Myanmar crackdown continues as civilian leader urges protesters to keep up anti-coup fight

Issued on: 14/03/2021 - 

Makeshift barricades erected by protesters on a road in Yangon, 

Myanmar on March 13, 2021. © AFP

Text by: NEWS WIRES

Myanmar security forces opened fire on anti-coup protesters in the commercial capital Yangon on Sunday, and at least three people were killed, witnesses and domestic media said. Meanwhile, civilian leader Mahn Win Khaing Than, who is on the run along with most of the country's senior officials, called on the people to not give up their fight.

Video taken at the site showed protesters holding handmade shields and wearing helmets as they confronted security forces in the Hlaing Tharyar district of the city. Plumes of black smoke rose over the area and one report said two factories in the district had been set on fire.

The Irrawaddy media group said three people were killed.

At least two people were killed elsewhere in the Southeast Asian nation, a day after the acting leader of the parallel civilian government said it will seek to give people the legal right to defend themselves.

A young man was shot and killed in the town of Bago, near Yangon, witnesses and domestic media said. The Kachin Wave media outlet said another protester was killed in the town of Hpakant, in the jade mining area in the northeast

More than 80 people had been killed as of Saturday in widespread protests against the military's seizure of power last month, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group said. Over 2,100 people have been arrested, it said.

>> UN warns of 'crimes against humanity' in Myanmar as junta accuses ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi of corruption

Mahn Win Khaing Than, who is on the run along with most senior officials from the ruling National League for Democracy Party, addressed the public via Facebook on Saturday, saying, "This is the darkest moment of the nation and the moment that the dawn is close.”

He said the civilian government would "attempt to legislate the required laws so that the people have the right to defend themselves" against the military crackdown.

‘We need justice’

The Monywa township in central Myanmar declared it had formed its own local government and police force.

In Yangon, hundreds of people demonstrated in different parts of the city after putting up barricades of barbed wire and sandbags to block security forces.

In one area, people staged a sit-in protest under sheets of tarpaulin rigged up to protect them from the harsh midday sun. "We need justice," they chanted.

At least 13 people were killed on Saturday, one of the bloodiest days since the Feb. 1 coup, witnesses and domestic media said.

"They are acting like they are in a war zone, with unarmed people," said an activist in the city of Mandalay, Myat Thu.

A spokesman for the junta did not answer phone calls from Reuters seeking comment. Junta-run media MRTV's evening news broadcast on Saturday labelled the protesters "criminals" but did not elaborate

Iran charges aid worker Zaghari-Ratcliffe with ‘propaganda against the system’
Issued on: 14/03/2021 - 

Gabriella Ratcliffe, daughter of British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, protests outside the Iranian Embassy in London on March 8, 2021. © Andrew Boyers, REUTERS

Text by: FRANCE 24

British-Iranian dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe appeared in a Tehran court Sunday to face new charges of "propaganda against the system", a week after she finished serving a five-year sentence, her lawyer said.

The hearing has dashed hopes of family and supporters for a swift release of the 42-year-old, in a case that has heightened diplomatic tensions between London and Tehran.

"The hearing took place in a very calm and good atmosphere, in the presence of my client," her lawyer Hojjat Kermani told AFP, adding that the judgement would be handed down at a later and unspecified date.

According to Kermani, she is now being prosecuted for "propaganda against the system for having participated in a rally in front of the Iranian embassy in London" in 2009.

"Given the evidence presented by the defence and the legal process, and the fact that my client has also served her previous sentence, I hope that she will be acquitted," the lawyer added.

In London, Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s Member of Parliament Tulip Siddiq said that "no verdict was given", but added that "it should be delivered within a week".

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Sunday that the new charges against Zaghari-Ratcliffe are “unacceptable”.

“It is unacceptable that Iran has chosen to continue a second wholly arbitrary case against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe,” Raab wrote on Twitter.

"She must be allowed to return to her family in the UK without delay. We continue to do all we can to support her," he added.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained while on holiday in 2016 and convicted of plotting to overthrow the regime in Tehran – accusations she strenuously denied.

The mother-of-one was working at the time as a project manager for Thomson Reuters Foundation, the media organisation's philanthropic wing.

She has been under house arrest for months and had her ankle tag removed, giving her more freedom of movement and allowing her to visit relatives in Tehran.

She completed her sentence on March 7.

Rights group says Zaghari-Ratcliffe experienced ‘torture’ in prison

A day later, her husband, Richard, and their six-year-old daughter, Gabriella, held a vigil outside the Iranian embassy in central London demanding she be allowed home.

He tried to deliver an Amnesty International petition signed by 160,000 supporters calling for his wife's release, but was turned away.

Earlier this month, Richard Ratcliffe told the BBC her detention has "the potential to drag on and on".

Media in both the UK and Iran and Richard Ratcliffe have drawn a possible link between Nazanin's detention and a British debt dating back more than 40 years.

The British government has previously admitted it owes Iran up to £300 million (€350 million), but both countries have denied any link with the Zaghari-Ratcliffe case.

She has been temporarily released from Tehran's Evin prison and has been under house arrest since the spring due to the coronavirus outbreak.

For four years, however, at Evin she spent time in solitary confinement in windowless cells, declared hunger strikes and had medical treatment withheld.

While in prison, she suffered from lack of hygiene and even contemplated suicide, according to her husband.

Iranian authorities have consistently denied that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was mistreated.

On Friday, human rights campaign group Redress handed a report to Raab which it said "confirms the severity of the ill-treatment that Nazanin has suffered".

The legal campaigners said that it "considers that Iran's treatment of Nazanin constitutes torture”.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Fauci: US weighs 3-foot distancing rule,

a major change

Social distancing circles in New York -- but could the rules soon be cut from six foot to three foot?

 Kena Betancur Afp/AFP
Issued on: 14/03/2021 -

Washington (AFP)

The United States' top pandemic advisor said Sunday that authorities were considering cutting social distancing rules to three feet (one meter), a move that would change a key tenet of the global fight against Covid-19.

Anthony Fauci, a world-respected figure during the coronavirus crisis, said experts at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) were examining a Massachusetts study that found "no substantial difference" in Covid cases in schools observing six-foot and three-foot rules.

Asked on CNN's "State of the Union" show whether that meant that a three-foot separation was sufficient, Fauci replied, "It does, indeed."

While cautioning that the CDC was still poring over the new data and conducting tests of its own, he said its findings would come "soon."

The six-foot social distancing rule has been a widely-adopted global measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, along with mask-wearing and hand-washing.

School officials across the world are under enormous pressure to fully reopen as soon as safely possible, but many say the six-foot requirement makes it extremely difficult without adding portable classrooms or shortening the school day.

Many teachers unions have also insisted on six-foot distancing.

Policies on reopening schools and businesses have varied sharply across the US and around the globe as government try to balance quelling infections with a return to normal life.

The study led by the Beth Deaconess Medical Center in Massachusetts, surveying 251 school districts, found "no substantial difference in the number of cases of Covid-19 among either students or staff" between those observing the three- and six-foot rules when all wore masks.

The findings, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, add to a growing body of evidence that Covid-19 transmission rates are low in schools.

In another potentially significant finding, researchers found the rates of Covid-19 were lower in schools practicing masking than they were in the surrounding cities and towns.

A three-foot rule would have an enormous impact on prospects for fully reopening schools, offices and even public areas such as sports venues.

As the top school officials from Penfield, New York wrote in the journal Education Week, "The single biggest obstacle to fully reopening schools is the 6-foot distancing requirement."

CHINA

Discovery sheds light on ancient cosmetics

(China Daily)  March 13, 2021

Remains of cosmetic face cream unearthed in Weinan, Shaanxi province. CHINA DAILY

Researchers confirmed recently that traces of a substance found in an over 2,000-year-old jar are a cosmetic face cream for men that was used to whiten the skin, illustrating that the desire to be physically attractive, as measured by the standards of the day, is a shared wish of both ancient and modern man.

After several years of complex analysis, six grams of residue in a delicate, sealed bronze jar found in 2017 in the grave of an ancient Chinese nobleman of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) is thought likely to be a cosmetic, adding a significant new piece to the puzzle of early human activity, experts said.

The Liujiawa Site in Chengcheng county of Weinan, Shaanxi province, where the grave was discovered, was the capital of the Rui State in the early to middle part of the period.

After completing a complex chemical analysis, researchers proved the residue was made of ruminant fat mixed with monohydrocalcite that was probably used as a whitening face cream, said Sun Zhanwei, a researcher of the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology, who led the Liujiawa field excavation project.

"It's the oldest cosmetic for males ever discovered in China and the oldest face cream so far. It is more than 1,000 years older than previous written records," he said.

Most historical records of males using cosmetics have been found in the era of Three Kingdoms (220-280). They tell the stories of famous handsome noblemen, such as Cao Zhi and He Yan. But the new findings showed that certain social customs existed far earlier, he said.

"Besides beautifying the skin, use of cosmetics is also related to the social environment, which underwent drastic changes."

Small bronze jars are often found in graves of nobles, and are a symbol of the aristocratic class.

"Nobles used cosmetics as a way to lead fashion trends and to express their cultural identity," Sun said. "They also confirm the pursuit of a refined life and beauty among ancient Chinese men. Although we have no idea on what occasions the Liujiawa nobleman might have used the face cream, it should be regarded a precious item, as it was important enough to be put into a grave."

The find also provides an important reference for studies concerning the rise of the cosmetics industry and application of fat in the handicrafts industry, Sun added.

The rim of the jar is elliptical, with a major axis of 5.5 centimeters and a minor axis of 4.3 cm. The height of the jar is 5.9 cm. Its surface has complex and refined artistic patterns.

The jar was found in the northwestern corner of the grave, far away from other bronze containers in the southeastern corner that were used for sacrificial rituals, banquets and funerals. The placement suggests that the function of the jar is different from the others, Sun said.

Some archaeologists suspected the jar contained cosmetics, but there was no hard evidence. Samples of the residue were sent for analysis to the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.

"Cosmetics have a long history in China, though their origin has remained unclear. They potentially originated in the Spring and Autumn Period but little is known about its early manufacture and use," according to a paper co-written by researchers from the university, together with the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology, Peking University and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany. The paper was published in the journal Archaeometry in February.

"This work provides an early example of cosmetics production in China and, together with the prevalence of similar cosmetic containers during this period, suggests the rise of an incipient cosmetics industry," the paper said.

The paper added that monohydrocalcite, an ingredient in the cream, came from moonmilk, a special stalactite found in some limestone caves, and was likely collected by Taoists.

The Taoist school, a philosophical discipline originating in the Spring and Autumn Period, features the doctrine of longevity, immortality and salvation. Taoists admire caves and have hosted rituals in prestigious ones. Caves are considered metaphorical wombs that enable rebirth. Exploitation of the moonmilk reflects the link between early Taoists and cosmetics production for the aristocracy, the paper said.

Myanmar coup: six protesters killed as world leaders vow to restore democracy

Deaths come as US, India, Australia and Japan vow to work together to address crisis in Myanmar

Protesters in Myanmar stand next to their metal shields on the outskirts of Yangon. Photograph: EPA


Reuters
Sat 13 Mar 2021 

At least six protesters were killed by security forces in Myanmar, witnesses and media have reported, as activists marked the anniversary on Saturday of a student whose killing in 1988 sparked an uprising against the military government.

Three people were killed and several injured when police opened fire on a sit-in protest in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second biggest city, two witnesses told Reuters. Another person was killed in the central town of Pyay and two died in police firing in the commercial capital, Yangon, overnight, domestic media reported.

“The security forces initially stopped the ambulance from reaching the injured people and only allowed it later,” a 23-year-old protester in Pyay told Reuters, asking not to be named for fear of retribution.

“By the time they allowed it, one of the injured became critical and he later died.”

The deaths came as the leaders of the United States, India, Australia and Japan vowed to work together to restore democracy in Myanmar, where violence has escalated as authorities crack down on protests and civil disobedience.

Local media reported two protesters were killed in police firing in the Tharketa district of Yangon overnight on Friday. DVB News said police opened fire on a crowd that gathered outside the Tharketa police station demanding the release of people arrested.

Posters spread on social media calling on people to come out on the streets to protest against the junta and to mark the anniversary of the death of Phone Maw, who was shot and killed by security forces in 1988 inside what was then known as the Rangoon Institute of Technology campus.

Britain advises its citizens to flee Myanmar amid fears of mounting violence
Read more

His shooting and that of another student who died a few weeks later sparked widespread protests against the military government known as the 8-8-88 campaign, because they peaked in August that year. An estimated 3,000 people were killed when the army crushed the uprising.

Aung San Suu Kyi emerged as a democracy icon during the movement and was kept under house arrest for nearly two decades. She was released in 2008 as the military began democratic reforms and her National League for Democracy won elections in 2015 and again in November last year.

On 1 February, the generals overthrew her government and detained Aung San Suu Kyi and many of her cabinet colleagues, claiming fraud in the November elections.

More than 70 people have been killed in widespread protests since then, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group said.

Britain, the former colonial power, warned its citizens in Myanmar to leave on Friday, saying “political tension and unrest are widespread since the military takeover and levels of violence are rising”.

South Korea said it would suspend defence exchanges and reconsider development aid to Myanmar because of the violence.

The Kremlin said Russia, which has close ties to Myanmar’s military, was concerned about the mounting violence and “analysing” whether to suspend military-technical cooperation.

“We evaluate the situation as alarming, and we are concerned about the information about the growing number of civilian casualties coming from there,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by the Tass news agency as saying.

WHO says AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is safe despite blood clot fears

(CGTN) March 13, 2021


Dozens of countries so far have suspended or limited the roll-out of AstraZeneca vaccines after isolated reports of recipients developing blood clots. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that there was no reason to stop using those vaccines, which were developed with the University of Oxford.

The WHO stressed that no causal link has been established between the vaccine and clotting. "We've reviewed the data on deaths. There has been no death, to date, proven to have been caused by vaccination," WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters at a briefing in Geneva.

Early on Tuesday, Austria stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca vaccine while it investigated death from clotting and a case of pulmonary embolism.

Local media reported that a 49-year-old nurse in Zwettl, a town northwest of Vienna, died of severe coagulation disorders after receiving the vaccine. Another nurse, 35, from the same city, developed a pulmonary embolism after receiving a dose from the same batch. Currently, she is recovering.

Soon after reports of possible links between AstraZeneca shots and blood clotting and pulmonary embolism, several other countries including, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, and Thailand suspended the use of that vaccine temporarily.

According to BBC, at least five million people in Europe had received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as of Wednesday and of the figure, 30 cases of blood-clotting events have been reported.

In a statement on Thursday, AstraZeneca said it had found no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis in safety data from more than 10 million records.

"In fact, the observed number of these types of events are significantly lower in those vaccinated than what would be expected among the general population," a spokesperson for AstraZeneca said.

Europe's drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, has also stressed on Thursday that there was no indication the vaccine was causing blood clots.

Despite the suspension by some countries, Germany, France, Australia, Canada, Mexico, and Poland, meanwhile, said they would continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine and have sought to reassure their citizens of the benefits of getting vaccinated.

The vaccine produced by AstraZeneca has not been authorized by the U.S. health regulator, but the White House on Friday said it will hold onto some doses so that once approval is obtained, they can be distributed quickl

An asteroid that could wipe out a country will just miss Earth this week

Backyard astronomers with a modest telescope should be able to see the Pentagon-sized rock whiz by next week

By MATTHEW ROZSA
MARCH 13, 2021

Asteroid passing earth (Getty Images)

An asteroid the size of the Pentagon is headed our way.

The celestial passerby, named 2001 FO32, is expected to be the largest asteroid to approach Earth in 2021, measuring somewhere between 1,300 to 2,230 feet wide, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. The key word here is "approach" — this wide rock isn't going to actually hit Earth. But its close approach is a good warning that an asteroid of this size is guaranteed to hit Earth eventually.
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2001 FO32 will be at its nearest on March 21. It is not expected to come any closer than 1.25 million miles to our planet — roughly 5.25 times the distance between Earth and the Moon — so there is no threat of it colliding with us anytime within the next few centuries. At the same time, it will come close enough for scientists to be able to get a good look at it. And while it won't be visible with the naked eye, amateur astronomers in the Northern Hemisphere with an 8-inch telescope or larger should be able to spot it in the early morning, when it will appear inside the Sagittarius constellation.

"By getting so close to Earth, it will be very bright in the sky," Dr. Tom Burbine, a senior research associate who studies asteroids at the Planetary Science Institute, told Salon by email. "It will be easier to get infrared spectra of the body, which allows us to estimate its composition. Radar observations can be done to determine its size and shape."

Dr. Henry Hsieh, who studies asteroids, comets, interplanetary dust and small satellites at Planetary Science Institute, said that it was an exciting chance to study an asteroid.

"The scientific significance of asteroids coming extremely close to Earth mean that astronomers can study them in much greater detail," Hsieh wrote to Salon. "Astronomers often study the composition of asteroids using spectroscopy, meaning they take the reflected sunlight from the asteroid and split it up by wavelength and search for signatures of various minerals. The closer an asteroid is, the brighter it will appear, and so the stronger the mineral signatures will be, meaning that astronomers can potentially get a really detailed picture of an asteroid's composition."

Want more science stories in your inbox? Subscribe to Salon's weekly newsletter The Vulgar Scientist.

Hsieh added that astronomers hope to learn more about how an asteroid's rotation and composition corresponds to its size. While that is usually difficult for smaller asteroids because they are so small, this one will be easier to observe because it will be brighter as it approaches Earth. In addition, "if asteroids get close enough, they can actually be studied by radar, i.e., by bouncing radio waves off of the asteroid which can give a highly detailed picture of the asteroid's surface."
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Naturally, Salon was curious what would happen if 2001 FO32 actually did crash our planetary party and make a menace of itself, as happens every few million years. Such an impact would not be good for life on Earth, to be sure, but it would not cause a repeat of the type of extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs.

"When talking about asteroid impacts, astronomers typically use the Torino scale for asteroid impact threats (similar to the Richter scale for earthquakes)," Hsieh explained, referring to charts that show what different numbers represent and how they are determined. Because 2001 FO32 is definitely not going to hit Earth, it rates at a zero on the Torino scale. If it was certain to collide with us, on the other hand, it would get a nine and cause what is known as "regional damage."
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"This kind of damage would be roughly on the continent-wide or ocean-wide scale depending on where it hits, so in other words, it could potentially wipe out the US or Europe, or create tsunamis on all surrounding landmasses around the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans if it landed in the water," Hsieh explained. "The exact effects depend on the composition of the asteroid (i.e., if it's very fragile or more solid) and where it hits."

If an asteroid is fragile, it may explode in the air and create shockwaves that flatten all of the buildings and trees in a given area, such as happened in Russia in 1908. If a solid asteroid hit the ground in one piece, it would destroy a smaller area of land but throw up throw up a lot of debris that could cause air quality problems and harm agriculture. Should that same solid asteroid land in the water, it could also create debris clouds and would additionally result in tsunamis.

"Returning to the Torino scale and your second question, the threshold for a civilization-destroying impact is thought to be about 1 kilometer, so about twice the size of 2001 FO32," Hsieh told Salon.
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Astronomers have gotten better at detecting asteroids near Earth. Indeed, in 2020, they detected a record number of asteroids passing our planet, identifying thousands of objects that were previously unknown.

Notably, this wasn't because there are more asteroids coming near Earth, but rather that detection technology has improved.

"I think the increasing number of detections of Earth-passing asteroids is entirely due to the fact that more asteroid search programs are going on with more telescopes dedicated to asteroid detection," Dr. William K. Hartmann, who among other things studies asteroids, comets, meteorites and small satellites at the Planetary Science Institute, wrote to Salon.

Roger Stone-connected "Stop the Steal" group hasn't filed IRS reports — and its agent disappeared

Pro-Trump group's registered agent no longer works at her law firm, and her LinkedIn page has been deactivated

By ROGER SOLLENBERGER
FEBRUARY 19, 2021 

Roger Stone, former advisor to President Donald Trump, speaks in front of the Supreme Court on January 05, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

A political nonprofit with ties to longtime Trump associate Roger Stone, which was supposedly created to challenge the 2020 election results, has missed two federal deadlines to disclose how much money it spent and received before and after the election. Furthermore, the law firm that employed the group's registered agent told Salon that she no longer works there, and her LinkedIn page appears deactivated.

"Committee to Stop the Steal" was registered with the federal government as a 527 tax-exempt political organization on Oct. 16, a few weeks before the election, by a clerk at a Southern California personal injury firm called Jensen & Associates. The IRS does not require 527 groups to disclose their donors, but it does mandate that they publicize how much money they raise and spend, including in post-election and year-end reports. Committee to Stop the Steal has missed the deadlines for both.

Jensen & Associates is led by Paul Rolf Jensen, a friend of Stone's who has represented the right-wing provocateur in an array of matters for at least two decades. The firm's website appears to have been unattended in recent months, but an archived version from last February does not mention political work. While Jensen himself isn't listed on the IRS registration for the Committee to Stop the Steal, the group's listed address is a UPS Store mailbox located near the firm's physical address, and its custodian of records, Ashley Maderos, worked at Jensen for a time as a post-bar law clerk.

When Salon called to inquire about the missed deadlines, an unidentified employee of the firm said that Maderos no longer worked there, but would not say when she left, where she went or what had become of the nonprofit. Maderos also appears to have taken down her LinkedIn profile, which has not been archived but was active as recently as Jan. 29. Multiple attempts to contact her went unanswered.

Maderos' LinkedIn page also noted that she had worked for a time as an intern for former Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican notorious for being "Putin's best friend in Congress." Rohrabacher reportedly worked with Stone in an attempt to get former President Trump to pardon WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and upon retirement from Congress took up lobbying for a biotech firm run by a Republican fundraiser who worked with one of Stone's super PACs. Jensen & Associates is located in California's 48th congressional district, which Rohrabacher represented for many years.

In 2016, Jensen represented Stone when his earlier incarnation of Stop the Steal was sued for voter intimidation. Stone created that group in April 2016, and registered it at another UPS dropbox in the same area. Jensen was also on the payroll for Stone's Committee to Restore American Greatness, which ultimately became a target of former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in that same election.

The precise whereabouts of Ashley Maderos could well be of interest to federal investigators now seeking to untangle the roots of the Jan. 6 insurrection. In recent weeks prosecutors have expanded the scope of indictments to include conspiracy charges. Details are still unclear about who bankrolled the effort, which in part required coordinating numerous loosely affiliated conservative and militia groups from across the country.

Stone's first Stop the Steal nonprofit raised and spent tens of thousands of dollars in anticipation of defending Trump through a contested 2016 GOP primary, and then, after he won the nomination, challenging a possible Hillary Clinton victory in the general election, neither of which proved necessary. The group was accused of suppressing minority votes in that election and terminated its registration with the IRS in early 2017. But Stone, a Florida resident, reactivated the movement in 2018 to protect then-Florida Gov. Rick Scott's narrow victory in his midterm U.S. Senate race against Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson. Stone got help at the time from fellow convicted felon Ali Alexander (formerly Ali Akbar), an itinerant provocateur who helped recruit for that effort and went on to play a central role in organizing the 2020 Stop the Steal movement. Alexander went into hiding after the riot and has so far not been accused of a crime.


The night before a mob of thousands of Trump diehards laid siege to the Capitol, Stone gave a pump-up speech at a rally hosted by Alexander, who noted early in the evening that "It was Roger Stone who coined the term first: Stop the Steal," but laid claim to being the "founder of the movement." But when Stone, escorted by bodyguards from the Oath Keepers anti-government militia group, delivered his keynote address a few hours later, he clarified that Alexander had only "revived the Stop the Steal movement." It was, at its heart, a Roger Stone production.

Biden admin to reconsider objections to H1B visas during Trump regime

The move is expected to come to the rescue of a large number of Indian IT professionals who were having a tough time during the previous Trump administration rule

Press Trust of India | Washington Last Updated at March 13, 2021


The Biden administration on Friday said it is willing to reconsider the objections or adverse decisions to foreign workers on visas like H-1B due to the three policy memos by the previous Trump administration which now have been rescinded.

The move is expected to come to the rescue of a large number of Indian IT professionals who were having a tough time during the previous Trump administration due to various policies and memorandums on non-immigrant work visas, in particular H-1B.


US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Friday announced "it may reopen and/or reconsider adverse decisions" on Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, made based on three rescinded policy memos.

USCIS said it will generally use its discretion to accept a motion to reopen filed more than 30 days after the decision, if filed before the end of the validity period requested on the petition or labour condition application, whichever is earlier, and the decision was based on one or more policies in the three rescinded H-1B memoranda.

On June 17, 2020, USCIS issued Policy Memorandum 602-0114, which officially rescinded two prior policy memoranda. First titled "Determining Employer-Employee Relationship for Adjudication of H-1B Petitions, Including Third-Party Site Placements," that was issued on January 8, 2010; and second "Contracts and Itineraries Requirements for H-1B Petitions Involving Third-Party Worksites," issued on February 22, 2018.

On February 3, 2021, USCIS issued Policy Memorandum 602-0142.1, which officially rescinded PM-602-0142, "Rescission of the December 22, 2000 'Guidance memo on H1B computer related positions'," issued on March 31, 2017. Both Policy Memorandum 602-0114 and Policy Memorandum 602-0142.1 state that they apply to "any pending or new [H-1B Petitions], including motions on and appeals of revocations and denials of H-1B classification."

USCIS said a petitioner may request that it reopen and/or reconsider adverse decisions based on the three rescinded policy memos by properly filing Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion, accompanied by the appropriate fee.

In addition, USCIS has the discretionary authority to accept and consider untimely motions under certain circumstances as explained in the form instructions and permitted by regulation.

"Petitioners who received an adverse decision on an H-1B petition based on the now-rescinded policy memoranda should consider whether there is time remaining in the validity period requested on the previously filed H-1B petition and the relevant labour condition application," USCIS said.

USCIS will generally process motions based on filing order, and consistent with current policy guidance, the federal agency said.

Amazon ordered to shut a fulfilment centre in Canada as Covid-19 cases surge

A Canadian public health authority has ordered retail and e-commerce behemoth Amazon to shut one of its fulfilment centres owing to an increase in Covid-19 caseloads.


A Canadian public health authority has ordered retail and e-commerce behemoth Amazon to shut one of its fulfilment centres owing to an increase in Covid-19 caseloads.

Peel Public Health has issued an order under the Ontario Health Protection and Promotion Act to Amazon Canada to require all individuals working at "8050 Heritage Road in Brampton to self-isolate for two weeks effective March 13, 2021."


In accordance with the order, all employees will be required to self-isolate through March 27, "unless they have tested positive in the last 90 days and completed their isolation period as directed by public health," the health authority said in a statement.

"This Amazon facility is in a vulnerable community and employs thousands of people. Immediate action must be taken to protect these essential workers and the community where they live," said Dr Lawrence C Loh, Medical Officer of Health.

"This was a difficult decision but a necessary one to stop further spread both in the facility and across our community," Low added.

In a statement to The Verge on Saturday, an Amazon spokesperson said the "company doesn't believe the data supports the closure, and that it plans to appeal the decision".

"This closure may have some short-term impact on our Canadian customers, but we will work to recover as quickly as possible," the company said.

Over the past few weeks, the rate of COVID-19 infection in Peel region has been decreasing while the rate inside this facility has been increasing significantly, the health authority said.

In March last year, Kentucky's governor ordered an Amazon warehouse in the state remain closed following an outbreak.

Amazon temporarily closed one of its warehouses in New Jersey in December.

--IANS

na/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)