TheCity

Tag: USA

  • Biden administration pushes to grant Mohammed Bin Salman sovereign immunity: democrats split over the decision

    Biden administration pushes to grant Mohammed Bin Salman sovereign immunity: democrats split over the decision

    Mohammed Bin Salman in 2019 with Bolsonaro(not pictured) Photo: Alan Santos/PR

    The decision from the Joe Biden administration to push for immunity in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi has led to a split between lawmakers in the U.S.

    Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff said, “I think this is a tragic decision.” 

    Democratic Senator Ron Wyden urged Biden to hold Mohammed Bin Salman “accountable” for the murder of Khashoggi. 

    According to U.S Secretary of state Anthony Blinken, the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the U.S is “under review” after the Biden administration declared on the 17th of November that the high office held by Saudi Prince Mohammed Bin Salman should grant him sovereign immunity in the lawsuit over the killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

    A court filing was made by U.S Justice Department lawyers because Bin Salman recently became the Prime Minister of the country. A role traditionally held by the King of Saudi Arabia, this grants Bin Salman immunity as a foreign head of government. 

    Hatice Cengiz Khashoggi’s fiancée, tweeted her reaction after learning about the filing by the U.S Justice Department, “Jamal died again today”. 

    This a direct turnaround from the 2018 intelligence report, released by the Biden administration in 2021, that stated the murder of The Washington Post journalist in 2018 by Saudi agents was “on behalf” of and “approved” by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

    While campaigning in 2020 to become President of the United States, Biden said he would make a “pariah” out of the rulers of Saudi Arabia over the 2018 killing of Khashoggi. Biden said in 2019, “I think it was a flat-out murder.” 

    The murder of Jamal Khashoggi 

    Khashoggi went into a self-imposed exile in June 2017, heading for the United States.

    In 2018 Khashoggi needed to obtain a certificate of marriage eligibility from the Saudi consulate to be able to marry his fiancée in her birth country of Turkey. 

    On September 28th 2018, Khashoggi and Cengiz went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Khashoggi was told he would need to return on October 2nd, 2018.

    On October 2nd 2018, he was murdered, in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, by Saudi agents. Khashoggi had been critical of the Saudi prince before his death in 2018. 

    The civil case 

    Khashoggi’s fiancée, Cengiz and DAWN (Democracy for the Arab world now) human rights organisation located in Washington, founded by Khashoggi before his death, brought the case against Bin Salman and 28 others on the 28th of October 2020, in the Washington DC, Federal district Court. Saudi Arabia has said the prince had no direct role in the killing of Khashoggi, a contradiction to the U.S intelligence report which says that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman approved the operation to capture or kill the Saudi journalist.

    Alegging they “kidnapped, bounded, drugged, tortured and assassinated” Khashoggi, the remains of Khashoggi have never been found.

    After cancelling his first trip to Japan in 3 years, Bin Salman arrived in Doha Saturday for the Qatar World cup opening ceremony, a competition and country struggling with its own human rights controversies. This comes as the two countries are continuing to improve their relations after reopening their shared borders last year.

  • Covid-19 abroad: The US and the impact of the pandemic from coast to coast

    Covid-19 abroad: The US and the impact of the pandemic from coast to coast

    Video by Liam Daly

    The first US Covid-19 fatality was reported in Seattle on the 28 February 2020 – one year later and the deaths have now risen to half a million.

    In that time the US has been a mainstay in worldwide news and media for a multitude of social and political issues ranging from the strange to the shocking.

    Throughout the last year, the American people have become increasingly polarised – the brutal killing of George Floyd and the resulting protests revealed systemic issues of racism in the US which were brought to the fore in worldwide media, on top of that, then-president Donald Trump’s approach to handling the pandemic was controversial, and did nothing to quell the tense atmosphere in the US.

    The US entered the pandemic with an already problematic healthcare system, which the Trump had inherited – a healthcare system which had been decreasing in funding every year since 2002.

    Trump’s devil-may-care attitude to the virus and his peddling of conspiracy theories did not help this fragile system, and the magnitude of lives lost is a sad reflection of this.

    Through this historic period, Cillian Dunne, 24, a recent college graduate, published author, and budding Hollywood screenwriter has lived on both the east and west coasts of the United States.

    First in Boston, where he has been living for the past five years while completing his college degree, then, upon graduating, he drove cross-country to settle in Santa Monica, where unfortunately he has been mostly confined to his apartment since October.

    “Since we got here we’ve been under the strictest lockdown in America”

    Cillian Dunne

    While things are starting to reopen as more than one million people in LA have been vaccinated, thousands of cases per day keep the locals wary.

    “ICU wards are getting within their threshold. I’m sure we’ll get put into another lockdown,” says Dunne.

    A quick vaccine rollout has lead to an increase in optimism. Some reputable sources are backing ‘herd immunity’ and speculate that a herd immunity threshold can be achieved as early as late-spring or at worst, the end of summer.

    This theory has its complications however, and arguments have been made against it. While a quick vaccine rollout seems the perfect solution that we all have been searching for, the danger of increasing variant strains of the coronavirus complicates the situation – we may vaccinate against the current strains but a new variant could come along tomorrow and make that work null and void.

    The only way to tackle this problem is to learn to live with Covid-19 while work on vaccines and studies of the virus improve – and in the US, the new president’s policies are putting this into action.

    President Biden’s approach to the pandemic has been significantly different to Trump’s.

    Biden has focused on personal protective equipment (PPE) and improving access to it. Increases have been made to testing capacity, travel restrictions, and mandates requiring Americans to wear masks have been introduced. There has also been a focus on returning to schools and workplaces safely.

    If the US can maintain their current vaccine trajectory, the country could reach herd immunity as early as July, however it is also projected that in that time an additional one million people could die – and that is without interference by new variants.

    The more important strategy could prove to be in the policies the new administration are implementing rather than in the questionable herd immunity plan.

    Sunset in Boston, Photo by Kristin Vogt via Pexels.com
  • A Covid tale of two cities

    A Covid tale of two cities

    Beaming Tara Wiekert (left) enjoys a brew indoors at a bar in Tuscaloosa, while Julia Hadley (right) is smiling through her state-mandated mask outdoors in Boston. Photos courtesy of Tara Wiekert and Julia Hadley

    In North America, each state decides on its own Covid-19 regulations. Different states can have radically different restrictions – changing the experience of the pandemic for their residents.

    A part of Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign was the requirement of masks to be worn throughout the US as he stated it could “save 100,000 lives” if masks were made mandatory to wear in every state.

    Less than a month into his inauguration, President Biden has already pushed nationwide mandates, requiring masks to be worn by all Federal employees and by those who use public travel throughout the US.

    However, social distancing regulations are very different depending on the state.

    Answering the same set of questions, two students who reside in different states share their lifestyle and opinions with Jessica Viola on the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Tara Wiekert lives in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and studies advertising with a minor in German at the University of Alabama.

    Julia Hadley is a health science major at Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts. These responses are based on the student’s opinions as well as on their state’s individual regulations. 

    What is your opinion on Covid-19 now, in 2021? 

    Tara Wiekert: “I think it’s serious and something everyone needs to be made aware of. I know it affects older people more severely, which is why I think a lot of people at school don’t take it that seriously, since we are in a college town surrounded by people who are all mainly around the age of 20-25.”

    Julia Hadley: “My opinion on Covid-19 has remained the same over the past months. It is a very scary time for so many individuals and has affected far too many people. While the vaccination is bringing so much hope for the future, it’s still imperative people take precautions.”

    “While the vaccination is bringing so much hope for the future, it’s still imperative people take precautions”

    Julia Hadley

    What measures are being taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in your college?

    TW: “The school requires students to be tested for Covid-19 randomly. I try to wash my hands as often as possible, but since life here feels so normal, I do not take immense measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. I still go out, eat out, and hang out with all my friends the same way as we did before.”

    JH: “At BU, students who attend classes on-campus or live on-campus must take a Covid-19 test every three days. When taking a class in-person, students must provide proof of their negative Covid-19 test. Throughout campus, students must wear masks at all times.”

    Are you taking college classes in person now and are other work spaces open?

    TW: “Alabama is probably one of the states with the least amount of Covid restrictions. We have some in-person classes and some online depending on what the professor prefers. Libraries and other study areas are open, however, you must wear a mask on campus at all times.”

    JH: “All students and faculty are required to get a Covid-19 test every 3 days, allowing students to take classes in person, if permitted. Libraries and study areas are open, but space is limited. Students must wear a mask at all times, while also having a negative Covid-19 test result, in order to enter the space.”

    “I still go out, eat out, and hang out with all my friends the same way as we did before”

    Tara Wiekert

    How has socialising been for you in 2021?

    TW: “In all honesty, life in Alabama has been rather normal. Bars have been open for a while now. They only shut down at the beginning of last semester for about two weeks.

    “All or most college organised events are happening here in Alabama. We just won the National Championship for (American) football.”

    JH: “Boston does have indoor dining and restaurants utilise glass shields and place diners a safe distance away from one another. The state’s mandates include setting limits on gatherings, also mask and face-coverings must be worn indoors and outdoors with a capacity limit and there’s a curfew for restaurants as well as businesses.

    “At this moment, no organized events are happening within my college campus and are highly discouraged within Massachusetts.”

    University of Alabama students celebrating their American football victory in January 2021. Video courtesy of Tara Wiekert

    What is your opinion on how your state is handling Covid-19 procedures now?

    TW: “In my hometown of New Jersey, my life has changed a lot, and I am able to do a lot less, yet both states seem to be doing ‘fine’. I do think wearing a mask in public should be required for the safety of others and the elderly. However, in Alabama, my life seems rather normal and I often forget Covid-19 is even a ‘thing’. I am doing everything that I used to do even before Covid-19 hit.” 

    JH: “Just as everyone around the world, my life has changed since COVID-19. I have limited traveling, restricted seeing people outside of my immediate circle, among many other things. While adapting to our new ‘normal’ has had its challenges, it is a sacrifice I am willing to contribute to keep myself, family, and friends safe during the pandemic and, I am extremely fortunate for their good health thus far.”

    “Adapting to the new ‘normal’ is a sacrifice I am willing to contribute to keep myself, family, and friends safe during the pandemic”

    Julia Hadley

    American universities have been a hot spot for the spread of Covid-19. Throughout the course of the pandemic, more than 85 colleges have had over 1,000 reported cases on campus. In a recent study, 70% of Covid-19 cases in the US have been spread by young aged 20-49 years old.

    Although Massachusetts has almost over 2 million more residents in it than Alabama, they comparatively have a little over 72,000 more confirmed Covid-19 cases than this southern state. As it stands now, Massachusetts has 546,800 confirmed cases and Alabama has had 474,666 coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

    Masks, social distancing, and socialising remain hot-button issues – will Biden manage to unite his nation?