npr--2020-11-26--Loujain Al-Hathloul: Saudi Arabia Transfers Activist's Trial To Terrorism Court

Loujain al-Hathloul , the jailed activist who led the charge to allow women to drive in Saudi Arabia , is due to stand trial in a special court that deals with national security crimes and terrorism cases .
Hathloul appeared before a Saudi judge on Wednesday to hear that her case was being transferred to the kingdom 's Specialized Criminal Court .
It was the first time the 31-year-old activist had been in court in more than a year .
Hathloul and several other female activists were arrested in the spring of 2018 , just weeks before Saudi Arabia lifted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sister , Lina al-Hathloul , says her sibling has been tortured in prison and is denied phone calls or visits from her family .
She has gone on two hunger strikes over the past year .
Lina al-Hathloul tells NPR by phone from Berlin that her parents were sitting next to Loujain in court on Wednesday and were shocked by her appearance .
`` They saw a very weak , tired , exhausted Loujain , '' she says .
`` They said that her body was shaking , that she could barely hold @ @ @ @ @ @ @ judge decided the criminal court handling the case lacked jurisdiction so the case was being sent to the terrorism court instead .
Amnesty International called it a `` disturbing move . ''
Lynn Maalouf , the group 's deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa , said in a statement that the terrorism court was `` notorious for issuing lengthy prison sentences following seriously flawed trials . ''
The decision to transfer Hathloul 's case came just three days after Saudi Arabia wrapped up a virtual G-20 summit , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's empowerment .
There were calls ahead of the summit for Saudi Arabia to release all female activists and other jailed government critics .
The kingdom rejected those calls .
Saudi Arabia 's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has tried to build a reputation for opening up the religiously conservative kingdom , allowing music and other entertainment and giving women more rights .
But the detention of female activists undermines those efforts , says Lina al-Hathloul .
`` His whole new women empowerment in Saudi Arabia is only [ a ] P.R @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' she says .
The crown prince has cracked down hard on dissent , trying to silence any criticism of him or the government , even from outside the kingdom .
The most prominent vocal critic was Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi , who delivered speeches around the world and wrote commentaries for the Washington Post .
A Saudi hit team killed and dismembered Khashoggi in October 2018 , after waiting for him at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul , Turkey .
U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that the crown prince was involved in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ minister , Adel al-Jubeir , told the BBC last week that Loujain al-Hathloul 's detention has nothing to do with her activism .
Instead , he said she was detained for `` issues related to national security , dealing with foreign entities , supporting entities hostile to Saudi Arabia . ''
Lina al-Hathloul says it 's unclear what will happen next .
Her family has appealed to everyone they can inside Saudi Arabia , she says , but to no avail .
`` Even the human rights commission in Saudi Arabia that 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ own citizens , they have been ignoring us , our requests , '' she tells NPR .
`` All the institutions in Saudi Arabia try to cover up what they are doing to women and the women 's rights activists . ''
Hathloul hopes the international community can put pressure on Saudi Arabia improve their human rights record .
`` We are begging them to reach out to the government to say it 's not possible to have a normal relationship with Saudi Arabia when their values and the core of their discussions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she says .
President Trump and his son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner built up a strong relationship with the crown prince .
Trump was seen as giving cover to the heir to the throne for Khashoggi 's killing and other human rights abuses , as well as for the Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen .
But that could all change with a new administration .
During his campaign , President-elect Joe Biden said he would `` reassess '' the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia .

Loujain Al-Hathloul: Saudi Arabia Transfers Activist's Trial To Terrorism Court
Enlarge this image toggle caption Loujain al-Hathloul/AP Loujain al-Hathloul/AP
Loujain al-Hathloul, the jailed activist who led the charge to allow women to drive in Saudi Arabia, is due to stand trial in a special court that deals with national security crimes and terrorism cases.
Hathloul appeared before a Saudi judge on Wednesday to hear that her case was being transferred to the kingdom's Specialized Criminal Court. It was the first time the 31-year-old activist had been in court in more than a year.
Hathloul and several other female activists were arrested in the spring of 2018, just weeks before Saudi Arabia lifted its ban on women driving. Her sister, Lina al-Hathloul, says her sibling has been tortured in prison and is denied phone calls or visits from her family. She has gone on two hunger strikes over the past year.
Lina al-Hathloul tells NPR by phone from Berlin that her parents were sitting next to Loujain in court on Wednesday and were shocked by her appearance.
"They saw a very weak, tired, exhausted Loujain," she says. "They said that her body was shaking, that she could barely hold the papers."
She says the judge decided the criminal court handling the case lacked jurisdiction so the case was being sent to the terrorism court instead.
Amnesty International called it a "disturbing move." Lynn Maalouf, the group's deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement that the terrorism court was "notorious for issuing lengthy prison sentences following seriously flawed trials."
The decision to transfer Hathloul's case came just three days after Saudi Arabia wrapped up a virtual G-20 summit, in which one event was dedicated to women's empowerment. There were calls ahead of the summit for Saudi Arabia to release all female activists and other jailed government critics. The kingdom rejected those calls.
Saudi Arabia's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has tried to build a reputation for opening up the religiously conservative kingdom, allowing music and other entertainment and giving women more rights.
But the detention of female activists undermines those efforts, says Lina al-Hathloul.
"His whole new women empowerment in Saudi Arabia is only [a] P.R. stunt, to be honest," she says.
The crown prince has cracked down hard on dissent, trying to silence any criticism of him or the government, even from outside the kingdom.
The most prominent vocal critic was Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who delivered speeches around the world and wrote commentaries for the Washington Post. A Saudi hit team killed and dismembered Khashoggi in October 2018, after waiting for him at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that the crown prince was involved in the killing.
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, told the BBC last week that Loujain al-Hathloul's detention has nothing to do with her activism. Instead, he said she was detained for "issues related to national security, dealing with foreign entities, supporting entities hostile to Saudi Arabia."
Lina al-Hathloul says it's unclear what will happen next. Her family has appealed to everyone they can inside Saudi Arabia, she says, but to no avail.
"Even the human rights commission in Saudi Arabia that's supposed to save us and protect its own citizens, they have been ignoring us, our requests," she tells NPR. "All the institutions in Saudi Arabia try to cover up what they are doing to women and the women's rights activists."
Hathloul hopes the international community can put pressure on Saudi Arabia improve their human rights record.
"We are begging them to reach out to the government to say it's not possible to have a normal relationship with Saudi Arabia when their values and the core of their discussions doesn't include human rights," she says.
President Trump and his son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner built up a strong relationship with the crown prince. Trump was seen as giving cover to the heir to the throne for Khashoggi's killing and other human rights abuses, as well as for the Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen.
But that could all change with a new administration. During his campaign, President-elect Joe Biden said he would "reassess" the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia.


npr--2020-11-26--'Gracias Diego': Maradona's Fans Mourn Legendary Player's Death

With tears , songs and prayers , a multitude of Argentines flooded into the heart of Buenos Aires to pay their final respects to Diego Maradona , one of the world 's greatest soccer players .
Thousands of fans lined up from the early hours on Thursday to file past Maradona 's wooden casket as he lay in the Casa Rosada , the presidential palace , beneath his nation 's sky-blue-and-white flag and his signature No .
10 shirt .
The facade of the pink-tinged palace was decorated with a huge black ribbon in honor of the audaciously skillful player @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a young age , and became a national hero by leading Argentina to World Cup victory in 1986 .
Occasional clashes with police broke out as some of the crowd grew frustrated with waiting and broke through the security barriers .
As the morning grew longer , a pile of red roses , banners , scarves and shirts formed alongside Maradona 's coffin , thrown there by mourners .
Some grieving fans carried banners simply saying `` Gracias Diego . ''
`` Maradona for me is the greatest thing that happened to me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much as my father and it 's like my old man died , '' Cristian Montelli , a 22-year-old supporter with a Maradona tattoo , told Reuters .
Maradona , 60 , died of a heart attack on Wednesday at his home on the outskirts of Buenos Aires , where he was recovering from recent brain surgery .
After his playing career ended , his life was marred by much-publicized battles with cocaine , alcohol and ill health .
Yet the tributes pouring in from supporters , sports celebrities and politicians around the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , including glittering stints at Barcelona and Napoli .
His illicit `` Hand of God '' goal in the World Cup against England in 1986 , and breathtaking solo goal four minutes later , made soccer history .
Some of the crowd outside the palace reportedly spent the night mourning their hero on the capital 's streets .
After news of Maradona 's death was announced , some fans went to lay flowers and candles at his childhood home .
Others gathered at the stadium of Boca Juniors , one of Maradona 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Juniors ' stadium , where he started his career .
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic — which has claimed more than 37,700 Argentine lives — a large throng of supporters also congregated at Buenos Aires ' landmark Obelisk monument to sing songs , flourish flags and chant .
Maradona 's burial is expected to be held on Thursday evening at the Bella Vista cemetery on the outskirts of Buenos Aires where his parents are also buried .
Argentina 's President Alberto Fernández has declared three days of national mourning , saying Maradona had made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him as `` the greatest of them all . ''
Although that claim is disputed by many in Argentina 's neighboring Brazil — a fierce soccer rival , where Pelé is widely seen as the world 's best-ever player — the Brazilian media marked Maradona 's passing with numerous pieces extolling his exceptional talents .
`` Farewell , Brother , '' said Thursday 's front-page headline in the Rio de Janeiro tabloid O Dia .

'Gracias Diego': Maradona's Fans Mourn Legendary Player's Death
Enlarge this image toggle caption Rodrigo Abd/AP Rodrigo Abd/AP
With tears, songs and prayers, a multitude of Argentines flooded into the heart of Buenos Aires to pay their final respects to Diego Maradona, one of the world's greatest soccer players.
Thousands of fans lined up from the early hours on Thursday to file past Maradona's wooden casket as he lay in the Casa Rosada, the presidential palace, beneath his nation's sky-blue-and-white flag and his signature No. 10 shirt.
The facade of the pink-tinged palace was decorated with a huge black ribbon in honor of the audaciously skillful player who rose from poverty to stardom at a young age, and became a national hero by leading Argentina to World Cup victory in 1986.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Rodrigo Abd/AP Rodrigo Abd/AP
Occasional clashes with police broke out as some of the crowd grew frustrated with waiting and broke through the security barriers.
As the morning grew longer, a pile of red roses, banners, scarves and shirts formed alongside Maradona's coffin, thrown there by mourners. Some grieving fans carried banners simply saying "Gracias Diego."
"Maradona for me is the greatest thing that happened to me in life. I love him as much as my father and it's like my old man died," Cristian Montelli, a 22-year-old supporter with a Maradona tattoo, told Reuters.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Marcos Brindicci/AP Marcos Brindicci/AP
Maradona, 60, died of a heart attack on Wednesday at his home on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, where he was recovering from recent brain surgery. After his playing career ended, his life was marred by much-publicized battles with cocaine, alcohol and ill health.
Yet the tributes pouring in from supporters, sports celebrities and politicians around the world have focused on his sporting triumphs, including glittering stints at Barcelona and Napoli. His illicit "Hand of God" goal in the World Cup against England in 1986, and breathtaking solo goal four minutes later, made soccer history.
Some of the crowd outside the palace reportedly spent the night mourning their hero on the capital's streets. After news of Maradona's death was announced, some fans went to lay flowers and candles at his childhood home. Others gathered at the stadium of Boca Juniors, one of Maradona's teams, and also at the Argentinos Juniors' stadium, where he started his career.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Natacha Pisarenko/AP Natacha Pisarenko/AP
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic — which has claimed more than 37,700 Argentine lives — a large throng of supporters also congregated at Buenos Aires' landmark Obelisk monument to sing songs, flourish flags and chant.
Maradona's burial is expected to be held on Thursday evening at the Bella Vista cemetery on the outskirts of Buenos Aires where his parents are also buried. Argentina's President Alberto Fernández has declared three days of national mourning, saying Maradona had made Argentines "intensely happy" and describing him as "the greatest of them all."
Although that claim is disputed by many in Argentina's neighboring Brazil — a fierce soccer rival, where Pelé is widely seen as the world's best-ever player — the Brazilian media marked Maradona's passing with numerous pieces extolling his exceptional talents.
"Farewell, Brother," said Thursday's front-page headline in the Rio de Janeiro tabloid O Dia.


npr--2020-11-26--Coronavirus Is Surging: How Severe Is Your State's Outbreak?

Coronavirus Is Surging : How Severe Is Your State 's Outbreak ?
More than 12 million people in the U.S. have had confirmed coronavirus infections and more than 250,000 have died of COVID-19 .
Tens of thousands of new cases are reported daily nationwide .
In the graphics below , explore the trends in your state .
View the data via a heat map ( immediately below ) , curve charts , a table of state-by-state trends over four weeks , or a map of total cases and deaths .
The map above shows the risk of infection in each @ @ @ @ @ @ @ capita .
The consortium of researchers and public health experts who developed these risk levels advises states in the red category to issue stay-home orders .
They advise orange states to consider stay-home orders , along with increased testing and contact tracing .
Yellow states need to keep up social distancing and mask usage , and all states should continue testing and contact tracing .
To compare state outbreaks , the chart above graphs trend lines for average new daily cases and deaths against each state 's totals to date .
This type @ @ @ @ @ @ @ growth or decline relative to the overall size of its outbreak .
When both new and total case and death counts grow quickly , the curves bend upward .
As new cases and deaths slow , the curves level or bend down .
In New York , the curve rose sharply before reaching over 170,000 total cases in April .
New cases fell from about 10,000 per day in mid-April to under 900 a day most of the summer , before starting to rise in the fall .
Explore the map above to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country for both new confirmed cases and reported deaths from COVID-19 .
New York was the original epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S. As of mid October , California , Florida and Texas surpass New York for total cases to date , though New York still has the highest death total .
Click here to see a global map of confirmed cases and deaths .
To show trends , the table below shows the change in average new cases per day in each state , week over week for the last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of red have growing outbreaks ; those in shades of green , are declining .
The graphics on this page pull from data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University from several sources , including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ; the World Health Organization ; national , state and local government health departments ; 1point3acres ; and local media reports .
The JHU team automates its data uploads and regularly checks them for anomalies .
This may result in occasional data discrepancies on this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and updates its feeds .
State-by-state recovery data are unavailable at this time .
There may be discrepancies between what you see here and what you see on your local health department 's website .
Figures shown do not include cases on cruise ships .
Fluctuations in the numbers may happen as health authorities review old cases and or update their methodologies .
For example , in early June , Michigan health authorities started including probable cases in its totals .
This resulted in a brief spike in the state 's daily numbers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reconcile the historical data .
On June 25 , New Jersey included 1,854 previously-unreported probable deaths in its totals , resulting in a spike in the state 's daily death numbers .
On Sept. 2 , Massachusetts changed its methodology for counting probable cases , which lowered its overall case and death numbers .
The JHU team maintains a list of such changes .
This story was originally published on March 16 , 2020 .
Elena Renken was a co-author on that version .
Sean McMinn and Audrey Carlsen contributed to this story @ @ @ @ @ @ @

Tracking the coronavirus around the U.S.: See how your state is doing
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Note: This page was last updated on Feb. 1, 2023. It will no longer be updated. For current data on COVID cases and deaths, demographics, and hospitalizations, consult the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of Feb. 1, there have been more than 101 million confirmed coronavirus infections in the U.S. and more than 1 million people have died of COVID-19. In the graphics below, explore the trends in your state.
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The above charts show average new cases per 100,000 people for each state over the last 12 months.
Note: Actual cases may be substantially higher, since many who test positive with at-home tests don't report their cases.
For additional data about COVID-19 in the U.S, including cases and deaths, demographics, and hospitalizations, consult the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
To show trends, the table below shows the change in average new cases per day in each state, week over week for the last 28 days. States marked in shades of red have growing outbreaks; those in shades of green, are declining.
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Methodology
The graphics on this page pull from data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University from several sources, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the World Health Organization; national, state and local government health departments; 1point3acres; and local media reports.
The JHU team automates its data uploads and regularly checks them for anomalies. This may result in occasional data discrepancies on this page as the JHU team resolves anomalies and updates its feeds. There may be discrepancies between what you see here and what you see on your local health department's website. Figures shown do not include cases on cruise ships.
Fluctuations in the numbers may happen as health authorities review old cases, process testing backlogs or update their methodologies. The JHU team maintains a list of such changes.
This story was originally published on March 16, 2020. Elena Renken was a co-author on that version. Sean McMinn and Audrey Carlsen contributed to this story. Carmel Wroth edited this story.


npr--2020-11-26--As President-Elect Joe Biden Doubles Down On Calls For Unity, Supporters Have Doubts

As President-Elect Joe Biden Doubles Down On Calls For Unity , Supporters Have Doubts President-elect Joe Biden is doubling down on his calls for unity and healing , reminding Americans , `` We are at war with the virus not with each other . ''
In his Thanksgiving address this week , Biden reiterated the appeal he 's been making since his first speech as president-elect , when he implored everyone to `` put away the harsh rhetoric , '' `` give each other a chance , '' and end what he calls `` this grim era of demonization in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proving a hard sell to many , including Biden 's own supporters .
`` That 's a wonderful sentiment , '' says Abbi Gold , a 59-year-old office manager and Democrat from Arizona .
`` [ But ] it 's probably a really sweet pipe dream . ''
Gold says it 's been challenging in this political climate to hold on to some of her relationships with loved ones who support Trump .
She thinks it may be generations before the political rancor subsides enough to allow for any real rapprochement .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ healing until the public at large learns to have a nice cup of 'shut-up ' before they say whatever 's on their minds , '' she quipped .
Hoping to help , many around the nation are ramping up trainings for cross-the-aisle conversations , including a group called Braver Angels , which runs `` Red-Blue workshops '' that teach skills for civil discourse and encourage participants to find common ground .
`` It 's a relationship building process .
It 's a humanizing process '' says Braver Angels Partnerships Specialist Julie Boler .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of feeling a little opening , a little less frantic rejection , then you 've learned at least it is possible for some of that softening to happen . ''
Enrollment has spiked this fall , says Boler , but she conceded , it may be a self-selecting crowd that 's open to dialogue .
There are plenty who not only do n't aspire to healing and unity , they see it as capitulation .
New York psychiatrist Darwin Buschman , 64 , is among those for whom bridging the gap with die-hard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ too far .
`` This is not an alternate viewpoint .
This is racism , hate , lying , demagoguery , sociopathy , what else can I say , '' he fumed .
`` [ They are ] bad people .
I will not sit at a table with them .
I will not have a conversation with them . ''
'Their turn to extend the olive branch' Nor would Elizabeth Murphy , 36 , who works in social services in Georgia .
She likens reaching out to Trump supporters to taking back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do n't see us being like 'Alright , we 're cool now , ' `` she says .
`` This is so far beyond political .
This is moral .
This is personal .
This is my family . ''
Murphy , who is white and married to a Black man , says in the past four years they 've been harassed — even spit at — by Trump supporters they believe were fueled by the president 's divisive rhetoric .
She would n't even consider engaging in any fence-mending with Trump supporters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with an unqualified admission that they made a mistake , and an apology .
Her husband , Tracy Murphy , 44 , feels the same way .
`` It 's their turn to extend the olive branch .
They 're the ones who messed up everything .
It 's not my job to fix it , '' Tracy says .
`` It 's a funny thing that the person who was the victim always has to end up being the bigger person . ''
`` I 'm exhausted from going high , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out from four years of trying to go high . ''
But both are quick to add , they 're not holding their breath for an overture from the other side .
Indeed , many on the right are just as adamant that they 're the ones owed an apology — by what they see as radical , socialist mob threatening core American values of life , liberty and the American dream .
Virginia Republican Katherine Schoonover says she 's all for bi-partisan cooperation in principle , but she sees Democrats ' calls @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do n't know how you go from telling everybody that they 're all secret Nazi , fascist , bigoted racist people , and you 're going to say 'Now , let 's come together . '
It 's just ridiculous coming from the Democrats now , '' she says .
Schoonover 's especially averse to the idea given the ongoing claims that the Democrats stole the election .
Even though there 's no evidence to back it up , she believes Trump 's claims that the Democrats cheated their way to victory .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ says .
`` And I think that if the Democrats try to ram this down everybody 's throats , you 're going to have a real problem . ''
It 's exactly why Darrell Duane , a 51-year-old Biden supporter from Washington , D.C. , has been echoing the president-elect 's calls for unity , and imploring his friends to not dig in their heels .
'See the humanity in each other and rebuild' '' Unfortunately , that 's recipe for civil war , '' he says .
`` And that 's just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as he creates more and more polarization . ''
But so far , Duane concedes , his friends have been resistant to his pleas to `` see the humanity in each other and rebuild the social fabric of our nation . ''
`` I 've gotten in trouble for it , '' he says .
`` I 've gotten called nasty names for being 'Kumbaya . '
`` In his Thanksgiving address Wednesday , Biden , himself , acknowledged that the imperative `` to love our neighbors as ourselves , '' may strike @ @ @ @ @ @ @ radical act . ''
But Biden insisted , `` We must try . ''
New York Democrat , Vincent Downing , 58 , has also felt the pushback .
He 's with a group called `` When Humanists Attack , '' which advocates more cross-the-aisle empathy and understanding .
As Downing explains it , `` You can have an amiable discussion with somebody who you are opposed to politically and philosophically . ''
But Downing says he totally understands why his friends are `` sick and tired '' of hearing it from him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think `` like any good lefty would . ''
`` I 'm a lot happier when I just think ' I 'm right , right , right , right , right all the time [ ... ] and ugh , those god-awful people who disagree with me , they 're just so wrong about everything all the time , ' `` he jabbered , mocking his own indignation and hubris .
`` We 've got an addiction to [ believing ] we 're right about everything all the time running rampant in this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says , `` Sanity kicks in , and I realize .
... if you want to help other people escape from their echo chamber , the first step is you 've got to escape from yours . ''
There 's a big difference , however , between coming together to communicate , and compromising on core principles , Downing says .
`` There are people on the right who do not see me as a human being , who think , for example , because I 'm queer , I should not have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says .
`` I can not compromise with them .
They are exceedingly dangerous to me [ ... ] and I am deeply offended and appalled that they have succumbed to what I call tribalism .
But that does n't mean I 'm going to turn around and make the same mistake [ by dehumanizing them . ]
'' Heeding the call easier said than done '' Nietzsche said you fight dragons , you do n't want to become one , '' he says .
Both sides , Downing says , would do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more benefit of the doubt .
`` Aside from the psychopaths ones among us , very few people are trying to do evil . ''
Still , Downing is the first to concede his magnanimity definitely wavers .
All too often , he says , he still struggles with being swept away by a `` knee-jerk , emotional reaction . ''
Take for example the `` Trump Accountability Project , '' a blacklist launched online shortly after the election , to shame and shun Trump supporters .
When Downing first heard about it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ These people have to be held accountable for enabling this madman [ ... ] They need to be punished .
We ca n't pretend they did nothing wrong . ''
But just a few days later , Downing had thought better of it .
`` I thought , I better look at my own vindictiveness , '' he says .
`` Yes , society has a need for people to be punished .
But as a pragmatist , I know that society also has a need to move on .
I hate to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going to score me any points with my friends right now , but maybe the answer is we have to forgive , but not forget . ''
Turns out the `` Trump Accountability Project '' had second thoughts as well .
While the idea was originally promoted by prominent Democrats , the website shut itself down shortly after it launched .
Explaining that it had only intended to ensure that those `` responsible for loosening the guardrails of our democracy are not rewarded '' and `` to play a part in restoring the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` Trump Accountability Project '' announced it was ceasing operation .
`` In the spirit of the President-elect 's call to build a more united country , this project will no longer be active , '' read a statement on the website .

As President-Elect Joe Biden Doubles Down On Calls For Unity, Supporters Have Doubts
Enlarge this image toggle caption Carolyn Kaster/AP Carolyn Kaster/AP
President-elect Joe Biden is doubling down on his calls for unity and healing, reminding Americans, "We are at war with the virus not with each other." In his Thanksgiving address this week, Biden reiterated the appeal he's been making since his first speech as president-elect, when he implored everyone to "put away the harsh rhetoric," "give each other a chance," and end what he calls "this grim era of demonization in America." But the notion is proving a hard sell to many, including Biden's own supporters.
"That's a wonderful sentiment," says Abbi Gold, a 59-year-old office manager and Democrat from Arizona. "[But] it's probably a really sweet pipe dream."
Gold says it's been challenging in this political climate to hold on to some of her relationships with loved ones who support Trump. She thinks it may be generations before the political rancor subsides enough to allow for any real rapprochement.
"We're not going to have any healing until the public at large learns to have a nice cup of 'shut-up' before they say whatever's on their minds," she quipped.
'Trainings for cross-the-aisle conversations'
Hoping to help, many around the nation are ramping up trainings for cross-the-aisle conversations, including a group called Braver Angels, which runs "Red-Blue workshops" that teach skills for civil discourse and encourage participants to find common ground.
"It's a relationship building process. It's a humanizing process" says Braver Angels Partnerships Specialist Julie Boler. "When you have the experience yourself of feeling a little opening, a little less frantic rejection, then you've learned at least it is possible for some of that softening to happen."
Enrollment has spiked this fall, says Boler, but she conceded, it may be a self-selecting crowd that's open to dialogue. There are plenty who not only don't aspire to healing and unity, they see it as capitulation.
New York psychiatrist Darwin Buschman, 64, is among those for whom bridging the gap with die-hard Trump supporters, is just a bridge too far.
"This is not an alternate viewpoint. This is racism, hate, lying, demagoguery, sociopathy, what else can I say," he fumed. "[They are] bad people. I will not sit at a table with them. I will not have a conversation with them."
'Their turn to extend the olive branch'
Nor would Elizabeth Murphy, 36, who works in social services in Georgia. She likens reaching out to Trump supporters to taking back an abusive husband.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Courtesy Elizabeth Murphy Courtesy Elizabeth Murphy
"I just don't see us being like 'Alright, we're cool now,' " she says. "This is so far beyond political. This is moral. This is personal. This is my family."
Murphy, who is white and married to a Black man, says in the past four years they've been harassed — even spit at — by Trump supporters they believe were fueled by the president's divisive rhetoric. She wouldn't even consider engaging in any fence-mending with Trump supporters, she says, unless it started with an unqualified admission that they made a mistake, and an apology. Her husband, Tracy Murphy, 44, feels the same way.
"It's their turn to extend the olive branch. They're the ones who messed up everything. It's not my job to fix it," Tracy says. "It's a funny thing that the person who was the victim always has to end up being the bigger person."
"I'm exhausted from going high," Elizabeth says. "I am worn out from four years of trying to go high."
But both are quick to add, they're not holding their breath for an overture from the other side.
Sees Democrats' calls for unity as disingenuous
Indeed, many on the right are just as adamant that they're the ones owed an apology — by what they see as radical, socialist mob threatening core American values of life, liberty and the American dream.
Virginia Republican Katherine Schoonover says she's all for bi-partisan cooperation in principle, but she sees Democrats' calls for unity as disingenuous.
"I don't know how you go from telling everybody that they're all secret Nazi, fascist, bigoted racist people, and you're going to say 'Now, let's come together.' It's just ridiculous coming from the Democrats now," she says.
Schoonover's especially averse to the idea given the ongoing claims that the Democrats stole the election. Even though there's no evidence to back it up, she believes Trump's claims that the Democrats cheated their way to victory.
"It's shocking," she says. "And I think that if the Democrats try to ram this down everybody's throats, you're going to have a real problem."
It's exactly why Darrell Duane, a 51-year-old Biden supporter from Washington, D.C., has been echoing the president-elect's calls for unity, and imploring his friends to not dig in their heels.
'See the humanity in each other and rebuild'
"Unfortunately, that's recipe for civil war," he says. "And that's just what the enemy wants. Trump wins as he creates more and more polarization."
But so far, Duane concedes, his friends have been resistant to his pleas to "see the humanity in each other and rebuild the social fabric of our nation."
"I've gotten in trouble for it," he says. "I've gotten called nasty names for being 'Kumbaya.' "
In his Thanksgiving address Wednesday, Biden, himself, acknowledged that the imperative "to love our neighbors as ourselves," may strike many people right now as "a radical act." But Biden insisted, "We must try."
New York Democrat, Vincent Downing, 58, has also felt the pushback. He's with a group called "When Humanists Attack," which advocates more cross-the-aisle empathy and understanding. As Downing explains it, "You can have an amiable discussion with somebody who you are opposed to politically and philosophically."
But Downing says he totally understands why his friends are "sick and tired" of hearing it from him; he too has a tendency to think "like any good lefty would."
"I'm a lot happier when I just think 'I'm right, right, right, right, right all the time [...] and ugh, those god-awful people who disagree with me, they're just so wrong about everything all the time,' " he jabbered, mocking his own indignation and hubris. "We've got an addiction to [believing] we're right about everything all the time running rampant in this country."
But inevitably, Downing says, "Sanity kicks in, and I realize. ... if you want to help other people escape from their echo chamber, the first step is you've got to escape from yours."
There's a big difference, however, between coming together to communicate, and compromising on core principles, Downing says.
"There are people on the right who do not see me as a human being, who think, for example, because I'm queer, I should not have the right to marry," he says. "I cannot compromise with them. They are exceedingly dangerous to me [...] and I am deeply offended and appalled that they have succumbed to what I call tribalism. But that doesn't mean I'm going to turn around and make the same mistake [by dehumanizing them.]"
Heeding the call easier said than done
"Nietzsche said you fight dragons, you don't want to become one," he says.
Both sides, Downing says, would do well to give each other a little more benefit of the doubt. "Aside from the psychopaths ones among us, very few people are trying to do evil."
Still, Downing is the first to concede his magnanimity definitely wavers. All too often, he says, he still struggles with being swept away by a "knee-jerk, emotional reaction."
Take for example the "Trump Accountability Project," a blacklist launched online shortly after the election, to shame and shun Trump supporters. When Downing first heard about it, he loved the idea. "These people have to be held accountable for enabling this madman [...] They need to be punished. We can't pretend they did nothing wrong."
But just a few days later, Downing had thought better of it.
"I thought, I better look at my own vindictiveness," he says. "Yes, society has a need for people to be punished. But as a pragmatist, I know that society also has a need to move on. I hate to say this, and this is not going to score me any points with my friends right now, but maybe the answer is we have to forgive, but not forget."
Turns out the "Trump Accountability Project" had second thoughts as well. While the idea was originally promoted by prominent Democrats, the website shut itself down shortly after it launched. Explaining that it had only intended to ensure that those "responsible for loosening the guardrails of our democracy are not rewarded" and "to play a part in restoring the soul of the nation," the "Trump Accountability Project" announced it was ceasing operation.
"In the spirit of the President-elect's call to build a more united country, this project will no longer be active," read a statement on the website.


npr--2020-11-27--Coronavirus World Map: Tracking The Spread Of The Outbreak

Coronavirus World Map : Tracking The Spread Of The Outbreak On Sept. 28 , the world marked a tragic milestone : 1 million deaths from COVID-19 .
That 's according to a tally maintained by Johns Hopkins University .
And public health experts believe the actual toll – the recorded deaths plus the unrecorded deaths – is much higher .
While the number of cases has slowed in many countries that were hit hard early on by coronavirus , the number of new cases continues to increase .
Since early July , new daily cases averaged over 200,000 worldwide .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ country-by-country breakdown of new and total cases since January .
At over 11 million cases , the United States leads the world 's COVID-19 crisis .
In late spring and early summer , new COVID-19 cases were largely driven by cases in the Americas .
While the U.S. has consistently had the most new daily cases of coronavirus in the region , Brazil 's new daily cases increased rapidly between May and August .
However , in September , several countries that had previously flattened their curve saw a resurgence in cases , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , daily case counts have risen swiftly since June , without signs of slowing down .
Explore how the number of coronavirus cases have shifted in different parts of the world over time .
The first chart compares each continent to each other , while the next charts highlight the number of cases in select countries by region .
To compare country outbreaks , the chart below graphs trend lines for average new daily cases and deaths against each country 's totals to date .
This type of visualization highlights a state 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ overall size of its outbreak .
When both new and total case and death counts grow quickly , the curves bend upward .
As new cases and deaths slow , the curves level or bend down .
In countries like Israel , which is seeing a second wave of case growth after an initial wave in April , the line forms a V-shape , as the initially bent curve spikes upwards again .
Click here to see the state-by-state breakdown of cases in the United States .
This story was originally published on @ @ @ @ @

Coronavirus world map: We've now passed the 600 million mark for infections
Editor's note: This page is no longer being updated. The last update was Sept. 5, 2022. For current data about COVID-19 cases and deaths around the world, Johns Hopkins University and Our World in Data are useful resources.
In late January 2020 only a few dozen COVID-19 infections had been identified outside of China. A year later, the world tallied its first 100 million cases. It took the globe just 7 more months to pass the 200 million mark— then another 5 months to hit 300 million, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Now the virus has spread to every corner of the globe and has been blamed for more than 6 million deaths.
The United States, India and Brazil in that order have had the most COVID cases and the three nations collectively account for almost half of all recorded infections so far in the pandemic.
Explore the chart below to find a country-by-country breakdown of new and total cases since January 2020.
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Explore how the number of coronavirus cases have shifted in different parts of the world over time. The first chart compares each continent to each other, while the next charts highlight the number of cases in select countries by region.
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This story was originally published on March 30, 2020.


npr--2020-11-27--Coronavirus Is Surging: How Severe Is Your State's Outbreak?


npr--2020-11-27--Movement To Limit Police Raids Looks Beyond 'No-Knock' Warrants

Movement To Limit Police Raids Looks Beyond 'No-Knock ' Warrants '' No-knock '' search warrants , which allow police to force their way into a home with the element of surprise , have attracted criticism since the height of the `` war on drugs '' in the 1980s and 90s .
But it was n't until this year that the death of Breonna Taylor galvanized that criticism into a national movement to ban the raids .
Taylor was shot to death in her own apartment during a questionable drug raid by Louisville police .
Now she 's become a symbol @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be jeopardizing the lives of individuals for drug searches ? ''
asks Connor Boyack , founder of the Libertas Institute , a Libertarian think tank in Utah which is pushing for new limits on forcible entry raids .
`` We 've seen it in Utah , we 've seen it with Breonna Taylor , '' he says .
`` We 're losing lives with this , on both sides of the firearm , and so is it worth it ? ''
`` The way that you would authentically honor Breonna Taylor 's life @ @ @ @ @ @ @ practice and tactic of no-knock raids , '' says Katie Ryan of Campaign Zero , another organization that 's joined the movement for fewer raids .
They 've launched a new project to change state and local laws .
In the course of that work , Ryan says activists have realized it 's not enough to focus on no-knock raids .
`` We actually have to be more stringent about all types of search warrants , and especially knock-and-announce warrants , '' Ryan says .
`` Knock-and-announce '' warrants are far more common @ @ @ @ @ @ @ almost as fast .
The raid that killed Taylor may in fact have been executed as a knock-and-announce , even though police had a no-knock warrant in hand .
In the aftermath , an officer told Taylor 's distraught boyfriend , Kenneth Walker , that they 'd announced themselves three times .
That 's why Ryan says new rules should go beyond `` no-knocks . ''
`` Flimsy legislation would not stop officers from technically knocking and announcing — hitting the door once , saying 'Officers , ' then using the battering ram @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ryan says .
Ryan 's group has proposed a checklist of conditions for all police search warrants : with some exceptions , officers should be in uniform ; they should do the raid during the day ; and they should n't rely on out-of-date intelligence about who lives in a targeted home .
This fall , Virginia state delegate Lashrecse Aird got a number of those rules passed into state law .
But she was n't able to get agreement on another one of Campaign Zero 's suggestions : a minimum 30-second wait @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wait ... for someone inside to respond , to gather themselves , '' Aird says .
`` You know , make a decision about how they 're getting ready to choose to interact with law enforcement . ''
She says the minimum time rule ran into resistance from other legislators who thought it might be too dangerous for officers .
Thor Eells , a former SWAT commander from Colorado Springs , Colo. , now executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association , echoes that concern .
`` To have a blanket stipulation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ increases risk , '' he says , because sometimes a risk analysis indicates a no-knock or fast-entry is the safest alternative for everyone involved .
`` We do n't want to lose options . ''
At the same time , Eells says in his experience , there has been a `` radical '' movement away from too much reliance on fast-moving raids .
`` I would say in my career as a young SWAT officer , probably 80 to maybe 90 percent of our warrants were no-knock warrants , '' he says .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it probably made up somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 percent or less of the warrants that we were serving . ''
The lack of national statistics on police raids makes it hard to know how wide-spread that trend is .
But Eells says his association now teaches that no-knocks are a `` last resort . ''
Still , he says he hopes legislatures will resist the pressure to take them off the table altogether .
`` While I fully understand the emotional response to to this , '' he says , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do is be very careful in that we slow down and think about what is our end goal and how do we accomplish that . ''

Movement To Limit Police Raids Looks Beyond 'No-Knock' Warrants
Enlarge this image toggle caption Timothy D. Easley/AP Timothy D. Easley/AP
"No-knock" search warrants, which allow police to force their way into a home with the element of surprise, have attracted criticism since the height of the "war on drugs" in the 1980s and 90s. But it wasn't until this year that the death of Breonna Taylor galvanized that criticism into a national movement to ban the raids.
Taylor was shot to death in her own apartment during a questionable drug raid by Louisville police. Now she's become a symbol.
"Do we really want to be jeopardizing the lives of individuals for drug searches?" asks Connor Boyack, founder of the Libertas Institute, a Libertarian think tank in Utah which is pushing for new limits on forcible entry raids.
"We've seen it in Utah, we've seen it with Breonna Taylor," he says. "We're losing lives with this, on both sides of the firearm, and so is it worth it?"
"The way that you would authentically honor Breonna Taylor's life is to ensure that we stop the practice and tactic of no-knock raids," says Katie Ryan of Campaign Zero, another organization that's joined the movement for fewer raids. They've launched a new project to change state and local laws.
In the course of that work, Ryan says activists have realized it's not enough to focus on no-knock raids.
"We actually have to be more stringent about all types of search warrants, and especially knock-and-announce warrants," Ryan says.
"Knock-and-announce" warrants are far more common than no-knocks, but they can happen almost as fast. The raid that killed Taylor may in fact have been executed as a knock-and-announce, even though police had a no-knock warrant in hand. In the aftermath, an officer told Taylor's distraught boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, that they'd announced themselves three times.
That's why Ryan says new rules should go beyond "no-knocks."
"Flimsy legislation would not stop officers from technically knocking and announcing — hitting the door once, saying 'Officers,' then using the battering ram and shredding someone's door," Ryan says.
Ryan's group has proposed a checklist of conditions for all police search warrants: with some exceptions, officers should be in uniform; they should do the raid during the day; and they shouldn't rely on out-of-date intelligence about who lives in a targeted home.
This fall, Virginia state delegate Lashrecse Aird got a number of those rules passed into state law. But she wasn't able to get agreement on another one of Campaign Zero's suggestions: a minimum 30-second wait time.
"Knock, announce, wait... for someone inside to respond, to gather themselves," Aird says. "You know, make a decision about how they're getting ready to choose to interact with law enforcement."
She says the minimum time rule ran into resistance from other legislators who thought it might be too dangerous for officers.
Thor Eells, a former SWAT commander from Colorado Springs, Colo., now executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association, echoes that concern.
"To have a blanket stipulation of a mandated time for waiting just increases risk," he says, because sometimes a risk analysis indicates a no-knock or fast-entry is the safest alternative for everyone involved. "We don't want to lose options."
At the same time, Eells says in his experience, there has been a "radical" movement away from too much reliance on fast-moving raids.
"I would say in my career as a young SWAT officer, probably 80 to maybe 90 percent of our warrants were no-knock warrants," he says. "And yet, when I retired, it probably made up somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 percent or less of the warrants that we were serving."
The lack of national statistics on police raids makes it hard to know how wide-spread that trend is. But Eells says his association now teaches that no-knocks are a "last resort."
Still, he says he hopes legislatures will resist the pressure to take them off the table altogether.
"While I fully understand the emotional response to to this," he says, "what I think we have to do is be very careful in that we slow down and think about what is our end goal and how do we accomplish that."


npr--2020-11-27--A COVID-19 Vaccine For Children May Still Be Many Months Away

A COVID-19 Vaccine For Children May Still Be Many Months Away It may only be weeks until a COVID-19 vaccine is approved for use in the U.S. Pfizer and its partner BioNTech asked the Food and Drug Administration to grant an emergency use authorization for their vaccine a week ago , and Moderna is expected to follow suit in coming days .
But even when those vaccines hit the market , they will not be available to children .
That 's because very few children have been part of the clinical trials to date .
Pfizer only recently began enrolling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this month , the American Academy of Pediatrics called on researchers to broaden their trials to include more children , warning of a significant delay in access to a vaccine should they not act quickly .
`` Children are not just small adults , '' said Dr. Sallie Permar , a professor of pediatrics , microbiology and immunology at the Duke University School of Medicine , in an interview with NPR 's All Things Considered .
A child 's immune system is different from an adult 's , Permar said .
`` There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ children than adults .
And there are certain vaccines that work less well in children compared to adults , '' she said .
`` So they do have to be specifically studied in the pediatric population . ''
Would you expect that a COVID vaccine for kids could be just a smaller dose of the same vaccine that adults get or a different formula altogether ?
That actually needs some investigation to determine what is the right dose and what is going to be also safe in children ...
The dose does matter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to be tested specifically in the pediatric population before being rolled out .
Are we going to see the same kind of large scale vaccine trials for kids that we 've seen for adults , like tens of thousands of children enrolled in these trials ?
The good news is that the vaccines have been so effective in adults that what we may be able to do in a pediatric population is just look for whether the children respond similarly or even better than adults .
And using some of the information @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , like what level of immune response is needed to protect against the infection , there may be able to be trial designs that are much smaller for the pediatric population to just establish that the vaccines can be just as effective at eliciting a protective immune response in children compared to adults .
Could you forecast when there might be a safe , effective vaccine widely available for children ?
It will be hard to know exactly how long it will take , but I think I 'm very hopeful in that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the adult population .
But I do want to encourage our vaccine manufacturers and the funders of these vaccine trials to quickly move to the pediatric populations .
I really think there 's no reason to delay , but it will be several additional months and likely late into 2021 before we have enough data on pediatric patients to have an approval for that age group .
To get specific , I think a lot of parents understand that the spring semester is going to be a wash , and there wo n't @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fall semester of next year , should they hold out hope ?
I think that would be a great target to be able to have some pediatric trial data before the the opening of the school doors next fall ... And I very much hope that that we can stay on track , because we have done such a disservice to our children by closing schools without closing other sectors of our businesses that we know are problematic for transmission , like indoor restaurants and bars .
Children are suffering — not as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adults , but really in the way that we 've addressed this pandemic .
That should be motivation to get these trials underway as soon as possible , get these innovations and these really remarkable products that are being developed to the pediatric population and serve our children , put our children first because they are who we 're going to rely on to fight the next pandemics .
NPR 's Courtney Dorning edited the audio version of this story .

A COVID-19 Vaccine For Children May Still Be Many Months Away
Enlarge this image toggle caption John Moore/Getty Images John Moore/Getty Images
It may only be weeks until a COVID-19 vaccine is approved for use in the U.S. Pfizer and its partner BioNTech asked the Food and Drug Administration to grant an emergency use authorization for their vaccine a week ago, and Moderna is expected to follow suit in coming days.
But even when those vaccines hit the market, they will not be available to children. That's because very few children have been part of the clinical trials to date. Pfizer only recently began enrolling children as young as 12.
Earlier this month, the American Academy of Pediatrics called on researchers to broaden their trials to include more children, warning of a significant delay in access to a vaccine should they not act quickly.
"Children are not just small adults," said Dr. Sallie Permar, a professor of pediatrics, microbiology and immunology at the Duke University School of Medicine, in an interview with NPR's All Things Considered.
A child's immune system is different from an adult's, Permar said. "There are certain vaccines that work better in children than adults. And there are certain vaccines that work less well in children compared to adults," she said. "So they do have to be specifically studied in the pediatric population."
Interview Highlights
Would you expect that a COVID vaccine for kids could be just a smaller dose of the same vaccine that adults get or a different formula altogether?
That actually needs some investigation to determine what is the right dose and what is going to be also safe in children ... The dose does matter. And so, again, they have to be tested specifically in the pediatric population before being rolled out.
Are we going to see the same kind of large scale vaccine trials for kids that we've seen for adults, like tens of thousands of children enrolled in these trials?
The good news is that the vaccines have been so effective in adults that what we may be able to do in a pediatric population is just look for whether the children respond similarly or even better than adults. And using some of the information that we gather from the adult trials, like what level of immune response is needed to protect against the infection, there may be able to be trial designs that are much smaller for the pediatric population to just establish that the vaccines can be just as effective at eliciting a protective immune response in children compared to adults.
Could you forecast when there might be a safe, effective vaccine widely available for children?
It will be hard to know exactly how long it will take, but I think I'm very hopeful in that we've seen such rapid progress in the adult population. But I do want to encourage our vaccine manufacturers and the funders of these vaccine trials to quickly move to the pediatric populations. I really think there's no reason to delay, but it will be several additional months and likely late into 2021 before we have enough data on pediatric patients to have an approval for that age group.
To get specific, I think a lot of parents understand that the spring semester is going to be a wash, and there won't be a vaccine in time. But fall semester of next year, should they hold out hope?
I think that would be a great target to be able to have some pediatric trial data before the the opening of the school doors next fall ... And I very much hope that that we can stay on track, because we have done such a disservice to our children by closing schools without closing other sectors of our businesses that we know are problematic for transmission, like indoor restaurants and bars.
Children are suffering — not as much from the disease itself compared to adults, but really in the way that we've addressed this pandemic. That should be motivation to get these trials underway as soon as possible, get these innovations and these really remarkable products that are being developed to the pediatric population and serve our children, put our children first because they are who we're going to rely on to fight the next pandemics.
NPR's Courtney Dorning edited the audio version of this story.


npr--2020-11-27--A Garden Is The Frontline In The Fight Against Racial Inequality And Disease

A Garden Is The Frontline In The Fight Against Racial Inequality And Disease When police killed George Floyd outside a Minneapolis corner store , it reminded the world that racism can become lethal .
But just a few miles away , on the North side of the city , racial inequality plays out in a more ordinary , yet still harmful way : A lack of fresh food .
Protests after Floyd 's death damaged and shut down the only full-service grocery store within a 3-mile radius of North Minneapolis .
For two months , what remained were dozens of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to fresh food has been a struggle for decades , but now it 's compounding the health effects of the pandemic .
Chronic conditions like obesity , hypertension , and diabetes — all linked to a poor diet — are putting people at higher risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19 .
A group called Appetite for Change is trying to lead the community down a different path , teaching others to grow their way to healthy food .
Co-founder Princess Haley , a teacher , says the mission is to improve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the group has been harvesting artichokes and leafy greens to supply boxes of free produce every week to 300 local families .
Haley stands in a community garden the size of a soccer field on a residential block , surveying end-of-season rainbow chard , habanero peppers and purple tomatoes .
She hovers over the plants , bragging about their merits : how okra helped heal her arthritic knees , and how she turned a friend on to broccoli greens when collards were n't available .
For Haley , tragedy and healing , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ garden .
She taught her middle child , Anthony Titus , to grow cucumbers here .
He , in turn , dared her to taste manure .
A decade ago , on the Fourth of July , Anthony was walking by this garden , when a stray bullet pierced his back .
`` I 'm looking right at the house where he died in their yard , '' says Haley , nodding across the street .
`` I can see the fence where the bullet hit him and his hat fell . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 16 .
`` That trauma took me away from my garden , '' says Haley .
`` It took away my appetite for life . ''
She isolated herself and drank to bury her anger and sorrow .
Her son 's cucumber plants went neglected .
Then , one day , she felt called outdoors : `` I remember the sun , clear as day saying , 'Why do n't you go out to your garden ?
Why did you let your garden die ? '
'' Bringing the cucumbers and strawberry plants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ revived her .
`` I could only pull myself out of it in the garden .
I feel like the garden is truly a healing space , '' says Haley .
Over time , she began to see her community 's problems of violence and poverty in a new light .
If health is linked to how we eat , and people in her community have little access to fresh food , they can not be well in other ways , she says .
Diet-related illnesses are one of the reasons COVID-19 is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and nationally .
Obesity is one of the risk factors for serious illness and death from COVID-19 , and obesity rates are higher in the Black and Latino communities , according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
And in the neighborhood around the garden , about a third of all residents have high blood pressure and obesity .
`` For people to constantly die in my neighborhood every day and a lot of that having to relate to the diet that they have is not OK , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Appetite for Change .
Growing up in North Minneapolis , Powell says she could walk to five grocery stores from home .
As a child , she shopped , cooked and ate together with her sprawling family , which often included a network of friends and neighbors .
Today , she says , local food culture revolves around fast , fried foods .
She says she counted 38 fast-food stores along or near Broadway , the main commercial avenue cutting through North Minneapolis .
Fighting against this artery-clogging food culture has met @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she says .
For example , when Powell became a vegetarian after losing her beloved grandmother and other family to heart attacks , people in her community accused her of betrayal .
`` They told me I was trying to be a white woman , that I was eating rabbit food , '' she says .
Powell says she thinks the low expectations for healthy eating are driven by the paltry options around her .
She lobbied grocery chains to bring in the kind of `` paradise of produce '' she saw at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ closest health-food store , North Market , opened three years ago , three miles from where Powell lives .
It is backed by a non-profit , Pillsbury United Communities , with a mission to improve access to health and wellness among lower-income residents .
Pillsbury 's CEO , Adair Mosley , says revenue at the market only recently met its targets — a lengthy time frame he says few for-profit chains would tolerate .
And North Minneapolis — whose 67,000 residents are 90 % Black , Latino or Asian — does n't fit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , says Steve Belton , president and CEO of the Urban League Twin Cities .
`` It becomes a vicious cycle because you do n't have the businesses there , so people are not able to support themselves and to live healthy lives — there are no employment opportunities represented by those businesses , and people 's health is suffering because of the absence of healthy choices , '' he says .
So LaTasha Powell gave up on the prospect of corporate change or outside help .
`` I do n't have the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ corporation who does n't want to do right by my community , '' she says .
`` But what is the alternative way that we can get what we need for the people that live here in this community ? ''
That alternative way , for now , consists of the gardens , and Princess Haley , the woman whose son died on the Fourth of July .
Haley , who also runs education and training programs for Appetite for Change , regularly brings local students to the group 's community gardens to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ boxes .
Her 15-year-old daughter , Princess-Ann , is often among them , and complains of hunger , asking her mother to let her buy a granola bar .
`` Find something in the garden , '' Haley tells her , between bites of crab apple from the tree above her .
`` Mama , I do n't like tomatoes , '' her daughter protests , pressing her point .
`` You see ?
This is what it takes to get kids to eat fresh food , '' Haley says , ignoring her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says she sees her task as changing minds about food and healthy eating , one person at a time .
With a pandemic and police violence raging around them , it 's never been a more crucial message , she says .
`` The meaning of the name George — and I am talking about George Floyd — His name means `` the farmer , '' Haley says .
George is derived from the Greek word georgos meaning earth worker .
`` His name represents the land , '' Haley says .
Some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reminiscent of their family legacy with slavery .
It 's the opposite , Haley tells them : It 's a source of justice .
When grocery shelves are bare , gardens feed you .
`` Then they become concerned about the soil , the air in the water , '' Haley says .
`` Once that individual makes that change in their social circle , changes their children , make different decisions .
Then their friends want to know , 'Girl , what 's that in that pot ? '
'' One of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who shows me how to properly pluck fronds of Dino kale so as not to damage the plant .
Childs says he wants to become a dental hygienist one day .
He discovered a love of snap peas working after school with Appetite for Change , and lately feels huge satisfaction providing produce to those who otherwise ca n't access it .
`` It 's really important and I love it , giving back to the community , '' he says .
Haley 's daughter , Princess-Ann , watches Childs eat a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she told her mother she hated .
Curious , she bites into one too .
`` OK , this is good , '' she admits , with her mother out of earshot .
`` We used to grow a lot of carrots , '' she volunteers .
`` That 's when I learned you can eat stuff straight out of the garden .
I ate purple carrots , green carrots , yellow carrots — straight out of the ground .
Those are like the best foods ever . ''
And that 's how @ @ @ @ @ @

A Garden Is The Frontline In The Fight Against Racial Inequality And Disease
Enlarge this image toggle caption Yuki Noguchi/NPR Yuki Noguchi/NPR
When police killed George Floyd outside a Minneapolis corner store, it reminded the world that racism can become lethal. But just a few miles away, on the north side of the city, racial inequality plays out in a more ordinary yet still harmful way: A lack of fresh food.
Protests after Floyd's death damaged and shut down the only full-service grocery store within a 3-mile radius of North Minneapolis. For two months, what remained were dozens of fast food and convenience stores. Access to fresh food has been a struggle for decades, but now it's compounding the health effects of the pandemic. Chronic conditions like obesity, hypertension, and diabetes — all linked to a poor diet — are putting people at higher risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19.
A group called Appetite for Change is trying to lead the community down a different path, teaching others to grow their way to healthy food. Co-founder Princess Haley, a teacher, says the mission is to improve the local diet. During the pandemic, the group has been harvesting artichokes and leafy greens to supply boxes of free produce every week to 300 local families.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Yuki Noguchi/NPR Yuki Noguchi/NPR
Haley stands in a community garden the size of a soccer field on a residential block, surveying end-of-season rainbow chard, habanero peppers and purple tomatoes. She hovers over the plants, bragging about their merits: how okra helped heal her arthritic knees, and how she turned a friend on to broccoli greens when collards weren't available.
For Haley, tragedy and healing, death and justice come together in this garden. She taught her middle child, Anthony Titus, to grow cucumbers here. He, in turn, dared her to taste manure.
A decade ago, on the Fourth of July, Anthony was walking by this garden, when a stray bullet pierced his back.
"I'm looking right at the house where he died in their yard," says Haley, nodding across the street. "I can see the fence where the bullet hit him and his hat fell." Titus, nicknamed Prince Charming, was 16.
"That trauma took me away from my garden," says Haley. "It took away my appetite for life." She isolated herself and drank to bury her anger and sorrow. Her son's cucumber plants went neglected.
Then, one day, she felt called outdoors: "I remember the sun, clear as day saying, 'Why don't you go out to your garden? Why did you let your garden die?'"
Bringing the cucumbers and strawberry plants back to life, she says, revived her.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Yuki Noguchi/NPR Yuki Noguchi/NPR
"I could only pull myself out of it in the garden. I feel like the garden is truly a healing space," says Haley.
Over time, she began to see her community's problems of violence and poverty in a new light. If health is linked to how we eat, and people in her community have little access to fresh food, they cannot be well in other ways, she says.
Diet-related illnesses are one of the reasons COVID-19 is claiming more Black and Latino lives, here and nationally. Obesity is one of the risk factors for serious illness and death from COVID-19, and obesity rates are higher in the Black and Latino communities, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And in the neighborhood around the garden, about a third of all residents have high blood pressure and obesity.
"For people to constantly die in my neighborhood every day and a lot of that having to relate to the diet that they have is not OK," says LaTasha Powell, another co-founder of Appetite for Change.
Growing up in North Minneapolis, Powell says she could walk to five grocery stores from home. As a child, she shopped, cooked and ate together with her sprawling family, which often included a network of friends and neighbors. Today, she says, local food culture revolves around fast, fried foods. She says she counted 38 fast-food stores along or near Broadway, the main commercial avenue cutting through North Minneapolis.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Yuki Noguchi/NPR Yuki Noguchi/NPR
Fighting against this artery-clogging food culture has met with resistance, even from within, she says. For example, when Powell became a vegetarian after losing her beloved grandmother and other family to heart attacks, people in her community accused her of betrayal. "They told me I was trying to be a white woman, that I was eating rabbit food," she says.
Powell says she thinks the low expectations for healthy eating are driven by the paltry options around her. She lobbied grocery chains to bring in the kind of "paradise of produce" she saw at suburban stores several miles away.
It didn't happen.
The closest health-food store, North Market, opened three years ago, three miles from where Powell lives. It is backed by a non-profit, Pillsbury United Communities, with a mission to improve access to health and wellness among lower-income residents. Pillsbury's CEO, Adair Mosley, says revenue at the market only recently met its targets — a lengthy time frame he says few for-profit chains would tolerate.
And North Minneapolis — whose 67,000 residents are 90% Black, Latino or Asian — doesn't fit the typical demographic grocery stores look for, says Steve Belton, president and CEO of the Urban League Twin Cities.
"It becomes a vicious cycle because you don't have the businesses there, so people are not able to support themselves and to live healthy lives — there are no employment opportunities represented by those businesses, and people's health is suffering because of the absence of healthy choices," he says.
So LaTasha Powell gave up on the prospect of corporate change or outside help.
"I don't have the energy or the power to fight a corporation who doesn't want to do right by my community," she says. "But what is the alternative way that we can get what we need for the people that live here in this community?" That alternative way, for now, consists of the gardens, and Princess Haley, the woman whose son died on the Fourth of July.
Haley, who also runs education and training programs for Appetite for Change, regularly brings local students to the group's community gardens to harvest produce to distribute in the giveaway boxes.
Her 15-year-old daughter, Princess-Ann, is often among them, and complains of hunger, asking her mother to let her buy a granola bar.
"Find something in the garden," Haley tells her, between bites of crab apple from the tree above her.
"Mama, I don't like tomatoes," her daughter protests, pressing her point.
"You see? This is what it takes to get kids to eat fresh food," Haley says, ignoring her to twist off ripe okra.
Haley says she sees her task as changing minds about food and healthy eating, one person at a time. With a pandemic and police violence raging around them, it's never been a more crucial message, she says.
"The meaning of the name George — and I am talking about George Floyd — His name means "the farmer," Haley says. George is derived from the Greek word georgos meaning earth worker. "His name represents the land," Haley says.
Some friends tell her that gardening feels too reminiscent of their family legacy with slavery. It's the opposite, Haley tells them: It's a source of justice. When grocery shelves are bare, gardens feed you.
"Then they become concerned about the soil, the air in the water," Haley says. "Once that individual makes that change in their social circle, changes their children, make different decisions. Then their friends want to know, 'Girl, what's that in that pot?'"
Enlarge this image toggle caption Yuki Noguchi/NPR Yuki Noguchi/NPR
One of Haley's converts is 17-year-old Carl Childs, who shows me how to properly pluck fronds of Dino kale so as not to damage the plant. Childs says he wants to become a dental hygienist one day. He discovered a love of snap peas working after school with Appetite for Change, and lately feels huge satisfaction providing produce to those who otherwise can't access it.
"It's really important and I love it, giving back to the community," he says. Haley's daughter, Princess-Ann, watches Childs eat a speckled tomato, similar to the one she told her mother she hated. Curious, she bites into one too.
"OK, this is good," she admits, with her mother out of earshot.
"We used to grow a lot of carrots," she volunteers. "That's when I learned you can eat stuff straight out of the garden. I ate purple carrots, green carrots, yellow carrots — straight out of the ground. Those are like the best foods ever."
And that's how the convert becomes the preacher.


npr--2020-11-27--Wait, Wait, Don't Inaugurate: Why The U.S. Takes So Long To Change Presidents

Wait , Wait , Do n't Inaugurate : Why The U.S. Takes So Long To Change Presidents President Trump 's refusal to concede and the delayed transition to the administration of President-elect Joe Biden have raised many questions about the transfer of power in our system .
One in particular has long been asked : Why do we wait until the latter part of January to swear in a president we elect in November ?
Put another way : How is it that the Brits can have a newly elected prime minister meeting with the queen to form a new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but we need 10 or 11 weeks to install a new crew ?
Well , since you asked , our transfer of power originally took much longer .
It was initially set for March 4 , though in 1789 a bad winter storm delayed the swearing-in of George Washington until April .
Thereafter , the early March mandate was respected for nearly 150 years .
A bad winter was a major obstacle in 1789 because so much of the system literally ran on horsepower .
The best overland option was a horse , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a horse-drawn coach , over roads that were iffy at best — especially in winter .
Sometimes it was faster to get a boat .
After a national election , many riders had to mount many horses to assemble voting results from every local voting jurisdiction in the original 13 states .
Still more would need to saddle up so that the results could cross state lines and make multiday trips , often in inclement weather .
The second thing to remember is that the president is not actually legally elected in November @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the deed , and that institution does not do its thing until mid-December , more than a month after the popular vote is in .
This year , the day is Dec. 14 , following the constitutional calendar that specifies the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December .
That is when the official electors empowered by the popular vote will convene in their respective state capitols to vote .
That was true back in the beginning , too .
So imagine how much time it took , in the early days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ collect , tabulate and certify the votes of the eligible ballots .
Imagine , too , the time it took to get the necessary information to all relevant authorities and to the electors themselves , who were presumed to be men from the upper echelons of social and political authority in their respective states .
These men would gather in their respective state capitols on the designated day and elect the president .
Then it would take time , again , for official documents to be conveyed and for news to travel and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chief executive would be informed and begin assembling his top appointees to take office .
Given the relatively glacial rates of transportation and information sharing two centuries ago , it does not seem unreasonable that a newly elected president might then need weeks to formalize a team .
Thus the original March 4 date seemed to make sense , especially if one was planning an inauguration ceremony to be held outdoors ( as all have been , with the lone exception of President Ronald Reagan 's second in 1985 ) .
By March @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , at least in theory , although it was n't so for the longest inaugural address ( and shortest presidency ) on record .
In 1841 , William Henry Harrison took the oath of office hatless and coatless on a cold day .
The new president spoke for nearly two hours and then went to parties in his wet clothes .
He soon developed what is believed to have been pneumonia and died a month into his term .
But after a century and a half , Congress and the state legislatures were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ brought paved roads , railroads , motor cars , telegraph wires , telephones and radio to the tasks of travel and communication .
Congress approved , and the states quickly ratified , an amendment to the Constitution moving the date of Inauguration Day to Jan. 20 .
It was 1933 , and the new date took effect with the 1937 inauguration of a reelected President Franklin D. Roosevelt .
The new date has held firm ever since .
At times , the hiatus has proved historically significant .
In 2000 , it allowed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of lawsuits over the contested results in Florida .
After five weeks and a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court , the state delivered its electors to George W. Bush on the basis of just 537 votes .
That mattered , because by then the Electoral College was about to meet and whichever candidate won Florida was going to reach the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House .
Bush wound up serving eight years .
In 2004 , the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States , better @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the five-week struggle to determine the winner of the 2000 presidential election weakened the ability of the U.S. to detect and deter the plotters of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 , 2001 .
Just as ominous was the period after the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 .
In the four months he had to wait to take office , seven Southern states seceded and began seizing federal forts within their state lines .
Any last chance of heading off the Civil War was lost .
And in the depths of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ failing and industries collapsing , little or nothing was accomplished while the nation waited four months for FDR to take over from President Herbert Hoover , the man he had defeated to get the keys to the White House .

Wait, Wait, Don't Inaugurate: Why The U.S. Takes So Long To Change Presidents
Enlarge this image toggle caption John Moore/Getty Images John Moore/Getty Images
President Trump's refusal to concede and the delayed transition to the administration of President-elect Joe Biden have raised many questions about the transfer of power in our system.
One in particular has long been asked: Why do we wait until the latter part of January to swear in a president we elect in November? Put another way: How is it that the Brits can have a newly elected prime minister meeting with the queen to form a new government within a day or two, but we need 10 or 11 weeks to install a new crew?
Well, since you asked, our transfer of power originally took much longer. It was initially set for March 4, though in 1789 a bad winter storm delayed the swearing-in of George Washington until April. Thereafter, the early March mandate was respected for nearly 150 years.
A bad winter was a major obstacle in 1789 because so much of the system literally ran on horsepower. The best overland option was a horse, or a horse and buggy, or a horse-drawn coach, over roads that were iffy at best — especially in winter. Sometimes it was faster to get a boat.
After a national election, many riders had to mount many horses to assemble voting results from every local voting jurisdiction in the original 13 states. Still more would need to saddle up so that the results could cross state lines and make multiday trips, often in inclement weather.
The second thing to remember is that the president is not actually legally elected in November. Officially, the Electoral College does the deed, and that institution does not do its thing until mid-December, more than a month after the popular vote is in.
This year, the day is Dec. 14, following the constitutional calendar that specifies the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December. That is when the official electors empowered by the popular vote will convene in their respective state capitols to vote.
That was true back in the beginning, too. So imagine how much time it took, in the early days with the original 13 states, to collect, tabulate and certify the votes of the eligible ballots. Imagine, too, the time it took to get the necessary information to all relevant authorities and to the electors themselves, who were presumed to be men from the upper echelons of social and political authority in their respective states.
These men would gather in their state capitols on the designated day and elect the president. Then it would take time, again, for official documents to be conveyed and for news to travel and be disseminated and digested. The new chief executive would be informed and begin assembling his top appointees to take office.
Given the relatively glacial rates of transportation and information sharing two centuries ago, it does not seem unreasonable that a newly elected president might then need weeks to formalize a team.
Thus the original March 4 date seemed to make sense, especially if one was planning an inauguration ceremony to be held outdoors (as all have been, with the lone exception of President Ronald Reagan's second in 1985). By March, the weather should be more reliable, at least in theory, although it wasn't so for the longest inaugural address (and shortest presidency) on record.
In 1841, William Henry Harrison took the oath of office hatless and coatless on a cold day. The new president spoke for nearly two hours and then went to parties in his wet clothes. He soon developed what is believed to have been pneumonia and died a month into his term.
Six weeks sooner
But after a century and a half, Congress and the state legislatures were ready to salute the progress that had brought paved roads, railroads, motor cars, telegraph wires, telephones and radio to the tasks of travel and communication.
Congress approved, and the states quickly ratified, an amendment to the Constitution moving the date of Inauguration Day to Jan. 20. It was 1933, and the new date took effect with the 1937 inauguration of a reelected President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The new date has held firm ever since.
At times, the hiatus has proved historically significant. In 2000, it allowed time for courts to process a flurry of lawsuits over the contested results in Florida. After five weeks and a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, the state delivered its electors to George W. Bush on the basis of just 537 votes. That mattered, because by then the Electoral College was about to meet and whichever candidate won Florida was going to reach the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House. Bush wound up serving eight years.
In 2004, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, better known as the 9/11 Commission, concluded that the five-week struggle to determine the winner of the 2000 presidential election weakened the ability of the U.S. to detect and deter the plotters of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Just as ominous was the period after the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. In the four months he had to wait to take office, seven Southern states seceded and began seizing federal forts within their state lines. Any last chance of heading off the Civil War was lost.
And in the depths of the Great Depression, when banks were failing and industries collapsing, little or nothing was accomplished while the nation waited four months for FDR to take over from President Herbert Hoover, the man he had defeated to get the keys to the White House.


npr--2020-11-27--Australian Professor Returns Home Following 2-Year Imprisonment In Iran

An Australian professor detained in Iran for 804 days for espionage has returned home following a reported swap for three Iranians jailed abroad .
In statements shared on social media , Kylie Moore-Gilbert thanked Australian officials and supporters who worked `` tirelessly '' to get her home .
Moore-Gilbert , a professor of Middle Eastern studies , was arrested in 2018 after attending an educational conference in Iran .
She was stopped in Tehran airport and hauled to jail over claims she was a spy , allegations she has always denied .
She was sentenced to 10 years .
Reports @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Moore-Gilbert was targeted after Iranian official discovered she was in a relationship with an Israeli .
This claim fueled their belief she was a spy .
An Iranian news outlet affiliated with state television first reported that the three Iranians traded for Gilbert included one businessman and two citizens `` detained abroad , '' according to the BBC .
The Sydney Morning Herald said those Iranians were identified as Saeed Moradi , Mohammad Khazaei and Masoud Sedaghat Zadeh , who were held in Thailand after a 2012 failed bomb attack targeting Israeli diplomats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ showed Moore-Gilbert , wearing a gray headscarf and a blue face mask , being placed in a white van .
The same video showed the three Iranian prisoners being welcomed back to Iran .
One man was in a wheelchair and all three wore the Iranian flag draped over their shoulders , black baseball caps and masks covering their faces .
Prime Minister Scott Morrison declined to confirm or deny that a prisoner swap was made .
`` Australia works through diplomatic channels to resolve many issues of this nature , so it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or for the safety of other Australians who , from time to time may find themselves in this situation , Morrison said during a news conference with reporters .
Morrison and Marise Payne , Australia 's minister for foreign affairs , expressed delight in Moore-Gilbert 's return home .
`` The Australian Government has consistently rejected the grounds on which the Iranian Government arrested , detained and convicted Dr Moore-Gilbert , '' Payne said in her statement .
Throughout the imprisonment , groups such as `` Free Kylie Moore-Gilbert '' pressured government officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for that group posted on Twitter the day of her release , calling on Morrison to act , unaware that a deal was being stuck .
A few months before her release , Moore-Gilbert was reportedly sent to Qarchak women 's prison , an overcrowded jail located in a remote desert , where prisoners experience harsh conditions , according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency .
Moore-Gilbert had written to the Australian government to implore them to work harder for her release .
In letters , she wrote that she had been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her rights and psychological torture .
Amnesty International Australia called for an investigation into Gilbert 's allegations .
`` Her allegations of torture and other ill-treatment , including through prolonged solitary confinement , must be independently and effectively investigated by the Iranian authorities and anyone found responsible brought to justice in fair trials , '' Amnesty International Australia Individuals at Risk campaigner , Rose Kulak , said .

Australian Professor Returns Home Following 2-Year Imprisonment In Iran
Enlarge this image toggle caption Lukas Coch/AP Lukas Coch/AP
An Australian professor detained in Iran for 804 days for espionage has returned home following a reported swap for three Iranians jailed abroad.
In statements shared on social media, Kylie Moore-Gilbert thanked Australian officials and supporters who worked "tirelessly" to get her home.
Moore-Gilbert, a professor of Middle Eastern studies, was arrested in 2018 after attending an educational conference in Iran. She was stopped in Tehran airport and hauled to jail over claims she was a spy, allegations she has always denied. She was sentenced to 10 years.
Reports Friday, citing government sources, said Moore-Gilbert was targeted after Iranian official discovered she was in a relationship with an Israeli. This claim fueled their belief she was a spy.
An Iranian news outlet affiliated with state television first reported that the three Iranians traded for Gilbert included one businessman and two citizens "detained abroad," according to the BBC.
The Sydney Morning Herald said those Iranians were identified as Saeed Moradi, Mohammad Khazaei and Masoud Sedaghat Zadeh, who were held in Thailand after a 2012 failed bomb attack targeting Israeli diplomats.
Video released as the swap occurred showed Moore-Gilbert, wearing a gray headscarf and a blue face mask, being placed in a white van. The same video showed the three Iranian prisoners being welcomed back to Iran. One man was in a wheelchair and all three wore the Iranian flag draped over their shoulders, black baseball caps and masks covering their faces.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison declined to confirm or deny that a prisoner swap was made.
"Australia works through diplomatic channels to resolve many issues of this nature, so it would not be in Australia's interests or for the safety of other Australians who, from time to time may find themselves in this situation, Morrison said during a news conference with reporters.
Morrison and Marise Payne, Australia's minister for foreign affairs, expressed delight in Moore-Gilbert's return home.
"The Australian Government has consistently rejected the grounds on which the Iranian Government arrested, detained and convicted Dr Moore-Gilbert," Payne said in her statement.
Throughout the imprisonment, groups such as "Free Kylie Moore-Gilbert" pressured government officials to coordinate her release. The account for that group posted on Twitter the day of her release, calling on Morrison to act, unaware that a deal was being stuck.
A few months before her release, Moore-Gilbert was reportedly sent to Qarchak women's prison, an overcrowded jail located in a remote desert, where prisoners experience harsh conditions, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Moore-Gilbert had written to the Australian government to implore them to work harder for her release. In letters, she wrote that she had been subjected to "grievous violations" of her rights and psychological torture.
Amnesty International Australia called for an investigation into Gilbert's allegations.
"Her allegations of torture and other ill-treatment, including through prolonged solitary confinement, must be independently and effectively investigated by the Iranian authorities and anyone found responsible brought to justice in fair trials," Amnesty International Australia Individuals at Risk campaigner, Rose Kulak, said.