DRULAP

Buffalo Marks 1 Year Since Supermarket Mass Shooting

A bell chimed 13 times after people paused for a moment of silence Sunday to remember the 10 people killed and three wounded in a racist attack at a Buffalo supermarket one year ago.

Mayor Byron Brown read the names of the victims outside the Tops Friendly Market, where a gunman opened fire on May 14, 2022. Top New York politicians, including Gov. Kathy Hochul and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, attended the remembrance on Mother’s Day.

“It’s a beautiful day. It’s Mother’s Day,” Hochul said. “And the cruel irony behind the fact is a day we celebrate a life that comes into this world, making someone a mother, is also a day we’re here to think about those who are no longer with us. It’s hard. It’s been a really hard year.”

Earlier in the week, panelists discussed ways to combat racism and social media radicalization and residents were invited to reflect at an outdoor community gathering.

In the year since the shooting, relatives of the victims have spoken before Congress about white supremacy and gun reform and organized events to address food insecurity that worsened when the market, the neighborhood’s only grocery store, was inaccessible for two months.

President Joe Biden honored the lives of those killed in Buffalo in an op-ed published Sunday in USA Today. He called on Congress and state legislative leaders to act by banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, requiring background checks for all gun sales, and repealing gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability. His administration passed a landmark gun measure in June following a series of mass shootings.

New York state law already bans the possession of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

Gun control organizations and advocates including Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action held nearly 200 events across the country over the weekend, calling on Congress to reinstate a bipartisan assault weapons ban.

In Buffalo, Wayne Jones, whose mother Celestine Chaney, 65, died in the attack, urged the city and its institutions to keep on investing in the area and its residents even after the anniversary events are over.

That’s why he is willing, he said, “to keep opening up this wound that I have” and talk about it.

The son of 63-year-old shooting victim Geraldine Talley on Sunday released a book that he said describes what he went through after losing his mother. He titled it: “5/14 : The Day the Devil Came to Buffalo.”

“I definitely know that she wouldn’t want me to be consumed by sadness and anger,” Talley said of his mother, speaking outside of the store as the anniversary approached, “so I will definitely try to find strength in her memory and use it to fight injustice and racism for the rest of my life in her name.”

Inside the remodeled store, fountains flank a poem dedicated to the victims. A commission is at work designing a permanent memorial for outside. In the meantime, a hand-painted mural overlooking the parking lot promotes unity, with a Black hand and white hand meeting together in prayer.

The store was closed Sunday in remembrance of the shooting.

An 18-year-old white supremacist carried out the attack after driving more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) from his home in rural Conklin, New York.

Besides Chaney and Talley, the dead included Andre Mackneil, who was buying a cake for his son’s third birthday; church deacon Heyward Patterson; community advocate Katherine Massey; Ruth Whitfield, whose son was a Buffalo fire commissioner; Roberta Drury, who had moved back to Buffalo to help a brother diagnosed with cancer; church missionary Pearl Young; Margus Morrison, who was buying dinner for a family movie night; and Aaron Salter, a retired Buffalo police officer who was working as a security guard.

The gunman pleaded guilty to murder and other charges and was sentenced to life in prison without parole in February. A federal case against him is pending.
…

your ad here

Mayorkas: No Asylum Ban, But Lawful Pathways Incentivized

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas denied the U.S. has imposed a ban on asylum-seekers, but he also emphasized that there is a lawful and orderly way to reach the U.S. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias has the details.
…

your ad here

US Homeland Security Chief: No Migration Surge at Mexican Border

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Sunday that the number of migrants trying to cross into the United States from Mexico since border entry rules were changed late last week has dropped nearly in half but that it was “too early” to know whether the surge in migration has peaked.

U.S. immigration officials had been expecting a huge surge in the number of migrants walking across the border when it ended a three-year policy late Thursday that called for the automatic expulsion back to Mexico based on fears of the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Watch related video by Veronica Balderas Iglesias:

Now the U.S. has adopted a system requiring migrants to seek U.S. asylum before arriving at the border, either through an internet connection that has proved less than fully reliable or at migration centers in other countries they have passed through to get to the U.S.

Mayorkas told CNN’s “State of the Union” show that about 10,000 migrants a day had been crossing the border before the rule change, and in many cases were quickly expelled. But he said border agents only encountered 6,300 on Friday and 4,200 on Saturday.

Still, immigration officials say thousands more are encamped in northern Mexico and could try to enter the U.S. in the coming days or weeks.

Republican Representative Michael McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told ABC’s “This Week” show, “I do think there are caravans [of migrants] going up. I think they still want to get in.”

McCaul said that in the last two and a half years, “We’ve had 5 million people enter this country illegally, 5.1 [million] get-a-ways. It’s unsustainable.”

Mayorkas credited the smaller numbers of migrants trying to enter the U.S. so far to warnings that the U.S. border was not open and that there was a lawful, if time-consuming, way to enter the U.S., by filing papers for asylum in the U.S., even though relatively few migrants could eventually win approval.

“We have communicated very clearly, a vitally important message to the individuals who are thinking of arriving at our southern border,” he said. “There is a lawful, safe and orderly way to arrive in the United States that is through the [asylum] pathways that President [Joe] Biden has expanded in an unprecedented way.”

“And then there’s a consequence if one does not use those lawful pathways,” he said. “And that consequence is removal from the United States, a deportation and encountering a five-year ban on reentry and possible criminal prosecution.”

Mayorkas contended that by setting clear asylum rules, the U.S. will “cut out” migration smugglers charging migrants thousands of dollars to try to reach the U.S. He called it “not only a security imperative, but a humanitarian responsibility.”

With the end to immediate expulsions related to the concerns over the spread of the coronavirus, the Biden administration has drawn attacks from Republicans that the new response is too weak and from some Democrats that it is too cumbersome and inhumane in that too few asylum requests are likely to be granted.

Republicans in the House of Representatives, with no Democratic support, last week approved immigration legislation calling for completion of a U.S.-Mexico border wall that was started by former President Donald Trump but abandoned by Biden. The Democratic-controlled Senate, however, is unlikely to even consider the measure.

Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Kent Wetherell in Florida last week blocked the Biden administration from releasing migrants it has detained into the general U.S. population if detention facilities at the border are overcrowded. Mayorkas said the ruling is being appealed.
…

your ad here

Plump Chicago Snapping Turtle Captured on Video, Goes Viral

Footage of a plump snapping turtle relaxing along a Chicago waterway has gone viral after the man who filmed the well-fed reptile marveled at its size and nicknamed it “Chonkosaurus.”

Joey Santore was kayaking with a friend along the Chicago River last weekend when they spotted the large snapping turtle sitting atop a large chain draped over what appear to be rotting logs.

He posted a jumpy video of the turtle on Twitter, labeling it the “Chicago River Snapper aka Chonkosaurus.”

In the video, Santore can be heard sounding stunned by the size of the turtle, which was displaying folds of flesh extending well beyond its shell.

“Look at this guy. We got a picture of this most beautiful sight. Look at the size of that … thing,” he says, using an expletive. “Look at that beast. Hey, how ya doing guy? You look good. You’re healthy.”

Chris Anchor, the chief wildlife biologist with Forest Preserves of Cook County, said the snapping turtle Santore filmed is quite rare, considering its apparent size. He said it’s also unusual for the reptiles to be seen basking along rivers, but it probably recently emerged from hibernation.

“So my guess is that this animal had crawled out of the river to try and gather as much heat as it could in the sunshine,” Anchor told WMAQ-TV.

While it’s difficult to determine exactly how large the turtle is from the video alone, Anchor called it “a very large individual.” And he noted that snapping turtles are not picky eaters.

“Turtles this big will consume anything they can get their mouth around,” he said, adding that anyone encountering a snapping turtle should not disturb it or try to catch it.

“Enjoy it. Leave it alone,” Anchor said.
…

your ad here

Asylum-Seekers From Mexico Hope for US Entry After Title 42 End

Lupita, a 36-year-old Mexican woman from the state of Michoacan, has spent three months in a shelter, waiting to apply for asylum in the United States. She wears some of the evidence for her case: bullet wounds about her arms, shoulder and abdomen.

Since March 2020, when broad COVID-era restrictions went into effect at the southwest border, Mexicans like Lupita were largely barred from seeking U.S. refuge and instead were quickly expelled back to Mexico.

On Friday, that changed when the administration of President Joe Biden ended Title 42, a COVID-inspired provision that allowed the U.S. government to turn away asylum-seekers for public health reasons.

Immigration attorneys at the Tijuana shelter, across the border from San Diego, California, were advising migrants they should sign up for an appointment to approach a port of entry on a new government app known as CBP One if they wanted to have a chance at winning asylum.

At the same time Title 42 expired, the Biden administration implemented a new regulation that presumes most migrants will be ineligible for asylum if they failed to use legal pathways for U.S. entry like CBP One.

Lupita, now attempting to get an appointment through CBP One, said she fled her home after her husband was killed by cartel gunfire last year, during which she said she was wounded.

Pointing her elbows toward the ceiling, she revealed the suture scars where she was patched up. The outline of a colostomy bag — which she said was the result of a gut shot — is visible through her clothes.

Lupita, who asked not to publish her last name or be photographed for fear of reprisals, said prosecutors told her the attack was a case of mistaken identity, but she fears that being a witness to her husband’s murder endangers her and her children. Reuters was not able to independently confirm her account.

“This is mostly for my children,” Lupita said. “I can’t go back home.”

Mexicans have made up about a third of all the migrants caught by U.S. Border Patrol in recent years but in 2021 and 2022 they were expelled under Title 42 more than 90% of the time.

Place of safety

Also at the shelter, where children played on bicycles and scooters around tents pitched on the floor, were families from Honduras, Ecuador, El Salvador and Nicaragua in addition to Mexico. It was at capacity with nearly 60 people Friday.

Many migrant families are fleeing political violence or domestic abuse at home, trauma that is often made worse during the overland journey through Central America and Mexico, where they are preyed on by all manner of security forces and criminal groups, said Judith Cabrera de la Rocha, co-director of the Tijuana shelter.

“They arrive here malnourished, dehydrated, including pregnant women, and with severe consequences for their mental health. And that’s in addition to the reason why they left was traumatizing,” Cabrera said.

“I like to think of this as a place to get healthy,” she said of the shelter. “We provide a place that’s a little safer.”

The new regulation also bars most migrants from asylum if they passed through other countries without first seeking protection elsewhere, which would apply to most people who are not from Mexico but who traveled through there to get to the border.

Immigration advocates have filed a legal challenge against the new asylum bars, claiming they violate U.S. and international laws and that they resemble restrictions imposed by Biden’s Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, that were blocked in court.

Tens of thousands of migrants rushed to the border last week trying to enter the country before the new asylum rules took effect. In the scramble to the border Mexico’s national migration agency said one 29-year-old Cuban migrant died trying to swim across the Rio Grande River into Texas early Friday.

The spike in recent arrivals strained U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities. The Justice Department asked a federal judge in Florida to temporarily halt an order he issued on Friday that prevents border agents from releasing migrants from custody without first giving them formal notices to appear in immigration court. The government says the practice is needed to prevent overcrowding in U.S. detention centers.
…

your ad here

G7 Plans New Vaccine Effort for Developing Nations

The Group of Seven (G-7) rich nations is set to agree on establishing a new program to distribute vaccines to developing countries at next week’s summit of leaders, Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper said Saturday.

In addition to the G-7, G-20 nations such as India and international groups such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank will participate, it added, citing Japanese government sources.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the COVAX facility, backed by WHO and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), delivered nearly 2 billion doses of coronavirus vaccine to 146 countries.

However, COVAX faced setbacks in ensuring equitable access, as wealthy nations prioritized shots for their citizens while insufficient storage facilities in poorer nations caused supply delays and disposal of millions of close-to-expiry doses.

The new program aims to pool rainy-day funds for vaccine production and purchases, as well as investment in low-temperature storages and training of health workers to prepare for the next global pandemic, the Yomiuri said.

Japan, this year’s chair of the G-7 meetings, looks to build support from emerging nations on wide-ranging issues such as supply chains, food security and climate change to counter the growing influence of China and Russia.

Saturday’s meeting of G-7 finance ministers agreed to offer aid to low- and middle-income countries to help increase their role in supply chains for energy-related products.

At a meeting Saturday, G-7 finance and health ministers called for a new global financing framework to “deploy necessary funds quickly and efficiently in response to outbreaks without accumulating idle cash,” they said in a statement.

The G-7 will collaborate with the WHO and the World Bank, which manages an international pandemic fund, to explore the new funding scheme ahead of an August meeting of G-20 finance and health ministers in India, they said.

The G-7 grouping of Britain, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, is considering whether to issue a statement on a global pandemic response at the May 19-21 summit in Japan’s city of Hiroshima, the Yomiuri said.
…

your ad here

Tribe Separated by US Border Fights for Access That Could Help Others

For four hours, Raymond V. Buelna, a cultural leader for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, sat on a metal bench in a concrete holding space at the U.S.-Mexico border, separated from the two people he was taking to an Easter ceremony on tribal land in Arizona and wondering when they might be released.

It was February 2022 and Buelna, a U.S. citizen, was driving the pair — both from the sovereign Native American nation’s related tribal community in northwestern Mexico — from their home to the reservation southwest of Tucson. They’d been authorized by U.S. officials to cross the border. But when Buelna asked an agent why they were detained, he was told to wait for the officer who brought him in.

“They know that we’re coming,” said Buelna, who has made the trip for a variety of ceremonies for 20 years. “We did all this work and then we’re still sitting there.”

Now, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe is trying to change this — for themselves and potentially dozens of other tribes in the U.S.

‘Something that will help everybody’

Tribal officials have drafted regulations to formalize the border-crossing process, working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s recently formed Tribal Homeland Security Advisory Council, made up of 15 Native officials across the U.S.

Their work could provide a template for dozens of Native American nations whose homelands, like those of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, were sliced in two by modern-day U.S. borders.

If approved, the rules would become the first clearly established U.S. border crossing procedures specific to a Native American tribe that could then be used by other tribes, according to Christina Leza, associate professor of anthropology at Colorado College.

The regulations would last five years, to be renewed and amended as needed, and require training local U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and consular personnel on the tribe’s cultural heritage, language and traditions. It would require a Yaqui interpreter to be available when needed. It also would require close coordination with the tribe, so border crossings are prompt.

“This is just something that will help everybody,” said Fred Urbina, attorney general for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. “It will make things more efficient.”

Regulations would bring ‘peace of mind’

Urbina said the tribe has met with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about the proposal. DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment by phone and email on the status of the regulations.

When family members, deer dancers or musicians living in Sonora, Mexico, make the trip into the U.S. for ceremonies, tribal recognition celebrations or family events, they are typically issued an ID card from the tribe and a visitor visa or parole permit from the U.S. government. But they can still face border officials who they say lack the cultural awareness to process them without problems.

In the last two years, Buelna said, he has made the roundtrip about 18 times and was detained on four of them. He said border officials question the people he’s escorting, whose first language is Yaqui, without an interpreter, and cultural objects, such as deer and pig hooves, have been confiscated. Officials have touched ceremonial objects, despite only certain people being permitted by the tribe to do so.

As a sovereignty issue, Native American nations should be able to determine their people’s ability to cross the border to preserve the ceremonial life of their communities, Leza said.

“If the federal government is saying our particular priorities, our interests in terms of securing our borders, trump your interests as a sovereign nation, then that’s not really a recognition of the sovereignty of those tribal nations,” she said.

Tribes along the U.S.-Canada border face similar problems.

The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians is headquartered in Michigan, but 173 of its more than 49,000 enrolled members live in Canada. Kimberly Hampton, the tribe’s officer-secretary and vice chair of the Tribal Homeland Security Advisory Council, said those members cross the border for powwows, fasting and to visit with traditional healers and family, but border officials have rifled through eagle feathers and other cultural objects they are carrying.

Hampton wants an agreement that includes having tribal liaisons at border crossings and training developed by the tribe for border personnel.

Members of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe and the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, which has about 8,000 members in the U.S. and about 8,000 in Canada, said they have also been asked at the border to prove that they possess at least 50% “blood of the American Indian race.” That stems from a requirement under the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act.

Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe Chief Michael L. Conners wants to eliminate the requirement and boost education for border agents on local and national tribal issues. Drafting regulations specific to the tribe, like the ones the Pascua Yaqui are doing, “would bring a lot of peace of mind to our whole community,” he said.

Meanwhile, in that concrete holding space, Buelna was reunited with the two tribal members only after he told a border official that he thought they’d been overlooked following a shift change, he said.

“Why can’t there be a system?” Buelna asked. “Why can’t there be already a line for us where we can present the proper paperwork, everything that we need and go about our way?”
…

your ad here

In Debt Ceiling Talks, COVID-Era Spending Surrenders to Focus on Deficit

One outcome is clear as Washington reaches for a budget deal in the debt ceiling standoff: The ambitious COVID-19 era of government spending to cope with the pandemic and rebuild is giving way to a new focus on tailored investments and stemming deficits.

President Joe Biden has said recouping unspent coronavirus money is “on the table” in budget talks with Congress. While the White House has threatened to veto Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s debt ceiling bill with its “devastating cuts” to federal programs, the administration has signaled a willingness to consider other budget caps.

The end result is a turnaround from just a few years ago, when Congress passed and then-president Donald Trump signed the historic $2.2 trillion CARES Act at the start of the public health crisis in 2020. It’s a dramatic realignment even as Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act are now investing billions of dollars into paving streets, shoring up the federal safety net and restructuring the U.S. economy.

“The appetite to throw a lot more money at major problems right now is significantly diminished, given what we’ve seen over the past several years,” said Shai Akabas, director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonpartisan organization in Washington.

The Treasury Department has warned it will begin running out of money to pay the nation’s bills as soon as June 1, though an estimate Friday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget office put the deadline at the first two weeks of June, potentially buying the negotiators time.

“We’ve not reached the crunch point yet,” Biden told reporters Saturday before flying to Delaware for the weekend. “There’s real discussion about some changes we all could make. We’re not there yet.”

The contours of an agreement between the White House and Congress are within reach even if the political will to end the standoff is uncertain. Negotiators are considering clawing back some $30 billion in unused COVID-19 funds, imposing spending caps over the next several years and approving permitting reforms to ease construction of energy projects and other developments, according to those familiar with the closed-door staff discussions. They were not authorized to discuss the private deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The White House has been hesitant to engage in talks, insisting it is only willing to negotiate over the annual budget, not the debt ceiling, and Biden’s team is skeptical that McCarthy can cut any deal with his far-right House majority.

“There’s no deal to be had on the debt ceiling. There’s no negotiation to be had on the debt ceiling,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

McCarthy’s allies say the White House has fundamentally underestimated what the new Republican leader has been able to accomplish — first in the grueling fight to become House speaker and now in having passed the House bill with $4.5 trillion in savings as an opening offer in negotiations. Both have emboldened McCarthy to push hard for a deal.

“The White House has been wrong every single time with understanding where we are with the House,” said Russ Vought, president of Center for American Renewal and Trump’s former director of the Office of Management and Budget. “They’re dealing with a new animal.”

The nation’s debt load has ballooned in recent years to $31 trillion. That’s virtually double what it was during the last major debt ceiling showdown a decade ago, when Biden, as vice president to President Barack Obama, faced the new class of tea party Republicans demanding spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt limit.

Much of the COVID-19 spending approved at the start of the pandemic has run its course and government spending is back to its typical levels, experts said. That includes the free vaccines, small business payroll funds, emergency payments to individuals, monthly child tax credits and supplemental food aid that protected Americans and the economy.

“Most of the big things we did are done — and they did an enormous amount of good,” said Sharon Parrott, president of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington.

Last year, Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law over Republican opposition, was largely paid for with savings and new revenues elsewhere.

The popularity of some spending, particularly the child tax credits in the COVID-19 relief and the Inflation Reduction Act’s efforts to tackle climate change, shows the political hunger in the country for the kinds of investments that some Americans believe will help push the U.S. fully into a 21st century economy.

As McCarthy’s House Republicans now demand budget reductions in exchange for raising the debt limit, they have a harder time saying what government programs and services, in fact, they plan to cut.

House Republicans pushed back strenuously against Biden’s claims their bill would slash veterans and other services.

McCarthy, in his meeting with the president, went so far as to tell Biden that’s “a lie.”

The Republicans promise they will exempt the Defense Department and veterans’ health care once they draft the actual spending bills to match up with the House debt ceiling proposal, but there are no written guarantees those programs would not face cuts.

In fact, Democrats say if Republicans spare defense and veterans from reductions, the cuts on the other departments would be as high as 22%.

Budget watchers often reiterate that the debt problem is not necessarily the amount of the debt load, approaching 100% of the nation’s gross domestic product, but whether the federal government can continue making the payments on the debt, especially as interest rates rise.
…

your ad here

US-Mexico Border Sees Orderly Crossings as New Migration Rules Take Effect

The U.S.-Mexico border was relatively calm as the United States ended its pandemic-era immigration restrictions and migrants adapted to new asylum rules and legal pathways meant to discourage illegal crossings.

A full day after the rules known as Title 42 were lifted, migrants and government officials on Friday were still assessing the effects of new regulations adopted by U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration in hope of stabilizing the Southwest border region and undercutting smugglers who charge migrants to get there.

Migrants are now essentially barred from seeking asylum in the U.S. if they did not first apply online or seek protection in the countries they traveled through. Families allowed in as their immigration cases progress will face curfews and GPS monitoring. Those expelled can now be barred from reentry for five years and face possible criminal prosecution.

Across the river from El Paso, Texas, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, many migrants watched their cellphones in hopes of getting a coveted appointment to seek entry. The official app to register to enter the U.S. underwent changes this week, as it offers appointments for migrants to enter through land crossings.

Many migrants in northern Mexico resigned themselves to waiting for an appointment rather than approaching the border without authorization.

“I hope it’s a little better and that the appointments are streamlined a little more,” said Yeremy Depablos, 21, a Venezuelan traveling with seven cousins who has been waiting in Ciudad Juarez for a month. Fearing deportation, Depablos did not want to cross illegally. “We have to do it the legal way.”

The U.S. Homeland Security Department said it has not witnessed any substantial increase in immigration.

Migrants still coming via south

But in southern Mexico, migrants including children still flocked to railways at Huehuetoca on Friday, desperate to clamor aboard freight trains heading north toward the U.S.

The legal pathways touted by the Biden administration consist of a program that permits up to 30,000 people a month from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter if they apply online with a financial sponsor and enter through an airport.

About 100 processing centers are opening in Guatemala, Colombia and elsewhere for migrants to apply to go to the U.S., Spain or Canada. Up to 1,000 can enter daily through land crossings with Mexico if they secure an appointment on the app.

If it works, the system could fundamentally alter how migrants come to the southern border. But Biden, who is running for reelection, faces withering criticism from migrant advocates, who say he’s abandoning more humanitarian methods, and from Republicans, who claim he’s soft on border security. Two legal challenges already loom over the new asylum restrictions.

Title 42 was initiated in March 2020 and allowed border officials to quickly deport asylum seekers on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. But with the national emergency officially over, the restrictions have ended.

Fears of deportation

While Title 42 prevented many from seeking asylum, it carried no legal consequences for expulsion like those under the new rules.

In El Paso on Friday, a few dozen migrants lingered outside Sacred Heart Catholic Church and shelter, on streets where nearly 2,000 migrants were camped as recently as Tuesday.

The Rev. Daniel Mora said most of the migrants took heed of flyers distributed by U.S. immigration authorities offering a “last chance” to submit to processing and left. El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said that 1,800 migrants turned themselves over to Customs and Border Protection on Thursday.

Melissa Lopez, executive director for Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services at El Paso, said many migrants have been willing to follow the legal pathway created by the federal government, but there are fears about deportation and possible criminal penalties for crossing the border illegally.

Border holding facilities in the U.S. were already far beyond capacity in the run-up to Title 42’s expiration.

In Florida, a federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump has temporarily halted the administration’s plans to release people into the U.S.

Customs and Border Protection said it would comply but called it a “harmful ruling that will result in unsafe overcrowding” at migrant processing and detention facilities.

A court date has been scheduled on whether to extend the ruling.

Migrant-rights groups also sued the Biden administration on allegations that its new policy is no different than one adopted by Trump — and rejected by the same court.

The Biden administration says its policy is different, arguing that it’s not an outright ban but imposes a higher burden of proof to get asylum and that it pairs restrictions with newly opened legal pathways.

At the Chaparral port of entry in Tijuana on Friday, a few migrants approached U.S. authorities after not being able to access the appointment app. One of them, a Salvadoran man named Jairo, said he was fleeing death threats back home.

“We are truly afraid,” said Jairo who was traveling with his partner and their 3-year-old son and declined to share his last name. “We can’t remain any longer in Mexico and we can’t go back to Guatemala or El Salvador. If the U.S. can’t take us, we hope they can direct us to another country that can.”
…

your ad here

What Were the Most Popular Baby Names in the US Last Year?

Dutton and Wrenlee are on the rise but they’re no match for champs Liam and Olivia as the top baby names in the U.S. last year.

The Social Security Administration released the annual list Friday. The agency tracks baby names in each state based on applications for Social Security cards, with names dating to 1880.

It’s Liam’s sixth straight year as No. 1. Olivia has reigned since the name unseated Emma four years ago. Emma is No. 2.

Coming in third for girls’ names is Charlotte, followed by Amelia, Sophia, Isabella, Ava, Mia, Evelyn and Luna. For boys’ names, Liam is followed by Noah, Oliver, James, Elijah, William, Henry, Lucas, Benjamin and Theodore.

Luna is the only newcomer in the Top 10, booting Harper.

The agency has been compiling the list since 1997, often revealing the impact pop culture has on baby naming trends. The smash hit “Yellowstone” has clearly influenced new parents. The neo-Western starring Kevin Costner debuted in 2018, with characters surfacing among baby names ever since.

Dutton moved up the Social Security list to 835, a change of 986 spots from 2021. It’s the last name of the fictional family featured on the series, and it counts Costner’s John Dutton in its ranks. Dutton is the fastest rising name in the Social Security rankings.

Another Dutton name follows actual Dutton as a star with a bullet among baby names. Kayce, as in Kayce John Dutton on the show, moved to the 587th most popular name, up from 1,077 the year before. Luke Grimes plays Kayce.

Rip, also from “Yellowstone,” has grabbed some naming attention, but it didn’t crack Social Security’s top 1,000. Cole Hauser’s Rip Wheeler is Dutton adjacent as the son-in-law of John.

Other names rising fast for boys: Chosen, Khaza, Eithan. For girls, Wrenlee is followed by Neriah, Arlet, Georgina and Amiri.

The Social Security Administration’s latest data shows 3.64 million babies in the U.S. were issued Social Security cards last year, up slightly from 2021.
…

your ad here

Honduran Teen Dies in US Immigration Custody

The mother of a 17-year-old who died this week in U.S. immigration custody demanded answers from U.S. officials Friday, saying her son had no known illnesses and had not shown any signs of being sick before his death.

The teenager was identified as Ángel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza, according to a tweet from Honduras’ foreign relations minister, Enrique Reina. Maradiaga was detained at a facility in Safety Harbor, Florida, Reina said, and died Wednesday. His death underscored concerns about a strained immigration system as the Biden administration manages the end of asylum restrictions known as Title 42.

His mother, Norma Saraí Espinoza Maradiaga, told The Associated Press in a phone interview that her son “wanted to live the American Dream.”

Ángel Eduardo left his hometown of Olanchito, Honduras, on April 25, his mother said. He crossed the U.S.-Mexico border some days later and on May 5 was referred to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which operates longer-term facilities for children who cross the border without a parent.

That same day, he spoke to his mother for the last time, she said Friday.

“He told me he was in a shelter and not to worry because he was in the best hands,” she said. “We only spoke two minutes. I told him goodbye and wished him the best.”

This week, someone who identified himself only as one of her son’s friends at the shelter called her to say that when he had awakened for breakfast, Ángel Eduardo didn’t respond and was dead.

His mother then called a person in the U.S. who was supposed to have received Ángel Eduardo, asking for help verifying the information. Hours later, that person called her back saying it was true that her son was dead.

“I want to clear up my son’s real cause of death,” she said. He didn’t suffer from any illnesses and hadn’t been sick as far as she knew.

“No one tells me anything. The anguish is killing me,” she said. “They say they are awaiting the autopsy results and don’t give me any other answer.”

No cause of death was immediately available nor were circumstances of any illness or medical treatment.

HHS said in a statement Friday that it “is deeply saddened by this tragic loss and our heart goes out to the family, with whom we are in touch.” A review of health care records was under way, as was an investigation by a medical examiner, the department said.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the news “devastating” and referred questions about the investigation to HHS.

This was the first known death of an immigrant child in custody during the Biden administration. At least six immigrant children died in U.S. custody during the administration of former President Donald Trump, during which the U.S. at times detained thousands of children above the system’s capacity.

HHS operates long-term facilities to hold children who cross the border without a parent until they can be placed with a sponsor. HHS facilities generally have beds and facilities as well as schooling and other activities for minors, unlike Border Patrol stations and detention sites in which detainees sometimes sleep on the floor in cells.

Advocates who oppose the detention of immigrant children say HHS facilities are not suited to hold minors for weeks or months, as sometimes happens.

More than 8,600 children are currently in HHS custody. That number may rise sharply in the coming weeks amid the shift in border policies as well as sharply rising trends of migration across the Western Hemisphere and the traditional spike in crossings during spring and summer.

Ángel Eduardo had studied until eighth grade before leaving school to work. Most recently he had been working as a mechanic’s assistant. He had been a standout soccer player in Olanchito in northern Honduras since he was 7 years old, his mother said.

The teenager had hopes of reuniting with his father, who left Honduras for the U.S. years ago, and earning money to support her and two younger siblings still in Honduras, his mother said.

He had migrated with his mother’s approval and financial support from his father in the United States, she said.
…

your ad here

US Debt Ceiling Looms Over Biden’s Foreign Trips

The threat of the United States defaulting on its obligations looms over the upcoming G-7 summit in Japan that President Joe Biden is scheduled to attend before continuing to a summit with the so-called Quad leaders in Australia and one with Pacific Island leaders in Papua New Guinea. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has the story.
…

your ad here

Heat Wave in Pacific Northwest Could Break Records

A heat wave this weekend could surpass daily records in parts of the Pacific Northwest and worsen wildfires already burning in western Canada, a historically temperate region that has grappled with scorching summer temperatures and unprecedented wildfires fueled by climate change in recent years.

“We’re looking at record-breaking temperatures,” said Miles Higa, meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Portland office, describing the warmth as “unusual for this time of year.”

The unseasonal high temperatures could further fuel the dozens of fires burning in Canada’s western Alberta province, where officials have ordered evacuations and declared a state of emergency. Residents and officials in the Northwest have been trying to adjust to the likely reality of longer, hotter heat waves following the deadly “heat dome ” weather phenomenon in 2021 that prompted record temperatures and deaths across the region.

The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory Friday lasting from Saturday through Monday for much of the western parts of both Oregon and Washington state. It said the temperatures could raise the risk of heat-related illness, particularly for those who are dehydrated or don’t have effective cooling.

Temperatures in Portland, Oregon, are expected to hover around (94 degrees Fahrenheit) (34.4 degrees Celsius) throughout the weekend, according to the website of the National Weather Service office there. The current daily temperature records for May 13 and 14 stand at 92 F (33.3 C) and 91 F (32.8 C), dating from 1973 and 2014, respectively.

Air-conditioned buses free

Temperatures in the Seattle area could also meet or surpass daily records, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Jacob DeFlitch. The mercury could near 85 F (29.4 C) Saturday and reach into the low 90s F (32.2 C) Sunday, he said.

King County, home to Seattle, directed transportation operators such as bus drivers to let people ride for free if they’re seeking respite from the heat or heading to a cooling center. The city’s regional homeless authority said several cooling and day centers will be open across the county.

Authorities also urged people to be wary of cold-water temperatures, should they be tempted to take a river or lake swim to cool off.

“Rivers are still running cold. We have snow melting and temperatures … probably in the low- to mid-40s (4.4 to 7.2 C) right now,” National Weather Service meteorologist Higa said. “You’re nice and warm and jump into the cold water — that could pose a risk to getting cold water shock.”

Outreach to vulnerable

Residents and officials in the Pacific Northwest have become more vigilant about heat wave preparations after some 800 people died in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia during the heat dome weather event in late June and early July 2021. The temperature at the time soared to an all-time high of 116 F (46.7 C) in Portland and smashed heat records in cities and towns across the region. Many of those who died were older people who lived alone.

In response, Oregon passed a law requiring all new housing built after April 2024 to have air conditioning installed in at least one room. The law already prohibits landlords in most cases from restricting tenants from installing cooling devices in their rental units.

Last summer, Portland launched a heat response program with the goal of installing portable heat pump and cooling units in low-income households, prioritizing residents who are older and live alone, as well as those with underlying health conditions. Local nonprofits participating in the program installed more than 3,000 units last year, according to the city’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.

One of those nonprofits, Verde, said interest in the units has been high. Verde has installed roughly 180 units so far this year, and their waitlist last year was nearly 500 people long, said Ricardo Moreno, a project manager for the group who oversees its heat response program.

“People we’ve talked to, mostly elderly people with some health conditions, they all shared that having these units have made a world of difference and definitely improved the quality of their lives through the summer,” Moreno said.

Another local nonprofit, the African American Alliance for Homeownership, installed 1,200 units last year and 75 units so far this year, program manager Richard Hines-Norwood said.

Officials in Multnomah County, home to Portland, said they weren’t planning on opening special cooling centers for now but are monitoring the forecast and can do so if needed.

“This is the first significant event … and it is early for us,” said Chris Voss, the county’s director of emergency management. “We’re not seeing a situation where we are hearing that this is extremely dangerous. That being said, we don’t know if it’s going to drift.”

Outreach teams have started visiting homeless encampments to let them know about the resources available to them, Voss said. Air-conditioned libraries are an example of a public place where people can cool off, he added.
…

your ad here

Los Angeles Library Evolves with Changing City

The Los Angeles Public Library evolved from donated space over a saloon to a sprawling system with an imposing central library downtown. An exhibition looks back at the drama surrounding the library through its 150-year history. Mike O’Sullivan reports.
…

your ad here

UN Weekly Roundup: May 6-12, 2023

Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch.

Sudan’s generals agree to guidelines on allowing humanitarian aid and protection

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed Thursday’s signing by Sudan’s warring parties of a declaration of commitment to protect civilians and guarantee the safe passage of humanitarian aid in the country. The negotiations took place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. However, a cease-fire remained beyond reach. More than 700,000 Sudanese have fled their homes since the violence broke out April 15, and hundreds more have been killed and wounded.

Sudan’s Warring Sides Sign Commitment to Secure Humanitarian Aid

In Geneva on Thursday, the U.N. Human Rights Council adopted a resolution at an emergency session condemning the human rights violations committed after the October 25, 2021, military coup in Sudan and the conflict that erupted in April. The resolution calls for the U.N.-designated expert on human rights in Sudan to monitor and document all allegations of human rights abuses since the 2021 military takeover.

UN Experts Urge Accountability for Atrocities Against Sudanese

Black Sea grain deal could expire May 18

The United Nations says it has no backup plan if Russia pulls out of the deal that allows Ukraine to export grain to international markets and helps facilitate Moscow’s grain and fertilizer exports. Russia has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the Black Sea Grain Initiative on May 18, claiming it is not benefiting enough, which U.S. officials say is “farcical.” The United Nations says the 10-month-old deal has helped bring global food prices down and allowed grain and other foodstuffs to reach developing nations.

UN: No Plan B if Russia Withdraws from Grain Deal

Record number of internally displaced persons worldwide

The number of internally displaced people globally hit a record 71.1 million at the end of last year, according to a report released Thursday by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center — a 20% increase from 2021. Nearly three-quarters of internally displaced people around the world were in 10 countries: Syria, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ukraine, Colombia, Ethiopia, Yemen, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan.

Number of Internally Displaced People Hits Record High

In brief

— The United Nations Children’s Fund said Thursday that violence in Haiti is driving up severe acute malnutrition in children. This year, more than 115,000 Haitian children are expected to suffer from the deadliest form of malnutrition, also known as severe wasting, compared to 87,000 last year. Gang violence has made moving about the Caribbean Island nation extremely dangerous — the U.N. says more than 600 people were killed in April alone — making it difficult for families to access food and health care. The children’s agency is appealing for $17 million to scale up its operations in Haiti.

— The U.N. Human Rights office said in a new report Friday that “there are strong indications” that more than 500 people were killed — most summarily executed — by Malian troops and foreign military personnel during a five-day military operation in the village of Moura in the Mopti region of central Mali in March 2022. U.N. investigators were denied access to Moura by Malian officials during the months-long investigation. The U.N. team documented at least 238 victims and said at least 58 women and girls were raped. Read the full report in French.

— Floods and landslides in the Congo’s South Kivu Kalehe Territory have killed at least 420 people and local authorities say as many as 5,000 more could be missing. At least 3,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed. The U.N. and partners have mobilized emergency teams to support the government’s response efforts. The World Health Organization and UNICEF have provided medical supplies, equipment, clean water and sanitation kits. The World Food Program began distributing eight tons of food on Wednesday. Humanitarians say access is challenging as the main road leading to the area is damaged from the floods.

— The U.N. Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration called Friday for “a collaborative approach” to better respond to the movement of refugees and migrants throughout the Americas. Their joint statement comes as the United States lifted coronavirus restrictions on asylum seekers. Title 42, as it is known, allowed the U.S. to turn back migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border since 2020 under the auspices of protecting public health. UNHCR and IOM expressed concern that new U.S. restrictions on access for asylum-seekers who arrive irregularly after transiting through another country is incompatible with principles of international refugee law. The agencies said, “returns should only be conducted following due process and necessary safeguards, and in accordance with States’ obligations under international law.”

UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi was at the State Department on Thursday to discuss the Sudan crisis, forced displacement and other issues with Richard Verman, deputy secretary for management and resources.

— The cash-strapped WFP said Thursday that it will have to end food assistance to 200,000 Palestinians by June. Without a funding infusion, the agency says by August it will be forced to completely suspend operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. WFP is appealing for $51 million to continue its food and cash assistance for Palestinians until the end of the year. The appeal comes as Israel and the Palestinians are in yet another cycle of violence. The U.N. Security Council met in a closed meeting Wednesday to discuss the latest deadly Israeli air strikes on Gaza and a raid on the West Bank town of Nablus as well as Palestinian rocket fire at Israel.

— Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba traveled to Ukraine on Wednesday through May 13, to meet with government officials to discuss the impact of the war on children, including how to enhance the protection of boys and girls in Ukraine and prevent grave violations.

Quote of note

“Peace must never be underestimated or taken for granted. We must work to make peace and to keep it, every day, tirelessly. In a world that is tearing itself apart, we must heal divisions, prevent escalation, and listen to grievances. Instead of bullets, we need diplomatic arsenals.”

— Secretary-General Guterres in his acceptance speech of the Carlos V European Award on May 9 at the Yuste Monastery in Spain. The award is given to people, organizations, or initiatives that have contributed to the general knowledge and the enhancement of Europe’s cultural and historical values or EU integration.

What we are watching next week

The Black Sea Grain Initiative could expire on May 18 if Russia withdraws from the deal. An earlier brief suspension on Moscow’s part in late October was essentially ignored by Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations. But it remains to be seen if Russia will make it impossible to allow ships to pass safely through the Black Sea to the Bosporus Straits if it unilaterally decides the deal should end.
…

your ad here

As Title 42 Ends, Confusion at the US-Mexico Border

The emergency health order used during the pandemic at the U.S.-Mexico border to quickly expel migrants back to Mexico or to their home countries has ended. VOA’s immigration correspondent Aline Barros reports on how the situation is unfolding along the South Texas border.
…

your ad here

US Lawmakers Seek to Curb Chinese Farmland Purchases

The Midwestern state of Illinois is one of the top producers of corn and soybeans in the United States, and it’s where Wendell Shauman farms land that his family has owned for several generations near the city of Galesburg.

While planting crops this spring, he’s been worried about Chinese investors purchasing farmland like his.

Between 2019 and 2020, companies with shareholders connected to China increased their overall U.S. land holdings by nearly 30%, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department.

“It’s uncomfortable having your major competitor — an outfit that is shaking their saber at you all the time — to own land here. That makes you nervous,” Shauman told VOA.

But he acknowledges he doesn’t know of any farms nearby connected to China.

“I don’t know of any in this area,” he said.

In Jacksonville, Illinois, Luke Worrell’s company manages land transactions throughout the region.

“In 15 years, I’ve never even had communication with an investment group that I’ve known to be Chinese,” he says.

Most of the transactions he’s involved with stay local.

“In my 15-year career, I’ve never sold a farm to any international buyer.”

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican, is among a bipartisan group of lawmakers calling Chinese ownership of American farms a threat.

“If you add up all of the acres of Chinese-owned farmland, it is nearly the size of my home state of Iowa,” she told reporters during a press conference on Capitol Hill in March. “The Chinese are everywhere,” she said, “and we need to be wary of what they are doing here in the United States.”

While lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle consider legislation aimed to curb sales of U.S. agricultural land to some foreign entities, China ranks 18th out of 109 countries with investment in U.S. land.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports Chinese-connected investors own less than 162,000 total hectares (400,000 acres) of land in the U.S. — only a fraction of which is farmland. That is 1.12% of the total area of Iowa.

“China owns almost no farmland in the United States,” said Bruce Sherrick, professor of agriculture and consumer economics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Of the millions of hectares of U.S. agricultural lands owned by foreign entities, Sherrick says Chinese ownership barely registers.

Recent efforts by Chinese-connected investors to buy land near military installations in Texas and North Dakota have fueled concerns about national security risks. But Sherrick says foreign-owned properties are typically managed or tended to by local entities, often American farmers.

“The land producing things doesn’t know who owns it,” Sherrick said to VOA during a recent interview in his campus office. “So, I think as a matter of agriculture policy, it’s probably not a big deal who owns it.”

Sherrick says farmland remains an attractive investment for any potential buyer.

“It’s positively correlated returns with inflation no matter how we parse up the data through time. A very high average returns through time, and very low systemic risk.”

In Streator, Illinois, farmer David Isermann also doesn’t know of any land near him owned by foreign investors.

“For me, it’s a nonissue,” he says.

While he’d prefer local ownership over Chinese investment, Isermann doesn’t see a need for new legislation.

“I think the whole issue is made to make us feel good. You know, it’s something that both sides of the aisle can agree on,” he said.

Shauman has no plans to sell any of his land, which will one day become his granddaughter’s, as she helps him manage the farming business. He welcomes legislation curbing Chinese land acquisitions in the U.S.

“In rural America, I think there would be a lot of support for this,” he says. “I just as soon not have China come in and throw money around and who knows doing whatever else. I’m not a fan of China.”

In addition to Congress, a number of state legislatures are also considering new restrictions on foreign ownership of U.S. land.
…

your ad here

Lawmakers Seek to Curb Chinese Purchases of US Farmland

Some US lawmakers are urging legislation to curb sales of US agricultural land to foreign entities, specifically China. Of more than 100 countries with US land investments, China ranks 18th in holdings. As VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports, while concerns about China gobbling up US farmland resound in Congress, experts say it’s more a political issue than a practical one.
…

your ad here

Stunning Mosaic of Baby Star Clusters Created From 1 Million Telescope Shots

Astronomers have created a stunning mosaic of baby star clusters hiding in our galactic backyard.

The montage, published Thursday, reveals five vast stellar nurseries less than 1,500 light-years away. A light-year is nearly 9.7 trillion kilometers.

To come up with their atlas, scientists pieced together more than 1 million images taken over five years by the European Southern Observatory in Chile. The observatory’s infrared survey telescope was able to peer through clouds of dust and discern infant stars.

“We can detect even the faintest sources of light, like stars far less massive than the sun, revealing objects that no one has ever seen before,” University of Vienna’s Stefan Meingast, the lead author, said in a statement.

The observations, conducted from 2017 to 2022, will help researchers better understand how stars evolve from dust, Meingast said.

The findings, appearing in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, complement observations by the European Space Agency’s star-mapping Gaia spacecraft, orbiting nearly 1.5 million kilometers away.

Gaia focuses on optical light, missing most of the objects obscured by cosmic dust, the researchers said.
…

your ad here

China Says It’s Willing to Work With US on Audit Deal as Challenges Loom

China’s securities watchdog on Thursday said it was willing to work with its counterparts in the United States to promote audit regulatory cooperation and safeguard the rights and interests of global investors.

The comment from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, or CSRC, came a day after a U.S. accounting watchdog said it had found unacceptable deficiencies in audits of U.S.-listed Chinese companies.

The CSRC, in a statement made in response to Reuters’ request for comment, said that the watchdog deemed the deficiencies normal and that Beijing would continue to work with the U.S.

Analysts said the deficiencies that the U.S. watchdog found were unlikely to derail an audit deal the two countries struck in September, but it would be challenging to turn around auditing practices quickly amid continued U.S.-China tensions.

The U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB, published the findings of its inspections on Wednesday after gaining access to Chinese company auditors’ records for the first time last year.

The inspections were carried out following more than a decade of negotiations with Chinese authorities.

That access, gained as a result of the September deal, kept roughly 200 China-based public companies, including Alibaba and JD.com, from potentially being kicked off U.S. stock exchanges.

“We noticed that the U.S. regulator said the deficiencies they found this time were normal for a first-time inspection,” the CSRC said in its statement, referring to the PCAOB.

“The inspection report also didn’t conclude that the audit opinions by relevant auditors were inappropriate,” said the CSRC, adding it believed the deficiencies found would help auditing firms rectify their problems and improve quality.

Auditors of Chinese companies based in the mainland and in Hong Kong will have to do a lot of work to fix the findings, said analysts and former regulators.

“Generally, the PCAOB expected high rates, and these are not surprising in the short term,” said Jackson Johnson, a former PCAOB inspector and president of Johnson Global Accountancy, an audit advisory firm in Nevada.

He said that since auditors would need to turn around the results prior to the next inspection, there was a lot of work to be done.

Law firm Wilson Sonsini’s senior partner Weiheng Chen said that although the deficiency rate in PCAOB findings was much higher than the average of its reviews, the deficiencies would not result in the restatement of a company’s financial statements.

“So, these deficiencies alone would not cause any stock delisting,” Chen said.

Reuters reported in March that the PCAOB had started a new round of inspections in Hong Kong as part of the deal, which is a rare bright spot in Sino-U.S. relations at a time when some business leaders have voiced concerns about the decoupling of the world’s two largest economies.

“We are willing to work with the U.S. regulator and continue to push forward audit cooperation based on experiences, mutual respect and trust, and build a normalized, sustainable cooperation mechanism,” said the CSRC.
…

your ad here

US Accuses South Africa of Shipping Arms to Russia

The U.S. on Thursday accused South Africa of supplying arms to Russia for its war in Ukraine in a three-day covert naval operation near Cape Town in early December.

Ambassador Reuben Brigety, the American diplomatic mission chief to South Africa, said in comments carried by multiple South African news outlets that the U.S. was certain that the weapons were loaded onto a Russian-flagged cargo ship, the Lady R, that was secretly docked at the Simon’s Town naval base before departing for Russia.

He characterized South Africa’s alleged arming of Russia during its invasion of Ukraine as “extremely serious” and said it called into question South Africa’s supposed neutral stance in the conflict.

In Parliament, the leader of the South African political opposition, John Steenhuisen, asked President Cyril Ramaphosa if South Africa was “actively arming Russian soldiers who are murdering and maiming innocent people?”

Ramaphosa replied that an investigation was underway. “The matter is being looked into, and in time we will be able to speak about it,” Ramaphosa said, but declined further comment.

Later, in a statement, Ramaphosa said U.S. and South African officials had discussed “the Lady R matter … and there was an agreement that an investigation will be allowed to run its course, and that the U.S. intelligence services will provide whatever evidence [is] in their possession.”

“It is therefore disappointing,” Ramaphosa said, “that the U.S. ambassador has adopted a counter-productive public posture that undermines the understanding reached on the matter and the very positive and constructive engagements between the two delegations.”

Brigety told reporters in the capital, Pretoria, “Among the things we [the U.S.] noted was the docking of the cargo ship in the Simon’s Town naval base between the 6th and 8th December 2022, which we are confident uploaded weapons and ammunition onto that vessel in Simon’s Town as it made its way back to Russia.”

Steenhuisen’s party, the Democratic Alliance, had raised questions earlier this year about a “mystery” Russian vessel making a stop at the Simon’s Town base.

At the time, the South African government didn’t comment publicly, saying it needed to gather information. In late December, South African Defense Minister Thandi Modise said the ship appeared to be handling an “old order” for ammunition, and she indicated that arms were offloaded, not loaded onto the ship.

The South African government is allied with the U.S. in Africa but has stated numerous times it is remaining neutral on the war in Ukraine and wants the conflict resolved peacefully. But South Africa has had recent contacts with Russia, raising U.S. concerns about its claims of neutrality.

South Africa hosted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for talks in January, about a month after the alleged visit by the Lady R, giving him a platform to blame the West for the war in Ukraine.

Weeks later, South Africa allowed warships from the Russian and Chinese navies to perform drills off its east coast. The Russian navy brought its Admiral Gorshkov frigate, one of its navy’s flagship vessels.

The South African navy also took part in the drills and characterized them as exercises that would “strengthen the already flourishing relations between South Africa, Russia and China.”

Brigety said South Africa’s decision to stage the naval drills in February, which coincided with the first anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine, raised “serious concerns” for the U.S.

South Africa said the drills were planned years ago before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress Party, which is led by Ramaphosa, sent a delegation to Moscow last month and spoke of strengthening its ties with Russia, further complicating the country’s relationship with the U.S.

Some material in this report came from The Associated Press.
…

your ad here