Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA | Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Tuesday that the United States made it clear at a meeting held in Vienna that it has not yet decided on whether to extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START). “We did not feel that the Americans …
Read More »No other developed country “doing so badly” in fighting COVID-19: NYT columnist
Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA | The United States “is too broken to fight” the novel coronavirus, and “no other developed country is doing so badly,” a columnist for The New York Times wrote on Monday. “Graphs of the coronavirus curves in Britain, Canada, Germany and Italy look like mountains, with steep …
Read More »Trump signs executive order halting certain work visas through 2020
Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA | U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order suspending the issuance of a number of certain employment-based visas through the end of 2020, including the H-1B which are used for highly skilled workers and common in the tech industry. “Temporary workers are often accompanied …
Read More »UN urged to hold US ‘accountable’ over racism, police violence
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The UN on Thursday wrapped up a historic debate about structural racism and police brutality in the United States and beyond — but rights groups voiced concern that countries might be backing away from committing to concrete action. The urgent debate at the United Nations Human …
Read More »Elderly, sick, essential workers will get virus vaccine first: US
Washington, United States | AFP | The United States plans to give priority to the elderly, those with pre-existing conditions and essential workers once there is a vaccine against COVID-19, a senior Trump administration official said Tuesday. Under Operation Warp Speed (OWS), the US government is aiming to deliver 300 million …
Read More »Africa urges UN probe of US ‘systemic racism’, police violence
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | African countries are pushing for the UN’s top rights body to launch a high-level investigation into “systemic racism” and police violence in the United States and beyond, according to a draft resolution seen Tuesday by AFP. The text was being circulated to diplomats for consultations ahead of a so-called urgent …
Read More »US ends emergency authorization of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19
Washington, United States | AFP | The United States on Monday withdrew emergency use authorizations for two antimalarial drugs favored by President Donald Trump to treat the new coronavirus, effectively shutting the door on the politically charged treatments. Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and chloroquine (CQ) were authorized in March after they were found …
Read More »US ‘outraged’ as Russia convicts American of spying
Washington, United States | AFP | The United States expressed outrage Monday over a Russian court’s conviction of American Paul Whelan on espionage charges, saying he was deprived of a fair trial. Whelan, a former Marine arrested in December 2018, was sentenced Monday to 16 years of hard labor after being found guilty of receiving …
Read More »Silence is ‘complicity,’ say many white protestors
New York, United States | AFP | As massive crowds take over streets across the United States in support of black lives, “white silence is violence” has become a recurring theme, a push to spread awareness that discrimination in a country built on racism extends far beyond police brutality. The recent …
Read More »UN rights experts condemn modern-day ‘racial terror lynchings’
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Independent UN rights experts called Friday for systemic reform in the United States following the killings of George Floyd and other African Americans they said resembled “modern-day racial terror lynchings”. The group, who report to the world body, decried the spate of killings by police and …
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