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As US calls for focus on covid origins, China repeats speculation about U.S. military base

China reacted angrily to the Biden administrations calls for a harder investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, by accusing the United States of hypocrisy and suggesting it needed to open its own biological laboratories to international inspection.

Speaking at a media briefing in Beijing, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian said that President Joe Biden’s call for more scrutiny of the still-disputed origins of coronavirus was politically motivated and showed that the United States “does not care about facts and truth, nor is it interested in serious scientific origin tracing.”

Zhao, one of the country’s most notoriously hawkish diplomats, referenced a U.S. military location that has been baselessly linked to the coronavirus outbreak by Chinese media.

Describing Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md., as “full of suspicion,” Zhao said the United States needed to open it up to international scrutiny. “There are more than 200 U.S. biological laboratories scattered around the world. How many secrets are there?” he said.

Fort Detrick hosts elements of the country’s biological defense program. While trying to deflect criticism of their handling of the coronavirus outbreak, Chinese officials have repeatedly responded by calling for the U.S. base to be opened to international inspectors.

In his remarks, Zhao also mentioned the faulty intelligence about weapons of mass destruction that led to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and implied U.S. intelligence services were linked to a chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime against rebels in Syria.

Biden on Wednesday ordered U.S. intelligence agencies to “redouble their efforts” in examining the chain of events that led to the global pandemic.

While noting that there was no “definitive conclusion,” the president said that some members of the intelligence community “lean” toward the belief that the coronavirus could have emerged from a laboratory incident.

The Trump administration had previously suggested without evidence that the virus may have originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which boasts the highest level of biosecurity clearance. The virus that has gone on to kill at least 3.48 million people worldwide was first detected in the city in central China.

Many scientists believe the coronavirus probably jumped to humans through an intermediate animal host, and a joint report released by China and the World Health Organization in March said it was “extremely unlikely” that the coronavirus leaked from a lab.

But the report was widely criticized, and WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said that data had been withheld from his investigators, who were given only highly restricted access to Chinese resources.

There has been increasing pressure recently to not discard the lab theory and to investigate the origins of the virus more thoroughly. Wall Street Journal reports, including one highlighting how several Wuhan lab employees became sick in fall 2019 with covid-19-like symptoms, have added to that.

From the early days of the pandemic, some Chinese news outlets have pushed speculation that there was a foreign link to the outbreak in Wuhan, noting that the city hosted the World Military Games in October 2019.

Last March 12, Zhao tweeted: “It might be [the] US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan.”

Chinese officials have also pushed a theory that the virus could have been imported into Wuhan from outside the country, possibly on frozen food.

Though the WHO-backed report into the virus’s origins released in March said that theory deserved further investigation, most experts have said there is not strong evidence for the idea that the virus began anywhere other than China.

Published : May 28, 2021

By : The Washington Post · Katerina Ang, Adam Taylor

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Ohio reveals first winners of its vaccine lottery, doles out $1 million check and full-ride scholarship

It was a million-dollar idea: Give every Ohio resident who gets a coronavirus vaccine a chance to win a seven-figure check.

That audacious scheme to boost the state’s inoculation rate became reality Wednesday evening, when the first winners of the “Vax-a-Million” drawings were announced on live TV. Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, has won national acclaim – and drawn local blowback – since unveiling the plan, which will award $1 million to five vaccinated adults and a full-ride scholarship to Ohio public colleges to five vaccinated teenagers.

The first broadcast lasted just 60 seconds, but changed the lives of the two winners: Abbigail Bugenske, who lives near Cincinnati, won the $1 million draw; and Joseph Costello, a resident of the Dayton area, took home the scholarship.

“I can’t believe it,” Karen Bugenske, Abbigail’s grandmother, told The Washington Post after the announcement. She had no idea her granddaughter had won – until reporters began calling.”I kept saying, ‘Stop, this is a scam,'” she said. “It’s, what, a million? No, you don’t mean a million, you mean a thousand. … Wow, this is unbelievable.”

The lottery is part of a nationwide effort to encourage hesitant Americans to get their shots, a project that has taken on more urgency with the pace of vaccination slowing across the country and more states lifting their pandemic-era restrictions. About half the U.S. population has received at least one dose, but the average number of shots administered per day has fallen about 36% in the past month to 1.75 million.

In Ohio, 45% of residents have received at least one dose, a metric that slightly lags behind the nation overall. But officials insist the state would be in a worse place without DeWine’s high-profile giveaway initiative. Five days after its rollout, the Ohio Department of Health said the campaign had driven a 28% increase in the vaccination rate of those 16 and older.

However, in the past week, the state’s overall vaccination rate has fallen by about 2%.

But DeWine has called the plan a success, citing especially high increases in vaccine uptake among some of the youngest eligible Ohioans.

“We’re more than happy with the results,” he said at a news conference this week. “This was just so important to our future as a state, our immediate future and our long-term future. Having more people vaccinated really allows us to get back to normal.”

It’s unclear whether Bugenske or Costello, who could not be reached for comment directly, sought vaccines because of the lottery. But Bugenske, an engineer and recent college graduate, urged her grandmother – who is in her 70s and lives in Michigan – to get the shot as soon as she became eligible.

“She encouraged me all the time to get it,” said Karen Bugenske, who added that she had never been opposed to the vaccine, but “wasn’t in any hurry for it.”

“I would’ve gotten it,” she said, “but they wanted me to get it yesterday.”

In the end, she got both her Moderna shots and called her granddaughter with the good news.The Biden administration has applauded Ohio’s lottery.

At a Tuesday briefing, the White House’s senior adviser on the coronavirus response, Andy Slavitt, singled out the program and its champion.

“Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has unlocked a secret: People do care about getting vaccinated, but it turns out they also have other things they care about,” he said.

In the weeks since West Virginia announced it would give $100 savings bonds to young people who get inoculated, the government-sponsored incentives have flowed like complimentary booze. In New Jersey and the District of Columbia, officials have offered a novel twist on the dive bar favorite, “beer and a shot” combo: a free drink with every vaccine shot.

In Memphis, the vaccinated could win a new car, and at a southern Illinois shooting and recreation complex, anyone who gets a shot at a mobile vaccination unit will receive 100 free targets of trap, skeet or sporting clays. Other states, such as Maryland and Oregon, have launched lotteries of their own. The Treasury Department has said states are allowed to use federal coronavirus relief funds for lotteries or other incentive programs.

“People may say all of this is frivolous,” Slavitt said. “I say anything that ends the pandemic, it’s time for us to pull out.”

Ohio will announce its first two winners at 7:29 p.m. Wednesday, the first of five pairs who will be chosen every week through June 23. DeWine said that nearly 2.8 million state residents had registered for the lottery, a little more than half of Ohioans who have received at least one shot and are eligible. The state lottery agency conducted the inaugural drawing on Monday using a random number generator and spent the following two days verifying the winners.

The campaign and DeWine himself have won plaudits from the editorial boards of two of the state’s largest newspapers. The Toledo Blade called it “a bold and smart choice.”

“It’s shocking and quirky and quite likely to be the one thing he’s most remembered for,” the paper’s editorial said.

And the Columbus Dispatch said it “might just be a genius move.”

But state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have criticized the governor and have characterized the lottery as a cheesy waste of public funds.

The Ohio House’s top Democrat, Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes, said that “using millions of dollars in relief funds in a drawing is a grave misuse of money that could be going to respond to this ongoing crisis.”

State Rep. Jena Powell (R), who has been critical of DeWine’s pandemic policies, drafted legislation that would halt the lottery, which she has called “frivolous” and a “PR stunt.”

At his Monday news conference, DeWine rattled off the numbers of people who enrolled in the giveaway before arriving at a data point that he said shows something else the state has gained from the Vax-a-Million lottery: an estimated $15 million in free media mentions.

Published : May 28, 2021

By : The Washington Post · Reis Thebault

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Purported bomb threat Belarus cited in plane interception was sent after flight diverted, email provider says

An email cited by Belarusian authorities containing a purported in-flight bomb threat was sent after a plane was diverted to Minsk with a prominent Belarus opposition journalist aboard, Swiss email provider ProtonMail said Thursday, further challenging the Belarusian regimes version of events.

The interception of the Ryanair flight Sunday traveling from Athens to Vilnius, Lithuania, has prompted international condemnation and new sanctions from the European Union, which has dismissed Belarus’s bomb scare explanation for forcing the diversion of the plane.

European leaders and oppositions activists have said the entire incident was orchestrated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to arrest 26-year-old Roman Protasevich, a journalist on board who had been in self-exile but now faces 15 years in prison in Belarus.

ProtonMail’s statement further undercut Belarusian claims it alerted the cockpit crew after receiving the emailed bomb threat from the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

ProtonMail said the email containing the alleged bomb threat was sent 24 minutes after the Ryanair flight crew was ordered by Belarusian air traffic control to land in Minsk, despite the plane being much closer to Vilnius’s airport at the time,

“We haven’t seen credible evidence that the Belarusian claims are true,” ProtonMail, a Swiss privacy-focused provider said in a statement. “We will support European authorities in their investigations upon receiving a legal request.”

A European intelligence official shared a copy of the email with The Washington Post.

The Daily Beat and the Dossier Center, a nonprofit organization run by the self-exiled Russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky, first reported that the email was sent after the plane was told to reroute to Minsk.

“We, Hamas soldiers,” it reads, “demand that Israel cease fire in the Gaza Strip. We demand that the European Union abandon its support for Israel in this war. We know that the participants of Delphi Economic Forum are returning home on May 23 via flight FR4978. A bomb has been planted onto this aircraft. If you don’t meet our demands the bomb will explode on May 23 over Vilnius.”

Hamas’s spokesman denied the group’s involvement.

Published : May 28, 2021

By : The Washington Post · Isabelle Khurshudyan

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Germany to expand coronavirus vaccination efforts to children

Germany plans to expand covid-19 inoculations to children aged 12 and older starting June 7 as Europes largest economy seeks a way out of the pandemic.

Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasized that immunizations for children would be voluntary and wouldn’t impact school participation. The vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech would likely be approved for this age group in the coming days, she said Thursday after a meeting with leaders of Germany’s 16 states.

“We will be able to make every citizen including children a vaccination offer by the end of the summer,” Merkel said. She added that a digital European vaccination certificate would be ready by early July.

Germany has begun easing lockdown measures amid falling infections. The country on Thursday reported 41 cases per 100,000 people over the previous seven days, the lowest rate in more than seven months.

After a sluggish start, Germany’s vaccination effort has accelerated. About 42% of the population has received at least one shot, with about 16% fully inoculated, according to the German Health Ministry.

The European Medicines Agency seeks to conclude its review of the Covid-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech in children ages 12 to 15 years this month. The U.S. has already approved the two-dose jab for that age group.

Published : May 28, 2021

By : Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Arne Delfs

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Malaysia PM under pressure as anger builds on covid surge

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is facing renewed pressure to allow parliament to reconvene, as his move to suspend democracy in January is failing to contain the Covid outbreak amid rising public anger.

Malaysians’ vaccine hesitancy is one of the many indicators that the people have lost confidence in the government, said Azalina Othman Said, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and member of the ruling United Malays National Organisation. Public mistrust must be handled via public debate through parliament, she wrote on Twitter Thursday.

“When citizens are disconnected and angry, do not expect gratitude,” she said. “Given that Covid-19 is here to stay for years to come, we cannot afford to be in a state of emergency forever. Do we remain the only country in the world that has immobilized parliament in times of crisis?”

Daily infections have more than doubled since Malaysia declared a state of emergency in January in order to focus on the pandemic. Covid cases hit a record 7,857 cases Thursday and deaths reached an all-time high earlier this week, while the pace of the vaccination has failed to pick up. That has strained the resources of some of the nation’s large hospitals, where the use of Covid ICU beds is at full capacity.

Criticism about the government’s approach to a worsening pandemic and accusations of double-standards in enforcement of virus rules have resulted in an outpouring of anger on local social media in the past few months. The hashtag #Kerajaangagal, or failed government, frequently appears in Malaysian Twitter’s trending topics. A tweet by Dr Thanussha F. Xavier, leader of opposition party Muda, on removing the government was shared more than 400 times.

Muhyiddin said on Sunday he was happy to be criticized so long as the public supported the government’s efforts to tackle Covid by following the protocols.

“They can call me ‘stupid prime minister,’ it’s OK,” he said in an interview with state-owned RTM television, while ruling out a repeat of last year’s national lockdown. “I know how difficult it is to manage. But this is our joint responsibility.”

Malaysia’s move to declare a state of emergency was the first in more than half a century. It allowed Muhyiddin to suspend parliament until the emergency ends in August. That also meant no snap polls could be called during that period.

Still, suspending parliament has crippled both democracy and the government officials’ capacity to respond to MPs’ concerns, said Azalina, a parliamentarian herself. She proposed that the legislative body be allowed to reconvene without motions of confidence be heard, in order to “minimize unwarranted drama”.

Azalina was referring to the political upheaval Malaysia has experienced since last year, when various factions jockeyed for power after the former prime minister abruptly stepped down. Muhyiddin emerged as the head of an unwieldy bloc with a majority of only a few lawmakers, prompting repeated concerns about the strength and durability of the government.

“No general election should be held, but instead an interim emergency government with an emergency cabinet be formed, with representation from all political parties,” wrote Azalina.

Opposition leaders have welcomed the deputy speaker’s suggestions. “This is an agenda that I support,” wrote Senator Liew Chin Tong on Twitter. “Ultimately, parliament should be the arena for national consensus building.”

Published : May 28, 2021

By : Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Anisah Shukry

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Hong Kong passes Xi plan to end only open elections in China

Hong Kongs legislature approved a sweeping, Beijing-drafted overhaul of the citys elections, dramatically curtailing the oppositions ability to participate in government on the same day that authorities banned a massive pro-democracy vigil.

The Legislative Council voted 40-2 to approve measures Thursday creating a review committee to vet candidates for elected office and ensure they’re “patriots.” All candidates must also be approved by national security officials in the Hong Kong police force to determine whether they can be trusted to uphold local laws and “respect” the ruling Communist Party.

The bill’s passage marks the culmination of Beijing’s efforts to take control of how the former British colony chooses its leaders, giving it a veto over candidates for office following historic and sometimes violent unrest in 2019. It effectively ends China’s only experiment with open elections, a vestige of the democratic system implemented during last years of colonial rule.

Earlier Thursday, Hong Kong police banned for a second straight year a pro-democracy group’s application to hold an annual candlelight vigil marking China’s 1989 crackdown in Tiananmen Square. The decision, which police attributed to measures intended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, raised questions about the future of an event that has symbolized the continued right to freedom of expression under Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” framework.

Alfred Wu, an associate professor who specializes in Hong Kong at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said the twin milestones illustrate how Hong Kong’s political system is “moving much closer to the mainland.” “The Chinese system really emphasizes national security, and this is now evident in Hong Kong,” Wu said.

Chinese lawmakers passed a proposal in March to overhaul how the city chooses its chief executive, and give a body dominated by pro-Beijing elites more power to nominate legislators. President Xi Jinping signed the order implementing the changes, which the government defended as necessary to reduce polarization, curb the influence of “foreign forces” and let authorities focus on improving the economy.

A spokesperson for the Hong Kong & Macau Affairs Office in Beijing said in a statement that the overhaul would open a “new chapter of good governance” and return the city’s development “to the right track.”

The measure passed with little debate since Hong Kong’s opposition resigned en masse last year to protest Beijing’s crackdown, and many former lawmakers have since been jailed pending trial on criminal charges. Cheng Chung-tai, a non-establishment lawmaker who didn’t resign last year, and Pierre Chan, who represents the medical sector, were the only two lawmakers to vote against the bill.

“Everything is about politics, and everything is about elections,” pro-establishment lawmaker Priscilla Leung said during legislative discussions Wednesday. Referring to opposition politicians who cheered on protesters, she added: “To ensure that power will not be given to the mutual destruction camp to create chaos in Hong Kong, the central authorities had to intervene.”

Other changes to Hong Kong’s election system include:

– Reducing the number of directly elected lawmakers to 20 from 35.

– Expanding the number of Legislative Council seats to 90 from 70 and the Election Committee that picks the city’s leader by 300 members to 1,500, moves that give Beijing-aligned representatives a bigger role.

The U.S., the U.K., Japan and the European Union have condemned China’s efforts to roll back civil liberties in Hong Kong. Several dozen former opposition politicians and pro-democracy activists are in jail awaiting trial on charges they attended unauthorized protests or violated the sweeping national security law.

Nonetheless, the Hong Kong government blamed the decision to ban the Tiananmen vigil Thursday on the need to “strengthen epidemic control by guarding against the importation of cases and the resurgence of domestic infections.” The organizer of the event, the Hong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, said that it would appeal the decision and “fight for the right for a lawful vigil.”

Voting to choose representatives for the Election Committee’s various sectors is set for Sept. 19. An election for new members of the Legislative Council will be held on Dec. 19 after a delay of what would be more than a year, a move officials said was necessary due to the pandemic. The poll for the first chief executive under the new rules is scheduled for March 27.

Lo Kin-hei, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party, said it was “still too early” to say whether the group would field candidates in the election.

“We don’t think it is a good way to pacify the Hong Kong people, so we don’t like to see this,” Lo said. “But this is what it is, this is happening now. We have to accept this as a fact.”

Published : May 28, 2021

By : Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Kari Lindberg, Chloe Lo

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Economic growth in Apec ‘better than expected, but uncertainty remains’

New economic data from across the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) region shows a softer economic contraction of 1.9 per cent in 2020, with continued fiscal measures leading to a rise in government consumption and improved investment and household consumption, the Apec Policy Support Unit said in a press release from Singapore on Thursday.

According to the latest Apec Regional Trends Analysis, household consumption, the bloc’s main driver of growth improved to -3.9 per cent in the second half of 2020 on a year-on-year basis, compared to -7.0 per cent in the first half of last year. Investment followed the same trend, recording a smaller decline of -6.1 per cent in the second half of 2020 compared to -10.5 per cent in the first half.

The report notes that governments across the region have learned effective ways to manage the pandemic and people have learned to adapt to new ways of earning a living. This has resulted in a gradual reopening and resumption of economic activities, which boosted consumption.

The region’s economy is estimated to grow by 6.3 per cent in 2021, with an expected strong increase in domestic and global activity as pent-up demand is unleashed. The development and production of multiple vaccines also boost optimism for a more durable economic recovery.

“The worst fears from last year did not come to pass as we saw a stronger economic rebound in the second half of last year, and this will likely continue throughout 2021,” said Apec Policy Support Unit director Denis Hew.

“However, the region continues to face significant uncertainties, largely linked to how the pandemic is evolving, while job losses due to the pandemic and expectations of higher inflation this year could suppress consumer spending,” he said.

The weakness in investments, which is projected to extend to 2021, could also affect growth, according to the report. “The start-stop economic reopening scenario as economies navigate through a resurgence of infections could hold back investment activity,” Hew added.

The report warns that the uneven recovery in the region is largely related to differences in vaccine access and availability.

The majority of Apec member economies could achieve widespread immunisation by mid-2022 or after, with some anticipated to do so earlier, by the end of 2021.

The disproportionate impact of the pandemic is also highlighted in the report. The pandemic affected everyone everywhere.

Meanwhile, most micro, small and medium enterprises lack the capital and technological expertise to make their shift to online, translating into losses and closures and adding to rising livelihood fragility and poverty.

“People with insufficient digital skills and equipment or those living in areas where access to the internet is unreliable or expensive are denied the chance to reconnect, unable to continue their work and study,” noted Rhea C Hernando, a macroeconomist with Apec’s Policy Support Unit.

Unequal access to vaccines also aggravated the divergence in speed and strength of economic recovery in the region. Lower-income economies that rely largely on the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (Covax) facility for their supply of vaccines are in for a longer battle, making the effort to economic recovery very fragile amid a higher risk of virus resurgence.

“The pandemic has exposed the underlying gaps and inequality that have posed significant challenges to policymakers and societies,” Hernando said.

“We need to ensure that no one is left behind in our recovery journey by working together to contain the pandemic, implement structural reforms to boost human capital development and protect the environment,” she added.

View the latest APEC Regional Trends Analysis, May 2021

See the Economy in 2020 and the Recovery Ahead infographic

Published : May 27, 2021

By : THE NATION

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Asean sees over 21,000 new Covid-19 cases

The number of Covid-19 cases in Southeast Asia crossed 3.89 million, with 21,229 new cases reported on Wednesday – higher than Tuesday’s tally of 20,683 – and 406 more deaths, increasing from Tuesday’s 298.

Total Covid-19 deaths in Asean are now 76,733.

Malaysia reported new highs of 7,478 infections and 63 deaths on Wednesday, bringing the cumulative cases in that nation to 533,367 patients and 2,432 deaths.

The neighbouring country’s Public Health Ministry has urged people to remain in self-lockdown to stop the virus from spreading at the community level.

Vietnam meanwhile reported 235 new cases and one new death on Wednesday, bringing the cumulative cases in the country to 6,086 patients and 45 deaths. So far, 2,853 people have been cured and discharged. The prime minister has ordered urgent vaccinations for workers in industrial estates in the northern provinces, where the infection rate is climbing.

Published : May 27, 2021

By : THE NATION

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Biden administration proposes protections for threatened bird species out West, setting up clash with oil and gas industry

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration called for new protections under the Endangered Species Act for an iconic bird of the Great Plains on Wednesday, a move with major consequences for the oil and gas industry.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials proposed listing as endangered a portion of the lesser prairie chicken’s population living in Texas and New Mexico, whose range overlaps with the oil and gas-rich Permian Basin. The agency stopped short of awarding the same protections to the birds’ northern population, in Oklahoma and Kansas, on the grounds that their numbers had declined less drastically.

Voluntary conservation efforts “have not kept pace with the threats facing [the] lesser prairie chicken, and [there] remain challenges conserving the species for the long term,” Amy Lueders, a regional director for the Fish and Wildlife Service, told reporters on Wednesday.

The decision, one of nearly two dozen new conservation measures the administration has adopted in the last four months, underscores Biden’s push to unravel his predecessor’s environmental policies. In a separate move Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency abolished a rule restricting what sort of studies the agency can use in crafting public health rules.

Biden has targeted one of Trump’s energy and environmental policies or proposed one of his own at the rate of about one a day, according to a Washington Post analysis.

While administration officials have emphasized the need to heed scientific findings on climate change and other pressing environmental threats, Wednesday’s actions highlight the difficult terrain they must navigate on these issues. In the case of the lesser prairie chicken, for example, the small bird plays an outsized role in national politics.

It has roamed millions of acres over several states in the Great Plains, grasslands that have been carved up over the years to make way for corn and soybean fields, sprawling cities, and the Midwestern drilling rigs used to suck oil and gas out of the ground. The chickens have now lost about 90% of their historic population, Fish and Wildlife Service officials said.

As its numbers have dwindled, conflicts over whether to protect the bird – and potentially hamper energy development in conservative-leaning states – have only intensified. Its range overlaps with part of the Permian Basin, one of the most important regions in the country for oil and gas development.

The federal government is now proposing two separate designations to try to prevent the species’ demise. The southern population of some 5,000 birds living along the New Mexico-Texas border would be considered endangered, while a northern group would be listed as threatened, a less restrictive designation. After taking input from the public, the agency will make a final decision on these listings within a year.

An endangered listing would likely impose restrictions on new development such as oil and gas drilling, as well as renewable energy projects, across a swath of the birds’ range.

Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Clay Nichols told reporters that the “things that would be prohibited” may include actions that lead to the “take” – or killing – of prairie chickens, or loss or fragmentation of their habitat.

Landowners or businesses “would likely want to come work with the Fish and Wildlife Service to talk about getting some sort of permit or mechanism in place” to comply with the Endangered Species Act, he said.

The proposed threatened designation for the northern group of birds would allow for more exceptions for landowners when the death of the birds results from normal agricultural activities or preparations for wildfires, officials said.

Energy development is a particular threat, environmentalists say, because drilling structures provide a perch for hawks who hunt the ground-dwelling birds, forcing the prairie chickens to move elsewhere. Environmentalists also see climate change as a serious threat to the species, as the landscape dries out further and wildfires intensify.

Earlier this month Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and other Republican senators, including those from Kansas and Texas, urged Interior Secretary Deb Haaland not to list the bird under the Endangered Species Act given ongoing conservation efforts.

“We strongly believe it would be imprudent and harmful to ongoing and unprecedented conservation efforts in our states for the [Fish and Wildlife] Service to issue what would amount to a premature [Endangered Species Act] listing proposal,” they wrote.

The fate of the lesser prairie chicken has been a contentious issue for years. Seven years ago the Fish and Wildlife Service named the lesser prairie chicken a threatened species, but that decision was overturned in court. The Trump administration didn’t take action, despite being sued by environmental groups. A 2019 settlement required the Service to make a new listing decision by this month.

Jon Hayes, the vice president and executive director of Audubon Southwest, said the Biden administration’s decision to divide the prairie chicken’s populations “makes a lot of sense” because they are “geographically distinct” and recovery efforts in the southern population “hasn’t shown any real observable impact on those birds yet.”

“I commend the science folks at the Service and this administration for taking on what’s really a challenging issue and having the courage to make the right choice and the science-based choice where the last administration wasn’t interested in making any choice really,” Hayes said.

The lesser prairie chicken – as well as other types of prairie grouse such as the greater prairie chicken and the sage grouse – have lost habitat over generations as agriculture has expanded into native grasslands and cattle grazing has replaced buffalo on the landscape. There are an estimated 27,000 lesser prairie chickens remaining, down from millions.

Published : May 27, 2021

By : The Washington Post · Joshua Partlow, Juliet Eilperin

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Howard University renames College of Fine Arts after alum, actor Chadwick Boseman

Howard University is renaming its College of Fine Arts after one of its most acclaimed alums: actor Chadwick Boseman.

On Wednesday, Howard renamed its performing and visual arts school after the “Black Panther” star, who earned an Academy Award nomination for his role in last year’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Boseman, who graduated from Howard in 2000 with a bachelor of arts degree in directing, died in August at the age of 43 from colon cancer.

The renaming unites Howard and Walt Disney Co.’s executive chairman, Bob Iger, who will spearhead fundraising for an endowment named after Boseman, as well as help raise money for the construction of a state-of-the-art building on the campus. The new building will house the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, the Cathy Hughes School of Communications, its TV station, WHUT and its radio station, WHUR 96.3 FM.

In the days following his death, Howard students circulated a petition to have the fine arts college renamed for Boseman. Unbeknownst to the students, Howard President Wayne A.I. Frederick said he, too, was thinking of a way to honor him. Before his death, Boseman had agreed to serve on the board of the fine arts college and was developing a Master’s Class series for students, Frederick said.

“We are very excited. This is the right thing to do,” Frederick said. “Chadwick’s love for Howard University was sincere, and although he did not live to see those plans through to fruition, it is my honor to ensure his legacy lives on.”

The 2018 film “Black Panther,” produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, catapulted Boseman to international acclaim as the movie’s lead character King T’Challa. The film brought in more than $1.33 billion in revenue, with $700 million in U.S. box office alone, according to the movie financial tracking website the-numbers.com.

Frederick said he was aware that Iger and Boseman had bonded following the film’s opening. After Boseman’s death, he approached Iger with the idea of honoring the late actor who in films also played James Brown, Jackie Robinson and Thurgood Marshall.

Iger, Frederick said, “wanted to ensure” he helped “memorializing” Boseman’s work and the university’s efforts in “diversifying the entertainment industry.” Frederick said Iger made a personal donation, but declined to elaborate.

In a statement, Iger called Boseman an “extraordinary gifted, charismatic and kindhearted person” noting his “iconic” performances in a string of films along with his “tireless commitment” to helping others.

“Through his tremendous example, he inspired millions to overcome adversity, dream big and reach beyond the status quo, and this college named in his honor at his beloved Howard University will provide opportunities for future generations of artists to follow in his footsteps and pursue their dreams,” Iger said.

The renaming of the College of Fine Arts comes just weeks after Howard named award winning “The Cosby Show” actress and Howard alumna Phylicia Rashad as the college’s dean. When Boseman was a student, Rashad befriended Boseman and became one of his mentors.It was also Rashad who helped Boseman secure funding to pay for him to attend a summer acting program at Oxford University while at Howard.

“Unrelenting in his pursuit of excellence, Chadwick was possessed with a passion for inquiry and a determination to tell stories, through acting, writing, and directing, that revealed the beauty and complexity of our human spirit,” Rashad said.

In 1997, when Boseman was a student, he led a protest of the then administration when officials decided to consolidate the College of Fine Arts into the larger College of Arts & Sciences. In 2018, Boseman received an honorary doctorate from Howard and was the commencement speaker, inspiring graduates and their families with stories about his student days. It was then when Frederick announced the fine artscollege would return to its independent status.

Frederick said due to economic challenges due to the pandemic, no date has been identified to break ground on the building. “This may take some time, but we’re moving with haste,” he said. The new building, he said, will be located in the existing parking lot directly behind the current College of Fine Arts building.

Boseman’s parents said their son “would be overjoyed by this development.” “His time at Howard University helped shape both the man and the artist that he became, committed to truth, integrity, and a determination to transform the world through the power of storytelling,” Caroline and Leroy Boseman said in a statement.

Boseman’s widow, Simone Ledward-Boseman, also celebrated the renaming. “Chad was a very proud Bison,” she said referring to the university’s mascot. “… The reestablishment of the College of Fine Arts brings this part of his story full-circle and ensures that his legacy will continue to inspire young storytellers for years to come.”

Published : May 27, 2021

By : The Washington Post · Keith L. Alexander