congres des Regions) in Saint-Ouen, north of Paris, Oct. 19, 2020.Last year, the ECB implemented an emergency COVID-19 stimulus package that includes government and corporate bond purchases designed to pump money into member nations’ economies, keeping interest rates low and giving businesses access to cheap loans. The companies have used such loans to pay furloughed workers during the pandemic. In December, the bank added $607 billion to the plan, bringing the value of the program to $2.2 trillion, and extended it to March 2022.  Lagarde said given the recent surge in infections and the resulting economic restrictions put in place throughout Europe, the bank is prepared to offer even more economic support. Much like the Federal Reserve does in the United States, the ECB is the chief monetary authority for countries that use the euro, setting interest rates and supervising banks. So far, 19 of the 27 EU countries have adopted the euro as their main currency. 
 
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The arrest of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has triggered international outrage and growing calls for his release. Navalny was detained Sunday upon his return to Russia nearly five months after he was nearly poisoned to death by a military-grade nerve agent.  Charles Maynes reports the opposition figure has gone from fighting for his life to fighting for his freedom.Videographer: Ricardo Marquina, Producer Henry Hernandez
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A gentle hero to many in Romania, Valeriu Nicolae says that, at heart, he is more like former NBA star Michael Jordan — highly competitive and eager to improve in what he does best. In Nicolae’s case that is helping others.The Romanian rights activist has earned praise for his tireless campaign to improve the lives of the Balkan country’s poorest and least privileged residents, particularly children.This is a daunting task in the country of 19 million where hundreds of thousands of children lack basics and are unable to attend school. Romania is a member of the European Union but bad management and widespread corruption have stalled economic and social progress.Nicolae told The Associated Press that for society to change, individuals should, too. He also thinks it should become mandatory for politicians to help someone before they take public office.Valeriu Nicolae carries a box containing basic food, hygiene and medicinal products in Nucsoara, Romania, Jan. 9, 2021.”It should be the basics: do good things for others!” he said. “Even a tiny bit of good for someone around you, and no bad at all.”Since starting in 2007, Nicolae’s humanitarian organization Casa Buna, or Good House, has taken upon itself to support and supervise 315 children. The group provides aid and backing for the children and their families, including clothes, computers or books — but on condition they do not drop out of school.Nicolae is a strong advocate of education to keep children off the streets and prevent them from straying later in life into alcohol or drugs. His work has gained further importance during the coronavirus pandemic that has increased social isolation and made life even harder for the poorest around the world.On a frosty and snowy day this month, Nicolae’s team visited villages at the foot of the Carpathian mountains, some 200 kilometers (120 miles) northwest of Bucharest, to deliver aid such as flour, sugar or hygiene products to people enduring the cold winter weather.Many holding children, the residents of Nucsoara came out of their homes to greet Nicolae. Most of the houses in the village are unfinished, and families live cramped in small rooms. Among the necessities Nicolae brought along were toothbrushes, and he showed some of the children how to use them properly.”There is nothing better than seeing you’ve changed the life of a child for the better,” he said. “I don’t think there are many people more rewarded by what they do than me.”Himself coming from a poor background among Romania’s Roma, or Gypsy, community, Nicolae said he also was motivated by the help he received as a child which he said pushed him forward later in life. Throughout the Balkans, Roma minorities routinely face discrimination and remain among the poorest and most neglected communities.Painfully aware of the anti-Roma sentiments that are widespread in his country, but also of global racism, Nicolae was among the initiators of the Respect anti-racist campaign during the soccer 2010 World Cup in South Africa. He has won international awards in recognition for his children’s education bid.”I was successful in helping many children and adults. I am stubborn and don’t do things just for one day,” he said. “I also failed thousands of times but that has placed me in a position to succeed (the next time). I never failed in the same way twice.”A rare failure was Nicolae’s bid as an independent candidate in Romania’s December parliamentary election, when he fell just 17 votes short of a winning a seat after being denied a recount. Nicolae had hoped to press for education reforms to enable access to basic schooling, and also for better management of public money.”I want to be a better person, a little better every year if possible,” he said. Jokingly, he added: “I don’t want to be a saint, because saints tend to have a tragic end.”
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday she sees more opportunity for agreement with new U.S. President Joe Biden than the previous administration, but she also continues to believe Germany and Europe cannot rely on U.S assistance as much as in the past.Speaking to reporters in Berlin, Merkel said just by looking at the executive orders Biden signed Wednesday after being sworn in, she can see “there is just a broader space for agreement with Biden.”  European, Other World Leaders Welcome Joe BidenThere were words of welcome Wednesday from across the world for Joe Biden as he was sworn in as America’s 46th presidentShe cited Biden’s decision to remain in the World Health Organization, rejoining the Paris climate agreement and his views on migration as areas where the U.S. and Germany can work together. But she added she is fully aware she cannot expect full political agreement with a new U.S. president on everything.   Merkel, who had, at best, a strained relationship with former U.S. President Donald Trump, said she came to the realization during his term that Germany and Europe cannot rely so much on the United States diplomatically and militarily. She said Thursday she still feels that way.  She added, “But the good news is: We in Germany are ready and so is the European Union. But overall, cooperation is once again based on common conviction.”
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Latin American leaders from Peru, Venezuela and Colombia are extending congratulations to U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.Colombian President Ivan Duque described Biden’s inaugural speech as transcending, saying his call for unity among the people of the United States and his call for the construction of common goals in the midst of differences has important repercussions in the world.Duque also said the 200-year-old diplomatic relationship between the United States and Colombia continues to strengthen toward common goals.Peruvian President Francisco Sagest said, his country is optimistic about a future of greater cooperation, investment, and trade with the United States.Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro wished Biden luck with a direct appeal to change the U.S. policies toward Venezuela.Biden has not commented publicly on U.S. policy toward Venezuela since taking office Wednesday, but his nominee for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, showed support for Maduro’s rival, Juan Guaido during his Senate confirmation hearing, according to ABC news.The U.S. and several western nations have favored opposition leader Guaido as Venezuela’s recognized leader, following the disputed 2018 presidential elections.
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Chile is getting a new weapon to help in its fight against the spread of the coronavirus.Health regulators approved the emergency use of the CoronaVac vaccine made by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd.Heriberto Garcia, director of Chile’s Public Health Institute, said very encouraging data from late-stage trials and the Health Institute’s independent investigations suggested CoronaVac was a “safe and effective vaccine to fight the pandemic.”Chile paid $3.5 million to host a clinical trial of the Sinovac vaccine and has ordered 60 million doses of the vaccine, according to Reuters.Garcia said Sinovac will arrive in Chile at the end of the month. Chile has already inoculated more than 29,000 people with the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, which arrived in the country late last month.Leaders of Chile’s Public Health Institute are also weighing approval of AstraZeneca’s vaccine for emergency use and have already signed a deal to purchase 14.4 million doses.So far, Chile has confirmed more than 677,000 COVID infections and 17,573 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
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Beatings, arrests, court cases, internet blocks and revocation of press credentials — being an accredited journalist is no longer a guarantee of protection for independent media in Belarus.Four members of Press Club Belarus, a network that focuses on journalism, have been in pre-trial detention since December 22, when club founder Yulia Slutskaya, program director Ala Sharko, financial director Sergei Olszewski and operator Pyatro Slutski, Yulia’s son, were FILE – Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya speaks to the media in Berlin, Dec. 14, 2020.Statistics by Press Under Pressure, a project run by the press club, say journalists have been detained almost 400 times since the election. Figures show 81 journalists arrested and 15 facing criminal cases.Human rights activists have rejected the line from Belarusian officials that members of the press club were involved in wrongdoing, calling the charges retaliatory.On January 13, a joint statement by human rights organizations in Belarus called Slutskaya, Sharko, Olszewski, Slutski and Lutskina political prisoners.The use of economic-related charges against human rights and political prisoners is a tactic that was used regularly during the Soviet era.ProsecutionsThe arrests at Press Club Belarus came one day after the Prosecutor General’s Office of Belarus opened criminal cases against opposition leader Tsikhanouskaya and members of the opposition Coordinating Council, accusing them of “creating an extremist formation” and conducting “activities with the aim of seizing state power unconstitutionally.”Meanwhile, prosecutors said they would prosecute all those who “contributed to the extremist formation.”Nadezhda Belokhvostik, editor in chief of press club-linked Media-IQ magazine, said members were shocked by the arrests.”We didn’t expect all this. We were preparing for the New Year. We had to have a holiday, Belokhvostik told VOA’s Russian Service. “Yulia Slutskaya was returning that day from vacation with her daughter and grandchildren. I was in the office and left maybe half an hour before the search and detention, when Sergei Olszewski and Pyatro Slutski were detained.”Her colleagues’ whereabouts were unknown for hours, said Belokhvostik, who learned of their detention only when state-run Belta News Agency reported the press club members were suspected of tax evasion.“Lawyers who were admitted more than 24 hours later were forced to sign for nondisclosure agreements,” Belokhvostik added. “This is a typical practice in Belarus to prevent lawyers from saying anything.”The duty officer at the Belarus Embassy in Washington referred VOA to the Foreign Ministry in Belarus. The ministry did not respond to VOA’s email requesting comment.FILE – Demonstrators rally in solidarity with arrested journalists, in Minsk, Belarus, Sept. 3, 2020. The poster, depicting some of the detained, reads: “They [only] did their job.” (Svaboda.org – RFE/RL)’It makes you a target’Natalia Belikova, manager of the press club’s international projects, called the tax charges and detentions a direct result of the organization’s mission to serve as a platform for professional development of independent media and journalists.”The press club has always supported its journalism colleagues, has always been in solidarity with colleagues,” Belikova said. “Since August, pressure on independent media in Belarus has increased very much, and we have recorded it.”Journalists are detained. Some are deprived of press credentials,” she added. “I think that the attack on the press club, among other things, is connected with the fact that we were in solidarity with all those journalists who are now working in desperate conditions.”Belikova also said authorities were irritated by the international resonance of their reporting and have responded with increasingly repressive tactics.”The work of journalists who have been deprived of press accreditation is by and large outlawed,” she said, explaining that they can’t cover protests without risking arrest for participating in illegal or unauthorized events.A portion of the home page of Minsk-based Tut.by. (Web screenshot)Belokhvostik, of Media-IQ, said the repression “is monstrous.”Belokhvostik said journalists who covered rallies have been detained for up to 25 days. She also highlighted that Katerina Borisevich, who reported for Tut.by on the fatal beating of a 31-year-old artist and teacher by plainclothes police, was being held in the same detention center as those detained from the press club.“The same ‘press’ vest, which all accredited journalists are obliged to wear in Belarus, doesn’t save anyone,” she told VOA. “On the contrary, it makes you a target.”Growing supportDespite the crackdown, Belikova said, sound reporting in Belarus continues.”There are editorial offices that have moved their main offices abroad in order to be able to continue working in Belarus,” she told VOA. “Their teams of journalists are in Belarus — let’s just say the head organizations have moved.”Public support for journalists is on the uptick.In early October, when reporters for the Minsk-based Tut.by faced a three-month suspension of press accreditation for covering anti-government protests, demonstrators shouted words of praise and support while marching past its offices. Others sent in information over apps like Telegram to help the news site stay updated.But working in the face of persecution comes at a cost.”To some extent, there’s some sense of unity in adversity, that people feel they’re all in it together,” said Belikova. “But at the same time, it is necessary to remember that the government doesn’t stop repression, which is only increasing. The cost of participation in actions related to your civic stance increases every day.”This story originated in VOA’s Russian Service.    
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