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  • Haiti’s Health System Nears Collapse Amid Gang Violence

    Haiti’s Health System Nears Collapse Amid Gang Violence

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    PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — On a recent morning at a hospital in the heart of gang territory in Haiti’s capital, a woman began convulsing before her body went limp as a doctor and two nurses raced to save her.

    They stuck electrodes to her chest and flipped on an oxygen machine while keeping their eyes on a computer screen that reflected a dangerously low oxygen level of 84%.

    No one knew what was wrong with her.

    Even more worrisome, the Doctors Without Borders hospital in the Cite Soleil slum was running low on key medicine to treat convulsions.

    “The medication she really needs, we barely have,” said Dr. Rachel Lavigne, a physician with the medical aid group.

    It’s a familiar scene repeated daily at hospitals and clinics across Port-au-Prince, where life-saving medication and equipment is dwindling or altogether absent as brutal gangs tighten their grip on the capital and beyond. They have blocked roads, forced the closure of the main international airport in early March and paralyzed operations at the country’s largest seaport, where containers filled with key supplies remain stuck.

    “Everything is crashing,” Lavigne said.

    Haiti’s health system has long been fragile, but it’s now nearing total collapse after gangs launched coordinated attacks on Feb. 29, targeting critical infrastructure in the capital and beyond.

    The violence has forced several medical institutions and dialysis centers to close, including Haiti’s largest public hospital. Located in downtown Port-au-Prince, the Hospital of the State University of Haiti was supposed to reopen on April 1 after closing when the attack began, but gangs have infiltrated it.

    One of the few institutions still operating is Peace University Hospital, located south of the shuttered airport. From Feb. 29 to April 15, the hospital treated some 200 patients with gunshot wounds, and its beds remain full.

    “We urgently need fuel because we operate using generators. Otherwise we run the risk of closing our doors,” hospital director Dr. Paul Junior Fontilus said in a statement.

    More than 2,500 people were killed or wounded across Haiti from January to March, a more than 50% increase compared with the same period last year, according to a recent U.N. report.

    Even if a hospital is open, sometimes there is little or no medical staff because gang violence erupts daily in Port-au-Prince, forcing doctors and nurses to stay at home or turn around if they encounter blocked roads manned by heavily armed men.

    The spiraling chaos has left a growing number of patients with cancer, AIDS and other serious illnesses with little to no recourse, with gangs also looting and setting fire to pharmacies in the capital’s downtown area.

    Doctors Without Borders itself has run out of many medications used to treat diabetes and high blood pressure, and asthma inhalers that help prevent deadly attacks are nowhere to be found in the capital, Lavigne said.

    At the Doctors Without Borders hospital, medical staff recently tried to save a boy with a severe asthma attack by giving him oxygen, she said. That didn’t work, and neither did another type of medication. Finally, they ended up injecting him with adrenaline, which is used in emergencies to treat anaphylactic shock.

    “We improvise and we do our best for the people here,” Lavigne said.

    People’s health is worsening because the daily medication they need for their chronic conditions is not available, warned Doctors Without Borders project coordinator Jacob Burns.

    “It becomes acute and then they run out of options,” he said. “For certain people, there are very, very few options right now.”

    Despite the pressing need for medical care, the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Cite Soleil has been forced to cut the number of outpatients it treats daily from 150 to 50, Burns said, though all emergencies are attended to.

    Scores of people line up outside the hospital each day and risk being shot by gang members who control the area as they await medical care.

    Everyone is allowed to enter the hospital compound, but medical staff set up a triage to determine which 50 people will be seen. Those with less urgent needs are asked to return another day, Burns said.

    On Friday morning, 51-year-old Jean Marc Baptiste shuffled into the emergency room with a bloody bandage on his right hand. He said police in an armored vehicle shot him the previous day as he was collecting wood to sell as kindling in an area controlled by gangs.

    Once inside, nurses removed the bandage to reveal a gaping wound in his thumb as he cried out in pain. Lavigne told him he needed a plastic surgeon, which the hospital does not have, and ordered X-rays to ensure there was no fracture.

    On average, the Cite Soleil hospital sees three wounded people a day, but sometimes it’s up to 14 now, staff said.

    Recently, five people wounded by bullets arrived at the hospital after spending all night inside a public bus that couldn’t move because of heavy gunfire, Burns said.

    “Cite Soleil was long the epicenter of violence,” he said. “And now violence is so widespread that it’s become a problem for everyone.”

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    Dánica Coto / AP

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  • Strong Quakes Rock Taiwan Weeks After Record 7.4 Temblor

    Strong Quakes Rock Taiwan Weeks After Record 7.4 Temblor

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    TAIPEI — A cluster of earthquakes struck Taiwan early on Tuesday, the strongest measuring 6.1 magnitude, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There was no immediate information of any damage or casualties.

    The temblors struck after a magnitude 7.4 quake hit the island earlier this month, killing 13 people and injuring over 1,000. That earthquake was centered along the coast of the rural and mountainous Hualien County. It was the strongest earthquake in the past 25 years in Taiwan and was followed by hundreds of aftershocks.

    Read More: Photos of the Devastation After the Earthquake in Taiwan

    According to the USGS, Tuesday’s quake of 6.1 magnitude had its epicenter 28 kilometers (17.5 miles) south of the city of Hualien, at a dept of 10.7 kilometers. The half-dozen other quakes ranged from magnitude 4.5 to magnitude 6, all near Hualien.

    Read More: Why China Offered Earthquake Aid to Taiwan—and Why Taiwan Quickly Rejected It

    Taiwan is no stranger to powerful earthquakes yet their toll on the high-tech island’s 23 million residents has been relatively contained thanks to its excellent earthquake preparedness, experts say. The island also has strict construction standards and widespread public education campaigns about earthquakes.

    In 1999, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in Taiwan killed 2,400 people.

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    Associated Press

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  • Fake Botox Sickens Patients Across the U.S.

    Fake Botox Sickens Patients Across the U.S.

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    Public health officials are warning about the dangers of counterfeit botox products, which have been circulating and causing individuals to fall ill in several U.S. states.

    As of Friday, April 18, 22 people across California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington, have reported adverse reactions to a counterfeit version of Botox (botulinum toxin). All of the individuals are female, ranging in age from 25 to 59. 

    Symptoms of the fake botox include blurred or double vision, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, constipation, incontinence, shortness of breath, weakness and difficulty lifting one’s head following the injection of these products. The symptoms are similar to those seen when botulism, a rare and serious illness caused by a toxin that attacks the body’s nerves and spreads to other parts of the body.

    Eleven of the individuals affected have been hospitalized, and six were treated with botulism antitoxin due to concern that the counterfeit botulinum toxin had spread beyond the injection site. All but one of the individuals received the treatment for cosmetic purposes, and all victims reported receiving these injections from unlicensed or untrained individuals or in non-healthcare settings.

    The issue is twofold, says Scot Bradley Glasberg, President of The Plastic Surgery Foundation— low cost products produced in the counterfeit market lack regulation and oversight, and often end up in the hands of individuals who are not properly trained to administer it. “This is not isolated to a product like Botox,” Glasberg tells TIME. 

    He adds that many counterfeit drugs are made abroad and smuggled into the U.S., an issue the Federal Drug Administration is working to counteract. (The CDC, FDA and several state and local health departments are investigating the source of the counterfeit Botox, but say that they appear to have been purchased from unlicensed sources, and may be “misbranded, adulterated, counterfeit, contaminated, improperly stored and transported, ineffective and/or unsafe.”)

    “This is a healthcare issue. Because the cost of drugs has gone up, there’s a natural tendency to try to get them cheaper, and the way to get them cheaper is to get them from abroad,” Glasberg says.

    The reported illnesses underscore the need to treat getting botox as seriously as any other medical procedure, and ensure you’re working with a trusted provider.

    “Everybody thinks Botox is this easy procedure, but everything has some risks. You want to know that you’re in the proper hands,” he says.  

    Even Botox injections done by a professional—and with the proper drug—have their risks. 

    “Just injecting Botox in the wrong place has complications associated with it as well,” says Glasberg, who notes that complications can include paralysis of muscles if the Botox is injected in the wrong place. 

    The CDC recommends that individuals considering Botox injections confirm that a provider is licensed and trained to administer the injection and that the product was approved by FDA and obtained from a reliable source. The American Academy of Dermatology has a search tool to help patients find a board-certified provider near them. 

    “You shouldn’t just go to anybody you see an ad for online,” says Glasberg.

    He adds that deals that seem too good to be true, just might be that. “[If] you want to skimp a little bit and save money on your car, or something like that, that’s fine, but this is your life. This is your body. It’s not an area to try to save a lot of money.”

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    Simmone Shah

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  • London Marathon: Munyao and Jepchirchir Emerge Victorious

    London Marathon: Munyao and Jepchirchir Emerge Victorious

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    LONDON — Alexander Mutiso Munyao delivered another win for Kenya on a day the London Marathon remembered last year’s champion Kelvin Kiptum.

    A race that started with a period of applause for Kiptum, who was killed in a car crash in Kenya in February, ended with his countryman and friend running alone down the final straight in front of Buckingham Palace to earn an impressive victory in his first major marathon.

    Mutiso Munyao said he spoke to Kiptum after his win in London last year and that the world-record holder is always on his mind when he’s competing.

    “He’s in my thoughts every time, because he was my great friend,” Mutiso Munyao said. “It was a good day for me.”

    It was a Kenyan double on the day, with Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir pulling away late to win the women’s race and cement her status as the favorite to defend her gold in Paris.

    With around 400 meters (yards) to go to, Jepchirchir left world-record holder Tigst Assefa and two other rivals behind to sprint alone down the final stretch. She finished in 2 hours, 16 minutes, 16 seconds, with Assefa in second and Joyciline Jepkosgei in third.

    Her time was more than 4 minutes slower than Assefa’s world record set in Berlin last year, but it was the fastest time ever in a women-only marathon, beating the mark of 2:17:01 set by Mary Keitany in London in 2017. The elite women’s field in London started about 30 minutes ahead of the elite men.

    Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya crosses the finish line to win the women’s race at the London Marathon in London, Sunday, April 21, 2024.David Cliff—AP

    For Jepchirchir, though, the main goal was to show Kenya’s selectors for the Olympic team that she should be on the team again in Paris.

    “So I was trying to work extra hard to (be able to) defend my title in the Olympics,” she said.

    Mutiso Munyao denied 41-year-old Kenenisa Bekele a first London Marathon victory by pulling away from the Ethiopian great with about 3 kilometers to go Sunday for his biggest career win.

    Mutiso Munyao and Bekele were in a two-way fight for the win until the Kenyan made his move as they ran along the River Thames, quickly building a six-second gap that only grew as he ran toward the finish.

    “At 40 kilometers, when my friend Bekele was left (behind), I had confidence that I can win this race,” the 27-year-old Mutiso Munyao said.

    He finished in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 1 second, with Bekele finishing 14 seconds behind. Emile Cairess of Britain was third, 2:45 back.

    Bekele, the Ethiopian former Olympic 10,000 and 5,000-meter champion, was also the runner-up in London in 2017 but has never won the race.

    Mutiso Munyao is relatively unknown in marathon circles and said he wasn’t sure whether this win would be enough to make Kenya’s Olympic team for Paris.

    “I hope for the best,” he said. “If they select me I will go and work for it.”

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    MATTIAS KAREN / AP

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  • Beijing Half-Marathon Revokes Win for Chinese Runner He Jie

    Beijing Half-Marathon Revokes Win for Chinese Runner He Jie

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    Decorated Chinese athlete He Jie had been stripped of his Beijing half-marathon win Friday after an investigation found that the three African runners who competed alongside him had “actively slowed down” to let him cross the finish line first during the race on Sunday, April 14.

    He won the 21 km. run in the capital with a time of 1 hr. 3 min. 44 sec.—107 seconds short of the national men’s half-marathon record. He was a second ahead of Kenyan runners Willy Mnangat and Robert Keter, and Ethiopian athlete Dejene Hailu Bikila, who had been pacesetting for him.

    But the victory, which had clips circulating online, was investigated after it was heavily scrutinized for being rigged, with local media even describing it as damaging to the reputation of Chinese marathons. 

    Mnangat previously told the BBC that he was He’s friend, and that the trio of African runners were not competing and were helping He break the national record as pacesetters. But the committee said that pacesetters would not have been allowed to take part as specially invited athletes without organizers’ approval.

    The committee decided that He and the trio’s trophies, medals, and bonuses will all be reclaimed. The four athletes will also be reported to the Chinese Athletics Association, the committee added.

    Zhongao Lupao Beijing Sports Management company, the main organizer of the race, issued an apology, saying its partner Xiamen Xtep Investment failed to make note of the pacers—and thus the organizing committee was not informed. The company will be disqualified from hosting and operating the Beijing half-marathon.

    The committee added that Xtep will be canceled as an event partner, instructed to apologize to the public, and be required to deal with those responsible for the mishap. In its apology Friday, Xtep said: “We bear great responsibility for this and fully accept the penalties imposed by the organizing committee.”
    He had previously won the gold medal in the men’s marathon at the postponed Asian Games in 2023. He also currently holds the national record for the full marathon, after he achieved a time of 2 hr. 6 min. 57 sec. in Wuxi on March 24. But Chinese sports observer Mark Dreyer earlier told TIME that the Beijing half-marathon incident “undermines” He’s other achievements.

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    Chad de Guzman

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  • Can You Eat Cicadas?

    Can You Eat Cicadas?

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    Get ready to see cicadas everywhere.

    More than a trillion of the critters are expected to surface in parts of the United States this year in a rare co-emergence event the likes of which hasn’t been seen in over two centuries.

    Known for their deafening mating calls, which can be as loud as lawnmowers, cicadas emerge after more than a decade underground, offering a tasty meal to birds—and even the occasional human.

    That’s right, cicadas, like many insects, have been hailed as an eco-friendly and high-protein alternative to poultry and cattle. They’re low in cholesterol, crunchy, and carry what has been described as a nutty flavor and shrimp-like quality. Restaurants have featured the bugs in experimental menus, while several cookbooks have even been published dedicated to recipes involving cicadas.

    So if you’re interested in seeing cicadas on your plate this year, here’s what to know about how to get started.

    Step one: catch them

    Cicadas can typically be found in woody places, such as near trees and shrubs—though for hygiene reasons, experts warn against collecting cicadas for food in locations that may have pesticide or litter. You can even start looking in your own backyard.

    However, you should try to be selective. Freshly emerged cicadas from the ground may not make for the tastiest snack. It’s best to wait for them to molt, shedding their former shells to be clean and soft, chef Joseph Yoon told Popular Science in 2022.  But once they’ve molted, you might want to hurry up with the collection—the older that cicadas get, the less muscle mass they’re likely to have, making them less tender and juicy. Yoon also warned against eating dead cicadas, which could have already begun decomposing. 

    And don’t worry about getting hurt: while cicadas’ legs and claws may be prickly to the touch, they do not bite or sting. You can gently pick them up, pinning their wings to their body with your thumb and forefingers, then collect them in a bag or container.

    Step two: clean them

    Janna Jadin, author of Cicada-Licious: Cooking and Enjoying Periodical Cicadas, recommends freezing cicadas after catching them, as a convenient way to kill and store the insects. 

    After removing them from the freezer, Jadin also recommends, you can boil the cicadas to get rid of any microbes before cooking. (Washing your hands regularly would also be advisable. “It is important to handle them as if you would a piece of raw chicken or shelled eggs,” Toby Amidor, a nutrition consultant, told Food Network in 2021.)

    Alternatively, you can boil cicadas immediately after catching them.

    Step three: cook them

    Cicadas have been utilized in cuisines across the world, eaten in ancient Greece and Rome and long enjoyed as a traditional delicacy in Thailand and Congo.

    There are all sorts of creative ways to incorporate cicadas into a meal. They work on their own—some say best air-fried—or as additions to dishes like curry and pasta. Some people grind the bugs up and mix the powder into bread or use it to garnish the rim of a drink glass, like salt on a margarita. Social media has become a treasure trove of recipes, and you can even take inspiration from your zodiac sign.

    But before sinking your teeth into cicadas, experts warn that people with shellfish allergies—or who should typically avoid shellfish, such as pregnant women or young children, or those at risk for gout—should steer clear of eating cicadas, which are actually a derivative of shellfish.

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    Koh Ewe

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  • Patient Had COVID-19 for Record 613 Days

    Patient Had COVID-19 for Record 613 Days

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    A Covid-19 patient with a weakened immune system incubated a highly mutated novel strain over 613 days before succumbing to an underlying illness, researchers in the Netherlands found.

    The patient, a 72-year-old man with a blood disorder, failed to mount a strong immune response to multiple Covid shots before catching the omicron variant in February 2022. Detailed analysis of specimens collected from more than two dozen nose and throat swabs found the coronavirus developed resistance to sotrovimab, a Covid antibody treatment, within a few weeks, scientists at the University of Amsterdam’s Centre for Experimental and Molecular Medicine said. It later acquired over 50 mutations, including some that suggested an enhanced ability to evade immune defenses, they said.

    The 20-month-long SARS-CoV-2 infection is the longest known, according to the researchers, who are presenting the case at a medical meeting in Barcelona next week. While his mutant virus wasn’t known to have infected other people, it highlights how prolonged infections enable the pandemic virus to accumulate genetic changes, potentially spawning new variants of concern.

    “This case underscores the risk of persistent SARS-CoV-2 infections in immunocompromised individuals,” the authors said. “We emphasize the importance of continuing genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 evolution in immunocompromised individuals with persistent infections.”

    Scientists studying genomic data collected from wastewater samples have reported evidence of individuals in the community shedding heavily mutated coronaviruses for more than four years. Such persistent infections may also be causing patients to experience long Covid symptoms, research suggests.

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    Jason Gale / Bloomberg

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  • Scotland Pauses Prescribing Puberty Blockers to Under-18s

    Scotland Pauses Prescribing Puberty Blockers to Under-18s

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    Scotland’s only gender clinic for young people has paused prescribing puberty blockers for new patients under 18 years old after the National Health Service (NHS) in England banned children from receiving the gender treatment last month.

    Puberty blockers are used to delay puberty changes by stopping the body from making sex hormones including testosterone and estrogen. They can be prescribed to treat gender dysphoria, the clinical term for psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one’s sex assigned at birth and one’s gender identity.

    The Sandyford Clinic, based in Glasgow, announced that new patients aged 16 and 17 “will no longer be prescribed gender affirming hormone treatment until they are 18 years old,” the clinic wrote in an update on its website. Existing patients currently receiving treatment will not be affected.

    NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC), the national health branch that oversees the clinic, said in a statement Thursday that it had contacted patients this week to advise that the prescription of puberty hormone suppressants and gender affirming hormones to young people was paused following research findings of NHS England that were published in March.

    The independent report made for NHS England, which was led by Dr. Hilary Cass, a consultant pediatrician and former President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said that there was insufficient long-term evidence of what happens to youth who are prescribed puberty blockers. As a result, the NHS banned children in England from receiving puberty blockers, only providing the prescription to youth taking part in clinical research trials.

    NHSGGC and NHS Lothian, another area in Scotland, said that “on clinical advice,” they had deferred starting new patients on these treatments in mid-March in response to the position taken by NHS England and while waiting for the publication of the Cass Review. After the review was published and with the support of the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, Sir Gregor Smith, the health boards formally paused treatment.

    Existing patients “will continue on treatment with close monitoring and support, as they wish to and as guided by individual clinical assessments within each service,” the local health agencies confirmed.

    Dr. Emilia Crighton, NHSGGC Director of Public Health, said in a statement that the Cass Review findings are important, and the next step is to “work with the Scottish Government and academic partners to generate evidence that enables us to deliver safe care for our patients.” 

    “We echo the views of Dr. Hilary Cass that toxicity around public debate is impacting the lives of young people seeking the care of our service and does not serve the teams working hard to care and support them,” Crighton said. 

    Both the health agencies and the Sandyford Clinic said in statements that they were committed to supporting young people seeking gender treatment. 

    “We are committed to providing the best possible clinical care for young people accessing and understanding the distress that gender incongruence can cause,” the Sandyford Clinic said. “While this pause is in place, we will continue to give anyone who is referred into the Young People Gender Service the psychological support that they require while we review the pathways in line with the findings.” 

    TIME has reached out to NHSGGC and the Sandyford Clinic for comment and further information.

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    Mallory Moench

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  • Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi Moved From Prison to House Arrest Due to Heat

    Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi Moved From Prison to House Arrest Due to Heat

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    (BANGKOK) — Myanmar’s jailed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest as a health measure due to a heat wave, the military government said as it freed more than 3,000 prisoners under an amnesty to mark this week’s traditional New Year holiday.

    Those released included several political prisoners, including a member of the Kachin minority who is one of the country’s most prominent Christian church leaders.

    Suu Kyi, 78, and Win Myint, the 72-year-old former president of her ousted government, were among the elderly and infirm prisoners moved to house arrest because of the severe heat, military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun told foreign media representatives late Tuesday. The move had not yet been publicly announced in Myanmar as of Wednesday afternoon.

    Suu Kyi’s transfer comes as the army has suffered a string of major defeats at the hands of pro-democracy resistance fighters and their allies in ethnic minority guerrilla forces. The nationwide conflict began after the army ousted the elected government in February 2021, imprisoned Suu Kyi and began suppressing nonviolent protests that sought a return to democratic rule.

    Suu Kyi has been serving a 27-year prison term on a variety of criminal convictions in a specially built annex of the main prison in the capital Naypyitaw, where Myanmar’s meteorological department said temperatures reached 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday afternoon. Win Myint was serving an eight-year prison sentence in Taungoo in the Bago region.

    Suu Kyi’s supporters and independent analysts say the charges were fabricated in an attempt to discredit her and legitimize the military’s seizure of power.

    According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an independent group that monitors casualties and arrests, more than 20,351 people arrested on political charges since the 2021 army takeover are still in detention, most of whom have not received criminal convictions.

    Suu Kyi’s health has reportedly deteriorated in prison. In September last year, reports emerged that she was suffering from symptoms of low blood pressure including dizziness and loss of appetite, but had been denied treatment at qualified facilities outside the prison system.

    Those reports could not be independently confirmed, but her younger son Kim Aris said in interviews that he had heard that his mother has been extremely ill and has been suffering from gum problems and was unable to eat.

    News about Suu Kyi is tightly controlled by the military government, and even her lawyers are banned by a gag order from talking to the media about her cases. Her legal team also has been unable to meet with her face to face since December 2022.

    Whether the latest move is meant to be temporary was not announced.

    Spokesperson Zaw Min Tun did not say where the released prisoners were being moved to in his remarks to U.S.-government funded Voice of America and Britain’s BBC, but there was no indication it might be one of her own former homes.

    Before being sent to prison, Suu Kyi was reportedly held in a military safe house inside an army base.

    Other prisoners were released for the Thingyan New Year holiday, state-run MRTV television announced Wednesday, but it wasn’t immediately clear how many were political detainees. Aung Myo Kyaw of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said the group had heard of 7-10 people released in Yangon and nine from a prison in the central regions of Magway.

    Local media in the northern state of Kachin reported that Hkalam Samson, former head of the Kachin Baptist Convention and chairman of the Kachin National Consultative Assembly, was among those freed. A resident of the state’s capital, Myitkyina, who said he visited the prison to welcome Samson’s release, posted a brief video of the laughing and smiling minister being greeted outside the prison. The visitor asked to remain anonymous to safeguard his personal security.

    Samson was a prominent advocate of human rights in Myanmar and in 2019 was part of a delegation that met U.S. President Trump at the White House to discuss the military’s abuse of ethnic minorities. He was detained in December 2022 while preparing to fly to Thailand for a health checkup, and in April last year was handed a six-year prison term after being convicted of violating laws on unlawful association, incitement and counter-terrorism.

    Christians make up about 6% of Myanmar’s overwhelmingly Buddhist population.

    MRTV said that the head of the ruling military council, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, had pardoned 3,303 prisoners, including 28 foreigners who will be deported from Myanmar. He also reduced sentences for others. Mass amnesties on the holiday are not unusual in Myanmar.

    Family and friends gathered outside the gates of Insein Prison, in northern Yangon, waiting expectantly and scanning the windows of buses that brought the released detainees out of the vast complex. Some held up signs with the names of the people they were seeking, in the same fashion as at an airport arrival hall.

    Amid tearful reunions, Khin Thu Zar said she was happy, but that she would have to call her family.

    “My family still doesn’t know about my release,” she said. She, like many political detainees, had been held on a charge of incitement, a catch-all offense widely used to arrest critics of the government and punishable by up to three years in prison.

    Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar’s martyred independence hero Gen. Aung San, spent almost 15 years as a political prisoner under house arrest by previous military governments between 1989 and 2010. Her tough stand against military rule turned her into a symbol of the nonviolent struggle for democracy and won her the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.

    Nay Phone Latt, spokesperson of the shadow National Unity Government, told The Associated Press that all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi and Win Myint, were unjustly detained and should be freed without conditions. The NUG views serves as an umbrella opposition organization.

    He said it was unacceptable for the military government to resolve its difficulties by playing political games, such as changing prisoners’ places of detention and reducing sentences. The army’s recent battlefield setbacks, including last week’s loss to resistance forces of Myawaddy, a major trading town on the border with Thailand, is seen by many as underlining its increasing weakness.

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    GRANT PECK / AP

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  • The U.K. to Vote on World’s Only Generational Smoking Ban

    The U.K. to Vote on World’s Only Generational Smoking Ban

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    The U.K. House of Commons will vote Tuesday on the “Tobacco and Vapes Bill” that would make it illegal for anyone born in 2009 or beyond to buy tobacco and add restrictions to vaping. Its passage would amount to an effective lifetime ban on smoking for those under the age of 15.

    The bill was backed by Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has referred to tobacco as “the single biggest entirely preventable cause of ill-health, disability, and death.”

    While the bill has support from lawmakers from both the opposition Labour and ruling Conservative party, some Tories have broken ranks with Sunak. Former Prime Ministers Liz Truss and Boris Johnson have both opposed the bill, with Johnson describing it as “nuts” and Truss calling it “profoundly unconservative.”

    “I think it actually risks making smoking cooler. It certainly risks creating a black market and it also risks creating an unmanageable challenge for the authorities,” Conservative lawmaker Simon Clarke told BBC radio.

    Conservative Members of Parliament will be able to freely vote on the bill but it is expected to pass, as it has the backing of Labour.

    Health officials say that because of tobacco’s addictive nature, preventing young people from picking up the habit could save millions of lives. “Smoking kills and causes harm at all stages of life from stillbirths, asthma in children, stroke, cancer to heart attacks and dementia,” Public Health Minister Andrea Leadsom said in a statement. “This bill, if passed, will have a substantial impact—preventing disease, disability and premature deaths long into the future.”

    Tobacco causes approximately 75,000 preventable deaths per year in the U.K and over 500,000 hospital admissions.

    Victoria Atkins, the U.K.’s secretary of state for health and social care, told the House of Commons that the bill was intended to prevent people from ever getting addicted to tobacco products in the first place. “The premise behind this is to stop the start,” said Atkins on Tuesday. “It is the only product that if consumed as the manufacturer intends, will kill two-thirds of its long term users.”

    She also emphasized that the bill is not meant to demonize people who smoke, and will not prevent people who are already smoking from being able to purchase tobacco products. “It will not affect current smokers’ rights or entitlements in any way,” she said.  

    Nevertheless, some parliament members were concerned about the practical implications of such a ban. “When I look at this ban I question whether it’s going to work,” said Conservative MP Jake Berry. Berry cited data showing that more young people in the U.K. have tried marijuana than tobacco, despite only marijuana being banned. “If bans worked, no child would have ever tried cannabis,” he said.

    Under the legislation, officers would get new powers to issue fines to shops selling tobacco or vapes to children. The legislation also involves new restrictions on the sale of vapes to make them less appealing to children. One in five children in the U.K. has tried vaping despite it being illegal for under-18s, according to U.K. government data.

    Read More: How Juul Hooked Kids and Ignited a Public Health Crisis

    If the bill passes, the U.K. will have the world’s only generational smoking ban, and one of the strictest anti-smoking laws. The legislation was inspired by a similar law in New Zealand that passed in December 2022 but was scrapped in February this year after a new government led by the conservative Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was sworn in.

    At the time, the New Zealand legislation was the world’s first generational smoking ban.

    Smokers in the U.K. cost their government approximately £14.7 billion ($18.3 billion) between health care costs and other social services compared to the £10 billion ($12.5 billion) it collects in tobacco specific taxes, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility. 

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    Anna Gordon

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  • Biden’s Shifts on the WikiLeaks Extradition Case 

    Biden’s Shifts on the WikiLeaks Extradition Case 

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    President Joe Biden told reporters on Wednesday that he was considering a request made by the government of Australia to drop the extradition case against Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks who is currently imprisoned in the U.K. 

    “We’re considering it,” Biden said after a reporter asked him where he stands in regards to Australia’s request. 

    “Mr. Assange has already paid a significant price and enough is enough. There is nothing to be gained by Mr. Assange’s continued incarceration,” Anthony Albanese, the current Prime Minister of Australia, told Sky News on Thursday. Assange is an Australian citizen, and in February, the Australian parliament passed a motion calling for his release.  

    Assange was arrested in London on April 11, 2019—exactly five years ago on Thursday—for failing to appear in court after his Ecuadorian asylum status was revoked. Since then, the U.S. government has requested that the British government extradite him to the U.S., where he would face charges under the Espionage Act. Assange helped obtain and publish thousands of confidential U.S. military documents related to the Iraq war, which the U.S. says endangered its national defense. Assange’s defense argues that publishing the documents helped serve the public interest because they exposed war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan that were previously unknown to the American public.

    In 2021, a Justice Department spokesman under the Biden Administration had said that it would continue to pursue extradition, according to Reuters.

    If Biden goes through with Australia’s request, it would indicate a dramatic reversal of policy, says Professor Charlie Beckett, a professor of media studies at the London School of Economics and the author of the book WikiLeaks: News in the Networked Era. 

    “Him even considering it is an absolutely fascinating change of tone,” says Beckett. When Assange was arrested, many prominent Democrats initially pressed for his extradition. Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Assange should “answer for what he has done” while Chuck Schumer, the current Senate Majority leader tweeted that he hoped Assange would “soon be held to account for his meddling in our elections on behalf of Putin and the Russian government.”

    However, increasingly, progressive groups have pushed for Assange’s release, saying that to prosecute the man would be a violation of his freedom of speech as a journalist. “The indictment of Mr. Assange threatens press freedom because much of the conduct described in the indictment is conduct that journalists engage in routinely—and that they must engage in in order to do the work the public needs them to do,” Human Rights Watch wrote in its coalition letter to the Department of Justice. 

    Read More: ‘Historic for All the Wrong Reasons.’ Press Freedom Advocates Condemn Julian Assange Extradition Ruling

    So far, Assange has yet to be extradited because he has appealed his case numerous times to British courts. Last month, a British court ruled that the U.S. cannot extradite Assange unless it can guarantee that Assange will be provided with First Amendment rights, will not be prejudiced due to his nationality, and will not receive the death penalty. If the U.S. is able to prove that it can meet these three criteria then Assange may be extradited within this year. 

    Read More: Here’s What’s Next if the U.K. Approves Julian Assange’s Extradition to the U.S.

    Assange has spent approximately 12 years in some form of confinement, seven in the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he was granted asylum, and another five in a London prison trying to avoid extradition via appeals cases. His co-conspirator, former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, spent seven years in an American prison but was released in May 2017 after her sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama. 

    “​​The irony is that it’s possible.. that had he come to the U.S. and had he been convicted he may have already served a sentence and he may already be freed,” says Gary Ross, the director of intelligence studies at Texas A&M University. “But because of his self-isolation and his fighting the extradition now he is still at the point where he has to come back and face the charges.”

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    Anna Gordon

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  • Why the U.S. Is Fostering a Network of Partnerships Across the Indo-Pacific

    Why the U.S. Is Fostering a Network of Partnerships Across the Indo-Pacific

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    “Our alliances are America’s greatest asset,” President Joe Biden said in a joint press conference with Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House on Wednesday, a day before hosting a historic first trilateral summit between the U.S., Japan, and the Philippines on Thursday. Indeed, the U.S. has ramped up its partnership-building, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, as it seems to seek to establish a countervailing force to China’s growing influence and assertiveness in the region.

    In just the last three years, the U.S. has solidified individual ties with Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Singapore, among others, as well as fostered new collective relationships between nations such as Japan and South Korea, Australia and the U.K., and now Japan and the Philippines.

    Read More: ​​Is Southeast Asia Leaning More Toward China? New Survey Shows Mixed Results

    It’s a strategy that analysts say reflects not just the U.S.’s diplomatic goals but also growing wariness of China in its own backyard. “None of this would be happening if states like the Philippines, Japan, and several states in Southeast Asia, were all not quite worried about China’s behavior,” Evan Resnick, senior associate fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), tells TIME.

    While the U.S. has focused on improving economic ties, too, in the region, there’s no denying that the major impetus for its diplomacy is to strengthen its defense apparatus. Biden commended Kishida on Wednesday for “standing strong” with the U.S. in upholding freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait—both flashpoints for which China is the unstated but well-known aggressor.

    Read More: Why the U.S. Faces a Delicate Balancing Act on Countering China in the South China Sea

    Philippine President Marcos Jr., before departing for Washington, expressed a similar view of the new partnership being foremost about regional security: “The main intent of this trilateral agreement is for us to be able to continue to flourish, to be able to help one another, and of course, to keep the peace in the South China Sea and the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea,” he said.

    While increased cooperation has already boosted the military capabilities of the U.S. and its partners, as evidenced by a number of joint exercises in the region, experts warn that the lattice of “minilateral” relationships that the U.S. is weaving does not necessarily guarantee a system of mutual defense should conflict break out in the region.

    Read More: As U.S. and China Rivalry Heats Up, Each Side’s Asia Allies Ramp Up Military Spending

    “Despite growing ties, U.S. alliances in the Indo-Pacific do not have the level of institutionalization that they have with their NATO allies, such as command structures or plans for specific scenarios,” Kevin Chen, associate research fellow at RSIS, tells TIME.

    “There’s no guarantee for the Japanese to fight for the Filipinos, or the Australians to fight for the Filipinos,” says Stephen Nagy, senior fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. “It’s not going to happen.”

    The U.S.’s partnership-building effort could also backfire, if it appears too aggressive. China has repeatedly warned against a “Cold War mentality” that divides the world into rival blocs, though the U.S. maintains that it does not seek conflict with China.

    “States often go to war because they feel that they’re encircled, surrounded, and their survival is in jeopardy,” says Resnick. “So if China feels like it’s being rigged in by this increasingly strong sense of containment … it’s gonna get really upset and scared. That could just as easily trigger a war.”

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    Chad de Guzman

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  • Whooping Cough Is Surging in China: Here’s What to Know

    Whooping Cough Is Surging in China: Here’s What to Know

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    Whooping cough is making a post-pandemic comeback in China, with cases surging more than 20-fold in the first two months of 2024.

    The world’s second-most populous country reported a combined 32,380 cases of pertussis—more commonly known as whooping cough—in January and February, compared with 1,421 cases during the same period in 2023, according to the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration. There were 13 deaths.

    The number of infections detected in the first 60 days of the year is near the full 2023 total, underscoring the risk of the highly contagious respiratory disease in China. The country endured a major respiratory disease outbreak in 2023 after pulling itself out of the Covid mire in late 2022, well after other nations had thrown open their borders and allowed pathogens to resume their traditional circulation patterns. 

    China provides free vaccines for whooping cough, usually in a combined shot that also protects infants against diphtheria and tetanus. Experts say the vaccine-induced immunity tends to wane as kids reach adolescence. Chinese health authorities don’t mandate or provide booster shots to help shore up immunity.

    Discussions are needed to determine if the country should update the vaccine it uses for the disease or adjust the immunization program, Shen Hongbing, director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a conference in March. 

    “It requires close attention to prevent and control the spread of whooping cough in China,” Shen said, according to local media reports.  

    Vaccination woes

    Whooping cough infections have been rising in China since 2014, with more than 30,000 in 2019, according to the Chinese CDC. After a respite during the Covid isolation days, they bounced back to almost 40,000 a year in 2022 and 2023, the agency reported.

    Nuances around vaccination are contributing to the increase. Covid disruptions, waning protection and genetic changes may all be playing a role. 

    Older patients can experience atypical symptoms, leading to misdiagnosis and allowing them to covertly carry and spread the infection. Meanwhile, genetic changes may help the bacteria elude an immune system primed to detect it, allowing the pathogen to continue sickening even the immunized, according to a Beijing Daily report.

    Vaccination rates worldwide suffered during the pandemic. The percentage of children getting all three doses of the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis shot plunged to 81% in 2021, the lowest level since 2008, according to the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund.

    Global issue

    The disease caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis is transmitted through respiratory droplets. It’s a significant cause of infant death worldwide and continues to be a public health concern despite high vaccination rates, according to the WHO.

    China isn’t alone in its comeback. Whooping cough is endemic and epidemic cycles are occurring every two-to-five years, despite vaccination programs, according to the WHO. 

    Some European countries have posted rising cases since the middle of 2023, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. The Czech Republic is suffering its biggest outbreak since 1963, and both it and the Netherlands have reported whooping cough-related deaths.

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  • World Leaders React to Six-Months of Israel-Hamas War

    World Leaders React to Six-Months of Israel-Hamas War

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    On Oct. 7, Hamas militants stormed into Israel from Gaza, killing around 1,200 people, most civilians, and taking more than 250 hostage, igniting a devastating war.

    In the six months since then, Israel responded by invading and bombarding Gaza, killing a reported 33,000 Palestinians, a majority women and children, according to the United Nations. Israel’s attacks and control of humanitarian aid into the territory have now, according to reports, pushed one million people to the brink of famine.

    The crisis has prompted protests and legal challenges—including one filed by South Africa at the U.N.’s highest court in which judges issued an interim order in January that it was “plausible” Israel was committing acts of genocide. Israel strongly rejects the claim.

    Israel’s allies have increased their criticism and pressure on the country to protect civilians, especially after the Israeli military fired missiles that killed seven aid workers—six foreign nationals—working with the NGO World Central Kitchen on April 2 in what the military called a “grave mistake.”

    After the deaths, President Joe Biden gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an ultimatum to take immediate actions to protect civilians and allow food aid into Gaza or the U.S. will change its military campaign support (the U.S. gives Israel billions of dollars a year in military aid). Israel responded by opening up new aid routes into Gaza.

    At home, Netanyahu faces massive protests calling for a hostage deal from families of the remaining 133 hostages, with some joining anti-government protesters to push for him to step down.

    Read More: Israel’s Military Recovers the Body of a Hostage in Gaza During Night Raid

    The Israeli leader said in remarks on Sunday: “Today we are marking six months of the war. The achievements of the war are considerable.”

    He went on to say: “We are determined to achieve total victory, to return all of our hostages, to complete the elimination of Hamas in the entire Gaza Strip including Rafah, and to ensure that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel.” Netanyahu noted how he has “made it clear to the international community” that ”there will be no ceasefire without the return of the hostages.”

    Israel and Hamas are reportedly engaging in negotiations on a deal through mediators.

    Now that the war has reached its six-month mark on April 7, here’s what world leaders are saying. 

    U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak 

    The British leader released a statement calling Oct. 7 “the most appalling attack in Israel’s history, the worst loss of Jewish life since the Second World War.” Sunak said Israeli wounds remain unhealed and the toll on Gaza civilians keeps growing, with loss of life “on an awful scale.”

    “We continue to stand by Israel’s right to defeat the threat from Hamas terrorists and defend their security. But the whole of the U.K. is shocked by the bloodshed, and appalled by the killing of brave British heroes who were bringing food to those in need,” Sunak said, referencing three British citizens killed in the World Central Kitchen attack.

    “This terrible conflict must end. The hostages must be released. The aid—which we have been straining every sinew to deliver by land, air and sea—must be flooded in,” Sunak continued. “The children of Gaza need a humanitarian pause immediately, leading to a long-term sustainable ceasefire. That is the fastest way to get hostages out and aid in, and to stop the fighting and loss of life. For the good of both Israelis and Palestinians—who all deserve to live in peace, dignity and security—that is what we will keep working to achieve.”

    German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock 

    Baerbock said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, that six months ago was a “dark day” when Hamas attacked Israel, killing and kidnapping hostages, “out of hatred.” She vowed to “not tire in our efforts to bring them all home to their loved ones in Israel.”

    “Hamas has brought war and endless suffering upon Israelis and Palestinians with its terror. It must end this suffering, release the hostages immediately, and lay down its weapons,” the statement concluded.

    Jordan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs 

    The Foreign Ministry of Jordan posted a statement in Arabic on X, which can be translated to English by the social media platform, on Sunday. The statement said that two of its ministers focused on Palestinian affairs met to discuss “stressing the necessity” of stopping Israel’s war in Gaza “and the necessity of Israel’s compliance with the rules of international law and international law: International humanitarian aid, ensuring the protection of civilians, and allowing the entry of adequate and sustainable humanitarian aid to all parts of the sector.”

    U.K. Foreign Minister David Cameron   

    Cameron released a video statement on Sunday demanding that Hamas release hostages, including two British nationals—”every one of them, right now.”

    In an opinion piece for The Sunday Times, Cameron wrote that “Israel has a right to self-defence that we should support. Of course our backing is not unconditional: we expect such a proud and successful democracy to abide by international humanitarian law, even when challenged in this way.” He stressed the need for Israel to facilitate more humanitarian aid into Gaza and advocated for a temporary ceasefire.

    “I desperately want this conflict to end, and for the people of Israel and the people of Gaza to be able to live their lives in peace and security. We must all continue to work towards this aim, but I believe that failing to prepare for continued conflict will lead to further suffering and avoidable loss of innocent lives. The U.K. stands ready to play its part,” he said. 

    U.K. Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden 

    Dowden told Sky News in an interview on Sunday that “of course Israel has made mistakes, and has made big mistakes, and we should them to account for that, but we are holding them to a very high standard,” when asked about efforts from the public, lawyers, and some lawmakers to pressure the U.K. to suspend arms sales to Israel.

    U.N. Secretary General António Guterres

    The U.N.’s leader said in a post on X on April 5 acknowledging the six-month anniversary of the attack: “I mourn with Israelis for the 1,200 people, including many women and children, killed in cold blood.”

    In a video message on Sunday, the U.N.’s leader Guterres said Oct. 7 “is a day of pain for Israel and the world. Nothing can justify the horror unleashed by Hamas. I once again condemn the use of sexual violence, torture and kidnapping of civilians, and call for the unconditional release of all the hostages.”

    Guterres has also continually called for a humanitarian ceasefire and said in another video message on April 5 that “nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”

    Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defense Micheál Martin 

    In an op-ed for the Sunday Times, Martin honored the victims of Hamas’ attack on Israel and the hostages that still remain in Gaza.

    “Recognising the extent of the trauma and terror on Oct. 7 cannot blind us, however, to the reality of the utterly disproportionate Israeli military response to the Hamas attacks, which has caused death and destruction in Gaza on a catastrophic scale,” Martin wrote.

    “Ireland’s priorities in the current crisis have remained clear and consistent: an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of hostages, full, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access, and a massive and sustained scale-up in humanitarian aid,” he added.

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    Mallory Moench

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  • Israeli Airstrike Destroys Iran’s Consular Building in Syria

    Israeli Airstrike Destroys Iran’s Consular Building in Syria

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    DAMASCUS, Syria— An Israeli airstrike destroyed the consular section of Iran’s embassy in Syria, killing a senior Iranian military adviser and several others, Syrian officials and state media said Monday.

    The strike appears to signify an escalation of Israel’s targeting of Iranian military officials and their allies in Syria, which have intensified since Hamas militants — who are supported by Iran — attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

    Israel, which rarely acknowledges such strikes, said it had no comment.

    The attack killed Iranian military adviser Gen. Ali Reza Zahdi, who led the elite Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria until 2016, according to the Iranian Arabic-language state television channel Al-Alam and pan-Arab television station Al-Mayadeen, which has reporters in Syria.

    Iranian Ambassador Hossein Akbari condemned Israel and said as many as seven people were killed. First responders were still searching for bodies under the rubble. Akbari said two police officers who guard the building were wounded.

    He vowed revenge for the strike “at the same magnitude and harshness.”

    Charles Lister, director of the Syria program of the Washington-based Middle East Institute think tank, called the strike a “major escalation.” The attack is sure to draw retaliation, he wrote on the social media platform X.

    Syria’s foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad, said “several” people were killed, and a phone call with his counterpart in Iran, he condemned Israel.

    A spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, Nasser Kanaani, called on the global community to condemn the strike. Iranian state television said the Iranian ambassador’s residence was inside the consular building, which stood next to the embassy. The main embassy remained intact.

    State news agency SANA, citing an unnamed military source, said the building in the tightly guarded neighborhood of Mazzeh was leveled.

    Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years.

    Such airstrikes have escalated in recent months against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and ongoing clashes between Israel’s military and Hezbollah on the Lebanon-Israel border.

    Though it rarely acknowledges its actions in Syria, Israel has said it targets bases of Iran-allied militant groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.

    An Israeli airstrike in a Damascus neighborhood in December killed a longtime adviser of the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Syria, Seyed Razi Mousavi. A similar strike on a building in Damascus in January killed at least five Iranian advisers. Last week, airstrikes over the strategic eastern Syrian province of Deir el-Zour near the Iraqi border killed an Iranian adviser.

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  • Counterterrorism Police Investigate Attack on Iranian TV Host

    Counterterrorism Police Investigate Attack on Iranian TV Host

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    LONDON — British counterterrorism police are investigating the stabbing of an Iranian television presenter outside his home in London as concern grows over threats to a Farsi-language satellite news channel long critical of Iran’s theocratic government.

    Pouria Zeraati, a presenter at London-based Iran International, was stabbed in the leg Friday afternoon and is in stable condition at a hospital, the station said. His condition is not believed to be life-threatening.

    London’s Metropolitan Police Service said Zeraati’s occupation, together with recent threats to U.K.-based Iranian journalists, triggered the counterterrorism probe, even though the motivation for the attack is still unclear.

    “While we continue to assess the circumstances of this incident, detectives are following a number of lines of inquiry and our priority at this time is to try and identify whoever was behind this attack and to arrest them,” Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said in a statement.

    “I appreciate the wider concern this incident may cause — particularly amongst others in similar lines of work, and those from Iranian communities.”

    Iran International spokesman Adam Baillie said the stabbing was “hugely frightening.” Although the channel’s journalists have been threatened in the past, this is the first attack of its kind, Baillie told the BBC.

    “It was a shocking, shocking incident, whatever the outcome of an investigation reveals,” he said.

    Mehdi Hosseini Matin, Iran’s charge d’affaires in the UK, said “we deny any link” to the incident.

    Police say they have disrupted “a number” of plots to kill or kidnap people in the U.K. who were seen as enemies of the Iranian government. Officers are working with intelligence agencies to disrupt future plots and provide protection for the targeted organizations and individuals, police said.

    Early last year, Iran International temporarily shut down its operations in London and moved to studios in Washington, D.C., after what it described as an escalation of “state-backed threats from Iran.” The station resumed operations at a new location in London last September.

    An Austrian man was convicted in December of attempting to collect information likely to be useful for terrorism after security guards spotted him carrying out surveillance on the former headquarters of Iran International. Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev, 31, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison.

    Alicia Kearns, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons, expressed concern that Britain still isn’t doing enough to protect opponents of the Iranian government.

    “Whilst we don’t know the circumstances of this attack, Iran continues to hunt down those brave enough to speak out against the regime,” Kearns said on X, formerly Twitter. “Yet I remain unconvinced that we and our allies have clear strategies to protect people in our countries from them, and protect our interests abroad.”

    Earlier this month, Foreign Secretary David Cameron condemned the conviction in absentia of 10 journalists from the BBC’s Persian service on propaganda charges against the Islamic Republic of Iran, calling it “completely unacceptable.”

    “And also, when I last met the Iranian foreign minister, I raised the case of the fact that Iran was paying thugs to try and murder Iranian journalists providing free and independent information for Iran TV in Britain,” Cameron said in the House of Lords. “On both counts, in my view, they are guilty.”

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    DANICA KIRKA / AP

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  • Thailand Lawmakers Pass Historic Marriage Equality Bill

    Thailand Lawmakers Pass Historic Marriage Equality Bill

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    Thailand’s lawmakers passed a legislation to recognize same-sex marriage, paving the way for the country to become the first in Southeast Asia to guarantee marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples. 

    The 500-member House of Representatives voted to pass the so-called “marriage equality” bill, technically an amendment to the Civil and Commercial Code, in a final reading on Wednesday. As many as 400 lawmakers backed the legislation, while 10 opposed it and five members either abstained or didn’t vote, after more than three hours of debate.

    Read More: ‘Nobody Is Taking Away My Child.’ What Thailand’s Push for Marriage Equality Means for One Family

    The bill now heads to the upper-house Senate, which is set to review it on April 2. It will then be endorsed by the King and published in the Royal Gazette. The amendments will take effect 120 days later. 

    When the changes come into force, Thailand will recognize marriage registrations of same-sex partners aged 18 and above, along with their rights to inheritance, tax allowances and child adoption, among others. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s administration has made it a signature issue, and advocates say it would also burnish Thailand’s reputation as an LGBTQ-friendly tourist destination.

    Read More: Thailand’s New Prime Minister Is Getting Down to Business. But Can He Heal His Nation?

    “This will not take away any rights from men and women, and will instead extend the rights to LGBTQ groups,” said Danuphorn Punnakanta, head of a panel of lawmakers that steered the bill. “We seek to return to them the rights that they have lost.”

    The landmark legislation seeks to formally change the composition of a marriage from “a man and a woman” to “two individuals,” and change the official legal status from “husband and wife” to “married couple.” The move goes further than attempts by previous Thai administrations, which sought to grant equal rights for same-sex couples by formalizing civil partnerships but stopped short of recognizing their marriage. 

    Thailand will become the third place in Asia to recognize same-sex marriage, after Taiwan and Nepal, and rank among some 40 countries around the world to guarantee equal marital rights.

    Read More: What Topped Asia’s Legal Agenda in 2023—From Same-Sex Marriage to the Death Penalty

    Recent efforts elsewhere in the region have had mixed results. Hong Kong has yet to comply with a 2023 court order to establish laws recognizing same-sex partnerships, and India’s Supreme Court refused to legalize same-sex marriage, saying it’s an issue for parliament to consider.

    LGBTQ activists in Thailand have fought for over a decade for the same rights to marry as heterosexual couples. Although Thai laws have protected LGBTQ people from most kinds of discrimination since 2015, attempts to formalize marriage rights had stalled. 

    In 2021, the Constitutional Court upheld the law recognizing marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman. Last year, a bill to recognize same-sex civil partnerships failed to clear parliament ahead of elections. 

    Tourism boost

    Legalizing same-sex marriage could also have positive impact on tourism, which contributes about 12% to the nation’s $500 billion economy. In 2019, before the pandemic froze international tourism, LGBTQ travel to Thailand generated about $6.5 billion, or 1.2% of gross domestic product, according to industry consultant LGBT Capital.

    Formal recognition could boost the reputation of a place already considered one of Asia’s best for LGBTQ visitors, allowing it to benefit from the “pink economy,” said Wittaya Luangsasipong, managing director of Siam Pride, an LGBTQ-friendly travel agency in Bangkok. 

    “It will become a selling point for Thailand and raise our strength in the global stage,” Wittaya said. “It will create a relaxed and safe atmosphere and attract more and more LGBTQ visitors. We could also see more weddings by LGBTQ couples, which could generate income across industries and local communities.”

    Many same-sex couples will also consider moving back or relocating to Thailand for work, he said.

    Srettha’s government has vowed to push ahead with more progressive laws, including legislations to recognize gender identity and legalize prostitution. The health ministry has also proposed legalizing commercial surrogacy to allow LGBTQ couples to adopt children. Thailand is seeking to host the WorldPride events in Bangkok in 2028. 

    “The marriage equality bill is just the first step. There are many more to come,” said Danuphorn of the ruling Pheu Thai Party. A gender identity bill will likely be proposed in the next sitting of the parliament that will begin in July, he said.

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  • Puerto Rico Declares Public Health Emergency as Dengue Cases Rise

    Puerto Rico Declares Public Health Emergency as Dengue Cases Rise

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    Puerto Rico declared a public health emergency over dengue, a mosquito-borne illness that has surged throughout the Americas this year.

    Read More: Dengue Fever Is Soaring Worldwide. Here’s What to Know—and How to Stay Protected

    Health officials in Puerto Rico have identified 549 cases of dengue across the U.S. territory of 3.2 million people, with almost half the cases concentrated in the capital of San Juan. Also known as “breakbone fever,” dengue can cause headaches, soreness, fever and rashes—and, in extreme cases, death.

    “This year, cases of dengue have surpassed historical records,” Health Secretary Carlos Mellado said in a statement. 

    The emergency declaration has no immediate impact on travel to or from Puerto Rico, a popular holiday destination, but it will make it easier for the health department to access funding for detection and prevention, Mellado said.

    There have been major outbreaks of dengue this year across large swathes of the Americas, including Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Peru. Last year, parts of Florida were put under a mosquito-borne illness alert due to dengue.

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  • Blake Lively Apologizes For ‘Silly Post’ About Kate Middleton

    Blake Lively Apologizes For ‘Silly Post’ About Kate Middleton

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    Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, announced her cancer diagnosis on Friday, ending weeks of scrutiny about her health and whereabouts and prompting some to express remorse about previously making jokes amid the media and public frenzy.

    In January, Kate was hospitalized for two weeks for a planned abdominal surgery, after which post-operative tests revealed cancer had been present. She began undergoing “preventative chemotherapy” in late February, but didn’t tell the world until March 22. In the interim, she edited a U.K. Mother’s Day photograph of herself and her three children which was posted on social media and later retracted by news agencies, inciting more speculation and prompting her to apologize “for any confusion” caused.

    Actor Blake Lively was among many online who poked fun at the photo-editing saga while promoting new flavors for her Betty Buzz drinks line, by sharing an over-the-top edited photo of herself featuring her product. Kim Kardashian also posted a picture on Instagram of herself standing next to a car, with the caption, “On my way to go find Kate,” making reference to the “Where’s Kate?” trend.

    After Kate’s cancer diagnosis reveal, some issued public apologies. Lively posted on her Instagram story that she had made a “silly post around the ‘Photoshop fails’ frenzy, and oh man, that post has me mortified today. I’m sorry. Sending love and well wishes to all, always.”

    U.K. political commentator Owen Jones also expressed remorse, writing on X, formerly Twitter, after Kate’s announcement: “As someone who speculated on this without considering it could be a serious health condition, I’m very ashamed to be honest, and all the very best to her.”

    Some on social media have urged apologies from other celebrities and online conspiracists who engaged with rumors about Kate during her public absence.  

    Royal commentator and journalist Jennie Bond criticized conspiracy theorists and mainstream media for its part in the rumor mill in an interview with PBS NewsHour.

    “I think we as a society should take a long look at ourselves, because the trolls on the internet have put about the most ridiculous conspiracy theories consistently, and we, the mass media, actually, have given some of those theories airtime, which I think is entirely wrong,” Bond said.

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    Mallory Moench

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  • France Football Federation Under Fire for Ramadan Rules

    France Football Federation Under Fire for Ramadan Rules

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    France’s governing body for soccer, the French Football Federation (FFF), has sparked fresh controversy over a reported policy that apparently prohibits Muslim athletes from fasting while at the national team’s training camp during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in the name of maintaining strict secularism, or the French legal principle of laïcité, which has long fomented broader tensions in French society.

    “France continues to be champions of anti-Muslim behaviour,” Canadian sports journalist and advocate Shireen Ahmed reacted on X. “Such wonderful displays of spirit of sport from the upcoming Olympic hosts.”

    It’s not the first time the FFF has landed in hot water over moves it claims are meant to enforce religious neutrality but have been criticized as anti-Muslim in a country where an estimated 10% of the population practice the faith.

    The new policy, according to media reports this week, states that team meetings, group meals, and training sessions for the French senior and youth national soccer teams will not be modified on account of any player’s religion and that players who observe Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting and worship that runs this year from March 11 to April 10, will not be permitted to fast while at the Clairefontaine training base—they are told they can make up for missed fasting days after the current period of international practice and competition is finished. Last year, a similar directive ostensibly with health and performance in mind was reportedly given by staff for Les Bleus, the team’s nickname, as a recommendation but not a rule.

    Already, in response to the fasting ban, youth midfielder Mahamadou Diawara has left the French men’s under-19 squad, ESPN reported on Thursday. “Some players are not happy with this decision,” an agent who represents several players for the youth and senior French teams, anonymously told ESPN. “Some don’t want to cause a fuss,” the agent added, but “they believe that their religion is not respected and that they are not respected either.”

    FFF has not responded to TIME’s request for comment. But earlier this week, federation president Philippe Diallo defended the federation’s approach to Ramadan in an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, saying: “There is no stigmatization of anyone, there is absolute respect for everyone’s convictions. But when we are in the French team, we must respect a framework.”

    Diallo referred to Article 1 of the federation’s founding statute, which he says ensures respect for the “principle of neutrality.” Under the article, “any speech or display of a political, ideological, religious or trade-union nature” is forbidden in competitions and events, with violators subject to “disciplinary and/or criminal proceedings.”

    French Football Federation President Philippe Diallo in Paris in June 2023.Bertrand Guay—AFP/Getty Images

    The FFF has come under fire before for failing to accommodate Muslim players and even forcing them to violate their religious principles.

    It was embroiled in controversy last year after an email leaked in which referees for the country’s domestic professional league were ordered not to briefly pause matches at sunset during Ramadan so fasting players could hydrate and eat a snack pitchside. “A football field, a stadium, a gymnasium, are not places of political or religious expression, they are places of neutrality where values of sport, such as equality, fraternity, impartiality, learning to respect the referee, oneself, and others, must prevail,” the email reportedly said, adding that there would be disciplinary consequences for referees who did not comply. The FFF’s order stood in stark contrast to the French league’s counterparts around the world, including the English Premier League, Germany’s Bundesliga, and the Dutch Eredivisie, where match officials have permitted such momentary pauses in play to accommodate Muslim players.

    Amid backlash, during a game on April 2, a Paris Saint-Germain fan group held up a sign that read: “A date, a glass of water, the nightmare of the FFF.”

    Also last year, the Council of State, France’s supreme court for administrative laws, upheld the FFF’s ban on women players wearing hijabs, which had been appealed by a collective of Muslim players and human rights advocates who claimed that such a ban was discriminatory. The court, however, ruled that “sports federations, responsible for ensuring the proper functioning of the public service whose management is entrusted to them, can impose on their players an obligation of neutrality of outfits during competitions and sporting events in order to guarantee the smooth running of matches and prevent any confrontation.” It declared the FFF’s hijab, despite FIFA lifting a similar rule years earlier, ban to be an “appropriate and proportionate” measure.

    France’s sports minister announced a similar prohibition on French athletes wearing headscarves during the upcoming Olympics, set to take place in Paris from July 26 to Aug. 11, drawing widespread condemnation. A spokesperson for the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights slammed the ban, saying: “Restrictions of expressions of religions or beliefs such as attire choices are only acceptable under really specific circumstances that address legitimate concerns for public safety, public order or public health or morals.”

    In response to news of the FFF’s recent Ramadan rule, the Everything Is Futbol podcast posted on X: “Muslim players for France should sit out the national team until they reverse their decision.”

    “You’ll see how quickly France changes its ways once they realize they can’t field a good national team without multiple dual citizen French/African athletes,” the post added, referring to the fact that Les Bleus has historically been bolstered by African and Arab migrants and children of migrants. “Muslim players have been and will continue to be a vital part of France’s success.”

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    Chad de Guzman

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