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LONDON – British authorities are scrambling to understand the motives of the suspected bomber in a Liverpool taxi explosion who died in the blast, but that hasnt stopped them from quickly declaring the incident a terrorist attack.

On Sunday, a taxi exploded outside of Liverpool Women’s Hospital, and the following day, police designated it a terrorist incident even while acknowledging that “the motivation for this incident is yet to be understood.” Police have not pointed to a target for the attack or confirmed details reported in local media about the suspect’s background – but said it was declared a terrorist incident “given all the circumstances.”

British police have broad discretion in what they label a “terrorist incident,” as long as it’s consistent with the definition of terrorism in the Terrorism Act 2000, which includes the use or threat of serious violence “for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.”

“The British state is fairly secretive,” said Tim Wilson, director of the Handa Center for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. “In these kind of investigations, you get glimpses of how things work,” but it’s not as transparent as in the United States and some other European countries, he said.

Analysts said that in this case, the decision to label it as terrorism may be related to the use of an improvised explosive device in the attack, as well as other reasons not declared publicly.

According to guidance on the Crown Prosecution Service website, when explosives are used or threatened to be used, “it is not necessary to prove that the action is designed to influence the government or to intimidate the public or a section of the public, as is the case with other terrorist offences.”

“A bomb will always excite the attention of the terrorism police; there aren’t many people throwing around bombs except for terrorists in this country,” said Clive Walker, a professor emeritus of law at the University of Leeds. He noted that once an investigation is deemed a terrorist investigation, the local police force will have access to national resources, including intelligence services, specialist forensic officers and translation help. And it would still be possible for the police to “remove the terrorism interest” at a later stage, he added.

“There’s no clear bright line between terrorism and non-terrorism designations,” Walker said. “It’s based on judgment and the evidence before you. I don’t know for sure, but the common pattern is for police to go to his house, find his computer, arrest his friends,” who are sometimes then released.

Walker said only about 25% of those arrested under the Terrorism Act are ever charged. “It’s part of the investigative ploy to arrest a lot of people, find out what they know,” he said.

Analysts said that there will likely be much more that the police aren’t telling the public.

“Our investigators play things quite close to their chest, and they will tell you it’s a terrorist investigation – and they won’t tell you what they know about that,” said Nick Aldworth, Britain’s former counterterrorism national coordinator. “It’s quite common because there could be outstanding suspects or other leads you don’t want to lose,” he said.

Here’s what is known: Police named the passenger who was found dead as 32-year-old Emad al-Swealmeen. They indicated he was a suspect in a bombing that involved an “improvised explosive device” and suggested that he built the device that exploded when he was inside the taxicab.

Police arrested four of al-Swealmeen’s “associates” but released them shortly afterward without charge. They also searched al-Swealmeen’s residence, where they found what they called “significant items,” but did not provide further details.

The Greater Manchester Police said Tuesday that they had no further comment and did not respond to questions about how they had come to designate it a “terrorist incident.”

British authorities have gotten it wrong before. Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, British police arrested Lotfi Raissi, a pilot who spent five months in custody after police falsely accused him of training hijackers responsible for the attacks in New York and Washington. Years later, the British government said he was eligible for up to 2 million pounds ($2.7 million) in compensation.

For now, much of the alleged details about the suspect have trickled out in the British press.

A Christian couple who live in Liverpool told British media Tuesday that al-Swealmeen had lived with them in 2017. They said he had converted to Christianity around that time and had spent a few months at a mental health institution in the past.

The couple said they were in shock at the news of the attack.

“We were living cheek by jowl. There was never any suggestion of anything amiss,” Malcolm Hitchcott told ITV News, describing the man as a “very quiet fellow” who impressed with the “depth of his prayers” and knowledge of the Bible.

His wife, Elizabeth Hitchcott, said she was thankful he had not killed anybody else. “We just loved him,” she told the BBC. “He was a lovely guy.”

Malcolm Hitchcott was quoted as saying that al-Swealmeen was baptized at Liverpool Cathedral.

Liverpool Cathedral is near the hospital where the blast took place, and, at the exact time of Sunday’s attack, it was holding a Remembrance ceremony, an annual gathering where people gather to pay tribute to Britain’s war dead.

In a statement, leaders at the cathedral said they were shocked “at the news that the bomber on Sunday, was connected to our community.”

“Clearly we cannot speculate on the motivations of this individual. However we are clear that the actions of an individual do not reflect a whole community and we remain united with all in the city and country who work for peace,” they added.

The reason the device was detonated outside the women’s hospital remains unknown, police said, although they noted that the Remembrance ceremonies happening nearby were a “line of inquiry.”

It may also be possible that the hospital was the target. “The location is potentially the most disturbing aspect,” said Wilson, the academic. “What was the ultimate target? When I watch the video it looks like he took a taxi to a maternity hospital. There are horrific precedents of ISIS attacking maternity hospitals in Kabul,” he said, using an acronym to refer to the Islamic State terrorist group.

On Monday, Russ Jackson, head of the counterterrorism police in northwestern England, said that it would likely take some time, “perhaps many weeks,” until investigators are “confident on our understanding of what has taken place.”

Published : November 17, 2021

By : The Washington Post

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008898

U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has agreed to a license-sharing deal that would allow its experimental covid-19 drug to be manufactured more widely around the globe.

It’s an agreement that the company says could give more than half of the world’s population access to the treatment, even as Pfizer rebuffs calls to grant poorer countries access to its coronavirus vaccine formula.

The company said earlier this month that the drug, a pill regimen called Paxlovid, reduced the risk of covid hospitalization or death by 89% when administered within three days of the onset of symptoms. It has not yet received regulatory approval in the United States, but Pfizer said that it plans to seek authorization from the Food and Drug Administration as soon as possible.

“This license is so important because, if authorized or approved, this oral drug is particularly well-suited for low- and middle-income countries and could play a critical role in saving lives, contributing to global efforts to fight the current pandemic,” said Charles Gore, executive director of Medicines Patent Pool, the non-profit group that reached the agreement with Pfizer.

MPP is backed by the United Nations and has a mandate to facilitate global access to life-saving medicines. Pfizer is the second drug manufacturer to reach an agreement with the group, which can grant sub-licenses to other manufacturers to produce generic versions of the pill.

U.S. pharmaceutical giant Merck announced last month that it had agreed to share the license for its own covid-19 antiviral pill, molnupiravir, that it developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.

The fact that a second covid-19 drug could see wider use with an MPP agreement is “very good news,” Ellen ‘t Hoen, director of the research group Medicines Law & Policy, said of the Pfizer agreement.

“This is setting the precedent that if you have a covid-19 countermeasure, you license for wider use,” said ‘t Hoen, who is also a member of an MPP expert advisory group.

Pfizer and MPP said in a joint statement that the deal would allow manufacturers to supply countries comprising some 53% of the world’s population – and that the company would offer tiered pricing based on a country’s ability to pay. Lower-income countries would pay a not-for-profit price.

Pfizer will also forgo royalties in low-income countries and waive them in others, so long as covid-19 remains an international public health emergency, the statement said.

“Oral antiviral treatments can play a vital role in reducing the severity of COVID-19 infections, decreasing the strain on our healthcare systems and saving lives,” said Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s chairman and chief executive officer.

“We must work to ensure that all people – regardless of where they live or their circumstances – have access to these breakthroughs, and we are pleased to be able to work with MPP to further our commitment to equity,” he said in a statement.

But while the covid-19 pills appear to mark a significant step toward managing the pandemic, experts say that the anti-virals are not a magic bullet – and that vaccine producers like Pfizer should license their intellectual property and know-how to the patent pool.

“After all, prevention is better than cure,” said ‘t Hoen.

In some countries where access to testing is limited, experts say that it could be difficult to diagnose patients in time to administer the pill regimen effectively.

Bourla, however, has been a vocal critic of those urging Pfizer to share its vaccine formula, which the company developed with the German firm BioNTech. He called the idea “nonsense” and “dangerous” at a forum last year.

Pfizer spokesman Kit Longley defended the company’s approach in a statement this week and raised concerns about the ability of organizations “without a proven track record” to manufacture high-quality vaccines.

“While we pursue our current strategy, we will continue to evaluate whether and where other options may be appropriate,” he said.

Paxlovid and molnupiravir are not designed to prevent infection but, as pill-based drugs, they are easier to store and administer than vaccines. They also do not rely on the complicated messenger RNA technology that powers the Pfizer shot.

Both drugs have been studied for use specifically in high-risk individuals. And Britain recently authorized molnupiravir only for patients who are 60 or older or have at least one underlying condition that puts them at risk of developing severe illness.

Molnupiravir works by garbling the virus’s genome while Paxlovid uses an experimental molecule to block an enzyme that the coronavirus needs to make copies of itself. The Pfizer molecule must be given in combination with ritonavir, an antiviral drug used to treat HIV that helps slow the molecule’s breakdown.

Having a combination of pills available could help prevent the coronavirus from developing a resistance to treatment, said Katherine Seley-Radtke, a chemistry professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

“If you can stop the replication at several steps or with multiple drugs, you exponentially decrease your chance of the virus developing resistance,” she said.

Pfizer says that it has already started manufacturing Paxlovid and that if the FDA authorizes the pill, it could be available right away – but in limited quantities.

Published : November 17, 2021

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008897

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met Monday in a virtual summit that featured no breakthroughs but enabled the two global superpowers to engage on a slew of sensitive issues that have strained ties – including Taiwan, trade and human rights.

In a three-and-a-half-hour conversation that the White House characterized as “respectful, straightforward and open,” the two sides did not make pledges or depart from established positions. But the engagement was an acknowledgment that conflict, whether over trade or the South China Sea, can have grave repercussions around the world.

Biden raised concerns about China’s suppression of minorities in Xinjiang province, about unfair trade and economic practices and its recent aggression against Taiwan.

Xi, according to China’s central broadcaster, offered assurances that China, which has pledged to unify Taiwan with China by force if necessary, would do its “utmost” to achieve peaceful “reunification.”

The two leaders also discussed the existential nature of the climate crisis and the important roles played by their respective countries, the world’s top two emitters of greenhouse gases. They also talked about how they would continue this engagement in the future.

“As I said before, it seems to be our responsibility – as leaders of China and the United States – to ensure that the competition between our countries does not veer into conflict, whether intended or unintended,” Biden told Xi in brief remarks in front of reporters at the White Hose before the summit began. “Just simple, straightforward competition. It seems to me we need to establish a common-sense guardrail, to be clear and honest where we disagree and work together where our interests intersect, especially on vital global issues like climate change.”

Xi said ideological divides and blocs would bring “inevitable calamity” to the world. “The consequences of the cold war are not far away,” he said, adding that China was willing to hold dialogues on human rights issues “on the basis of mutual respect,” but said Beijing would not support interference in its internal affairs, according to Xinhua, China’s official news agency.

Xi also warned that China would take “decisive measures” against any moves to support Taiwan’s independence from China whose ruling Chinese Communist Party has never governed Taiwan. “Such moves are extremely dangerous, just like playing with fire. Whoever plays with fire will get burned,” he said.

The discussion on Taiwan – perhaps the most fraught issue between the two countries – was “extended,” and Biden “clearly reaffirmed” the one-China policy acknowledging Beijing’s position that it is the sole legal government of China and related policy precepts, said a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe the private summit.

At the same time, Biden was clear about “maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.” The White House, in a statement, said the United States “strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo.” China has ramped up threats against Taiwan, flying sorties near the island and holding military exercises simulating attacks on the island that it views as a breakaway province. On Monday, hours before the meeting, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said China had sent six aircraft into its air defense zone. Taiwan sees itself as a sovereign state.

Though the talks were long and wide-ranging, at least two potentially thorny topics did not arise, said a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe the private summit. One was the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, which is the subject of calls for diplomatic boycotts to protest China’s alleged human rights abuses. Another was the issue of China not granting visas for U.S. journalists, after expelling more than a dozen American reporters last year in what Beijing said was retaliation for Washington imposing restrictions on its journalists.

Trade was raised, and Biden emphasized the need for China to uphold its commitments to buy additional goods from the United States, but it was not a “dominant part” of the conversation, the official said.

Overall, the White House sought to frame the relationship as one of “steady state” competition in which the lines of communication remain open, while the United States works with allies and partners to, as the official said, “to confront China where we need to” and work together “our interests . . . intersect.”

In an earlier briefing for reporters, the official said “unlike previous approaches to policy with respect to China, the Biden administration is not trying to change China through bilateral engagement… Rather we are trying to shape the international environment in a way that is favorable to us and our allies and partners.”

Biden and Xi also discussed covid and broader health security issues, including the importance of bringing an end to the pandemic, and the role of vaccines, the official said. They also exchanged views on the upcoming discussions around Iran’s potential return to nuclear talks.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday that Biden was going into the meeting “from a position of strength,” especially compared with shortly after he took office.

She touted Biden’s sweeping $1.2 trillion infrastructure measure – a campaign promise that he signed into law Monday on the White House South Lawn – noting that it marks the first time in 20 years that the United States “will be investing more in infrastructure than China, and that is going to strengthen our competition at home, in addition to putting millions of people to work.”

She also pointed to Biden’s recent trip abroad – to the Group of 20 summit in Rome and the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland – as an example of the president’s strategy for handling China through building the United States’ global alliances, especially with European partners.

“We have made enormous strides in building those relationships, including on the president’s trip just two weeks ago, where he had a range of conversations,” Psaki said.

Other top administration officials held multiple conversations with their Chinese counterparts to prepare for the summit. On Saturday, for instance, Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, on rising tensions over Taiwan, expressing in a call concerns about Beijing’s “continued military, diplomatic and economic pressure” against the self-governing island.

Yet the United States and China have found common cause on climate, with the two countries pledging last week at the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow to work together on slowing global warming.

The Chinese president recently tightened his grip on power in Beijing with a new resolution that bolsters his position, allowing him to stay in his role until at least 2027 – a development that U.S. officials said made the direct discussion between Biden and Xi on Monday all the more critical.

The meeting began Monday almost exactly on schedule, at 7:46 p.m. Eastern time and ended at 11:24 p.m. The two communicated via interpreters.

Among the Chinese officials calling in from the Great Hall of the People in Beijing were Wang, economics czar and trade negotiator Liu He, and senior diplomat Yang Jiechi, as well as Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng and Ding Xuexiang, director of the general office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, a top political body, who is considered part of Xi’s inner circle. Biden administration attendees included Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

Monday’s virtual meeting marked the third direct conversation since Biden took office in January; the last two discussions were over the phone, most recently on Sept. 9. Xi has not left China since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The relationship between the two men stretches back nearly a decade, to when Biden was vice president under President Barack Obama. Psaki stressed that the leaders’ rapport allows Biden “a level of candor, to be direct, not to hold back.”

Still, Psaki made clear that the relationship has its limits. In 2013, during a trip that Biden took to Asia, Xi welcomed the U.S. vice president as “my old friend” – a descriptor Biden rejected when asked about it in June, noting pointedly: “Let’s get something straight. We know each other well; we’re not old friends. It’s just pure business.”

Asked Monday about Biden’s June assessment, Psaki said she could confirm that the president “still does not consider him an old friend, so that remains consistent.”

Yet as the summit began, Xi seemed determined to reiterate his camaraderie with Biden – reviving what, depending on one’s perspective, is either a term of endearment or an unwelcome moniker.

“Good to see you, Mr. President and your colleagues,” Xi said, through an interpreter. “It’s the first time for us to meet virtually. Although it’s not as good as a face-to-face meeting, I’m very happy to see my old friend.”

Published : November 17, 2021

By : The Washington Post

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008860

Peskov said it was fundamentally wrong to blame Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for the problem.

Russia is ready to assist in resolving the migrant crisis on the Poland-Belarus border, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

Russia will fulfill the role of a “mediator” in the negotiations, Peskov told a daily briefing.

He refuted U.S. claims about Russia’s involvement in the escalating tensions and use of the situation to divert attention from the situation in Ukraine.

Peskov also said it was fundamentally wrong to blame Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for the problem.
 

He criticized the West for ignoring the humanitarian side of the issue, turning a blind eye to thousands of the refugees who are now trying to survive in the cold weather.

Since earlier this month, thousands of refugees from the Middle East and other regions have arrived at the Belarusian side of the border in an attempt to enter Poland and then Germany to seek asylum.

Poland has put troops on high alert along the border.

Similar tensions also appear on the Belarus-Latvia and Belarus-Lithuania borders.

It is the Western countries themselves who caused the crisis, because they fought many years in Iraq and Afghanistan and meanwhile high social benefits are attracting migrants, Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week.

Published : November 16, 2021

By : Xinhua

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“As winter approaches again and as people get prepared for the holidays … we should be prepared for the fact that there may be an uptick in cases that we see in various parts of the country with cold weather,” Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said.

As the cold days set in, the United States is again seeing a surge of COVID-19 cases, though deaths and hospitalizations trend lower, while the federal government’s vaccine mandate consistently faces legal challenges and sectoral resistence.

According to The New York Times, the seven-day average of confirmed cases of the pandemic stood at 80,885 nationwide on Sunday, with its 14-day change striking an 11-percent rise. COVID-19-related deaths were 1,133 on Sunday, with the 14-day change realizing a 16-percent fall.

On Monday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated that 226,607,653 people have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, making up 68.3 percent of the whole U.S. population; fully vaccinated people stood at 195,120,470, accounting for 58.8 percent of the total. A total of 29,338,966 people, or 15 percent of the fully vaccinated group, have received booster shots.

A student of Montrara Ave. Elementary School has a COVID-19 test in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on Aug. 16, 2021. (Xinhua)

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FORMIDABLE WINTER

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned on Sunday during an appearance on Fox News that parts of the country with colder temperatures could see a resurgence in the coronavirus this year if vaccinations do not increase.

“As winter approaches again and as people get prepared for the holidays … we should be prepared for the fact that there may be an uptick in cases that we see in various parts of the country with cold weather,” Murthy said.

He argued that the impact of the virus would be significantly reduced in areas with high vaccination rates, saying that “a couple of things that are critical for people to keep in mind and number one is if you are vaccinated … your chances of both getting sick and transmitting the virus to someone else are much much lower.”

Meanwhile, as COVID-19 disruptions extended into a third academic year, implementation of in-school testing remains mixed, reported The Wall Street Journal on Monday. Some schools are making changes to COVID-19 protocols as students between 5 and 11 years of age start getting vaccinated. Around 900,000 children in that age range had received a first shot through Wednesday, the White House said.

Some states and schools kicked off comprehensive testing programs during the previous school year, while others are starting to launch initiatives or have rejected the available resources. Setting up robust testing routines can be expensive and laborious, some schools have said. Some health departments and officials have been slow to roll out testing programs or to explain the benefits of in-school screening.

Some public health experts hope the test-to-stay model will encourage more schools and parents to adopt testing programs and help students stay in the classroom. “That’s a game-changer,” Andrew Sweet, managing director of COVID-19 Response and Recovery at the Rockefeller Foundation, was quoted as saying.

Photo taken on Feb. 19, 2020 shows the Pentagon seen from an airplane over Washington D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

TUG OF WAR

The U.S. Pentagon has said that it would respond to Oklahoma’s Republican governor after the state’s National Guard indicated it would thwart a Defense Department mandate that troops be vaccinated against COVID-19, CNN reported.

The department said it was “aware” of a memo issued last week by the Oklahoma National Guard’s recently installed adjutant general which said the organization would not enforce the department’s vaccine mandate for its troops. The Pentagon mandated in August that U.S. military service members get fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The development in Oklahoma came as multiple Republican-led states and other groups have filed suit to stop the Joe Biden administration’s vaccine requirement for federal contractors. A federal appeals court on Friday reaffirmed its earlier decision to freeze a separate vaccine mandate that private businesses employing more than 100 workers require vaccination or impose testing guidelines for those not vaccinated.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said that if courts continue to block the Biden administration’s efforts to soon compel large companies to require a COVID-19 vaccine or face weekly testing, it would be “a setback for public health.”

He told Fox News on Sunday that vaccine mandates are well-established and highly successful in achieving more widespread vaccination. Schools, the military and workplaces such as hospitals have long required vaccines. Many companies have leapt ahead of a federal order, he noted, and imposed one on their own employees.

At the heart of the vaccine mandate strategy, he said, is the creation of “safer workplaces for workers, for customers and to increase vaccination rates overall, because that’s ultimately how we’re going to end this pandemic.”

Published : November 16, 2021

By : Xinhua

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008858

The Polish Defense Ministry said that the number of migrants gathered at the Kuznica border crossing has been steadily growing. The latest reports estimated their number at between 2,000 and 4,000.

Foreign ministers of the European Union (EU) have agreed on new sanctions against Belarus over the migrant crisis, the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Monday.

Addressing a press conference after the ministers’ meeting, he said the new set of sanctions had been “politically adopted” and “will be finalized in the coming days.” The sanctions will affect “quite an important number” of individuals and entities, he added.

“By expanding the scope of the sanctions, we will be able to target those responsible for exploiting vulnerable migrants and for facilitating illegal border crossing into the EU,” Borrell said.

The EU has been blaming Belarus for the current migrant crisis at its external borders. Belarus has denied the accusation and expressed its readiness for dialogue.

Josep Borrell speaks at a press briefing after the EU foreign ministers

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BelTA News Agency reported on Sunday that Belarusian Foreign Affairs Minister Vladimir Makei had told the EU that his country would try to reduce migrant flows from Asia, Africa and the Middle East to the EU.

Borrell said Monday that he had spoken to Makei and demanded that assistance should be given to provide humanitarian aid to the stranded migrants.

Also on Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko held a phone conversation on the situation at the border, especially regarding humanitarian aid for the migrants there, according to media reports.

Josep Borrell speaks at a press briefing after the EU foreign ministers

So far, 166 individuals and 15 entities have been designated under the EU’s sanctions on Belarus, according to the bloc’s external action service. According to Lukashenko, the sanctions have dented his country’s ability to tackle the crisis.

Meanwhile, Poland’s deputy interior minister said Monday that thousands of migrants were trying to cross from Belarus into Poland near the Kuznica border crossing.

“Thousands of migrants have moved from their camp to the closed Kuznica crossing under the supervision of Belarusian security forces,” Maciej Wasik wrote on Twitter, adding that the Polish authorities were “ready for every scenario.”

The Polish Defense Ministry said that the number of migrants gathered at Kuznica has been steadily growing. The latest reports estimated their number at between 2,000 and 4,000.   

Published : November 16, 2021

By : Xinhua

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008857

A virtual meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden will be held on Tuesday morning (Beijing Time).

The two presidents will exchange views on China-U.S. relations and issues of mutual interest in the meeting, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.

Published : November 16, 2021

By : Xinhua

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008854

The U.K. raised its terrorist threat level from substantial to severe, meaning an attack is highly likely, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson convened a meeting of the countrys emergency committee Cobra to discuss a blast in Liverpool, northern England.

“Ican’t comment on details of the case or the motivation, but it is a stark reminder of the need to remain utterly vigilant,” Johnson said at a Downing Street news conference on Monday.

Police have classified the explosion on Sunday as a terrorist incident, the second in a month. It occurred just one minute before annual remembrance services for those who died serving Britain in war.

In October, Conservative MP David Amess was fatally stabbed at a meeting in his constituency, with police saying at the time the suspect might have had links to Islamist extremism.

Merseyside Police were called to reports of an explosion involving a taxi outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital at 10:59 a.m. on Sunday. The passenger died and the driver was injured. Four men were later arrested in the city.

Footage circulated online shows the taxi pulling up to the hospital’s parking lot. As the bomb explodes, the driver gets out.

Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson, from Counter-Terrorism Policing North West, told reporters on Monday that the passenger was carrying a homemade bomb.

“Although the motivation for this incident is yet to be understood, given all the circumstances it has been declared a terrorist incident,” he said. “Counter-terrorism policing are continuing with the investigation.”

Published : November 16, 2021

By : Bloomberg

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008853

President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law a sweeping $1.2 trillion infrastructure measure, notching an achievement that had long eluded his predecessor in the White House, Donald Trump.

Republicans and Democrats gathered at the White House on Monday as Biden signed the legislation, which is aimed at improving the country’s roads, bridges, pipes, ports and Internet connections.

Trump had repeatedly tried and failed to secure a bipartisan infrastructure deal.

“Here in Washington, we’ve heard countless speeches, promises and white papers from experts. But today, we’re finally getting this done,” Biden said.

Vice President Kamala Harris and several lawmakers spoke ahead of Biden at the ceremony, including Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y.; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; and Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio.

“This is what can happen when Republicans and Democrats decide we’re going to work together to get something done,” Portman said.

Harris said the infrastructure push “will be a nationwide effort, the likes of which we have not seen in a generation.” She also urged lawmakers to pass the Build Back Better plan, a second package that aims to overhaul the country’s health-care, education, immigration, climate and tax laws. The House is expected to take up the measure this week.

Sinema thanked Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Susan Collins, R-Maine; and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, calling them “the Wonder Women of our group, always focused on the practical outcomes.”

Several Republicans, including Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Mitt Romney of Utah, and Rep. Tom Reed of New York were also in attendance.

The mood at the ceremony on the White House lawn was celebratory, with members of Congress expressing gratitude for the cooperation of those across the aisle – a rare occurrence.

Biden, who has often spoken longingly about the days of compromise and consensus, seemed in good spirits as he touted the benefits of the new law and the bipartisan manner in which it was achieved – with no mention of the vitriol that Trump and his supporters have lodged at the Republicans who voted for the infrastructure bill.

At one point, Biden praised Portman as a “hell of a good guy,” then quipped: “I’m not hurting you, Rob, because I know you’re not running again.”

Within moments of the signing, Republicans and Democrats issued news releases detailing the projects that will be built in their home states and districts. Collins, the Republican senator from Maine, said the bill would provide $225 million to her state for bridge construction, maintenance and repair.

The Senate first passed the infrastructure bill in August with a 69-30 vote, the rare type of partnership Biden committed to in the 2020 campaign. The measure languished in the House for months, though, as liberal lawmakers sought to use their leverage to advance Biden’s larger climate and social spending bill.

The bill finally passed the House earlier this month on a 228 to 206 vote, with 13 Republicans joining with most Democrats in voting yes.

Earlier Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that Biden “invited everybody who supported it because he felt that was the right thing to do.”

“Whether people come or not, that’s their choice,” she said.

The White House also announced that Biden has tapped former New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu to serve as senior adviser for coordinating the infrastructure plan’s implementation.

Some supporters of the measure, such as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, D, traveled to Washington for the event.

Some of the Republicans who voted for the bill opted not to attend, however, amid criticism from the conservative base over their votes for a signature part of Biden’s agenda. Trump has said Republicans who voted for the measure – 19 senators and 13 House members – should be “ashamed of themselves” for “helping the Democrats.”

Several House Republicans who backed the legislation have been threatened and harassed; last week, Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan released the audio of an expletive-filled phone call in which a man in South Carolina called him a “traitor” and said he hopes the congressman, his staff and his entire family die.

Other Republican lawmakers – most notably Trump loyalists Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina – have led criticism and attacks against their colleagues who backed the bill.

Greene, a House freshman who has previously accosted fellow members at the Capitol, said earlier this month that any House Republican who backed the measure would be “a traitor to our party, a traitor to their voters and a traitor to our donors.”

After the vote, Greene tweeted the names and phone numbers of 12 of the 13 Republicans who voted in favor of the bill, which she described as “Joe Biden’s Communist takeover of America.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who voted for the bill and drew Trump’s wrath, has even tried to give more credit to his Senate caucus for helping pass the package.

McConnell, however, will not be attending Monday’s signing ceremony. He told a Kentucky radio station last week that he has “other things I’ve got to do.”

Published : November 16, 2021

By : The Washington Post

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008851

The number of Covid-19 cases crossed 13.62 million across Southeast Asia, with 25,571 new cases reported on Monday (November 15), lower than Sunday’s tally at 26,176. New deaths are at 365, decreasing from Sunday’s number of 525. Total Covid-19 deaths in Asean are now at 284,890.

The Government of Laos on November 14 announced the re-opening of schools across the country while some other Covid-19 restriction measures continue to be extended nationwide for additional 15 days starting from 0:00 on November 15. Accordingly, Laos continues to close border gates, except for those permitted to open by the Lao National Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, stop issuing visas for tourists and relatives.

On November 15, thousands of children in the Philippines have returned to school for the first time in nearly two years, kicking off a pilot scheme to resume face-to-face learning after the pandemic disrupted the education of 27 million students. Education Minister has said that over 100 schools from the total of 61,000 schools nationwide have been selected to reopen for 2-month trial period. The number of schools participating in the trial run is expected to increase in the next few weeks, especially those in low-risk areas.
 

Published : November 16, 2021

By : THE NATION