Month: December 2020

WASHINGTON (TIP): In yet another first, President-elect Joe Biden   nominated a Native American  to be  the Interior Secretary.

If confirmed, Haaland, 60, would become the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary. The pick is being cheered by progressives and would add to what Biden calls his “barrier-breaking” Cabinet.

Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo people, has represented New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District, which comprises Albuquerque and many of its suburbs, since 2019. She is the chair of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. She and Rep. Sharice Davids of Kansas are the first Native American women to serve in Congress.

As interior secretary, Haaland would oversee an agency tasked with managing and conserving much of the country’s federal lands and natural resources, including national parks and tribal lands, which have had a fraught history with the federal government. Harland has long been popular among progressive Democrats. In 2016, when she was the chair of the New Mexico Democratic Party, she traveled to the protests against the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota to show solidarity with the demonstrators. She also led an effort as her state’s party chair to divest the party from investments in Wells Fargo, over the bank’s ties to the pipeline.

Long thought to be a top contender for the post, Haaland received sterling praise as a potential Cabinet member earlier this week from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who lauded the congresswoman as an “excellent choice” who “knows the territory” after rumors emerged that Democratic House leaders were concerned about losing a member of their caucus because of the thin majority they hold in the chamber. Haaland had received the strong backing of many Native American groups and progressive organizations, and many lauded her expected selection Thursday. “With the historic appointment of Deb Haaland as Interior Secretary, Joe Biden chose the most qualified person and put a true movement progressive in his Cabinet,” Stephanie Taylor, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said. “Deb’s selection was a top priority for the progressive movement. Thousands of PCCC members and many Native American, climate, women, and other progressive activists worked hard for this victory.”

If Haaland is confirmed, it would create a third House vacancy as Democrats will begin the new Congress with an already-slimmed majority.

WASHINGTON (TIP): An advisory panel on Thursday, December 17,  recommended that the Food and Drug Administration issue an emergency use authorization for a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Moderna, all but guaranteeing the agency will do so.

The authorization, expected on Friday, will mark the second Covid-19 vaccine cleared by the agency — and amount to one more step toward curbing a pandemic that has infected an estimated 17 million people and killed more than 300,000 in the United States.

Both Moderna’s vaccine and the one developed by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech, which was granted an EUA last week, use messenger RNA to instruct the body’s cells to produce copies of the spike protein found on the exterior of the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Those vaccine-induced proteins teach the immune system to recognize the coronavirus as an invader and attack it when an immunized person is exposed to the virus. Clinical trials showed both vaccines were highly effective, about 94% or 95% in fact, though both trigger side effects in a portion of people vaccinated.

WASHINGTON (TIP): U.S. intelligence agencies have warned that a “significant” cyberattack on several federal departments uncovered over the weekend remains ongoing as the government rushes to assess the extent of the breach.

“This is a developing situation, and while we continue to work to understand the full extent of this campaign, we know this compromise has affected networks within the federal government,” the FBI, the director of national intelligence and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said in a joint statement late Wednesday, December16.

The March attack on software created by Texas-based IT company SolarWinds — in which hackers installed malware — continued for months until it was discovered by cybersecurity company FireEye.

Both companies have pointed the finger at hackers linked to the Russian government. Hackers reportedly breached software used by the U.S. Treasury Department and the Commerce Department, allowing them to view internal email traffic.

The agencies did not confirm the targets of the cyberattack. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also pointed to Moscow on Monday, saying the Russian government had made repeated attempts to breach U.S. government networks.

‘Up to 18,000 customers’

SolarWinds said up to 18,000 customers, which included government agencies and Fortune 500 companies, had downloaded the compromised software updates, allowing hackers to spy on email exchanges.

The content the hackers sought to steal — and how successful they were — remains unknown at this time.

The FBI said it has opened an investigation to identify and pursue those responsible for the hack.

After the attack was detected, CISA ordered federal agencies to power down the breached software.

The agencies have created a coordination unit and emergency talks are being held at the White House on a daily basis to discuss the government’s response.

U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien cut short a trip to the Middle East and Europe this week to deal with the fallout from the hack.

(Agencies)

NEW YORK (TIP): A team of international investigators led by the World Health Organization (WHO) is likely to go to China in early January to study the origins of the COVID-19 outbreak, which first began in Wuhan, in southwestern Hubei province, late last year.

WHO officials said on Thursday, December 17,  the composition of the team and where they would visit was being discussed with China. Babatunde Olowokure, the WHO’s regional emergencies director in the Western Pacific, said at a press conference that China was “welcoming” the team and the visit was likely to happen in early January. How much access the team will have, and whether the visit comes too late, has become a point of contention. China has resisted calls for an independent international inquiry into the origins but has said it would be open to a WHO-led investigation even as the organization has come under fire, particularly from the U.S., over its handling of the outbreak in the initial stages.

A team of 12-15 experts will likely go to Wuhan “to examine evidence, including human and animal samples collected by Chinese researchers, and to build on their initial studies”, Reuters reported. Thea Fischer, a Danish member, was quoted as saying the team would leave “just after New Year’s” for a six-week mission, which would include two weeks of quarantine on arrival. Initial attention into the origins of COVID-19 had focused on the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan, where an outbreak was first reported in December, although some Chinese health officials have since said the market may have not been the origin, but where the virus first spread.

Focus on market

The WHO investigation will likely focus on the market in an effort to reconstruct the outbreak, the South China Morning Post reported this week, noting that China had “released sparse details” about its studies into the market. Most scientists believe the SARS-CoV-2 virus, similar to the first SARS outbreak, likely came from a bat and passed to humans via an intermediary host. Whether that was one of the live animals sold at the market is among the issues the investigation will look into. The WHO investigation, although at an early stage, has already become politicized, with China resisting what it sees as any outside interference, seeking to remain in control over how much access international scientists will have, and officials and State media there increasingly backing a narrative suggesting the virus came to China from elsewhere. The U.S. and several other countries, meanwhile, have criticized the WHO’s handling and called for more transparency and independence into the investigations.

The report from the first WHO-China Joint Mission on COVID-19, which followed a visit by 25 Chinese and international experts to several Chinese cities between February 16 and 24, praised China’s initial handling of the outbreak and the lockdown of Hubei province for controlling the spread of the virus. The WHO mission report was widely cited by the Chinese media as underlining the success of the country’s response.

The mission to China followed a visit by the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to Beijing, who in a January 28 meeting with President Xi Jinping “praised the seriousness with which China is taking this outbreak, especially the commitment from top leadership, and the transparency they have demonstrated”.

Initial cover-up

Neither mentioned the initial cover-up by Wuhan authorities until mid-January, which resulted in the Communist Party leadership in February sacking the Party chiefs of both Hubei and Wuhan, as well as two senior provincial health officials. That detail has, however, now become a footnote, with State media, ahead of the WHO team’s visit, increasingly emphasizing China’s subsequent recovery, showcasing its effective response to stem the outbreak, and questioning the origins of COVID-19.

On Thursday, the Party-run Global Times published an article questioning whether the virus came to Wuhan from overseas, citing recent local cases in China related to imported seafood and meat products. “As the mounting sporadic outbreaks in China were found to be related to imported cold-chain products, with other parts of the world, including Europe and the American continent, reportedly discovering signs of the coronavirus earlier than Wuhan, it begs a new hypothesis: did the early outbreak in Wuhan originate from imported frozen food?” the newspaper asked. China has in recent weeks stopped certain food imports, which it has blamed for new cases that have been reported even after local transmission had broadly been curbed by the end of the summer.

Chinese scientists have also put forward studies suggesting the virus was circulating in other countries, such as Italy, before it came to China. One recent pre-print even suggested the first human transmission took place on the Indian subcontinent, but it was subsequently withdrawn.

That is not, however, the view of most international experts. Last month, Michael Ryan, the Executive Director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said it would be “highly speculative” for the WHO “to say that the disease did not emerge in China”. “It is clear from a public health perspective that you start your investigations where the human cases first emerged,” he said, adding that evidence may lead them elsewhere.

These remarks from the WHO did not, however, find wide mention in the Chinese media.

(Agencies)

WASHINGTON (TIP): The bureaucratic transition from Mr. Trump’s government to Mr. Biden’s actually began weeks ago, despite the President’s legal challenges. Still, the suddenly conciliatory stance from many Republicans could thaw the political deep freeze that has gripped Washington lately.

Mr. Biden has been trying to build momentum as he prepares to assume the presidency while facing the historic challenge of vaccinating hundreds of millions of Americans against the coronavirus. In some of his most forceful remarks since the election, Mr. Biden is calling for unity but also calling Mr. Trump’s attacks on the voting process “unconscionable” and insisting it is time to “turn the page.’ “We need to work together, give each other a chance, and lower the temperature,” Mr. Biden said in a speech on Monday., December 14.

Still, the shift coming so late in the tone from Republicans has left the President-elect with barely a month to finish building out key parts his new government. Some say the GOP about-face won’t mean much at this point.

“Even them doing this now, the damage has been done because they’ve blocked, they’ve interrupted,” said Anthony Robinson, a former Obama administration appointee who served several national security policy roles, including during the transition to the Trump administration in 2016.

“I don’t want to say, ‘Who cares?,’ but it definitely doesn’t symbolize a smooth transition,” said Mr. Robinson, who is now political director of the National Democratic Training Committee, which trains candidates and campaign staffers all over the country.

Mr. Biden’s first priority will be the fair and efficient distribution of vaccines against the virus. The President-elect said on Tuesday that he would follow the advice of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, who says that getting the President-elect himself vaccinated as soon as possible is a matter of national security.

Trust in the vaccine

“Dr. Fauci recommends I get the vaccine sooner than later. I want to make sure we do it by the numbers,” Mr. Biden said, adding that he’d be immunized publicly, which could help build public trust in the vaccine.

Mr. Trump’s continued opposition to Mr. Biden, meanwhile, may still present roadblocks, especially in the U.S. House where Republicans as recently as last week were introducing legislation to punish members of their party who might be seen as urging Mr. Trump to “concede prematurely.” Other top Trump administration Cabinet officials haven’t yet followed the lead of Mr. Pompeo, who plans to meet on Thursday with Mr. Blinken, Mr. Biden’s Secretary of State nominee.

“The President is still involved in ongoing litigation related to the election,” said White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, calling the Electoral College vote “one step in the constitutional process.”

WASHINGTON (TIP): A violent group of Khalistani separatists on Saturday, December 12,  desecrated Mahatma Gandhi’s statue outside the Indian embassy during a demonstration by Sikh-American youths in support of farmers protesting against the Indian farm laws. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has described as “appalling” the desecration of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue outside the Indian embassy here and said his reputation should be respected, especially in the US capital.

A violent group of Khalistani separatists on Saturday desecrated Mahatma Gandhi’s statue outside the Indian embassy in Washington during a demonstration by Sikh-American youths in support of farmers protesting against the recently enacted agriculture laws in India. Responding to a question about the incident during a press conference, McEnany said, “It’s terrible. No statue or memorial should be desecrated and certainly not one like that of Gandhi who really fought for the values that America represents of peace, justice, and freedom.” “It is appalling that it has happened more than once and we believe the reputation of Mahatma Gandhi should be respected, especially here in America’s capital,” she said.

A State Department spokesperson said on Tuesday that they were aware of recent protests in front of the Indian Embassy in Washington DC.

“We take our responsibility to provide for the safety and security of foreign missions in the US very seriously and are discussing the recent incident with the Indian Embassy,” the spokesperson said.

Hundreds of Sikhs from in and around Greater Washington DC area, Maryland and Virginia, along with many from other states like New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina, on Saturday undertook a car rally to the Indian embassy in downtown Washington DC, where they gathered to express solidarity with the protesting Indian farmers.

Peaceful protest hijacked?

However, the peaceful protest was soon hijacked by the separatist Sikhs who were carrying Khalistani flags with anti-India posters and banners.

During the protest, many of the pro-Khalistan Sikh youths flashing kirpans jumped on the statue of Mahatma Gandhi and pasted a poster over it. The group raised anti-India and pro-Khalistan slogans.The Indian embassy condemned the “mischievous act” by hooligans masquerading as protesters.

“The statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Plaza in front of the embassy was defaced by Khalistani elements on 12 December 2020. The Embassy strongly condemns this mischievous act by hooligans masquerading as protesters against the universally respected icon of peace and justice,” it said in a statement.

The Embassy said it has lodged a strong protest with the US law enforcement agencies and also taken up the matter with the Department of State for an early investigation and action against the culprits under the applicable law.

The statue of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled by then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the presence of then US president Bill Clinton on September 16, 2000, after the US Congress passed a law in 1998.

This is for the second time that Gandhi’s statue has been desecrated by miscreants this year. The first such incident was reported on the intervening night of June 2 and 3 when unknown miscreants vandalized his statue outside the Indian embassy in the US with graffiti and spray painting, prompting the mission to register a complaint with the local law enforcement agencies.

Vandalism of the statue of the apostle of peace happened during the week of nationwide protests against the custodial killing of African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.

(Source: PTI)

WASHINGTON (TIP): The issue of sanctions by the U.S. for purchase of Russian arms is of particular interest to New Delhi, which is also in the process of buying the S-400 from Moscow.

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on NATO-ally Turkey for its purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defense system, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Monday, December 14. The issue of sanctions under Section 231 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) for purchase of Russian arms is of particular interest to New Delhi, which is also in the process of buying the S-400 from Moscow.

“Today’s action sends a clear signal that the United States will fully implement CAATSA Section 231 and will not tolerate significant transactions with Russia’s defense and intelligence sectors,” Mr Pompeo said on Monday.

Sanctions were imposed on Turkey’s main defense procurement agency the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) for “knowingly engaging in a significant transaction with Rosoboronexport (ROE), Russia’s main arms export entity” the office of the US State Department spokesperson said in a statement.

These SSB sanctions comprise of a ban on granting specific U.S. export licenses and authorizations for any goods or technology, a ban on loans or credits by U.S. financial institutions totaling more than $10 million in any 12-month period, a ban on U.S. Export-Import Bank assistance for exports and mandated U.S. opposition to loans by international financial organizations to SSB.

Additionally, sanctions will include full blocking sanctions and visa restrictions on SSB president Ismail Demir and other officials.

“We very much regret that this has been necessary, and we very much hope that Turkey will work with us to resolve the S-400 problem as quickly as possible,” said the State Department’s Christopher Ford, who is in charge of security and non-proliferation.

“The United States made clear to Turkey at the highest levels and on numerous occasions that its purchase of the S-400 system would endanger the security of U.S. military technology and personnel and provide substantial funds to Russia’s defense sector, as well as Russian access to the Turkish armed forces and defense industry,” Mr. Pompeo said.

“Turkey nevertheless decided to move ahead with the procurement and testing of the S-400, despite the availability of alternative, NATO-interoperable systems to meet its defense requirements. This decision resulted in Turkey’s suspension and pending removal from the global F-35 Joint Strike Fighter partnership,” he said.

Last year the U.S. had removed Turkey from its F-35 jet program over concerns that sensitive information could be accessed by Russia if Turkey used Russian systems along with U.S. jets. U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have an apparently close relationship and Mr. Trump has pushed back on Congressional demands for sanctions against Turkey. The administration has now had to face a $740 million National Defense Authorization Bill (NDAA) 2021 from the U.S. Congress, which mandates sanctions against Turkey within 30 days of the bill’s passage (December 11). Mr. Trump has threatened to veto the bill.

“The biggest winner of our new defense bill is China! I will veto!” Trump had tweeted days ago.