The Queen has expressed her “concern” over allegations of racism and her sadness on learning exactly how challenging the Duke and Duchess of Sussex - Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle - had found life as working royals.
This follows rising worries, both in the UK and abroad, about the treatment of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle by many at Buckingham Palace, particularly racism towards her, as stated by Meghan in a TV interview with Oprah Winfrey in the US, where they are settled now.
Meghan revealed she was left feeling suicidal, while the couple said a member of the royal household had asked about how dark their unborn son’s skin would be.
After growing pressure to respond, a short statement issued on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II read: “The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan. The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately… “Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much-loved family members.”
The interview has rocked the royal family and divided people around the world, on the British monarchy and racism in the UK. There has been strong criticism, especially of Meghan Markle, in sections of the UK Press.
Meghan has described feeling so isolated and miserable inside the royal family and said she had suicidal thoughts; yet when she asked for mental health help from the palace’s human resources staff she was told she was not a paid employee.
Prince Harry too revealed the stresses the couple endured, and ruptured relations with his father, Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, and his brother, Prince William, highlighting the depth of the family divisions that led the couple to step away from royal duties and move to California last year.
Asked if there were concerns that their son Archie might be “too brown”, Meghan told Winfrey that was a “pretty safe” assumption. Both she and Harry refused to identify the person, saying it would be “very damaging”.
Meghan suggested the fact Archie was mixed-race meant he was denied the title of prince. Under existing protocols, as the grandchild of a sovereign, Archie would automatically become a prince when his grandfather Charles acceded the throne.
But the couple indicated they had been told those rules would be changed, in line with Charles’s plan for a slimmed-down monarchy, leaving Archie without his birthright title or the security protection that goes with it. “It’s not their right to take it away,” Meghan said.
Racism was “a large part” of why the couple left Britain, said Harry, claiming that though the UK was not bigoted, the UK press, specifically the tabloids, was.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson when asked whether the palace should investigate the allegations, said: “Perhaps the best thing I can say is that I have always had the highest admiration for the Queen and the unifying role that she plays in our country and across the Commonwealth. And as for all other matters to do with the royal family, I’ve spent a long time now not commenting on royal family matters and I don’t intend to depart from that today.”
The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, said the race and mental health issues raised by Meghan were “bigger than the royal family” and should not be put to one side. The children’s minister, Vicky Ford, stressed there was “no place for racism in our society”.
Asked about Joe Biden’s reaction to the interview, the White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Meghan’s decision to speak about her struggles with mental health “takes courage” and “that’s certainly something the president believes in”.
The Society of Editors attacked the claim that the UK press was bigoted. Its executive director, Ian Murray, who said it was ‘not acceptable’ for the couple to make such claims about the Royal Family, has since resigned from his position, following much public criticism.
The interview and the comments by Harry and Meghan have raised much international interest because Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of the Commonwealth of Nations, comprising the former colonies of the British, and increasing reports of racism, especially against the Black community in the UK, who have come from former colonies.
US Relief Funds
The US Congress has approved one of the largest economic stimulus measures in US history, a sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that gives President Joe Biden his first major legislative victory in office.
The measure provides $400 billion for $1,400 direct payments to most Americans, $350 billion in aid to state and local governments, an expansion of the child tax credit and increased funding for vaccine distribution.
Approval by a 220-211 vote in the Democratic-controlled chamber came with zero Republican support after weeks of partisan debate and wrangling in Congress. Democrats described the legislation as a critical response to a pandemic that has killed more than 528,000 people and thrown millions out of work.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said passage of the legislation was a pivotal day for the US economy and would speed its recovery.
But Republicans said the measure was too costly and was packed with wasteful progressive priorities. They said the worst phase of the largest public health crisis in a century has largely passed and the economy is headed toward a rebound.
Myanmar - Protests and Deaths
As mass protests by the people of Myanmar against the military coup continued, and more than 50 civilians have now been killed, the Security Forces sprayed gunfire during pre-dawn patrols of Myanmar's biggest city on Thursday, as the UN condemned the growing violence against protesters angry over the six-week-old coup.
International pressure has been building steadily since the military ousted and detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, triggering daily demonstrations around the country.
The UN Security Council unanimously agreed on condemning the Myanmar military's use of violence against peaceful anti-coup protesters. It was the second time in just over a month that the council's 15 members, including China -- a traditional ally of Myanmar's generals -- made a rare show of unity over the crisis.
“Now it's time for de-escalation. It's time for diplomacy. It's time for dialogue,” the UN's Chinese ambassador Zhang Jun said.
The United States also applied fresh pressure with sanctions against two adult children of Myanmar junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing. The EU and the UK are also taking action, especially sanctions against the military coup leaders.
In Yangon's central Sanchaung township people had another sleepless night as Security Forces raided apartments searching for lost police weapons. Sanchaung has been a flashpoint of tensions all week -- on Monday night Security Forces sealed off a block of streets, confining around 200 anti-coup protesters before searching apartments.
An Amnesty International report on Thursday accused the military of using “battlefield weapons” on unarmed protesters and carrying out premeditated killings orchestrated by their commanding officers.
The rights group catalogued the Security Forces’ use of firearms that are “completely inappropriate for use in policing protests”, including light machine guns, sniper rifles and semi-automatic rifles. “Make no mistake, we are in a deadly new phase of the crisis,” Amnesty's Joanne Mariner said.
The military has defended its takeover citing voting irregularities in November elections, won by Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy party.
Brazil: Lula back
A Supreme Court judge has annulled the criminal convictions against Brazil's former president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, restoring his political rights ahead of next year's presidential election.
The decision scrambles forecasts for the 2022 race, potentially paving the way for a showdown between President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right populist, and Lula, easily his most formidable opponent on the left.
In his first comments since the court ruling, Lula, 75, gave a scathing take-down of Bolsonaro’s management of the economy and signature policies. He was especially biting on Bolsonaro’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 266,000 people in Brazil – the second-highest death toll worldwide, after the United States.
“This country has no government,” Lula told a news conference. “This country doesn’t take care of the economy, of job creation, wages, health care, the environment, education and young people.”
Lula, as he is known throughout Brazil, governed Latin America's largest economy between 2003 and 2011. He was convicted over graft allegations in 2018. In a surprise decision, the court said the southern city of Curitiba did not have the authority to try Lula on corruption charges and that he must be retried in federal courts in the capital, Brasilia.
Lula's graft conviction in 2018 blocked him from running in the elections that year. He was then released from prison in late 2019, but could not run for office due to his criminal record. The 75-year-old has maintained his innocence and said the case against him was politically motivated.
The charismatic former union leader is a polarising figure but still popular with many of the country's poor, who credit him for bringing millions out of poverty.
Bolsonaro has repeatedly downplayed the virus, flouted expert advice on containing it and fuelled vaccine scepticism. “Don’t follow any imbecile decisions by the president of the republic or the health minister: get vaccinated,” Lula said.
Lula, a former metal worker and union leader, led Brazil through an economic boom and is remembered for social programmes that helped lift tens of millions of people from poverty. Recent opinion polls suggest he is the best-placed politician to unseat Bolsonaro in the October 2022 elections.
However, there were signs that Lula’s messaging on the pandemic had rattled Bolsonaro. Within hours of Lula’s criticism, Bolsonaro and his aides appeared masked at an official event in Brasilia – a rare sighting for the president.
Lula still faces a series of corruption and influence-peddling charges, including the ones he was jailed for, which will now be transferred to a federal court in Brasilia. It may be too late for other courts to rule him out of the 2022 race, as to lose his political rights again, he would have to be convicted and then lose again on appeal. There won’t be time for that to happen before the next presidential campaign in October next year.
Russia and China Space
Russia and China have signed a memorandum of understanding to set up an international lunar research station as both countries seek to catch up with the United States in the space race.
Russia, which sent the first man into space during the Soviet Union, has been lagging behind Washington and Beijing in the exploration of the Moon and Mars.
Russia's space agency Roscosmos said the lunar station will be designed as a “complex of experimental research facilities created on the surface and/or in the orbit of the Moon”. It would be available for use by other interested countries and international partners.
Russia's space sector has suffered greatly in recent years from a lack of financing and corruption. Moscow and Washington are collaborating in the space sector – one of the few areas of cooperation left between the Cold War rivals.
But Russia lost its monopoly for manned flights to the International Space Station (ISS) last year after the first successful mission of the US company Space X.
China has expressed its space ambitions, launching last year its Tianwen-1 probe that is currently orbiting Mars. In December, China successfully brought samples of the Moon back to Earth, in a first mission of this type in over 40 years.
Earlier on Tuesday, China and France also reaffirmed their commitment to working together in the field of space exploration.
Libya
Libyan lawmakers approved the country’s first unified government in about seven years, overcoming a major hurdle in a fragile political reconciliation that’s supposed to end almost a decade of conflict.
Lawmakers overwhelmingly backed Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah’s proposed transitional administration during a third joint session of the North African nation’s two rival assemblies.
The new Cabinet will have to work quickly to bridge political divides and restore key services in the country that’s been in turmoil since a NATO-backed revolt ousted dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi in 2011. The country has been split between dueling eastern and western administrations since 2014.
“The war will not be repeated,” Dbeibah told lawmakers after the vote, urging Libyans to “open your hearts” in the push for reconciliation.
Dbeibah, an influential businessman chosen as premier by delegates to a United Nations-supported forum in Geneva, will work alongside a three-member presidency council in an administration that’s supposed to rule until elections in December.
Reining in the country’s myriad heavily armed militias will be a major challenge for his administration, which must also appease powerful figures who feel they’ve been sidelined by the UN-backed process.
A unified government could mean stability for oil in Libya, which is home to Africa’s largest reserves, but has seen output stall due to repeated fighting and closures. The chairman of the National Oil Corp, Mustafa Sanalla, told Bloomberg Television on Tuesday that production will increase to 1.45 million barrels per day by the end of 2021.
Lebanon protests
Protests have swept Lebanon over the past week after the local currency fell to a historic low, adding to the woes of a country already in the midst of a catastrophic economic and political crisis.
The Lebanese lira dropped to a near record-breaking 10,750LL to the US dollar, effectively losing about 85 percent of its value since October 2019.
In May last year, more than half of the country’s population was living in poverty, according to the United Nations. Then in January, Lebanon was plunged deeper into economic misery by new COVID-19 lockdown measures. Protesters in Tripoli scuffled with Security Forces, some of whom used live ammunition. One protester was killed and hundreds were wounded.
Over the past week, angry protesters have blocked roads and highways across the country with cars, burning tyres and rubbish bins, facing occasional repression from the Lebanese Army and Security Forces. Protesters chanted against President Michel Aoun and Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, and called for an end to Lebanon’s rampant economic corruption.
COVID spread on rise
There is rising global concern on the spread of the COVID-19 virus, with some countries showing a marked rise in infections, leading to higher numbers deceased. There is also worries about the spread of the variants from the UK, South Africa and Brazil, which are seeing more youth being infected. Hospitals in South America, and Europe too, are having to curb the admission of other patients to ensure Intensive Care treatment to COVID patients. Some European countries are shifting patients to hospitals in neighbouring countries to meet the current crisis.
In Brazil the daily death toll passes 2,000 for the first time, as the world’s second worst-affected country in terms of the total lives lost sees records tumble. Another 2,286 Brazilians had lost their lives on Wednesday. The latest high, which followed a record 1,972 deaths on Tuesday, took the South American country’s total death toll to more than 270,000, second only to the US.
The US remains highest with 29,152,716 infections and 529, 203 deaths, but the daily death rate is slowly coming down, with more vaccinations and better social control under the Biden administration.
Rich, developing nations wrangle over COVID vaccine patents. Richer members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have blocked a push by over 80 developing countries to waive patent rights in an effort to boost production of COVID vaccines for poor nations.
As the call for COVID vaccines increases, US President Biden pledges to share surplus vaccines with the rest of the world, as he announced the purchase of an additional 100m Johnson & Johnson doses.
At least 3,000 nurses have been killed by COVID-19, the global nurses’ federation said Thursday, as it warned of a looming exodus of health workers traumatised by the pandemic, AFP reports. Exactly one year on since the World Health Organisation (WHO) first described COVID-19 as a pandemic, the International Council of Nurses said burn-out and stress had led millions of nurses to consider quitting the profession.
The spread of COVID-19 is seen in several countries of Europe too. The death toll in Italy has passed 100,000 this week, with the numbers infected rising to 3,123,368. France has a marked rise in infections, moving to 4,072,400 and deaths rising to 89,707, and soon likely to pass 100,000. In Germany too, the infections have risen to 2,541,781 and deaths to 72,858.
Virus Passport
Meanwhile, China has introduced the first “virus passports” in a bid to boost international travel as the United States and the European Union consider similar programmes. The EU has said it plans to propose an EU-wide digital vaccination passport sometime this month.
The move by China for a digital health certificate for its 1.3 billion citizens shows the holder's vaccine status and virus test results.
But the World Health Organisation has warned that there is no evidence to show that recovered COVID sufferers with antibodies are protected from a second infection. French President Emmanuel Macron recently suggested yet another, more localised form of COVID-free permission slip: the so-called “health pass”. This certification would only be valid within France's borders but would allow a fully vaccinated person to, for example, eat in restaurants and attend certain events.
Greece and Cyprus have vaccination passports specifically for travel to and from Israel, which has fully vaccinated 44 percent of its population.
Denmark and Sweden are also looking to launch health passports soon, with the European Union promising to propose a “green pass” to ease movement within the entire Union despite resistance from France and Germany.
