Foreign news
The top federal religious freedom advisory panel on Wednesday condemned the Biden administration for removing Nigeria from the U.S. State Department’s list of countries of particular concern (CPC).
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which is a federal government commission created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, consists of commissioners who are appointed by the president and a bipartisan group of congressional leaders.
"USCIRF is disappointed that the State Department did not adopt our recommendations in designating the countries that are the worst violators of religious freedom," said USCIRF Chair Nadine Maenza in a press release. She said the panel was "appalled."
"While the State Department took steps forward on some designations, USCIRF is especially displeased with the removal of Nigeria from its CPC designation, where it was rightfully placed last year, as well as the omission of India, Syria, and Vietnam. We urge the State Department to reconsider its designations based on facts presented in its own reporting."
On Wednesday, the State Department released its countries of particular concern, which is a list of nations that are considered to have participated in or tolerated "systemic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom." Such a designation potentially carries sanctions or other punitive consequences.
Nigeria, which is a hub of Boko Haram where approximately 43,000 Christians have reportedly been killed by Islamic terrorists in the past 12 years, was added to the list during the Trump administration but left off this year.
Religious freedom advocacy group International Christian Concern (ICC) identified Nigeria as one of its 2021 "Persecutors of the Year" in a recent report.
ICC President Jeff King said he is "troubled" by Nigeria's omission as a CPC.
"The Nigerian government has done almost nothing to stop the violence against Nigerian Christians, leading to continued violent persecution," King said in a statement. "In some instances, as with Kaduna’s Governor El-Rufai, the Nigerian government has even furthered the violence. We will continue to raise the voices of the many victims of Nigeria with the U.S. government and will continue to serve Nigeria’s Christian community."
King's sentiments were echoed by Open Doors USA CEO David Curry, who said Wednesday that his organization was "deeply alarmed" by the State Department's decision.
"This is not only a baffling error, it's likely in direct violation of the International Religious Freedom Act, the law that requires these designations to be made in the first place," Curry said, going on to note how his organization has documented thousands of targeted killings of Christians in Nigeria for more than a decade.
"In no other country on earth do we see such a sustained level of outright violence directed towards a Christian community, and the situation has only deteriorated over the past 12 months," Curry said. "The Nigerian government has stubbornly refused to address this violence. The removal of Nigeria from this list will embolden bad actors and strongly deter efforts to bring peace to the region."
Sam Brownback, who became a senior fellow at Open Doors USA after serving as the U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom under former President Trump, also denounced dropping Nigeria from the list.
"The sudden removal of Nigeria from the CPC list is a serious blow to religious freedom in both Nigeria and across the region," Brownback said. "Just when we should be doing everything possible to stop the relentless violence that's targeting Christians and others, we do the opposite.
"This rewards the Nigerian government for tolerating severe religious freedom violations and sends a message to extremists that their actions will continue to go unpunished. People of faith in Nigeria will bear the fallout of this decision, and that's unacceptable," Brownback added.
The State Department did not respond to an after-hours request for comment in time for publication.
Fox News
Head of the United Nations (UN) World Food Programme (WFP) has released a detailed plan on how spending $6.6 billion of Tesla CEO Elon Musk's money could help alleviate world hunger.
Musk engaged with WFP chief David Beasley on Twitter late last month after Beasley said that about $6 billion of Musk's wealth, equal to gains he at one point received in a single day, could help world hunger during a CNN interview. Musk shared an article on the interview and asked Beasley to show how the money would "solve world hunger," challenging him to provide a plan "in detail" and offering to "sell Tesla stock right now and do it" if he did.
"This hunger crisis is urgent, unprecedented, AND avoidable.@elonmusk, you asked for a clear plan & open books," Beasley tweeted on Monday. "Here it is! We're ready to talk with you - and anyone else - who is serious about saving lives. The ask is $6.6B to avert famine in 2022."
This hunger crisis is urgent, unprecedented, AND avoidable. @elonmusk, you asked for a clear plan & open books. Here it is! We're ready to talk with you - and anyone else - who is serious about saving lives. The ask is $6.6B to avert famine in 2022: https://t.co/eJLmfcMVqE
— David Beasley (@WFPChief) November 15, 2021
Beasley's tweet was accompanied by a link to a page on the WFP website titled "A one-time appeal to billionaires." The page argues that a "perfect storm of conflict, climate crises, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising costs for reaching people in need is causing a seismic hunger crisis," while asserting that the $6.6 billion "would help stave off starvation for 42 million people across 43 countries."
Details of the plan show exactly how Musk's money would be used to alleviate hunger. The largest portion, $3.5 billion, would be used to buy and transport food to areas where food is needed the most. The next-largest amount, $2 billion, would be used to issue food and cash vouchers in areas where markets are available.
Another $700 million would be used for "country-specific costs to design, scale up and manage the implementation" of the program, while $400 million would be for "global and regional operations management, administration and accountability."
The plan is further broken down to explain that the $6.6 billion would provide one meal per day, each costing $0.43, to people in 43 hunger-stricken countries. The WFP said that Musk's money "would feed 42 million people for one year, and avert the risk of famine."
Beasley, who is also a former Republican governor of South Carolina, first responded to Musk immediately after the Tesla CEO challenged the WFP to show him how his money would solve the issue. The WFP chief pointed out that the article Musk was commenting on wrongly stated that he believed the money would "solve" hunger, arguing that it would instead "save 42 million people on the brink of starvation."
"I can be on the next flight to you," Beasley tweeted at Musk. "Throw me out if you don't like what you hear! ... We can meet anywhere—Earth or space—but I suggest in the field where you can see @WFP's people, processes and yes, technology, at work. I will bring the plan, and open books."
Newsweek
Drugmaker Pfizer Inc. has signed a deal with a U.N.-backed group to allow other manufacturers to make its experimental Covid-19 pill, a move that could make the treatment available to more than half of the world’s population.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Pfizer said it would grant a license for the antiviral pill to the Geneva-based Medicines Patent Pool, which would let generic drug companies produce the pill for use in 95 countries, making up about 53 percent of the world’s population.
The deal excludes some large countries that have suffered devastating coronavirus outbreaks. For example, while a Brazilian drug company could get a license to make the pill for export to other countries, the medicine could not be made generically for use in Brazil.
Still, health officials said the fact that the deal was struck even before Pfizer’s pill has been authorized anywhere, could help to end the pandemic quicker.
“It’s quite significant that we will be able to provide access to a drug that appears to be effective and has just been developed, to more than 4 billion people,” Esteban Burrone, head of policy at the Medicines Patent Pool, said.
He estimated that other drugmakers would be able to start producing the pill within months, but acknowledged the agreement wouldn’t please everyone.
“We try to strike a very delicate balance between the interests of the (company), the sustainability required by generic producers and most importantly, the public health needs in lower and middle-income countries,” Burrone said.
Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer will not receive royalties on sales in low-income countries and will waive royalties on sales in all countries covered by the agreement while Covid-19 remains a public health emergency.
Earlier this month, Pfizer said its pill cut the risk of hospitalization and death by nearly 90 percent in people with mild to moderate coronavirus infections. Independent experts recommended halting the company’s study based on its promising results.
Pfizer said it would ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulators to authorize the pill as soon as possible.
Since the pandemic erupted last year, researchers worldwide have raced to develop a pill to treat Covid-19 that can be taken at home easily to ease symptoms, speed recovery and keep people out of the hospital. At the moment, most Covid-19 treatments must be delivered intravenously or by injection.
Britain authorized the Merck’s Covid-19 pill earlier this month, and it is pending approval elsewhere. In a similar deal with the Medicines Patent Pool announced in October, Merck agreed to let other drugmakers make its Covid-19 pill, molnupiravir, available in 105 poorer countries.
Doctors Without Borders said it was “disheartened” that the Pfizer deal does not make the drug available to the entire world, noting that the agreement announced Tuesday also excludes countries including China, Argentina and Thailand.
“The world knows by now that access to Covid-19 medical tools needs to be guaranteed for everyone, everywhere, if we really want to control this pandemic,” said Yuanqiong Hu, a senior legal policy adviser at Doctors Without Borders.
The decisions by Pfizer and Merck to share their Covid-19 drug patents stands in stark contrast to the refusal of Pfizer and other vaccine-makers to release their vaccine recipes for wider production. A hub set up by the World Health Organization in South Africa intended to share messenger RNA vaccine recipes and technologies has not enticed a single pharmaceutical to join.
Fewer than 1 percent of Pfizer’s Covid-19 shots have gone to poorer countries.
NBC News
At least 18 people were killed on Sunday in an artisanal gold mine collapse in southern Niger, the local mayor said on Monday.
The disaster took place in the southern Maradi region, near the border with Nigeria. The death toll is likely to rise, said Adamou Guero, mayor of the commune of Dan Issa.
"When we arrived at the site yesterday, people were still searching for bodies," he said.
"It's something which is common in gold mines. It's very difficult to control," Guero added.
Artisanal miners often use old-fashioned and unregulated methods of digging, leading to frequent deadly accidents.
Increasing demand for metals and rising prices have triggered a boom in small-scale mining in poor countries around the world in recent years. The activity is common across much of West Africa.
Reuters
• An Afghan father trying to provide food for his family sold his kid daughter to a 55-year-old man.
• Parwana Malik sold for $2,200, according to CNN.
• A few months ago, Abdul Malik sold his 12-year-old daughter, also to make ends meet.
An Afghan father said he sold his 9-year-old daughter, Parwana Malik, to a man for $2,200 to be able to afford food for his wife and other kids, CNN reported.
The family has lived in a northwest province of Afghanistan for years, struggling to pay for basic needs like food. Together, they earn just a few dollars a day, according to CNN. A few months ago, Parwana's father sold her 12-year-old sister to make ends meet.
The family was forced this time around to sell another child, once again to put food on the table. Parwana's parents sold her to a 55-year-old for $2,200, according to CNN.
Parwana's father, Abdul, is "broken," CNN reported. He and his wife tried to borrow money from relatives and beg on the streets but could not come up with enough. "We are eight family members," he told CNN. "I have to sell to keep other family members alive."
Last month, a woman named Saleha said she sold her 3-year-old daughter for $550 because, like the Maliks, she didn't have enough money to sustain herself. When Insider readers heard of Saleha's story, dozens offered to pay off her debt.
Afghanistan is heading toward "universal poverty" following the Taliban's swift takeover of the country, according to a projection from a United Nations' development agency.
Within a year, the poverty rate in Afghanistan will hover at a whopping 97% or 98%, said Kanni Wignaraja, UNDP's Asia-Pacific Director.
"Afghanistan pretty much faces universal poverty by the middle of next year," Wignaraja said. "That's where we're heading - it's 97-98% no matter how you work these projections."
The Taliban took over Afghanistan following President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw US troops from the region after two decades spent trying to rid the country of extremists. In its takeover, the Taliban renamed the country the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, reverting back to the same name used during the last time the regime held power, in 1996. The regime remained in power until 2001, after the US invaded Afghanistan.
After the US ousted the Taliban from power in 2001, Afghanistan made several developmental gains including the doubling of per capita income and an increase in the average number of years of education, Wignaraja said.
Over the past two decades, Afghanistan made significant economic gains that are now in danger of collapsing because of political instability. Afghanistan faces "a crush on local banking" because of the Taliban takeover, Wignaraja said. That instability is only worsened by the pandemic.
The Biden administration, in an effort to limit the Taliban's resources, froze nearly $10 billion in reserves in the country's central bank - most of which is reportedly held by the Federal Reserve Bank in New York. The move has been criticized as misdirected and will ultimately hurt Afghans more than the Taliban, Shah Mehrabi, a senior board member of Da Afghanistan Bank, told Bloomberg.
Business Insider
At least 99 people were killed and more than 100 injured in the capital of Sierra Leone late on Friday when a fuel tanker exploded following a collision, local authorities said.
Emergency crews worked to clear the scene on Saturday in Freetown's eastern suburb of Wellington where a burnt body and the blackened shells of cars and motorbikes blocked the road following the crash, a Reuters reporter said.
The wounded were treated in hospitals and clinics across the capital, deputy health minister Amara Jambai told Reuters.
Victims included people who had flocked to collect fuel leaking from the ruptured vehicle, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, mayor of the port city, said in a post on Facebook, although that post was later edited to remove the reference.
"We've got so many casualties, burnt corpses," said Brima Bureh Sesay, head of the National Disaster Management Agency, in a video from the scene shared online. "It's a terrible, terrible accident."
Videos shared online shortly after the explosion showed people running through clouds of thick smoke as large fires lit up the night sky. Reuters was not able immediately to verify the images, but witnesses described the horror.
"We are all in shock. A lady I had just bought bread from died. A lovely woman. I can’t get over this grief," said Abdul Kabia, crying at the crash site surrounded by mangled vehicles.
HOSPITAL OVERWHELMED
The crash provided a major challenge for Freetown's health service already creaking from years of underfunding. The 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic gutted the country's ranks of medical staff, 250 of whom died, and the system has not recovered.
Connaught Hospital was overwhelmed with the influx of patients, so some of the injured were moved to other locations, including a military hospital, said Swaray Lengor, a programme manager at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
"The situation at the hospital, especially Connaught hospital ... is overwhelming. Inadequate medical consumables and bed capacity," Lengor told Reuters by text message. "NGO partners were requested to support with equipment, medical commodities and food."
The death toll would likely rise, he said.
The World Health Organization said it would send supplies and deploy specialists in burn injuries.
"We will provide more support as needed at this terrible time for the people of Sierra Leone," it said on Twitter.
Accidents with tanker trucks in Sub-Saharan Africa have previously killed scores of people who gathered at the site to collect spilled fuel and were hit by secondary blasts.
In 2019, a tanker explosion in Tanzania killed 85 people, while around 50 people were killed in a similar disaster in Democratic Republic of Congo in 2018.
"My profound sympathies with families who have lost loved ones and those who have been maimed as a result," President Julius Maada Bio tweeted. "My government will do everything to support affected families."
Reuters
The United States has ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees in Ethiopia to leave because of armed conflict and civil unrest, its embassy in Addis Ababa said on Saturday.
Denmark and Italy also asked their citizens in Ethiopia to leave while commercial flights were still available, as rebellious Tigrayan forces and their allies have advanced towards the capital Addis Ababa.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government, which has been embroiled in a year-long war against Tigrayan forces, has promised to keep fighting despite calls for a ceasefire from African nations, Western states and the U.N. Security Council.
"Incidents of civil unrest and ethnic violence are occurring without warning. The situation may escalate further and may cause supply chain shortages, communications blackouts, and travel disruptions," the U.S. Embassy said on its website.
Government spokesperson Legesse Tulu and Abiy's spokesperson Billene Seyoum did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment.
Municipal authorities in the capital ordered residents who own firearms to register their weapons this week, to bolster defences in case the city is attacked. Addis Ababa has registered more than 10,000 weapons, Yonas Zewde, a spokesperson for the city administration, told state broadcaster EBC on Saturday.
Abiy's government declared a national state of emergency on Tuesday, saying it was locked in an "existential war" with forces from the northern Tigray region and their allies.
Getu Argaw, police commissioner for the capital, told EBC it was "only a dream" for the TPLF to think it could capture the city. He said police had confiscated weapons and uniforms from people in the capital.
Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) spokesperson Getachew Reda accused Abiy of using the state of emergency to arrest "thousands of Tigrayans and Oromos".
The government spokesperson and the federal police spokesperson Jeylan Abdi did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on Getachew's remarks but police have denied that arrests in the capital are ethnically motivated.
"We are only arresting those who are directly or indirectly supporting the illegal terrorist group," police spokesperson Fasika Fante said on Thursday, a reference to the TPLF. "This includes moral, financial and propaganda support."
The TPLF unveiled an alliance with other factions on Friday aiming to remove Abiy from power, saying this would be done by force if needed.
The government condemned the move, saying Abiy had a mandate to rule based on a landslide election win in June. It urged international partners to help protect Ethiopia's democracy.
The conflict in the north of Ethiopia started a year ago when forces loyal to the TPLF seized military bases in the Tigray region. In response, Abiy sent troops, who initially drove the TPLF out of the regional capital but have faced a sharp reversal since June this year.
Reuters has not been able to confirm independently the extent of the TPLF advance. The TPLF and their allies told Reuters this week they were now in the town of Kemise in Amhara state, 325 km (200 miles) from the capital. The government accuses the group of exaggerating its territorial gains.
The conflict has killed thousands of people, forced more than 2 million more from their homes and left 400,000 people in Tigray facing famine.
Social media companies Facebook and Twitter have taken action to limit what they call violations of their policies by Ethiopian accounts, including removing a post by Abiy's official Facebook account.
Twitter said on Saturday it had temporarily disabled the Trends section of its service in Ethiopia, which showcases the most tweeted subjects, because of threats of physical harm.
"Inciting violence or dehumanizing people is against our rules ... Given the imminent threat of physical harm, we've also temporarily disabled Trends in Ethiopia," the company said.
Reuters
Pfizer Inc's experimental antiviral pill to treat Covid-19 cut by 89% the chance of hospitalization or death for adults at risk of severe disease, the company said on Friday, as its CEO vowed to make this promising new weapon in the fight against the pandemic available globally as quickly as possible.
The trial's results suggest that Pfizer's drug surpasses Merck & Co Inc's pill, molnupiravir, which was shown last month to halve the chance of dying or being hospitalized for Covid-19 patients at high risk of serious illness.
Pfizer's pill, with the brand name Paxlovid, could secure U.S. regulatory approval by the end of the year. Pfizer said it plans to submit interim trial results to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before the Nov. 25 U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. The trial was stopped early due to its high success rate.
President Joe Biden said the U.S. government has secured millions of doses of Pfizer's drug.
"If authorized by the FDA we may soon have pills that treat the virus in those who become infected," Biden said. "The therapy would be another tool in our toolbox to protect people from the worst outcomes of Covid."
Shares in Pfizer, which also makes one of the mostly widely used Covid-19 vaccines, rose 11% to close at $48.61. Merck's fell 10% to close at $81.61. Shares of vaccine makers took a hit, with Moderna Inc, Pfizer's German partner BioNTech SE and Novavax all down 11-21%.
Pfizer's pill is given in combination with an older antiviral called ritonavir. The treatment consists of three pills given twice daily. It has been in development for nearly two years.
The Pfizer and Merck pills are eagerly anticipated, with only limited options currently available for treating people sick with Covid-19. Full trial data is not yet available from either company.
Pfizer is in active discussions with 90 countries over supply contracts for its pill, Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said in an interview.
"Our goal is that everyone in the world would be able to have it as quickly as possible," Bourla said.
Bourla added that for high-income countries Pfizer expects to price its treatment close to where Merck has priced its drug. Merck's U.S. contract price is around $700 for a five-day course of therapy. For low-income countries, Bourla said Pfizer is considering several options, with the goal of "no barrier for them as well to have access."
Merck's pill was approved by British regulators in a world first on Thursday.
Even with the potential offered by the Pfizer and Merck pills, preventing Covid-19 infections through broad use of vaccines remains the best way to control a pandemic that has killed more than 5 million people worldwide, including more than 750,000 in the United States, infectious disease experts said.
"Vaccines are going to be the most effective and reliable tool that we have in this pandemic," said Grace Lee, professor of pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine. "These oral medications are going to augment our ability to really reduce the risk of severe disease, hospitalization and death, which is huge, but it won't prevent infection."
While more than 7 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide, that has covered only about half the world's people. In the United States, 58% of all people, including 70% of adults, are fully vaccinated.
Mizuho analyst Vamil Divan forecast a "very minor impact" from Pfizer's drug on vaccination among people who do not want the vaccine or a booster shot as recommended by U.S. health regulators.
"I think there's a small percentage of people that may decide not to get vaccinated now that there are good treatment options," Divan said.
MANUFACTURING GOALS
Pfizer said it expects to manufacture 180,000 treatment courses by the end of this year and at least 50 million courses by the end of next year, including 21 million in the first half of 2022. Bourla said that, based on the better-than-expected trial results, Pfizer is considering potentially doubling next year's manufacturing target.
Antivirals need to be given as early as possible, before an infection takes hold, to be most effective.
The planned analysis of 1,219 patients in Pfizer's study examined hospitalizations or deaths among people diagnosed with mild to moderate Covid-19 with at least one risk factor for developing severe disease, such as obesity or older age.
Among those given Pfizer's drug within three days of symptom onset, the pill lowered the chances of hospitalization or death for adults at risk of developing severe Covid-19 by 89% compared to those receiving a placebo. Among these patients, 0.8% were hospitalized and none died by 28 days after treatment, compared to a 7% hospitalization rate and seven deaths in the placebo group.
Rates were similar for patients treated within five days of symptoms: 1% of the treatment group was hospitalized, compared to 6.7% for the placebo group, which included 10 deaths. Pfizer said that represents 85% effectiveness at preventing hospitalization or death.
Two other trials - one in people without underlying risk factors and another in people who have been exposed to the virus but are not yet infected - are continuing, with those results likely be available in the first quarter of 2022, Bourla said.
Pfizer did not detail side any effects but said adverse events happened in about 20% of both treatment and placebo patients. Possible side effects include nausea and diarrhea.
Reuters
British scientists have identified a gene that doubles the risk of dying from Covid-19, providing new insights into why some people are more susceptible to the disease than others, while opening up possibilities for targeted medicine.
Around 60% of people with South Asian ancestry carry the high-risk gene, researchers at Oxford University said on Friday, adding the discovery partly explains the high number of deaths seen in some British communities, and the effect of Covid-19 in the Indian subcontinent.
The scientists found that the increased risk is not because of a difference in genetic coding of the proteins, but because of differences in the DNA that makes a kind of "switch" to turn a gene on.
That genetic signal is likely to affect cells in the lung, while a higher risk version of the identified gene, called LZTFL1, possibly prevents the cells lining airways and the lungs from responding to the virus properly.
However, the higher risk version gene does not affect the body’s immune system that makes antibodies to fight off infections, researchers said, adding that those people carrying this version of the gene should respond normally to vaccines.
“(The study) shows that the way in which the lung responds to the infection is critical. This is important because most treatments have focussed on changing the way in which the immune system reacts to the virus,” said James Davies, co-lead of the study.
The findings were published in the Nature Genetics journal.
Reuters
The United States has issued its first passport with an “X” gender designation, marking a milestone in the recognition of the rights of people who do not identify as male or female, and expects to be able to offer the option more broadly next year, the State Department said Wednesday.
The department did not identify the passport recipient, but Dana Zzyym, an intersex activist from Fort Collins, Colorado, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that they received it. Since 2015, Zzyym, who prefers a gender-neutral pronoun, has been in a legal battle with the State Department to obtain a passport that did not require Zzyym to lie about gender by picking either male or female.
Zzyym (pronounced Zimm) picked up the UPS package with the passport after getting an early morning text and phone call from their lawyer, Paul Castillo of Lambda Legal, that it had arrived. Zzyym had stayed up late celebrating Intersex Awareness Day with two visiting activists.
While Zzyym, 63, said it was thrilling to finally get the passport, the goal was to help the next generation of intersex people win recognition as full citizens with rights, rather than travel the globe, Zzyym said.
“I’m not a problem. I’m a human being. That’s the point,” said Zzyym, who has an arm tattoo that reads, “Never give up,” a reminder of goals to accomplish in life.
Zzyym was born with ambiguous physical sexual characteristics but was raised as a boy and had several surgeries that failed to make Zzyym appear fully male, according to court filings. Zzyym served in the Navy as a male but later came to identify as intersex while working and studying at Colorado State University. The State Department’s denial of Zzyym’s passport prevented Zzyym from being able to go to two Organization Intersex International meetings.
Zzyym would like a chance to travel to another advocacy conference once they resume after the pandemic or perhaps go sea fishing in Costa Rica but, being on a fixed income, says a road trip to Canada for fishing might be more feasible.
Advocates, who praised the work of Zzyym, said the United States’ decision to join over a dozen countries that allow a third-gender option would allow people to travel as their authentic selves and possibly keep them safer doing it.
“Intersex, nonbinary, and transgender people need identity documents that accurately reflect who we are, and having mismatched documents can create problems with safety and visibility,” said Mary Emily O’Hara of GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization,
The U.S. special diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights, Jessica Stern, said the decision brings the government documents in line with the “lived reality” that there is a wider spectrum of human sex characteristics than is reflected in the previous two designations.
“When a person obtains identity documents that reflect their true identity, they live with greater dignity and respect,” Stern said.
The State Department said in June that it was moving toward adding a third gender marker for nonbinary, intersex and gender-nonconforming people but that would take time because of required updates to its computer systems. In addition, a department official said the passport application and system update with the “X” designation option still awaited approval from the Office of Management and Budget, which signs off on all government forms.
The department now also allows applicants to self-select their gender as male or female, no longer requiring them to provide medical certification if their gender did not match that listed on their other identification documents.
Stern said her office planned to talk about the U.S. experience with the change in its interactions around the world and hopes that might help inspire other governments to offer the option.
“We see this as a way of affirming and uplifting the human rights of trans and intersex and gender-nonconforming and nonbinary people everywhere,” she said.
AP
More...
Security forces in Colombia have captured Dairo Antonio Usuga, the country’s most wanted drug trafficker.
Better known as Otoniel, the leader of the Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia or the Gulf Clan, was captured on Saturday in a rural area in the Uraba region.
President Ivan Duque hailed Otoniel’s capture as a victory, likening it to the arrest three decades ago of the notorious Colombian drug kingpin, Pablo Escobar.
“This is the biggest blow against drug trafficking in our country this century,” Duque said during a news conference. “This hit is only comparable to the fall of Pablo Escobar in the 1990s.” The Colombian president said his government was working on extraditing Otoniel, most likely to the United States, where he was first indicted in 2009 in a Manhattan federal court on drug trafficking charges.
The 50 year old also faces criminal charges in Brooklyn and Miami in the US on charges of “operating continuing criminal enterprises, participating in international cocaine trafficking conspiracies and using firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes”.
‘Victims deserve justice’
Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), congratulated the Colombian government on Otoniel’s capture, tweeting that the drug lord “must be held accountable for the hundreds of crimes committed under his command”.
Vivanco added: “The victims deserve justice.”
Authorities have been after Otoniel for years, killing allies, capturing family members and going after his finances. Colombia had offered a reward of up to $800,000 for information leading to his capture, while the US had put a bounty of $5m on his head. Duque said Otoniel’s arrest “marks the end of the Gulf Clan”, but analysts and human rights group worry the move could result in more violence at a time of worsening clashes between armed groups. Still, the takedown of Otoniel was a success, Guzman said, as it comes at a time when the Colombian security forces are slowly losing control of rural areas to armed gangs.
“It’s positive that they’re able to capture one of the most wanted criminals in Colombia,” Guzman said.
“They didn’t gun him down, they didn’t bombard him. This means there was intelligence, this means there was infiltration. This means there was a sophisticated operation that led to his capture.”
The US and the United Kingdom provided the intelligence in the operation to capture Otoniel, according to The Associated Press news agency, while more than 500 members of Colombia’s special forces and 22 helicopters were used in the jungle raid.
‘Kingpin strategy’
Experts say Otoniel’s capture falls in line with a military tactic used in Latin America, known as the “kingpin strategy”, in which security forces seek to take out the leader of an armed group in order to topple its criminal enterprises.
“When the head of an organisation, a ‘kingpin’, is toppled, there are a dozen underlings ready to take their place. And I have no doubt the same will happen with Otoniel,” said Sergio Guzman, director of Colombia Risk Analysis.
The strategy was used in the killing in 1993 of Escobar, who at the time was the leader of the Colombian Medellin cartel, as well as the capture in 2016 of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the former leader of the Mexican Sinaloa cartel.
But the tactic has long been criticised by experts, who say it often has the opposite of the intended effect, creating in-fighting within armed groups and new struggles for territorial power, and in turn generating more violence. They say this was the case following the capture of Guzman and the killing of Escobar.
A Colombian human rights defender who has received death threats from the Gulf Clan over her work advocating for victims of conflict said she is worried Otoniel’s arrest could worsen violence in her home region, Los Montes de Maria.
The sweltering northern area – which saw a brief respite in violence when the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) group signed a peace pact with the Colombian government in 2016 – is a strategic drug route and an historic hub for armed groups.
“The Gulf Clan in the Montes de Maria gets stronger every day,” said the human rights defender, who wished to remain anonymous. “Every day, their forces grow.
“They may have taken out the boss, but there are other bosses and other gangs that keep gaining control,” she said.
“Instead of reducing the violence, the violence is only going to get worse … These people are going to continue arming, they’re going to continue threatening us and they’re going to continue extorting.”
AL JAZEERA
At least three people are reported to have died and some 80 have been hurt after soldiers fired on crowds opposing a military takeover in Sudan.
Protestors took to the streets after the armed forces dissolved civilian rule, arrested political leaders and called a state of emergency on Monday.
Troops are reported to have been going house to house in the capital Khartoum arresting local protest organisers.
The coup has been condemned around the world, and the US halted $700m in aid.
The leader of the coup, Gen Abdel Fattah Burhan, blamed political infighting for the military action.
Civilian leaders and their military counterparts have been at odds since long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir was overthrown two years ago.
As night fell on Monday, large numbers of protesters were on the streets of Khartoum - and other cities - demanding the return of civilian rule.
One wounded protestor told reporters he was shot in the leg by the army outside the military headquarters, while another man described the military firing first stun grenades, then live ammunition.
"Two people died, I saw them with my own eyes," said Al-Tayeb Mohamed Ahmed. Sudan's doctors' union and the information ministry also wrote on Facebook that the fatal shootings had happened outside the military compound.
Pictures from a hospital in the city showed people with bloodied clothing and various injuries.
Our correspondent says that despite the violence, the protests show few signs of easing.
Demonstrators have blocked roads with piles of bricks and burning tyres. Many women are also taking part, shouting "no to military rule".
The city's airport is closed and international flights are suspended. The internet and most phone lines are also down.
Central Bank staff have reportedly gone on strike and across the country, doctors are said to be refusing to work in military run hospitals except in emergencies.
World leaders have reacted with alarm at news of the military takeover.
The US has joined the UK, EU, UN and African Union, of which Sudan is a member, in demanding the release of political leaders who are now under house arrest in unknown locations.
Among them are Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and his wife, along with members of his cabinet and other civilian leaders.
Our correspondent said a special security unit of the military went to the prime minister's home early on Monday morning, and tried to persuade Hamdok to agree to the coup, but he refused.
Sudan has been in a fractious power sharing agreement between civilian and military leaders since long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in 2019.
The agreement is designed to steer Sudan towards democracy, but it has been a tumultuous ride with a number of previous coup attempts, the last being just over a month ago.
Gen Abdel Fattah Burhan, who was head of the power sharing agreement, but is now leading the latest coup, has said the take over was needed to "rectify the revolution's course" because of political infighting.
He said Sudan was still committed to the transition to civilian rule, with elections planned for July 2023, but protesters have not accepted his reasoning.
BBC
Some investors aren’t waiting to see if former President Donald Trump’s plans for a media company to challenge the likes of Facebook, Twitter and even Disney can actually become reality — they’re all in.
Trump said Wednesday that he’s launching Trump Media & Technology Group and a “Truth Social” app as a rival to the Big Tech companies that have shut him out and denied him the megaphone that was paramount to his national rise. The announcement came nine months after Trump was expelled from social media for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
Experts were split on how strong a competitor Trump Media & Technology Group can be, but the stock market reacted with exuberance.
TMTG’s plan is to become a publicly listed company through a merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a type of company whose sole purpose is to acquire a private company and take it public. Shares of Digital World Acquisition quadrupled Thursday in what some might see as validation for Trump, even though there’s a ways to go before the merger is completed.
“I’m personally not a Trump supporter, but this could lead to giant media presence,” said investor Ryan Joshua Keenan, who put $2,000 into the stock early Thursday morning and had already tripled the money by the early afternoon. “It’s been going up ridiculously.”
Trump has spoken about launching his own social media site ever since he was barred from Twitter and Facebook. An earlier effort to launch a blog on his existing website was abandoned after the page drew dismal views.
“We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “This is unacceptable.”
Conservative voices actually do well on traditional social media. On Wednesday, half of Facebook’s 10 top performing link posts were from conservative media, commentators or politicians, according to a daily list compiled by a New York Times technology columnist and an internet studies professor using Facebook’s own data.
TMTG has not set its sights low. In addition to the Truth Social app, which is expected to soft-launch next month with a nationwide rollout early next year, the company says it is planning a video-on-demand service dubbed TMTG+ that will feature entertainment programming, news and podcasts.
One slide in a TMTG presentation on its website includes a graphic of its potential competitors, which range from Facebook and Twitter to Netflix and Disney+ to CNN. The same slide suggests that over the long term TMTG will also become a power in cloud computing and payments and suggests it will go head-to-head with Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Stripe.
A Trump-branded social media portal would join a crowded space dominated by Big Tech-run portals like Facebook and Twitter. Still, everyday social media users tend to be on multiple platforms at once, so TMTG’s offering doesn’t have to necessarily peel users from other portals to thrive.
“This network will most likely be most successful in targeting far-right users, the same that left Facebook for ‘alternative’ social networks like Gab or Parler,” said Alexandra Cirone, assistant professor in government at Cornell University.
Trump’s new media outlet could also compete for viewers on conservative networks such as OANN, Newsmax and Fox News, she said.
Ali Mogharabi, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, who covers Twitter, Facebook and other social media companies, said Trump’s brand could initially give TMTG a leg up relative to other new social media sites going up against Facebook and other big players.
“Whether that’s going to be sustainable in the long run, that’s very uncertain.”
Mogharabi said next year’s mid-term elections could be pivotal in whether the social media platform succeeds.
“A lot of Trump supporters would probably go on there. Even more so in 2024, if Trump actually decides to run for president. Those types of future events could actually attract more users.”
For now, the deal is attracting stock traders. Shares of Digital World Acquisition soared $35.34, or 357%, to $45.50, and changed hands more than 475 million times. That compares with average trading volume of about 11 million shares for Twitter, which trade at around $65.
Digital World Acquisition, based in Miami, is a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. Such publicly traded companies are designed to list the shares of a private company more quickly than a traditional initial public offering. In practice, that means the SPAC acquires a private firm and then changes its name and other details to those of the acquired firm.
“It’s been many, many months since there’s been a SPAC merger greeted with this amount of enthusiasm,” said Jay Ritter, a professor at the University of Florida who specializes in initial public offerings.
A SPAC pays for an acquisition with cash from its own initial public offering. DWA completed its initial public offering on Sept. 8. DWA said it has raised roughly $293 million in cash, which it will use to grow TMTG’s ventures.
The enthusiasm from investors came even though the SPAC deal was unusual in several ways. Announcements of such deals typically are accompanied by the actual merger agreement and a presentation to investors full of numbers and data.
In this one, the merger agreement was not there. And the “Company Overview” of TMTG on its website is light on details about its structure and finances.
“I don’t know enough to say it’s unprecedented, but it’s weird. Given a lot of things that happen with Trump are not great with details and formalities, it’s perhaps not surprising, but it’s not the norm in SPACs,” said Michael Ohlrogge, an assistant professor of law at New York University who researches SPACs.
Until the deal is completed, TMTG would not have access to the cash raised by the SPAC. And without additional details from the companies, it’s unclear what Trump’s role will be and how much he’ll be compensated.
The deal has an initial enterprise value, which measures total debts and assets, of $875 million, according to Wednesday’s announcement. Experts say it could take up to six months for the deal to close.
Digital World Acqusition is currently run by CEO Patrick Orlando, a Miami-based founder of the Benessere Investment Group. He owns 18% of Digital World’s stock, according to a recent regulatory filing.
Orlando has experience taking at least three SPACs public. One company, Yunhong International, had planned to buy a marketer of “carbon neutral” fuel cells and batteries, but a press release issued last month said the deal had been canceled without giving a reason.
Orlando declined to comment about Trump’s potential role in the new company to The Associated Press on Thursday, pointing the public statements, which provide no detail.
The last time Trump ran a publicly traded company, it didn’t end up well for investors. His casino company, Trump Entertainment Resorts, lost hundreds of millions of dollars over more than a dozen years and filed for bankruptcy several times, socking shareholders with big losses. Trump fared better. He took in $82 million in fees, salary and bonuses over the same period, according to Fortune magazine.
AP
The Taliban have announced an interim government in Afghanistan, declaring the country an "Islamic Emirate".
The new cabinet, entirely male, is made up of senior Taliban figures some of whom are notorious for attacks on US forces over the last two decades.
It will be led by Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, one of the movement's founders, who is on a UN blacklist.
The interior minister is the feared FBI-wanted leader of the Haqqani militant group, Sirajuddin Haqqani.
The Taliban seized control of most of Afghanistan more than three weeks ago, ousting the previous elected leadership.
Announcement of the acting cabinet is a key step in the formation of a permanent Taliban government. The new leadership will face significant challenges, not least stabilising the country's economy and gaining international recognition.
The Taliban have previously said they wanted to form an inclusive government. However, all of the cabinet ministers announced on Tuesday are already established Taliban leaders, and no women were included.
Ministers told to implement Islamic law
A statement attributed to Taliban Supreme Leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada told the government to uphold Sharia.
The Taliban want "strong and healthy relations with our neighbours and all other countries based on mutual respect and interaction", said the statement, released in English - with the caveat that they would respect international laws and treaties "that are not in conflict with Islamic law and the country's national values".
Hibatullah Akhundzada has never made a public appearance. This is the first message appearing to come from him since the Taliban took control last month.
Hassan Akhund, the new interim prime minister, served as deputy foreign minister from 1996 to 2001, when the group was last in power. He is influential on the religious side of the movement, rather than the military side.
His appointment is seen as a compromise, after recent reports of in-fighting between some relatively moderate Taliban figures and their hardline colleagues.
An interior minister on a US terrorism list
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the new acting interior minister, is head of the militant group known as the Haqqani network who are affiliated with the Taliban and have been behind some of the deadliest attacks in the country's two-decade-long war - including a truck bomb explosion in Kabul in 2017 that killed more than 150 people.
Unlike the wider Taliban, the Haqqani network has been designated a foreign terrorist organisation by the US. It also maintains close ties to al-Qaeda.
According to the FBI's profile on Haqqani, he is "wanted for questioning in connection with the January 2008 attack on a hotel in Kabul... that killed six people, including an American citizen".
It adds: "He is believed to have coordinated and participated in cross-border attacks against United States and coalition forces in Afghanistan. Haqqani also allegedly was involved in the planning of the assassination attempt on [former] Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2008."
The Haqqani network has also been blamed for an attack on the US embassy and nearby Nato bases in Kabul on 12 September 2011. Eight people - four police officers and four civilians - were killed in that attack.
A movement which has long moved in the shadows, whose names would surface only on the world's terrorism watch lists, is now announcing titles used in governments the world over.
Acting prime minister Mullah Akhund appears as a compromise candidate after reported rivalries among leading military and political figures who will serve under him.
Its caretaker nature also provides breathing space as the Taliban move from guns to government.
It also underlines the Taliban view that a Taliban victory can only mean Taliban rule. Sources say they pushed back against calls for an "inclusive" government. They balked at including former political figures and officials, who've had their turn at the top, and especially those tainted by corruption.
"Why should we let others pick our cabinet when other countries pick their own?" was one retort.
As for women, there was never a chance they would be given a ministerial role; the Ministry of Women's Affairs seems to have been, for now, abolished altogether.
Other appointments to the new government include:
■ Mullah Yaqoob as acting defence minister. He is the son of Taliban founder and late supreme leader Mullah Omar. He first came to prominence in 2015 when, in an audio message released after his father's death, he called for unity within the militant group.
■ Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar will be one of the PM's deputies. Baradar was previously head of the Taliban's political office, and oversaw the signing of the US withdrawal agreement last year.
■ Amir Khan Muttaqi is acting foreign minister, a senior leader who took part in negotiations with the US about their withdrawal.
Asked why no women were given posts, one senior Taliban figure told the BBC that the cabinet had not been finalised yet.
The government announcement came on the day Taliban fighters fired shots at a protest of hundreds of people, mainly women, in Kabul.
Footage from the scene showed people running to safety, while heavy gunfire - warning shots fired by militants - was heard in the background.
The Taliban now claim full control of Afghanistan, saying they have defeated resistance fighters who were holding out against them in the Panjshir valley, north of Kabul.
The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) said in a statement that it "considers the announcement of the Taliban's caretaker cabinet illegal and a clear sign of the group's enmity with the Afghan people".
BBC