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The jump was the largest reported amount of hate crimes since 2001, according to the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations.

Areport from the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations found that anti-Asian hate crimes in the most populous county of the United States increased 76 percent in 2020 over the previous year.

The jump was the largest reported amount of hate crimes since 2001, according to the commission, which compiled these numbers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, over 40 different city police departments and police agencies at schools, universities and colleges.

Of the 44 anti-Asian hate crimes reported in the county in 2020, more than three-quarters involved physical violence, a marked increase from 58 percent in 2018, the commission said in a report released on Wednesday. In 2019, 25 anti-Asian hate crimes were reported.

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The commission also noted that the number of reports was likely drastically underreported.

Local KCAL 9 news channel reported Thursday that the report was part of an annual report scheduled to be issued next month by the commission. Los Angeles County will organize a United Against Hate Week from Nov. 14 to 20.

The pre-scheduled release highlighted a disturbing trend surrounding the Asian community.

While the full scope of the report remains to be seen, many pointed to former President Donald Trump’s racially charged rhetoric against China as a trigger for some anti-Asian attacks. 

Published : October 23, 2021

By : Xinhua

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40007862

The White House said Vice President Kamala Harris will visit France next month. Her trip is seen as the Biden administrations continuing efforts to repair U.S.-France relations, which suffered setbacks due to a controversial nuclear submarine deal.

 U.S. President Joe Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Friday discussed cooperation in the Sahel and Indo-Pacific regions and agreed to meet in Rome later this month, said the White House.

Biden and Macron in a phone conversation discussed efforts to support stability and security in the Sahel, enhance cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and enable a more capable European defense, according to a White House statement.

The two leaders will meet in Rome later this month to continue their conversation on bilateral cooperation, it added.

In a separate statement, the White House said Vice President Kamala Harris will visit France next month to meet with Macron and participate in the Paris Conference on Libya on Nov. 12.

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The trip of Harris is seen as the Biden administration’s continuing efforts to repair U.S.-France relations, which suffered setbacks due to a controversial nuclear submarine deal announced by the United States, Britain and Australia last month.

In mid-September, the United States and Britain said they would support the Australian Navy in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines under a newly formed trilateral security pact known as AUKUS, depriving France of an existing contract to provide 12 conventional submarines to Australia.

Outraged by the abrupt move without consultations, France recalled its ambassadors to the United States and Australia in protest.

Biden admitted the issue could have been better handled during his last call with Macron in late September.

Published : October 23, 2021

By : Xinhua

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40007858

“We are carefully studying the possible consequences,” Mashkov said.

AUKUS, a security partnership among Australia, Britain and the United States, carries the risk of undermining international and regional security, a Russian diplomat said Friday.

“We are carefully studying the possible consequences” of the creation of the AUKUS partnership, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Ambassador-at-Large Grigory Mashkov said in an interview with the RIA Novosti news agency.

Within the AUKUS framework, the territory of a non-nuclear state could be used to deploy military infrastructure of nuclear states, Mashkov warned.

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“This can create potential risks of destabilizing the situation in the field of international and regional security,” he said.

The trilateral security pact was announced on Sept. 15, under which Washington and London will support Canberra in building nuclear-powered submarines.

Russia has repeatedly voiced concerns over the new bloc.

Published : October 23, 2021

By : Xinhua

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40007856

Pfizer and BioNTech are applying FDA emergency use authorization (EUA) of a two-dose regimen of their 10-microgram dose for children ages 5 to 11. If authorized, it would be the first COVID-19 vaccine for younger children.

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said their COVID-19 vaccine is safe and 90.7 percent effective against symptomatic COVID-19 in children ages 5 to 11.

The companies revealed the data in a document posted Friday ahead of a meeting of advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scheduled for next Tuesday.

Pfizer and BioNTech are applying FDA emergency use authorization (EUA) of a two-dose regimen of their 10-microgram dose for children ages 5 to 11. The two doses would be administered three weeks apart.

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The data show that the two-dose primary series of the vaccine given to children from 5 to less than 12 years of age confers a high degree of protective efficacy against COVID-19 during a period when the Delta variant of concern predominates in the United States.

The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet on Oct. 26 to discuss whether to authorize the vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.

If authorized, it would be the first COVID-19 vaccine for younger children.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is currently fully approved for people ages 16 and older, and has an EUA for children ages 12 to 15. 

Published : October 23, 2021

By : Xinhua

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40007855

A blanket advisory against all cruise travel remains in place.

The Canadian government has lifted its advisory against all non-essential international travel by Canadians outside the country which were in place since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

The new advisories for each country have now reverted to the four levels that existed prior to the pandemic: exercise normal security precautions, exercise a high degree of caution, avoid non-essential travel and avoid all travel.

The advisories, put back in place on Thursday, can be seen on the government’s Travel Advice and Advisory website. However, a blanket advisory against all cruise travel remains in place.

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After the COVID-19 pandemic, the government advised all Canadians, regardless of vaccination status, to avoid non-essential international travel.

As of Friday, Canada reported 926 new cases of the COVID-19, increasing the cumulative total to 1,694,095 cases, including 28,687 deaths, according to CTV.

As of Oct. 21, 64,293,712 vaccine doses have been distributed in the country, 57,557,726 doses have been administered and at least 27,816,165 people have been fully vaccinated. That’s about 73.2 percent of Canada’s population. 

Published : October 23, 2021

By : Xinhua

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40007852

The number of Covid-19 cases crossed 12.93 million across Southeast Asia, with 32,368 new cases reported on Friday (October 22), higher than Thursday’s tally at 29,883. New deaths are at 585, increasing from Thursday’s number of 573. Total Covid-19 deaths in Asean are now at 274,675.

Malaysia’s Tourism Ministry aims to reopen the country to international tourists in November, and travelers from neighboring Singapore could be among the first to be allowed into the country.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, more than 300,000 people crossed the Malaysia-Singapore land border each day, while the air route between Singapore and Malaysia’s capital city Kuala Lumpur was one of the busiest globally.

Meanwhile, US major drugmaker Merck and Co is considering the possibility of letting Philippine manufacturers produce the oral anti-Covid–19 drug Molnupiravir to make it readily available in the country. It is estimated that Molnupiravir will be available in the Philippines by next month, although this would still be dependent on the decision of Indian authorities in allowing exports of the antiviral medicine.

The price of the drug in the Philippines will not be as high as US$700 per course, which is the price that US government paid Merck.
 

Published : October 23, 2021

By : THE NATION

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Rescuers have retrieved all the bodies under the debris.

Atotal of 17 people were killed in a blast and the ensuing fire at an explosives factory in Russia’s Ryazan region on Friday, the TASS news agency reported.

At the time of the incident, there were 17 people in the one-story workshop of the “Razryad” company that produces industrial explosives, and rescuers have retrieved all the bodies under the debris.

The fire that covered an area of 160 square meters has been extinguished. The factory building was completely destroyed in the blast.

The reason for the incident has not yet been officially announced. A disruption in the “technological process” could cause the blast.

The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a case on violations of safety requirements for hazardous facilities. 

Published : October 23, 2021

By : Xinhua

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40007850

The toolbox, which the European Commission launched last week, contains measures to tackle the rising energy prices in the short and longer term.

The leaders of the European Union (EU) member states have endorsed a package of measures to deal with the immediate effects of the spike in energy prices, the European Council said on Friday.

In the conclusions of the two-day EU summit that started on Thursday, the leaders called for medium- and long-term measures that would contribute to affordable energy prices for households and companies.

The toolbox, which the European Commission launched last week, contains measures to tackle the rising energy prices in the short and longer term.

A customer fills the tank of his car at a gas station in Paris, France, Oct. 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

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The leaders called on the member states to “urgently make the best use of the toolbox to provide short-term relief to the most vulnerable consumers and to support European companies,” especially those struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. They said that the European Investment Bank should “look into how to speed up investment in the energy transition.”

The summit participants also discussed the pandemic and the vaccination rates across Europe. They noted the significant progress made in the fight against the pandemic but voiced concern that the situation in certain countries remains “very serious.”

“In light of the development of the epidemiological situation, the European Council called for further coordination to facilitate free movement within, and travel into, the EU,” and encouraged the European Commission to “accelerate its work regarding mutual recognition of certificates with third countries.”

A gas station is seen in downtown Vilnius, Lithuania, Oct. 16, 2021. (Xinhua/Xue Dongmei)

Published : October 23, 2021

By : Xinhua

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40007835

During the construction of the China-Laos Railways Friendship Tunnel, the cross-border tunnel connecting Mohan in southwestern Chinas Yunnan Province and Boten in northern Laos, a pair of mentor and protege drilled respectively from each side of the tunnel and competed in progresses and quality.

The engineers are busy making the final touches to the China-Laos Railway’s Friendship Tunnel, the cross-border tunnel connecting Mohan in southwestern China’s Yunnan Province and Boten in northern Laos, as the railway is set to start operation in December.

The tunnel, with a total length of 9,595 meters including 2,425 meters belonging to the Lao section, has been named Friendship Tunnel to demonstrate the traditional friendship between China and Laos.

During the construction, carried out by China Railway No. 2 Engineering Group (CREC-2), a pair of mentor and protege drilled respectively from each side of the tunnel and competed in progresses and quality.

Pan Fuping, the mentor aged 50, led a team drilling the tunnel from the Chinese side, while Bai Xiaoke, Pan’s protege in CREC-2, holed the tunnel from the Lao side.

Aerial photo taken on Dec. 29, 2019 shows the exit of the Friendship Tunnel of the China-Laos railway in northern Laos. (CREC-2/Handout via Xinhua)

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After nearly 30 years of front-line work, Pan has been used to living in the wild while working in the tunnels and along the rivers. On a normal working day at 5:00 a.m., he wears his mask, helmet, reflective vest, waterproof shoes, carries a flashlight and goes to check the work in the tunnel.

Bai was confronted with a big trouble. In the depth of the mountains in northern Laos, the tunnel meets a salt layer with a thickness of over 100 meters and a salinity of over 80 percent, a rare situation that was extremely challenging to the safety of the tunnel structure.

Huang Hong, the general manager of the CREC China-Laos Railway Project Headquarters in Vientiane, told Xinhua earlier this month that the salt layer situation in the Friendship Tunnel was the first of its kind in global engineering and had never been encountered by any other construction team before.

“However, with the joint efforts by the CREC-2 and Chinese scientific research institutions, the difficulty was finally removed,” he said.

“Salt absorbs water, then dissolves or crystallizes, and the crystallization expands, which has a squeeze effect on our structure. Once the salt layer dissolves, there will also be holes which can cause the structure to sink, and is very harmful to the whole structure,” Bai said.

Photo taken on May 20, 2020 shows the exit of the Friendship Tunnel of the China-Laos railway in northern Laos. (CREC-2/Handout via Xinhua)

In order to ensure the progress of the project, Bai not only consulted experts, but also studied the situation himself. “With no experience for reference, we do our own research,” he told his colleagues.

Surely, Bai’s research team included his mentor Pan. During the construction, Pan and Bai made video calls from time to time to update each other on their engineering progress and discussed the problems they encountered.

In September 2020, after over 1,500 days of hard work by more than 1,200 Chinese and Lao engineers, the Friendship Tunnel was successfully bored, laying a solid foundation for the opening of the China-Laos Railway.

Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, Pan and Bai were not able to give each other a bear hug on the day.

“It is something of a pity, but it is all right, the hugs we owed each can be made in the train when the China-Laos Railway is put into operation,” Pan told Bai in a recent video chat.

However, even this expectation will not be realized. “I have just come to Tibet to join the Sichuan-Tibet Railway construction,” Bai replied.

Bai told reporters that his mentor only told him to “continue to do a good job.”

“It is not only his wish, but also his admiration for me, since he must be longing to join me on the plateau (for the construction).”

“The naming of the Friendship Tunnel symbolizes the profound friendship between the two peoples (of China and Laos),” Wang Xiaodong, executive manager of the CREC-2 Friendship Tunnel Project, told Xinhua on Monday.

“To build the China-Laos Railway into a landmark project of the Belt and Road Initiative and of the China-Laos friendship has long been the consensus of our builders with CREC-2, with Bai Xiaoke and his mentor no exception,” said Wang.

The China-Laos Railway is a docking project between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Laos’ strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub.

The electrified passenger and cargo railway is built with the full application of Chinese management and technical standards. The construction of the project started in December 2016 and is scheduled to be completed and open to traffic in December 2021.

Chinese engineers with the China Railway No. 2 Engineering Group take a group photo, after completing the drilling of the Friendship Tunnel of China-Laos Railway from northern Laos to the border line with China on May 20, 2020. (CREC-2/Handout via Xinhua)

Published : October 22, 2021

By : Xinhua

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40007834

“Languishing in other jails from Kandahar to Kabul the situation was tolerable, but in Bagram prison, in one word, I can say that no human rights had been respected. The detainees were tortured and insulted. It was extremely miserable that some detainees had eaten razor to end their lives given the inhuman treatment of the American soldiers,” said former detainee Abdul Qadir Hijran.

“The authorities shifted me from Pul-e-Charkhi jail to Bagram prison which was in Afghan army control but virtually the Americans were the rulers of the prison and they beat me badly,” former detainee Abdul Qadir Hijran recalled.

A resident of Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province, 29-year-old Hijran was captured in 2011 in Takht-a-Pul area for fighting the then U.S.-backed administration and the U.S.-led forces. He had been kept in a Kandahar prison for 22 months and was later transferred to the Pul-e-Charkhi central jail in Kabul.

After two years in the Pul-e-Charkhi jail, Hijran was moved to the Bagram prison within the premises of the U.S. military base, 50 km north of Kabul.

Abdul Qadir Hijran, a former Bagram prisoner, speaks during an interview with Xinhua News Agency in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Oct. 13, 2021. (Photo by Sanaullah Seim/Xinhua)

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“My painful life began from here when the American soldiers began torturing me while the prison was at the hands of Afghan forces,” Hijran said.

Recalling the ordeal, the former prisoner said the jail authorities  kept 34 inmates in a cage-like room where the inmates used to live without blankets and mattresses, while the room was kept cold by air conditioner round the clock.

“The detainees didn’t have enough food and medicines. If any inmate got headache, or stomachache the jail clinic provided him just a pill and nothing more,” he said.

“Languishing in other jails from Kandahar to Kabul the situation was tolerable, but in Bagram prison, in one word, I can say that no human rights had been respected. The detainees were tortured and insulted. It was extremely miserable that some detainees had eaten razor to end their lives given the inhuman treatment of the American soldiers,” Hajran said.

“I can’t explain the torture and ill-treatment they applied to me, but the atrocities they committed would haunt me for years,” said the former inmate, adding that the U.S. military did not even allow the detainees to recite Quran, the Muslims holy book, in their cell.

Hijran was freed from the Bagram prison with the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban in mid-August.

Expressing hatred to the war, the former detainee said, “Now is the time for peace and I expect the countries to treat Afghanistan with the sense of neighborhood, justice and co-existence to facilitate Afghans living in peace.”

Published : October 22, 2021

By : Xinhua