Sudan criminalizes female mutilation; Biden addresses Reade's assault allegations; Watchdog says US withholding data on attacks amid Taliban peace talks; US intelligence agrees COVID-19 'not manmade
NewsHero - May 1, 2020 - Issue 89
Welcome to today’s edition of NewsHero for May 1, 2020.
**Now through June 1, 2020, new annual subscriptions to NewsHero will each be contributing 25% to the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund**
At NewsHero we put the heroes in the headlines and give them the attention that they deserve. Our coverage puts the focus on those who are helping, over those causing harm. Here you’ll find the same top-priority issues, but you won’t find clickbait, and what you read won’t be driven by ad sales.
NewsHero Notes
Equal rights advocates, Human Rights Watch - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
Human Rights Watch says China’s government should mark International Workers’ Day (today, May 1) by ending gender discrimination in its civil service recruitment. Chinese law prohibits gender discrimination in hiring, but job discrimination remains a widespread problem in the country, the group says, noting that eleven percent of civil service ads specify “men only.”
“The Chinese government claims it’s committed to gender equality in employment, but even its own hiring practices are still deeply discriminatory,” said Yaqiu Wang, China researcher at HRW. “The Chinese authorities need to stop publishing job ads that blatantly discriminate against women.”
One Free Press Coalition - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
One Free Press Coalition has issued its “10 Most Urgent” list of journalists whose press freedoms are being suppressed or whose cases demand justice. Azimjon Askarov, an award-winning ethnic Uzbek journalist jailed in Kyrgyzstan in deteriorating health at high risk for contracting COVID-19, is at the top of the May 2020 list.
Women’s issues gained greater attention after the prominent role women and girls played in nine-month street protests that removed veteran autocrat Omar Al Bashir in April last year. (AFP)
Afternoon Brief
Women’s rights groups, anti-FGM campaigners - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
Sudan has criminalized female genital mutilation (FGM), making it punishable by three years in jail, a move campaigners said ushered in a “new era” for women’s rights in the African nation.
Women’s rights groups said the punishment would help to end FGM, but warned it would be difficult to change minds in communities that view the traditional practice as necessary to marry their daughters.
“FGM prevalence in Sudan is one of the highest globally. It is now time to use punitive measures to ensure girls are protected from this torturous practice,” said Faiza Mohamed, Africa regional director for Equality Now.
Anti-FGM campaigners said criminalization of the internationally condemned practice was a sign of the new government’s commitment towards democracy and equality.
“Sudan has truly entered a New Era for Girl Rights with Criminalisation of FGM. What an incredible day for my sisters and the future of Africa,” tweeted Somali-born British campaigner Nimco Ali.
Reade, for speaking out; Biden, for seeking records release - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden denies that he sexually assaulted a former U.S. Senate aide in 1993, in his first public remarks on the subject after facing pressure to personally address the accusation.
A California woman named Tara Reade, who worked as a staff assistant in Biden’s Senate office from December 1992 to August 1993, had accused Biden in media interviews of sexual assault.
“No, it is not true. I’m saying unequivocally it never, never happened,” Biden told MSNBC in an interview when asked about the accusation, which his campaign had previously denied.
In a statement before the interview, Biden called on the U.S. Senate to ask the National Archives to release any personnel records that could indicate whether the aide filed a complaint against Biden at the time.
SIGAR - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
American watchdog SIGAR—Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction—said today that the U.S. mission in Afghanistan has for the first time refused to publicly release its data on insurgent attacks amid the implementation of a peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban.
Washington’s SIGAR, which monitors billions of dollars in U.S. aid to Afghanistan, expressed its concern in its quarterly report, which also discusses the reduction in ground operations of Afghan forces.
John F. Sopko, who heads the watchdog, wrote that data on the Taliban and other militant attacks “was one of the last remaining metrics SIGAR was able to use to report publicly on the security situation in Afghanistan.”
International Workers’ Day Marked For Many By Job Loss, Lack Of Virus Protection
CDC issues interim guidelines for reopening US cities
Employees of Vi at La Jolla retirement complex hold signs and wave flags for the residents during an afternoon pep rally, April 8, 2020, in San Diego. As elderly residents who have been quarantined for weeks make their way out onto their balconies, employees below dance, wave flags and shout words of encouragement in a now almost daily afternoon pep rally. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
NewsHero is continuing to offer a compilation of stories and resources that best represent the current state of the coronavirus pandemic, centered on those individuals, institutions, and organizations stepping up to end this crisis as quickly and effectively as possible. The public, too, has a duty. This includes staying responsibly informed and taking the situation seriously, while remaining as cool-headed and as isolated as possible. These are strange and difficult times, but we will endure.
Millions of workers worldwide marked International Workers’ Day today struggling without jobs or worried they don’t have enough protections against the coronavirus as more countries and states reopen for business, reports the Associated Press.
The CDC has drafted a 17-page document that details interim guidelines for how the U.S. should handle safely reopening businesses, schools, churches, mass transit and other organizations, reports CNN.
In an exclusive from Axios, new survey research by one of Donald Trump’s campaign pollsters shows broad support for more absentee voting during the pandemic.
Dr. Brian Monahan, the Capitol’s attending physician, said Thursday that coronavirus tests will be available for those who are ill, but there will not be enough to test all 100 senators as the chamber comes back in session, reports Politico.
“We aren’t sure which vaccines will be the most effective yet, and each requires unique technology to make,” says Bill Gates in a newsletter from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “That means nations need to invest in many different kinds of manufacturing facilities now, knowing that some will never be used. Otherwise, we’ll waste months after the lab develops an immunization, waiting for the right manufacturer to scale up.”
The top U.S. spy agency said on Thursday that it does not believe the coronavirus was manmade, reports NBC News. “The Intelligence Community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified,” the Office of Director of National Intelligence said in a rare statement.
Human Rights Watch says that being influenced by misinformation coming out of China regarding the novel coronavirus was “dangerous and preventable.” A report from HRW says: “The apathy and inertia pervasive within China’s vast bureaucracy hampers both accurate reporting and adequate detection of COVID-19 cases. The country’s history of cover-ups should have served as a warning to anyone reading the news that official Chinese information about the virus simply isn’t reliable.”
Nightbird Restaurant chef and owner Kim Alter, left, mimics giving a hug to nurse practitioner Sydney Gressel, center, and patient care technician Matt Phillips after delivering dinner to them at University of California at San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco, March 27, 2020. A group of tech-savvy, entrepreneurial San Francisco friends wanted to help two groups devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. They came up with a plan that involved soliciting donations, tapping friends in the restaurant world and getting San Francisco hospitals to accept free food cooked up by some of the city’s top chefs. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
The New York Times reports that despite statements from social media platforms that misinformation—such as Donald Trump’s insinuation that bleach might cure the coronavirus—should be removed, the misinformation continues to be available.
Rep. Adam Schiff has asked the CEOs of Google, YouTube, and Twitter to follow Facebook’s lead on coronavirus misinformation policies, reports CNBC. “While taking down harmful misinformation is a crucial step, mitigating the harms from false content that is removed requires also ensuring that those users who accessed it while it was available have as high a likelihood of possible of viewing the facts as well,” Schiff wrote to the CEOs.
Speaking of misinformation, it seems that things have gotten so bad that the Associated Press has assembled “NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week,” in an effort to set false headlines and stories straight with legitimate and thorough fact-checking.
A report from MIT’s Technology Review says that even after misinformation is removed from the internet, hoaxers and conspiracy theorists are finding ways to keep their dreams alive online.
South Korea said on Thursday that it had no new domestic coronavirus cases for the first time since a surge nearly ten weeks ago, reports NPR. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported only four new cases on Thursday, and all came from outside the country.
Human Rights Watch says in a new report that the U.S. should address the rapidly growing COVID-19 crisis in jails and prisons, and follow basic standards for social distancing, cleaning, and care.
“Vigilance on the plateau” is the latest Coronadaily newsletter. You can read it here.
Extra! Extra!
Hey remember when Donald Trump wanted to buy Greenland? Here’s a reminder from NPR (August, 19, 2019) in case you forgot.
The suggested transaction drew a response from Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen: “Greenland is not for sale.”
OK, maybe it’s not for sale, but what if we just gave you some money? How’s, say, $12 million?
ABC News reports that the Trump administration “announced Thursday it will provide a $12 million aid package to Greenland for economic development, raising eyebrows in Denmark, which has sovereignty over the island, and firing off a volley in the emerging competition with Russia and China for power in the Arctic.”
The U.S. will apparently open a consulate in Greenland this summer, too. For the first time since 1953.
The idea of buying Greenland sounded so absurd, most people thought it was a joke. Well, it wasn’t a joke. And neither is Donald J. Trump.
Mmm, that sandwich looks good—how about I buy it from you?
My sandwich is not for sale.
Ooh but the bread is so soft and the cheese is so gooey.
Uh, why are you holding my sandwich?
Sources:
China: Gender Discrimination in Hiring Persists - Human Rights Watch
One Free Press Coalition Spotlights Journalists Under Attack - WIRED
Democrat Joe Biden says alleged sexual assault 'never happened' - Reuters
Biden denies sexual assault allegation, in his first comments on Tara Reade's claims - Fox News
Biden on sexual assault allegation: 'never, never happened' - AP News
In a Victory for Women in Sudan, Female Genital Mutilation Is Outlawed - The New York Times
Sudan makes female genital cutting a crime in 'new era' for women's rights - Reuters
Sudan criminalises female genital mutilation (FGM) - BBC News
Female genital mutilation outlawed in Sudan - The Hill
Watchdog group says US not releasing data on Taliban attacks - AP News
NATO withholds key information on Taliban attacks: US watchdog - Al Jazeera
Watchdog: NATO won't release Taliban attack totals while U.S. negotiates Afghan peace deal - NBC News
Virus worries haunt workers demanding rights on May Day - AP News
Reopening amid coronavirus: CDC drafts new guidance for organizations and businesses - CNN
Exclusive: Trump pollster finds strong demand for expanded absentee voting - Axios
Capitol physician says Senate lacks capacity to test all senators - Politico
A COVID-19 vaccine might be ready within 18 months. But what happens then? - Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
DNI says coronavirus was 'not manmade or genetically modified' - CNBC
Trump Blaming China for Fake Covid-19 News is a Dangerous Distraction - Human Rights Watch
Trump’s Disinfectant Talk Trips Up Sites’ Vows Against Misinformation - The New York Times
Schiff asks tech firms to follow Facebook's lead on misinformation - CNBC
NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week **For Friday** - AP News
Covid hoaxes are using a loophole to stay alive—even after content is deleted - MIT Technology Review
South Korea Reports No New Domestic Coronavirus Cases - NPR
US: Avoid Covid-19 Catastrophe in Jails, Prisons - Human Rights Watch
Vigilance on the plateau - Coronadaily
No Joke: Trump Really Does Want To Buy Greenland - NPR
After Trump tried to buy Greenland, US gives island $12M for economic development - ABC News