Month: December 2021

President Joe Biden plans to speak Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a White house official said Friday, a day after Biden spoke with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on how to reduce tensions on the Ukraine-Russia border. 

Biden will reaffirm support for Ukraine, discuss Russia’s military build-up on its borders and review preparations for diplomatic efforts to calm the situation in the region, the official said Friday. 

The U.S. and Russian leaders exchanged warnings over Ukraine in Thursday’s call, but their countries voiced some optimism afterwards about planned security talks in January to address Russian military actions that drew the threat of sanctions from Washington and its allies. 

The leaders’ exchange set the stage for lower-level engagement between the countries that includes the U.S.-Russia security meeting on January 9-10, followed by a Russia-NATO session on January 12, and a broader conference including Moscow, Washington and other European countries on January 13. 

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sought to lay the groundwork for the talks Friday in calls with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and others, the State Department said. 

In conversations with the foreign ministers of Canada and Italy, Blinken discussed a united response to deter further Russian aggression against Ukraine and their consensus to impose “severe costs” on Moscow for any such actions. 

 
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On top of many other difficulties the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the US, problems continue with the supply chain and the shortage of truck drivers. Mariia Prus has more in this story narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Dmitriy Savchuk
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U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday “urged Russia to de-escalate tensions with Ukraine” in a 50-minute call with his Russian counterpart, the White House said. A senior administration official added that President Vladimir Putin made no concrete promises about the tens of thousands of Russian troops along the Ukrainian border.

Biden “made clear that the United States and its allies and partners will respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine,” press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.

Psaki said the two nations will participate in three separate rounds of talks next month: first through bilateral talks scheduled to start January 10, and then through two sets of multiparty talks with the NATO-Russia Council and at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

“President Biden reiterated that substantive progress in these dialogues can occur only in an environment of de-escalation rather than escalation,” she added.

For months now, Putin has built up troops along the Russia-Ukraine border. U.S. intelligence officials have estimated, from looking at satellite photos, that as many as 100,000 troops are in the area. Meanwhile, Ukraine has been building up its own defenses on its side of the border.

For years, the former Soviet state has been seeking entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, alongside the U.S. and other Western nations. Russia strongly opposes that move.

Kremlin pleased

Putin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said the Kremlin was pleased with the talks, but he also said that Putin pushed Biden for concrete results from the upcoming security talks. Russia’s demands include that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and that the security alliance reduce its deployments in Central and Eastern Europe. White House officials have declined to discuss their terms publicly.

This was the second time this month that the two men had held direct talks. According to Leon Aron, an analyst with the American Enterprise Institute, it was the eighth time that the U.S. and Russian leaders have met in one year. That, he said, is “a record in the entire history of U.S.-Russian and U.S.-Soviet relations.”

Biden administration officials said that the two had a “serious and substantive” discussion. But a senior administration official said that Putin made “no declarations as to intentions.” The two presidents will not participate in the high-level talks set for January 10 in Geneva.

Although analysts seem to doubt Putin will invade Ukraine, they worry that tens of thousands of battle-ready troops in the region could accidentally or intentionally spark a war.

“If he is bluffing, then it is a very serious bluff, which entails particular risks to Putin, because he has to make sure that 100,000 troops-plus are occupied and ready – but not taking the initiative themselves before an order is given,” said Will Pomeranz, deputy director of the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute. ”So I think that it is just simply a situation that is fraught with peril on both sides.”

The White House has said repeatedly that there will be “significant consequences” if Russia invades, including harsh economic sanctions and increased security support for Ukraine. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, tweeted Wednesday that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed “full [U.S.] support for [Ukraine] in countering Russian aggression.”

A compromise?

“Both presidents essentially have their backs against the wall,” Aron told VOA. “Putin’s ultimatum is no more expansion of NATO, withdrawal of NATO troops from the Baltics and, most importantly, a promise to never have Ukraine inside NATO. In essence, on all those three, Biden said, ‘No.’ So the question is: Will they arrive at some sort of compromise?” 

And like many analysts, he postulated that Putin is posturing, projecting strength ahead of key elections in two years.

“Putin successfully creates a sense of emergency, if you notice the language is almost the same: He’s about to start a war, he’s about to invade Ukraine,” he said. “And apparently, the White House goes for it. I wouldn’t, because, I wrote, and I also spoke about this, Putin is not going to invade Ukraine at this time. He’s playing to his domestic audience. And all of this is a part of the game that Putin is playing, and I think will continue to play at least until his elections in 2024.”

Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse.
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Record snowfalls in the western United States that closed roads and caused flight delays also brought some good news for drought-hit California on Thursday, with officials saying the state’s snowpack is now well above normal. 

After a string of mountain blizzards, snowpack measured at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada stands at more than 200% of its average for this date, according to the first measurement of the season by California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR). The Sierra Nevada supplies almost a third of the state’s water needs, once the snow runs off to reservoirs and aqueducts. 

Statewide, snowpack is 160% of its average, the DWR said. 

“We could not have asked for a better December in terms of Sierra snow and rain,” said Karla Nemeth, the director of the DWR. 

Droughts in California are growing more frequent and intense with climate change, according to scientists, threatening the state’s already tenuous water supply and creating conditions for dangerous wildfires. 

Despite the precipitation-heavy end to 2021, the DWR warned against complacency. 

The state would still have to see “significant” precipitation in January and February to make up for the two previous winters, the state’s fifth- and second-driest water years on record, the DWR said. 

“California continues to experience evidence of climate change with bigger swings between wet and dry years and even extreme variability within a season,” said Sean de Guzman, manager of DWR’s Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit. 

He added that a wet start to the winter season did not necessarily mean precipitation in 2022 would end above average. 

 
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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said people should avoid traveling on cruise ships regardless of their vaccination status, as daily COVID-19 cases in the country climb to record highs because of the fast-spreading omicron variant. 

The move delivers another blow to the cruise industry, which had just started returning to the seas in June after a monthslong suspension of voyages due to the pandemic. 

The CDC on Thursday raised its COVID-19 travel health notice level for cruise ships to its highest warning level, citing reports of COVID-19 outbreaks on cruises. 

The health agency has investigated and is still looking into COVID-19 cases on more than 90 ships. It starts scrutiny if 0.10% or more passengers on guest voyages test positive for COVID-19. 

Shares in Carnival Corp., Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. and Royal Caribbean Group reversed course to fall about 1% after the travel advisory from the CDC. 

“The decision by the CDC to raise the travel level for cruise is particularly perplexing considering that cases identified on cruise ships consistently make up a very slim minority of the total population onboard,” the Cruise Lines International Association said. 

Norwegian Cruise, meanwhile, said it believed guests on its ships were better protected from contracting COVID-19 than in any other general population setting. 

The company and Carnival said the CDC’s decision had not affected scheduled itineraries. 

The CDC said passengers already on cruise ships should get tested three to five days after their trip ends and self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms for 14 days. 

The omicron variant also continued to impact air travel. Total flight cancellations within, into or out of the United States stood at more than 1,180, with over 10,300 flights delayed as of 14:37 ET, data from flight-tracking website FlightAware.com showed.
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Volunteers are busy decorating floats for the annual Tournament of Roses parade, an American tradition since 1890. Mike O’Sullivan reports the flower-decked parade entries will brighten the streets of Pasadena, California, in a blaze of color New Year’s morning.
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New York City will ring in 2022 in Times Square as planned despite record numbers of COVID-19 infections in the city and around the nation, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday.

“We want to show that we’re moving forward, and we want to show the world that New York City is fighting our way through this,” de Blasio, whose last day in office is Friday, said on NBC’s “Today” show.

After banning revelers from Times Square a year ago due to the pandemic, city officials previously announced plans for a scaled-back New Year’s bash with smaller crowds and vaccinations required.

While cities such as Atlanta have canceled New Year’s Eve celebrations, de Blasio said New York City’s high COVID-19 vaccination rate makes it feasible to welcome masked, socially distanced crowds to watch the ball drop in Times Square. “We’ve got to send a message to the world. New York City is open,” he said.

Thanks to the highly contagious omicron variant that was first identified as a variant of concern last month, new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have soared to their highest levels on record at over 265,000 per day on average. New York City reported a record number of new, confirmed cases — more than 39,590 — on Tuesday, according to New York state figures.

De Blasio said the answer is to “double down on vaccinations” and noted that 91% of New York City adults have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose.

The city’s next mayor, Eric Adams, will take the oath of office in Times Square early Saturday. Adams, a Democrat like de Blasio, planned a news conference later Thursday to outline his pandemic plan.
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The Biden administration came into office vowing “America is back,” with Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledging to work closely to boost ties with allies. But unexpected crises, coups and conflicts in Ethiopia, Haiti, Myanmar, Sudan and Ukraine have also commanded the top U.S. diplomat’s attention in 2021. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.

Produced by: Rob Raffaele
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Human rights groups are calling on U.S. President Joe Biden to appoint a special envoy for North Korean human rights, a position that has been vacant since January 2017.

The North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 directs the U.S. president to name a person for the role, subject to Senate confirmation. The position, however, remains unfilled, even though Biden has elevated the issue of human rights globally.

His predecessor, Donald Trump, downplayed the issue of North Korea’s human rights violations after his first Singapore summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June 2018.

VOA’s Korean Service has asked the State Department about the appointment several times, including earlier this month.

“I don’t have any administrative announcement or updates at this time,” a State Department spokesperson said via email. “We remain concerned about the human rights situation in the DPRK and the United States is committed to placing human rights at the center of our foreign policy.” North Korea is officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division, said, “For an administration that claims to care greatly about promoting human rights and democracy in the world,” it is critical that it “immediately act to nominate a person well versed in human rights issues in North Korea to take on this important position.”

The Biden administration should also prioritize the appointment of a U.S. ambassador to South Korea, a position that also remains vacant, said Greg Scarlatoiu, executive director at the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea.

“A strong alliance and bilateral relationship with South Korea is the prerequisite of success on all fronts, including North Korean human rights,” Scarlatoiu said.

“It is past time for action from the Biden administration to match their words of wanting to support human rights,” said U.S. Representative Young Kim, a California Republican. “I cannot see Kim Jong Un — as well as our allies like South Korea and Japan — taking our word seriously” when the “vital” human rights position remains unfilled.

US actions so far

On international Human Rights Day, December 10, the Biden administration placed its first sanctions designations on North Korea-related entities and individuals for rights violations.

Also this month, Biden hosted a virtual Summit for Democracy to promote the values of liberal democracy, including human rights, among allies and partners.

The Biden administration made a series of statements this year promising to fill the rights position while expressing concern about North Korea’s human rights abuses.

In February, the State Department said the position would be filled as part of Biden’s North Korea policy review. The administration announced that review had been completed in April, but it did not mention any nomination or appointment.

In March, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee he felt “strongly” about the need to appoint a rights envoy. Blinken repeated the administration’s determination to fill the position to the committee in June.

Roberta Cohen, who was the deputy assistant secretary of state for human rights during the Carter administration, said “there’s no doubt” that the administration will fill the position.

“But the whole process of nominating and confirming ambassadors and envoys and officials within the government that require confirmation — this has been very slow,” she said.

Cohen isn’t the only one who suspects a bureaucratic backlog.

“The real problem is the delay in the Senate in terms of reacting, responding and approving nominees that have been made by the Biden administration for a number of ambassadorial appointments,” said Robert King, who served as the special envoy for North Korean human rights issues under the Obama administration.

“While simple bureaucratic neglect may play a role, there is no disguising the fact that this delay shows a lack of political priority being given to North Korean human rights issues,” added Robertson of Human Rights Watch.

At the same time, Scarlatoiu of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea said, the delay is reasonable as “the Biden administration has been dealing with multiple other priorities and emergencies.”

Pressure on North Korea

Some experts think appointing a human rights envoy for North Korea will add pressure on North Korea as the Biden administration remains open to talks with the regime, which have been deadlocked since October 2019.

“Naming a human rights envoy … would signify a return to a much-needed toughening of policy from the post-Singapore summit relaxation during the Trump administration,” said Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

Harry Kazianis, senior director of Korean studies at the Center for the National Interest, said, “I do think team Biden realizes a North Korean human rights special envoy, while a good idea, could provide [North Korea] an excuse to lash out.”

Sungwon Baik contributed to this report.
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COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations so far are comparatively low as the omicron variant of the coronavirus spreads, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said on Wednesday as cases in the United States reached a record high. 

“In a few short weeks, omicron has rapidly increased across the country, and we expect will continue to circulate in the coming weeks. While cases have substantially increased from last week, hospitalizations and deaths remain comparatively low right now,” she said, referring to overall cases. 

The current seven-day daily average of cases is up 60% over the previous week to about 240,400 per day, she said. The average daily hospitalization rate for the same period is up 14% to about 9,000 per day and deaths are down about 7% at 1,100 per day, Walensky told reporters at a White House briefing. 

The average number of daily confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States set a new record on Wednesday. 

Early data from the U.S. and elsewhere suggests omicron will have a lower hospitalization-to-case ratio than the delta variant, top U.S. infectious disease Anthony Fauci said at the briefing, and COVID-19 vaccine boosters will be critical in tackling it. 

“All indications point to a lesser severity of omicron versus delta,” he said. 

Both Fauci and Walensky said that data on deaths and hospitalizations tend to lag case data by two weeks. 

Fauci said it was possible a second booster shot might be needed, but that it was not possible to know without first determining the durability of the protection offered by an initial booster, for which there is currently no data. 

“Right now, we don’t have that information,” he said. “It is conceivable that in the future we might need an additional shot but right now we are hoping that we will get a greater degree of durability of protection from that booster shot.” 

Fauci also estimated the omicron surge would peak by the end of January. 

“I would imagine given the size of our country, and the diversity of vaccination versus not vaccination, that it’s likely to be more than a couple of weeks, probably by the end of January,” he said on CNBC. 

On the question of testing, Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said the government expects a contract for 500 million antigen tests, promised by President Joe Biden, to help address the surge in cases to be complete late next week. 

“The Department of Defense and HHS are executing (this) on an accelerated timeline,” he said. 

Disease experts have questioned recent CDC guidance rules that cut in half the isolation period for asymptomatic coronavirus, saying they lack safeguards that could result in even more infections as the United States faces a record surge in cases. 

“Unvaccinated people take much longer to clear the virus and not be infectious,” said Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute. “Some people clear the virus in a day; others take a week or more.” 

Walensky said the decision was based on research showing that up to 90% of COVID-19 transmission occurred within five days of infection. She said the agency balanced that with evidence that only a small minority of people with COVID-19 have been willing to isolate for a full 10 days so far during the pandemic. 

“We, at CDC, are working to provide updated recommendations, using science to ease the burden of lengthy isolation and quarantine recommendations. However, these recommendations will only work if people follow them.” 

 
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The Biden administration on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court whether it needed to continue to implement a Trump-era policy that has forced tens of thousands of migrants to wait in Mexico for the resolution of their U.S. asylum cases. 

Democratic President Joe Biden attempted to scrap his Republican predecessor’s policy — often referred to as “Remain in Mexico” — soon after taking office in January. But after Texas and Missouri sued, a federal judge ruled it had to be reinstated, and an appeals court earlier this month agreed. 

Under the 2019 policy put in place by former President Donald Trump, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), migrants seeking asylum must wait weeks and sometimes years in Mexico for a U.S. court date instead of being allowed to await their hearings in the United States. 

Biden decried the policy on the campaign trail and immigration advocates have said migrants stuck in dangerous border cities have faced kidnappings and other dangers. 

After a federal court ruled he had to reinstate MPP, the Biden administration reissued a memo terminating it in the hopes it would overcome the legal challenges. 

But the conservative-leaning 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was not convinced by the new memo, saying in its ruling on December 13 that “simply by typing out a new Word document and posting it on the internet” was not sufficient. 

Biden’s Justice Department asked the Supreme Court whether it must continue implementing the policy and whether the appeals court erred in concluding the new memo had no legal effect. 

 
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President Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin will speak Thursday as the Russian leader has stepped up his demands for security guarantees in Eastern Europe.

The two leaders will discuss “a range of topics, including upcoming diplomatic engagements,” National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne said in a statement announcing the call.

The talks come as the U.S. and Western allies have watched the buildup of Russian troops near the border of Ukraine, growing to an estimated 100,000 and fueling fears that Moscow is preparing to invade Ukraine.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said Blinken “reiterated the United States’ unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s military buildup on Ukraine’s borders.”

Price said the two discussed efforts to peacefully resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine and upcoming diplomatic engagements with Russia.

Putin said earlier this week he would ponder a slew of options if the West fails to meet his push for security guarantees precluding NATO’s expansion to Ukraine.

Earlier this month, Moscow submitted draft security documents demanding that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back its military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.
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The United States recorded more than 512,000 daily new coronavirus cases Tuesday – the single highest one-day number of cases recorded since the beginning of the pandemic, according to data released by the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center

The one-day record coincides with a New York Times database showing the seven-day average of cases in the U.S. rose above 267,000 on Tuesday.

The recent surge is driven by a record number of children infected and hospitalized with COVID-19.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, lowered its previous estimate of new coronavirus cases driven by the rapidly spreading omicron variant. The federal health agency said Tuesday that omicron accounted for roughly 59 percent of all variants, far lower than the 73 percent figure it announced last week.

The surge of new infections in the United States has forced the cancelation of another postseason college football game. The Holiday Bowl was canceled Tuesday just hours before the game’s scheduled kickoff in San Diego, California, when UCLA (the University of California, Los Angeles) announced it would be unable to play against North Carolina State because too many players had been diagnosed with the infection.

Five postseason games have been canceled, while at least one bowl game is going ahead with a different team. Central Michigan will meet Washington State in Friday’s Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, after the Miami Hurricanes were forced to drop out. Central Michigan was supposed to play in the Arizona Bowl, but that game was canceled after Boise State withdrew.

Officials with the coming major college football championship playoffs have warned the four teams – Alabama, Cincinnati, Michigan and Georgia – that if they cannot play in Friday’s semifinal matchups, they may have to forfeit.

The U.S. is among several nations reporting record new numbers of infections. France on Tuesday reported a new one-day record of 179,807 new cases, making it one of the highest single-day tallies worldwide since the start of the pandemic.

Denmark, which has the world’s highest infection rate, with 1,612 cases per 100,000 people, posted a single-day record of 16,164 new infections on Monday.

Other European nations reporting new record-setting numbers of one-day infections Tuesday include Britain (138,831), Greece (21,657), Italy (78,313), Portugal (17,172) and Spain (99,671).

Australia is also undergoing a dramatic increase in new cases driven by omicron, posting nearly 18,300 infections Wednesday, well above Tuesday’s previous high of about 11,300.

New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, reported just over 11,200 infections Wednesday – nearly double the 6,602 new cases posted the previous day.

Worldwide, the number of recorded cases increased by 11% last week, according to the World Health Organization. The United Nations agency said Wednesday the risk posed by omicron remains “very high.”

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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A gunman who went on a shooting rampage in several locations around the Denver area, killing five people and wounding two, targeted his victims based on previous personal and business dealings, authorities said.

Lyndon James McLeod, 47, was also killed Monday night after he shot a police officer who confronted him in a busy shopping district in the Denver suburb of Lakewood. The officer managed to fire back at McLeod, killing him, Lakewood police spokesperson John Romero said Tuesday.

Matt Clark, commander of the Denver Police Department’s Major Crimes Division, said the gunman knew most of his victims but not the last person he shot — a clerk in a hotel in Lakewood’s Belmar shopping area. Sarah Steck, 28, who died of her injuries Tuesday, was apparently targeted because of a dispute with the hotel, not with her, Clark said.

McLeod once owned a business in Denver called Flat Black Ink Corp. at an address that is now World Tattoo Studio, according to records from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. A man who answered the phone at World Tattoo Studio hung up after he was asked about McLeod on Tuesday evening.

The first shooting took place at a tattoo shop less than a mile (1.6 kilometers) from that address. Four of the victims, including three who died, were shot at two tattoo shops in the Denver area.

Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen said during a news conference that McLeod was on the radar of law enforcement and had been investigated in both 2020 and 2021. He declined to say what McLeod was investigated for but said charges were not filed against him.

The shootings started around 5:30 p.m. in central Denver along Broadway, a busy street lined with shops, bars and restaurants, where two women were killed and a man was injured but expected to survive, police said. Soon after, McLeod forced his way into a home that also housed a business nearby, pursued the occupants through the building and fired shots, but no one was injured, Clark said. Then a man was shot and killed in a home near Denver’s Cheesman Park, he said.

Later, Denver police chased the vehicle believed to have been involved in the shootings, and an officer exchanged gunfire with McLeod, Clark said. McLeod was able to get away, fleeing into Lakewood, after gunfire disabled the officer’s cruiser, he said.

Just before 6 p.m., the Lakewood Police Department received a report of shots fired at the Lucky 13 tattoo shop. Danny Schofield, 38, was killed there, Romero said.

When officers spotted the car suspected of being involved in the shooting at the Belmar shopping area — where shops line sidewalks in a modern version of a downtown — McLeod opened fire and officers shot back, Romero said. He ran away and allegedly threatened some people in a restaurant with a gun before going to the Hyatt House hotel, where he spoke briefly with Steck, the clerk, before shooting her, he said.

About a minute later, the Lakewood police officer saw McLeod and ordered him to drop his weapon. She was shot in the abdomen but fired back at him, Romero said.

The wounded officer, whose name has not been released, underwent surgery Monday night. She is expected to make a full recovery.

Family members identified one of the other victims Tuesday as Alicia Cardenas, 44, the owner of the Sol Tribe tattoo shop, where the first shooting happened.

Alfredo Cardenas told KMGH-TV that his only daughter owned her first tattoo shop when she was 19 and had worked in the Broadway location in Denver for 15 to 20 years.

“Very gregarious, very friendly, but she was a very determined person,” he said. “She knew where she was going.”

Alicia Cardenas is survived by her 12-year-old, Alfredo Cardenas said.

On Tuesday, candles, flower bouquets and some containers of fruit rested in the doorway of Cardenas’ shop as people, including her fiance, Daniel Clelland, stopped by to remember a woman they said cared for so many.

“I don’t know why someone would do this,” Clelland said.
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Harry Reid, the former Senate majority leader and Nevada’s longest-serving member of Congress, has died. He was 82. 

Reid died Tuesday, “peacefully,” surrounded by family, “following a courageous, four-year battle with pancreatic cancer,” Landra Reid said of her husband in a statement.

“Harry was a devout family man and deeply loyal friend,” she said. “We greatly appreciate the outpouring of support from so many over these past few years. We are especially grateful for the doctors and nurses that cared for him. Please know that meant the world to him.” 

Funeral arrangements would be announced in the coming days, she said.

The combative former boxer-turned-lawyer was widely acknowledged as one of the toughest dealmakers in Congress, a conservative Democrat in an increasingly polarized chamber who vexed lawmakers of both parties with a brusque manner and this motto: “I would rather dance than fight, but I know how to fight.” 

Over a 34-year career in Washington, Reid thrived on behind-the-scenes wrangling and kept the Senate controlled by his party through two presidents — Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Barack Obama — a crippling recession and the Republican takeover of the House after the 2010 elections. 

He retired in 2016 after an accident left him blind in one eye.

Reid in May 2018 revealed he’d been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was undergoing treatment.

Abrupt and underestimated 

He was known in Washington for his abrupt style, typified by his habit of unceremoniously hanging up the phone without saying goodbye.

“Even when I was president, he would hang up on me,” Obama said in a 2019 tribute video to Reid.

He was frequently underestimated, most recently in the 2010 elections when he looked like the underdog to tea party favorite Sharron Angle. Ambitious Democrats, assuming his defeat, began angling for his leadership post. But Reid defeated Angle, 50% to 45%, and returned to the pinnacle of his power. For Reid, it was legacy time. 

“I don’t have people saying, ‘He’s the greatest speaker,’ ‘He’s handsome,’ ‘He’s a man about town,'” Reid told The New York Times in December that year. “But I don’t really care. I feel very comfortable with my place in history.” 

Nevada born 

Born in Searchlight, Nevada, to an alcoholic father who killed himself at 58 and a mother who served as a laundress in a bordello, Reid grew up in a small cabin without indoor plumbing and swam with other children at a pool at a local brothel. He hitchhiked to Basic High School in Henderson, Nevada, about 65 km from home, where he met the woman he would marry in 1959, Landra Gould. At Utah State University, the couple became members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

The future senator put himself through George Washington University law school by working nights as a U.S. Capitol police officer. 

At age 28, Reid was elected to the Nevada Assembly and at age 30 became the youngest lieutenant governor in Nevada history as Governor Mike O’Callaghan’s running mate in 1970. 

Elected to the U.S. House in 1982, Reid served in Congress longer than anyone else in Nevada history. He narrowly avoided defeat in a 1998 Senate race when he held off Republican John Ensign, then a House member, by 428 votes in a recount that stretched into January. 

After his election as Senate majority leader in 2007, he was credited with putting Nevada on the political map by pushing to move the state’s caucuses to February, at the start of presidential nominating season. That forced each national party to pour resources into the state, which still had only six votes in the Electoral College despite having the country’s fastest growth over the past two decades. Reid’s extensive network of campaign workers and volunteers twice helped deliver the state for Obama. 

In 2016 Obama lauded Reid for his work in the Senate, declaring, “I could not have accomplished what I accomplished without him being at my side.” 

Legislative battles 

The most influential politician in Nevada for more than a decade, Reid steered hundreds of millions of dollars to the state and was credited with almost single-handedly blocking construction of a nuclear waste storage facility at Yucca Mountain outside Las Vegas. He often went out of his way to defend social programs that make easy political targets, calling Social Security “one of the great government programs in history.” 

Reid championed suicide prevention, often telling the story of his father. He stirred controversy in 2010 when he said in a speech on the floor of the Nevada legislature it was time to end legal prostitution in the state. 

Reid’s political moderation meant he was never politically secure in his home state, or entirely trusted in the increasingly polarized Senate. Democrats grumbled about his votes for a ban on so-called partial-birth abortion and the Iraq war resolution in 2002, something Reid later said was his biggest regret in Congress.

He voted against most gun control bills and in 2013 after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, dropped a proposed ban on assault weapons from the Democrats’ gun control legislation. The package, he said, would not pass with the ban attached. 

Reid’s Senate particularly chafed members of the House, both Republicans and Democrats. When then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, muscled Obama’s health care overhaul through the House in 2009, a different version passed the Senate and the reconciliation process floundered long enough for Republicans to turn it into an election-year weapon they used to demonize the California Democrat and cast the legislation as a big-government power grab. Obama signed the measure into law in March 2010. But angered by the recession and inspired by the small-government tea party, voters the next year swept Democrats from the House majority.

Reid hand-picked a Democratic candidate who won the election to replace him in 2016, former Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, and built a political machine in the state that helped Democrats win a series of key elections in 2016 and 2018. 

On his way out of office, he repeatedly lambasted Donald Trump, calling him at one point “a sociopath” and “a sexual predator who lost the popular vote and fueled his campaign with bigotry and hate.” 

Target of organized crime

As head of the Nevada Gaming Commission investigating organized crime, Reid became the target of a car bomb in 1980. Police called it an attempted homicide. Reid blamed Jack Gordon, who went to prison for trying to bribe him in a sting operation that Reid participated in over illegal efforts to bring new games to casinos in 1978. 

Following Reid’s lengthy farewell address on the Senate floor in 2016, his Nevada colleague Republican Dean Heller declared: “It’s been said that it’s better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both. And as me and my colleagues here today and those in the gallery probably agree with me, no individual in American politics embodies that sentiment today more than my colleague from Nevada, Harry Mason Reid.” 

 
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In a court filing Tuesday, lawyers for Prince Andrew say a lawsuit by an American who claims he sexually abused her when she was 17 might have to be thrown out because she no longer lives in the United States. 

Attorneys Andrew Brettler and Melissa Lerner said they recently discovered that Virginia Giuffre has lived in Australia all but two of the last 19 years and cannot claim she’s a resident of Colorado, where she hasn’t lived since at least 2019. 

In an August lawsuit filed in federal court in New York, Giuffre claimed the prince abused her on multiple occasions in 2001. 

The prince’s lawyers in October asked Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to throw out the lawsuit, saying the prince “never sexually abused or assaulted” Giuffre. The lawyers acknowledged that Giuffre may well be a victim of sexual abuse by financier Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 while awaiting a sex trafficking trial. 

A message seeking comment from Giuffre to the latest filing by the prince’s lawyers was sent to a spokesperson for her lawyers. 

Last month, Kaplan said a trial in Giuffre’s lawsuit against the prince could be held between September and December 2022. 

But the prince’s lawyers say the new information about Giuffre’s residence should result in the suspension of any progress in the lawsuit toward trial, including depositions of Andrew and Giuffre, until the issue is settled as to whether her foreign residence disqualifies her from suing the prince in the U.S. 

They asked the judge to order Giuffre to respond to written legal requests about her residency and submit to a two-hour deposition on the issue. 

The lawyers wrote that Giuffre has an Australian driver’s license and was living in a $1.9 million home in Perth, Western Australia, where she has been raising three children with her husband, who is Australian. 

“Even if Ms. Giuffre’s Australian domicile could not be established as early as October 2015, there can be no real dispute that she was permanently living there with an intent to remain there as of 2019 — still two years before she filed this action against Prince Andrew,” the lawyers wrote. 

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they choose to come forward publicly, as Giuffre has. 
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A New York state appeals court on Tuesday put on hold part of a trial judge’s decision blocking The New York Times from reporting on documents prepared by a lawyer for the conservative activist group Project Veritas. 

Justice William Ford of the Appellate Division in Brooklyn said the Times does not have to turn over or destroy its copies of documents prepared by Project Veritas’ in-house lawyer Benjamin Barr while it appeals the coverage ban. 

On Friday, in a ruling that alarmed First Amendment advocates, Justice Charles Wood of the state Supreme Court in Westchester County said Barr’s memos were not a matter of public concern and rejected the Times’ claim that barring coverage would unconstitutionally restrain its journalism. 

The newspaper’s editorial board called Wood’s decision dangerous and his rationale “breathtaking,” saying no court should tell news media how to conduct their reporting and risk subjecting them to frivolous libel lawsuits as a means of controlling news coverage. 

Ford directed Project Veritas to address by January 14, 2022, why Wood’s decision should not be thrown out or at least stayed through a possibly expedited Times appeal. 

Elizabeth Locke, a lawyer for Project Veritas, in an email said the group “joined The Times in its very limited request to maintain the status quo to allow appellate review because the proper administration of justice is paramount to American democracy, the First Amendment, and the press’ freedom under it.” 

Times spokesman Jordan Cohen in an email said that the newspaper was pleased that parts of Wood’s “unconstitutional order” were stayed, and that it looked forward to having the Appellate Division vacate the order. 

Led by James O’Keefe, Project Veritas has used what critics view as deceptive tactics to expose what it describes as liberal media bias. 

The group is the subject of a U.S. Department of Justice probe into its possible role in the theft of a diary from President Joe Biden’s daughter Ashley, which a right-wing website excerpted. 

Project Veritas had been suing the Times for defamation over a September 2020 article describing a video it released concerning alleged voter fraud in Minnesota. 

It subsequently objected to a November 11 Times article that drew from Barr’s memos, calling the publication an attempt to embarrass a litigation adversary. 

The Times had not faced any prior restraint since 1971, when the Nixon administration unsuccessfully sought to block the publication of the Pentagon Papers detailing U.S. military involvement in Vietnam.

 
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Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is being hailed as a national hero in Canada after publication of an article about an obscure 1952 incident in which a Carter-led team helped prevent the world’s first nuclear accident from becoming a much worse disaster. 

A recounting of the incident appeared this month on the Facebook page of the Historical Society of Ottawa and quickly went viral across Canada. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp., the country’s national broadcaster, followed up with its own version soon after. 

“The Historical Society of Ottawa has been telling the great stories of the Ottawa area’s past for over 123 years,” the society’s outreach officer, Ben Weiss, told VOA. “No story, however, has resonated like this one. 

“I had learned of this amazing story reading Jimmy Carter’s memoirs many years ago. Yet I had no idea my post would go viral as it did. Almost 1 million views on Facebook so far — and that many again reshared on Twitter.” 

Carter, a young U.S. Navy lieutenant in 1952, was in in nearby Schenectady, New York, training to work aboard America’s first nuclear submarine at the time of the accident at a reactor in Chalk River, Ontario, just 180 km from Ottawa, the Canadian capital. 

According to a Canadian government website, mechanical problems and operator error “led to overheating fuel rods and significant damage” to the core of the reactor, prompting officials to turn to the United States for help in dismantling the device.

A total of 26 Americans, including several volunteers, rushed to Chalk River to help with the hazardous job. Carter led a team of men who, after formulating a plan, descended into the highly radioactive site for 90 seconds apiece to perform specialized tasks. 

Carter’s job, according to the CBC recounting, was simply to turn a single screw. But even that limited exposure carried serious risks; Carter was told that he might never be able to have children again, though in fact his daughter Amy was born years later. 

For Weiss, the story and the reaction to it are a fitting tribute to Carter, who has devoted much of his post-presidency to public service but who at age 97 is in failing health. 

“To learn of Carter’s ‘action hero’ exploits as a young naval officer (here in Canada of all places!) just seemed a fitting final puzzle piece to complete the story of this remarkable man’s life,” Weiss told VOA in an email exchange. 

“I think many Canadians — and Americans — share a heartfelt fondness for Jimmy Carter. At least those of us of a certain generation.” 

That view is shared by Bruce Heyman, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada. “The recent story of President Jimmy Carter and his heroic activity to prevent a nuclear disaster in Canada is one of many stories that tell us about one of America’s great citizens,” he said in an interview. 

VOA reporter Kane Farabaugh, who has interviewed Carter more than 20 times and is researching a book on the Chalk River incident, believes the former president would be quick to deflect any credit for his role in averting a catastrophe. 

“He did not do this by himself,” Farabaugh said. “He did this with a group of Navy men who were all tasked with the same job. I am sure what he would say is that he has to share the credit.” 

“Let’s think about how humble Jimmy Carter is about all this,” Farabaugh added. “Nobody has really heard about this story almost 70 years past the incident. For almost 70 years, this is an event which has existed in obscurity. President Carter, when he was running for president, didn’t really discuss this. Could you imagine today?” 

Robert A. Strong, author of a book on Carter’s foreign policy, attributes the surge of interest to “a kind of revival of academic and popular interest in Carter,” who was defeated in his bid for a second term as president in 1980. 

“On reflection, Carter is a far better president than was recognized at the time,” said Strong, author of “Working in the World: Jimmy Carter and the Making of American Foreign Policy.” 

Recent reappraisals of Carter’s presidency include an Al Jazeera article titled, “Jimmy Carter’s legacy seems to improve with age,” and PBS a report titled, “Why Jimmy Carter may be the most misunderstood president in American history.” 

“What I want to remind people of, is the Jimmy Carter who we have come to respect and admire post-presidency, is the same Jimmy Carter who was in the White House,” Strong said.
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Two relief workers for Save the Children were among those killed in eastern Myanmar in an attack on Christmas Eve, the group said Tuesday. 

The group blamed the country’s military for the incident that left at least 35 people dead in Kayah state. 

“Violence against innocent civilians including aid workers is intolerable, and this senseless attack is a breach of International Humanitarian Law,” the group’s chief executive, Inger Ashing, said in a statement. 

“This is not an isolated event. The people of Myanmar continue to be targeted with increasing violence and these events demand an immediate response,” Ashing said. 

Myanmar’s military said its forces had come under attack when it tried to stop seven cars it said were driving in a “suspicious way.” 

Military spokesman Zaw Min Tun told the French news agency  that troops killed several people in the ensuing clash. 

An anti-government militia that operates in the area, the Karenni National Defense Force, said those killed were not militia members but rather civilians fleeing conflict.

In response to the attack, Save the Children called for the U.N. Security Council to implement an arms embargo on the country’s government. 

The U.S. Embassy in Myanmar described the attack as “barbaric.” 

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also condemned the attack. 

“The targeting of innocent people and humanitarian actors is unacceptable, and the military’s widespread atrocities against the people of Burma underscore the urgency of holding its members accountable,” Blinken said in a statement. 

Myanmar has been the scene of much unrest since a military coup in February led to nationwide protests and violent crackdowns on them by government forces. Some 1,400 have been reported killed. 

While initial protests were peaceful, armed resistance against the military government has increased, leading some U.N. experts to warn the country is at risk of a civil war. 

Some information in this report comes from The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse. 
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