After a watershed moment of violence, Asian Americans begin to speak out
By Natasha Chen 

The first time I felt someone making assumptions based on my ethnicity, I was no older than 7, standing outside my ballet class in Foster City, California. A woman asked me a question about the dance studio, and I hesitated because I was sometimes shy when speaking to strangers.

© Alex Wong/Getty Images Activists march toward Chinatown in Washington, DC after the "DC Rally for Collective Safety - Protect Asian/AAPI Communities," on March 21, 2021.

"Oh, do you not speak English?" she asked.

I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, but I lived in a multigenerational household for the first few years, where only Mandarin was spoken. I didn't learn to speak English until I was in preschool.

But this woman wouldn't have known that. She questioned my language skills because I look Asian, and therefore foreign. If a White girl had paused due to shyness, the woman wouldn't have asked her the same question.

Small interactions like this gave me hints that people like me were looked at as not entirely belonging here. The same assumption was at the root of a more hostile interaction in May 2020, when, in the midst of our Covid-19 coverage, a person yelled at me to go back to my "f***ing country" and blamed me for the coronavirus.

'An awakening'

These moments are common among the AAPI community. And they are shared among many other immigrant cultures.

Our parents raised us to ignore the aggressions. Our task was to excel in school, and to be respected and recognized through our work and our behavior. In some ways, we perpetuated the myth of the "model minority."

At the same time, I felt supported and validated in my community, where being Asian American was normalized, as the population at that time was approaching one-third Asian. Being proud of my culture came naturally in that setting. I learned to read and write Mandarin at Saturday Chinese school, learned Chinese and Taiwanese history and shared our culture -- and a lot of our food -- with our non-Asian friends. I even wrote about my family heritage for an essay contest in 6th grade.

But as a child, I don't remember hearing the term "activism" as it relates to Asian Americans. Speaking out against injustices was something done only in dire circumstances. Being the squeaky wheel would not help us be accepted and embraced by the mainstream.

But over the past few years, younger generations of Asian Americans seem to have shed some of these notions of traditional propriety or habits. Even older generations and immigrants have been thrust into this uncomfortable space of visible anti-Asian hate, culminating in the Atlanta spa killings on March 16.

"It's an awakening moment for Asian Americans to stand strong," Pastor Byeong Cheol Han, of the Korean Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, told me. "Stand up and raise our voice. And participate in [the] social justice movement. Many Asian Americans tend to avoid those kind of things. It's not our business, we're just focusing on our survival, but this is an awakening for us."

© Megan Varner/Getty Images Flowers and signs adorn Gold Spa on March 18, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia.

In his Korean speech to the crowd in front of Gold Spa, the only English words I picked up were "I can't breathe" and "Martin Luther King Jr." He was referencing not just the plight of Asian Americans but of all people of color.

The "awakening" he described is the result of years of staying quiet, and even occasionally meeting resistance from members of our own community who believe that highlighting one's victimhood can be cause for embarrassment.

The pattern of anti-Asian aggression also barely got a mention in many American history books. Some of us, for example, had to search for information on the Chinese Exclusion Act, the 1882 law that prohibited immigration of Chinese laborers, Japanese American internment camps and the story of Chinese American Vincent Chin, beaten to death in 1982 by two White men.

© Natasha Chen/CNN Pastor Byeong Cheol Han, of the Korean Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta.


Cries for help

But in the past year, anti-Asian hate has become so prevalent that it has leapt off the pages of books and into our everyday consciousness.

The nonprofit Stop AAPI Hate began tracking incidents of racism and discrimination on March 19, 2020. Since then, the coalition has received at least 3,795 firsthand complaints, with at least 503 anti-Asian hate incidents reported in January and February of 2021.

The combination of escalating rhetoric about Asian people during the pandemic, and the creation of a reporting outlet, has raised the visibility of a long-existing problem. The awareness of anti-Asian hate is finally permeating the mainstream.

And if 2020 was a continuous trickle of individual assaults, the Atlanta spa killings were a watershed moment -- six of the eight victims were women of Asian descent.

"It finally made it something that was hard to ignore," said Dr. Carol Pak-Teng, an emergency room physician who has built a community for AAPI physicians and raised money after the shootings. "Like I think a lot of Asian Americans kind of at least heard a little bit about the spike in violence...it opened up an opportunity to say like, 'Oh my God. Yeah. Like this is really happening.' And now ending in a mass shooting, which is really...just hard to ignore anymore, and that we needed to just actually do real, upfront work to highlight the unfortunate truth that we were living."

Michael Lai, CEO of Asian Feed, a news and lifestyle publication, told CNN that his team heard many cries for help in the month leading up to the Atlanta killings. As elderly people were beaten and attacked in San Francisco and New York, he said it was almost as if they saw more coming.

"One of the silver linings is that now Asians are almost, you know, ok to speak. I think that was something that was key in all of this ... incidents have gone unreported, especially in the past, but I think now Asians are almost finding their voice," he said.

This activism may still be uncomfortable for many immigrant families that have focused on pure survival for so long, but whose silence shouldn't be mistaken for apathy.

So whether we're adults making sense of tragedy, or children who are simply shy, this is a moment to find our voice.

And it's ok to speak.

© Courtesy Chen Family Natasha Chen celebrates her 5th birthday alongside her parents.

Vancouver lawyer and model battle anti-Asian hate with the practical and the poetic

Zahra Premji 

CBC.CA

© Carl Ostberg and James Mulleder/CBC News Strangers to one another, but acutely aware of the suffering the Asian community has faced recently, both Carlyle Chan and Steven Ngo are finding ways to protect their communities.

Confronted with attacks against Asians in the media and in their own lives, two Vancouver men say they're fighting anti-Asian hate crimes on their own terms.

Lyle Chan, 32, and Steven Ngo, 35, say they're exhausted at being ignored as their community faces hate, racial slurs and incidents where people have been spat on, punched or thrown to the ground.

Both men have separately found ways to help B.C.'s Asian community as it reels from a surge in reported anti-Asian hate crimes — rising from a dozen incidents in 2019 to 98 in 2020, according to Vancouver police.

"There's people every single day now that [are] getting attacked.... Something needs to be done now," said Ngo, a Vancouver lawyer who has created more accessible hate-crime reporting forms for the community.

© James Mulleder/CBC News Ngo says his intent is to not question the police but to help them navigate the best ways to support the Asian community.

An online survey done by the Chinese Canadian National Council's Toronto chapter found that more than 1,000 self-reported incidents of anti-Asian racism have occurred nationwide since the start of the pandemic.

The analysis, which confirmed incidents in every province, found 44 per cent of all cases were reported in B.C.

'This is a clear barrier to justice here'

Ngo came face to face with hate earlier this month when someone hurled racist slurs at him and then proceeded to throw garbage at him.

"I was ... stunned and realized it could happen to anybody. Not just the elderly and those who don't know how to speak English," Ngo says.

That was his turning point.

He tried to report the crime on the Vancouver Police Department website but found the form was only available in simplified and traditional Chinese — not English.

"East Asian doesn't mean Chinese. It also means Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean, those who are born here as well," he said.

Vancouver Police Department Const. Tania Visintin says the "online forms were created as an option for a very specific segment of our population that was targeted by hate crimes last year."

She says VPD is reviewing its process for hate-crime reporting. But says the best way to report a crime is to call 911 or the non-emergency line.

"Our workforce speaks more than 50 languages.... We can usually find someone to speak to a complainant in their preferred language," Visintin said.

© Ben Nelms/CBC Racist graffiti is covered up by duct tape on the lions at the Millennium Gate in Chinatown in May 2020.

On Friday, B.C.'s Ministry of the Attorney General announced plans to develop a hotline for racist incidents in response to the increased number of incidents. Information collected from the hotline will be used to develop anti-racism initiatives, including legislation that will pave the way for race-based data collection.

"The data collected from the hotline will be used to support future anti-racism initiatives, including legislation that will pave the way for race-based data collection. By identifying areas of increased racist incidents through the hotline, government can use the data to inform future actions to combat racism."

Ngo says while he is grateful for the support, he believes more needs to be done.

He has created his own website to report hate crimes for members of the Asian community who speak various languages.

"The website is not meant to replace the VPD website at all, but it's meant to really stop the bleeding," Ngo said.
'Took that pain and transformed it'

For Vancouver-based model Carlyle Chan, seeing Asian women killed in Atlanta in March was his turning point.

"I haven't ever felt like that before.... I took that pain and transformed it into something positive and something powerful,"

He fundraised throughout April, using his strong social media presence on Instagram and other platforms, to tee up Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May. The money is slated for groups that support the Asian community and other people of colour.

He also kept the conversation going online to give victims a sense of comfort.

"You are seen and heard. You matter. You don't have to be subordinate, or submissive or quiet, just because that's the way it was," Chan said.

On top of his fundraiser, he dabbled in his poetic side with a poem called Asian is Human that he posted in restaurants, parkades and apartment buildings.

"Even if you aren't an Asian person, you read it. It's kind of humanizing who we are," Chan said.

Both Chan and Ngo say, exhausted or not, they'll continue to advocate for their communities, using their drive, social media presence and voices to make change.

"I am super exhausted... [But] closed mouths don't get fed. If you don't ask [for help] then it can't happen," Chan said.

As anti-Asian hate spread with the virus, this group uncovered disturbing trends

On Feb. 4, 2020, during the earliest days of the novel coronavirus, a middle school student in Los Angeles County was told by a classmate that he was a Covid-19 carrier and should “go back to China.” When the boy responded that he wasn’t Chinese, he allegedly received 20 punches to the head and ended up in the emergency room.

© Provided by NBC News

The assault, a harbinger of the onslaught of racialized attacks that occurred during the pandemic, helped three Asian American activists who would become co-founders of Stop AAPI Hate, the anti-Asian hate reporting center, realize that racism was spreading faster than the virus itself and something needed to be done to track the growing number of incidents against the community.

Led by Cynthia Choi, the co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, or CAA; Russell Jeung, professor and chair of the Asian American studies department at San Francisco State University; and Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, or A3PCON, Stop AAPI Hate is more than a popular hashtag or aggregator of anti-Asian incidents. It’s a rallying cry for a community experiencing the pain and heartbreak of relentless harassment, assaults and even murders.

“What’s really been heartening has been the Asian American community response and having so many people come to support Stop AAPI Hate,” Jeung told NBC Asian America, noting that their volunteers range from high school students to data scientists. “I’m really proud we can be contributing to a global movement, and that’s something that I think will probably be the most significant impact of Stop AAPI Hate — to galvanize the Asian American community and to empower the broader community.”

Stop AAPI Hate formed after Jeung emailed Choi about the hundreds of anti-Asian news accounts he collected in February 2020. She received his email while in the middle of a CAA staff meeting, where they were discussing how to start tracking the growing number of incidents. Jeung and Choi, based in Oakland, California, and San Francisco, respectively, had already worked together in the community and shared many longtime networks, so teaming up made sense.

Around the same time, Jeung saw that Kulkarni’s A3PCON, a coalition of community organizations in Los Angeles led by Asian and Pacific Islander Americans, was already starting to track anti-Asian hate incidents via a Google form.

“We started to notice there was, in fact, a pattern,” said Kulkarni, who is also a lecturer in UCLA’s Asian American studies department. “It was right then that I got the call from Russell that they were thinking of approaching the California attorney general’s office.”

The coalition wrote a letter to then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who is now the U.S. secretary of health and human services, to ask if his office would track these growing hate incidents against the community. When Becerra’s office said no and explained that it usually gets its data from local law enforcement per California state policy, the veteran activists decided to do it themselves.

Officials at Becerra’s office declined to comment but pointed to the fact that the state was implementing its existing data collection policy, which was packaged into an annual report on hate crimes, and that a policy change would be needed to change the way the attorney general collected data.

“It’s not unusual for communities and organizations to see needs, to sound the alarms, and government is often slow to act and respond,” Choi said.

The trio and their respective staffs quickly developed a website featuring a multilingual reporting form.

Stop AAPI Hate launched on March 19, 2020, without funding. The co-founders were unsure if anyone would visit their website, but within the first week, there were an average of almost 100 self-reported hate incidents. In less than a year, they would go on to track nearly 4,000 instances and discovered disturbing trends, such as Asian American women reporting 2.3 times more than men.

“We knew women would be vulnerable, and I think that’s why Stop AAPI Hate, as a coalition, has been so effective,” said Choi, who previously worked with Kulkarni on gender-based violence at the Center for the Pacific Asian Family. “We have decades of experience understanding how these issues play out and that this has historic precedent. We knew how this would translate in terms of interpersonal attacks and how our own government and U.S.-Asia foreign policies are also a big factor. We also knew that elected officials would, in a heartbeat, exploit the fears of Americans sparked by the pandemic.”

The co-founders believed if they didn’t document these incidents, there would be “a tendency to minimize, to suggest this was not serious to Asian American communities,” Choi said. Stop AAPI Hate’s in-depth data has given media outlets and the general public proof of what so many Asian Americans suspected was happening based on anecdotal evidence.

“I am deeply grateful for the work of Stop AAPI Hate in collecting data about and galvanizing public awareness of anti-Asian racism,” said historian Jane Hong, author of “Opening the Gates to Asia.” “By providing Asian Americans with an accessible way to self-report, Stop AAPI Hate has also given us a community resource, a way to ‘speak back’ and register our outrage.”

Hong noted that research shows Asian Americans are among the least likely to report hate crimes.

“For every incident that gets reported, then, there are many more that we don't hear about,” she said. “So these numbers only capture part of the picture. That is deeply sobering.”

On patrol: Stopping anti-Asian violence one street at a time

The policy and research nonprofit AAPI Data recently reported that 10 percent of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have experienced hate crimes and hate incidents in 2021.

About a year after Stop AAPI Hate was formed, the state of California allocated $300,000 to support the reporting center’s tracking of hate incidents and advocacy, which was championed by members of the Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus, as well as donations from corporations and individuals. The funding will be used to hire more staff, expand in-language resources and continue producing reports so policymakers have relevant data on the community.

“I feel really responsible to steward the resources we’ve been given well and to stop anti-Asian hate,” Jeung said. “That’s for me a real heavy burden.”

In addition to their regular careers and Stop AAPI Hate’s day-to-day work, Choi, Jeung and Kulkarni have conducted hundreds of talks and media interviews over the last year. Being surrounded by unrelenting stories of anti-Asian hate and violence has taken a toll.

“It’s hard, especially after Atlanta, because that was worse than our worst nightmare,” Kulkarni said. “I know we broke down in front of each other.”

Choi said hearing traumatic experiences about children and older people, in particular, was crushing.

“It was hard to be detached and just purely analytical and intellectual about it,” Choi said. “I felt like they were tiny little cuts that were jabbing at me.”

Jeung, a longtime runner, said he’s logged more miles this past year than ever before and plans to start seeing a therapist.

“I do still have my spiritual practices, where I pray regularly with people and go to church,” said Jeung, a fifth-generation Chinese American who chronicled his own family’s history with racism and his decades of work with refugees in his memoir, “At Home in Exile.” “I’ve always had a strong sense of calling towards working for justice and a sense of how things aren’t right in society.”

Choi, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, saw how challenging it was for her Korean immigrant parents to navigate their new life in the U.S. When her family moved to a predominantly white neighborhood in nearby Orange County, someone vandalized their home with eggs and slashed her father’s tires.

“I do remember my parents in hushed tones talking about how they believed it was because we were Asian,” she said.

While growing up in Montgomery, Alabama, Kulkarni, who came to the U.S. with her family from India when she was 2, was one of few South Asian faces. In fifth grade, Kulkarni’s mother applied to be a physician at a hospital, but during the interview, a panel of white male doctors told her that foreigners like her were “coming here and stealing our jobs.” Kulkarni’s parents decided to sue the hospital and individual physicians, which she said progressed to a class-action lawsuit and successful settlement that led to policy change.

“That very much shaped my belief in the American legal system,” said Kulkarni, who testified at hearing in March before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties on discrimination against Asian Americans. She noted that Asian Americans hadn’t been a topic for the subcommittee since 1987. “The fact that no issue involving our community came up from ‘87 to now is ridiculous,” Kulkarni said.

While people are finally paying attention to the community, Stop AAPI Hate’s co-founders don’t expect anti-Asian sentiment to disappear anytime soon, so their efforts will continue beyond Covid-19. They believe multiple solutions are needed, from culturally competent resources for local communities to expanding ethnic studies and education and stronger federal civil rights laws.

“It’s really easy for hurt people to hurt others or abused people to become abusers and then for Asian Americans who’ve been treated racistly then to become racist themselves,” Jeung said. “It’s really important to hold perpetrators accountable and call out racism but also be able to forgive and work on the broader issue. Asian Americans now have an opportunity to become the racial healers of America rather than the victims.”

WW3.0
South China Sea dispute: Philippine foreign minister tells China to 'Get the F**k Out'
Story by Reuters

The Philippine foreign minister on Monday demanded in an expletive-laced Twitter message that China's vessels get out of disputed waters, the latest exchange in a war of words with Beijing over the South China Sea.

© Carlo Gabuco/Bloomberg/FILE Teodoro Locsin, Philippine secretary of foreign affairs, speaks during an interview in Manila, Philippines, in 2019.

The comments by Teodoro Locsin, known for blunt remarks, follow Manila's protests for what it calls the "illegal" presence of hundreds of Chinese boats inside the Philippines' 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

"China, my friend, how politely can I put it? Let me see... O...GET THE F**K OUT," Locsin tweeted on his personal account.

"What are you doing to our friendship? You. Not us. We're trying. You. You're like an ugly oaf forcing your attentions on a handsome guy who wants to be a friend; not to father a Chinese province ..." Locsin said.

China's embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chinese officials have previously said the vessels at the disputed Whitsun Reef were fishing boats taking refuge from rough seas.

Responding to a request for comment, a spokeswoman for the US State Department reiterated a March 28 statement by Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying the US "stands with our ally, the Philippines, in the face of (China's) maritime militia pressure in the South China Sea."

"As we have stated before, an armed attack against the Philippine armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the Pacific, including in the South China Sea, will trigger our obligations under the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty," the spokeswoman added.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which about $3 trillion of shipborne trade passes each year. In 2016, an arbitration tribunal in The Hague ruled the claim was inconsistent with international law.

In a statement on Monday, the Philippine Foreign Ministry accused China's coast guard of "shadowing, blocking, dangerous maneuvers, and radio challenges of the Philippine coast guard vessels."

On Sunday, the Philippines vowed to continue maritime exercises in its South China Sea EEZ in response to a Chinese demand that it stop actions it said could escalate disputes.

As of April 26, the Philippines had filed 78 diplomatic protests to China since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016, Foreign Ministry data shows.

"Our statements are stronger too because of the more brazen nature of the activities, the number, frequency and proximity of intrusions," said Marie Yvette Banzon-Abalos, executive director for strategic communications at the Foreign Ministry.

Duterte, for the most part, has pursued warmer ties with China in exchange for Beijing's promises of billions of dollars in investment, aid and loans.

"China remains to be our benefactor. Just because we have a conflict with China does not mean to say that we have to be rude and disrespectful," Duterte said in a weekly national address.

"So, kindly just allow our fishermen to fish in peace and there is no reason for trouble," Duterte said, addressing China.

© Maxar Technologies/AP Chinese vessels seen anchored at the Whitsun Reef in the disputed South China Sea on March 23, 2021.

Myanmar charges Japanese journalist over 'fake news'

AFP 

The Myanmar junta has charged a Japanese journalist under a "fake news" law, a report said Tuesday, in the latest blow to press freedom since the military seized power.

© Handout Myanmar has been in turmoil since civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi's government was ousted

Freelance reporter Yuki Kitazumi was arrested last month and charged on Monday -- World Press Freedom Day -- with spreading fake news, according to a report by Kyodo news agency.

He is one of 50 journalists currently held in Myanmar as part of the junta's crackdown on widespread protests against its February 1 coup.

The country has been in turmoil since civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi's government was ousted, with more than 750 people killed as security forces struggle to quash near-daily demonstrations against their rule.

Kyodo cited an unnamed Japanese embassy official saying Kitazumi had no health problems, despite spending several weeks in Yangon's Insein prison, which has a long and unsavoury reputation for holding political prisoners.

Kitazumi has been in custody since April 18 -- the second time he had been arrested since the coup.

In February, he was beaten up and briefly held during a crackdown on protesters but was later released.

Japan, for years a top aid donor to Myanmar, has been pressing for his release.

"Naturally, we will continue to do our utmost for the early release of the Japanese national being held," Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told Japanese journalists during a trip to Britain, according to national broadcaster NHK.

A total of 766 civilians have been killed in the military crackdown on protests, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a local monitoring group.

Kitazumi is the first foreign journalist to be charged since the coup. A Polish photographer arrested while covering a protest in March was freed and deported after nearly two weeks in custody.

As well as arresting journalists, the generals have sought to clamp down on news of the crisis by shuttering independent media outlets and throttling internet speeds.

The AAPP says there are 50 journalists in custody at the moment, 25 of whom have been prosecuted, while arrest warrants are out for another 29.

Despite the dangers, protesters continue to take to the streets, with early-morning demonstrations on Tuesday in the second-biggest city Mandalay, as well as northern Kachin state.

In the southern region of Bago, five protesters were killed and another was injured when they tried to plant a bomb in Pyi township, state media said.

Thet Win Hlaing, a 35-year old former MP for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party, was among those who died in the blast, state media added.

Bombs have exploded sporadically across the country in recent weeks, including with increasing frequency in Yangon.

The military has defended its seizure of power, pointing to fraud allegations in the November election, and condemned protesters as rioters and terrorists.

burs-pdw-aph/je

Pakistani journalists' group vows to fight for press freedom

ISLAMABAD — The media is facing growing censorship, attacks and harassment in Pakistan that are threatening freedom of the press, a committee of journalists said Monday  WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY.

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© Provided by The Canadian Press

The government said there are no curbs on journalists in the country.

But Pakistan has long been a dangerous place for journalists. There were 148 documented attacks or violations against journalists in Pakistan from May 2020 to April 2021 - an increase over previous years, according to The Dawn, the country's English-language newspaper. It said these incidents included six murders, seven attempted assassinations, five kidnappings, 25 arrests or detentions of journalists, 15 assaults and 27 legal cases registered against journalists.

In an editorial marking World Press Freedom Day, the paper said the space for journalists in Pakistan was shrinking, and “a media in chains cannot hold the powerful to account and serve public interest as it is meant to do".

Pakistan has long been a deadly place for journalists. In 2020, it ranked ninth on the Committee to Protect Journalists' annual Global Impunity Index, which assesses countries where journalists are murdered regularly and their killers go free. According to the CPJ, Bangladesh, Russia and India are ahead of Pakistan. Although the Pakistan government says it supports freedom of speech, rights activists often accuse Pakistan’s military and its agencies of harassing and attacking journalists.

On Monday, President of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists Shahzada Zulfiqar and Secretary-General Nasir Zaidi said freedom of the press is their hallmark and they “will not surrender this cause at any cost.” They said journalists were also facing cuts in pay and thousands had become jobless.

Mazhar Abbas, who often reports for Pakistan’s independent Geo Television, told The Associated Press that curbs on media and attacks on journalists increased in recent years. So far, he said, it's not known whether the state has punished those linked to the abduction or harassment of journalists.

He said the country's media regulatory body issued more than 12,000 notices to media people, newspapers, and news channels. Abbas said media in Pakistan was facing censorship for which the state uses different tactics, including telling media through the media regulatory body what can be reported and what cannot be reported. News channels are taken off air by the media regulatory body if press advice is not complied with, he said.

However, Fawad Chaudhry, Pakistan's information minister, said in a statement that Pakistan's government regards the freedom of the press as a “fundamental, democratic and constitutional right."

He did not address the allegations by the leaders of the journalists' association.

Munir Ahmed, The Associated Press

Cambodia bans media coverage from Covid lockdown 'red zones'

Cambodia on Tuesday ordered journalists to stop reporting from blockaded coronavirus "red zones" and from chasing ambulances as the country battles against a record surge in infections.

© TANG CHHIN Sothy Soldiers have been transporting sacks of rice to people in red zones in Phnom Penh

The country has seen Covid-19 cases surge since February, when an outbreak was first detected among its Chinese expatriate community.

On Tuesday, officials announced a record 938 new infections, bringing the total cases to 16,299 with 107 deaths.

Authorities have transformed schools and wedding party halls into covid treatment centres as hospitals are running out of beds and Prime Minister Hun Sen warned the country was "on the brink of death" from the virus outbreak.

Phnom Penh and adjacent city Ta Khmau have been under lockdown for 20 days and the government has announced the blanket would end from Thursday.

But authorities said areas with high infection rates would remain under lockdown.

Police have set up blockades around red zones barring residents from leaving their homes, except on medical reasons.

On Tuesday the information ministry ordered journalists to immediately stop reporting from the red zones, warning they would face prosecution.

The ministry said some journalists had reported from red zones and banned areas such as treatment centres and hospitals.

It also said some had "chased ambulances" and caused confusion and unrest.

The order comes as residents living in red zones complained about food shortages and took to social media to appeal for essential aid.

Rights group Amnesty International issued a strong condemnation of Cambodia's lockdown measures last week, saying they had left many people to go hungry and humanitarian groups had been barred from distributing food and other essential aid.

"The Cambodian government's outrageous mishandling of this COVID-19 lockdown is causing untold suffering and sweeping human rights violations across the country," said Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Regional Director.

"Right now, residents of 'red zones' and others in Cambodia are going hungry because of fundamentally unreasonable policies."

Cambodian authorities have asked residents in the red zones to apply for food aid and said they distributed rice and canned fishes to tens of thousands of household each day.

suy/pdw/je

Alberta justice minister hikes fines, promises renewed effort on COVID-19 scofflaws


EDMONTON — Alberta has doubled fines for disobeying public health measures meant to fight COVID-19 and Justice Minister Kaycee Madu is promising a renewed effort to stop public health scofflaws will succeed

KENNEY THE PAPER TIGER

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© Provided by The Canadian Press

“Enforcement will be done, and Albertans will see it being done,” Madu told a news conference Wednesday.

“It has become clear that there are a small few who refuse to comply with reasonable and legitimate public health orders"

The United Conservative government passed an order in council Wednesday that doubles fines for public health violations to $2,000.

Madu said there is also a new protocol for health officials, police and government to co-ordinate and target repeat individuals and groups that flout the law.

He said he discussed with police chiefs this week what further tools and resources they need to step up enforcement.

Premier Jason Kenney on Tuesday announced stronger measures to reverse soaring COVID-19 cases that threaten to overwhelm hospitals by month’s end and to force doctors to decide which patients get life-saving care.

UCP MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS

Kenney’s government has been criticized for being a paper tiger on lawbreakers. In January, it allowed some restaurants to flout dine-in restrictions. GraceLife church, in Spruce Grove, Alta., west of Edmonton, was able to hold Sunday services for months that officials have said ignored rules on masks, capacity limits and physical distancing. Police physically blocked off the church just a month ago.

The enforcement issue made headlines again on this weekend when hundreds of people gathered near Bowden in central Alberta for a pre-advertised maskless "No More Lockdowns" protest rodeo.

Edmonton and Calgary have also seen maskless mass protests against health restrictions.

Action was taken Wednesday against one accused repeat offender. Alberta Health Services announced the Whistle Stop Café in Mirror, Alta., had been physically closed and access barred. The café had been flagged for repeatedly breaking COVID-19 health restrictions by staying open and serving customers.


Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley said Kenney’s government set its enforcement policy up for failure from the get-go by stressing education first and enforcement as a last resort.

Referring to the protocol Madu outlined, Notley said: "The fact there is a protocol to tell them to talk to each other is not new. It is a policy dressed up to look like action, but it is not significant, and that’s why we're calling on them to do more."

She criticized the plan to target only repeat offenders: "(That) says to me their plan is to give everybody their first rodeo free, which is in effect what they did with the Bowden rodeo.

"This has to stop because that Bowden rodeo will turn out to be a super-spreader. People will get sick from that rodeo. People will get seriously ill."

Kenney announced tighter rules Tuesday, some of which came in effect Wednesday. Outdoor gatherings, which had been limited to 10 people, are now capped at five. Worship services, which were allowed at 15 per cent capacity, have been reduced to 15 people maximum.

Retailers, which had been open at 15 per cent customer capacity, are restricted to 10 per cent.

On Friday, all kindergarten to Grade 12 students will learn from home. On Sunday, restaurants must close their patios and offer takeout service only. Personal wellness services, including hair salons and barber shops, will have to close.

Indoor social gatherings remain banned. Entertainment venues, including movie theatres and casinos, also remain closed.

As of Tuesday, Alberta had 23,623 active cases of COVID-19, with 671 people in hospital. It has experienced the highest infection rates in North America in recent weeks.

There are almost 1.7 million Albertans who have received at least one dose of vaccine. About one in three adults have had a shot.

Kenney said the vaccination rollout will be expanded drastically, with everyone in the province 12 and older to soon be eligible.

Every Albertan born in 1991 or earlier will be able to book vaccinations starting Friday. On Monday, appointments will be offered to anyone born between 2009 and 1992.

Earlier Wednesday, Health Canada approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children as young as 12.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2021.

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press

RIP
Billie Hayes, Witchiepoo in ‘H.R. Pufnstuf,’ Dies at 96

Ellise Shafer

VARIETY

4/5/2021

  

© Courtesy Everett Collection

Billie Hayes, the actor who portrayed Witchiepoo on NBC’s “H.R. Pufnstuf,” has died. She was 96.

Hayes’ death was announced on her official website.

Hayes is best known for her portrayal of the comical witch Witchiepoo on Sid and Marty Krofft’s show “H.R. Pufnstuf” from 1969 to 1970. From there, Hayes reappeared as Witchiepoo on “The Paul Lynde Halloween Special” and the series finale of “The Banana Splits Adventure Hour.” Hayes also appeared as a witch in several other shows, including “Bewitched,” “Weenie the Genie,” “The Monkees” and “Lidsville.”

Marty Krofft paid tribute to Hayes in a statement to Variety: “In addition to being a very talented and special person, Margret Hamilton (Wicked Witch of the West/’Wizard of Oz’) once told me that Witchiepoo was the best witch ever. And as far as I’m concerned, there was no one better than Billie Hayes. She was a home run for us and ‘H.R Pufnstuf.'”

Hayes is also well-known for her theater work, including starring as Mammy Yokum in the original 1956 Broadway production of “Li’l Abner,” as well as the 1959 film adaptation and a 1971 TV special.

Born in DuQuoin, Illinois in 1925, Hayes started in the entertainment business at the young age of nine as a dancer, and continued to perform as a teenager in Chicago before moving to New York City. But Hayes’ acting career didn’t begin until she went on a blind audition for theater legend J.J. Shubert.

“At a chance encounter in New York Billie was urged to go to an audition. She went not knowing who or what she was auditioning for,” the statement on Hayes’ website reads. “Already a seasoned nightclub performer she danced and sang routines she had choreographed. In the dark and otherwise empty theatre there were only a few people seated. Billie first heard a chuckle then laughter. It was the legendary J.J. Shubert.”

From there, Hayes began working in theater, appearing in the revue “What’s New With Paul Lynde” and in Leonard Sillman’s “New Faces.” After moving to Los Angeles, Hayes began to pursue a career in television, leading to her role in “H.R. Pufnstuf.” In the 1980s, Hayes appeared on “General Hospital” as O’Reilly and pivoted more to voice work, including “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Johnny Bravo,” “The Batman,” “Rugrats” and “Shrek Forever After.”

Later in life, Hayes also became the president of Pet Hope, a non-profit animal advocacy organization dedicated to finding homes for abandoned animals. Donations in her memory can be made here.

WONDER WHICH BATHROOM SHE USES

Israel's first transgender referee takes field as woman

HAIFA, Israel — Israeli soccer's first transgender soccer referee took the field Monday for the first time since coming out publicly as a woman last week.

Sapir Berman blew the whistle as head referee to kick off the Hapoel Haifa vs. Beitar Jerusalem match.

She was greeted with little fanfare by the sparse crowd at Sami Ofer Stadium. A Haifa fan held up a sign “Sapir Berman super woman.”

In pre-game warmups and during the match, it was business as usual for the players. Some chatted and laughed with her before kickoff. Beitar Jerusalem fan Omer Weiss told Israel’s Kan public broadcaster that “we have nothing personal against anyone. Everyone should live their own way.”

Monday evening's game in the northern port city of Haifa had been postponed by a day after Israel declared Sunday a national day of mourning for the 45 people killed in last week's stampede at a religious festival.

Berman has worked as a soccer referee for several years in Israel's Premier League and announced last week that she has publicly come out as a woman. She said that she had received the support of family, fans, soccer officials and players.

Berman follows in the footsteps of British soccer referee Lucy Clark, who came out as transgender in 2018.

The Associated Press