AMERICA
CHINE/CANADA: “Racist” T-shirt sows discord between China and Canada
The rag has been burning in recent days between China and Canada, around a diplomatic incident caused by a “racist” T-shirt, promoted by a Canadian diplomat, which greatly offended China. The powerful Asian country, very concerned about its image, remains uncompromising towards any attempt, whether proven or not, to associate it negatively with the origins of the Coronavirus. By AgenceEcofin
It all started when Chad Hensler, in the middle of last year, ordered T-shirts with a bat image around the words “Wu-Han” (name of the city that would be the official starting point of the pandemic. of Covid-19).
The rapid association between the bat, believed to be a reservoir of the virus, and the Chinese city town, has caused a wave of outrage on Chinese social networks, from citizens and even officials.
The latter, rejecting the thesis according to which the manufacturer would have confused “Wu-Han” and “Wu-Tang” (named after the famous American Hip-Hop group, “Wu-Tang Clan”), asked the Canadian government to sanction the diplomat indexed, and demanded a public apology, as soon as possible.
Wu-tang to Wuhan
A t-shirt logo revealed
Frail diplomacy#haiku #haikuchallenge (reveal) #micropoetry #amwriting #Wuhan #WuTang https://t.co/AtV2VpAmHA pic.twitter.com/jqTSObEG8E— Shreela Roy (@sredits) February 2, 2021
The Chinese media, in particular accuse Hensler of having deliberately concealed his “bad intentions”, since the month of May when he had placed the order, and of wanting to suggest that the coronavirus came from a bat in Wuhan, in this which would be a defamation campaign led by the West against China, on the question of the origins of the virus (note that a WHO team laboriously began this early this year, an investigation into the origins of the virus in Wuhan , after Beijing’s multifaceted reservations).
For its part, Ottawa said it was a deplorable “misunderstanding”, arguing that the logo represented the Hip-Hop group well, and “[was] not intended to represent a bat” and “that they were personal gifts for a team of diplomats who went to Wuhan in the early days of the pandemic, to help with the evacuation of Canadian citizens,” as reported by local media, the Globe and Mail.
Note that this diplomatic spat comes at a time when relations between the two countries have deteriorated in recent months, with a certain Canadian coldness vis-à-vis China, accused of not having been very transparent at the beginning. of the pandemic.
Tensions are also present, against the backdrop of an East-West standoff, in the field of major Chinese technology companies, notably with the arrest and detention by Canada of Meng Wanzhou, senior executive of Huawei (and daughter of the founder, Ren Zhengfei), in a case where she faces up to 30 years in prison.
Source : AgenceEcofin / By Ayi Renaud Dossavi
AMERICA
NIGER – United States repositions its troops
The United States began “as a precaution” to reposition its troops in Niger, the scene of a coup in late July, the Pentagon announced on Thursday, September 07, 2023.
The Department of Defense is “repositioning some of its personnel and assets from Air Base 101 in Niamey (the capital, ed.) to Air Base 201 in Agadez”, further north, a spokesman, Sabrina Singh, told the press.
“There is no immediate threat to our staff or violence on the ground,” she added, calling the decision a “precautionary measure”. Singh also said that “some non-essential staff and subcontractors” had left the country several weeks ago.
Soldiers toppled the President of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, on 26 July and placed him and his family under house arrest at the presidential palace. The United States has some 1,100 soldiers stationed in Niger, operating against active jihadist groups.
AMERICA
NEW YORK – A dozen Senegalese arrested for selling counterfeit items
On the evening of Wednesday, September 06, 2023, a muscular intervention by the New York police led to the arrest of a dozen Senegalese nationals, mainly street vendors. Reportedly, the police operation was triggered by the sale of counterfeit items, an illegal activity in the United States.
The US authorities also seized the subject goods, while legal proceedings were instituted against those involved. According to sources, the sale of counterfeit items is strictly prohibited in the United States, and the U.S. authorities take the suppression of this activity seriously.
However, this incident has elicited varying reactions from the Senegalese community in New York, with some expressing concern about the fate of those arrested, while others stress the need to respect local laws.
At this point, the New York police have not yet officially communicated on this case, and the exact circumstances of the police intervention remain to be clarified.
AMERICA
CANARY ISLANDS – 83 people aboard rescue canoe and 2 lifeless bodies discovered
3 people aboard a canoe were rescued by the ship Guardamar Calìope. Two (2) lifeless bodies, one male and one female, were discovered upon arrival in the Canary Islands.
With a cut and a design more or less identical to those of a Senegalese boat, the boat was spotted in the south of Maspalomas. According to the rescue team, they arrived in Arguineguin at 5:05am in the Canary Islands on 25 July 2023.
As a reminder, at least 14 lifeless bodies were found after a pirogue capsized overnight from Sunday to Monday, July 24, 2023 off the coast of Dakar, Senegal, said Samba Kandji, deputy mayor of the Ouakam district and a source of the gendarmerie.
‘They are migrants a priori,’ said Mr Kandji. Gendarmes and firefighters are on the beach of Ouakam, a district of the Senegalese capital, and continue Monday morning rescue operations in search of other bodies.
“The navy forced the boat to dock and people fled. I was told 14 (dead) but then two bodies came out. It can be assumed that there were 16” deaths, Kandji said a few minutes later.
A wooden boat, on which migrants were found, according to several witnesses on the beach, floats on the water near the bank.
A firefighter assured anonymously that search operations had begun at 01:00 hours.
The migratory route of the Canary Islands, a gateway to Europe in the Atlantic Ocean, has seen a marked increase in activity in recent weeks from the coasts of northwestern Africa.
Several tragedies have been recorded in the last two weeks. At least 13 migrants from around Dakar died in the sinking of their boat about a week ago off the coast of Morocco. Another boat capsized in Saint-Louis, in northern Senegal, killing at least 14 people.
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