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  • Capitol Police chief appeals for National Guard to stay

    WASHINGTON — Worried about continuing threats, the acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police appealed to congressional leaders Thursday to use their influence to keep National Guard troops at the Capitol, two months after the law enforcement breakdowns of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. Yogananda Pittman told the leaders in a letter obtained by The Associated Press that the board that oversees her department has so far declined to extend an emergency declaration required by the Pentagon to keep Guardsmen who have assisted Capitol officers since the riot. Pittman said she needed the leaders' assistance with the three-member Capitol Police Board, which reports to them. She said the board has sent her a list of actions it wants her to implement, though she said it was unclear whether the points were orders or just recommendations. The letter underscored the confusion over how best to secure the Capitol after a dismal lack of protection in January and biting criticism for law enforcement's handling of the invasion. And it came came as authorities spent the day on high alert, primed for a “possible plot” by a militia group to storm the building again, two months after Trump supporters smashed through windows and doors in an insurrection meant to halt the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory. The list in the letter to lawmakers included a partial removal of the imposing fence encircling the Capitol grounds starting Monday and a drawdown of the Guard to 900 troops from the current 5,200 remaining in Washington. Police want to keep the fence indefinitely. In her letter, Pittman said she would ask for a drawdown of the deployment “based on the threat environment and physical and operational security capabilities.” Earlier Thursday, The Associated Press reported the Pentagon was reviewing a Capitol Police request to keep up to 2,200 Guardsmen at the Capitol another 60 days. A statement from the police said Pittman had formally made the recommendation to the Pentagon. A similar dispute had erupted between the Capitol Police and its board before Jan. 6 and even as rioters were storming the building. The Capitol Police Board, comprised of the House and Senate sergeants at arms and the architect of the Capitol, is charged with oversight of the police force. Steven Sund, the now-former Capitol Police chief, has testified to Congress that he wanted to request the Guard two days before the invasion following reports that white supremacist and far-right groups would target the building to disrupt the certification of Biden's election victory over outgoing President Donald Trump. Paul Irving, who served on the Capitol Police Board as House sergeant-at-arms, denied that Sund asked him to call the Guard. Sund has testified that he asked repeatedly for the Guard to be called as rioters stormed the building, breaking police lines and running over officers unequipped to hold them off. He ultimately called the commanding general of the D.C. National Guard just before 2 p.m., who in turn testified that the request for help was delayed by the Defence Department. The request was not approved until after 5 p.m., as hundreds of rioters marauded through the building and left without being arrested. Five people died in the riot, including a Capitol Police officer and a Trump supporter shot by police. On Thursday, despite the warnings of new trouble, there were no signs of disturbance at the heavily secured building. Nor was there evidence of any large group heading to Washington. The most recent threat appeared to be connected to a far-right conspiracy theory, mainly promoted by supporters of QAnon, that former Trump would rise again to power on March 4 and that thousands would come to Washington to try to remove Democrats from office. March 4 was the original presidential inauguration day until 1933, when it was moved to Jan. 20. But Trump was miles away in Florida. In Washington, on one of the warmest days in weeks, the National Mall was almost deserted, save for joggers, journalists, and a handful of tourists trying to take photos of the Capitol dome through the fencing. Online chatter identified by authorities included discussions among members of the Three Percenters, an anti-government militia group, concerning possible plots against the Capitol on Thursday, according to two law enforcement officials who were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Members of the Three Percenters were among the extremists who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. But federal agents found no significant increases in the number of hotel rooms being rented in Washington, or in flights to the area, car rental reservations or buses being chartered. Online chatter about the day on extremist sites was declining. U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, was briefed by law enforcement about the possible threat and said lawmakers were braced for whatever might come. “We have the razor wire, we have the National Guard. We didn’t have that January 6. So I feel very confident in the security,” he said. But those measures aren't permanent. Some states have threatened to pull their Guardsmen amid reports that some troops had been made to take rest breaks in parking garages or served spoiled food. Other Guardsmen have said they have been given good meals with accommodations for those on vegan or halal diets. In Michigan, which sent 1,000 troops, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she did “not have any intention of agreeing to an extension of this deployment.” Meanwhile, Trump continues to promote lies that the election was stolen from him through mass voter fraud, even though such claims have been rejected by judges and Trump's former attorney general. He repeatedly told those lies on social media and in a charged speech on Jan. 6 in which he implored thousands of supporters to “fight like hell.” Many of those supporters eventually walked to the Capitol grounds and overran officers to breach the building. Trump was impeached by the House on a c harge of incitement of insurrection but was acquitted by the Senate. So far, about 300 people have been charged with federal crimes for their roles in the riot. Trump's election rhetoric continues to be echoed by many national and local Republicans posting online messages about voter fraud and questioning the legitimacy of Biden's victory. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki cited “a years-long trend of false narratives fueling violence.” “On the specifics of today’s threats, the FBI and DHS have warned that the threat of domestic violent extremism, particularly racially motivated and anti-government extremists, did not begin or end on January 6 and we have been vigilant day in and day out,” she said Thursday. ___ Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo, Alan Fram, Mary Clare Jalonick, Colleen Long, and Lisa Mascaro in Washington, and Amanda Seitz in Chicago contributed to this report. Lolita C. Baldor, Lisa Mascaro And Nomaan Merchant, The Associated Press

  • 7-year-old Alabama girl helps to fund her own brain surgery

    HOMEWOOD, Ala. — Liza Scott, 7, started a lemonade stand at her mom’s bakery last summer so she could buy some frills like toys and sequined high-heel shoes. The bouncy little girl is still in business months later, yet the money is going toward something entirely different: surgery on her brain. Last month, doctors determined a series of seizures that Liza began suffering were caused by cerebral malformations that needed repair, said her mother, Elizabeth Scott. Always eager to help out and with an eye toward entrepreneurship after a childhood spent around a small business, the little girl volunteered to help raise money for her upcoming operation. Located near the cash register of Savage's Bakery in suburban Birmingham, her stand of bright pink and yellow wooden crates offers lemonade for a quarter, plus other treats. But people are putting in a lot more as word spreads of her medical condition and her attitude. “I’ve got a $20 bill, and a $50 bill and a $10 bill and a $5 bill and a $100 bill,” Liza said Tuesday as she counted donations from the morning. Liza was still in the hospital after suffering two major seizures when she came up with the idea to help out with the stand, said her mom, who also has a preschool-age boy. “I told her, ‘You don’t have to do that,’” Elizabeth Scott said. “There’s no expectation of her doing anything to help pay the bills. I’m a single mom, I take care of my kids on my own." Yet Liza wanted to help, and she has. Her little stand has made more than $12,000 in a few days — nearly all through donations. “She likes being part of the team. This is something she can really take ownership of,” Scott said. While Liza’s story has warmed plenty of hearts, some are outraged over the idea that a child facing brain surgery would feel a need to raise funds for her own care. The story is yet another sign that the U.S. health system is broken beyond repair and driving families into bankruptcy, critics say. Despite having good insurance through the popular bakery she runs with her father, Elizabeth Scott could quickly see that she was still going to be responsible for some "pretty exorbitant" expenses. So, she also set up an online fundraiser. “Just one week in the hospital and the ambulance rides is more than my monthly salary, and that’s without the surgery and travel expenses," she said. "I can’t fund that by myself, and we have a business to support.” Friends, family and others who have been touched by Liza’s story have already donated more than $300,000. A bubbly little girl who likes Barbie dolls, dressing up — and lemonade — Liza hadn't shown any signs of major health problems until Jan. 30, her mom said. “She had a massive seizure at 5 in the morning and it lasted like 45 minutes,” said Elizabeth Scott. Another one occurred hours later. It was a few days before tests revealed Liza had three malformations that were both causing the seizures and posing a risk of rupture that could lead to a stroke or other problems. Now on medication, Liza was quickly accepted as a patient at Boston Children's Hospital, where a representative said Dr. Ed Smith, a neurosurgeon, and Dr. Darren Orbach, an interventional radiologist, will be part of a team set to operate Monday. The family will fly to Boston on Thursday, and Liza could need follow-up visits into her 30s, her mother said. Liza said she enjoys helping with her stand, where she makes the lemonade and puts donations in a big jar. “It's better than just begging,” she said. Temporarily out of school because of her condition, the girl is spending a lot of time at the bakery running the stand and playing with her dolls. A whirlwind of energy, she runs from one spot to the next, climbs atop a table in an empty room and swings upside down on a handrail as her mother speaks to a well-wisher. In a quiet moment, Liza said she is trying not to think too much about what she called “my brain thingy.” “I'm not worried, but I'm afraid,” she said. Jay Reeves, The Associated Press

  • Olymel announces gradual reopening of pork plant in Red Deer, Alta., after outbreak

    A pork processing plant in central Alberta has announced it has been given the green light to gradually reopen after a COVID-19 outbreak forced it to shut down for two weeks. The Olymel facility in Red Deer, Alta., shut down Feb. 15 due to the outbreak that claimed three lives and infected 515 employees. In a news release late Wednesday, Olymel said it had been given approval by Alberta Health to begin reopening. Slaughter operations were scheduled to resume Thursday and cutting room operations on Friday. Olymel said the reopening will come with a number of strict measures. Although 1,370 employees at the plant have been tested since Jan. 1, 2021, AHS experts will be on site when operations resume and will offer rapid testing. The company says it has added more space to the facility to enhance physical distancing. Olymel says additional staff have been assigned to monitor and enforce the updated measures. Employee groups have been recalled to take part in training sessions covering all implemented health measures, adjustments and the action plan developed for reopening. The meat-packing sector has been hard hit by the health crisis. Cargill temporarily shut down plants in High River, Alta., and Chambly, Que., last year after COVID-19 outbreaks. Olymel shut down its hog slaughter and processing plant in Yamachiche, Que., and the JBS beef plant in Brooks, Alta., temporarily went down to one shift daily from two. Cargill and JBS operations in Alberta account for 70 per cent of Canada's beef production. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2021. Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press

  • A Push to Give the ‘Family Voice’ Real Power in Long-term Care

    In 2017, Kate Cochlan moved her husband, Trevor Nash, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, into the same long-term care facility where both of her parents were living. Less than a year later, she learned that all of its staff had been let go. It was May 2018, and the subcontractor that operated Lakeshore Care Centre in Coquitlam was retiring. It would be up to a new operator to hire staff, and they weren’t obligated to rehire the unionized current employees. The 110 care aides at Lakeshore had unionized for a second time in April 2018, just weeks before they were informed of their forthcoming layoff. Following deregulation of the long-term care sector under the BC Liberal government in 2001 and 2002, Lakeshore’s operator had withdrawn from the provincial collective agreement that initially covered its staff and rehired them using a subcontractor at lower wages. The practice, known as contract-flipping, is used by for-profit care providers to cut costs. Cochlan could see how difficult the unionization fight had been, and she was thrilled workers would be able to negotiate sick pay so they didn’t work while ill, and better hours and benefits that would keep staff turnover low. Then, she learned of the staff layoff via a notice pinned to a bulletin board in the care facility’s common area. “We were pretty appalled,” she said. The staff “are the people who know our people.” For families, keeping the same staff was a matter of good care and continuity for their loved ones. And so the Hospital Employees’ Union, which represents Lakeshore staff as well as the vast majority of care staff in B.C., suggested they establish a family council to increase pressure on the operator. Family councils, formed by family members of residents in care, work to advocate for the needs of residents and their family caregivers to facility operators and provide peer support for people navigating complex care policies for the first time. They are not mandatory in B.C. and don’t exist in every long-term care facility. Those that do exist vary in degree of independence from the facilities themselves. The Hospital Employees’ Union brought over Kim Slater, who had set up family councils on Vancouver Island, to teach the families and caregivers of residents at Lakeshore Care Centre how to do the same. With Slater’s help, Cochlan built an independent family council from the ground up with about a dozen family members representing a total of 56 residents in the facility. They successfully lobbied the new subcontractor to keep the current staff on the same terms. The relationship between Lakeshore Care Centre’s family council and its management was never adversarial, Cochlan said. Eventually the family council was allotted space on-site to meet every other month, and the director of care often attended the first few minutes of the meeting to answer questions from caregivers. “The fact is,” Cochlan says, “a family or friend who sees how things are and can speak up is a big help.” Family councils provide a way for family and caregivers to advocate for the interests of residents to staff on matters ranging from small things like laundry frequency to ensuring designated care hours are fulfilled for each resident. They can also be an invaluable tool to ensure that caregivers are supported. But setting up a council isn’t always as easy as it was for Cochlan and her colleagues. Family councils are not even mentioned in regulation and legislation surrounding long-term care. A care home operator is under no obligation to listen to or engage with an independent family council that is established, let alone provide space or inform new residents’ families they can join. Slater, who chairs the Vancouver Island Association of Family Councils, which represents councils for facilities in 13 Island Health municipalities, said families have been raising the alarm for years on issues of staffing and care standards in long-term care facilities. Letters to the province penned by members shared with The Tyee date back to 2015, but Slater and Cochlan say they have never been answered. Instead, it was the tragedies of the COVID-19 pandemic that finally prompted the province to begin addressing staff shortages, inadequate sick leave, and part-time scheduling norms that pushed many staffers to work in multiple facilities to make ends meet. “Why wouldn’t you talk to the very people in care, the canaries in the coal mine?” asked Slater, whose mother passed away in a Vancouver Island long-term care facility a few years ago. “We’d be a really valuable asset for the Ministry of Health to consult with… but that hasn’t been happening.” Nola Galloway worked to establish a family council in 2010 at a Vancouver Island care facility during a labour dispute similar to the one Cochlan witnessed at Lakeshore in Coquitlam. But she said her family faced hostility from the facility. They were forced to meet off-site and families worried about retaliation from management for bringing up concerns or suggestions. The Tyee is not naming the facility because it is not able to independently verify some facts of the situation. “If one thing surfaces, it’s always the fear of retaliation,” said Galloway, whose father was a resident for seven years. “It’s systemic, it’s rife through all the facilities.” Galloway had noticed care aides helping serve lunch or working in the kitchen when she visited, and through a lengthy reporting process to the Vancouver Island Health Authority, learned many of these hours had been misreported as direct care hours. Their perseverance in gathering and sharing observations resulted in finding that more than 30,000 hours of care — totalling $500,000 in care aide wages — had been inaccurately reported by the facility over four years, she said. The misreporting may have been unintentional, Galloway said, but the revelation nonetheless opened her eyes to the importance of family being able to advocate for their loved ones. And as a result, 20 more daily care hours shared among all residents were mandated at the facility by Vancouver Island Health Authority. “A lot of families give up because they’re beaten down,” said Galloway. “Where they will see things happening is when we have stronger family councils.” But family councils are nothing if they are not recognized and independent, says Delores Broten. At the Courtenay facility where her husband used to live, Broten worked to create an independent family council. As soon as she did, management demanded to attend meetings. When the council asserted meetings were private and for family, management created their own internal family council, and refused to allow notices to be posted about the independent group. Getting in touch with patients’ family members in order to form family councils can be a challenge because management often won’t share contact information or include family council information in their own communications. Management hostility, Broten said, only makes it worse. The pandemic has made it even harder for families to connect with other caregivers, Cochlan said. Cochlan lost both her parents within a few months of each other just before the pandemic. Her husband passed away due to COVID-19 complications in late December during an outbreak. “It was brutal, just brutal,” Cochlan said, describing what it was like to lose her husband without being able to visit for weeks during the outbreak. Peer support from fellow family members helped her get through those difficult nine months. “You never feel like you’ve done enough,” she said. “Strong family councils would go a long way to supporting care.” Last November, B.C.’s independent Seniors’ Advocate Isobel Mackenzie recommended the Health Ministry and her office create a provincial association of long-term care and assisted living councils in response to the emotional and physical devastation that visitation limits wrought on residents and their loved ones. Family members should be included as stakeholders alongside staff and operators, she argued in her report. “These councils are unique to each care home and have no collective voice at the health authority or provincial level,” reads Mackenzie’s report. An association “would bring to the table the voice of residents and their family members in equal measure with those who own and operate care homes and the staff who work there.” The Health Ministry said at the time Mackenzie’s recommendations would be considered in future planning, but it has not committed to implementing her suggestion for family councils. In addition, the four family members The Tyee spoke with all agreed that the province should require facilities to provide space and share contact information, as well as recognize family councils and be accountable to their feedback. The province should also be legally mandated to consult with family councils, who have been raising important issues for years, Galloway and Slater said. “Long-term care seems to lurch from one crisis to another,” said Slater. “We’ve got to do better than this.” Ensuring operators and government are obligated to consult and be accountable to family would value the essential care family provides, Galloway added. “The whole mindset has to change, and it’s going to get our voice at the table alongside ministry and health authorities,” said Galloway. “Where’s the family voice? We need to be at that table.” Moira Wyton, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Tyee

  • California to give 40% of vaccine doses to vulnerable areas

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California will begin setting aside 40% of all vaccine doses for the state’s most vulnerable neighbourhoods in an effort to inoculate people most at risk from the coronavirus more quickly. That's according to two Newsom administration officials who shared details Wednesday on condition of anonymity. The doses will be spread out among 400 ZIP codes with about 8 million people eligible for shots. Many of the neighbourhoods are concentrated in Los Angeles County and the Central Valley. The areas are considered most vulnerable based on factors such as household income, education levels and housing status. Once 2 million vaccine doses are given out in those neighbourhoods, the state will make it easier for counties to move through reopening tiers that dictate what businesses can be open. The details were shared Wednesday by two Newsom administration officials who spoke only on condition of anonymity. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles County could move into the next phase of reopening with fewer restrictions as early as next week, though any actual lifting of coronavirus-related constraints would not happen immediately, health officials said Wednesday. The county, the nation's most populous with its 10 million residents, has recorded more than 1.9 million COVID-19 cases during the pandemic. It is currently in the state's most restrictive category — known as the purple tier — because of widespread transmission. Barbara Ferrer, the county's public health director, said she expects the county to move into the red tier as early as next week. The tiers are based on test positivity rates and adjusted case rate figures. Gov. Gavin Newsom said at an event Wednesday that he wants to incorporate vaccination rates into the tier system and has already been talking with local health officials about it. California's overall positivity rate has fallen to its lowest level during the pandemic and the 7-day positivity rate stood at 2.2% Wednesday. In Los Angeles County, the 7-day positivity rate is 3.5%. The county would need Newsom's permission to advance and must remain within the red tier's requirements for two weeks before anything reopens. Most San Francisco Bay Area counties have advanced to the next phase, which allows restaurants and movie theatres to open indoors at 25% capacity and gyms to operate at 10% capacity. Ferrer said there is a “high likelihood” the reopenings would begin sometime this month. Kathleen Ronayne And Stefanie Dazio, The Associated Press

  • Eager to act, Biden and Democrats leave Republicans behind

    WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress are jamming their agenda forward with a sense of urgency, an unapologetically partisan approach based on the calculation that it’s better to advance the giant COVID-19 rescue package and other priorities than waste time courting Republicans who may never compromise. The pandemic is driving the crush of legislative action, but so are the still-raw emotions from the U.S. Capitol siege as well as the hard lessons of the last time Democrats had the sweep of party control of Washington. Republicans are mounting blockades of Biden’s agenda just as they did during the devastating 2009 financial crisis with Barack Obama. Democrats, in turn, are showing little patience for the GOP objections and entertaining few overtures toward compromise, claiming the majority of the country supports their agenda. With fragile majorities in the House and Senate, and a liberal base of voters demanding action, Democrats are operating as if they are on borrowed time. For many lawmakers, it's personal. Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., led the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to House passage Wednesday on the 30th anniversary of the Rodney King beating by police in Los Angeles that she thought at the time would spur policing reforms. Instead, more Black Americans and others have died in police violence, even after Floyd's death at the hands of law enforcement last summer. “It’s examples like that that lead to the urgency,” Bass said Wednesday. The start of the first congressional session of the Biden administration was supposed to be a new era of bipartisan deal-making. The Senate evenly split, 50-50, and the House resting on a slim majority for Democrats set prime conditions for Biden to swoop in and forge across-the-aisle compromises. But the rush through Biden's first 100 days is shaping up as an urgent era of hardball politics, with Democrats prepared to go it alone, even if that means that changes to the Senate filibuster rules are needed to work around Republican roadblocks to legislation that many Americans support. “We said we’re going to do X, Y and Z, but we didn’t say we were going to be magicians,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. “We can’t magically make the Republicans be for what the people are for.” Days before Biden entered office, White House chief of staff Ron Klain highlighted the urgency with which the incoming administration would seek to act. “We face four overlapping and compounding crises: the COVID-19 crisis, the resulting economic crisis, the climate crisis, and a racial equity crisis,” he wrote in a memo. “All of these crises demand urgent action.” From his first hours in office, Biden sought to take deliberate steps to deliver relief, but also to raise awareness about those and other priorities on the theory that moving urgently would increase public support and raise pressure on Republican lawmakers who might stand in the way. And within the White House there's another kind of urgency: Biden has staffed his administration with veterans of government service who are not looking to stick around that long. Some aides are open about their commitments to help Biden for just a year before returning to private-sector jobs. Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is coursing ahead on party-line votes under budget rules that will allow Senate passage by a simple 51-vote threshold, denying Republicans the ability to block the bill with a filibuster that would take 60 votes to overcome. House leaders have reworked this month’s schedule for legislation to include voting rights, gun background checks and immigration in the queue — many of them do-overs of bills blocked last session by President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans. They still face a long haul to becoming law without GOP support in the Senate. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer often hark back to the lessons of 2009, when Obama took office during the financial crisis and Democrats cut back the recovery package to win a few Republican votes only to face an onslaught of attacks against the bill. Many of the same Democrats in leadership today are unwilling to risk a repeat, especially as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other economists now say that paring back the 2009 rescue package stunted the recovery. “One of the biggest lessons that Republicans learned in the '09 and '10 era is they could basically obstruct everything and not suffer at the ballot box,” said Tre Easton, a senior adviser at the liberal Battle Born Collective. The strategy is on display again. House Republicans used procedural objections to stall the COVID-19 package until well past midnight late last week after a marathon rules session spilled voting into early Saturday. Senate Republicans are now threatening similar delays. “We’ll be fighting this in every way that we can,” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said about the COVID-19 package. McConnell wants Senate Republicans to vote in lockstep against the virus aid, calling it a bloated liberal wish list, following the lead of House Republicans who gave it zero support. That leaves Democrats negotiating with themselves on the COVID-19 package, with Biden warning they won’t like every aspect as he courts centrists. Progressives are being forced to abandon, for now, a provision to lift the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. On Wednesday, Democrats decided to more narrowly target $1,400 direct payments to households. Yet Democrats are holding together, so far, because there’s also the urgency that was not readily apparent until Biden was sworn into office. Perhaps nothing has stiffened the Democratic resolve like the deadly Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol, which carved new fault lines between those who confirmed the presidential election results and those willing to side with the mob seeking to overturn Trump’s defeat to Biden. Democratic lawmakers who arrive at the fenced-in Capitol under the watchful protection of armed National Guard troops appear to have “zero” patience, as one aide put it, for engaging with Republicans — some of whom still question the election results. A new threat of violence sent lawmakers to wrap up work for the week late Wednesday. Republicans are protesting the partisan start, even though they relied on a similar budget mechanism to try to pass Trump-era priorities. They set out to repeal “Obamacare,” an effort that shockingly failed when Sen. John McCain gave it a thumbs-down vote. Later they passed $2 trillion in tax cuts on a party-line vote. The third-ranking Republican, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, said Biden should go back to his campaign and inauguration themes of bipartisanship “and try to live up to it.” But a generation of House leaders who have served decades with Biden and are nearing retirement are increasingly pushing for Senate filibuster rules changes to counter Republican opposition. Rep. James E. Clyburn, D-S.C., the majority whip, said of Republican obstruction: "If that’s what they're going to do, then they're going to have to live with it, because we’re going to serve it up.” Lisa Mascaro And Zeke Miller, The Associated Press

  • Maple Leafs thump Oilers 6-1 to complete emphatic three-game sweep

    EDMONTON — The Maple Leafs talked a lot about consistency following last summer's disappointment in the NHL's post-season bubble. A roster stacked with offensive talent, Toronto looked like world beaters one night and a shell of itself the next. Loose play in the neutral zone and negligent attention to detail in its own end raised questions about whether the team's core would ever figure things out. The pandemic-shortened season isn't yet at the midway point, but the Leafs are certainly serving notice they've discovered a much better version of themselves in 2021. Jimmy Vesey scored twice to snap a long goal drought and Frederik Andersen made 26 saves in his return from injury as Toronto completed a dominant three-game sweep of the Edmonton Oilers with a resounding 6-1 victory Wednesday. The home side entered the series just four points back of Toronto (18-4-2) in the North Division standings, and could have overtaken the Leafs with three straight regulation wins. The Oilers instead got an up-close look at how far the Leafs have come since losing to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the August qualifying round. "Just the process, not getting discouraged when things aren't going our way, just trying to pick back up and get the momentum on our side," Toronto centre Auston Matthews said of what's different about his group. "When we're really at our best and playing really well like we did these last three games, we're keeping things really simple. When the play's there to be made, we're making the play. "When it's not, we're just putting it behind the (defence) and we're forechecking well and doing our best to keep their top guys to the outside. It's a full team effort." John Tavares and Zach Hyman, with a goal and an assist each, William Nylander and Ilya Mikheyhev provided the rest of the offence for Toronto. "Edmonton was red-hot coming into it and chasing us in the standings," Vesey said. "To win three games like that so decisively, I think it's a real step." Jason Spezza added three assists and Travis Boyd chipped in with two for the Leafs, who thumped the Oilers by a combined 13-1 score over a dominant nine periods that saw NHL scoring leader Connor McDavid held without a point. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins replied for Edmonton (14-11-0), which had won five in a row and 11 of its last 13 before the NHL's top team arrived at Rogers Place. Mike Smith allowed six goals on 32 shots. "We came out strong," said McDavid, who was held without a point in three straight games for just the third time in his career. "But I thought we came out strong in all three games, and they find a way to get up a couple goals and it's the same old story. "For whatever reason, we couldn't figure those guys out." Second in the league in scoring behind McDavid, Oilers centre Leon Draisaitl assisted on his team's only goal. "Not good enough," he said. "We just didn't win any battles." Matthews, who leads the league with 18 goals, also returned to the lineup after missing the last two games with a sore wrist/hand, but was held off the scoresheet. It didn't matter on this night — or Saturday or Monday — as the Leafs took away time and space for Edmonton's offensive dynamos. "An all-around team effort on everybody's part of just taking care of the puck," Matthews said. "Especially with their top-2 guys out there, not feeding the transition because they really feed of turnovers and have got so much speed and skill and talent." The Leafs blanked the Oilers 4-0 in backup goalie Jack Campbell's return from injury Saturday before third-stringer Michael Hutchinson produced a 3-0 victory behind Toronto's stifling structure with the team's No. 1 and No. 2 netminders unavailable Monday. Andersen, who missed four games with a lower-body injury, wasn't able to keep the shutout streak going, but Toronto won't mind after improving to 5-1-1 against Edmonton. The Leafs open a two-game series in Vancouver against the Canucks on Thursday, while the Oilers host the Calgary Flames on Saturday before welcoming the Ottawa Senators for three straight. "It's very concerning," Edmonton head coach Dave Tippett said. "It's very concerning that we don't want to grab the competitive level in a series like this." The Oilers came out firing with five shots in just over two minutes to open the first period, but Andersen, like Campbell and Hutchinson in the two previous contests, weathered the early storm. Toronto found its legs as the frantic pace continued, with Matthews showing no lingering injury issues by wiring a shot off Smith's far post. The Leafs nudged in front at 9:03 thanks to their fourth line when Spezza's pass found a hard-charging Vesey to bury his third of the season and first in 18 games. Toronto made it 2-0 at 2:57 of the second when Boyd and Spezza combined to set up Vesey, who took a cross-check in the neck from Alex Chiasson after Monday's final buzzer that resulted in a one-game suspension, after Edmonton got its wires crossed in coverage. After the Leafs' top-ranked road power play connected on its only opportunity Saturday and its first chance Monday, Tavares scored six seconds into Toronto first man advantage when he took a little pass from Joe Thornton in front to bury his fifth at 4:44. Mikheyev then made it 4-0 with his third at 7:02 as the Leafs scored three times in 4:05 and held a stunning 11-0 edge on the Oilers through in just over 147 minutes of action. Nugent-Hopkins finally broke Toronto's shutout streak at 13:46 when he banged home a rebound for his 10th. Edmonton came close to getting within two not long after that, but Leafs defenceman T.J. Brodie snuffed out Draisaitl's wraparound attempt. Nylander put the game out of reach with 98 seconds left in the period when he snapped his 10th, and fifth in his last four games, past Smith to make it 5-1. Andersen, who improved to 15-1-2 all-time against the Oilers, stopped Draisaitl on a short-handed breakaway early in the third before Hyman continued the onslaught on a power play with his seventh at 10:33. "It's a full team effort," Matthews said. "Our goaltending's been unbelievable these last three games. Three different goalies, three phenomenal games. "We've got to put this one behind us and move onto the next." This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2021. ___ Follow @JClipperton_CP on Twitter The Canadian Press

  • Vaccine panel recommends going up to 4 months between doses of COVID-19 shots

    A national panel of vaccine experts recommended Wednesday that provinces extend the interval between the two doses of a COVID-19 shot to quickly inoculate more people, as the prime minister expressed optimism that vaccination timelines could be sped up. In laying out its new guidelines, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization said extending the dose interval to four months would create opportunities to protect the entire adult population against the virus within a short time frame. As many as 80 per cent of Canadians over 16 could receive a single dose by the end of June simply with the expected supply of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, the panel said. Second doses would begin to be administered in July as more shipments arrive, the panel said, noting that 55 million doses are expected to be delivered in the third quarter of the year. In comparison, the federal government previously said 38 per cent of people would receive two doses by the end of June. The addition of the newly approved Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to the country's supply could mean almost all Canadians would get their first shot in that time frame, but Ottawa has not yet said how many doses of that vaccine will be delivered in the spring and how many in the summer. "The vaccine effectiveness of the first dose will be monitored closely and the decision to delay the second dose will be continuously assessed based on surveillance and effectiveness data and post-implementation study designs," the panel wrote. "Effectiveness against variants of concern will also be monitored closely, and recommendations may need to be revised," it said, adding there is currently no evidence that a longer interval will affect the emergence of the variants. The updated guidance applies to all COVID-19 vaccines currently approved for use in Canada. The committee's recommendation came hours after Newfoundland and Labrador said it will extend the interval between the first and second doses to four months, and days after health officials in British Columbia announced they were doing so. Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec also said Wednesday they will delay second doses. Earlier Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said any change in public health guidance regarding the timing of the two doses could affect the speed of Canada's vaccine rollout, as could the approval of more shots. The federal government's plan to have doses administered to all Canadians who want one by the end of September didn't factor in the arrival of new vaccines such as the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot, Trudeau said. And despite delays in the delivery of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine last month, Canada is now "fully back on track and even ahead of schedule" when it comes to its supply of the various shots, he said, noting the country should receive more than the six million doses of COVID-19 vaccines it initially expected to get by the end of March. "The projections we've had for many, many months certainly hold, but we're also very optimistic that they're going to be able to be moved forward if, indeed, all the vaccines that we've contracted for are able to be manufactured and shipped in the right ways," the prime minister said. The first 500,000 doses of the recently approved Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Canada on Wednesday, though confusion persists over who should get them. The vaccine, manufactured at the Serum Institute of India, is the third COVID-19 shot approved for use in Canada. Health Canada last week authorized its use for all adult Canadians but the National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommended Tuesday that it not be administered to people 65 years of age or older. The committee said there is limited data from clinical trials about how effective the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is for seniors and recommends that they be given priority for the two other vaccines — Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna — already greenlighted for use in Canada. Both Health Canada and the committee stress no safety concerns have arisen in the clinical studies or among the millions of seniors who have received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in other countries. Some provinces, including Alberta, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island, plan to follow the advisory committee's advice and target the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine at younger people working in front-line essential services or in high-risk settings like prisons. On Wednesday, the Ontario government said it will give the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot to residents aged 60 to 64. The drug will not be doled out through mass immunization clinics but rather through a "different pathway," Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said. Details of the program were not released. Manitoba said it plans to target those between the ages of 50 and 64 who have high-risk underlying conditions. The province said it expects to receive its first shipment of the AstraZeneca shot by mid-month. Other provinces, including Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, are still mulling over the issue. Meanwhile, Quebec said it would move more regions into the less restrictive orange level of its pandemic system starting next Monday. But while residents in Quebec City, Chaudiere-Appalaches, Mauricie, Estrie and Centre-du-Quebec will see measures loosen, those in the Montreal area will remain under the more stringent rules of the province's red level. New guidelines for shipping and storing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were also released Wednesday, with Health Canada saying the drug can be transported and kept at standard freezer temperatures for up to two weeks. The previous storage instructions required that the vaccine be kept in ultralow temperatures and thawed just before use, which restricted its distribution to areas equipped with the necessary specialty freezers. The change should allow for wider distribution of the vaccines. Ottawa also confirmed Wednesday it is extending three federal support programs meant to lessen the economic impact of COVID-19 on residents and business owners until June. The federal wage subsidy, rent support and lockdown programs will carry on with the same level of aid, the government said. In addition to Wednesday's shipment of Oxford-AstraZeneca doses, Canada is also scheduled to receive 444,600 doses of the Pfizer vaccine this week. With Oxford-AstraZeneca added to Canada's vaccine arsenal, the country is on track to receive a total of 6.5 million vaccine doses by the end of this month — half a million more than originally expected. -- With files from Mia Rabson in Ottawa This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2021. Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press

  • Éphémérides 4 mars : dans les débuts du traitement de la crevette

    En 1968, il y a accord de principe de la Ville de Matane pour mettre l’entrepôt frigorifique de la rue Saint-Pierre à la disposition de Can-Nor Sea Foods qui crée 75 emplois. En 1970, la compagnie adopte le nom Les Fruits de Mer de l’Est du Québec. En 1978, elle entreprend la construction d’une nouvelle usine pour à Matane-sur-Mer. Éphérides du 4 marsDepuis plus de cinquante ans, l’usine de traitement de la crevette Les Fruits de mer de l’Est du Québec a fait la renommée de Matane de par le monde. D’où ce nom de crevette de Matane en référence à la crevette nordique. Installée au port, l’usine traite la pandalus borealis, à partir du déchargement des bateaux, de la transformation, de la cuisson et du décorticage, jusqu’au produit fini, frais ou congelé. En 1901, James Russell et J.-Étienne Gagnon sont autorisés à faire partie de la délégation envoyée à Ottawa aux frais du conseil municipal pour la requête du chemin de fer. En 1918, Les Produits Vétérinaires Nicolle voient le jour. En 1934, à Sainte-Félicité, les marguilliers autorisent la construction d’une salle paroissiale en bois, à un étage, d’une grandeur de 70 pieds sur 40. En 1946, démission de Borromée Dion comme constable et engagement de J.-Auguste Laforest pour lui succéder. En 1955, décès de J-Alfred Rouleau, maire de Matane de 1939 à 1941. Père du chanteur lyrique international Joseph Rouleau. En 1957, requête au ministre des Postes du Canada pour l’organisation d’un service de facteurs à Matane puisqu’on y compte plus de 10 000 âmes. – Protestation contre la décision de scierie Price Brothers de transporter à la municipalité de Price le bois à scier à Matane. – Cession pour 1 $ des terrains nécessaires au prolongement ou à la construction des rues Bernier, Boucher, du Bosquet, Caouette, Champlain, Côté, Courtemanche, des Dominicaines, Lévesque, Notre-Dame, des Remparts, de Riverin, Saint-Antoine, Saint-Émile, Saint-Joseph, Saint-Michel, Saint-Raymond, Saint-Robert, Sainte-Thérèse, Saint-Viateur, Saint-Zénon, Simard, des Ursulines, du Vallon ainsi que des avenues Jacques-Cartier et Saint-Rédempteur ; les donateurs de terrains sont Walter Bélanger, Charles Bouffard, Gérard Bouffard, Georgiana Bouffard, Émile Côté, Raymond Desrosiers, Ernest Durette, Antoine Fortin, Wilfrid Gagnon, Michel Philibert et Robert Philibert. – Requête au gouvernement fédéral pour le prolongement vers l’ouest de la piste actuelle de l’aéroport sur une distance de 3 000 pieds et pour sa réduction de 2000 pieds à l’est pour en améliorer le « clearing » (les approches) – pour le pavage de la piste actuelle et de la seconde en voie de construction – pour l’installation d’un éclairage propice au vol de nuit – pour la construction d’une aérogare. En 1962, première messe célébrée dans la nouvelle église de Saint-Victor de Matane. En 1971, le Bas-Saint-Laurent est paralysé par une tempête de neige particulièrement violente qui lui a valu le surnom de « tempête du siècle ». Romain Pelletier, Initiative de journalisme local, Monmatane.com

  • Four demonstrators arrested after blocking access to Vancouver port for 24 hours

    VANCOUVER — Indigenous youth calling themselves Braided Warriors temporarily blocked and forced the shutdown of a major Vancouver intersection to protest a 90-day jail sentence handed to an anti-pipeline protester. The protest ended Wednesday night, roughly 24 hours after it started. About 20 people set up a blockade at Hastings Street and Clark Drive late Tuesday, a key entrance to the Port of Vancouver, with the number of demonstrators peaking at 75 before police intervened. Social media posts by the Braided Warriors say members intended to shut down the port to show solidarity with an elder sentenced for his role in protests against the Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion project. Vancouver police Sgt. Steve Addison says four people were arrested after repeated requests to clear the roadway. Traffic in and out of the port was temporarily blocked due to the protest. "(Vancouver police) strongly supports peoples’ fundamental freedom to peacefully gather, demonstrate, and express their views, and this group was given a full day to do that," Addison said in a statement. "When it became clear some protesters had no intention of leaving, officers were forced to arrest them to reopen the intersection for all road users." The Braided Warriors said in a social media post that the elder they had been supported was released on bail. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2021. The Canadian Press

  • Philippine journalist Ressa takes stand to rebut gov't tax evasion lawsuits

    Veteran Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, who runs a website known for its tough scrutiny of President Rodrigo Duterte, took the witness stand for the first time on Thursday to counter tax evasion charges that she maintains were politically motivated. Ressa, a Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2018 for fighting media intimidation, is facing several government lawsuits that have stoked international concern about harassment of journalists in the Philippines, a country once seen as a standard bearer for press freedom in Asia. Speaking to reporters after testifying for two and a half hours in Manila, Ressa asked the government to allow journalists to work freely and independently.

  • Northern Irish loyalist paramilitaries withdraw support for 1998 peace deal

    Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary groups have told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson they are temporarily withdrawing support for the 1998 peace agreement due to concerns over the Brexit deal. While the groups pledged "peaceful and democratic" opposition to the deal, such a stark warning increases the pressure on Johnson, his Irish counterpart Micheál Martin and the European Union over Brexit. Northern Ireland’s 1998 peace deal, known as the Belfast or Good Friday Agreement, ended three decades of violence between mostly Catholic nationalists fighting for a united Ireland and mostly Protestant unionists, or loyalists, who want Northern Ireland to stay part of the United Kingdom.

  • Officials Failed to Warn Downtown Eastside Residents about Dysentery Outbreak, Advocate Says

    A Downtown Eastside advocate says it’s unacceptable that Vancouver Coastal Health failed to inform the public about a dysentery outbreak that has sickened 24 people and sent 16 of those patients to hospital. Karen Ward, a Downtown Eastside resident and advocate, says she first learned about the outbreak of shigellosis from a doctor who began messaging her on Twitter in the early morning hours Friday. The doctor was concerned: at that point, 11 patients with shigellosis had been hospitalized, all from the Downtown Eastside. The shigella bacteria causes diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps and some people can become severely ill and need treatment with antibiotics to recover. Shigella is a major cause of dysentery. The doctor who messaged Ward was worried that information about the outbreak wasn’t getting out. “He said, ‘Can we talk tomorrow?’ And I said, ‘Of course.’ He got ahold of me the next day and said he was scared,” Ward said.* What the doctor was worried about, according to Ward, was that information about the outbreak had not yet been made public. Ward has a contract to work with the City of Vancouver on drug policy and often advocates for Downtown Eastside issues. Ward said she took her concerns to the health authority, then early on Saturday morning, to the City of Vancouver. “VCH wouldn’t even answer me, so I went to the city: I emailed the mayor, council and senior managers.” On Saturday, Vancouver Coastal Health sent a notice about the outbreak to organizations that operate housing and shelters in the Downtown Eastside. Doctors were told on Friday, according to the health authority. The notice outlined causes, symptoms and measures organizations and individuals could take to prevent the spread. But Ward said VCH has still not communicated anything to the wider public, meaning some people may not know to seek medical help if they have symptoms or take extra precautions to protect themselves. Shigella is a bacteria present in feces that can spread when people don’t have access to proper hand washing options, safe food preparation or clean bathrooms. “People here are not in the best of health, but if they catch these symptoms early and get tested, get diagnosed and they get prescribed a round of antibiotics, it could clear up in three or four days,” Ward said. “If they don’t get to it quickly, it will spread. They will get sicker. It could turn into a very serious blood infection.” Carmen Lansdowne, the executive director for First United, confirmed her organization received a notice about the outbreak from Vancouver Coastal Health on Saturday. She said the facilities First United operates, including a shelter and several residential buildings, have not been affected by the outbreak. Lansdowne said she sent the notice to shelter staff and asked them to remind residents to wash their hands thoroughly. While VCH initially reported “over 10” people had been hospitalized, those numbers are now at 24 total cases and 16 hospitalizations, according to a staff update Lansdowne shared with The Tyee. In response to questions from The Tyee, Vancouver Coastal Health communications staff said in an email that the health authority had been getting reports of isolated cases of shigellosis in the Downtown Eastside for the past few weeks. Ward says the first case was diagnosed at St. Paul’s Hospital on Jan. 31. In its statement, VCH said it became aware of a cluster of shigellosis among people hospitalized at St. Paul’s Hospital, and “immediately began investigating the cases in order to determine the source of transmission, to identify further cases, and to provide information to residents and housing providers in the community about how to limit the spread of the bacteria.” Local doctors were alerted on Friday, and that alert was posted to Vancouver Coastal Health’s website on Saturday, according to the health authority. The alert says doctors should consider that shigellosis may be the cause of gastroenteritis if patients are “homeless, under-housed, or part of the social network of the Downtown Eastside.” Ward said many Downtown Eastside residents have very low incomes and are in poor health, and the health authority needs to do a better job of giving residents health information directly. “This is not a palliative care ward, this neighbourhood, and it’s not your laboratory either,” Ward said. People who live in the Downtown Eastside have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ripple effect of pandemic restrictions. Drug poisoning deaths and homelessness have both increased in the neighbourhood, and many residents struggle to access bathrooms and places to wash their hands with soap. Those challenges are not limited to people who are homeless: many residents live in single-room occupancy hotels with shared bathrooms. The Tyee previously reported on complaints that one SRO building, the Gastown Hotel, was not being cleaned properly and soap was not available in washrooms. A tenant who lives in the Hazelwood Hotel, where at least 20 residents have tested positive for COVID-19, also said cleanliness could be improved in her building. According to information Vancouver Coastal Health sent to Downtown Eastside housing providers this week, the health authority has identified several COVID-19 “trends” increasing the risk of transmission. Those include building staff smoking with clients or each other; residents and peer workers cleaning with limited training and personal protective equipment; staff double-masking but putting less effective cloth masks on the bottom; inadequate PPE and unsafe PPE removal; staff eating and travelling together; and poor ventilation. Jen St. Denis, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Tyee

  • UK and four nations to fast-track COVID-19 vaccines modified to combat new variants

    The UK, Australia, Canada, Singapore and Switzerland plan to fast-track modified COVID-19 vaccines so they can tackle new variants more swiftly. View on euronews

  • India's foreign minister travels to Bangladesh amid Rohingya repatriation crisis

    India's foreign minister arrived in Bangladesh on Thursday ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid efforts to resolve the fate of 81 Rohingya refugees who are on a boat adrift in international waters. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar will hold talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart on water sharing, trade and border issues, said two Indian officials in New Delhi. "Of course, the Rohingya refugee issue will come up during the Indian minister's day-long visit but the prime agenda will remain around Modi's upcoming visit," said a senior foreign ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

  • ByteDance developing Clubhouse-like app for China amid copycat rush: sources

    TikTok owner ByteDance is working on a Clubhouse-like app for China, sources familiar with the matter said, as the global success of the U.S.-based audio chat service inspires a rush of copycats in the country. At least a dozen similar apps have been launched in the past month, with momentum picking up after Clubhouse was blocked in China in early February. Clubhouse had seen a surge in users who participated in discussions on sensitive topics such as Xinjiang detention camps and Hong Kong independence.

  • Exxon and Macquarie in $11.7 million U.S. lawsuit over gas contract

    Exxon Mobil Corp is suing Australia's Macquarie Energy in a Texas court to avoid paying $11.7 million for missed deliveries during last month's winter freeze in the central United States. The lawsuit, filed by Exxon's natural gas business, said the massive storm and state declarations of emergencies prevented it from fulfilling its supply commitment to Macquarie Energy, the second largest U.S. gas marketer. Exxon is asking the Texas court to rule that the massive storm, caused when an arctic air mass swept the central United States, was a natural disaster.

  • Scoreboard for Wednesday, March 3, 2021

    Wednesday's Games NHL Washington 2 Boston 1 (SO) Toronto 6 Edmonton 1 St. Louis 3 Anaheim 2 Arizona 3 Los Angeles 2 Vegas 5 Minnesota 1 Colorado 4 San Jose 0 --- AHL Syracuse 2 WB/Scranton 1 Grand Rapids 9 Rockford 4 Stockton 4 Belleville 1 Toronto 4 Manitoba 2 Lehigh Valley 4 Hershey 3 Rochester 4 Utica 2 Texas 5 Tucson 2 Bakersfield 6 San Jose 0 San Diego 5 Ontario 4 Stockton at Ontario 9 p.m. --- NBA Indiana 114 Cleveland 111 Detroit 129 Toronto 105 Philadelphia 131 Utah 123 (OT) Brooklyn 132 Houston 114 Charlotte 135 Minnesota 102 Atlanta 115 Orlando 112 Chicago 128 New Orleans 124 Dallas 87 Oklahoma City 78 Portland 108 Golden State 106 Sacramento 123 L.A. Lakers 120 --- MLB Spring Training St. Louis 14 N.Y. Mets 9 Tampa Bay 3 Pittsburgh 1 Boston 14 Minnesota 6 Philadelphia 4 Detroit 2 Baltimore 8 Atlanta 1 Miami 8 Washington 5 Seattle 8 Chicago Cubs 8 Kansas City 6 Chicago White Sox 5 Arizona 9 Cleveland 4 Milwaukee 8 San Diego 5 Colorado 10 Oakland 7 L.A. Angels 6 Texas 2 N.Y. Yankees 4 Toronto 1 Cincinnati 4 L.A. Dodgers 4 --- This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2021. The Canadian Press

  • Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen inoculated against COVID-19

    PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was inoculated Thursday with a vaccine supplied by the World Health Organization’s COVAX initiative, as a plan to immunize up to two-thirds of the country's population was on track to be completed by the end of the year. Hun Sen received a shot donated by India, one of 324,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine that arrived Tuesday. His vaccination comes as Cambodia fights to quell a fresh surge in infections that has mostly affected the Chinese community in Sihanoukville, a city home to the country's main port and huge Chinese investments and construction projects. Hun Sen said travel to and from the city was being restricted. Cambodia reported 31 new virus cases on Thursday, for a total 909 since the pandemic began. The latest outbreak has been traced to a foreign resident who broke hotel quarantine on Feb. 4 and went to a nightclub. That caused a slew of infections and led the government on Feb. 20 to announce a two-week closure of all public schools, cinemas, bars and entertainment areas in Phnom Penh. Cambodia, which has yet to report any virus deaths, received its first shipment of 600,000 doses of a Chinese-produced vaccine on Feb. 7, part of 1 million doses Beijing is donating. The country began its vaccination program on Feb. 10, starting with Hun Sen’s sons, government ministers and officials. Hun Sen received the Indian-manufactured vaccine because he is 68. In China, the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine was approved only for people 18-59 years old because that was the population studied in clinical trials. While there is not yet data on its effectiveness for other age groups, other countries at their discretion may use it for older people. China is Cambodia’s biggest investor and the closest political partner of Hun Sen, who is shunned by some Western nations who consider his government to be repressive. Cambodia, in turn, backs Beijing’s geopolitical positions in international forums on issues such as China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. Hun Sen said earlier this month that Cambodia is seeking to reserve 20 million vaccine doses to inoculate 10 million people, roughly two-thirds of its population. In addition to China’s donation, Australia has announced a grant of $28 million to purchase 3 million doses, and Cambodia is set to get a total of 7 million doses through the COVAX initiative. Sopheng Cheang, The Associated Press

  • UN envoy: Myanmar army is 'surprised' at opposition to coup

    CAMEROON, Cameroon — The U.N. special envoy for Myanmar said the generals who have seized power in the Southeast Asian nation indicated they don’t fear renewed sanctions, though they are “very surprised” that their plans to restore military rule without much opposition isn’t working. Christine Schraner Burgener told U.N. correspondents Wednesday that after the Feb. 1 military coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government from power she warned Myanmar’s army that the world’s nations and the U.N. Security Council “might take huge strong measures.” “And the answer was, ‘We are used to sanctions and we survived those sanctions in the past,’” the U.N. envoy said. When she also warned the army that Myanmar would become isolated, Schraner Burgener said, “the answer was, ‘We have to learn to walk with only a few friends.’” The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in Myanmar, which for five decades had languished under strict military rule that led to international isolation and sanctions. As the generals loosened their grip, culminating in Suu Kyi’s rise to power after 2015 elections, the international community responded by lifting most sanctions and pouring investment into the country. Schraner Burgener noted that opposition to the coup was being spearheaded by young people who lived in freedom for 10 years, noting they “are well organized and very determined they don’t want to go back into dictatorship and isolation.” She was speaking by video link from Bern, Switzerland, on what she called “the bloodiest day since the coup.” Schraner Burgener urged a united international community “to take the right measures,” stressing that Security Council sanctions that must be implemented by every country would be “more powerful” than sanctions by individual countries. The council has scheduled closed consultations for Friday on calls to reverse the coup — including from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres — and the escalating military crackdown, which Schraner Burgener said killed 38 people on Wednesday alone. Schraner Burgener said she receives about 2,000 messages a day from people in Myanmar, many desperate to see an international response. She said she also speaks every day with representatives of the ousted Parliament and has spoken several times with the armed forces deputy commander-in-chief, Soe Win, most recently on Feb. 15. Schraner Burgener said the deputy commander explained in their first phone call on Feb. 4 that the new State Administration Council — the name for the new ruling junta — is charged with implementing a five-step military roadmap. That roadmap, which the junta has also published in state-run media in Myanmar, includes reconstituting the electoral commission, which rejected the military’s allegations of fraud in a November election where Suu Kyi’s party won 82% of the vote. She said that has already been done. It aims for a national cease-fire agreement with all 21 ethnic armed groups in Myanmar, which Schraner Burgener said is going to be difficult as 10 have already taken a strong stand against the coup. It also aims at stamping out COVID-19 and recovering business activity. It’s final task is holding new elections in a year. Schraner Burgener said in her view the military’s “tactic” was to investigate members and leaders of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, prove they committed crimes like election fraud, treason or working with foreigners, and put them in prison. “And then the NLD will be banned and then they will have new elections where they want to win, and then they can continue to stay in power,” she said. “The army had told me the plan — to threaten the people, to make arrests and then the majority of the people would go home because they have fear,” Schraner Burgener said. Then the military “have the control back again,” and people will get used to the situation “and go back to business as usual. She said the army is surprised by the opposition, which has been led by young people. “I think that the army is very surprised that it doesn’t work because in the past, in 1988 and 2007 and 2008, it worked,” she said, noting the years of previous violent military crackdowns on uprisings against its rule. She has an office in the capital, Naypyitaw, and has been asking to return since the coup on condition she can talk to the military leaders and see representatives of the ousted parliamentarians and Suu Kyi and ousted President Win Myint, who are among some 1,200 people she says are detained. “I really hope to visit Myanmar as quickly as possible,” she said. “I don’t have the solution on the silver plate, but I have some ideas which I would like to discuss.” Schraner Burgener didn’t disclose the ideas. She said the military has told her the time isn’t right yet for a visit. She asked if she could visit if she lifted her conditions and said she was told it wouldn’t make a difference. During her three years as the U.N. special envoy, Schraner Burgener said she always warned the Security Council and the General Assembly that a coup could happen because she knew the structure of the government — that the military had the power. Under Myanmar’s constitution, drafted under military rule, the army maintained control of many key ministries surrounding defence and security and also was guaranteed enough seats in Parliament to override any changes to the charter. “I always felt she was on a tightrope dealing with the army,” Schraner Burgener said of Suu Kyi. Schraner Burgener said she thought military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who staged the coup, was “really afraid” that Suu Kyi would have more success with reforms following her “overwhelming victory in the election.” Edith M. Lederer, The Associated Press