WORLD NEWS January 21, 2021 5 Biden Scraps Trump Policies Trump Pardons Extremists, Criminals in Final Hours of Term

on Wall, Climate, Muslims WASHINGTON (AP) -- His term at an end, United States President said fare- a travel ban on some majority-Muslim well to Washington on Wednesday but also hinted countries. at a comeback despite a legacy of chaos, tumult The Day One plans were just the start and bitter divisions in the country he led for four of a flurry of executive actions Biden years. “So just a goodbye. We love you,” Trump would take soon after taking office, Psaki told supporters at Joint Base Andrews in added. where he walked across a red carpet and boarded “In the coming days and weeks we will Air Force One to head to Florida. “We will be back be announcing additional executive ac- in some form.” Trump departed office as the only president ever impeached twice, and with mil- tions that confront these challenges and lions more out of work than when he was sworn deliver on the President-elect’s promises in and 400,000 dead from the coronavirus. Under to the American people,” said Psaki. his watch, Republicans lost the presidency and On the economic front, Biden will both chambers of Congress. He will be forever re- ask the Centers for Disease Control to membered for inciting an insurrection, two weeks extend moratoriums on evictions and before Democrat Joe Biden moved into the White foreclosures until the end of March, and House, at the Capitol that left five dead, including the Department of Education to suspend a Capitol Police officer, and horrified the nation. student loan payments until the end of President Donald Trump speaks at the Joint Base Andrews, It was on Trump’s on Inauguration Day, Jan 20, 2017, that he had painted a dire picture of “Ameri- September. Maryland, U.S., January 20, 2021. can carnage”. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden cries during an event at Major Joseph R. Biden has promised to put the United “Beau” Biden III National Guard/Reserve Center at New Castle County States on a track to net-zero emissions by WASHINGTON (AP) — President still in its early stages and any trial *** Donald Trump pardoned former was months away. Whereas pardon re- Airport in New Castle, , U.S. January 19, 2021. 2050 to match the steep and swift global ROME (AP) — Italian police have recovered cuts that scientists say are needed to avoid chief strategist Steve Bannon in the cipients are conventionally thought of a 500-year-old copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s 16th WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- Joe federal property and for federal employ- the most devastating impacts of global final hours of his White House term as defendants who have faced justice, century “Salvator Mundi” painting of Jesus Christ Biden was to sign 15 executive actions ees, an order to establish a new White warming, using curbs on fossil fuels and as part of a flurry of clemency action often by having served at least some that was stolen from a Naples church during the after he was sworn in as U.S. presi- House office coordinating response to massive investments in clean energy. that benefited more than 140 people, prison time, the pardon nullifies the pandemic without the priests even realizing it was dent on Wednesday, aides said, undo- the coronavirus, and halting the process The path won’t be easy, though, with including rap performers, ex-mem- prosecution and effectively eliminates gone. The discovery was made when Naples police working on a bigger operation found the paint- ing policies put in place by outgoing of withdrawing from the World Health political divisions in the United States, bers of Congress and other allies of any prospect for punishment. him and his family. Bannon was charged in August with ing hidden in an apartment. Police chief Alfredo President Donald Trump and making Organization. opposition from fossil fuel companies, Fabbrocini said the apartment owner was detained his first moves on the pandemic and Biden was also to begin the process of and wary international partners con- The last-minute clemency, announced duping thousands of donors who be- after he offered a “less than credible” explanation climate change. re-entering the Paris climate accord and cerned about U.S. policy shifts obstruct- after midnight on Wednesday, follows lieved their money would be used to that he had “casually” bought it at a market. The To address the “crises” of the pandemic, issue a sweeping order tackling climate ing the way. separate waves of pardons over the past fulfill Trump’s chief campaign promise painting is a copy of the “Salvator Mundi” (Savior the economy, climate change and racial in- change, including revoking the presiden- Global counterparts and climate advo- month for Trump associates convicted to build a wall along the southern bor- of the World) by Leonardo that sold for a record equity, Biden was about to sign the execu- tial permit granted to the controversial cates welcomed Washington’s return to in the FBI’s Russia investigation as well der. Instead, he allegedly diverted over $450 million at a Christie’s auction in 2017. The tive orders and memorandums in the Oval Keystone XL oil pipeline. cooperation on climate change, but ex- as for the father of his son-in-law. a million dollars, paying a salary to one unnamed bidder was later identified as a Saudi Office in the afternoon, and ask agencies Among a raft of orders addressing im- pressed some skepticism about its stay- Taken together, the actions under- campaign official and personal expens- royal who purportedly purchased it on behalf of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. It was supposed to have to take steps in two additional areas, said migration, Biden was to revoke Trump’s ing power, and its ability to overcome score the president’s willingness, all the es for himself. His co-defendants were way through his four years in the White not pardoned. been unveiled a year later at the museum, but the incoming Press Secretary Jen Psaki. emergency declaration that helped fund domestic political turmoil to enact ambi- exhibition was delayed indefinitely and the work The actions include a mask mandate on the construction of a border wall and end tious new regulation. House, to flex his constitutional pow- “Steve Bannon is getting a pardon hasn’t been seen in public since. ers in ways that defy convention and from Trump after defrauding Trump’s explicitly aid his friends and supporters. own supporters into paying for a wall *** The names of prominent Trump allies that Trump promised Mexico would SEOUL (Reuters) -- South Korea’s president on China Takes Partying Shots at ‘Doomsday nonetheless stood out. pay for,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Wednesday nominated a former national security One pardon recipients was Elliott said on Twitter. “And if that all sounds adviser who was partly blamed for a failed sum- Broidy, a prominent Republican fund- crazy, that’s because it is. Thank God mit between North Korea and the United States Clown’ Pompeo raiser who pleaded guilty last fall in a we have only 12 more hours of this den in 2019 as the country’s next foreign minister. scheme to lobby the Trump administra- of thieves.” The nomination of Chung Eui-yong, 74, to re- tion the benefit of the doubt, along with place Kang Kyung-wha as foreign minister was a warning that China would not accept tion to drop an investigation into the Other presidents have issued con- seen as a bid to help revive stalled denucleariza- criticism of its Xinjiang policy going looting of a Malaysian wealth fund. troversial pardons before leaving the tion talks with North Korea, just hours before Joe forward. Another was , a friend of White House. But perhaps no other Biden takes office as the U.S. president. Chung “We hope the new U.S. administra- Trump son-in-law who commander in chief has so enjoyed had sought to mediate between the two countries as President Moon Jae-in’s top security adviser, tion can have their own reasonable and was charged last October with cyber- using the clemency authority to ben- stalking during a heated divorce. efit not only friends and acquaintances making a surprise announcement on the White cool-minded judgment on Xinjiang is- House lawn in March 2018 that U.S. President sues, among other issues,” she said. Bannon’s pardon was especially no- but also celebrity defendants and those table given that the prosecution was championed by allies. Donald Trump would hold a summit with North “We hope the new administration will Korean leader Kim Jong Un. But Chung was ac- work together with China in the spirit cused of misleading both sides about the potential of mutual respect, properly handle dif- for agreement after their second summit in 2019 in ferences and conduct more win-win Russia Seeks Nuke Deal With Vietnam failed to produce a deal.

cooperation in more sectors,” she said. *** Beijing’s ire has often been directed Tougher U.S. Government WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. President- at Pompeo, and Hua was asked wheth- elect Joe Biden’s choice for secretary of state on er she will miss him. Tuesday accused NATO member Turkey of not act- “Of course, we are enjoying a free- ing like an ally and said Washington would review U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, and Israeli Prime Minister of-charge show every day,” she said. if further sanctions are required on Ankara over “But I think the harm he incurred to the its acquisition of a Russian air defense system. Benjamin Netanyahu leave after making a joint statement in Jerusa- U.S. image and reputation is irrevers- Last month, Washington imposed long-anticipated lem, November 19, 2020. ible and hard to heal.” sanctions on Turkey’s defense industry over its BEIJING (Dispatches) -- With hours “Pompeo has made so many lies Antony Blinken, Biden’s nominee for acquisition of S-400 missile defense systems from left in Donald Trump’s presidency, in recent years, and this is just an- secretary of state, on Tuesday prom- Moscow, in a move Turkey called a “grave mis- take.” “The idea that a strategic - so-called strate- China’s foreign ministry took aim at other bold-faced lie,” foreign ministry ised major changes after four years of gic - partner of ours would actually be in line with its chief U.S. antagonist, “lying and spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a Trump’s foreign policy but stressed one one of our biggest strategic competitors in Russia cheating” Secretary of State Mike regular media briefing on Wednesday. priority will remain the same: China. is not acceptable,” Antony Blinken, Biden’s choice Pompeo, and said it would seek co- “This so-called determination by “Let me just say that I also believe for chief U.S. diplomat, told lawmakers. “I think operation with the incoming admin- Pompeo is nothing but paper. This U.S. that President Trump was right in tak- we need to take a look to see the impact that the istration of Joe Biden. politician is notorious for lying and ing a tougher approach to China,” existing sanctions have had and then determine Pompeo, who has unleashed a bar- cheating, is making himself a laughing Blinken said during his confirmation whether (there is) more that needs to be done,” rage of measures against China in his stock and a doomsday clown,” she said. hearing before the Senate Foreign Re- Blinken said during his Senate Foreign Relations final weeks in office, delivered his own China has repeatedly rejected accusa- lations Committee. Committee confirmation hearing. parting shot on Tuesday when he an- tions of abuse of the Uighur population “I disagree very much with the way *** nounced that the Trump administration in its western Xinjiang region, where a that he went about it in a number of MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Russian forces have had determined that China has commit- United Nations panel has said that at areas, but the basic principle was MOSCOW (Dispatches) -- The Krem- Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gor- lin said on Wednesday it remained bachev on Wednesday reiterated that killed a Chechen separatist guerrilla commander ted “genocide and crimes against hu- least 1 million Uighurs and other Mus- the right one, and I think that’s actu- believed to have been involved in a deadly bombing manity” by repressing Uighur Muslims lims had been detained in camps. ally helpful to our foreign policy,” he committed to extending the New it was necessary to preserve the New at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport in 2011, authori- in Xinjiang. Hua gave the incoming administra- added. START nuclear arms control treaty START Treaty, a 2010 arms reduction ties said on Wednesday. Aslan Byutukayev was one with the United States and would wel- accord that limits Russia and the United of six militants killed during a special operation come efforts promised by the admin- States to 1,550 nuclear warheads and is in the village of Katyr-Yurt, about 1,500 km (930 istration of U.S. President-elect Joe set to expire February 5. miles) south of Moscow, Chechen regional leader Agencies: Ethiopians Dying, Hungry and Fearful in Tigray Biden to reach agreement. Under President Donald Trump, the Ramzan Kadyrov said. Byutukayev is suspected The New START (Strategic Arms Re- United States withdrew from two major of being behind a bombing that killed nearly 40 NAIROBI (Reuters) -- Ethiopians in the war-scarred north childbirth complications. duction Treaty) accord, which was signed international accords -- the Iran nuclear people in the arrivals hall of Domodedovo airport are dying from lack of healthcare services, are suffering In Adigrat, MSF found doctors and nurses struggling to keep in 2010 and expires in February, limits deal and the Open Skies treaty -- and in 2011. He is also accused of taking part in other attacks, including on Grozny, the Chechen capital. food and water shortages, and remain “terrified”, accord- “hungry patients” alive, Vinoles said. The main hospital’s am- the numbers of strategic nuclear war- pulled out from a centerpiece arms con- “All underground groups in Chechnya have been ing to aid agencies finally accessing remoter parts of Tigray bulances had been stolen. heads, missiles and bombers that Russia trol agreement with Russia, the Interme- completely eliminated!” Kadyrov said on social region. “Every time we reach a new area, we find food, water, health and the United States can deploy. diate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty. media. Just when people were harvesting crops in early November, services depleted, and a lot of fear among the population. Ev- “Russia and its president are in favor Gorbachev called for Russia and the Those killed were the last militants on a federal the federal army launched an offensive against forces of the erybody is asking for food,” she added. of preserving this agreement,” Kremlin United States to repair their strained rela- wanted list for terrorist activity in the region, he former local ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front The United Nations’ children’s agency UNICEF said on Mon- spokesman Dmitry Peskov told report- tions, hours before Biden was to enter the said. (TPLF), whom it accused of insurrection. day that malnutrition was the leading cause of death in clinics ers on a conference call. “If our Ameri- White House. *** Thousands died and more than 300,000 fled their homes dur- in the town of Shire, where the situation was particularly grave. can colleagues will in fact demonstrate Tensions have soared between Moscow ing battles and air-strikes, creating a humanitarian crisis in the Many Tigrayans had relied on food aid even before the war, a political will to preserve this pact by and Washington under Trump, fuelled LONDON (AP) — BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed the start of a new UK- already poor region of about 5 million people. with locust plagues in early 2020 worsening their plight. extending it, this can only be welcomed.” by fresh allegations of sweeping cyber- U.S. chapter on Wednesday under incoming U.S. Though the government captured regional capital Mekelle “Central Tigray is a black hole” because most people remain While Biden’s aides indicated that he attacks among a litany of other disagree- President Joe Biden, even as his predecessor and declared the war over by the end of the month, aid groups, in villages and aid groups only have access to towns, said Ac- intends to work quickly to extend the ments on the world stage. Theresa May accused Johnson of “abandoning” the United Nations and some officials say reaching needy peo- tion Against Hunger’s (AAH) Ethiopia director Panos Navro- treaty, the incoming president is also ex- “The current condition of relations the UK’s moral leadership in the world during ple has been hindered by violence, bureaucracy and logistical zidis. pected to take a tougher stance on Russia. between Russia and the United States the tumultuous Trump era. May, who resigned in obstacles. Fear of fighting appeared to be keeping people hiding in Russian President Vladimir Putin last is of great concern,” Gorbachev said in 2019 amid turmoil over Brexit, has been critical of “The people are terrified, they have suffered a lot,” Medecins mountains unable to seek food and medical treatment, he said. year called on Washington to extend the an interview with state-run news agency Johnson’s handling of Britain’s exit from the Eu- Sans Frontieres’ (MSF) emergency program head Mari Carmen Health workers had not been paid for three months, both MSF last major nuclear arms pact between the TASS. ropean Union. The open criticism is unusual be- Vinoles told Reuters as the medical charity made first forays and AAH said. two countries for a year without any con- “But this also means that something has cause both prime ministers represent the Conser- vative Party. Writing in the Daily Mail newspaper, into rural areas near towns including Adrigat and Axum. The state-run Ethiopian Press Agency quoted the Tigray Wa- ditions. to be done about it in order to normal- May slammed Johnson’s threat last year to breach MSF said there was barely any healthcare provision beyond ter Resource Management Bureau as saying clean water was A failure to extend New START could ize relations,” the last Soviet leader said. the legally binding Brexit treaty he had signed with Mekelle and a handful of towns, meaning people were dying running short for many because of damaged infrastructure, fuel a potential arms race and tensions “We cannot fence ourselves off from each the EU, and his decision to abandon a commitment without life-saving help for conditions such as pneumonia or looted offices, stolen equipment and an inoperative dam. between Moscow and Washington. other.” to spending 0.7% of Britain’s GDP on foreign aid.