The US banned certain products imported from China’s Xinjiang province, home to the Uighur minority community, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement Wednesday. 

The order by the CBP is against cotton and tomato products produced in Xinjiang, which it said is "based on information that reasonably indicates the use of detainee or prison labor and situations of forced labor."

It directs CBP personnel at all US ports of entry to detain the products grown or produced by entities operating in Xinjiang, which include apparel, textiles, tomato seeds, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, and other goods made with cotton and tomatoes.

US importers will be responsible for ensuring imported products do not exploit forced labor.

The agencies defined forced labor indicators as debt bondage, restriction of movement, isolation, intimidation, and threats, withholding of wages, and abusive living and working conditions.

"DHS will not tolerate forced labor of any kind in US supply chains ... and we demand the Chinese close their camps and stop their human rights violations," Acting DHS Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli said in the statement.

"CBP will not tolerate the Chinese government’s exploitation of modern slavery to import goods into the US below fair market value," CBP Acting Commissioner Mark A. Morgan said and added that cheap imports made by using forced labor expose unsuspecting consumers to unethical purchases.

The US cautioned American businesses in July 2020 about the risks of forced labor in Xinjiang.

A 2018 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report detailed a Chinese government campaign of "mass arbitrary detention, torture, forced political indoctrination, and mass surveillance of Xinjiang's Muslims."

China has been widely accused of putting Uighurs into camps and there have been reports of the forced sterilization of Uighur women. Many Uighurs – as many as 1.6 million, according to the World Uyghur Congress – have left China to live abroad.

Rights groups, including HRW and Amnesty International, accuse Beijing of oppressing 12 million Uighurs, most of whom are Muslims.

China has repeatedly denied allegations it is operating detention camps in the northwestern autonomous region, claiming instead that it is "re-educating" Uighurs./aa

Clashes erupted Wednesday between Israeli security forces and Israeli Palestinians when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in a northern city.

Hundreds of Palestinians, including members of a coalition of Arab parties known as the Joint List, held protests in northern Nazareth province as Netanyahu visited a vaccination center.

Several demonstrators, including lawmakers, were slightly injured.

Police detained nine protesters, according to the state-owned KAN channel.

Critics say that Netanyahu’s visit, his third to an Arab city in two weeks, can be evaluated as part of the Likud party’s efforts to court Arab voters.

Aiming to increase votes before the March 23 national elections, Netanyahu said in Nazareth that a “new era” has begun between Arab citizens and Jews for well-being, integration and security.

"Arab citizens should fully be a part of Israeli society," Israeli daily Haaretz quoted Netanyahu.

Israel will hold snap elections after parliament failed Dec. 22 to meet a deadline to pass a budget.

The ruling Likud party headed by Netanyahu and its coalition partner, the Blue and White party, led by Defense Minister Benny Gantz, could not agree on a budget,

The budget could not be put to a vote Wednesday, parliament was legally dissolved and a compulsory election process has started.

Netanyahu and Gantz decided to form a coalition government in May after three inconclusive elections have been held since April 2019.

But the unity government disagreed on the adoption of an annual budget. While Netanyahu wanted to pass the 2020 budget, Gantz wanted to include the 2021 budget in the vote.

By law, if the budget for 2020 was not passed by Dec. 23, an early election is mandatory./aa

The alleged head of the outlawed Turkish Communist Party - Marxist-Leninist (TKP/ML) was arrested in Istanbul on Wednesday.

Counterterrorism teams in Istanbul uncovered that Nihat Konak, who was wanted for "membership in an armed terrorist organization," was hiding out in the city's Esenyurt neighborhood.

In an operation on the address, security teams arrested Konak, code-named Kemal, who had been identified as the so-called head of the terror group in Turkey.

They seized numerous documents and digital materials related to the organization.

It was also found that Konak was one of the perpetrators of a murder in 1979 for which he was imprisoned before escaping in 1982 with other TKP/ML members.

Konak was also found to be one of the perpetrators of a 1999 bomb attack on the then-governor of the central province of Cankiri.

Founded in 1972 in Turkey, TKP/ML is an outlawed group carrying out illegal activities, as well as armed attacks to establish a Marxist-Leninist rule in the country. It is listed as a terrorist organization in Turkey./aa

One of the men arrested after last week's violent attack on the U.S. Capitol was kicked out of the Navy two years into his enlistment for refusing to take a required vaccine.

Jacob Anthony Angeli Chansley, a 33-year-old Navy veteran from Arizona who was arrested and charged after last week's siege at the U.S. Capitol, refused to take the anthrax vaccine while in the Navy, ending his two-year career, a Navy official confirmed to Military.com. Task and Purpose first reported the circumstances that led the Navy to boot Chansley from the ranks.

Chansley, who also goes by Jake Angeli, was arrested Saturday and charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority, the Department of Justice announced this weekend. Chansley was photographed among supporters of President Donald Trump who carried out a violent takeover of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. He was shirtless, wearing a horned fur headdress and red, white and blue face paint.

Chansley served as a Navy supply clerk seaman apprentice from 2005 to 2007. Navy officials declined to provide further details about his career, including what kind of discharge he received from the military, citing privacy concerns.

The anthrax vaccine, according to the Military Health Service, is required for troops deploying to the Middle East and Korea. Some other personnel, including emergency response and other units, are also required to take the vaccine, which is given in a five-dose series with annual boosters.

Chansley's mom has defended her son, telling ABC15 in Phoenix that he is a patriot.

"It takes a lot of courage to be a patriot, OK, and to stand up for what it is that you believe," Martha Chansley told the station. "Not everybody wants to be the person upfront."

Chansley is one of at least two military veterans who have been arrested following last week's attack on the Capitol. Retired Air Force Reserve Lt. Col. Larry Rendall Brock Jr., who was photographed carrying zip-tie handcuffs and wearing military patches on a flak jacket during the siege, was arrested Sunday in Texas.

The nation's top military leaders sent a memo to the entire joint force on Tuesday, telling them to uphold the Constitution, follow the law, and to accept President-elect Joe Biden as their next commander in chief.

"The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection," eight members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff wrote./ Military.com

President Donald Trump is visiting the southern border in Texas to claim success in the construction of a border fence with Mexico.

The White House said his visit would "mark the completion of more than 400 miles of border wall -- a promise made, promise kept..."

So how much of the border wall has Mr Trump managed to build during his term in office?

How much is new?

Various types of fencing totalling 654 miles (just over 1,000 km) were already in place before Mr Trump became president in 2017.

These ran through the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

The Trump administration say they've completed more than 400 miles of border wall since then.

It's 452 miles (727 km) in total, according to the latest US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) information (4 January 2021).

However, only 80 miles of new barriers have been built where there were none before - that includes 47 miles of primary wall, and 33 miles of secondary wall built to reinforce the initial barrier.

The vast majority of the 452 miles is replacing existing structures at the border that had been built by previous US administrations.

Did Mexico pay for the wall?

In 2016, President Trump repeatedly claimed Mexico would pay for the wall. This didn't happen.

The US government has paid for the wall, and there've been arguments over how to fund it between the Trump administration and Congress.

In January 2018, Mr Trump asked Congress to pay $18bn (£13.6bn) over the next decade for an initial phase of construction, but the bill ultimately failed.

Some money was allocated by Congress in 2018 for projects at the border.

However, in 2019 Mr Trump used national emergency powers to divert funds from the Department of Defense after Congress rejected more money for the wall.

There has been around $15bn spent for the construction of the barrier coming from various US government departments, including the Department of Homeland Security, and the Defense and Treasury Departments.

It was originally estimated a cross-border wall could cost anything from $12bn to $40bn.

Despite this, in the run-up to the 3 November 2020 election, President Trump continued to say that "Mexico is paying for it".

In the past, he's implied that a new trade agreement (signed last year) involving Mexico and Canada would indirectly save the US money, which could be spent on the wall.

However, it's not clear how exactly this would work.

President Trump also pledged to reduce illegal movement across the border.

The number of people detained at the border increased significantly between 2018 and 2019, but dropped off in 2020.

"The decrease in apprehensions comes as the movement of migrants in the Americas and worldwide has slowed during the Covid-19 outbreak, with governments fully or partially closing their borders to stem its spread," according to Ana Gonzalez-Barrera, a senior researcher at Pew Research, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington DC.

What's Joe Biden's plan for the border?

President-elect Joe Biden has said that he will not continue further construction of the wall.

He said he would not build "another foot" and made clear he opposed taking funds from the Department of Defense.

Instead, the Democratic president-elect plans to focus on using technology along the border to detect illegal activity.

Joe Biden's official website says: "Biden will direct federal resources to smart border enforcement efforts, like investments in improving screening infrastructure at our ports of entry."

However, it is unclear what the new administration will do with contracts for wall construction which have already been awarded under Mr Trump - but are as yet not finished.

Millions of Americans are on their way to getting vaccinated for the virus, as well as many more people around the world. But despite the fact that slow vaccine rollouts mean the U.S. won't achieve herd immunity for months to come, a study published Tuesday in Science also suggests COVID-19 is "here to stay," The New York Times reports.

Right now, COVID-19 is incredibly dangerous and often deadly because it's brand new to the human body. But once people's immune systems are introduced to the virus, either by contracting it or, hopefully, through a vaccine, they'll get better at fighting the virus off. Things are different for children, who have strong immune systems because they're constantly experiencing viruses and pathogens that are new to their bodies. For example, they start contracting common cold coronaviruses at around age 3 to 5 and fight them off, building up immunity as they're infected again and again over the years.

So after most Americans are vaccinated, severe coronavirus infections will likely still happen — albeit rarely — among adults. Then, years or decades later, those severe reactions will likely peter out due to increased immunity among adults, Jennie Lavine, a postdoctoral fellow at Emory University, who led the study, told the Times. That's when COVID-19 will likely join the league of endemic coronaviruses that cause the common cold, Lavine and her team predicted after comparing COVID-19 to other coronaviruses. And again, because of the immunity adults have picked up, COVID-19 will likely only infect children under five years old — and they'll probably only end up with some sniffles or no symptoms at all.

The New York Times

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A former Minneapolis police officer who held his knee to George Floyd's neck for minutes will be tried separately from the three other former officers accused in his death, according to an order filed Tuesday that cites limited courtroom space due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Derek Chauvin will stand trial alone in March while the other three former officers will be tried together in the summer. In his order, Judge Peter Cahill cited the limitations of physical space during the coronavirus pandemic, saying it is “impossible to comply with COVID-19 physical restrictions” given how many lawyers and support personnel the four defendants say would be present.

Prosecutors disagreed with the judge’s decision. A defense attorney for former officer Thomas Lane said he believed a separate trial would be better for his client, while the other defense attorneys either declined to comment or did not return messages.

Legal observers say the change benefits Chauvin's co-defendants, who will get a preview of what the state's witnesses will say and more time to prepare. They'll also blame Chauvin, who won't be on trial with them to push back.

Last week, prosecutors asked Cahill to postpone the March 8 trial to June 7 to reduce public health risks associated with COVID-19. In his Monday order, which was filed Tuesday, the judge wrote that while the pandemic situation may be greatly improved by June, “the Court is not so optimistic given news reports detailing problems with the vaccine rollout.”

Cahill's order included an email from Hennepin County Chief Judge Toddrick Barnette, who requested that the trials be separated in a way Cahill deemed fair, after he learned that each defendant planned to have co-counsel or legal support in court. Barnette wrote that he looked at the courtroom's configuration and concluded social distancing couldn't be enforced in that space with so many people. Barnette wrote he believed the courtroom could handle up to three defendants at once.

Floyd, a Black man, died May 25 after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck while he was handcuffed face down on the street. Police were investigating whether Floyd used a counterfeit bill at a nearby store. In a video widely seen on social media, Floyd could be heard pleading with officers for air, saying he couldn’t breathe.

Floyd’s death sparked protests in Minneapolis and elsewhere and renewed calls for an end to police brutality and racial inequities.

Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death. Former officers Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng are each charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

Defense attorneys had argued last year that the officers should be tried separately, but prosecutors argued against it.

Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office is prosecuting the case, said Tuesday that he disagrees with Cahill’s decision to separate the trials and to hold Chauvin’s in March.

“The evidence against each defendant is similar and multiple trials may retraumatize eyewitnesses and family members and unnecessarily burden the State and the Court while also running the risk of prejudicing subsequent jury pools,” Ellison said in a statement. “It is also clear that COVID-19 will still be a serious threat to public health in 8 weeks’ time. ... Nevertheless, we are fully prepared and look forward to presenting our case to a jury whenever the Court deems fit.”

Lane’s attorney, Earl Gray, said he thinks it’s better for his client to have a trial separate from Chauvin.

“In a joint trial, there’s always a spillover effect no matter what. You know a jury is supposed to consider each client separately, but that’s hard for anyone to do — common sense tells you that,” Gray said.

Attorneys for Kueng and Chauvin had no comment. Thao's attorney did not return a message seeking comment.

Mike Brandt, a criminal defense lawyer who is not connected to the case, said the decision will benefit Chauvin's co-defendants because they'll get a preview of the state's witnesses and they can hone their strategies. They will also have trial transcripts, which can be “powerful” if a witness changes his or her story during the second trial.

In addition, he said, all three officers can point fingers at Chauvin, who won't be in the same trial to defend himself.

If Chauvin is acquitted, Brandt said, the other three officers can still be tried on the aiding and abetting counts, but the case would become more difficult. Brandt said it's hard for prosecutors to prove a case against those who may be seen as less culpable if they can't convict the alleged main actor.

Brandt also said it’s unlikely the three officers would testify against Chauvin during his trial because they have a Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Even if prosecutors were to offer them immunity, the officers could still face federal criminal charges for violating Floyd’s civil rights — and immunity offered by the state wouldn’t apply in federal court.

Brandt said that while prosecutors likely want the other officers to testify against Chauvin, it's highly unlikely they'd offer immunity in this case.

“I expect it to be all or nothing. I don’t think they are going to make deals for anyone because of the high profile nature of it,” he said. “If this was a gang banger murder, would they be making deals with the less culpable ones? You bet. But these are police officers.”

Thao, Kueng and Lane are scheduled to stand trial Aug. 23.

BEIRUT (AP) — Interpol has issued a wanted notice for two Russians and a Portuguese man over explosive material that had been shipped to Beirut and stored at the city’s port for six years until it exploded in August, the state-run National News Agency reported Tuesday.

The Aug. 4 explosion killed 200 people, injured thousands and caused wide destruction in Beirut.

NNA said the Interpol-issued Red Notices were for the owner and captain of the Rhosus, the ship that carried the 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate to Lebanon in 2013, as well as a Portuguese nitrate trader who visited the port's warehouse in Beirut in 2014 where the material was stored.

The notice is a non-binding request to law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a fugitive. It is not an arrest warrant and does not require authorities to arrest a wanted suspect.

Lebanon’s state prosecutor, Ghassan Khoury, had asked Interpol to issue the notices, NNA said. The agency did not give the names of the three but local media posted the notices identifying them as the vessel's former captain Boris Prokoshev and Igor Grechushkin, a Russian businessman residing in Cyprus who had bought the cargo ship in 2012. The Portuguese man was identified as Jorge Manuel Mirra Neto Moreira.

The ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive material used in fertilizers, was not even supposed to be in Lebanon. When the Rhosus set sail from the Georgian Black Sea port of Batumi, it was bound for the Mozambican port of Beira.

Prokoshev, the former captain, told The Associated Press days after the blast that he joined the ship in Turkey in 2013, after the previous crew quit over unpaid wages. Grechushkin, who resides in Cyprus, was paid $1 million to transport the dangerous cargo from Georgia to Mozambique, the former captain said.

Nearly 30 people, most of them port and customs officials, have been arrested since the blast. Last month, the prosecutor investigating the blast, Fadi Sawwan, filed charges against Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers, accusing them of negligence leading to the deaths of those who perished in the explosion.

The second prototype of Turkey's first indigenous helicopter engine successfully ignited on Tuesday, the producing company announced. 

"The first ignition and operation of the TS4 turboshaft engine were successfully carried out on Jan. 6, 2021," said a statement by Turkish Engine Industries (TEI) following tests of the TEI-TS1400 engine's prototype.

This came after its predecessor, the TS3, also successfully passed similar tests for turboshaft engine that, once complete, will be integrated into the country's first indigenous multirole helicopter Gokbey.

The TS4 engine was brought to the ground idle power level, TEI said, adding that the tests were designed and developed entirely by TEI engineers and technicians.

The company noted that a total of four engine test units would be used in the project to quickly complete the necessary certification efforts.  /aa