Month: November 2021

World Leaders Struggle to Raise Vaccination Rates as COVID-19 Surges

With the Northern Hemisphere heading into winter and COVID-19 cases on the rise across Europe and North America, political leaders from Washington to Brussels are struggling to persuade a pandemic-weary public to get vaccinated against the disease that has killed more than 5 million people and sickened hundreds of millions around the world.

In the United States, a high-profile push by President Joe Biden to force all businesses with more than 100 employees to require workers to get vaccinated or submit to regular testing is snarled in court challenges. Across Europe this week, protests, some violent, flared as various governments announced that they would implement stricter measures to combat the disease, including many that limit the ability of unvaccinated people to take an active part in public life.

Worldwide, countries have responded to the continued presence of COVID-19, now nearly two years after it was first detected, with a variety of measures, from blanket vaccine mandates for all eligible individuals to more targeted requirements for people at particular risk, like health care workers.

Plentiful vaccines, variable uptake

According to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center, nearly 7.5 billion doses of vaccine have been administered since shots became available. Those doses have not been spread evenly around the world. The bulk of vaccines have been purchased by wealthy countries, like the United States and much of Europe.

That would seem to suggest that Europe and North America would be well protected from a winter surge of the virus, but even among countries where vaccines are plentiful, the percentage of the population that has chosen to get vaccinated against COVID-19 varies sharply.

According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, only 59.7% of the American public is fully vaccinated, compared with 76.9% in Canada and 50.4% in Mexico. In Europe, vaccine uptake varies widely, from 86.9% in Portugal to just 12.6% in Armenia.

In Central Europe, cases are spiking in Germany and Denmark, where the rates of vaccination are 68.1% and 76.4%, respectively. Both countries are well above the global average in the percentage of people vaccinated, indicating that the disease can still spread rapidly, even where vaccination rates are relatively high.

This has leaders around the world searching for ways to compel more people to get vaccinated, with varied success.

Different approaches to vaccination

A handful of countries — Indonesia, Micronesia, and Turkmenistan — have implemented blanket requirements that all adults receive a vaccination.

This week, Austria became the first European country to announce that vaccination will be compulsory, with a requirement that all adults be vaccinated by February. The announcement came as the government announced it would be enforcing a fourth national lockdown to reduce the spread of the virus, prompting protests across the country.

Many other countries have taken a less extensive approach, tying vaccination status to the ability to work and take part in public activities, including going to restaurants, concerts, and other events.

With other European countries announcing stricter limits on what the unvaccinated are able to do, as well as broader restrictions on public life in general, protests broke out this week in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Croatia, among other nations.

Many European countries have adopted a “vaccine passport” system that limits access to public venues to people who can show proof of vaccination or of recent recovery from COVID-19.

Government employees face requirements

Among the most common measures being taken around the globe is the requirement that government employees be vaccinated in order to remain in their jobs. In addition to the U.S., countries with a requirement that public sector workers be vaccinated include Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Fiji, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey, and Ukraine.

Of those, many have added a mandate for private sector workers as a whole; others have limited the requirement to private sector workers who deal with customers.

Some countries, among them Denmark, France, Lebanon, Morocco, and the Netherlands, have limited mandates to health care workers but have implemented restrictions on the activities of the unvaccinated.

US vaccine resistance

In the United States, President Biden’s attempt to require private businesses with more than 100 employees to require vaccination or testing is in limbo. The proposal, which would take effect in January, would affect about 84 million U.S. workers, on top of existing mandates on health care workers, federal employees and contractors, and the U.S. military.

However, the push by the Democratic president has been met with pushback from Republican politicians across the country. Multiple Republican state attorneys general have filed lawsuits to stop the mandate from coming into force. A federal judge placed a stay on the mandate, preventing its enforcement.

The cases have been consolidated before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in Cincinnati, where the Biden administration is requesting that the stay on the mandate be lifted.

Supreme Court-bound

Brian Dean Abramson, an adjunct professor of vaccine law at Florida International University and the author of the BloombergLaw/American Health Law Association treatise Vaccine, Vaccination, and Immunization Law, told VOA that the fate of the mandate remains unclear.

According to Abramson, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the bureau within the Labor Department that crafted the mandate, left itself open to a number of challenges. For example, it is claiming that the new mandate is necessary to protect workers from a dangerous disease, but simultaneously claiming that health care workers can continue to observe a standard put in place earlier this year that is considerably less stringent.

Regardless of its fate in the 6th Circuit, Abramson said, the case is probably headed for the highest court in the land.

“What I do think is fairly inevitable, is that this will get to the U.S. Supreme Court rather quickly,” he said. “And I think we could see the Supreme Court receiving this, having some kind of expedited argument, and issuing a decision before the end of the year.” 

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When Aliens Attack: Australia’s Native Species Under Threat

A new report warns that Australia’s native wildlife is in the “grip of an unprecedented alien attack.” Experts at the national science agency, the CSIRO, are predicting that much of the country’s unique flora and fauna is in danger of disappearing by 2050 unless urgent action is taken.

Nonnative species have invaded Australia and threaten to overrun indigenous plants and animals.

Invasive pests include European rabbits, which infest two-thirds of Australia, feral cats, pigs, foxes and cane toads.

Introduced species are endangering more than 80% of Australia’s threatened species.

A report, Fighting Plagues and Predators: Australia’s Path Towards a Pest and Weed-Free Future, highlights what researchers believe is “a looming wave of new extinctions.”

The study was compiled by the CSIRO, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, a government agency.

Andy Sheppard, CSIRO’s research director for biosecurity, said Australia’s colonization by the British more than 200 years ago has left a devastating environmental legacy.

“Look, Australia, as a lot of post-British colonial countries suffered from a huge amount of introduction of exotic species early in their colonization histories,” he said. “You know, there were societies set up to deliberately introduce stuff so that the Europeans felt more at home. Australia just like New Zealand has suffered enormously as a result. Australia unfortunately has the worst record internationally for mammalian extinction, and that is largely to do with the activities of feral cats and feral foxes.”

The report released Tuesday estimated the cost of the damage caused by invasive species in Australia – mostly weeds, feral cats, rabbits and fire ants – at about $18 billion dollars each year and growing.

The study said that “urgent, decisive, coordinated action” was needed to stop the spread of invasive species and protect Australia’s “irreplaceable native animals and plants.”

Traditionally, chemical baits and biological controls have been used to manage feral pest populations. The methods are controversial, and some animal welfare advocates have criticized them as inhumane.

Scientists in Australia are working on genetic pest control techniques. Testing is under way on mice, but a so-called “working system” could be up to five years away. One potential biocontrol involves disrupting the breeding cycles of rodents to limit their ability to reproduce.

 

 

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Volunteers Map Australia’s Great Barrier Reef in Vast Citizen Science Project

An expedition to find lost shipwrecks on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef begins Friday. The voyage is part of the Great Reef Census, one of the world’s largest marine citizen science projects.

Conservationists estimate there are up to 900 shipwrecks on the Great Barrier Reef, but only 150 have been found. Shallow water in some parts of the reef off northeastern Australia and the region’s susceptibility to storms and cyclones have made seafaring perilous.

Volunteers discovered three shipwrecks last year while surveying the world’s largest coral system. The expedition, which ends Dec. 1, is returning to Five Reefs and the Great Detached Reef, remote regions that are rarely visited, to gather more data and hunt for other wrecks. Onboard the boat are conservationists, scientists and a marine archaeologist.

Andy Ridley, the chief executive of Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef, the organization that runs the survey, said last year’s discovery was an unforgettable experience.

“The first mate on the boat was floating over the top of a reef from one side to the other and noticed there were river stones in the water, and, you know, round stones on the top of a coral reef is unusual,” he said. “We realized it was ballast from an old ship. We discovered one of what we think is three 200-year-old wrecks on that particular reef in the far northern end of the Great Barrier Reef. It was kind of one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done in my entire life. It was like one of those kind of boyhood kind of dreams.”

Scientists, tourists, divers and sailors are contributing to this year’s Great Reef Census.

They are taking thousands of pictures that will help document the health of a reef system that faces various threats, such as climate change, overfishing and pollution.

The images will be analyzed early next year by an international army of online volunteers who, in the past, have included children from Jakarta, Indonesia, a church group in Chicago, and citizen scientists from Colombia.

In 2020, its first year, the survey, which runs from early October to late December, collected 14,000 images.

The Great Barrier Reef is a World Heritage Area. It stretches for 2,300 kilometers down northeastern Australia and is the size of Germany.

It comprises 3,000 individual reefs, is home to 10% of the world’s fish species and is the only living thing visible from space.

 

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European Nations Add Boosters, Plan Shots for Children Amid COVID Surge

European countries expanded COVID-19 booster vaccinations, began plans to get shots to young children and tightened some curbs Thursday as the continent battled a surge in coronavirus cases and concerns about its economic fallout grew.

Slovakia went into a two-week lockdown, and the Czech government declared a 30-day state of emergency involving early closure of bars and clubs and a ban on Christmas markets. Germany crossed the threshold of 100,000 COVID-19-related deaths.

Europe is at the heart of the latest COVID-19 wave, reporting a million new infections about every two days and now accounting for nearly two-thirds of new infections worldwide.

The European Commission proposed Thursday that EU residents would need to have booster shots if they wanted to travel to another country in the bloc next summer without the need for tests or quarantines.

More boosters in France

In France, authorities announced that booster shots would be made available to everyone over 18, rather than just the over-65s and those with underlying health issues.

Many countries are rolling out or increasing the use of booster shots, although the World Health Organization wants the most vulnerable people worldwide to be fully vaccinated first.

In Africa, where just 6.6% of the population of 1.2 billion is fully vaccinated, many countries are struggling with the logistics of accelerating their inoculation campaigns as deliveries of vaccines finally pick up, the head of Africa’s disease control body said Thursday.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control on Wednesday recommended vaccine boosters for all adults, with priority for those over 40.

The number of new daily cases in Germany hit a record of 75,961 on Thursday and its total death toll reached 100,119 since the start of the pandemic, according to the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases.

Data showed the surge is weighing on consumer morale in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, dampening business prospects in the Christmas shopping season.

Shots for young kids

There is a growing push in some countries for vaccinating young children.

The EU’s medicines watchdog Thursday approved use of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine in 5- to 11-year-olds at a lower dose, after authorizing it for children as young as 12 in May. The European Commission is expected to issue a final decision Friday.

Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic were preparing to inoculate younger children following the European Medicines Agency’s approval, although deliveries of the lower doses are not due until December 20.

In France, where the number of infections is doubling every 11 days, Health Minister Olivier Veran said he would ask health regulators to examine whether 5- to 11-year-olds should be able to get vaccinated.

Nearly half a million lives across Europe have been saved because of vaccinations, among people aged 60 years and over since the vaccine roll-out began, the World Health Organization’s regional office said Thursday in a study with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Stricter curbs

Many European countries are toughening curbs. The state of emergency announced by the Czech Republic allows the government to order restrictions on public life. Authorities there ordered bars and clubs to close at 10 p.m., banned Christmas markets and capped attendance at cultural and sports events at 1,000 people.

Slovakia’s two-week lockdown from Thursday followed neighboring Austria, which began a lockdown Monday. Slovakia, with one of the EU’s lowest vaccination rates, reported a critical situation in hospitals and new infections that topped global tables.

Authorities ordered all but essential shops and services closed and banned people from traveling outside their districts unless going to work, school or a doctor. Gatherings of more than six people were banned.

French authorities said rules on wearing face masks would be tightened and checks on health passes used for entry to public places would be increased. But officials said there was no need to follow European countries that have reimposed lockdowns.

In Germany, Greens co-leader Annalena Baerbock said the new government, comprising the Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and Free Democrats (FDP), had set itself 10 days to decide if further restrictions would be needed.

Much of Germany already has introduced rules to restrict access to indoor activities to people who have been vaccinated or have recovered.

Warning in Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the number of coronavirus patients in hospital has hit levels not seen since early May, and experts have warned that hospitals will reach full capacity in little more than a week if the virus is not contained.

The Dutch government said it would take strong measures to curb infections. National broadcaster NOS reported Thursday that the government’s leading Outbreak Management Team had advised the closure of restaurants, bars and nonessential stores by 5 p.m. as part of a new package of lockdown measures.

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Attacking an Asteroid

NASA tests an asteroid-assaulting system to protect planet Earth. Plus, Japanese tourists ready for the trip of a lifetime, and a look at the historic, sky-darkening lunar eclipse. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week in Space

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USAID Says Wheat Seeds Sent to Northeast Syria Meet ‘High Standards’

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) says the wheat seeds it recently provided to farmers in northeast Syria meet “high standards for safety and quality.”

The announcement comes after claims by the Syrian government that the seeds donated by the U.S. agency “are not suitable for cultivation.”

Last week, USAID donated 3,000 tons of wheat seeds to Syria’s northeast to help address wheat shortages in a region hit by a growing drought.

The Syrian government claimed Tuesday, however, that a sample analysis of the U.S.-provided seeds found they are not suitable for cultivation.

The “seeds contain a high rate of nematodes [plant-parasitic worms], which reached 40 percent, and this poses a great danger to agriculture in the region, especially as its effects cause great damage that is exacerbated by the passage of time,” Said Hajji, head of the government’s agriculture directorate in Hasaka province, was quoted by Syria’s state-run SANA news agency as saying.

The Syrian government official warned local farmers in northeast Syria against using the seeds, urging people to destroy them.

A USAID spokesperson, however, told VOA in a statement that the wheat seeds go through treatment and testing for safety and quality before they are donated.

“USAID is supplying Adana and Cihan wheat seed varieties to Syrian farmers, which are sourced from the region and undergo a series of tests at a qualified lab in (the) Kurdish Region of Iraq to verify their quality before they are transported and distributed to farmers in northeast Syria,” the spokesperson said.

The U.S. official added that the “seeds are tested for purity, germination rate, smut, presence of barley, insects, Cephalonia, nematodes, and to ensure they are effectively treated with fungicide.”

Some local farmers told the Kurdish news network Rudaw they have received wheat seeds from USAID partners and have already cultivated them in their farmlands.

Northeast Syria is largely under the control of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led military alliance that has been a major U.S. partner in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) terror group in the war-torn country.

The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has minimal presence in the area, doesn’t recognize an SDF-led local administration and opposes the presence of about 900 American troops, who are deployed in northeast Syria as part of an international coalition against IS.

John Saleh, a Washington-based Syrian affairs analyst said, “The Assad regime, along with its main backer, Russia, don’t want to see development in the Kurdish region, especially if it is supported by the U.S.”

He told VOA the Syrian government wants northeast Syria to remain economically weak in the hope that it will control it again if U.S. forces depart at some point.

“Therefore, they spread these types of absurd rumors to create fear and panic among farmers who are in desperate need for help during these tough economic times,” Saleh said. 

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US Nurses Leaving Hospital Bedsides  

“I could not understand how this highly educated, powerful trauma nurse is now the patient.”

A registered nurse who asks that we call her “Gi” is talking about herself. While working in the emergency room of her community hospital at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gi started crying unconsolably, unable to speak or function. She was having a panic attack and was later hospitalized in an in-patient psychiatric facility, diagnosed with PTSD. Gi is back at a hospital bedside now – as a hospice nurse. 

A pandemic of nurses suffering 

Gi is not alone. The number of nurses with mental health issues has grown substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) shows that the number of nurses reporting mental health issues since the pandemic started has risen from 60% to 80% in many countries.  

“Nurses are suffering,” says ICN CEO Howard Catton. He cites violent attacks, “along with the exhaustion, grief and fear faced by nurses who are caring for patients.” 

The American Nurses Foundation says 1 of 3 nurses indicate they are “emotionally unhealthy.” 

 

‘Normal systems breaking down’ 

Nurses say the mental health strain arises from a variety of issues.The industry was already facing a staffing shortage prior to COVID-19, and many nurses juggled multiple jobs caring for increasing numbers of patients.Now the recommended ratio of 1 nurse for 2 patients is stretched to a ratio of 1 to 3, to the detriment of patients and nurses alike. 

“Clara,” who has spent her career as a nurse, says she’s up against “tremendous workloads, tremendous volumes, with not enough resources.”One misstep can make the difference between life and death – and potentially ruin a career.

“It’s a constant pressure on your shoulders, a constant downward pressure, you have to move faster, you have to do better, you have to work harder,” she said. 

Alex Kaspin was suffering from a panic disorder from being overworked, overtired and overwhelmed. She recently stepped away from a Philadelphia emergency room when the COVID-19 numbers were matched by the city’s rising homicide rate.

 

“At that point,” says Kaspin, “all normal systems were breaking down.” Kaspin says her hospital was operating in a “triage situation.” It did not have enough nurses to attend to patients in regular rooms.So the emergency room was filled with in-patients, and the waiting room became the emergency room.

‘Please give me the vaccine now’ 

Between rising violence in the United States and the increase in COVID-19 patients, Kaspin felt she could not deliver health care at the standards she set for herself.Adding to the stress were patients unvaccinated against COVID-19. 

She is haunted by her memories of several COVID-19 patients in their 20s. “Right before we put the breathing tube down, the last thing they say is. ‘I want the vaccine now. Please give me the vaccine now.’ “ 

Pennsylvanian Jen Partyka calls vaccine hesitancy a willful ignorance she’s never seen in her 27 years of nursing.

“You are willfully creating a situation that I can’t keep up with as a nurse manager,” says Partyka. She will always do her best for her patients, she says, but she feels differently when she learns they are unvaccinated.“You are willfully harming others.”

 

Experts say getting more people vaccinated will tremendously lower patient numbers. 

Chip Kahn is the president and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals. He says there is no “short term, magic bullet,” but what is needed is “less COVID.”

No more banging pots of support 

Abigail Donley worked in a Manhattan ICU during the early phases of the pandemic.She left her job to co-found IMPACT in Healthcare to work to change policies to benefit workers and patients.IMPACT’s December campaign promotes safe staffing levels.

 

Donley says nurses were once viewed as COVID-19 heroes.“People were banging the pots for them at seven o’clock, but now they can’t get a raise,” Donley said on Skype. “They can’t get a bonus. They can’t get child care. They don’t have maternal health care.” 

A growing number of nurses are leaving the hospital bedside for a less daunting work schedule and better pay.Travel nursing agencies send nurses where they are needed to stem the dwindling staffing numbers, offering as much as triple the salary that other nurses receive.

“Michelle” helped set up the COVID-19 unit at the hospital where she had worked for 10 years.This month she left her $30-an-hour registered nursing job to be a travel nurse in an intensive care unit in another city. She calls her new salary “crazy.”

“I’m leaving that system and going to a travel nursing position, and I’ll be making $120 an hour,” she told VOA. 

Kahn says agencies are “gouging” hospitals when they offer travel nurses such high salaries. He agrees it is much better to have a strong, in-house team rather than temporary staffing.

When asked why hospitals don’t retain veteran nurses by offering higher salaries and other benefits, Kahn says, “There’s no way that that any institution could afford to pay the broad base of their nurses anywhere near what they’re paying for the travel nurses.”

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How White House Thanksgiving Menu Evolved With Times

Most Americans don’t have oysters on their Thanksgiving table, but, for a time, the mollusks were a key ingredient on the White House holiday menu. 

“Oyster stuffing and various oyster elements were always included, especially in the later 19th century. Oysters were very popular,” says Lina Mann, a historian with the White House Historical Association. “I think that the location of Washington, D.C., near the Chesapeake Bay, which was a huge oyster hub, made it more of a regional sort of thing, but that has died out over the years.” 

In addition to oysters, White House Thanksgiving meals have included other regional foods such as rockfish from the Potomac River, turtles from Maryland’s Eastern Shore and cranberries from Massachusetts.

Because the holiday is often a more private affair, the White House Thanksgiving menu is not set. Presidential families often spend the day away from the White House, either out of town at their own private homes or at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland. 

In 1985, President Ronald Reagan spent Thanksgiving at his California ranch. The menu included turkey, cranberries, cornbread dressing, salad, mashed potatoes, monkey bread, string beans with almonds, and pumpkin pie topped with whipped cream. 

In 1996, President Bill Clinton enjoyed Thanksgiving with family and friends at Camp David, where they ate turkey; dressing with bread stuffing; giblet gravy; mashed potatoes; sweet potatoes; green beans; cranberry mold; a relish tray of pickles, celery, tomatoes, green onions, green and black olives, and carrots; fruit salad; cranberry salad; and pecan and pumpkin pies. 

In 2007, also at Camp David, President George W. Bush and family feasted on a meal that included turkey, jellied cranberry molds, whipped sweet potato soufflé and pumpkin mousse trifle. 

No matter where the commander in chief spends the holiday, turkey is usually on the menu and has been since the 1870s. 

“You have a man named Horace Vose, who is the quote, “poultry king of Rhode Island,” and he starts sending, in 1873, all of these turkeys to the White House,” Mann says. “He does that for Christmas and Thanksgiving, and he does it for 40 years until he dies in 1913. So, there is this kind of precedent of the public sending presidents various birds to their table.” 

But people haven’t always sent poultry. In 1926, President Calvin Coolidge received an unusual offering from a supporter in Mississippi. 

“They were sent a raccoon that was supposed to be served on his Thanksgiving table,” Mann says. “But the Coolidge family decided they didn’t want to eat the raccoon. So instead, they ended up making her a family pet. They named her Rebecca and then eventually Coolidge, for Christmas that year, got her a collar that said, ‘White House Raccoon’ on it.” 

What presidents eat for Thanksgiving can also depend on what is going on in the country. In 1917, during World War I, President Woodrow Wilson remained in Washington and focused on having a more economical Thanksgiving. 

“So, they’re eating cream of oyster soup with turkey trimmings and vegetables, pumpkin pie for the very simple menu,” Mann says. “First Lady Edith Wilson wanted to abide by various food conservation programs that were spearheaded at the time.” 

There were also more austere Thanksgivings during the Great Depression and World War II. In 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his family dined on “clam cocktail, clear soup, roast turkey with chestnut stuffing and cranberry sauce, Spanish corn, small sausages and beans, sweet potato cones, grapefruit salad, pumpkin pie and cheese, coffee, and ice cream.”

This year, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are spending Thanksgiving on the Massachusetts island of Nantucket, a family tradition since 1975. The first lady recently shared Thanksgiving recipes, including her grandmother’s savory stuffing featuring stale Italian bread, with the Food Network.

“Food is love — and gathering together this year for Thanksgiving is healing for our hearts,” Jill Biden said. “The family recipes passed down through the generations, the fun traditions that continue, and the meaningful blessings shared, all keep me filled with gratitude.”

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US, China and Cyberattacks, the Tool of the 21st Century

China was behind one of the biggest hacks of all time, quietly stealing email and data from organizations, according to the U.S. and other nations’ governments. Experts say China-orchestrated attacks on strategic targets have increased in recent years. Michelle Quinn reports.

Producer: Michelle Quinn. Camera: Michael Burke.

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‘NFT’ Named ‘Word of the Year’ for 2021

“NFT” is 2021’s “Word of the Year,” Collins Dictionary announced Wednesday. 

NFT is an abbreviation for non-fungible token, which according to the dictionary is “a unique digital certificate, registered in a blockchain, that is used to record ownership of an asset such as an artwork or a collectible.”

Perhaps the most well-known example of an NFT is “Everydays: The First 5000 Days,” a collection of digital art made by graphic designer Mike Winkelmann, better known as Beeple. In March, an NFT for the piece sold for $69.3 million.

Because of the blockchain technology, Beeple will continue to earn money each time his art changes hands. He gets 10 percent of the price after every sale.

Another American artist, Anne Spalter, sells some work as NFTs. At first, she did not think NFTs were a good idea, but then changed her mind. She said the technology has made people who might never go to an art gallery in person interested in art. She did, however, say she remained “mystified” by how high the prices have gone for some pieces.

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey sold an NFT for his first tweet for $2.9 million. 

“Whether the NFT will have a lasting influence is yet to be determined, but its sudden presence in conversations around the world makes it very clearly our Word of the Year,” the dictionary said. 

In 2020, the word of the year was “lockdown,” but pandemic-related words like “double vaxxed” and “hybrid working” were still among the finalists for this year. “Crypto,” short for cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, and “cheugy,” meaning clunky or outdated, were among this year’s finalists.

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Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Museum Closed Since 2004 Reopens

For the Smithsonian’s 175th anniversary, the 140-year-old Arts and Industries Building that has been closed for renovation since 2004 is reopening temporarily with an exhibition called Futures. The exhibition explores what our future may look like. Karina Bafradzhian visited the museum in Washington and has this story. Camera: Sergey Sokolov

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NASA Launches Craft to Hit Asteroid

The U.S. space agency NASA has launched a spacecraft on a mission to test the ability to knock an asteroid off a potentially harmful collision course with Earth. 

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, will take 10 months to reach the asteroid Dimorphos before slamming into it at 24,000 kilometers per hour. 

Dimorphos does not pose any danger to Earth, but gives scientists a way to examine the concept of moving a potentially harmful object far enough and early enough off its course so that it flies past Earth. 

The DART spacecraft is about the size of a small car and carries a briefcase-sized craft that will be deployed shortly before the impact to record video of the event. 

NASA says the mission costs about $330 million. 

Some information for this report came from the Associated Press and Reuters.

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Apple Sues Israeli Spyware Company NSO Group 

Apple says it is suing Israeli NSO Group, maker of the controversial Pegasus spyware. 

Apple will be the second company to sue NSO after Facebook, now Meta, sued over similar concerns that Pegasus was targeting WhatsApp users. Meta owns WhatsApp. The case is still working its way through the courts. 

Apple says the spyware specifically targeted its users. It also wants to prevent NSO from using any Apple product or service, which would be a massive blow to the company that sells governments the ability to hack iPhones and Android phones in order to gain full access. 

Apple says it has created a software patch to protect devices from Pegasus. 

The Cupertino, California-based company says it is seeking undisclosed damages it says it incurred because of NSO. It says it would donate any award money to organizations that investigate and expose spyware.

One such company, Citizen Lab, was central in uncovering how Pegasus worked. 

“This is Apple saying: If you do this, if you weaponize our software against innocent users, researchers, dissidents, activists or journalists, Apple will give you no quarter,” Ivan Krstic, head of Apple security engineering and architecture, said in an interview Monday with the New York Times. 

Earlier this month, the U.S. put NSO along with three other software companies on a blacklist that places severe restrictions on their ability to do business in the U.S. 

It said the companies “developed and supplied spyware to foreign governments” and that the spyware was used “to maliciously target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics and embassy workers.” 

NSO did not immediately comment on the lawsuit, but has previously said it takes precautions to prevent the abuse of its products. 

The pressure against NSO appears to be working, as many news outlets reported the company was at risk of defaulting on its loans. 

Some information in this report comes from Reuters. 

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Jury Holds Pharmacies Responsible for Role in Opioid Crisis

CVS, Walgreens and Walmart pharmacies recklessly distributed massive amounts of pain pills in two Ohio counties, a federal jury said Tuesday in a verdict that could set the tone for U.S. city and county governments that want to hold pharmacies accountable for their roles in the opioid crisis.

Lake and Trumbull counties blamed the three chain pharmacies for not stopping the flood of pills that caused hundreds of overdose deaths and cost each of the two counties about $1 billion, their attorney said.

How much the pharmacies must pay in damages will be decided in the spring by a federal judge.

It was the first time pharmacy companies had completed a trial to defend themselves in a drug crisis that has killed a half-million Americans in the past two decades.

The counties were able to convince the jury that the pharmacies played an outsized role in creating a public nuisance in the way they dispensed pain medication into their communities.

“The law requires pharmacies to be diligent in dealing drugs. This case should be a wake-up call that failure will not be accepted,” said Mark Lanier, an attorney for the counties. “The jury sounded a bell that should be heard through all pharmacies in America,” Lanier said.

Attorneys for the three pharmacy chains maintained they had policies to stem the flow of pills when their pharmacists had any concerns and would notify authorities about suspicious orders from doctors. They also said it was the doctors who controlled how many pills were being prescribed for legitimate medical needs.

Spokespeople for CVSHealth and Walgreen Co. said the companies disagree with the verdict and will appeal.

“As plaintiffs’ own experts testified, many factors have contributed to the opioid abuse issue, and solving this problem will require involvement from all stakeholders in our health care system and all members of our community,” CVS spokesperson Mike DeAngelis said in a statement.

Walgreen spokesperson Fraser Engerman said the company believes the court erred “in allowing the case to go before a jury on a flawed legal theory that is inconsistent with Ohio law.”

“As we have said throughout this process, we never manufactured or marketed opioids nor did we distribute them to the ‘pill mills’ and internet pharmacies that fueled this crisis,” Engerman said in a statement. “The plaintiffs’ attempt to resolve the opioid crisis with an unprecedented expansion of public nuisance law is misguided and unsustainable.”

Two other chains — Rite Aid and Giant Eagle — had settled lawsuits with the two Ohio counties.

Lanier said during the trial that the pharmacies were attempting to blame everyone but themselves.

The opioid crisis has overwhelmed courts, social services agencies and law enforcement in Ohio’s blue-collar corner east of Cleveland, leaving behind heartbroken families and babies born to addicted mothers, Lanier told jurors.

Roughly 80 million prescription painkillers were dispensed in Trumbull County alone between 2012 and 2016 — equivalent to 400 for every resident.

In Lake County, about 61 million pills were distributed during that period.

The rise in physicians prescribing pain medications such as oxycodone and hydrocodone came at a time when medical groups began recognizing that patients have the right to be treated for pain, Kaspar Stoffelmayr, an attorney for Walgreens, said at the opening of the trial.

The problem, he said, was that “pharmaceutical manufacturers tricked doctors into writing way too many pills.”

The counties said pharmacies should be the last line of defense to prevent the pills from getting into the wrong hands.

They didn’t hire enough pharmacists and technicians or train them to stop that from happening and failed to implement systems that could flag suspicious orders, Lanier said.

The trial before U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland was part of a broader constellation of federal opioid lawsuits — about 3,000 in all — that have been consolidated under the judge’s supervision. Other cases are moving ahead in state courts.

Kevin Roy, chief public policy officer at Shatterproof, an organization that advocates for solutions to addiction, said the verdict could lead pharmacies to follow the path of major distribution companies and some drugmakers that have reached nationwide settlements of opioid cases worth billions.

So far, no pharmacy has reached a nationwide settlement. “It’s a signal that the public, at least in select places, feels that there’s been exposure and needs to be remedied,” Roy said.

Roy noted that courts have not been consistent on whether public nuisance law applies to such cases.

“There’s been a variety of different decisions lately that should give us reason to be cautious about what this really means in the grand scheme,” he said.

It was one of five trials so far this year in the U.S. to test claims brought by governments against parts of the drug industry over the toll of prescription painkillers.

Trials against drugmakers in New York and distribution companies in Washington state are underway now. A trial of claims against distribution companies in West Virginia has wrapped up, but the judge has not yet given a verdict.

Earlier in November, a California judge ruled in favor of top drug manufacturers in a lawsuit with three counties and the city of Oakland. The judge said the governments hadn’t proved that the pharmaceutical companies used deceptive marketing to increase unnecessary opioid prescriptions and create a public nuisance.

Also in November, Oklahoma’s supreme court overturned a 2019 judgment for $465 million in a suit brought by the state against drugmaker Johnson & Johnson.

Other lawsuits have resulted in big settlements or proposed settlements before trials were completed.

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Musician Jon Batiste Leads Grammy Award Nominations with 11 

Jon Batiste might be the Grammys biggest surprise: The multi-genre performer and recent Oscar winner made such an impression on voters that he scored the most nominations with 11 on Tuesday.

Batiste earned an album of the year nod for “We Are” along with record of the year with “Freedom,” a feel-good ode to the city of New Orleans. His nominations span several genres including R&B, jazz, American roots music, classical and music video.

Justin Bieber, Doja Cat and H.E.R. each came away with the second-most nominations with eight by the time the Recording Academy was done announcing its nominees for its Jan. 31 show. Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo both had seven nods.

Along with Batiste’s surprise domination, another shock was The Weeknd nabbing three nominations after the pop star claimed he would not allow his label to submit his music. Earlier this year, he angrily slammed the Grammys, calling them “corrupt” after he received zero nominations despite 2020’s biggest single, “Blinding Lights.” 

Even though The Weeknd said he would boycott future Grammys, he still became a nominee for his work on album of the year projects, including Doja Cat’s deluxe edition “Planet Her” and Kanye West’s “Donda.” His third nomination was for his appearance on West’s single “Hurricane,” which also features Lil Baby. 

“What I like is the fact that no one is thinking about what happened before, what was the controversy, what was the noise, or where was this artist making music last year,” said Harvey Mason jr., the Recording Academy’s CEO. He said voters focused on the “excellence of music” while considering nominees like Batiste and Kacey Musgraves, whose work also crosses over into different categories. 

“The voters are truly evaluating music and not getting caught up in the reputations of any other outside noise or any history of artists,” he continued. “With that in mind, I think they’re voting for things that they are acknowledging as excellence.” 

Mason said he was pleased with the new peer-driven voting system after seeing the list of nominees. He instituted the 10-3 initiative — which allows the academy’s more than 11,000 members to vote for up to 10 categories in three genres. All voters can vote for the top four awards. 

The new system replaced the anonymous nominations review committee — a group that determined the contenders for key awards. Some claimed committee members favored projects based on personal relationships and promoted projects they favored and worked on. 

Harvey knows the new voting system might not be perfect at first, but he believes the initiative will produce fair results in the long run. 

“I know we didn’t get every single one perfect,” Harvey said. “I know there will be some people that feel left out or that we missed a nomination here or there. That makes me sad because I don’t want anybody to have that feeling. But I do feel like we’re heading in the right direction. I’m pleased with the way our voters did the work.” 

For the first time, the academy expanded the number of nominees in the general field categories from eight to 10. The change impacts categories such as record, album, song of the year and best new artist. 

Harvey said the academy increased slots in the general field categories after seeing an uptick voting participation over the past year along with the acceptance of new membership invitations and a high number of more than 21,730 entries submitted for Grammy consideration. 

“We thought the timing was right,” he said. “We saw an opportunity to do what the academy does — which is to highlight music, highlight the industry and highlight excellence in a bigger way. With the change in our voting structure, we don’t have the nomination review committee. This gives our voters an opportunity to have their voice heard, but also gives them a chance to have a bigger pool to draw from when it comes time to that one winner that takes home the Grammy.” 

Other album of the year nominees include: Bieber’s “Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe),” Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever,” West’s “Donda,” Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga’s “Love for Sale,” Olivia Rodrigo’s “Sour,” Taylor Swift’s “evermore” and Lil Nas X’s “MONTERO.” 

Batiste, the bandleader of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” picked up a bid in the best score soundtrack for visual media category for his work on Pixar’s “Soul,” which won him an Oscar for best score earlier this year. Coming into Tuesday, he had three Grammy nominations but no wins yet. 

Batiste will compete for record of the year against a bevy of candidates including Bennett & Gaga’s “I Get a Kick Out of You,” ABBA’s “I Still Have Faith in You,” Bieber’s “Peaches” featuring Daniel Caesar and Giveon, Brandi Carlile’s “Right on Time,” Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More” with SZA, Lil Nas X’s “MONTERO (Call Me by Your Name),” Rodrigo’s “drivers license,” Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever” and “Leave The Door Open” by Silk Sonic — the super duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak. 

Jay-Z, who was nominated for three Grammys on Tuesday, now has the most nominations of all time with 83. The 23-time Grammy-winning rapper moved past Quincy Jones, who has been nominated 80 times. 

 

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Beijing Warns Against ‘Malicious Hyping’ Over Peng Shuai Situation

Amid growing speculation on the whereabouts of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, China’s Foreign Ministry warned against politicizing and speculating about the star’s wellbeing.

“This is not a diplomatic matter,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular press briefing on Tuesday.

“I believe everyone will have seen she has recently attended some public activities and also held a video call with IOC President (Thomas) Bach. I hope certain people will cease malicious hyping, let alone politicization,” Zhao added.

On Monday the Women’s Tennis Association’s (WTA) said it is still concerned about Peng despite her appearance and the International Olympic Committee call.

“It was good to see Peng Shuai in recent videos, but they don’t alleviate or address the WTA’s concern about her well-being and ability to communicate without censorship or coercion,” a WTA spokeswoman said in an e-mail. “This video does not change our call for a full, fair and transparent investigation, without censorship, into her allegation of sexual assault, which is the issue that gave rise to our initial concern.”

Peng had not been seen since earlier this month after she accused Zhang Gaoli, a former Chinese vice premier, of forcing her to have sex several years ago. Her absence from public sight had prompted international demands for Chinese officials to account for her safety.

On Sunday, the three-time Olympian and former Wimbledon champion appeared standing beside a tennis court, waving and signing oversized commemorative tennis balls for children.

Later, she had a 30-minute call with Thomas Bach, president of the IOC, who said she thanked the IOC for its concern about her.

“She explained that she is safe and well, living at her home in Beijing, but would like to have her privacy respected at this time,” the IOC said in a statement.

“That is why she prefers to spend her time with friends and family right now. Nevertheless, she will continue to be involved in tennis, the sport she loves so much,” the IOC said.

On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch was critical of the IOC, accusing it of collaborating with Beijing and undermining the IOC’s “expressed commitment to human rights, including the rights and safety of athletes.”

“The IOC has vaulted itself from silence about Beijing’s abysmal human rights record to active collaboration with Chinese authorities in undermining freedom of speech and disregarding alleged sexual assault,” said Yaqiu Wang, senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch in a statement. “The IOC appears to prize its relationship with a major human rights violator over the rights and safety of Olympic athletes.”

The China Open posted a note on the Weibo social media network about Peng’s appearance at the youth tournament but made no mention of her disappearance or accusation that she was assaulted.

The women’s professional tennis tour had threatened to pull events out of China unless Peng’s safety was assured.

Dave Haggerty, the International Tennis Federation president and International Olympic Committee member, said in a statement Sunday, “Our primary concern is Peng Shuai’s safety and her well-being. The videos of her this weekend appear to be a positive step, but we will continue to seek direct engagement and confirmation from Peng Shuai herself that she is safe and well.”

Peng’s disappearance and accusation against the former Chinese official is occurring as Beijing is set to host the Winter Olympics starting on February 4 amid international condemnation of China’s human rights record.

Current and former players like Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams and Billie Jean King, took to social media to call for proof Peng was safe.

The world’s top male player, Novak Djokovic, called the situation “horrific” and questioned whether tennis tournaments should be held in China until it was resolved.

Some information in this report came from Reuters and the Associated Press.

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Burkina Faso Internet Shutdown Continues into Fourth Day

The shutdown of internet access via mobile phone networks that began Saturday dragged on for a fourth day Tuesday. The government said in a statement the shutdown is in the interest of national defense and public security and will last until around 10 p.m. tonight.

VOA talked to some Burkinabes on the streets of Ouagadougou to ask how the shutdown was affecting them and what they thought of the government’s decision.

Alexi Sawadogo, a physician, spoke outside a bank on one of the city’s busy boulevards. He said he was there to check his account balance as the shutdown meant he could no longer do so online. 

“It disconnects us from our friends who are outside the country, with whom we communicate regularly,” he says. He notes that he understands that it is because of the French convoy that was blockaded in the north, but says insecurity is not a valid reason and that the government needs to review its strategy. 

The shutdown has come in the wake of protests in recent days that have blocked a French military supply convoy that is attempting to travel from Ivory Coast to Niger. Protesters say they want an end to French military intervention in the regional war against Islamist militants. 

There have also been protests against the government’s handling of security, after a terrorist group believed to be associated with al-Qai da killed more than 50 military police in an assault on a base in northern Burkina Faso on November 14th. 

Ali Dayorgo, a university student, said the shutdown has affected his ability to work and learn the latest news.

He says he doesn’t understand why the shutdown is happening, but he hears the voice of the Burkinabe youth. “I feel the anger of the youth,” he expressed, adding that even if he doesn’t join protests against insecurity, he supports them.

A funeral for some of the victims of the attack is taking place in Ouagadougou today. 

Drabo Mahamadou is the national executive secretary of the “Save Burkina Faso Movement,” one of the protest groups that is calling for President Roch Kabore to resign. He said they have called on the population to attend Tuesday’s funeral and to attend a protest on Saturday.

He says, because the government is insensitive to pain, we are calling on the population to come out en masse on the 27th. We want [protesters] to prove that this government is not helping Burkina Faso. It is the government that is causing harm to the Burkinabé people.

A government spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

Eloise Bertrand is a research fellow at the University of Portsmouth who focuses on Burkina Faso. She thinks the restrictions on the internet are unwise; pointing out that “this shutdown may well backfire against the government. We can see that civil society groups and stakeholders who were not really involved in protests against the French convoy are annoyed and angered by this internet shutdown.”

Reports suggest the French military convoy is now waiting in the town of Zinaire, about 30 kilometers north of the capital. Protests are also said to be taking place in the town.

With the demonstrations continuing, it remains to be seen if the government will lift the internet shutdown tonight. Further protests are scheduled for Saturday.

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NASA, ESA Delay Launch of New Space Telescope

The U.S. space agency, NASA, and its European counterpart, the European Space Agency (ESA), have delayed the long-awaited launch of the James Webb space telescope to no earlier than December 22.

In statements, both agencies say the launch is being held up for additional testing of the orbiting observatory after what appeared to be a minor incident during preparations at the launch facility in Kourou, French Guiana.  

NASA says technicians were preparing to attach the telescope to the launch vehicle adapter, which is used to integrate the observatory with the upper stage of the rocket that will take it into orbit. They say the sudden, unplanned release of a clamp band — which secures the Webb to the launch vehicle adapter — caused a vibration throughout the observatory.

The agency says a NASA-led review board was immediately convened to investigate and perform additional testing to ensure the incident did not damage any of the instrument’s sensitive components. The space agency said it, along with mission partners the ESA and the Canadian space agency will provide an update when the tests are complete late this week.

The Webb telescope, originally scheduled for launch December 18, is designed to replace the aging Hubble telescope. NASA says it is designed to explore every phase of cosmic history — from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies and everything in between.  

When ready, the telescope will be launched from the South American site aboard a French-made Ariane 5 rocket.

Some information for this report was provided by the Associated Press.

 

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NASA to Launch Test Mission of Asteroid-Deflecting Spacecraft

A SpaceX rocket was set to blast off from California late Tuesday as NASA seeks to demonstrate a first-of-its-kind planetary defense system, designed to deflect an asteroid from a potential doomsday collision with Earth.

The DART mission will test NASA’s ability to alter an asteroid’s trajectory with kinetic force – crashing a robot spacecraft into it at high speed and nudging the space boulder just enough to keep our planet out of harm’s way.

DART’s target is a tiny fraction of the size of the cataclysmic Chicxulub asteroid that slammed into Earth about 66 million years ago, killing most of the planet’s animal species. It is not on a path that will cause it to hit Earth in the foreseeable future.

But scientists say smaller asteroids are far more common and pose a far greater theoretical threat to Earth in the near term.

NASA has hired Elon Musk’s company SpaceX to launch DART aboard a Falcon 9 rocket at 10:20 p.m. Pacific time on Tuesday (1:20 a.m. Eastern/0620 GMT Wednesday) from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the California coast, about 150 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

If liftoff is postponed NASA has an 84-day launch window in which to try again.

Once released into space, DART will journey 10 months to its destination, some 6.8 million miles (11 million km) from Earth.

Its target is an asteroid “moonlet” the size of a football stadium that orbits a much larger chunk of rock – about five times bigger – in a binary asteroid system named Didymos, the Greek word for twin.

The moonlet, called Dimorphos, is one of the smallest astronomical objects to receive a permanent name. But at 525 feet (160 km) in diameter, its size is typical among the known asteroids – rubble-like remnants left over from formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago.

Simpler than ‘Armageddon’

Scientists chose the Didymos system because its relative proximity to Earth and dual-asteroid configuration make it ideal to observe the results of the impact.

The key to avoiding a killer asteroid is to detect it well in advance and be ready with the means of changing its course, NASA planetary defense officer Lindley Johnson told a media briefing this month.

“We don’t want to be in a situation where an asteroid is headed toward Earth and then have to be testing this kind of capability,” he said.

The team behind DART, short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test, has determined that slamming a car-sized projectile into a Dimorphos-sized asteroid at 15,000 miles per hour (24,000 kph) should do the trick.

The DART spacecraft, a cube-shaped box with two rectangular solar arrays, is due to rendezvous with the Didymos-Dimorphos pair in late September 2022.

Cameras mounted on the impactor and on a briefcase-sized mini-spacecraft released from DART about 10 days beforehand will record the collision.

Observations from ground-based telescopes and radar will then measure how much the moonlet’s orbit around Didymos changes.

The DART team is expecting to shorten the orbital track by about 10 minutes but would consider at least 73 seconds a success.

The entire cost of the DART project will run about $330 million, according to Lindley, well below that of many of NASA’s most ambitious science missions. 

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Australian Team Probes Southern Ocean in Deep-Water Earthquake Research

A mission is underway to retrieve scientific data from the rugged ocean floor in the Southern Ocean, formerly known as the Antarctic Ocean, that could explain what triggers underwater earthquakes and tsunamis.   

Some of the world’s most violent underwater earthquakes are unleashed beneath the hostile waters of the Southern Ocean, but researchers don’t know why. Sophisticated noise and motion sensors could help unlock the secrets of how Tectonic plates – or pieces of the Earth’s crust – start to collide, a process known as subduction.   

For the past year, an array of 27 seismometers positioned on the ocean floor has formed a giant telescope pointing to the planet’s core.  The instruments are now being retrieved.    

Professor Hrvoje Tkalčić, a chief scientist from the Australian National University’s Research School of Earth Sciences hopes the study will help to explain how and why earthquakes occur.    

“We cannot predict when exactly they will happen, how large they will be. But we can understand better their physical mechanism and we can also understand better the Earth’s structure in that area, and this is critical to predict the propagation of the seismic waves from the hyper-center of these earthquakes to any other point on the Earth’s surface, including a possible generation of tsunami,” Tkalčić said.      

Scientists hope the study will give them a better understanding of how earthquakes and tsunamis might affect Australia and New Zealand, which lies within the seismically active region known as the “Pacific Ring of Fire.”    

The expedition is scouring some of the world’s steepest underwater mountain ranges to depths of more than 3.5 miles in a remote area known as Macquarie Ridge, halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. 

Researchers say the techniques could also be applied to other oceans. 

The international study is a collaboration with various Australian institutions, the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology.   

The three-week voyage began in Wellington, New Zealand on November 10. 

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Port-au-Prince Jazz Fest Postponed Because of Gang Violence

The Port-au-Prince international jazz festival, traditionally held in late January, has been postponed indefinitely because of gang violence that has plagued the Haitian capital for months, event organizers said Monday. 

“We can’t take the risk, either for the 150 musicians or for our teams or for the public,” Milena Sandler, director of the Haiti Jazz Foundation, which organizes the festival, told AFP.    

“We have been thinking for a while now that it would be difficult, even morally, to stage a festive event in this context,” said the head of the festival that brings together musicians from more than a dozen countries every year.    

Long confined to the poorer districts of the capital, gangs have in recent months extended their reach and increased the number of kidnappings.  

Their sway over the capital regularly prevents secure access to oil terminals, and the resulting fuel shortages have severely disrupted the transport sector and forced hospitals, businesses and schools to drastically reduce their activities.    

In this chaotic context, the United States and Canada have recommended that their citizens living in Haiti have an emergency plan to leave the country.  

Sandler nevertheless remained hopeful that the “Papjazz” will take place sometime in 2022.  

“If the situation in the country does not allow for the usual format of concerts over eight days, we will still have something and it won’t be virtual,” she said.  

“If it must be for one day, it will be for one day,” Sandler said, adding that the festival’s Haitian and international partners were considering a program for the end of June.    

The only time the festival had been canceled was in 2010, when a massive earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince and several towns in Haiti on January 12, killing more than 200,000 people. 

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Experts: US Boycott of Beijing Olympics Would Dash Seoul’s Hopes for Diplomacy

A U.S. diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics would deal a blow to Seoul’s attempts to resume diplomacy with North Korea, experts said.

Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden said that his administration was “considering” a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in February. 

Such a boycott would mean the U.S. would not send government officials to the Winter Games although it would allow athletes to compete.

Many human rights groups and some lawmakers in Congress called for a U.S. diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics, citing Beijing’s human rights abuses. 

South Korea has been pushing for a declaration to end the Korean War. That war concluded with the Korean Armistice Agreement in 1953, which announced a cease-fire rather than complete peace.​

Diplomatic setback 

In his address to the U.N. General Assembly in September, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said such a declaration could be a “catalyst” for the resumption of dialogue with North Korea. 

Seoul sees an end-of-war declaration as the key to jump-starting nuclear talks with North Korea, which have been stalled since October 2019. It also believes the Beijing Olympics will offer a diplomatic venue where the leaders of the U.S., China, South Korea and North Korea could discuss such a declaration. 

“An end-of-war declaration in particular is … almost a last-ditch effort by President Moon. So I would not be surprised if they tried to engage in Olympics diplomacy again,” said Olivia Enos, senior policy analyst in the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation. 

“But I think those efforts will be likely futile,” added Enos. 

On Friday, South Korea Minister of Unification Lee In-young said that Seoul and Washington held “very serious, deep consultations regarding the end-of-war declaration,” and that “those discussions are entering a final stage.” 

Washington, however, has not publicly endorsed Seoul’s proposal. After talks with her South Korean and Japanese counterparts last week, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said that the U.S. was “very satisfied with the consultations” with Seoul and Tokyo on the issue, without giving further details.

Security concerns 

Washington has been reluctant to accept Seoul’s proposed end-of-war declaration out of concern it could undermine the security of East Asia, according to experts. 

Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at The Heritage Foundation, said, “The U.S. is not interested in an end-of-war declaration but is discussing it only since a valuable ally has raised the topic.” 

David Maxwell, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said, “The U.S. is also concerned with the political warfare strategy of North Korea, China and Russia. They have already laid the groundwork to blame the U.S. for not reaching an end-of-war declaration.” 

VOA’s Korean Service sought comment on an end-of-war declaration from South Korea’s presidential office but did not get a response. 

Potential consequences

Some raised concerns that declaring a formal end to the war could undermine the presence of the United Nations Command (UNC) in South Korea, which could lead to calls for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country.

Bruce Bennett, an adjunct international/defense researcher at the RAND Corporation, said, “The declaration could provide some sort of a justification for North Korea to push for the termination of the armistice agreement and dissolution of UNC.” 

As a U.S.-led multilateral military force, the UNC defends South Korea and upholds the Korean Armistice Agreement. 

“We would back our way into dissolving the only internationally recognized legal instrument that has prevented the resumption of hostilities on the peninsula” because there will be calls to rescind U.N. Security Council Resolution 84, which activated UNC, said General Robert Abrams, former commander of United States Forces Korea, during a virtual forum held by The Korea Society last week. 

Earlier this month, North Korea’s U.N. ambassador, Kim Song, said, “Immediate measures should be taken to dismantle the UNC in South Korea.” 

An end-of-war declaration, however, does not have the legal power to automatically end UNC or the armistice agreement but, nonetheless, could provide a justification for such calls, according to Klingner.

Klingner said that aside from its impact on UNC, precipitously declaring the war’s end could “generate a domino effect advocacy” for other actions that could undermine security in the region, such as removing about 28,000 U.S. troops from South Korea and ending joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises.

Scott Snyder, director of the program on U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, said, “The main effect of an end-of-war declaration is that it misrepresents the real situation on the ground.” Snyder added: “The key to achieving an end-of-war declaration is to achieve the conditions of peace necessary to declare that the war is indeed over.” 

 

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