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Issues in the News moderator Kim Lewis discusses with Dan Raviv, columnist for Newsday and Steve Redisch, VOA executive editor the highlights of President Joe Biden’s first address to a joint session of Congress, the FBI raid of former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, the latest on COVID-19 vaccines as infection rates and deaths surge in India, and the controversial new report by Human Rights Watch that accuses Israel of apartheid and persecution of Palestinians.
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Australians stuck in India could face up to five years in jail if they breach a COVID-19 travel ban to return home starting early next week. Australia has stopped all direct flights from India in a bid to cut coronavirus cases in its hotel quarantine system.
 
This is thought to be the first time Australians have been banned from traveling to their own country with the threat of civil penalties and up to five years in prison against people who attempt to make it home despite regulations. Health Minister Greg Hunt said the restriction will take effect Monday.
 
Starting then, Australian nationals and permanent residents will not be allowed in if they have visited India in the past two weeks.
 
To enforce the restriction, the government is taking the travel ban a bit further. Any of Australia’s citizens caught breaching the ban could face a fine of up to $50,000. They could also face prison under changes made to Australia’s biosecurity laws.  
 
In the capital, Canberra, the government said the drastic measures were necessary because of what it has described as the “unmanageable” number of citizens arriving in Australia with COVID-19.  
 
The federal government defended the decision, saying that it is about public safety. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says Australia’s political leaders have decided that a cautious approach is needed.
 
“When [the] national cabinet met, they received the most up-to-date briefing from our chief medical officers and their advice is that we need to put in place these secure measures with respect to people coming from India to Australia. So, they are temporary, they will be reviewed on the 15th of May, but they are designed, based on the medical advice, to keep Australians safe,” Frydenberg said.
 
An estimated 9,000 Australians are stranded in India, critics say, and the Australian government is abandoning them as the pandemic reaches beyond what observers have called a “catastrophe.”  
 
Direct flights between the two nations have been suspended by authorities in Canberra. It has emerged, however, that some passengers — including high-profile cases such as cricketers leaving the Indian Premier League early — have managed to circumvent the ban and reach Australia via Qatar, according to news reports. That loophole will now close beginning Monday.  
 
Australia shut its borders to foreign nationals more than a year ago as part of a strict coronavirus strategy.  
 
Australian citizens and permanent residents, apart from those who have been in India in the past two weeks, are allowed to return, but they face two weeks in mandatory hotel quarantine when they arrive. Quotas apply, though, and thousands of people have been unable to get home.  
 
Australia has managed to contain community transmission of the coronavirus. All reported cases — 21 in total — in the past day were detected in hotel quarantine.
 
Australia has recorded 29,801 COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began. Nine hundred ten people have died, according to official government figures.  
 
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President Mahmoud Abbas announced early Friday that the first Palestinian elections in 15 years would be delayed, citing a dispute with Israel in calling off a legislative vote in which his fractured Fatah party was expected to suffer another embarrassing defeat to the Hamas militant group.Hamas slammed the move as a “coup.” But the indefinite postponement will be quietly welcomed by Israel and Western countries, which view the Islamic militant group as a terrorist organization and are concerned about its growing strength.For ordinary Palestinians, the delay leaves a long-entrenched political leadership in place that has failed to advance their hopes for statehood, heal the bitter rift between Fatah and Hamas, or lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip, and that is seen as increasingly corrupt and authoritarian. Presidential elections planned for July also appeared to be on hold.Abbas insisted elections could not be held without the full participation of Palestinians in east Jerusalem. Israel has yet to say whether it will allow voting by mail there as in past elections and has enforced a ban on Palestinian Authority activities, including campaign events.”Faced with this difficult situation, we decided to postpone the date of holding legislative elections until the participation of Jerusalem and its people in these elections is guaranteed,” Abbas said. “There will be no concession on Jerusalem and no concession on our people in Jerusalem exercising their democratic rights.”The fate of east Jerusalem, home to holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, is one of the most sensitive issues in the decadeslong Israeli-Palestinian conflict.But delaying the elections over Jerusalem could also be seen as a pretext, because only a small number of voters in the city would actually require Israel’s permission. Abbas’ rivals had suggested workarounds so as not to give Israel an effective veto over elections.Abbas said the Palestinian Authority has repeatedly sought assurances from Israel and has called on the European Union to exert pressure, to no avail. He said the authority had received a letter from Israel on Thursday saying it could not take a position on the elections because it does not yet have a government following its own elections last month — the fourth in two years.Hamas criticizes decisionHamas had been expected to perform well in the May 22 parliamentary elections because of widening divisions within Fatah, which split into three rival lists. The militant group condemned the delay, saying the decision “doesn’t agree with the national consensus and popular support and is a coup.”FILE – Masked Hamas militants wave their national flags during a protest in Gaza City, Feb. 21, 2020. Hamas on April 29, 2021, criticized the postponement of Palestinian legislative elections.Prior to the announcement, Hamas had issued a statement saying the Palestinians should explore ways of “forcing the elections in Jerusalem without the permission of or coordination with the occupation.”Israel has not said whether it will allow voting in east Jerusalem but has expressed concern about Hamas’ growing strength. Israel and Western countries would likely boycott any Palestinian government that includes the group. The day after U.S. President Joe Biden exhorted Americans to “prove that democracy still works” in an address to Congress, his State Department distanced itself from the Palestinian vote.”The exercise of democratic elections is a matter for the Palestinian people and for the Palestinian leadership to determine,” spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington. “We believe in an inclusive political process.”Israel captured east Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza, in the 1967 war, territories the Palestinians want for their future state. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized internationally and views the entire city as its capital, barring the Palestinian Authority from operating there. The Palestinians consider east Jerusalem their capital.According to interim peace agreements reached in the 1990s — which Hamas rejected — 6,000 Palestinians in east Jerusalem submit their ballots through Israeli post offices. The other 150,000 can vote with or without Israel’s permission.Fatah says the elections cannot be held without Israel’s express permission for east Jerusalem residents to vote. Its opponents have called for creative solutions, such as setting up ballot boxes in schools or religious sites.But Abbas appeared to rule that out, joking that the Palestinians would not vote in “the Hungarian Embassy.”The dispute has taken on greater import since the start of the holy month of Ramadan, as Muslim protesters have clashed with Israeli police over restrictions on gatherings.Opportunity lostThe elections, and a presidential vote planned for July 31, offered a rare opportunity for the Palestinians to empower a new leadership and potentially chart a different course in their long, stalled struggle for independence.Abbas, 85, and his inner circle of Fatah figures, now in their 60s and 70s, have dominated the Palestinian Authority for nearly two decades and have made little effort to empower a new generation of leaders.The last elections, held in 2006 with international support and Israeli cooperation, saw Hamas win a landslide victory after campaigning as a scrappy underdog untainted by corruption. That sparked an internal crisis culminating in Hamas’ seizure of Gaza the following year, which confined Abbas’ authority to parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.Hamas’ popularity has fallen in the years since, as conditions in Gaza have steadily deteriorated. But it has remained unified and disciplined even as Fatah has split into three rival parliamentary lists.Hamas does not recognize Israel’s right to exist and has fought three wars with it since seizing control of Gaza. It has also carried out scores of attacks over the past three decades that have killed hundreds of Israeli civilians.
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The United States, which has sent emergency aid to India, wants to quickly help the country increase its oxygen capacity to treat patients suffering from COVID-19, a U.S. official said Thursday.A first military plane loaded with equipment, including nearly 1 million rapid screening tests and 100,000 N95 masks, arrived early Friday in New Delhi. The shipment is part of a more than $100 million support plan, according to the White House.The priority “is to try to meet some of their immediate needs to deal with the serious challenges they face in their hospitals,” said Jeremy Konyndyk of the U.S. Agency for International Development.”We also need to help them address some of the underlying challenges, on the volume of oxygen the country can produce,” he told AFP.The United States is discussing with India how to develop its oxygen supply chain, including using technologies to convert industrial-grade oxygen into medical oxygen and improving its transport.Washington has also promised to help India by providing it with vaccines. But according to Konyndyk, for a country of more than a billion people facing skyrocketing cases, that is more of a medium-term measure.”Right now, there just aren’t enough vaccines in the world and not the ability to deliver them quickly enough to control this kind of outbreak,” he said.The United States announced Monday that it will provide other countries with 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not authorized for use in the U.S.Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has said it is sending equipment to India to produce more than 20 million doses of Covishield, a cheaper version of the AstraZeneca vaccine developed in India.Biden has been criticized by those who believe he should have shared vaccine doses with the rest of the world more quickly. 
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In his first 100 days as president of the United States, Joe Biden has governed less like a chief executive whose party is clinging to the barest of majorities in the House and Senate, and more like a transformative figure with a broad public mandate for societal change.  In an address to a pandemic-diminished joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, he took a further step in his effort to remake the relationship between the federal government and the American people with a $1.8 trillion proposal to expand Americans’ access to education, provide financial support to families with children, guarantee paid family and medical leave for workers, and reduce healthcare costs.  Speaking to a socially distanced audience in the House chamber, where more seats were empty than were occupied, Biden described “a once-in-a-generation investment in our families – in our children” that would help the United States in the competition with the rest of the world to “win the 21st century.”   Biden’s plans, while they poll well with the general public, are still remarkably ambitious in a country where political divisions often trump even voters’ professed policy preferences. President Joe Biden turns from the podium after speaking to a joint session of Congress, April 28, 2021, in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.American Families Plan The proposal Biden outlined on Wednesday, called the American Families Plan, is the latest move by his administration to substantially transform the relationship between the federal government and the American people. It would be paid for by increasing tax revenue through rate hikes and stepped-up enforcement targeting wealthy tax evaders. Tonight, I introduced the American Families Plan — an ambitious, once-in-a-generation investment to rebuild the middle class and invest in America’s future. Learn more: U.S. Senator Scott speaks with reporters as he transits the subway system beneath the U.S. Capitol in Washington‘Even More Taxing, Even More Spending’ Republicans in Congress immediately tied the new proposal to the administration’s previous efforts, noting their combined $6 trillion price tag and expansion of the federal government’s role in American life.“Tonight, we also heard about a so-called ‘Family Plan’ – even more taxing, even more spending, to put Washington even more in the middle of your life, from the cradle to college,” said Sen. Tim Scott, the South Carolina Republican who delivered his party’s official rebuttal to the president’s remarks.   “The beauty of the American Dream is that families get to define it for themselves,” said Scott. “We should be expanding opportunities and options for all families, not throwing money at certain issues because Democrats think they know best.”Broad Changes Proposed The change in access to education is the most wide-ranging element in the American Families Plan, theoretically making two years of prekindergarten instruction and two years of community college available to all Americans free of charge. The plan would also extend some of the financial support to families put in place by the American Rescue Plan, a bill passed earlier this year in response to the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. Among other things, that bill provided families with refundable tax credits of between $3,000 and $3,600 per child paid out on a monthly basis.It would also guarantee that, for children up to the age of 5, American families pay no more than 7% of their annual income for child care, and would guarantee up to 12 weeks of paid medical and family leave for workers.FILE – The headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in Washington is seen in this file photo, Apr. 13, 2014.Paid for with Tax Revenue The proposal would cost $1.8 trillion in total, with approximately $1 trillion in direct spending, and an additional $800 billion in targeted tax relief. However, the Biden administration insists that the plan would be paid for by changes to the administration of tax laws, and would deliver large economic benefits to the nation as well.  The administration projects that an investment of $80 billion in the Internal Revenue Service’s enforcement capabilities will generate some $700 billion in increased tax revenue in the coming decade. Janet Holtzblatt, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Institute in Washington, called the increased funding for the IRS, which has been critically underfunded over the past decade, “a good investment.” However, she said, “The question is whether it will get back as much money as the president has claimed it will. It’s hard to say at this point because we don’t have enough information.” Jesse Oni contributed to this report  
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Myanmar remains on the path to an expanded, nationwide civil war unless there is a coordinated response from all parties concerned, according to experts.Since February’s coup, large waves of Myanmar’s population have opposed the takeover, with street protests and strikes against the military.In response, the armed forces have detained thousands of people, including National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi, while hundreds of protesters and bystanders have been killed.Myanmar has seen three major revolts against the armed forces since 1988, but in its ethnic states, conflict has been rampant for more than 70 years.“Armed Forces Day” in the country recently saw one of the bloodiest days since the coup, leaving at least 100 dead. But days later on March 31, the army promised a one-month cease-fire. Humanitarian groups in the country’s ethnic states, however, have reported that military attacks are continuing, which have killed dozens and displaced tens of thousands.’No Cease-fire’ in Myanmar’s Ethnic Minority States, According to Humanitarian GroupFree Burma Rangers also say thousands displaced by airstrikes, ground attacks in violation of junta-declared cease-fireIn a bid to solve the crisis, an emergency high-level summit commenced last week between ASEAN leaders. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a 10-member union and political regional group promoting economic and security cooperation.A conclusion to the meeting saw a five-point consensus agreed upon that includes the immediate cessation of violence, dialogue for a peaceful solution, meditation and humanitarian assistance provided by ASEAN, and a visit by the union’s special envoy to Myanmar to all parties concerned.But protesters in Myanmar have vented their opposition to the five-point plan. Nyinyi Lwin, a political analyst, insisted the proposal must involve Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG), ethnic minorities and the Rohingya people.“The ASEAN resolution of a five-point road map may change the political landscape if it is supported by the people of Myanmar,” Nyinyi Lwin told VOA.Nyinyi Lwin, now based in Washington, and the chief editor of Arakan News, a Myanmar news site, added: “The people do not trust ASEAN leadership. … As long as people doubt ASEAN, the civil war is still on the grounds.”First open election in 2015Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, was governed under military rule until 2011. In 2015, the NLD won the country’s first open democratic election.But the Myanmar military contested the results of last November’s general elections, claiming unsubstantiated electoral fraud. On February 1, the military, also known as Tatmadaw, took control of the country.As anti-coup protests commenced, the junta deployed armored vehicles and fired live ammunition at demonstrators. Martial law and daily internet shutdowns have also been implemented.The pro-democracy campaign, the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), has seen thousands of professionals go on strike against the military regime.In April, the NUG was formed, claiming to be the legitimate government of Myanmar, existing in parallel with the junta, officially the State Administrative Council.The recent summit in Jakarta came after the United Nations said that Myanmar’s strife could become on par with the conflict in Syria.Key differenceJosh Kurlantzick, a fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent think tank in New York, said international action is the key difference between Myanmar and Syria.“I don’t see it as exactly similar to Syria,” he told VOA. “I think Myanmar could, indeed, have a wider civil war, one that stretches across the country and involves not just the ethnic armed organizations but areas of armed resistance in central Myanmar, in Burman, or Bamar-dominated Myanmar.The Syrian civil war began in 2011 when pro-democracy demonstrations calling for the removal of the Syrian government met with a violent response from the Syrian army. This sparked an armed rebellion by opposition forces and rebel groups. Foreign intervention also has been rife, with the U.S, Russia, and Iran all involved. More than 500,000 people have been killed or are believed to be missing, with millions as either refugees or internally displaced, according to a BBC report.“There are parallels, in terms of Myanmar potentially becoming a failed state, leading to massive refugee outflows, civil conflict, but I don’t think there are real analogies in the international involvement angle in a Myanmar civil conflict,” Kurlantzick added.Analysts say Russia is increasing arms sales to the Myanmar military, however, and it is standing by the junta.Russia Seen Advancing SE Asian Ambitions Through Myanmar GeneralsEthnic rebels back protestersPolitical analyst Aung Thu Nyein said it’s difficult to see direct international intervention from neighboring countries, as ASEAN “has no history of intervening in the affairs of its members.” But he admitted Myanmar could be buffeted as it finds itself in the “middle of a storm” amid sustained tensions between the U.S. and China.“The civil-military relation is the worst ever in Myanmar history, and people not only have lost trust in the military, but they also hate it,” he said. “The animosity will not be dying down soon, and as I said, it could lead to limited violence, spiraling downward to a failed state. I said an implosion, rather than an explosion, because the CPRH [parallel civilian government] and the opposition government have little opportunity to receive external aid,” he added.
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America’s re-engagement with the world coincides with a weird new era: that of virtual diplomacy. Since the pandemic made travel unsafe, world leaders have taken their diplomacy digital, opening up new possibilities for engagement — but also, new concerns about fairness and transparency, and the occasional awkward moment. VOA’s Anita Powell follows this story — virtually, of course — and reports from Johannesburg.Camera: Zaheer Cassim/Nike Ching (cellphone video)   
Producer: Jon Spier 
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India’s coronavirus death toll has topped the 200,000 mark as it continues to be mired in a catastrophic surge of the disease.  The Health Ministry reported 3,293 deaths Wednesday, a new single-day record for fatalities, pushing India’s total death toll to 201,187.  The South Asian nation also set a new single-day record for new confirmed infections with 360,960, taking its overall cases to nearly 18 million.   Indian Capital’s Grim Battle with 2nd Virus Wave Wreaks Havoc Across City Sick family members are desperately seeking medical help for those more severely ill at home or are frantically racing to locate scarce drugs and oxygen cylindersThe second wave of the coronavirus has pushed India’s health care system to the brink of collapse, with hospitals crammed with so many coronavirus patients that authorities have been forced to convert train cars into COVID-19 isolation wards, while an acute shortage of oxygen continues to aggravate the already desperate situation.  Many parks and parking lots have been converted into makeshift crematories that are working day and night to burn dead bodies.  The international community has begun shipping critical medical supplies to India, including personal protective equipment, ventilators and oxygen concentrators, which collect atmospheric air and convert it into pure oxygen, along with treatments, diagnostic tests and raw materials needed to manufacture vaccine. The latest global COVID-19 figures from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center show 148.7 million confirmed infections, including 3.1 million deaths. The U.S. leads the world in both categories with 32.1 million total confirmed cases and 573,381 deaths. In other developments, a preliminary study in Britain shows that a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine can reduce the risk of transmitting the virus by nearly half. Researchers at Public Health England found that people who were infected at least three weeks after being inoculated with a single dose of either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines were between 38 and 49 percent less likely to spread it to people in their households.   British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the study “further reinforces that vaccines are the best way out of this pandemic as they protect you and they may prevent you from unknowingly infecting someone in your household.” Albert Bourla, the chief executive officer of Pfizer, said Tuesday that an oral antiviral drug to treat COVID-19 could be available for public use by the end of 2021.  During an interview on cable television channel CNBC, Bourla said the U.S.-based drugmaker has begun a clinical trial of a drug that will be given to patients at the onset of the illness, with the aim of keeping them from being hospitalized. 
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Fully vaccinated people can skip the mask when they get together outside with others, vaccinated or not, according to A person wears a mask while jogging, April 27, 2021, near the Capitol in Olympia, Washington.The only time vaccinated people need to wear masks outdoors is when they are in crowds, like at street festivals, parades, farmers markets or political rallies, for example.Keep that mask handy, however. CDC still says to mask up when you go inside. But do go inside, the recommendations say. Indoor dining, movies, haircuts, religious services, exercise classes, and other indoor public spaces all are much safer for vaccinated people than unvaccinated.Just wear a mask.Why wear a mask indoors if you are vaccinated?”At their best, these vaccines are 95% effective,” said Vanderbilt University Medical Center infectious diseases professor William Schaffner. “I did not say 100%. So, there’s still that small risk that you could yourself acquire the infection.”Even if a vaccinated person does not get seriously ill, there remains a chance that the person could pass the virus on to someone who is not vaccinated.Also, not wearing a mask puts an unfair burden on workers to enforce mask rules.”You can’t expect someone at a store to go around and look at people’s vaccination status,” noted Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.Indoor get-togethers without masks are fine when everyone is vaccinated, as earlier CDC guidelines said.Students at Wyandotte County High School wear masks as they walk through a hallway on the first day of in-person learning at the school in Kansas City, Kansas, March 31. 2021.The guidelines also note that unvaccinated people can walk, run or bike outside without a mask, a recommendation that some experts said is long overdue.”If you’re walking outside and passing someone for a second, even without vaccination, you did not need to be wearing a mask,” said Leana Wen, health policy professor at The George Washington University and former Baltimore health commissioner. “So, I’m glad that the Biden administration is clarifying that part.””I do still think that their guidance is overly cautious,” she added. “But at least now they are finally differentiating between what it is that people can do once they’re fully vaccinated compared to those who are not.”The updated recommendations give people more of an incentive to get vaccinated, Wen said.The recommendation regarding wearing masks indoors will likely remain until a bigger chunk of the population is vaccinated and the case count comes down from where it is today, in the tens of thousands, Adalja said.The pace of vaccination has slowed, however, from more than 3 million shots per day two weeks ago to about 2.5 million.The people who were ready and willing to get vaccinated have largely done so. Now, the hard work of overcoming hesitancy begins.”The more people who are vaccinated, the more steps we can take towards spending time with people we love doing the things we love to enjoy,” Walensky said. 
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The first shipment of critical medical supplies arrived in India Tuesday as the country continues to struggle with a catastrophic second wave of COVID-19 infections, a situation described as “beyond heartbreaking” by the head of the World Health Organization.A plane from Britain filled with 100 ventilators and 95 oxygen concentrators, which collects atmospheric air and converts it into pure oxygen, landed at the airport in Delhi before dawn. The British high commission in India says a total of nine transport planes will deliver nearly 500 oxygen concentrators and 140 ventilators to the South Asian nation this week.Other nations have also pledged to ship badly needed medical supplies to India.  France has promised to send ventilators, oxygen generators and containers of liquid medical oxygen by next week, with Germany, Israel and Pakistan, India’s neighbor and longtime arch-enemy, sending personal protective gear, treatments and diagnostic tests along with ventilators and oxygen.US to Send Oxygen to India Biden administration also plans to send 60 million vaccines doses abroad amid latest wave of coronavirus infections   WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva Monday the global health agency “is doing everything we can, providing critical equipment and supplies, including thousands of oxygen concentrators, prefabricated mobile field hospitals and laboratory supplies.”He noted the WHO has already announced 2,600 extra WHO staff members will go to India to help with efforts to fight the disease.The international assistance comes as India reported another 323,144 new confirmed COVID-19 cases Tuesday, marking the sixth consecutive day of more than 300,000 infections.  The country’s health care system is nearing complete collapse, with hospitals crammed with so many coronavirus patients that authorities have been forced to convert train carriages into COVID isolation wards.India also posted another 2,771 COVID-related deaths Tuesday, as crematories have been busy night and day burning people’s remains.  The capital, New Delhi, remains under a lockdown that was extended Monday for another week.India Posts Fifth Consecutive Day of 300,000-Plus New COVID-19 Infections as World Sends Badly Needed AidUS and Britain begin sending ventilators, protective gear, oxygen equipment and testing supplies to beleaguered South Asian nation This second wave has been blamed on the spread of more contagious variants of the virus, plus the easing of restrictions on large crowds when the outbreak appeared to be under control earlier this year.The situation has prompted many nations to suspend all passenger air travel to and from India.  Australia on Tuesday suspended direct passenger flights from India until May 15, leaving thousands of Australians stranded there, including several cricketers playing in the Indian Premier League.India has administered more than 142 million doses of the vaccine, but only 1.6% of its estimated 1.4 billion people are fully vaccinated, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.The country is facing a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines as it struggles with a shortage of raw materials needed to manufacture doses.Having already pledged to send raw materials to India to produce vaccines, the Biden administration announced Monday it will share its stockpile of 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine with other countries, with India likely to be a major recipient.  The two-dose vaccine, which has not been approved for use in the United States, will be shipped overseas once they pass a federal safety check.The doses were manufactured at a Baltimore manufacturing plant that ruined 15 million doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine after the ingredients were accidentally mixed with the ingredients that make the AstraZeneca vaccine. The plant was recently shut down by federal regulators over safety concerns.Meanwhile, the executive committee of the European Union has filed a lawsuit against AstraZeneca for failing to fulfill its contract to deliver millions of doses to its 27-member nations.The British-Swedish drugmaker had initially promised to deliver more than 300 million doses by the end of June, but has since cut that number down to just 100 million doses. The company issued a statement saying it “regrets” the European Commission’s action, calling the lawsuit “without merit.”The lawsuit is the latest blow to AstraZeneca’s efforts to produce a COVID-19 vaccine that can be stored at regular temperatures, making it easier to use and cheaper for many of the world’s poorer nations.  The vaccine has been plagued by a host of problems, including reports of possible blood clots that prompted many nations to halt their initial rollouts of the vaccine.
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U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday announced a federal investigation of policing practices in the southern U.S. city of Louisville, Kentucky, where officers last year shot and killed Breonna Taylor, a Black emergency technician, during a bungled raid on her home.
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Britain froze assets, imposed sanctions and enacted travel bans on nearly two dozen people accused of bribery, kickbacks and fraud on Monday, marking the first time the nation employed its own sanctioning powers to combat international corruption. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told lawmakers that the sanctions would prevent the United Kingdom from being used as “a haven for dirty money,” according to The Associated Press. “Corruption has a corrosive effect as it slows development, drains the wealth of poorer nations and keeps their people trapped in poverty. It poisons the well of democracy,” Raab said, according to Reuters. The list includes 14 Russians implicated in a $230 million tax fraud case, as well as Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta, members of the Gupta business family at the center of a South African corruption scandal. The Guptas deny wrongdoing.  Sanctions were also imposed on businessman Ashraf Seed Ahmed Al-Cardinal, who is accused of stealing state assets in impoverished South Sudan, as well as individuals from Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala. FILE – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press briefing in Brussels, Belgium, March 24, 2021.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he welcomed the sanctions, adding that they strengthened efforts to counter corruption globally. Britain previously imposed sanctions as part of the European Union or United Nations. It has created its own sanctions laws since leaving the EU at the end of 2020. Those laws give the British government the power to penalize those credibly involved in serious violation of human rights and corruption. Sanctioned individuals may not enter Britain, channel money through British banks or profit from the British economy.   The so-called Magnitsky sanctions, which the U.S. and several other countries have enacted, are named for Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who was arrested and later died in prison in Russia after accusing Russian officials of a massive tax fraud. Those officials were among those sanctioned Monday. Opposition politicians said Monday’s sanctions are welcomed but aren’t enough because they don’t target corruption in British overseas territories and dependencies.  Labour Party foreign affairs spokeswoman Lisa Nandy said Britain remains a haven for “dark money” and urged Raab to increase the powers for financial crime investigators.  “The current rate of prosecutions for economic crime is … woefully low, as he knows, and to put it bluntly if he’s serious about what he’s saying today he needs to put his money where his mouth is,” Nandy said, according to the Associated Press. 
 
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A fire that broke out late Saturday at a hospital in Baghdad, Iraq that treats COVID-19 patients killed over 80 and injured at least 110. Plus, the pandemic continues to tax India’s healthcare system.
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Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who was swept to power in pro-democracy protests in 2018, triggered an early election on Sunday to try overcome criticism over his handling of last year’s conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.   His resignation, which was expected, came a day after U.S. President Joe Biden said that massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 constituted genocide, a move welcomed by Armenians worldwide and condemned by Turkey.  Pashinyan told Biden the symbolic decision was a matter of security to Armenia after the six week conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, in which Turkey backed Armenia’s neighbor Azerbaijan, where the ethnic Armenian-populated enclave is located.  Pashinyan had been under pressure to resign since he agreed to a cease-fire after ethnic Armenians lost territory in the fighting with Azeri forces in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.  He had already named a June 20 date for an early election.  Announcing his resignation, he said on his Facebook page on Sunday that he was returning power received from citizens to them so they could decide the future of the government through free and fair elections.    He said he had been compelled to agree to the peace deal, which was brokered by Russia, to prevent greater human and territorial losses. The Armenian army called for his resignation and he then tried to sack the chief of staff, a decision blocked by the former Soviet republic’s president.  Pashinyan updated Russian President Vladimir Putin about the elections and the situation over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, where around 2,000 Russian peacekeepers have been deployed, in a phone call on Saturday, the Kremlin said.  The Armenian Prime Minister has complained before that some issues over the region, including the return of prisoners of war, have not been resolved yet.   According to the Sputnik media outlet, Pashinyan’s My Step ruling alliance led an opinion poll conducted by Gallup International Аssociation at the end of last month.    Its main rival is likely to be a grouping led by Robert Kocharyan, Armenia’s president from 1998-2008. 
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President Joe Biden aimed to accentuate the positive as he wrapped up his Leaders Summit on Climate Change on Friday. Biden highlighted the economic benefits the fight against climate change offers. But his plans still face an uphill battle at home. VOA’s Steve Baragona has more.
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Around the world, more than 1 billion people live with some form of disability, and they are disproportionaly at risk from the COVID-19 pandemic. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias looks at what’s being done in the U.S. to improve their situation.
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A missile launched from Syria struck southern Israel early Thursday, setting off air raid sirens near the country’s top-secret nuclear reactor, the Israeli military said. In response, it said it attacked the missile launcher and air-defense systems in neighboring Syria.The incident, marking the most serious violence between Israel and Syria in years, pointed to likely Iranian involvement. Iran, which maintains troops and proxies in Syria, has accused Israel of a series of attacks on its nuclear facilities, including sabatoge at its Natanz nuclear facility on April 11, and vowed revenge. It also threatened to complicate U.S.-led attempts to revive the international nuclear deal with Iran.The Israeli army said the missile landed in the Negev region and the air raid sirens were sounded in Abu Krinat, a village just a few kilometers from Dimona, where Israel’s nuclear reactor is located, and explosions were reported across Israel. The army later said the incoming missile had caused no damage.The Israeli military initially described the weapon fired as a surface-to-air missile, which is usually used for air defense against warplanes or other missiles. That could suggest the Syrian missile had targeted Israeli warplanes but missed and flown off errantly. However, Dimona is 300 kilometers (185 miles) south of Damascus, a long range for an errantly fired surface-to-air missile.Syria reports four woundedSyria’s state-run SANA news agency said four soldiers had been wounded in an Israeli strike near Damascus, which also caused some damage. The agency did not elaborate other than to claim its air defense had intercepted “most of the enemy missiles,” which it said were fired from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the missile strike or comment from Iran. But on Saturday, Iran’s hardline Kayhan newspaper published an opinion piece by Iranian analyst Sadollah Zarei suggesting Israel’s Dimona facility be targeted after the attack on Natanz. Zarei cited the idea of “an eye for an eye” in his remarks.Action should be taken “against the nuclear facility in Dimona,” he wrote. “This is because no other action is at the same level as the Natanz incident.”The Dimona reactor is widely believed to be the centerpiece of an undeclared nuclear weapons program. Israel neither confirms nor denies having a nuclear arsenal.While Kayhan is a small circulation newspaper, its editor-in-chief, Hossein Shariatmadari, was appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and has been described as an adviser to him in the past.Strikes urged previouslyZarei has demanded retaliatory strikes on Israel in the past. In November, he suggested Iran strike the Israeli port city of Haifa over Israel’s suspected involvement in the killing of a scientist who founded Iran’s military nuclear program decades earlier. However, Iran did not retaliate then.Israel and Iran are archenemies. Israel accuses Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons and has opposed U.S.-led efforts to revive the international nuclear deal with Iran. With Israel’s encouragement, then-President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018.Iran recently began enriching a small amount of uranium up to 60% purity, the highest level ever for its program that edges even closer to weapons-grade levels. However, Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes. It also has called for more international scrutiny of the Dimona facility.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said Israel will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapons capability, and defense officials have acknowledged preparing possible attack missions on Iranian targets. Israel has twice bombed other Mideast nations to target their nuclear programs.Nuclear talksAll the incidents come as Iran negotiates in Vienna with world powers over the U.S. potentially re-entering its tattered nuclear deal with world powers. Negotiators there have described the talks as constructive so far, though they acknowledge the Natanz sabotage could strain the talks.Israel’s government says the deal will not prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability. It also says it does not address Iran’s long-range missile program and its support for hostile proxies in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza.
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