OBAMA WHITE HOUSE 3.0

Samantha Power takes the helm at USAID touting its role in fighting pandemics

By Jennifer Hansler and Nicole Gaouette, CNN 

Samantha Power was sworn in as the new head of the US Agency for International Development on Monday, taking the helm as the Biden administration is faced with humanitarian crises around the globe and the ongoing threat from the coronavirus pandemic.

© CNN samantha power un russia

Power, who becomes the latest member of the Obama administration to join President Joe Biden's team, said that throughout her career as a journalist and then diplomat traveling to places such as Yemen, Syria and Nigeria, she has seen the "USAID effect" in action as the agency "saves and improves lives, engenders goodwill, boosts America's standing in the world and inspires others to cooperate with us."


In her first remarks to staff at the agency that oversees America's international development and humanitarian efforts, Power offered perspective and encouragement as the agency faces a pandemic made more threatening by the rise of new variants, recalling how the US helped defeat Ebola a decade ago.

Describing what might become a blueprint for US global outreach on the Covid pandemic, Power described how Washington worked to create a unified effort against the highly virulent Ebola virus. "Because America led -- because USAID led -- the United States was able to rally a coalition of 60 countries to contribute on the ground and secure 134 cosponsors for a resolution at the UN Security Council declaring the epidemic a 'threat to international peace and security' -- the largest number ever for any Security Council resolution in UN history," she said.

'Inextricably linked'

She made little specific reference to the coronavirus, which has killed more than 3 million worldwide and is ravaging India, but noted that "with the world battling a different plague, Americans see what you all have long understood: that this country's fate is inextricably linked with the rest of the world's."

"In fact, as you well know, the world's most pressing challenges cast a large shadow over our own lives here at home. A long-simmering crisis of poverty and violence in Central America that sends people in desperation to our southern border," she said. "A rapidly changing climate that sends fiercer storms to our shores and inflicts on our communities droughts, deep freezes and wildfires. Authoritarian regimes growing bolder, strengthening their hands by exploiting vulnerabilities in our democracies."

"The truth is: None of these challenges is distinct. They all feed into and feed off of each other," Power said.

Her remarks offered strong praise for the workforce at USAID.

"It is your dedication that has sustained broad bipartisan support for USAID's budget and priorities in the face of fierce political pressure," she said in what appeared to be a subtle dig at the Trump administration, which maligned and distrusted career government officials.

"You have my profound gratitude for your service, and you have my commitment and the commitment of President Biden that we will spend the next four years empowering you, ushering in changes that give you the flexibility and trust that you deserve, allowing you to take the risks that this moment in history demands," Power said.

Power was confirmed last week in a bipartisan vote. She was ceremonially sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday morning, joined by her husband, Cass Sunstein, her children Declan and Rían, and stepfather Edmund Bourke.

SpaceX finally nails the landing of the rocket that will take humans to the moon

Nicole Mortillaro 

© SpaceX via The Associated Press In this image from video made available by SpaceX, a Starship test vehicle sits on the ground after returning from a flight test in Boca Chica, Texas on Wednesday, May 5, 2021.

SpaceX's Starship, the rocket that CEO Elon Musk hopes will take people to the moon and eventually Mars, completed a test on Wednesday that marked the first time it successfully launched and landed.

The rocket, designated SN15, lifted off from Boca Chica, Texas, at 5:27 p.m. local time. It reached an altitude of 10 kilometres before beginning its descent in the "belly flop" configuration. Then it fired its thrusters, flipped itself in the upright position, extended its landing legs and touched down softly.

"The Starship has landed," said John Insprucker, a SpaceX web commentator.

A fire at the base of the rocket burned for several minutes after touchdown, but automated water cannons deployed appeared to put out the blaze.

Video: SpaceX launches Starlink satellites into orbit (The Canadian Press)

The four previous tests of the 50-metre Starship launched successfully but ended in spectacular explosions, or "rapid unscheduled disassemblies," as Musk refers to them.

The closest Starship came to a successful landing was SN10, when it touched down and blew up roughly eight minutes later due to a methane leak.

The last test, SN11, exploded before landing through thick fog.

However, there have been modifications to Starship, including to its Raptor engines, as Musk noted shortly after the loss of SN11.

"SN15 rolls to launch pad in a few days. It has hundreds of design improvements across structures, avionics/software & engine. Hopefully, one of those improvements covers this problem. If not, then retrofit will add a few more days," he tweeted.

This is just one-half of the rocket that needs to be tested. The Super Heavy, which will have the BN (Booster Number) designation ahead of its number, still needs to be completed and tested before the two are paired together for a complete test of the Starship rocket system. It is currently being built in the facility's high bay, though Musk has said that it will not actually fly.

The next launch will be of SN16. It's estimated that SN20 will be the first orbital test.

ARACHNOPHOBIA TRIGGER, OOPS
New spider species identified in the Florida Everglades

By Christina Zdanowicz, CNN 

An elusive spider related to the tarantula just joined the ranks of recognized spiders.

© From Zoo Miami Meet the Pine Rockland Trapdoor Spider, who was recently identified in Florida.

The Pine Rockland Trapdoor Spider lives in the Florida Everglades and it's a rare breed. It has only been spotted a handful of times since the 1920s and only recently did the clever arachnid get its name for the habitat it lives in, according to Rebecca Godwin, an assistant professor of biology at Piedmont University.


These spiders likely only live in the pine rockland habitat of southern Florida, which is "highly threatened," Godwin told CNN. Their homeland of pines growing on limestone outcrops has slowly been destroyed by mankind.

"Development, urbanization, land clearing, anything that destroys the topsoil could potentially wipe out whole populations and especially for a spider that occurs in such a small range of really threatened habitat, you kind of risk losing the species all together," Godwin said.

The spider is one of 33 new species from the Americas to be added to the genus Ummidia, which are trapdoor spiders. Godwin and Jason E. Bond, an entomology professor from University of California, Davis, co-authored the study, published in April in the journal ZooKeys.

"The fact that a new species like this could be found in a fragment of endangered forest in the middle of the city underscores the importance of preserving these ecosystems before we lose not only what we know, but also what is still to be discovered," Frank Ridgley, Zoo Miami Conservation & Veterinary Services Manager, said in a news release.

Finding and collecting enough examples of the spider has been tricky.

A zookeeper checking reptile research traps at Zoo Miami snapped a photo of the large-bodied spider in 2012 and two years later, another one was found. The mysterious spider didn't match any species on record, the zoo said in a press release.

The zoo sent the data to Godwin, who has been studying trapdoor spiders for almost a decade. The previous samples she had from museums were from the 1920s and 1950s, she said.

"It was really exciting for me," Godwin said. "Even only having one to two specimens, I was already pretty sure it was a new species."

The characteristics of the male trapdoor spiders are what help identify the species, she said. The Pine Rockland Trapdoor Spider is a black and about one to 1.5 inches across, including the legs. The males have an opalescent abdomen, she said.

"If one were to call spiders beautiful, I find it a very gorgeous looking spider," Godwin said.

No females of this species have yet to be found, Godwin said. Other females in the trapdoor spider group usually have a front end that looks like patent leather, she added.

Trapdoor spiders are related to tarantulas. They tend to be smaller, less hairy, their fangs point a different way and they share some physical features with their tarantula cousins, Godwin said.

Even though large spiders can freak people out, Godwin said these trapdoor spiders are not coming to get you. The spiders live in such a small area and they burrow into the ground, living in it for most of its life. Some female spiders of this group can live to be more than 20 years old.

While they are venomous -- most spiders are -- the venom of the Pine Rockland Trapdoor Spider is not "medically important," Godwin said. Translation: The venom isn't dangerous to humans.

Research on the venom could yield interesting applications to humans, according to Ridgley.

"Venoms of related species have been found to contain compounds with potential use as pain medications and cancer treatments," Ridgley said.

When Godwin talks about her work with spiders, she said she typically hears how many spiders a person has smashed that week.

"I feel like working on spiders, you spend a lot of your time just fighting bad press," Godwin said. "It's an uphill battle to point out these are helping organisms, if anything. They don't carry any diseases to give to humans, they are not aggressive and literally live underground."

Trapdoor spiders are known for creating a door to their burrow and staying underground, Godwin said. They stick out their legs and grab small bugs scampering by without having to leave their bunker. When in danger, they shut their silk-spun door and ward off intruders.

The Pine Rockland Trapdoor Spider and other previously "unknown diversity" are what fascinate Godwin the most about our planet. She wants to keep studying spiders like this one, who lives in a habitat "in peril," before that's lost, she said.

"I'm continually blown away about how little we know about what is out there living on the planet with us," Godwin said. "There are so many species getting lost, going extinct before we even knew they ever existed."

Japanese Town Got Covid-19 Money So They Built A Giant Squid Statue

Brian Ashcraft 

The town of Noto in Ishikawa received millions of yen due to the impact of covid-19. The money was part of a rural revitalization project to help the countryside in the wake of the virus

.

© Screenshot: TheTonarinopoti@YouTube

According to Yahoo! News Japan, local governments such as Noto’s would decide how to spend the money, such as infection countermeasures or money to help closed businesses.

Noto is known for squid, and around 25 million yen ($228,181) of the funds were set aside for a huge squid monument to entice tourists to visit the area once the pandemic is over.

The pandemic is not over. Some of the country’s most metropolitan areas, including Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto, are currently under a state of emergency, with covid-19 cases hitting record numbers

.

© Screenshot: TheTonarinopoti@YouTube

The giant squid is 29.5 feet across, 13 feet high, and over 42 feet long. FNN reports that the total cost of the project was 27 million yen ($246,544).

As Chunichi News adds, there have been questions among locals over whether this was necessary or even an effective way to do PR for Noto.

The individual in charge did claim that the funds didn’t need to have a direct relationship to covid-19 and that the town was taking a long, post-pandemic view with the project.

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.

.

© 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