International
One year after decriminalizing abortion in Colombia
February 22 |
Organizations, collectives and women celebrated this Tuesday a year since the decriminalization of abortion up to 24 weeks of gestation in Colombia, after the claim of the feminist movement in the country that led the Constitutional Court to endorse this right.
The Campaign for the Right to Legal Abortion, a leading organization for this right, stated that they are celebrating “the first year of Ruling C-055 of 2022, which decriminalized abortion up to 24 weeks. This historic achievement leaves us with new parameters and norms that we must know in order to defend our right. We continue”.
The Share-Net Colombia platform, for its part, valued that “this historic ruling protects the life, dignity, health and rights of women, girls, non-binary people and trans men, who can now access abortion freely, safely, free of charge and without criminal threats”.
In the case of pregnancy exceeding 24 weeks of gestation, the current law allows access to abortion if one of the three grounds contained in Ruling C-355 of 2006 is met.
Causa Justa por el Aborto celebrated “the power of the collective and the movement, which made possible the decriminalization of abortion”, while the slogans raised by women defend that “feminists are changing the world”.
“Our grandmothers gave us the vote, our mothers gave us the divorce and we gave them sentence C-055-22”, said the Colombian women a year after decriminalization.
Likewise, for other activists “migrant women can access abortion, regardless of our immigration status”, thanks to Causa Justa.
Senator María José Pizarro Rodríguez thanked the organizations and the women’s movement that accompanied the process “which guarantees the right to decide on our bodies and life projects”.
In supporting the resolution issued by the Colombian government on January 12 to avoid barriers to access to this right, feminist organizations, one year after the Court’s ruling, also warned of the challenges in guaranteeing this right.
For feminist activist Jennifer Pedraza Sandoval, not all women have the necessary information, while some medical personnel still lie and claim that it is illegal.
International
Trump says asylum decision freeze will remain in place “for a long time”
U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Sunday that the suspension of decisions on asylum applications—implemented as part of his order to “halt” immigration from third-world countries following Wednesday’s shooting in Washington—will remain in effect “for a long time.”
The president declined to specify how long the freeze, imposed last Friday by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), would last. The suspension affects individuals waiting for an asylum ruling from that agency, though it does not apply to cases handled by U.S. immigration courts.
The delay is part of a series of measures enacted by the Trump Administration after a shooting on Wednesday in which an Afghan national allegedly opened fire on the National Guard in Washington, D.C., killing one officer and leaving another in critical condition.
Trump has ordered a permanent halt to immigration from 19 countries classified as “third-world.” He also indicated on Sunday that “possibly” more nations could be added to the list.
“These are countries with high crime rates. They are countries that do not function well… that are not known for success, and frankly, we don’t need people from those places coming into our country and telling us what to do,” Trump said, adding: “We don’t want those people.”
USCIS had already announced on Thursday a “rigorous review” of green cards held by migrants from 19 “countries of concern,” including Afghanistan, Cuba, Venezuela, and Haiti.
International
Sri Lanka and Indonesia deploy military as deadly asian floods kill over 1,000
Sri Lanka and Indonesia deployed military personnel on Monday to assist victims of the devastating floods that have killed more than a thousand people across Asia in recent days.
A series of weather events last week triggered prolonged torrential rains across Sri Lanka, parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, southern Thailand, and northern Malaysia. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said Monday in North Sumatra that “the priority now is to deliver the necessary aid as quickly as possible.”
“There are several isolated villages that, with God’s help, we will be able to reach,” he added. Subianto also stated that the government had deployed helicopters and aircraft to support relief operations.
Floods and landslides have claimed 502 lives in Indonesia, with a similar number still missing.
This marks the highest death toll from a natural disaster in Indonesia since 2018, when an earthquake and subsequent tsunami killed more than 2,000 people.
The government has sent three military ships carrying aid and two hospital vessels to the hardest-hit regions, where many roads remain impassable.
In the village of Sungai Nyalo, located about 100 kilometers from Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, floodwaters had receded by Sunday, leaving homes, vehicles, and crops coated in thick mud.
International
Hong Kong police arrest 13 over deadly high-rise fire that killed 151
Hong Kong police reported on Monday that they have arrested 13 people so far in connection with last week’s massive fire at a residential complex, which left at least 151 people dead.
The arrests were made on suspicion of manslaughter, as investigators work to reconstruct how the catastrophic blaze spread so rapidly through the high-rise residential complex. Authorities are examining factors such as the use of polystyrene foam panels and bamboo scaffolding in the buildings’ renovation works.
Officials also announced on Monday that some of the exterior nettings used on the scaffolding did not meet fire-resistance standards. Samples collected from 20 different locations showed that seven of them “did not meet fire-safety requirements,” said Eric Chan, a Hong Kong government official.
Trump says asylum decision freeze will remain in place “for a long time”
Sri Lanka and Indonesia deploy military as deadly asian floods kill over 1,000
Hong Kong police arrest 13 over deadly high-rise fire that killed 151
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