Wildfires in Algeria kill 42, including two dozen soldiers
Devastating wildfires ripping through Algeria killed 42 people Tuesday, including 25 soldiers working to put out the flames.
Starting Monday in the Kabylie region, east of the capital, the fires grew in number, and the army was deployed to both battle blazes and help evacuate residential areas.
With homes burning around them, families rushed to escape through blinding smoke. Some residents in desperation tried to extinguish nearby fires by smothering them with tree branches and spraying water on them, armed only with plastic buckets. The flames continued to spread.
“We had a horror night. My house is completely burnt,” Mohamed Kaci, who fled alongside his family to a hotel from the village of Azazga, told Reuters.
Tuesday’s fatal wildfires add Algeria to a growing list of countries marred by destructive blazes this summer: Recently, parts of Lebanon, Russia, Greece and Turkey have gone up in flames. The Western United States and Canada have also been plagued by wildfires.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune offered his condolences to the families of the soldiers on Twitter: “We bow in reverence before the souls of the righteous sons of the nation.”
“It is with great sadness that I have learned of the martyrdom of 25 soldiers after they were successful in rescuing around 100 citizens from the flames in the mountains of Bejaia and Tizi Ouzou,” the president wrote.
Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud accused arsonists of the fire outbreak, though he did not provide more details on the allegation.
“Only criminal hands can be behind the simultaneous outbreak of about 50 fires across several localities,” he said, according to Reuters.
He also vowed to compensate people affected by the fires.
Millions of coronavirus vaccine doses around the world face expiration
For months, a refrigerator at a government facility in the Dutch university town of Leiden has housed 90 or so small white boxes that contain thousands of dollars worth of AstraZeneca vaccine doses. But most of them are emblazoned with six small numbers that will soon render them worthless: 08.2021.
For Dennis Mook-Kanamori, a doctor at Leiden University Medical Center who until recently was administering vaccines there, the upcoming expiration of thousands of doses is tragic. What really incenses him, however, is that the Dutch government is set to let the doses expire rather than send them abroad.
“It’s an elitist, decadent attitude,” Mook-Kanamori said.
The situation is mirrored in countless freezers, refrigerators and backrooms around the world as millions of coronavirus vaccine doses, developed at record-breaking speeds, march quietly toward expiration before they can be used. And as demand slows in wealthy nations like the Netherlands, more dust is gathering – and more doses are expiring.
Last month, Mook-Kanamori and his colleagues threw away 600 doses. By the end of August, the number is set climb by another 8,000. Unless something changes, by October, all 10,000 or so doses in the refrigerators in Leiden will have been thrown out. Doctors estimate there may be 200,000 AstraZeneca doses in the Netherlands facing a similar fate.
Much of the world has yet to see enough doses to vaccinate even the most vulnerable. Across Africa, as of late last month, only 2.2 percent of people had received at least one dose, while the Netherlands had vaccinated well over half of its population. The Dutch government, which owns the doses, has said that for legal and logistical reasons they cannot be exported, despite criticism from Dutch doctors.
While vaccination programs always have some waste, even standard levels mean mind-boggling numbers of unused doses at the scale of global coronavirus vaccination. But just how many doses have already expired, or are about to, is unclear.
“There is no one who tracks expired doses systematically,” said Prashant Yadav, an expert on health-care supply chains at the Center for Global Development, a think tank. Instead, information has trickled out in news reports and little-publicized official statements.
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In Israel, 80,000 expiring Pfizer-BioNTech doses were set to be tossed at the end of July; 73,000 doses from various manufacturers have been disposed of in Poland; and 160,000 Sputnik V doses nearing expiration were returned from Slovakia to Russia, their final status unknown. In the United States, North Carolina alone is estimated to have 800,000 doses soon to expire.
According to data compiled by the World Health Organization, approximately 469,868 doses from various manufacturers had expired in Africa as of Aug. 9. “Most of the vaccines arriving have a very short expiration date,” said Richard Mihigo, coordinator of immunization and vaccine development for the WHO’s Africa arm.
The lack of global data masks the price tag. In the United States alone, estimates of total expired or close-to-expired doses run in the millions. With some vaccines costing as much as $20 a shot, the cost could run into many tens of millions of dollars, if not more.
The toll for human health may be even graver. “The doses we have aren’t enough,” said Lawrence Gostin, global health law professor at Georgetown University. “They’re expiring, they’re spoiling with electrical shortages, they’re not being delivered to the population. It’s a whole catastrophe.”
Vaccines often degrade at a higher rate than many other drugs that can be stockpiled, such as Tamiflu, which can be stored for years, according to Jesse Goodman, a professor at the Georgetown School of Medicine and former chief scientist of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
As doses age, they “might not engender the same immune response,” Goodman said, turning a strong, potentially lifesaving inoculation into a weakened dud. And mRNA vaccines, such as those developed by Pfizer and Moderna, are particularly fragile.
Expiration dates are set by the manufacturer and approved by local regulatory authorities. Many coronavirus vaccines were given initial emergency use authorization when only six months of data was available, resulting in cautiously short expiration dates.
In a statement to The Washington Post, the WHO said that unlike opened-vial wastage, where multi-dose vaccine vials were opened but could not be used before expiration, unopened vial wastage, such as expiry, was “avoidable.” In general, the global health body said, it is recommended to keep all vaccine wastage to below 1 percent.
That may be no easy task. Data compiled by the global vaccine alliance Gavi on non-coronavirus vaccines shows wastage can often hit 10 percent, and sometimes far higher.
Marco Blanker, a doctor in the Dutch town of Zwolle, said he had to throw away 58 doses in one day in the spring due to no-shows amid negative publicity about the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“It was devastating for the team,” he said. “We did all our best in the previous weeks to not have any spillage – we didn’t lose a drop.”
Blanker posted a photograph of the discarded doses on Twitter, sparking a public debate in the Netherlands. Soon other Dutch doctors teamed up to create an app to help redistribute the doses.
Demand in the Netherlands eventually dried up. The country is now 55 percent fully vaccinated and AstraZeneca is only recommended for certain age groups. So Blanker and other doctors such as Mook-Kanamori began looking for other nations that might accept the doses.
Namibia, a West African nation struggling for doses, looked like a good destination. There was even a Dutch doctor who said he was willing to fly them there himself, Mook-Kanamori said. But the Dutch government has stuck to the same position: The doses must be disposed of after they expire.
The Dutch Ministry of Health did not respond to a request for comment. The Netherlands has pledged to donate other vaccine doses, including 75,000 AstraZeneca doses to Namibia.
Even when doses do go to those in need, expiration dates can pose problems. Across Africa, most countries have tailored their rollouts around a three-to-four-month delivery window, Mihigo said. But shipping delays have forced some to contend with shorter periods.
Liberia had 15 days to distribute tens of thousands of AstraZeneca shots from the African Union. About 27,000 expired. “We just didn’t have enough time,” said the country’s health minister, Wilhemina Jallah.
Benin discarded 51,000 doses in July after struggling for three months to deliver them, said Landry Kaucley, the country’s director of vaccine logistics. Fears of the shots lingered after European nations paused rollouts to investigate blood clot risks.
Other countries have gone a step further. In Malawi, the government burned almost 20,000 expired AstraZeneca doses in May, in what local officials said was a move to show the public that they would not receive expired doses. Some health authorities, such as the Palestinian Authority, have refused to accept doses they said were too close to expiration.
Expiration dates can change. The FDA last month extended the expiry for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the United States to six months from 4½ months. A representative of the Russian Direct Investment Fund said that they expected the expiration of Sputnik V to be increased from six months to one year. Such moves can help claw back doses.
Some experts hope to see Covax, the U.N.-backed vaccine-sharing mechanism, or bilateral deals help move vaccine doses to where they need to be before they expire. But finding a way to share doses is not really the problem, according to doctors like Mook-Kanamori.
“I can get 8,000 shots into an arm in Namibia next week, if there’s a will,” he explained. “The problem is that there is no will.”
Published : August 12, 2021
By : The Washington Post · Adam Taylor, Danielle Paquette
Pakistans tourism industry makes headway amid COVID-19 challenges
Despite the limited inflow of tourists from abroad to Pakistan under the pandemic, the local tourism industry remains robust. The improvement of road infrastructure under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has also played a vital role.
Pakistan is endowed with a myriad of natural wonders as well as historical and religious tourist sites that attract a large number of both local and foreign tourists every year.
However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic direly affected Pakistan’s tourism sector in 2020. Despite the limited inflow of tourists from abroad owing to pandemic-related travel restrictions, local tourists have boosted the local tourism industry this year.
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Pakistani experts and government officials believe that as Pakistan has a huge potential for tourism, all-out efforts should be made to further ramp up the thriving tourism sector and attract not only local tourists but also people from all over the world once the pandemic subsides.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the promotion of tourism in the country is one of his government’s top priorities to generate revenue and job opportunities.
“The promotion of tourism will not only create economic activity in the local areas, but will also have a positive impact on the national economy,” the prime minister said recently.
In 2019, the total contribution of travel and tourism to Pakistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) was 5.7 percent, Managing Director of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) Aftab-ur-Rehman Rana told Xinhua, adding that in 2020 when the pandemic hit the world, the total contribution to the country’s GDP decreased to 4.4 percent, cutting down a large number of employments.
In a conversation with Xinhua, Latif-ur-Rehman, spokesperson for Culture, Sports, Tourism, Archaeology and Youth Affairs Department of Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province said that last year, the tourism industry of Pakistan suffered as most of the tourist places were closed due to coronavirus-induced fears and restrictions.
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He said in 2020, COVID-19 caused losses of more than 10 billion rupees on the tourism industry of KP when a number of businesses associated with tourism were left paralyzed.
“With some relaxation in restrictions recently, a huge influx of tourists is being witnessed in the country’s northern areas and KP province,” he said, adding that both of the regions are center-point of domestic tourism from May to October and are immensely popular among the nature-lovers and adventure seekers thanks to the world’s highest peaks, glaciers and scenic views in the regions.
Rehman said that the number of tourists has overwhelmingly increased since the onset of summer which led to the shortage of accommodation, forcing many to stay in makeshift shelters, tents and houses of local people.
More than 65 billion rupees of business activities were generated by the tourists in the province from May to July, he said, adding that the activities also generated job opportunities for locals in these areas.
A horse dances on the beats of drums during the Islamabad Tourism Festival in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, March 5, 2021.
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During the recent Eid al-Adha holidays in Pakistan, more than 3 million tourists flocked to tourist destinations in KP including Naran, Kaghan, Kalam, Swat and Chitral, he said.
People visit the Faisal Mosque after the mosque was recently reopened to tourists in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, Aug. 10, 2020.
Saleem Rehman, a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly or the lower house of the parliament, said that the improvement of road infrastructure under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has also played a vital role in unlocking the enormous potential of tourism in Pakistan.
The Karakoram Highway (KKH) Phase Two project from Havelian to Thakot under the CPEC greatly improved the access to the most sought-after tourism spots of KP and northern areas of the country, the lawmaker told Xinhua.
“The traveling to these areas was not easy before the completion of these new avenues. Tourists influx was not according to the potential the areas have… However, this summer the inflow of local visitors was quite high,” he said.
Rana, managing director of the PTDC, said that the notable surge in domestic tourists is due to the government’s prudent tourist-friendly policies.
Rana said that the government has been taking a keen interest in promoting the culture of tourism in the country and adopting measures to revamp the infrastructure and ensure all the required facilities for the tourists.
“More destinations are being identified and developed, historic and religious places are being refurbished and preserved, roads and motorways leading to tourist destinations are being built, and new hotels and accommodations are being set up,” he said, adding that the country is also providing online visa services to foreign tourists.
“Once the COVID-19 situation normalizes, Pakistan is expected to receive more foreign visitors too,” Rana told Xinhua.
Both federal and provincial governments must take extraordinary measures and make comprehensive strategies to further improve the tourism sector and make it more attractive, especially for foreign tourists to earn valuable foreign exchange while rebranding Pakistan on the world stage, Rana said. (100 Pakistan Rupees equals 0.61 U.S. dollars)
Photo taken on Aug. 10, 2020 shows the reopened Faisal Mosque in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan.
Asia Album: Singapore light show marks 56th anniversary of independence
Singapore saw light projections on buildings to celebrate the countrys 56th anniversary of independence.
shows light projections on the facade of the Stamford Arts Center in Singapore in celebration of the country’s 56th anniversary of independence.
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Photo taken on Aug. 10, 2021 shows light projections on the facade of Objectifs, a center for photography and film arts in Singapore, in celebration of the country’s 56th anniversary of independence.
Photo taken on Aug. 10, 2021 shows light projections on the facade of the National Museum of Singapore in celebration of the country’s 56th anniversary of independence.
Photo taken on Aug. 10, 2021 shows light projections on the facade of the Stamford Arts Center in celebration of the country’s 56th anniversary of independence.
“Lebanon and Israel are currently incapable of bearing the repercussions of a war which will be destructive for both countries,” a Lebanese military analyst said.
The recent exchange of rockets between Lebanon and Israel do not necessarily imply an imminent risk of war between the two countries, Lebanese analysts said.
Youssef Diab, political analyst at the Lebanese University, told Xinhua that the recent exchange of rockets aimed mainly at conveying a message from Hezbollah that “any attack by Israel or the United States against Iran or Iranian ships in the Gulf will face a retaliation by the Iran-backed Shiite party from southern Lebanon.”
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Hezbollah fired rockets last Friday against Israeli targets in the occupied Shebaa Farms in retaliation for Israeli airstrikes one day before in southern Lebanon.
Confrontations began on Aug. 4 with a rocket strike on Israel from Lebanon for which no group claimed responsibility. That attack, on which Hezbollah has not commented, drew retaliatory Israeli air strikes.
According to Diab, Hezbollah saw a necessity to retaliate to Israeli airstrikes after Israel blamed Iran “for an attack implemented on July 29 on an oil tanker operated by an Israeli-owned company in the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea,” while announcing that it is rallying global action against Iran to respond to the attack.
“Hezbollah aimed to tell Israel that Lebanon’s front will be used for retaliation in the event of any attack by Israel or the U.S. against Iran,” Diab said.
Hisham Jaber, a military analyst and retired army general, said that recent confrontations between Lebanon and Israel meant to be limited, noting that both parties attacked unpopulated and open ground areas.
“Lebanon and Israel are currently incapable of bearing the repercussions of a war which will be destructive for both countries,” he said.
For his part, Mohammad Barakat, editor-in-chief of a global news website Asas Media, told Xinhua that tensions are expected to escalate on the Lebanese-Israeli borders as months of talks over Iranian nuclear deal failed to produce an agreement.
Israeli security members deal with the wreckage of a rocket launched from Lebanon into northern Israel, near the city of Kiryat Shmona, on Aug. 4, 2021.
Barakat cited earlier remarks by Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz about Iran being 10 weeks away from acquiring weapons-grade materials necessary for a nuclear weapon, as indicative of a possible escalation in tensions between Israel and Iran.
“Hezbollah will continue to reinforce its loyalty to Iran by opening Lebanon’s front if necessary,” Barakat said.
As for Diab, he believes that any miscalculated future confrontations between Lebanon and Israel may escalate into war if they result in casualties.
“Israel will not accept any casualties on its side,” he said.
Diab warned that any possible war will be destructive for Lebanon as hospitals are not sufficiently equipped to treat the injured given the shortage in medicines and equipment.
Meanwhile, Barakat said that any tensions on the border will threaten the lives of 5 million Lebanese people who are already suffering from the state’s complete failure.
Lebanon has been witnessing multiple crises caused by the absence of an efficient government capable of implementing structural reforms to attract aid by the international community. Lebanon’s crisis was further exacerbated by the Beirut port explosions on Aug. 4, 2020 which destroyed a big part of the city.
Recent confrontations between Lebanon and Israel sparked fears among the Lebanese about further escalations that may cause further damage on the economic, social, infrastructure and security fronts.
New York Governor Cuomo resigns amid sexual harassment scandal
The resignation would take effect in 14 days and Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul would become the governor for the rest of Andrew Cuomos term.
new York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday said he was resigning amid mounting pressures from sexual harassment allegations and investigations as well as calls for resignation from other political figures.
The resignation would take effect in 14 days and Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul would become the governor for the rest of Cuomo’s term.
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Cuomo has been working as New York governor since January 2011 and his third term will end at the end of 2021.
Cuomo said he doesn’t want to be “unhelpful in any way” and the best way he can help is to step aside given the circumstances.
New York Assembly is working on impeachment articles against Cuomo on sexual harassment and mishandling of nursing homes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Judiciary Committee under New York Assembly has given Cuomo a deadline to turn over evidence to defend himself until this Friday.
Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women from 2013 to 2020, said a recent report by independent investigators appointed by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
As many as 11 women were harassed by Cuomo including his top aides, according to the report.
Cuomo’s former assistant Brittany Commisso, who is one of the 11 women, recently filed a criminal complaint against Cuomo on accusations Cuomo groped her in the Executive Mansion in the state’s capital city Albany.
However, Cuomo has been denying sexual harassment accusations, saying that “I never did and I never would intentionally disrespect a woman, treat any woman differently than I would want them treated.
Photo taken from a video in New York, the United States, shows New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaking during a televised address, on Aug. 10, 2021.
Earlier, Cuomo offered apologies for bringing his personal experience into the workplace and for his gestures leading others to take offense.
The sexual harassment scandal emerged around half a year ago and Cuomo authorized New York Attorney General Letitia James to carry out an independent investigation.
Besides, the attorney general’s office issued a report in January saying the Health Department of New York State underreported the death toll in nursing homes from COVID-19 by as much as 50 percent.
Cuomo has largely ignored calls for him to resign until issuance of the latest investigation report from the office of Letitia James on Aug. 3.
U.S. President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer all called Cuomo to resign over the scandal.
As the 56th governor of New York, Cuomo is from a Democratic elite family with his father Mario Cuomo serving as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms.
Cuomo’s long-time aide and stalwart supporter Melissa DeRosa resigned late Sunday as DeRosa’s name appeared over 100 times in the investigation report.
The number of Covid-19 cases in Southeast Asia crossed 8.21 million, with 94,201 new cases reported on Tuesday, way higher than Monday’s tally of 80,208. There were 3,201 more deaths, increasing from Monday’s 2,463 and taking total Covid-19 deaths in Asean to 175,623.
Indonesia reported 32,081 new cases and 2,048 deaths on Tuesday, bringing cumulative cases in that country to 3,718,821 patients and a total 110,619 deaths so far.
The government extended the lockdown period in Bali and Java to August 16 while other areas will remain under lockdown until August 23 to curb the spread of the Delta variant. However, shopping malls will allow only vaccinated customers to enter, except for children and elders.
The Philippines’ Public Health Ministry meanwhile reported that one fifth of the hospitals in the country are now at full capacity after the number of new infections hit 8,000-10,000 patients per day in the past week, compared to an average of 5,700 patients per day in July.
It also reported that more than 22,000 medical professionals have contracted Covid-19 since the outbreak started. Of these, 102 medics have died.
Cuomo announces resignation in effort to head off likely impeachment after devastating report on his conduct
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, announced his resignation Tuesday in an effort to head off a looming impeachment effort in the state Assembly, a precipitous fall triggered by a state investigation that found he sexually harassed 11 women and oversaw an unlawful attempt to exact retribution against one of his accusers.
“Wasting energy on distractions is the last thing that state government should be doing,” Cuomo said in a video address. “And I cannot be the cause of that.”
“Given the circumstances, the best way I can help now is to step aside and let government get back to governing,” he added.
He said his resignation will be effective in 14 days. Cuomo will be replaced by Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, who will be New York’s first female governor and will serve out the rest of the term through the next election in November 2022.
“I am prepared to lead,” she said in a statement, calling Cuomo’s resignation “the right thing to do and in the best interest of New Yorkers.”
Cuomo’s decision to step down represents a crushing defeat for the three-term governor, ending his nearly 11-year domination of state government that was known for its liberal policy victories and a hard-knuckle style of politics marked by bullying, intimidation and retribution.
The governor had remained defiant through months of escalating controversy over his behavior. He repeatedly denied improperly touching women – even as accusations multiplied – and dismissed the harassment claims as a misinterpretation of his affectionate political style and attempts to build office camaraderie.
“In my mind, I’ve never crossed the line with anyone, but I didn’t realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn,” Cuomo said Tuesday in a long defense of his actions that precipitated the announcement. “There are generational and cultural shifts that I just didn’t fully appreciate, and I should have no excuses.”
He announced his resignation shortly after his attorney, Rita Glavin, delivered a lengthy attack on a report commissioned by the state attorney general that was released last week.
“The report got key facts wrong, it omitted key evidence, and it failed to include witnesses who did not support the narrative that it was clear this investigation was going to weave from day one,” Glavin said during a virtual news conference, calling the events since the report’s release a “pile-on.”
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Cuomo’s standing collapsed quickly after Attorney General Letitia James released the results of her investigation on Aug. 3. Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie (D), a longtime ally, announced that the governor had “lost the confidence of the Assembly Democratic majority,” adding that Cuomo “can no longer remain in office.” State Senate Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Democrat, also called for Cuomo’s resignation.
By the time Cuomo decided to leave office, he was politically isolated – having lost the support of President Joe Biden, the state’s two Democratic senators, most of the New York congressional delegation and the bulk of the state Assembly.
Public polls taken this month found that most New Yorkers – including fellow Democrats – wanted Cuomo to resign. A Quinnipiac University poll found that 70% of registered voters said he should step down, including 57% of Democrats. The poll found that 54% thought Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, and 55% said he should be charged with a crime.
“I think the governor did the right thing,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said on Capitol Hill after Cuomo’s announcement. “And I just want to commend the brave and courageous women who came forward. That was not an easy thing to do.”
The governor’s resignation may not end the Assembly’s impeachment investigation – multiple members of the Judiciary Committee said Tuesday that there is ongoing debate about whether to move forward with the process. Even after stepping down, Cuomo could still be banned from ever seeking state office again if he is impeached by the Assembly and then convicted in a trial before the state Senate.
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The legislative investigation has been looking at issues beyond the alleged sexual harassment, including Cuomo’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic in nursing homes, claims that he gave preferential virus testing to friends and family members, and reports that he used state resources to write a book. On Monday, Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Lavine did not rule out the possibility of continuing with the impeachment inquiry if Cuomo resigned.
Assemblyman Keith Brown, a Republican, who sits on the judiciary committee, said Tuesday that he was upset by Cuomo’s decision to keep attacking the attorney general’s sexual harassment investigation before announcing his resignation.
“I think it was disgraceful to go and discredit each of these women who bravely came forward to make accusatory statements about a very powerful sitting governor,” Brown said. “It took a lot to have them do that, and then to have his private attorney discredit them – it’s all theater.”
Assemblyman Phil Steck, a Democrat, said it was too early to say whether the judiciary committee will move forward with its investigation when it meets on Monday.
“There are a number of factors to consider,” Steck said. “It’s important to send a clear message on what are abuses of power, but continuing the investigation is very costly.”
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Cuomo had been ensconced in the Albany governor’s mansion for days, refusing entreaties from allies to resign as he assessed how he could survive politically. His efforts to defend his conduct were deemed ineffective even by some of his staunchest allies.
He still faces criminal investigations into his conduct by prosecutors in several counties, including New York, as well as an ongoing federal investigation by the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn into the administration’s handling of nursing homes during the pandemic. The New York attorney general is separately probing whether the administration misused public resources when it provided Cuomo relatives and other well-connected New Yorkers with preferential virus testing and when aides helped him write a book last year that netted him more than $5 million.
Hochul, a low-profile figure who started her career as an aide to Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., and later served in Congress representing a western portion of the state, spent part of Tuesday calling around to reintroduce herself to influential political figures. The 2022 campaign for governor is expected to set in motion a competitive Democratic primary fight.
“She wanted me to know that she wanted to come to National Action Network,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said in an interview Tuesday afternoon, referring to his civil rights group. “I want to find common ground. We talked about some of the problems she’ll face in the Black community.”
In Albany, lawmakers breathed a sigh of relief at the prospect of working with the new governor.
“I have high hopes for her, especially at a time when we are torn apart by the end of the Cuomo administration,” said Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti, a Democrat, adding: “We need a peacemaker. . . . I am hopeful she will be. That will be her biggest challenge, to bring everybody together.”
Cuomo, a political survivor who spent more than three decades in public life, was ultimately felled by an independent report commissioned by James, a fellow Democrat, whose explosive findings detailed how Cuomo allegedly harassed women inside and outside his office with unwanted touching and inappropriate comments. The 165-page report – based on interviews with 179 individuals, including Cuomo and his top aides – concluded that there was evidence to substantiate claims against him by 11 women.
Joon Kim, the former acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York appointed by James to help lead the investigation, said when the report was released that some women “suffered through unwanted touching and grabbing of their most intimate body parts.”
“The executive chamber’s workplace culture was rife with bullying, fear and intimidation on one hand while normalizing frequent flirtations and gender-based comments by the governor on the other,” Kim added.
The report included details of an alleged incident in November, when Cuomo embraced his executive assistant, Brittany Commisso, and reached under her blouse to grab her breast. Commisso went public with her story this week after filing a criminal complaint with the Albany County sheriff’s office. The governor has continued to deny the incident.
The attorney general’s investigation also revealed allegations that Cuomo harassed a female state trooper who was hired on to the governor’s detail after they had a brief exchange, even though she had not yet served the three years required for the post.
The governor touched the trooper inappropriately on several occasions, running his finger down her spine when he was standing behind her on an elevator in his New York City office, according to the report. In another episode, Cuomo allegedly ran his hand across the trooper’s stomach as she held the door for him at an event on Long Island.
Cuomo addressed her claims for the first time Tuesday, arguing that he had recruited her in an effort to diversify his mostly male protective detail. He said he did not remember touching her stomach, but he also did not deny doing so, explaining that he often touched state troopers in nonsexual ways when they held doors for him.
“I didn’t do it consciously with the female trooper. I did not mean any sexual connotation. I did not mean any intimacy by it. I just wasn’t thinking,” Cuomo said. “It was a mistake, plain and simple. I have no other words to explain it. I want to personally apologize to her and her family.”
The governor also allegedly grabbed the buttocks of an employee of a state office, made sexually suggestive comments to a young female assistant, inappropriately touched other women not employed by the state, and kissed another state employee without consent in his office.
In addition, investigators found that Cuomo made numerous suggestive sexual comments that constituted “unlawful sexual harassment.”
These included telling the female state trooper that his requirement for a girlfriend was someone who “can handle pain,” telling one assistant it was “about time you showed some leg,” suggesting a buttock tattoo to an aide, and calling two executive assistants “mingle mamas” while asking one of them whether she would be willing to cheat on her partner.
And the investigators found that Melissa DeRosa, Cuomo’s top aide, worked with other advisers to discredit one of his accusers, Lindsey Boylan – releasing her personnel file to reporters and circulating a draft of a letter impugning her credibility. DeRosa resigned from Cuomo’s staff on Sunday.
The attorney general’s office found that the campaign against Boylan, which included the circulation of the letter, amounted to “unlawful retaliation.”
“My clients feel both vindicated and relieved that Cuomo will no longer be in a position of power over anyone,” attorney Mariann Wang, who represented two Cuomo accusers, said in a statement after the governor’s announcement.
Cuomo’s announcement marked a dramatic fall for a politician who had attracted widespread acclaim last year for his handling of the pandemic in New York. He won a special Emmy award for his daily televised briefings and published a self-adulatory book about his leadership during the crisis. He was eyeing a fourth term that would surpass his father, Mario Cuomo, who served three terms as New York governor.
But for all his public popularity, he was known for governing through fear, screaming and threatening lawmakers and aides alike, and regularly attacking other politicians, such as New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. Cuomo’s allies said his ruthless style allowed him to accomplish political goals, such as passing same-sex marriage and other liberal agenda items.
But he made few true allies, and many New York politicians felt schadenfreude at watching his troubles. Cuomo was viewed skeptically by many liberals in the city, but he was usually able to overcome any opposition from groups such as the Working Families Party.
After working on his father’s campaigns, the younger Cuomo served in the Department Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton.
He first ran for New York governor in 2002, only to see his hopes dashed before the primary by a critical comment about then-Gov. George E. Pataki. He made a comeback in 2006, when he was elected New York attorney general, clearing the way for his 2010 election as governor.
His third term in office was set to conclude in 2022, and he was widely expected to seek a fourth, with no clear Democratic rival.
Divorced from Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, Cuomo has three adult daughters.
He addressed his daughters at the end of his remarks Tuesday.
“I want them to know from the bottom of my heart that I never did and I never would intentionally disrespect a woman or treat any woman differently than I would want them treated, and that is the God’s honest truth,” he said. “Your dad made mistakes, and he apologized and he learned from it. And that is what life is all about.”
Published : August 11, 2021
By : The Washington Post · Michael Scherer, Josh Dawsey, Ted Gup
UN humanitarian chief extremely concerned by deteriorating situation in Afghanistan
“A safe, secure, and sustainable future in Afghanistan can only be achieved through successful peace negotiations,” UN humanitarian chief said.
United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths on Monday expressed deep concern over the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, while strongly condemning attacks against civilians.
In a statement, the UN humanitarian chief said that he is “extremely concerned by the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan where more than 1,000 people have been killed or injured due to indiscriminate attacks against civilians in Hilmand, Kandahar and Hirat provinces in the last month alone.”
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“Afghan children, women and men are suffering and forced to live with violence, insecurity, and fear every day,” said Griffiths.
He said that there are “grave concerns” for women’s survival and basic human rights.
“Forty years of war and displacement, compounded by climate shocks and COVID-19, have left almost half of Afghanistan’s population in need of emergency aid,” he added.
“I join Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and members of the Security Council in strongly condemning attacks against civilians and I echo their calls for a ceasefire. Fighting across the country, which has claimed the lives of over 40,000 people since 2009 when UN reporting began, needs to stop. People have suffered enough,” Griffiths said.
Photo taken on Aug. 6, 2021 shows smoke rising during gun fights in Shiberghan, capital of Jawzjan Province, Afghanistan.
The humanitarian chief stressed that humanitarian organizations are committed to delivering relief and assistance to all civilians in Afghanistan.
“They continue to operate in a neutral and impartial manner but need unimpeded access and assurances that aid workers and service providers can deliver aid and services without interference,” he said.
“I remind all parties to the conflict of their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, including their responsibility to protect civilians and ensure access for humanitarian organizations to reach people in need,” Griffiths noted.
“A safe, secure, and sustainable future in Afghanistan can only be achieved through successful peace negotiations,” he concluded.
Putin calls for joint efforts to combat maritime crimes
“Russia is committed to the common tasks of combating crimes at sea in all forms and manifestations,” Putin said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday suggested closer cooperation under the United Nations (UN) to fight crimes at sea.
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There are many threats along the sea routes, Putin said when addressing a high-level debate in the UN Security Council on strengthening maritime security via video link.
To more effectively counter transnational crimes and the use of seas for criminal purposes, Putin said it is necessary to unite the efforts of all interested countries and international and regional organizations, with the UN playing a central coordinating role.
“We strive to help ensure security in the Persian Gulf, in the Atlantic, and in the Gulf of Guinea, where piracy and taking of hostages have become more frequent,” he said.
Putin proposed to create a special structure within the UN system, which would directly deal with issues of cracking down on maritime crimes in different regions of the world.
“Russia is committed to the common tasks of combating crimes at sea in all forms and manifestations. We are ready to further promote the development of equal international cooperation on this topic,” he said.
A horse dances on the beats of drums during the Islamabad Tourism Festival in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, March 5, 2021.
People visit the Faisal Mosque after the mosque was recently reopened to tourists in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, Aug. 10, 2020.
Photo taken on Aug. 10, 2020 shows the reopened Faisal Mosque in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan.
Israeli security members deal with the wreckage of a rocket launched from Lebanon into northern Israel, near the city of Kiryat Shmona, on Aug. 4, 2021.
Photo taken from a video in New York, the United States, shows New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaking during a televised address, on Aug. 10, 2021.
Photo taken on Aug. 6, 2021 shows smoke rising during gun fights in Shiberghan, capital of Jawzjan Province, Afghanistan.
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