COTE DU IVORIE
Hive thinking: Beekeeping makes a buzz in Ivory Coast 

Issued on: 06/02/2021 -

Honey is harvested only at night as the local bees are very aggressive 

Issouf SANOGO AFP


ASSOUNVOUE (Ivory Coast) (AFP)

Night has just fallen in central Ivory Coast and the hour has come for two men, venturing forth in protective suits, veils and gloves, to steal honey from their bees.

The art of beekeeping has spread swiftly in Assounvoue, in the heart of the world's top cocoa producer.

Farmers started taking up honey-making to supplement their income -- and then also realised their primary crops did better when pollinated by the bees. Word of the twin benefits spread fast.

"In West Africa, you have to harvest the honey at night," says French beekeeper Sebastien Gavini, co-director of a firm called Le Bon Miel de Cote d'Ivoire (The fine honey of Ivory Coast).

"These bees are savage and aggressive -- they don’t let you go. By working at night, you don't get pursued by the bees, which means we don't put people at risk."

West African bees are "wilder and barely used to contact with human beings," Gavini explains.

He contrasts these characteristics with milder-natured European bees which have been kept for centuries -- and sadly are now threatened in many areas by insecticides.

- Double win -

Modern beekeeping is only getting started in Africa, says Francois Silue, a member of the Ivorian Cooperative Company (SCI) at Katiola in the north, the source of the country's most highly-regarded honey.

"Our duty is to stop farmers from killing the bees, to change their culture," explains Silue, who was trained by Japanese and German specialist aid workers.

The SCI brings together about 50 beekeeping farmers.

Obtaining statistics on the beekeeping business is complicated at national level.

"There are only partial figures," says Marcel Iritie, president of the Agricultural Platform of Ivory Coast.

The platform estimates that 30 tonnes of honey are produced each year by about 100 members and several cooperatives.

"But that doesn't take into account hundreds of small producers," Iritie notes.

All or nearly all these people have kept their traditional roles as farmers, treating the production of honey as a secondary activity.

"The farmer who goes into beekeeping wins twice over," argues Mathieu Offi, who works alongside Gavini.

"Money is earned from the honey and harvests are better because of better pollination."

— Minimum investment —

While he gives training classes as one of the most experienced beekeepers in the country, Offi also carries on with his work as a farmer near Kossou in the middle of the country.

"Thanks to the bees, (cocoa) production can be multiplied by 1.6," he adds.

"It's the bees who do all the work!"

Offi and Gavini have installed their beehives across a strictly organic market garden in Assounvoue in a successful marriage of cultures.

"Bees are like humans, they thrive when the environment is right," Offi says. "With pesticides, they suffer."

"I need five more hives," says Ahmed Yao, a farmhand who benefits both from the sale of market produce and income from honey.

Gavini and Offi have signed partnerships with agro-business ventures producing bananas and other fruits.

"It's a win-win situation," Gavini says, stressing the advantages of pollination and providing training for small farmers.

Gavini says a relatively tiny investment is needed for bee keeping.

"All in all, a hive costs 35,000 CFA francs (53 euros/$64). Add the clothing and some basic equipment, and it's 65,000 CFA (99 euros) at the most. You get the money back in the first year."

- 'Incredible varieties' -

The price of a kilogramme (2.2 pounds) of honey ranges from 3,000 to 10,000 francs (15 euros), while spinoff products (bees' wax, propolis varnish, essential oils and even bee venom) also sell well.

"The taste of the honey depends on what the bee has been foraging. Honey from here is renowned because there are acacias and cashew nuts. It's sweet," says Edvige Brou Adoua, a saleswoman at the Katiola cooperative.

But, she insists, you should always buy directly from the outlet, not from a product hawked on the roadside. In the economic capital Abidjan, it is not uncommon for street vendors to sell honey mixed with water and sugar.

"Quality is the most important thing," agrees Sebastien Gavini.

"We have the good luck to have incredible varieties of honey," he says, reeling off some of the botanical treasures of the Ivory Coast, from coffee flowers, kapok and orange trees, to acacias and cashews.

"Each honey has a specific taste. Ivory Coast could become the world’s leading honey producer. We have all it takes!"

© 2021 AFP

Yankees stadium becomes vaccination site for New York's poor

Issued on: 06/02/2021 - 

People line up in the rain outside the Yankee Stadium on February 5, 2021 in New York as the Stadium is turned into a mass Covid-19 vaccination site, which is strictly reserved for residents of The Bronx. 

TIMOTHY A. CLARY AFP

New York (AFP)

Defying the cold and rain, hundreds of people bundled up in thick coats came to get vaccinated Friday in the famous Yankees baseball stadium in the Bronx, a New York borough that has been particularly badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

"It's like a choice between life and death," said Ines Figueroa, 64, a Puerto Rican resident of the Bronx, after receiving the shot. Her husband died in January of complications linked to the virus which she too contracted, although without developing any symptoms.

The positivity rate in the Bronx is the highest in all of New York's five boroughs: it was at 6.67 percent Friday, double the rate in the wealthier area of Manhattan, New York governor Andrew Cuomo said.

That is why the authorities in this traditionally Democratic bastion of the city decided to reserve the vaccinations on offer at the stadium exclusively for residents of the Bronx.

- 'Equity and fairness' -

Since the start of the pandemic last March, the death rate in New York's Black and Latino communities has been double that of their white counterparts.

That same racial disparity has played out across the United States, where more than 453,000 people have died of the disease.

Yet these same minorities have until now received fewer vaccinations than other communities.

In New York, figures released on Sunday show that among the 500,000 doses of vaccine already administered, only 15 percent went to Hispanic people, even though they represent 30 percent of the population of eight million. And 11 percent went to African Americans, who make up 25 percent of the population.

"This is about equity. This is about fairness," said left-leaning Mayor Bill de Blasio at the entrance to the stadium. "This is about protecting people who need the most protection because the Bronx is one of the places that bore the brunt of this crisis of the coronavirus."

Of the 15,000 appointments on offer in the coming days, some 13,000 have been allocated on Friday.

- 'Troubling' -

Although in principle the Yankees stadium only offers vaccinations by appointment, many people in line on Friday did not have one. For many, the registration process is not up to scratch, requiring a strong internet connection, a good knowledge of English, and sometimes hours of patience.

After trying in vain for 15 days to get an appointment, Manuel Rosario, 76, managed to get a shot at the stadium on Friday, after standing in line for four hours.

"There should be three more centers like this in the Bronx," said Rosario, who contracted Covid without symptoms in April. At this rate, "they will have finished vaccinating everyone in two years," he said.

That relative slowness in rollout due to a shortage of vaccines has been echoed across the country. That is why, to date, only 8.4 percent of Americans have been immunized, according to official data.

"It is deeply troubling that we could be right now doing 400,000, 500,000 vaccinations a week, and we can't get supply," said de Blasio.

Distrust of the authorities, a glut of fake news that the vaccine is dangerous, or fear of arrest for undocumented migrants had also contributed to the slow vaccination of minorities, according to experts.

"It has to work out because we are all human beings and we all need the vaccine to survive," says Manuel Rosario.

Like him, Mercedes Ferreras, a 73-year-old Dominican, came on Friday without an appointment. "I have a computer, but I don't know how to use it," she explained.

The same went for Fausto Lopez, 72, who came even though a friend tried to dissuade him, telling him that the vaccine would be a pretext for implanting a chip that would turn him into "a robot".

"There is too much false information," said the retired cleaner, who suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, and has already undergone seven operations.

"The vaccine will change my life," he said.

Harvard astronomer argues that alien vessel paid us a visit

Issued on: 06/02/2021 - 

This undated portrait courtesy of Lotem Loeb, shows her father 

Harvard University Professor Abraham Loeb in Lexington, Massachusetts 

 Lotem Loeb/AFP


Washington (AFP)

Discovering there's intelligent life beyond our planet could be the most transformative event in human history -- but what if scientists decided to collectively ignore evidence suggesting it already happened?

That's the premise of a new book by a top astronomer, who argues that the simplest and best explanation for the highly unusual characteristics of an interstellar object that sped through our solar system in 2017 is that it was alien technology.

Sound kooky? Avi Loeb says the evidence holds otherwise, and is convinced his peers in the scientific community are so consumed by groupthink they're unwilling to wield Occam's razor.

Loeb's stellar credentials -- he was the longest-serving chair of astronomy at Harvard, has published hundreds of pioneering papers, and has collaborated with greats like the late Stephen Hawking -- make him difficult to dismiss outright.

"Thinking that we are unique and special and privileged is arrogant," he told AFP in a video call.

"The correct approach is to be modest and say: 'We're nothing special, there are lots of other cultures out there, and we just need to find them.'"

- Mysterious visitor -

Loeb, 58, lays out the argument for the alien origins of the object named 'Oumuamua -- "scout" in Hawaiian -- in "Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth."

The facts are as follows.

In October 2017, astronomers observed an object moving so quickly, it could only have come from another star -- the first recorded interstellar interloper.

It didn't seem to be an ordinary rock, because after slingshotting around the Sun, it sped up and deviated from the expected trajectory, propelled by a mysterious force.

This could be easily explained if it was a comet expelling gas and debris -- but there was no visible evidence of this "outgassing."

The traveler also tumbled in a strange way -- as inferred by how it got brighter and dimmer in scientists' telescopes, and it was unusually luminous, possibly suggesting it was made from a bright metal.

In order to explain what happened, astronomers had to come up with novel theories, such as that it was made of hydrogen ice and would therefore not have visible trails, or that it disintegrated into a dust cloud.

"These ideas that came to explain specific properties of 'Oumuamua always involve something that we have never seen before," said Loeb.

"If that's the direction we are taking, then why not contemplate an artificial origin?"

- Sailing on light -

'Oumuamua was never photographed close-up during its brief sojourn -- we only learned of its existence once it was already on its way out of our solar system.

There are two shapes that fit the peculiarities observed -- long and thin like a cigar, or flat and round like a pancake, almost razor thin.

Loeb says simulations favor the latter, and believes the object was deliberately crafted as a light sail propelled by stellar radiation.

Another oddity was the way the object moved -- compounding the strangeness of its passage.

Before encountering our Sun, 'Oumuamua was "at rest" relative to nearby stars -- statistically very rare. Rather than think of it as a vessel hurtling through space, from the object's perspective, our solar system slammed into it.

"Perhaps 'Oumuamua was like a buoy resting in the expanse of the universe," writes Loeb.

Like a trip wire left by an intelligent lifeform, waiting to be triggered by a star system.

- Uniting humanity -

Loeb's ideas have placed him at odds with fellow astronomers.

Writing in Forbes, astrophysicist Ethan Siegel called Loeb a "once-respected scientist" who, having failed to convince his peers of his arguments, had taken to pandering to the public.

Loeb, for his part, protests a "culture of bullying" in the academy that punishes those who question orthodoxy -- just as Galileo was punished when he proposed the Earth was not the center of the universe.

Compared to speculative yet respected branches of theoretical physics -- such as looking for dark matter or multiverses -- the search for alien life is a far more commonsense avenue to pursue, he said.

That's why Loeb's pushing for a new branch of astronomy, "space archaeology," to hunt for the biological and technological signatures of alien life.

"If we find evidence for technologies that took a million years to develop, then we can get a shortcut into these technologies, we can employ them on Earth," said Loeb, who spent his childhood on an Israeli farm reading philosophy and pondering life's big questions.

Such a discovery could also "give us a sense that we are part of the same time" as humanity confronts threats ranging from climate change to nuclear conflict.

"Rather than fight each other like nations do very often, we would perhaps collaborate."

#SPACERACE2.0

China's space probe sends back its first image of Mars


Issued on: 06/02/2021 - 

China's space probe has sent back its first image of Mars and is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet later this year - China National Space Administration/AFP

Beijing (AFP)

China's Tianwen-1 probe has sent back its first image of Mars, the national space agency said, as the mission prepares to touch down on the Red Planet later this year.

The spacecraft, launched in July around the same time as a rival US mission, is expected to enter Mars orbit around February 10.

The black-and-white photo released late Friday by the China National Space Administration showed geological features including the Schiaparelli crater and the Valles Marineris, a vast stretch of canyons on the Martian surface.

The photo was taken about 2.2 million kilometres (1.4 million miles) from Mars, according to CNSA, which said the spacecraft was now 1.1 million kilometres from the planet.

The robotic craft ignited one of its engines to "make an orbital correction" Friday and was expected to slow down before being "captured by Martian gravity" around February 10, the agency said.

The five-tonne Tianwen-1 includes a Mars orbiter, a lander and a rover that will study the planet's soil.

China hopes to ultimately land the rover in May in Utopia, a massive impact basin on Mars.

After watching the United States and the Soviet Union lead the way during the Cold War, China has poured billions of dollars into its military-led space programme.

It has made huge strides in the past decade, sending a human into space in 2003.

The Asian powerhouse has laid the groundwork to assemble a space station by 2022 and gain a permanent foothold in Earth orbit.

But Mars has proved a challenging target so far, with most missions sent by the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and India to the planet since 1960 ending in failure.

Tianwen-1 is not China's first attempt to reach Mars.

A previous mission with Russia in 2011 ended prematurely as the launch failed.

China has already sent two rovers to the Moon. With the second, China became the first country to make a successful soft landing on the far side.

All systems on the Tianwen-1 probe are in "good condition," CNSA said Friday.

© 2021 AFP

Skateboarding seeks to flip its image of whiteness

Issued on: 06/02/2021 - 
 

September 2020 issue of the skate magazine Thrasher, which features portraits of 32 Black skaters as it pushes back against an image of whiteness in the sport

 Francois PICARD AFP

Houston (AFP)

Wheels whir and clatter as Jerahn Thomas and his skateboarding friends land tricks on the streets of downtown Houston, each success bringing broad smiles to their faces.

Passers-by at nearby taco stands seem oblivious to their skill -- but it doesn't matter to Thomas.

"What we've been through those last months, that's history in the making," the 25-year-old, dressed in a beanie, hoodie and glasses, told AFP on a recent Friday in January

The reason for his excitement? Thrasher, the iconic skateboarding magazine, recently confronted a historic image of whiteness in his sport by placing 32 Black skaters on the front and back covers of its September 2020 issue.

The cover has no headline. The portraits speak for themselves, and the message is clear: the skating community must highlight its members of color.

And this acknowledgement from an established skating source was a long time coming.

"I heard a thousand times -- from people who had never been in a skate park -- that (the sport) was something for white people," Thomas, who is Black, said.

His friend and fellow skateboarder Jordan Miles agrees.

"People from my community often told me I should rather play basketball," a sport more stereotypically associated with Black athletes, Miles said.

Skateboarding's origins can be traced back to surfers in California and Hawaii in the 1940s and 1950s who, on days when the ocean was gentle, turned to "sidewalk surfing" instead.

Its popularity has peaked and dipped as it spread across the country and -- thanks to American soldiers stationed in Germany -- overseas, but it has long been associated with an image of affluent, suburban and rebellious white teenagers and punk culture.

And yet skaters of color "were always there," says Neftalie Williams, a skateboarding expert at the University of Southern California (USC).

He attributes the misperception of the sport as "white" to a historic lack of representation and diversity in media.

In a marginal sport without the resources of, say, American football, that image can be more difficult to push back against, he argued.

It wasn't just the media, citing his own field -- academia.

"We were missing the stories of those people who are actually responsible for helping bring skateboarding culture into the Olympics and making it be the global phenomenon that it is," he said. "It was really disheartening."

- 'We had to do something' -

For him, that finally began to change with the eruption of the Black Lives Matter movement in recent years.

The reckoning with racism in America it has provoked -- during mass protests in 2020 in particular -- included the world of skateboarding.

Thrasher was not the only magazine to take action.

In December, the British skating magazine Skateism dedicated its issue to nine skaters of color, with athletes from South Africa to Brazil.

"After witnessing what happened earlier this year with the BLM protests and uprisings, we felt like we had to do something," the publication explained in an editorial.

And former skating great Alphonzo Rawls, who himself appeared on the cover of Thrasher in 1992, turned to his later career as a designer to help broaden skating's image.

He created a skateboard covered in the names of Black skaters who had inspired him, with the words "Thank you" written in red in the middle.

- The different stories of skating -

At a Houston skate park, the talented Dallis Thompson, 33, recalled his first experiences sliding down ramps in Long Beach, California, near Los Angeles, surrounded by "people from everywhere: Hispanic people, Asian, Indian."

Thompson, who is Black, said he does not personally see a revolutionary quality in Thrasher's recent front page.

"So many people are underestimated in our sport," he lamented. "Why choose 32 of them because of the color of their skin?"

But Williams, who has also co-authored a study on the influence of ethnicity, gender and cultural background on skaters, insists that those facets of their identities must be taken into consideration.

It's important to acknowledge "some (skaters) have different stories, they're still dealing with the systemic racism in the world," Williams said.

For some skaters of color -- as for white skaters -- the sport is a way to reclaim public space. Others are still attracted to its lingering image of urban anarchy.

For Jerahn Thomas -- filming his friend Miles as he skates in hope of being spotted by a brand offering sponsorships -- it could be a way to a brighter future.

Forgotten treasures: Uncovering the works of women Renaissance artists

THE 51 PERCENT © FRANCE 24

Issued on: 05/02/2021 -

By:Aline BOTTIN|Annette Young|Camille PAUVAREL|Stéphanie CHEVAL
14 min

We all know about great Renaissance artists such as Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci. But were you aware that women were painting at that time too? Annette Young speaks to Linda Falcone whose Florence-based organisation, Advancing Women Artists, restores the works of female painters who were forgotten for centuries because of their gender.

Also a scandal over incest involving several public figures in France forces the country to confront an unspoken taboo, sparking a social media campaign and a government investigation.

Plus as the pandemic results in a greater number of homeless people in Paris, we visit a shelter established solely for women.

The ongoing fight for transgender rights in France

Issued on: 05/02/2021 - 

FRANCE IN FOCUS © FRANCE 2

By: Nadia CHARBIT|Stéphanie CHEVAL|Joanna COCKERELL|Sonia BARITELLO
13 min

This week, we're focusing on France's transgender community. Around 80 percent of people who identify as transgender in France report having been the target of discrimination and/or violence. This worrying figure is only the tip of the iceberg for these men and women, who are caught in a double bind of administrative, medical and social challenges and the dire economic consequences of those obstacles. We bring you a first-hand account of two transgender citizens. We also speak to sociologist and researcher Emmanuel Beaubatie about how France treats its transgender population.

RIP

Oscar winner and 'Sound of Mucus' star 

Christopher Plummer dies at 91




Issued on: 05/02/2021 - 

Text by: NEWS WIRES|

Video by: FRANCE 24

Christopher Plummer, the dashing award-winning actor who played Captain von Trapp in the film “The Sound of Music” and at 82 became the oldest Academy Award acting winner in history, has died. He was 91.

Plummer died Friday morning at his home in Connecticut with his wife, Elaine Taylor, by his side, said Lou Pitt, his longtime friend and manager.

Over more than 50 years in the industry, Plummer enjoyed varied roles ranging from the film “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” to the voice of the villain in 2009′s “Up” and as a canny lawyer in Broadway’s “Inherit the Wind.” In 2019 he starred as murdered mystery novelist in Rian Johnson’s whodunnit “Knives Out” and in the TV suspense drama series “Departure.”

But it was opposite Julie Andrews as von Trapp in 1965 that made him a star. He played an Austrian captain who must flee the country with his folk-singing family to escape service in the Nazi navy, a role he lamented was “humorless and one-dimensional.” Plummer spent the rest of his life referring to the film as “The Sound of Mucus” or “S&M.”

“We tried so hard to put humor into it,” he told The Associated Press in 2007. “It was almost impossible. It was just agony to try to make that guy not a cardboard figure.”

The role catapulted Plummer to stardom, but he never took to leading men parts, despite his silver hair, good looks and ever-so-slight English accent. He preferred character parts, considering them more meaty. His memoir in 2012 was titled "In Spite of Myself."

Tributes quickly came from Hollywood and Broadway. Joseph Gordon-Levitt called him “one of the greats” and George Takei posted “Rest in eternal music, Captain von Trapp.” Dave Foley, a fellow Canadian, wrote: “If I live to be 91 maybe I’ll have time to fully appreciate all the great work of Christopher Plummer.”

Plummer had a remarkable film renaissance late in life, which began with his acclaimed performance as Mike Wallace in Michael Mann’s 1999 film “The Insider,” continued in films such as 2001’s “A Beautiful Mind” and 2009′s “The Last Station,” in which he played a deteriorating Tolstoy and was nominated for an Oscar.

In 2012, Plummer won a supporting actor Oscar for his role in “Beginners” as Hal Fields, a museum director who becomes openly gay after his wife of 44 years dies. His loving, final relationship becomes an inspiration for his son, who struggles with his father’s death and how to find intimacy in a new relationship.

“Too many people in the world are unhappy with their lot. And then they retire and they become vegetables. I think retirement in any profession is death, so I’m determined to keep crackin’,” he told AP in 2011.

Plummer in 2017 replaced Kevin Spacey as J. Paul Getty in “All the Money in the World” just six weeks before the film was set to hit theaters. That choice that was officially validated in the best possible way for the film — a supporting Oscar nomination for Plummer, his third. “I was just hopeful that at my age, my memory would serve me,” he said at the time. “I had to learn my lines very quickly.”

There were fallow periods in his career — a “Pink Panther” movie here, a “Dracula 2000″ there and even a “Star Trek” — as a Klingon, no less. But Plummer had other reasons than the scripts in mind.

“For a long time, I accepted parts that took me to attractive places in the world. Rather than shooting in the Bronx, I would rather go to the south of France, crazed creature than I am,” he told AP in 2007. “And so I sacrificed a lot of my career for nicer hotels and more attractive beaches.”

The Canadian-born actor performed most of the major Shakespeare roles, including Hamlet, Iago, Othello, Prospero, Henry V and a staggering “King Lear” at Lincoln Center in 2004. He was frequent star at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada.

                              EM NY museum and Plummer

“I’ve become simpler and simpler with playing Shakespeare,” he said in 2007. “I’m not as extravagant as I used to be. I don’t listen to my voice so much anymore. All the pitfalls of playing the classics — you can fall in love with yourself.”

He won two Tony Awards. The first was in 1974 for best actor in a musical for playing the title role in “Cyrano” and his second in 1997 for his portrayal of John Barrymore in “Barrymore.” He also won two Emmys.

Plummer was born Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer in Toronto. His maternal great-grandfather was former Canadian Prime Minister Sir John Abbott. His parents divorced shortly after his birth and he was raised by his mother and aunts.

Plummer began his career on stage and in radio in Canada in the 1940s and made his Broadway debut in 1954 in “The Starcross Story.” While still a relative unknown, he was cast as Hamlet in a 1963 performance co-starring Robert Shaw and Michael Caine. It was taped by the BBC at Elsinore Castle in Denmark, where the play is set, and released in 1964. It won an Emmy.

Plummer married Tony-winning actress Tammy Grimes in 1956, and fathered his only child, actress Amanda Plummer, in 1957. Like both her parents, she also won a Tony, in 1982 for “Agnes of God.” (Grimes won two Tonys, for “Private Lives” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.”)

Plummer and Grimes divorced in 1960. A five-year marriage to Patricia Lewis ended in 1967. Plummer married his third wife, dancer Taylor, in 1970, and credited her with helping him overcome a drinking problem.

He was given Canada’s highest civilian honor when he was invested as Companion of the Order of Canada by Queen Elizabeth II in 1968, and was inducted into the American Theatre’s Hall of Fame in 1986.

(AP)

Tennis star Osaka slams 'ignorant' sexism from Tokyo Olympics chief
Issued on: 06/02/2021

Japan's Naomi Osaka has emerged as a potent voice on social issues 

VINCE CALIGIURI TENNIS AUSTRALIA/AFP


Melbourne (AFP)

Japanese tennis superstar Naomi Osaka Saturday slammed "ignorant" remarks from the Tokyo Olympics' chief organiser after a sexism row that has triggered an angry backlash and calls for his resignation.

Osaka, a leading face of the Games in her home nation, joined growing criticism of former Japanese prime minister Yoshiro Mori, 83, after he complained that women speak for too long in meetings.

The gaffe-prone Mori has apologised but refused to step down, and attempted to justify his comments by explaining he doesn't "speak to women much".

"I feel like that was a really ignorant statement to make," said Osaka, 23, referring to the original remarks.

"I think that someone that makes comments like that, they need to have more knowledge on the thing that they're talking about."

Osaka, the world's top-earning female athlete, emerged as a potent voice on social issues last year when she wore facemasks highlighting victims of racism and police brutality at the US Open.

"I also want to hear the reasoning behind those comments," added the three-time Grand Slam winner, ahead of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

"I also want to hear the perspective of everyone else that surrounds him."

Olympic medallists, Japanese sports officials and Games volunteers have lined up to lambast Mori, while Tokyo's governor said she was left "speechless" by the remarks.

Japan's Asahi Shimbun daily called in an editorial for Mori's resignation, and an online campaign urging his sacking has attracted more than 108,000 signatures.

Despite the uproar, the International Olympic Committee said Thursday it considered the issue "closed" after Mori's apology.

Osaka stopped short of calling for Mori's resignation, but said he should be made to understand why he has caused so much offence.

"I'm not sure if it's a situation where someone should demand that he resigns or if it's just something that people need to make him understand that what he said wasn't right," she said.

The row is the latest headache for organisers already battling public disquiet about the postponed Games, with polls showing more than 80 percent of Japanese oppose holding the event this summer with the coronavirus pandemic still raging.

Mori had already attracted criticism earlier in the week by insisting the Games would happen "however the coronavirus (pandemic) evolves".

Osaka said she remained keen to compete at the Games, which start in July, but added that public approval was crucial for them to go ahead.

© 2021 AFP

Nigeria's Okonjo-Iweala closes in on WTO top job after S. Korean rival withdraws

Issued on: 05/02/2021 

Nigeria's Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is looking to break another barrier as she bids to become the first African and woman to head the World Trade Organization (WTO).

 Fabrice COFFRINI AFP/Archives

Nigeria's Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a step closer to becoming the first African and first woman to lead the World Trade Organization, after a South Korean rival withdrew on Friday following months of uncertainty over the body's leadership.

Okonjo-Iweala faced opposition from the US administration of former President Donald Trump after a WTO selection panel recommended her as chief in October. The decision required consensus.

South Korea's trade minister Yoo Myung-hee's withdrawal clears the way for Okonjo-Iweala to be director-general of the global trade watchdog. Okonjo-Iweala said she was looking forward to the conclusion of the race.

"There is vital work ahead to do together," the former finance minister and World Bank executive said in a statement, saying she wanted to focus on needed reforms.

The embattled Geneva-based body has gone without a director-general since Brazil's Roberto Azevedo quit a year early in August and his replacement must contend with a Covid-induced recession, US-China tensions and rising protectionism.

In the more than three months since the selection panel recommended Okonjo-Iweala, Yoo had resisted mounting diplomatic pressure to bow out, until Friday.

"In order to promote the functions of WTO and in consideration of various factors, I have decided to withdraw my candidacy," Yoo said in a statement.

Yoo, who was a finalist selected from among eight candidates to lead the body, said her decision was made after consulting with allies including the US.

A trailblazer

Twice Nigeria's finance minister and its first woman foreign minister, Okonjo-Iweala has been a trailblazer.

Now the 66-year-old is looking to break another barrier as she bids to become the first African and woman to head the WTO.

Aside from her time in public office, the development economist had a quarter-century at the World Bank -- rising to be managing director and running for the top role in 2012.

Born in 1954 in Ogwashi Ukwu, in Delta State, western Nigeria, her father is a traditional ruler. She spent much of her life in the United States, graduating from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard, where she sent her four children.

Critics slam 'silence' over Nigerian corruption

But not everyone agrees her track record is impeccable.

"Okonjo-Iweala may have done some box-checking technocratic transparency reforms in her ministry but the fact is, nearly a billion dollars a month were going missing from oil revenues when she was finance minister," said Sarah Chayes, author of "Thieves of State", a book about corruption.

"I think it's a shame she is even being considered for the role," said Chayes.

"There is an appetite for this kind of good news story at a time when diversity issues are paramount, being female and black doesn't hurt."

The former minister has portrayed herself as a champion against Nigeria's rampant corruption -- and says her own mother was even kidnapped over her attempts to tackle the scourge.

But critics insist she should have done more to stop it while in power.

"At the very least, she had the opportunity to resign from office and expose the corruption," said Olanrewaju Suraju, from the Human and Environmental Development Agenda campaign group.

"Rather, she kept quiet and allowed high-level corruption to fester under the regime, only to complain after leaving office."

Waiting for Washington

The leadership race comes Observers say the WTO is facing the deepest crisis in its 25-year history.

It has not clinched a major multilateral trade deal in years and failed to hit a 2020 deadline on ending subsidies for overfishing.

Some of its functions are paralysed due to the actions of the Trump administration which blocked judge appointments to its top appeals body.

Many hope that the change of US administration will lead to reform of the organisation.

However, Washington under President Joe Biden has not yet publicly said who it is supporting as the next head although it is considering the question.

It also said that it is committed to "positive, constructive and active engagement" on reforming the body.

Okonjo-Iweala has previously stressed the need for the WTO to play a role in helping poorer countries with Covid-19 drugs and vaccines -- an issue on which members have failed to agree in ongoing negotiations.

The WTO could in theory call a meeting of its 164 members to confirm the next chief at short notice.

However, some delegates saw that as unlikely given that Biden's choice of trade representative, Katherine Tai, has not yet been sworn in. Nor has a Geneva-based deputy been selected.

The International Chamber of Commerce's John Denton urged WTO members to act quickly.

"With geopolitical tensions high, the global economy in recession and 'vaccine nationalism' threatening an equitable recovery, there is now no reason for further delay in filling this critical role with the well-qualified candidate at the ready," he said.

Former US government officials, diplomats and academics also wrote a letter to Biden on Jan. 19 asking him to support Okonjo-Iweala.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)