Category: Foreign

PRESIDENT Joe Biden yesterday condemned ex-President Donald Trump’s election “big lie”, describing him as posing a continuing threat to American democracy on the first anniversary of the storming of Capitol Hill.

He marked the anniversary of the insurrection by declaring he would stand and fight for “the soul of America”.

Biden’s criticism was blistering of the “defeated president” who he blamed for the attack that has fundamentally changed Congress and raised global concerns about the future of American democracy.

“For the first time in our history, a president not just lost an election, he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol. But they failed,” Biden said.

His voice booming at times, filling the ornate hall with statues of the country’s leaders and heroes, he called on Americans to see January 6 for what it was.

“Democracy was attacked,” Biden said at the Capitol. “We the people endure. We the people prevailed.”

Trump responded by accusing President Joe Biden of invoking his name in remarks “to try to further divide” America.

“This political theatre is all just a distraction,” Trump said.

But, Trump swiftly responded to Biden’s speech on the anniversary of the January 6 Capitol riot, accusing the Democrat of “destroying our nation” and of playing “political theatre” to distract from crises.

Trump made abundantly clear in his statement that he was unhappy with Biden’s blistering accusations.

Hitting back, Trump accused Biden of using his name “to further divide America”.

“This political theatre is all just a distraction for the fact Biden has completely and totally failed,” Trump wrote, referencing record numbers of COVID-19 cases, the crisis at the southern border, and “unconstitutional mandates,” referring to vaccine requirements put forth by the current administration which are facing a mountain of legal challenges.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law making child marriage a public crime punishable by imprisonment of up to 12 years, according to documents released on Thursday.

Duterte signed the law on Dec. 10.

It states that the government “views child marriage as a practice constituting child abuse because it debases, degrades and demeans the intrinsic worth and dignity of children.’’

Under the law, persons found guilty of facilitating or officiating at a child marriage face imprisonment of between six years and 12 years and a fine, parents and guardians also lose child custody.

It also added that an adult partner who cohabits with a child outside of wedlock shall also face a penalty of imprisonment of between six years and 12 years and a fine.

READ ALSO: Group moves against child marriage

All child marriages are deemed void and nullified the law states.

There is an estimate of 726,000 girl brides in the Philippines, making the country the 12th highest in the world with such cases, according to Oxfam International.

The practice of child marriage is most prevalent in the southern region of Mindanao, where Muslims are allowed to have more than one wife, and girls as young as 13 years old can be married, Oxfam said.

There are more incidents of child marriages in areas where poverty, armed conflict and humanitarian crises are persistent, therefore, social and gender norms also fuel child marriages, it added.

With the new law, the government aims to “abolish all traditional and cultural practices and structure that perpetuate’’ the practice of child marriage.

 

(dpa/NAN)

German pharmaceutical company BioNTech and its U.S. partner Pfizer want to jointly develop a vaccine against shingles.

Shingles, which is also known as herpes zoster, is triggered by a virus which normally causes chickenpox in childhood, after that has cleared up, however, the virus remains in the nerve cells for life, and can cause shingles at a later stage.

Typical symptoms of this include burning pain, followed by a spread of blisters on the skin. In rare cases, nerve pain can persist for long periods after the rash has cleared up.

It is to be the first such vaccine based on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology, which has already been used for the Coronavirus vaccine, the companies jointly announced on Wednesday.

READ ALSO: Pfizer, BioNTech seek EU’s approval to use COVID-19 vaccine on kids

Clinical trials is expected to begin in the second half of this year.

According to the German national disease control body, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), about 300,000 people in Germany contract shingles every year, about 5 per cent of them severely.

There is a standard vaccination with an inactivated vaccine in two doses.

The two companies said the new vaccine will use an antigen technology developed by Pfizer and the mRNA process from BioNTech.

They plan to share development costs as well as gross profits from future product sales.

(dpa/NAN)

German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, departed on Wednesday for talks in Washington set to focus on Europe’s strained relationship with Russia, in her first trip to the United States since taking office.

“The more difficult the times are, the more important strong partnerships are, and as Europeans, we have no stronger partner than the US,’’ Baerbock said as she set off in Berlin.

She is scheduled to meet her U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, with whom she last met at a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Liverpool in December, shortly after Germany’s new coalition government was sworn in.

The two top diplomats are expected to discuss Russia’s recent build-up of troops near its border with Ukraine, which has prompted fears in the West that Moscow could be planning an invasion.

Baerbock said Europe and the U.S. had a joint message that “Russian action comes with a clear price tag and the only way out of the crisis is through dialogue’’.

Moscow has been warned repeatedly in previous weeks against any military intervention, by Washington, NATO and various European partners.

However, Baerbock noted that the situation had reached a “decisive phase, in which important talks are pending at different levels’’.

Her meeting comes ahead of talks planned between Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France on the Ukraine crisis in Moscow on Thursday.

READ ALSO: Hundreds of migrants stranded in Belarus, hoping to reach Germany

Russian and U.S. diplomats are also scheduled to meet in Geneva on Monday and Tuesday next week.

Russia and NATO are planning separate talks on Jan. 12.

A NATO foreign ministers’ meeting on the issue is set for Friday.

For weeks, the West has been concerned about reports that Russia has massed tens of thousands of soldiers in areas not far from Ukraine.

Russia rejects accusations of military aggression, and in turn accuses Ukraine of having moved more soldiers to its eastern areas, which are held by pro-Russian separatists.

The developments recall the events of 2014 when Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and began its ongoing support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

A conflict has been ongoing in the region ever since and more than 13,000 people have been killed in the violence, according to UN estimates.

During her trip to Washington, Baerbock is also scheduled to meet U.S. House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.

Their meeting comes on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, when a mob of Donald Trump supporters broke into the seat of the U.S. government.

“I am travelling to Washington not only as foreign minister but as a committed democrat and parliamentarian,’’ Baerbock said in a statement upon her departure.

Baerbock, a member of Germany’s Green Party, is also expected to discuss climate policies with the U.S. administration during her visit.

 

(dpa/NAN)

RUSSIA does not see Africa as an arena of confrontation with other countries and it is open to cooperation with African countries.

It was also opened to China and the European Union, Vsevolod Tkachenko, director of the Africa Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

“We do not see Africa as an arena for confrontation between Russia and anyone else.

“We see it as a continent where in cooperation with our African friends and partners, we are open to interaction with all interested parties, including European Union, China and other countries,’’ Tkachenko said.

According to the diplomat, Moscow understands that many have their own economic and political interests that do not always coincide with the interests of others.

However, Russia always stood for fair competition and advocated partnership over confrontation.

He said the expansion of Russia-Mali cooperation in the military-technical sphere depended on many factors and was being implemented in accordance with current needs.

“It cooperation depends on many factors. It exists and is being implemented in accordance with current needs and capabilities.

“We have a long and successful history of cooperation with Mali, including the matters of armaments cooperation,” Tkachenko said.

According to Tkachenko, these traditions will be continued.

“We are assisting Mali in training their military representatives, working on the supply of military-technical products at the request of the Malian government.

“This is a normal practice, proving our readiness to provide the Malians with the necessary assistance in strengthening the potential of their armed forces and fighting ability.’’

In November 2021, Moscow vowed to continue military cooperation with Mali and to defend the Sahel state’s territorial integrity while denying any links to Russian military contractors in the country.

“We realise the need to support Mali’s ability to combat terrorism,” Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said during talks in Moscow with his Malian counterpart, Abdoulaye Diop.

“We provide the country with the necessary equipment, weapons and ammunition. We will do whatever is necessary to prevent threats to Mali’s statehood and territorial integrity,” Lavrov said.

He said questions over the role of Russian mercenaries in the country should be directed to Malian authorities and that military initiatives established by private Russian citizens were not Moscow’s official business.

HAITIAN Prime Minister Ariel Henry has survived an assassination attempt months after President Jovenel Moïse was killed by assassins in his residence.

In an interview with AFP, he said that he was targetted in the assassination attempt during weekend national day celebrations.

“An attempt has been made against me personally. My life has been put in the crosshairs,” said Henry, who has been de-facto running the country since the July assassination of President Moise.

Clashes between police and armed groups erupted on Saturday during official celebrations in the city of Gonaives, some 150 kilometres (90 miles) north of the capital Port-au-Prince, where Haiti’s declaration of independence was signed over 200 years ago.

Photos provided to AFP by Henry’s office show a bullet impact mark on the windshield of his armored vehicle.

The events come weeks after groups of citizens and members of armed gangs in Gonaives had violently expressed their opposition to Henry’s visiting their city.

“I knew I was taking a risk,” Henry told AFP in a telephone interview.

“We cannot let bandits from any background, driven by the lowest financial interests, blackmail the state,” he said.

The Caribbean nation has been without a functioning parliament and with a paralysed judiciary for two years, and Moise’s assassination has only exacerbated the situation.

His murder six months ago in the private presidential residence underscored the deep political, social and economic crisis the Caribbean country has been stuck in for Ayears.

But, it was learnt that U.S. authorities have arrested a Colombian man for his alleged involvement in the assassination of Moise, an American law enforcement official told Reuters

The suspect, Mario Palacios, is a former member of the Colombian military who Haitian authorities say was part of a mercenary group that assassinated Moise in July.

Palacios was scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court in Miami yesterday afternoon, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The arrest was first reported by the Miami Herald.

Palacios was arrested in Panama on Monday as he was being deported from Jamaica to Colombia, according to two people familiar with the matter. read more

 

Italy’s politicians are to elect a new head of state on Jan. 24.

The bicameral parliament has been called to a joint session for the election of the president of the republic at 3.00 p.m. (1400 GMT) on that day, the Chamber of Deputies announced in Rome on Tuesday.

Its president, Roberto Fico, had previously reached an agreement with Senate President, Maria Casellati.

In Italy, the deputies, senators and representatives of the 20 regions elect the president of the republic.

To win, a two-thirds majority is needed in the first three rounds of voting.

In the fourth, an absolute majority is sufficient.

READ ALSO: 1.5 million Nigerians in Italy need passport – Diaspora organisation

The election of a successor to the current incumbent, Sergio Mattarella, is eagerly awaited.

So far, no one has been decided for sure.

For weeks, the media have been speculating about a candidacy by the incumbent Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

Others would like to see a woman in the office of the head of state.

In the right-wing camp, Silvio Berlusconi is repeatedly mentioned as a candidate.

The president has an important role in Italy, especially in times of crisis.

Among other things, he can dissolve the parliamentary chambers and appoint ministers.

Mattarella’s term ends in February after seven years.

 

(dpa/NAN)

Mexico said it received 131,448 asylum applications in 2021, the country’s national refugee care agency said.

The number of applications nearly doubled the record set in 2019, Andres Ramirez Silva, the general coordinator of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid (Comar) said on Twitter.

“That year, Mexico received 70,341 applications’’.

The increase came as migrants faced greater obstacles to reach the United States, which was the ultimate goal for most of them.

Comar statistics showed the majority of asylum applicants were Haitians, followed by Hondurans and Cubans, as well as Venezuelans and people from other Central American countries.

READ ALSO: Shootings in Mexico-U.S. border town leave 18 dead

The U.S. Government in 2021 deported thousands of Haitians who had settled in a makeshift camp in southern Texas, a deterrent that made thousands more who intended to cross decide to remain in Mexico.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration was ordered by the courts to reinstate the so-called “Remain in Mexico’’ policy of his predecessor Donald Trump.

The asylum seekers were forced to wait in Mexico until it was their turn to present their cases in the U.S., something that can take months and even years.

(dpa/NAN)

A fire that ripped through South Africa’s parliament building over the weekend has been brought under control, the fire service said on Tuesday.

The blaze initially broke out on Sunday and was believed to have been brought under control, but strong wind had fanned the flames and led to another flare-up on Monday evening.

Read Also: Buhari mourns Tutu, commiserates with Ramaphosa, South Africans

It was finally extinguished just after midnight, fire service spokesman, Jermaine Carelse told broadcaster eNCA.

A 49-year-old man who was arrested inside the building was due to appear before a magistrate on Tuesday.

He is charged with burglary, arson and theft.

The costs of rebuilding the historic structure were estimated at several hundred millions of dollars.

The blaze destroyed the National Assembly chamber and many offices within the building. (dpa/NAN)

The fire that has already completely destroyed South Africa’s main Parliament chamber flared up again yesterday about 36 hours after it started in the 130-year-old complex of historic buildings, authorities said.

Firefighters have been sent back to the Parliament precinct in the centre of Cape Town to battle the flames that re-appeared on the roof of the main Parliament building in the late afternoon.

More than 30 firefighters were battling the fire again yesterday, Cape Town Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Jermaine Carelse told the News 24 website.

Before the blaze reignited, authorities had said it had been contained and had begun to assess the damage. The fire had started around 6am on Sunday morning.

Still a mystery is the role of a man who has been arrested and is being questioned by police in connection with the fire.

The man is due to appear in court today and authorities weren’t commenting further on his involvement or any possible motives, other than to say he would likely be charged with breaking and entering, theft and arson.

The man is also facing charges under South Africa’s National Key Points Act, a security law that restricts access to government buildings and other places of national importance.

The man, who has not been named, was arrested Sunday at the scene, authorities said.

South African media reported he had to be rescued from the fire, while questions have been raised over if there was a deliberate attack on the seat of South Africa’s democracy.

Extensive damage has been done to the stately white and red brick buildings in the Parliament precinct. The fire had already burned down the chamber in the National Assembly building where South African legislators meet to pass laws, Parliament said in a statement.