Vietnam has announced a national lockdown to fight COVID-19, with nearly 100 million people ordered not to go outside except for food and medical needs, the most extreme measure taken yet after the nation had early success in limiting its first wave of infections. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc signed a directive Tuesday that requires people to stay inside for 15 days, starting Wednesday. That includes shutting down most businesses, except those deemed essential, at a time when many foreign investors are shifting production from China to Vietnam, in part because the virus forced them to close their businesses in China. The Vietnamese government said on its website it is proceeding “with the principle of every household, village, commune, district and province going into self-isolation.”Vietnam has ordered a national lockdown, as well as moved to decrease public transit, Ho Chi Minh, March 31, 2020.The government announcement blared through speakers on the streets of Hanoi, the capital, as residents bought last minute items before hunkering down on Tuesday. Prior to the announcement the Southeast Asian nation had won international praise for its response to the coronavirus, with officials acting quickly to quarantine patients and trace contacts. Despite having fewer resources as a developing nation, Vietnam limited the first wave of infections that began in January, though a second wave has now brought the number of cases to 204 as of Monday, with no reported deaths. Vietnam’s national isolation order this week came after more than a dozen people linked to one of its biggest hospitals, Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi, tested positive for COVID-19. Authorities are tracing contacts and advising the more than 10,000 people who have been at that hospital since March 12 to get tested. People have been ordered to stay two meters apart while outside and limit gatherings to no more than two people, except for at schools, hospitals, and businesses that are allowed to stay open. Vietnam linked the second wave of COVID-19 infections largely to foreigners entering the nation after it had appeared to contain the first wave. After reports that local businesses, such as bars, were discriminating against foreigners because of the virus, the prime minister spoke out against discrimination. One of the recent cases was an American woman in the central city of Danang, who was recovered after her attempt to leave quarantine, local media reported. “The U.S. embassy and consulate in Vietnam advise U.S. citizens to abide by government of Vietnam regulations,” the embassy said. Having experience responding to SARS, avian flu, and other epidemics, Vietnam acted quickly on the early signs of COVID-19 in January. The authorities carried out selective testing and quarantined potential cases. Other measures followed one by one, including moves to close schools, ration surgical masks, cancel some flights, and then close entry to most foreigners.The government has also asked all citizens to fill out a health declarations online and sent regular text message updates nationwide. It gives daily updates on infections to the media, which reports each infected person as a case number and announces flights and locations linked to infections, asking people to report to the hospital if they have been on those flights or at those locations. In some situations where testing is ordered for entire buildings, managers ask residents to speak up if they know that neighbors are avoiding tests. The World Health Organization is among the groups that praised Vietnam for its virus response.“We are committed to continue working with the Ministry of Health and other partners to ensure the country’s continued and quality testing for this new virus,” Kidong Park, the WHO representative in Vietnam, said.Before this week, some restaurants, offices and other businesses were suspending operations on a selective basis. At some grocery stores, workers dispensed hand gel on customers’ hands at the entrance, while condo security guards checked people’s temperature in lobbies. However those measures were scattered around the nation, while the prime minister’s order Tuesday has now made sheltering in place generally uniform across Vietnam until mid-April.
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Month: March 2020
Controversial French Doctor Sparks Hope, Criticism for Coronavirus Research
Fellow scientists question his findings, but an unlikely mix of supporters — from French yellow vest protesters to U.S. President Donald Trump — are cheering their promise.Last month, French immunology specialist Didier Raoult had no Twitter account. Now, he has more than a quarter-million followers, and counting. The 68-year-old French physician has emerged as one of France’s most publicized and polarizing figures of these coronavirus times, since claiming his research shows an anti-malarial drug can help fight COVID-19. Outside the Marseille university hospital where he works, a long line of sick and frightened people waits to be tested each day for COVID-19. The sick may receive a much-hyped experimental treatment — a mix of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine and antibiotic azithromycin that have starred in a pair of quick, small-scale studies that Raoult conducted, and were published this month. Together, the studies show the “efficacy” of the anti-malarial drug in fighting the virus, Raoult and his research team claim, and the synergetic effects of adding the antibiotic. “He’s a visionary,” Renaud Muselier, head of the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region and a friend of Raoult, told the weekly Le Journal du Dimanche. “That’s what makes his strength today.” But critics say Raoult’s team did not follow rigorous procedures, had no control group, and drew their results based on too few people, among other failings. “The methodology is fragile, the results are forced, one doesn’t give people hope based on approximate trials,” Gilles Pialoux, infectious diseases head of Paris-based Tenon Hospital, told BFMTV. A few years ago, Raoult grew his white-blond hair long — adding a mustache and beard —just to annoy the establishment, he is reported as saying. No stranger to controversy Raoult, who heads the infectious diseases department of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, is no stranger to controversy — or applause. Born in Dakar, Senegal, he dropped out of high school in his junior year and spent a couple of years in the French merchant marines before heading to medical school. A few years ago, he grew his white-blond hair long — adding a mustache and beard —just to annoy the establishment, he is reported as saying. His award-winning research includes discovering giant viruses and new bacteria. He has published prodigiously, although his massive output has sparked skepticism about its rigor. Raoult has also questioned climate change. In January, he initially dismissed the first coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan as overblown. And while he has been added to the government coronavirus team of health experts, he has reportedly distanced himself from it, failing to attend recent meetings. “I don’t care what others think of me,” he told La Provence newspaper. “I’m not an outsider. I’m the one who is the most advanced.” After Raoult’s first coronavirus findings were published mid-March in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, Trump tweeted that the two-drug combination he tested could become “the biggest game changers” in medical history. France and the United States have since authorized limited, emergency use of hydroxychloroquine and related compound chloroquine in treating the most serious COVID-19 cases. On Monday, the French food safety agency warned of potentially dangerous side effects. But the public has dismissed such strictures. Pharmacies report a rush for Plaquenil, the brand name of hydroxychloroquine, which has worried lupus and other patients who have long depended on it. Local hero New and larger experimental studies are now under way in Europe and the United States to see if Raoult’s findings, among others, can be replicated on a bigger scale. In the meantime, he has vaulted to near rock star status. His wide spectrum of supporters includes controversial French comedian Dieudonne, far-right adherents, ex-soccer champion Eric Cantona and several prominent politicians, some of whom took Raoult’s experimental treatment after contracting COVID-19. “Bravo to @raoult didier and his team,” tweeted Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi. “I’m proud to have fought beside him.” But a raft of medical experts is less enthusiastic, questioning the credibility of Raoult’s studies, the first of which involved just 20 patients. “No, ‘not huge’ I’m afraid,” tweeted Francois Balloux of University College in London, in response to the results of Raoult’s second study involving 80 patients. Released Friday, the study claimed that most of the patients treated with the combination drug had favorable outcomes. But Balloux noted that those who had tested presented mild symptoms of coronavirus and likely would have recovered anyway.
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Greece Blocks Iranian From Plotting to Arm Asylum Seekers
In Greece, the case of an Iranian migrant now jailed on charges of inciting an insurrection is highlighting the Greek government’s rising concerns about a flare-up of clashes involving migrants along Greece’s border with Turkey. Greek authorities say the Iranian man — a self-described anarchist — was urging groups in Greece to arm asylum seekers trying to enter Europe from Turkey. The man, if convicted, faces a stiff sentence of up to ten years in prison.Greek counter-terrorism forces say they arrested the 23-year-old Iranian national in central Athens after he posted a call for an armed insurrection on a website that is often visited by homegrown extremists and urban guerrilla groupings.Authorities say the unidentified man describes himself as a migrant anarchist and they say he has not denied the criminal charges set against him — among the stiffest slapped on a migrant in recent years.
Greek intelligence officials say Greece granted the man political asylum three years ago and that he has since then established a militant profile, linking up with a far-left extremist group in Greece.
Left-wing groups in Greece have long supported asylum seekers, advocating their safe passage — and their right to stay in Europe. But in his online calling, the Iranian went a step further, urging anarchists to help arm migrants, take to the streets and renew clashes with authorities in northern Greece to help tens of thousands trapped in Turkey stream in to Europe.
Authorities in Athens say they have not established links between that plot and Turkey.
But the Iranian’s arrest here and the severity of the charges laid against him underscore Greece’s desperate bid to stamp out any potential flare up of migrant clashes along the country’s borders with Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan flung open the borders to migrants heading for Europe in late February after dozens of Turkish soldiers were killed in an air raid in Syria. FILE – Migrants walk in Edirne at the Turkish-Greek border, March 9, 2020.Turkey last week said it moved 5,800 migrants away from the border crossing at Edirne province where they had been massing, citing concerns over the threat of coronavirus. The move was interpreted by some in Greece as a reversal by Ankara. But Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told an independent broadcaster the move did not represent a policy change.
“Once the COVID-19 crisis is over, the Turkish government will not block migrants from returning to the border,” he said. Although Greek authorities have not established a link between the Iranian migrant and the Turkish government, they worry about how Ankara may use the nearly four million Syrian refugees now inside Greece.
Ioannis Mazis, an international relations analyst in Athens, said Greece has already seen Turkey using tens of thousands of migrants as pawns in the recent border clashes. He said the Turkish government has even admitted that it has orchestrated much of the border violence. So, threats of further clashes should not be underestimated, Mazis added.
By some accounts, as many 150,000 migrants and refugee tried to push into Europe last month. Greece says it succeeded in fending off more than 50,000, while many others managed to sneak in.
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China Not Tracking Recovered Coronavirus Patients Who Test Positive Again
After testing negative twice in a row, a coronavirus patient in Wuhan — the former epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak — was discharged recently from one of China’s mobile hospital units. But her celebration of freedom had barely begun before she got a call from the local health authority who told her the last test she took before leaving the hospital was positive. “I had to go back to the hospital immediately,” the patient said on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform. “My residential compound is under lockdown again.”As China releases more patients who have recovered from the coronavirus, there are an increasing number who are testing positive for the second time. The State Council ’s Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism said last Saturday that second-time infections have been reported in many regions, including Guangdong, Sichuan, Hunan, and Hubei province, where Wuhan is the capital city.People wearing face masks line up outside a Hankou Bank branch in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, March 31, 2020.It is not understood why some patients test positive after testing negative, but most virologists believe true second-time infections are extremely rare. Recovered patients have high amounts of antibodies in their blood that fought off the COVID-19 infection, protecting them against a recurrence. That is why in many countries recovered patients are now donating blood plasma for transfusions into sick patients. Another explanation for the positive tests could be inaccurate testing. “Testing is not always perfectly sensitive,” said William Hanage, associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Some of those cases you’re seeing where it looks as if a person was testing positive, negative, then later tested positive again may be likely explained by one of the intermediate tests just not picking it up when it was there. The amount that that’s happening, we don’t really know.” As countries focus on rapidly deploying coronavirus tests, some versions have been rejected for too many false readings.“At this stage of the pandemic, it’s been hard enough managing to identify those people who are infected once. It’s going to take a while before we can be secure about who’s been infected twice,” he added.Causes of faulty testingDr. Jin Dongyan, a virology expert at the University of Hong Kong, said it is nearly impossible for second-time infections to occur in normal individuals. He told VOA in an email that the negative test results from patients before they were discharged could be “false,” leading hospitals to discharge them too early. Dr. Zhang Boli, one of the 14 members of China’s national research team to prevent and control the outbreak, said even accurate tests can fail to detect small amounts of virus still within the patient.According to China’s latest coronavirus diagnosis and treatment guidelines issued by the National Health Commission on March 4, diagnostic tests are conducted by gathering mucus from nasal cavities using swabs. However, viruses often stay deep in patients’ lungs. “At the time of the test, the sputum in the throat were detected, no virus was not detected, showing that the viral nucleic acid in the patient’s body was negative,” said Zhang in a recent interview with the official People’s Daily.”If some people are tested positive for the viral nucleic acid a second time, it is most likely that they have never recovered,” Jin told VOA.How many repeat positives?Despite the possibility that there could be a large number of people who retest positive after being pronounced “recovered” and released from medical care, China is not tracking these people, even though authorities are ordering them back to quarantine. Tu Yuanchao, deputy director of Hubei health commission, said that they will not be classified as fresh cases. He told the official Hubei Daily recently, “They were already reported as confirmed cases in their initial test. Therefore, they will not be repeatedly counted as new cases.” China has not been counting as “infected” those people who test positive for COVID-19 but display no symptoms. This policy contradicts World Health Organization guidelines, which recommend tracking asymptomatic patients who test positive because they could still spread the virus. Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a shopping complex in Wuhan, Hubei province, the epicentre of China’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, March 31, 2020.It remains unclear how many people in China who tested positive again for COVID-19 after being told they were healed from the disease. The central government does not release national numbers. Local numbers reported by different regional officials vary from less than 1% to 14% of recovered patients. Last month an official study from southern China’s Guangdong Province found that as many as 14% of those who had recovered tested positive again in later check-ups. On the other hand, a hospital director in Wuhan last week said the current rate of repeat positives in the city is less than 1%.“Even Guangdong has 14% of people who retested positive, and you are telling me Wuhan only has 1%?” one netizen asked on Weibo.Tongji Hospital, which identified the first COVID-19 case in Wuhan, confirmed that five out of 145 patients, or little more than 3%, tested positive again, according to state broadcaster CCTV.Wang Wei, the hospital’s president, said that these are just “small samples.”“We need a large-scale epidemiological study to guide our disease surveillance and prevention works,” Wang said during the interview.With most countries focused on caring for the sick and ensuring adequate health care support for the spike in sick patients, few have managed to carry out widespread testing that will give epidemiologists the data they need to better understand the virus, and why some people are still testing positive for COVID-19, even after they recover. VOA’s Steve Baragona contributed to this story.
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South Sudan Activists Hope to Unify Divided Nation
After years of civil war, South Sudan’s new transitional unity government is urging citizens to work towards reconciliation and forgive perpetrators of violence. Several public and private initiatives are in place to help the South Sudanese people build a peaceful future. But will the measures work in a nation with so many deep scars?Thirty-one-year-old Junior Dau is sitting in the parlor of his home, gazing at photos of his slain cousin, who was killed as a soldier fighting in the civil war that broke out in 2013. Junior Dau, 31, looks at photos of his cousin, who was killed in South Sudan’s civil war, in Juba, South Sudan. (Chika Oduah/VOA)Three of Dau’s siblings also died in the war, and his mother was tortured when rebel fighters dunked her into a water tank.“My mom was put in the water, she fainted four times and that is one thing that has made her not come back to South Sudan. She hates it so much,” he said.After losing so many family members to the conflict, Junior was left with resentment and bitterness towards other ethnic communities in South Sudan.“So I had in mind, I want to get a gun so I can get revenge,” he said.Other South Sudanese have similar feelings. An estimated 400,000 people died in the civil war, and the violence has left deep scars on the nation, with ethnic communities pitted against one another.Power-sharing dealIn February, rival politicians President and his former deputy Riek Machar formed a transitional unity government after more than a year of negotiation and delay. Political analysts like Dr. James Okuk of the University of Juba are cautiously optimistic that this power-sharing deal, unlike others, will take hold and allow the nation to begin to heal.“It is a start but the task is overwhelming. We hope they will be up to the task, particularly reconciliation, which really requires a lot of time, requires a lot of effort. The political leaders have created these grievances by making the civilians to take sides in these political quarrels and taking sides has created these enmities among communities and with peace coming back, I think it’s time to mend those broken relations,” he said.Mending broken relations is exactly what a recently formed government National Dialogue Committee is trying to do. Dr. Francis Deng, South Sudan’s first ambassador to the United Nations and a scholar on conflict management, is putting his expertise to use as a committee member.Members of the South Sudanese government’s National Dialogue Committee meet to discuss how to implement peace-building policies, in Juba, South Sudan. (Chika Oduah/VOA)He said tackling complex issues such as how to administer justice for war-related atrocities will not be easy.“One line of reasoning is let’s forgive and forget. That’s one line of reasoning. The other line of reasoning is that too much harm has been done, people have been victimized, massacres have taken place. Crimes have taken place. Here you come to another point of view. The African perspective generally is to try to reconcile, maybe compensate and not talk in terms of punishment,” said Deng.The government is now supporting what Deng describes as the African approach towards reconciliation.On the streets of Juba, several peace advocacy billboards display phrases, such as “It’s time to forgive.” At the University of Juba, students meet under a large tree to learn about how to give psychosocial support to those dealing with bitterness.The class is organized by Vivean Peter, a 33-year-old woman who had her own pain to work through after a rival ethnic group gunned down her husband. After his death, she studied psychology and counseling and now, she finds hope and healing in training therapists. She takes a particular interest in helping counsel youth who can easily join militia forces to carry out revenge.She said, they are the most vulnerable demographic, needing psychological support.Lupai Samuel Stephen, director of an organization called I Am Peace Initiative, sits with his team to organize the upcoming Peace Camp program in Juba, South Sudan. (Chika Oduah/VOA)Christianity is the major religion in South Sudan and churches are also making an effort to restore peace. In another part of Juba, young activists have organized an event called Peace Camp. It offers a safe space for young people to talk about the pain of war.The organizer, Lupai Samuel Stephen, was displaced by the war and grew up in Uganda. “The Peace Camp brings people together to be able to create relationships on a personal level so you get to meet someone from a certain community that you always looked at as an enemy.”Initiatives like these will not solve South Sudan’s greater problems, but activists hope they can make small positive changes, and rebuild a nation torn apart by war.
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South Sudan Activists Hope to Unify A Divided Nation
After years of civil war, Sudan’s new transitional unity government is urging citizens to work towards reconciliation and forgiving perpetrators of violence. But will these measures work in a deeply divided nation? Chika Oduah reports from the South Sudanese capital of Juba.
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Royals No More: Harry and Meghan Start Uncertain New Chapter
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan officially make the transition Tuesday from senior members of Britain’s royal family to — well, it’s unclear. International celebrities, charity patrons, global influencers?
The royal schism that the couple triggered in January by announcing that they would step down from official duties, give up public funding, seek financial independence and swap the U.K. for North America becomes official on March 31.
The move has been made more complicated and poignant by the global coronavirus pandemic, which finds the couple and their 10-month-old son Archie in California, far from Harry’s father Prince Charles — who is recovering after testing positive for COVID-19 — and Harry’s 93-year-old grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
“As we can all feel, the world at this moment seems extraordinarily fragile,” the couple said in a final post Monday on their now-mothballed SussexRoyal Instagram account.
“What’s most important right now is the health and well-being of everyone across the globe and finding solutions for the many issues that have presented themselves as a result of this pandemic,” they added. “As we all find the part we are to play in this global shift and changing of habits, we are focusing this new chapter to understand how we can best contribute.”
It is less than two years since ex-soldier Harry, who is sixth in line to the British throne, married American actress Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle in a lavish ceremony watched by millions around the world.
Soon the couple began to bristle at intense scrutiny by the British media — which they said tipped into harassment. They decided to break free, in what Harry called a “leap of faith” as he sought a more peaceful life, without the journalists who have filmed, photographed and written about him since the day he was born.
Harry has long had an uncomfortable relationship with the media, which he blames for the death of his mother, Princess Diana. She died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi.
Harry’s unhappiness increased after he began dating Markle, then the star of TV legal drama “Suits.” In 2016 he accused the media of harassing his then-girlfriend, and criticized “racial undertones” in some coverage of the biracial Markle.
It’s clear that Meghan’s upbeat Californian style — embodied in the glossy images and life-affirming messages of the couple’s Instagram account — rankled with sections of Britain’s tabloid press, which is both insatiable for royal content and fiercely judgmental of the family members.
The couple — who are keeping their titles, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but will no longer be called Their Royal Highnesses — had hoped to keep using the Sussex Royal brand in their new life. But last month they announced they wouldn’t seek to trademark the term because of U.K. rules governing use of the word “royal.”
The couple plans to launch a non-profit organization for their charitable activities in areas including youth empowerment, mental health, conservation, gender equality and education. Harry will also continue to oversee the Invictus Games, the Olympics-style competition he founded for wounded troops.
Meghan has been announced as the narrator of “Elephant,” a Disney nature documentary.
But for now, the couple’s office said they want the world to focus “on the global response to COVID-19.”
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will spend the next few months focusing on their family and continuing to do what they can, safely and privately, to support and work with their pre-existing charitable commitments while developing their future non-profit organisation,” the couple’s office said in a statement.
The newly independent Harry and Meghan will also need to earn money to help pay for a multi-million dollar security bill.
As senior royals, they have had bodyguards funded by British taxpayers. Since late last year, Harry and Meghan have since been based on Canada’s Vancouver Island, where security was provided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Canadian authorities warned last month that would end once the couple ceased to be working royals.
The duke and duchess recently moved to the Los Angeles area, where Meghan grew up and where her mother still lives. The news led President Donald Trump to tweet on Sunday: “the U.S. will not pay for their security protection. They must pay!”
Harry and Meghan’s office said they had “no plans to ask the U.S. government for security resources. Privately funded security arrangements have been made.”
Some royal historians warned that Harry and Meghan could struggle to find a fulfilling role. Comparisons have been drawn to King Edward VIII, who abdicated in 1936 to marry divorced American Wallis Simpson. The couple lived the rest of their lives in luxurious but lonely self-imposed exile from Britain.
Royal historian Penny Junor said U.K.-based royals were helping boost the nation’s morale during the coronavirus pandemic. The queen has issued a message to the nation, while Harry’s brother Prince William and his children joined in a public round of applause for health care workers.
“All of this is absolutely what the family is about, and those members of the royal family that are on a limb now are pretty irrelevant,” Junor said.
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Millions of US Workers Losing Jobs as Coronavirus Spreads
Millions of U.S. workers are losing their jobs in a surge of layoffs as businesses large and small shut their operations amid the coronavirus pandemic.A week ago, nearly 3.3 million workers filed for unemployment benefits. The figure is expected to rise rapidly in the coming weeks, with 40 million people predicted to be unemployed by mid-April.Before the pandemic struck the United States, 5.8 million U.S. workers were unemployed — 3.5% of the workforce of 164.6 million. That figure had changed little in the past six months and was a linchpin of a robust economy.FILE – An empty restaurant is seen in Manhattan borough following the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New York City, March 15, 2020.Now, the world’s largest economy has been hurt by what President Donald Trump describes as the “horrible scourge” of the coronavirus.
On Tuesday, investment banker Goldman Sachs Group forecast a far steeper decline in the U.S. than it had previously, predicting that output of goods and services would plunge by an annualized 34% in the April-to-June period, compared to its earlier estimate of 24%.Goldman Sachs economists said the U.S. jobless rate would soar to 15% by mid-year, an estimate that would leave 25 million workers unemployed. Its earlier estimate was for a 9% jobless rate.James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (in the midwestern state of Missouri), predicted the unemployment rate may climb to 30% in the second quarter because of the business shutdowns, with a plunging 50% drop in the gross domestic product. An estimated 190,000 stores have closed, making that about 50% of retail space. On Monday alone, major retailers Macy’s, Kohl’s and Gap announced that collectively, they are laying off 290,000 workers. FILE – The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts overlooking the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. (Diaa Bekheet/VOA).In Washington, D.C., the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts furloughed the 96 musicians playing for the National Symphony Orchestra without pay, even though the U.S. Congress just last week approved a $25 million rescue fund for the cultural hub, where all performances have been canceled.Some employers initially said they would continue to pay their workers, but many of those decisions have quickly been scrapped because of uncertainty on how the coronavirus might spread or when the pandemic will end. Global management consulting firm Mckinsey & Company says a quarter of U.S. households already live from paycheck to paycheck, with 40% of Americans unable to cover an unexpected expense of $400 without borrowing.The $2 trillion rescue package approved by Congress last week and signed into law by Trump calls for enhanced unemployment compensation for laid-off workers. States normally pay jobless workers a fraction of their normal pay, but the national assistance plan will add $600 a week in extra pay for the next four months if workers are unemployed for that length of time.Goldman Sachs economists say they expect a significant recovery in the July-to-September period, with the GDP expanding by 19%.“Our estimates imply that a bit more than half of the near-term output decline is made up by year-end,” they wrote.State governments across a wide swath of the U.S. have ordered millions of Americans to stay home in the coming weeks, except to buy groceries, purchase carry-out food, go to medical appointments or exercise by themselves or with family members. Such orders have forced many businesses deemed not essential to close their doors, although the term, “essential,” has varied among the 50 states, leading to a patchwork of functioning commerce depending on where one lives.
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South Africa Launches Door-to-Door Coronavirus Screening
South Africa is launching an aggressive coronavirus screening program as the total number of confirmed cases tops 1,000, the largest amount of any country on the continent.President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Monday night that at least 10,000 field workers will be going door-to-door in the next few days to conduct mass screenings and testing for the virus.South Africa is already observing a 21-day lockdown aimed at containing the virus.Police have arrested scores of people for violating the lockdown.Ramaphosa said there are 1,326 confirmed cases of the virus in South Africa and three people have died. So far, more than 5,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus across Africa and 173 deaths reported.
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Could COVID-19 Spread Unchecked in US Prisons?
The death of a U.S. prisoner in the state of Louisiana is amplifying concerns that COVID-19 could spread unchecked in America’s detention facilities that hold more than two million people nationwide. Health officials and local leaders warn the prison population is especially vulnerable to an outbreak, and that hospitals near prisons would be overwhelmed by any inmate epidemic. VOA’s Chris Simkins reports, some prisons are taking steps in hopes of lessening a looming crisis.
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Hong Kong Opposition Politician Charged Over Online Posting
An opposition politician in Hong Kong has been arrested over an online post criticizing a policeman who blinded a journalist in one eye during anti-government protests last year, local media said.
Cheng Lai-king was released early Thursday afternoon after being formally charged with sedition earlier in the day, public broadcaster RTHK said.
Messages to the city government spokesman’s office asking for information were not immediately returned.
Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post newspaper said the 61-year-old local district councilor’s arrest came a day after she shared a Facebook post that identified by name and badge number the policeman who was believed to have fired the rubber bullet that blinded Indonesian journalist Veby Mega in one eye.
Superintendent Swalikh Mohammed, of the police cybersecurity and technology crime bureau, was quoted as saying that a woman in her 60s was arrested on suspicion of seditious acts. He said the case related to online posts that contained personal information about an officer and his family.
The paper said Cheng’s post urged the officer to turn himself in if he still had a conscience.
Following the months-long protests that saw frequent violent clashes between police and demonstrators, prosecutors have been handing down indictments for crimes including rioting and possession of offensive weapons.
Sedition is a charge that dates from the British colonial era before Hong Kong’s handover to Chinese rule in 1997 and has rarely been used since the territory was rocked by anti-British riots in 1967.
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From Dhaka to Gaza: How Do You Socially Distance in a Crowd?
Josna Begum lives with her son in a house with four other families in a slum in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, the world’s most densely populated city. “Distancing is impossible for us,” she said.
The 35-year-old, who occupies a single room with her 12-year-old son and earns $100 a month as a domestic worker, shares the single kitchen in the house with 22 other residents.
The Bangladeshi government this week ordered a nationwide shutdown to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus in a country considered at high risk because hundreds of thousands of overseas workers have returned home from Italy and other virus hot spots. All businesses were ordered closed except food markets, pharmacies and other essential services, and people were told to stay indoors and keep a safe distance from each other.
But in Dhaka, a city of more than 10 million where the average home is less than 120 square feet and a million people live in slums, that is easier said than done.
From Mumbai to Rio de Janeiro to Johannesburg the same story is playing out in some of the world’s most unequal regions, where tens of millions live in crowded slums without adequate water, sanitation and access to health care.
“The future of this pandemic to a greater extent will be determined by what happens in very large and densely populated countries,” Dr. Michael J. Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization’s health emergencies program, said this week.
Experts believe the virus is mainly spread through droplets expelled from the mouths and noses of infected people when they speak, cough or sneeze, traveling 3 to 6 feet (1 to 2 meters) before gravity pulls them to the ground. And while most people suffer mild or moderate symptoms like cough or fever, in older adults and people with other health problems the risk of pneumonia or death is far higher.
Social distancing, while necessary in the face of such an easily spread virus, envisions a “citizen who is able to live in the most desirable way,” said Hyun Bang Shin, a professor of urban studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science. “Injustices and inequities that have basically been embedded are being exposed in face of this outbreak.”
Abu Bakar, 74, who lives with his family of three in a makeshift two-room structure in a slum in northern Jakarta can’t imagine how social distancing could work. “For me it is more important to keep myself clean,” he said.
But even that can be nearly impossible in an area regularly ravaged by seasonal flooding from the murky, trash-filled water of a neighboring reservoir. Marks on the walls show the flooding can be as high as 2 feet.
In the sprawling slum, where thousands lived crammed together in dilapidated structures with poor ventilation and narrow walkways, Bakar says that even if he were to become sick, he wouldn’t be able to isolate himself.
And that’s far from the only problem, said Elisa Sutanudjaja, of the Jakarta-based Rujak Center for Urban Studies.
“There’s a major lack of clinics, sanitation, and other utilities. So for many it’s not only the lack of space that’s a concern,” she said.
In Mumbai — where the city and its suburbs have seen a tenth of India’s nearly 900 cases — 53-year-old Abrar Salmani lives with 11 family members in a house so small that many regularly sleep outdoors in the Bhim Nagar slum.
The unemployed weaver said most families don’t have access to water and rely on communal washrooms for bathing. “Our demands to have a water pipeline haven’t been answered for years,” he said.
In the Gaza Strip, where 2 million Palestinians lived squeezed into 140 square miles and more than half are unemployed, the arrival of the virus this week prompted the territory’s Hamas rulers to order the closure of cafes and wedding halls, and to cancel Friday prayers at mosques. Residents were urged to stay at home and refrain from close contact.
But with chronic power shortages of at least eight hours a day, it’s hard for Gazans to stay inside their homes. And the traditional conservative Muslim society frowns upon a handshake being declined, let alone a kiss on the cheek.
“My friend was upset after I refused to shake hands with him, even though I tried to explain to him this is because of the coronavirus,” 53-year-old Yasser Anan said. “Eventually, because he is dear to me, I had to kiss his forehead in apology.”
Across Africa, home to some of the world’s fastest-growing cities with badly strained infrastructure, authorities worry that the virus could swiftly spread through slums and impoverished townships. Tear gas and gunfire have been used in a couple of cities in a rough bid to enforce social distancing. So far the continent of more than 1.3 billion people has nearly 3,500 cases, but with the global shortage of testing kits the actual number could be higher and health experts have warned that the rising rate looks like that of Europe.
In Nigeria’s seaside city of Lagos, Africa’s largest with more than 20 million people, authorities have scrambled to spread the word about the virus among slum dwellers. In the vast Makoko slum, where shacks are built on stilts and sewage runs into the sea, residents listened with a mix of fear and defiance.
Biodun Edward scooped up a handful or the murky water and drank it. “Let (authorities) come and test it, there’s no disease here,” he declared.
“Firstly, the smoke in the air will ward off disease, strong alcohol,” he added, then pulled a piece of ginger root from his pocket and called it protection.
In South Africa’s crowded, impoverished townships, tens of thousands of workers pack into groaning minibus taxis for commutes with little or no protection. At home, extended families squeeze into a single room or two and communities draw water from collective taps. A countrywide lockdown began Friday.
“Coronavirus scares us since we’re living in a shack,” said one Soweto resident on the outskirts of Johannesburg, Mando Masimola. “We don’t know how we’ll survive if the virus infects us.”
In Latin American and the Caribbean, experts are warning the virus could kill untold numbers in the poorest sectors of society, where not working means not eating, people live packed together and few have access to health care, let alone sophisticated medical care.
“Quarantine here is impossible,” said Raull Santiago, founder of two charities in the favelas, or slums, of Rio de Janeiro.
“It’s wall to wall, there are homes of two or three rooms with six people living inside,” he said on Twitter, along with a photo of tightly packed brick houses in the Complexo do Alemao favela. “How do you do it?”
The first person to die in Rio de Janeiro state was Cleonice Goncalves, a 63-year-old woman who worked as a maid for a family in Leblon, one of Rio’s wealthiest neighborhoods. The woman of the household was infected during a trip to Italy but didn’t tell Goncalves, the victim’s brother told local media. Concalves, who had hypertension and diabetes, fell ill and died on March 17.
“There’s a large population of working people … that are just going to be unable to simply stay home,” said Geoff Ramsey, a Washington-based researcher at the Washington Office on Latin America.
“We’re looking at a region that’s going to be deeply, deeply impacted by the global pandemic.”
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Hungary’s PM Wins Emergency Powers to Fight Coronavirus
Hungary’s parliament granted nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban the right to rule by decree on Monday to fight the coronavirus, ignoring calls by opponents and rights groups to put a timeframe on the extra powers.
President Janos Ader, an Orban ally, signed the legislation extending a state of emergency after it was approved by parliament, dominated by Orban’s Fidesz party. Ader said it was in line with international treaties and Hungary’s constitution.
The law has triggered criticism from opposition parties, rights groups and the Council of Europe, Europe’s main rights forum, because it does not set a specific limit on the time the additional powers will be in force.
It also imposes jail terms of up to five years on those hindering measures to curb the spread of the virus or spreading false information that could upset people or hinder the fight against the virus.
Rights groups said this might be used to muzzle journalists as remaining independent media are forced to cut staff and budgets while media loyal to the government continue to receive taxpayers’ money.
Since he took power in 2010, Orban has built media he can control, using legal levers, ownership changes and advertising money for more loyal media coverage. The economic impact of the coronavirus could accelerate the shake-up of the media, journalists say.
The government has rejected the criticism, saying the law empowers it to adopt only measures needed to fight the virus, and that parliament can revoke the special powers.
“This is an authorization limited both in time and scope … as it is solely related to the coronavirus, and you are crying a dictatorship,” state secretary Bence Retvari told opposition parties before the vote.
Justice Minister Judit Varga said it was “very damaging fake news” that the law is intended to neutralize the national assembly.
Orban, who has gradually increased his power in a decade in office, has often been in conflict with the European Union and rights organizations over his perceived erosion of democratic checks and balances and the rule of law.
Opposition lawmakers said they back the government’s overall fight against the coronavirus but wanted a time limit placed on the government’s special powers, which parliament can extend if necessary. Parliament rejected all opposition amendments.
President Ader said the government’s special authorization would end once the epidemic is over and was limited to dealing with the epidemic and its fallout.
“The controlling role of Parliament and the government’s duty to report will remain in place during the epidemic,” Ader said. Hungary has reported 447 coronavirus cases and 15 deaths.
Independent Media at Risk
Some media companies, facing severe short-term liquidity problems, have already scrapped plans for 2020.
Central Media, one of Hungary’s largest media groups, has put journalists on reduced hours and cut salaries by up to a quarter, several sources told Reuters.
Pesti Hirlap, a tabloid, has told staff it will cut jobs and switched to online-only mode. Executives at HVG, a weekly that also runs a popular web site, warned staff of budget cuts, according to several sources.
“Press freedom could fall victim to the coronavirus,” Miklos Hargitai, chair of the Hungarian Journalists Association (MUOSZ), told Reuters.
State media have an annual budget of around 90 billion forints ($280 million). The public media budget is not affected by the crisis this year, a government spokesman said.
Loyal outlets receive state advertisements regardless of their audience size, data shows.
“The coronavirus epidemic will have a devastating effect on Hungarian independent media,” said Agnes Urban, director of the Mertek Media Monitor think tank. “This can become critical for independent outlets within 2-3 months as most lack a rich owner.”
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US Outlines Plan for Venezuela Transition, Sanctions Relief
The Trump administration is prepared to lift sanctions on Venezuela in support of a new proposal to form a transitional government representing allies of both Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido, U.S. officials said.
The plan, which will be presented Tuesday by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, echoes a proposal made over the weekend by Guaidó that shows how growing concerns about the coronavirus, which threatens to overwhelm the South American country’s already collapsed health system and crippled economy, are reviving U.S. attempts to pull the military apart from Maduro.
What’s being dubbed the “Democratic Framework for Venezuela” would require Maduro and Guaidó to step aside and hand power to a five-member council of state to govern the country until presidential and parliamentary elections can be held in late 2020, according to a written summary of the proposal seen by The Associated Press.
Four of the members would be appointed by the opposition-controlled National Assembly that Guaidó heads. To draw buy-in from the ruling socialist party, a two-third majority would be required. The fifth member, who would serve as interim president until elections are held, would be named by the other council members. Neither Maduro nor Guaidó would be on the council.
“The hope is that this setup promotes the selection of people who are very broadly respected and known as people who can work with the other side,” U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams told the AP in a preview of the plan. “Even people in the regime look at this and realize Maduro has to go, but the rest of us are being treated well and fairly.”
The plan also outlines for the first time U.S. requirements for lifting sanctions against Maduro officials and the oil industry — the source of nearly all of Venezuela’s foreign income.
While those accused of grave human rights abuses and drug trafficking are not eligible for sanctions relief, individuals who are blacklisted because of the position they hold inside the Maduro government — such as members of the supreme court, electoral council and the rubber-stamp constitutional assembly — would benefit.
But for sanctions to vanish, Abrams said the council would need to be functioning and all foreign military forces — from Cuba or Russia — would need to leave the country.
“What we’re hoping is that this really intensifies a discussion inside the army, Chavismo, the ruling socialist party and the regime on how to get out of the terrible crisis they’re in,” Abrams said.
For months, the U.S. has relied on economic and diplomatic pressure to try and break the military’s support for Maduro and last week U.S. prosecutors indicted Maduro and key stakeholders — including his defense minister and head of the supreme court — on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.
Still, any power-sharing arrangement is unlikely to win Maduro’s support unless the thorny issue of his future is addressed and he’s protected from the U.S. justice system, said David Smilde, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America. While Venezuelans are protected from extradition by Hugo Chavez’s 1999 constitution, the charter could be rewritten in a transition, he said.
“It’s a little hard to see how this is going to be convincing to the major players in the government,” said David Smilde, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America. “They seem to think the military is going to step in, but that seems extremely unlikely.”
It also would require the support of Cuba, China or Russia, all of whom are key economic and political backers of Maduro. In a call Monday with Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump reiterated that the situation in Venezuela is dire and told the Russian leader we all have an interest in seeing a democratic transition to end the ongoing crisis, according to a White House readout of the call.
A senior administration official said Monday that the U.S. is willing to negotiate with Maduro the terms of his exit even in the wake of the indictments, which complicate his legal standing.
But recalling the history of Gen. Manuel Noriega in Panama, who was removed in a U.S. invasion after being charged himself for drug trafficking, he cautioned that his options for a deal were running out.
“History shows that those who do not cooperate with U.S. law enforcement agencies do not fare well, ” the official said in a call with journalists on condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. policy. “Maduro probably regrets not taking the offer six months ago. We urge Maduro not to regret not taking it now.”
Guaidó, who has been recognized by the U.S. and nearly 60 other countries as the lawful leader of the country following a widely viewed fraudulent re-election of Maduro, called on Saturday for the creation of a “national emergency government.”
He said international financial institutions are prepared to support a power-sharing interim government with $1.2 billion in loans to fight the pandemic. Guaido said the loans would be used to directly assist Venezuelan families who are expected to be harmed not only by the spread of the disease but also the economic shock from a collapse in oil prices, virtually the country’s only source of hard currency.
The spread of the coronavirus threatens to overwhelm Venezuela’s already collapsed health system while depriving its crippled economy of oil revenue on which it almost exclusively depends for hard currency.
The United Nations said Venezuela could be one of the nations hit hardest by the spread of the coronavirus, designating it a country for priority attention because of a health system marked by widespread shortages of medical supplies and a lack of water and electricity.
Last September, Guaidó proposed a similar transitional government in talks with Maduro officials sponsored by Norway, which never gained traction.
But with the already bankrupt country running out of gasoline and seeing bouts of looting amid the coronavirus pandemic, calls have been growing for both the opposition and Maduro to set aside their bitter differences to head off a nightmare scenario.
“The regime is under greater pressure than it has ever before,” Abrams said.
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Could Do Better: Japan Gently Chided by UN Climate Chief
The top U.N. climate official on Tuesday chided Japan over its new plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which environmental campaigners say shows no real ambition to increase existing efforts.All signatories of the 2015 Paris Agreement are supposed to submit a revised plan before this year’s U.N. climate meeting in November.”I trust that more ambitious targets will be set soon,” said Patricia Espinosa, after the Bonn-based U.N. climate agency she heads received Tokyo’s update.In a gentle rebuke to the world’s third-biggest economy, Espinosa added that “bold, ambitious” action would be required and said her agency stood “ready to support Japan and all other parties” to the Paris accord in setting new goals.According to the World Resources Institute, a Washington-based environmental think tank, Japan’s new climate plan essentially keeps the same targets set five years ago, of reducing emissions by 26% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. Many other developed economies have set higher targets, including the European Union, which is aiming for a 40% cut by the end of the decade.”This is a missed opportunity as low-carbon solutions are more available than ever, often cheaper than traditional alternatives, and Japan is a major economy with access to the most advanced technologies,” World Resources Institute Vice President Helen Mountford said. She added that Japan could cut the cost of its fossil fuel imports and create tens of thousands of jobs in the renewable energy sector with the right policies.Kat Kramer, a climate expert at the charity Christian Aid, called Japan’s plan “an international disgrace.””The fact they are smuggling it out during a global pandemic when it will avoid the scrutiny it deserves is shameful,” she added.
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Ships with People from Ill-Fated Cruise Beg Florida to Dock
Two ships carrying passengers and crew from an ill-fated South American cruise are pleading with Florida officials to let them carry off the sick and dead, but Gov. Ron DeSantis says Florida’s health care resources are already stretched too thin.As the Zandaam and its sister ship the Rotterdam make for Florida, passengers confined to their rooms are anxious for relief, hoping DeSantis will change his mind and allow them to disembark despite confirmed coronavirus cases aboard. The governor said he has been in contact with the Coast Guard and the White House about diverting them, and local officials were meeting Tuesday to decide whether to let them dock at Broward County’s Port Everglades cruise ship terminal, where workers who greet passengers were among Florida’s first confirmed coronavirus cases.Holland America said the Rotterdam took on nearly 1,400 people who appear to be healthy, leaving 450 guests and 602 crew members on the Zaandam, including more than 190 who said they are sick. More than 300 U.S. citizens are on both ships combined.”We cannot afford to have people who are not even Floridians dumped into South Florida using up those valuable resources,” DeSantis told Fox News. “We view this as a big big problem and we do not want to see people dumped in Southern Florida right now.”Holland America President Orlando Ashford penned an opinion column in the South Florida Sun Sentinel to plead with officials and residents to let the passengers disembark.”Already four guests have passed away and I fear other lives are at risk,” Ashford wrote. “The COVID-19 situation is one of the most urgent tests of our common humanity. To slam the door in the face of these people betrays our deepest human values.” With authorities in country after country sealing borders and imposing quarantines in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Zandaam and then its sister ship became pariahs. Passengers were asked to keep their rooms dark and leave their drapes closed as they passed through the Panama Canal on Sunday night after days of wrangling with local authorities.Laura Gabaroni and her husband Juan Huergo, of Orlando, had wanted to explore the southernmost tip of South America for years — to see the penguins on the Falkland Islands and the glacial landscapes of the Strait of Magellan. But their vacation turned harrowing as countries shunned them and people fell ill.”It’s been a trying time, especially because of the many ups and downs we’ve seen along the way,” said Gabaroni. “We are unable to leave our rooms, haven’t had fresh air in days.”At least two of the four deaths on the Zandaam were caused by the coronavirus, according to Panamanian authorities. The company said eight others have tested positive for COVID-19, and that most of the passengers and crew on both ships appear to be in good health. Gabaroni and hundreds of others who were fever-free and not showing any symptoms were transferred to the Rotterdam, which replenished the Zandaam with supplies and staff last week.The Zandaam was originally scheduled to travel on March 7 from Buenos Aires to San Antonio, Chile, and then depart on March 21 for a 20-day cruise to arrive in Fort Lauderdale in early April. But beginning March 15, the Zandaam was denied entry by South American ports, even before passengers reported their first flu-like symptoms on March 22. Canal administrator Ricaurte Vásquez said Panama allowed them through for humanitarian reasons, but won’t make another exception for vessels with positive coronavirus cases.Passenger Emily Spindler Brazell, of Tappahannock, Virginia, said the company has been accommodating, offering extravagant meals, wine and unlimited phone calls — but they have to stay in their rooms, avoiding any contact with others.”The captain said something like, ‘This is not a trip anymore. This is not a cruise. This is a humanitarian mission,'” said Brazell, who was transferred to the Rotterdam on Saturday. Gabaroni, a 48-year-old technical writer, wrote a letter to DeSantis imploring him to let them off the ships.”Florida continues to receive flights from New York, and it allowed spring break gatherings to go on as planned. Why turn their backs on us?” Gabaroni said.
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Ukraine Approves Legislation in Bid for IMF Aid
Ukraine’s parliament has voted to lift the ban on the sale of farmland in a move that would allow the country to get $8 billion worth of aid from the International Monetary Fund. The bill, long pushed by economists to stimulate investment in agriculture, was approved by 259 votes out of 450 late Monday. It opens up the land market for Ukrainian citizens starting from July 1, 2021, and for Ukrainian companies starting from 2024. Ukrainians will vote on a nationwide referendum on whether to allow foreigners to buy farmland. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, wearing a protective mask used as a preventive measure against coronavirus disease (COVID-19), gives thumbs-up during a session of parliament in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 31, 2020.Speaking in parliament Monday night, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stressed the importance of getting the IMF loan. “It is really important for us, to sign the memorandum with the IMF, and you know well that the two main conditions were the land law and the banking law,” Zelenskiy said.Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal echoed his sentiment in televised remarks Monday. “Without the support of international organizations we will have to fall into the abyss of a financial meltdown,” Shmyhal said. Earlier Monday, lawmakers approved the banking law in the first reading. It prevents former owners of banks that were nationalized or liquidated from regaining ownership rights or receiving compensation from state funds. Some said that the bill, among others, targets billionaire tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky, whose Privatbank was nationalized in 2016 and who sought to get it back using his connections to Zelenskiy. In recent months, Zelenskiy has been trying to distance himself from Kolomoisky, who wasn’t hiding his ambitions to influence both domestic and foreign policies, observers say.According to Zelenskiy, once Ukraine fulfills the conditions outlined by the IMF, it will receive the first batch of funds — $1.75-$2 billion — in 15 days. “We agreed with the management of the IMF,” Zelenskiy said.
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China’s Huawei Warns More US Pressure May Spur Retaliation
Huawei’s chairman warned Tuesday that more U.S. moves to increase pressure on the Chinese tech giant might trigger retaliation by Beijing that could damage its worldwide industry. Huawei Technologies Ltd., which makes smartphones and network equipment, reported that its 2019 sales rose by double digits despite curbs imposed in May on its access to U.S. components and technology. But the chairman, Eric Xu, said 2020 will be its “most difficult year” as Huawei struggles with the sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic. Huawei is at the center of tensions with Washington over technology and possible spying that helped to spark Trump’s tariff war with China in 2018.Xu said he couldn’t confirm news reports President Donald Trump might try to extend controls to block access to foreign-made products that contain U.S. technology. Xu said Huawei can find other sources but warned more American action might trigger Chinese retaliation against American companies.”I think the Chinese government will not just stand by and watch Huawei be slaughtered,” Xu said at a news conference. He said U.S. pressure on foreign suppliers “will be destructive to the global technology ecosystem.” “If the Chinese government followed through with countermeasures, the impact on the global industry would be astonishing,” Xu said. “It’s not only going to be one company, Huawei, that could be destroyed.” Huawei, China’s first global tech brand, denies U.S. accusations the company is controlled by the ruling Communist Party or facilitates Chinese spying. The company says it is owned by the 104,572 members of its 194,000-member workforce who are Chinese citizens.Chinese officials say the Trump administration is abusing national security claims to restrain a rival to U.S. tech companies. Last year’s sales rose 19.1% over 2018 to 858.8 billion yuan ($123 billion), in line with the previous year’s 19.5% gain, the company reported. Profit increased 5.6% to 62.7 billion yuan ($9 billion), decelerating from 2018’s 25% jump. Huawei has had to spend heavily to replace American components in its products and find new suppliers after Trump approved the sanctions on May 16, Xu said. The controls, if fully enforced, could cut off access to most U.S. components and technology. Washington has granted extensions for some products, but Huawei says it expects the barriers to be enforced. The company, the world’s No. 2 smartphone brand behind Samsung, said 2019 handset sales rose 15% to 240 million units. Xu said it was impossible to forecast this year’s handset sales until the spreading coronavirus pandemic is brought under control.Huawei phones can keep using Google’s popular Android operating system, but the American company is blocked from supplying music and other popular services for future models. Huawei is creating its own services to replace Google and says its system had 400 million active users in 170 countries by the end of 2019. That requires Huawei to persuade developers to write applications for its new system, a challenge in an industry dominated by Android and Apple’s iOS-based applications. Huawei hopes Google applications can run on the Chinese company’s system and that its apps can be distributed on the American company’s online store, Xu said. Huawei also is, along with Sweden’s LM Ericsson and Nokia Corp. of Finland, one of the leading developers of fifth-generation, or 5G, technology. It is meant to expand networks to support self-driving cars, medical equipment and other futuristic applications, which makes the technology more intrusive and politically sensitive. The Trump administration is lobbying European governments and other U.S. allies to avoid Huawei equipment as they prepare to upgrade to 5G. Australia, Taiwan and some other governments have imposed curbs on use of Huawei technology, but Germany and some other nations say the company will be allowed to bid on contracts. The company has unveiled its own processor chips and smartphone operating system, which helps to reduce its vulnerability to American export controls. The company issued its first smartphone phone last year based on Huawei chips instead of U.S. technology. Huawei also is embroiled in legal conflicts with Washington. Its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who is Ren’s daughter, is being held in Vancouver, Canada, for possible extradition to face U.S. charges related to accusations Huawei violated trade sanctions on Iran. Separately, U.S. prosecutors have charged Huawei with theft of trade secrets, accusations the company denies. The company, headquartered in the southern city of Shenzhen, also has filed lawsuits in American courts challenging government attempts to block phone carriers from purchasing its equipment.
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WHO: Countries Must Take Steps to ‘Push Down’ Coronavirus
Despite vast improvements in countries such as China and South Korea, the World Health Organization said Tuesday the coronavirus outbreak is “far from over” in the region. “This is going to be a long-term battle and we cannot let down our guard. We need every country to keep responding according to their local situation,” WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific Dr. Takeshi Kasai said at a briefing. China reported one new death and 48 new cases Tuesday, none of them locally transmitted, while South Korea reported 125 new cases. Kasai and experts at a separate WHO briefing stressed that governments need to be taking active measures and maintain pressure to halt the spread of the virus. WHO Emergencies Program Executive Director Michael Ryan said officials hope countries currently seeing the worst effects, including Italy and Spain, will soon see their situations stabilize. But he said the virus will not stop itself, requiring governments to act to “push down” the number of infections. Coronavirus Technical Lead Maria Van Kerkhove said those public efforts must include testing, isolation, finding contacts and quarantining those contacts.Relatives attend a burial ceremony of victims of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the southern town of Cisternino, Italy, March 30, 2020.Italy reported 812 more deaths Monday, bringing its total to 11,591, while Spain surpassed China in terms of overall cases. Only the United States has more cases that Italy and Spain. Ryan also cited the shortage of protective masks for health care workers, and reiterated WHO advice that generally healthy people should not wear masks. “There is no specific evidence to suggest that the wearing of masks by the mass population has any potential benefit. In fact, there’s some evidence to suggest the opposite in the misuse of wearing a mask properly or fitting it properly,” he said. Although some medical researchers endorse face masks and say effective ones can be homemade, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says they are ineffective in filtering small particles from the air and may not help if an infected person sneezes or coughs nearby. US states ask for help The iconic Empire State Building in New York City lit up Monday night in the form of a red and white siren to honor emergency workers “on the front line of the fight.” [1/2] We’ll never stop shining for you. Starting tonight through the COVID-19 battle, our signature white lights will be replaced by the heartbeat of America with a white and red siren in the mast for heroic emergency workers on the front line of the fight. pic.twitter.com/OYkblLTRHN— Empire State Building (@EmpireStateBldg) March 30, 2020New York is the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, with more than 900 deaths as hospitals struggle to cope with the influx of patients. New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo made a nationwide appeal Monday for more help, asking doctors and nurses in areas without an urgent coronavirus situation to travel to New York to help. On the other side of the country, California Governor Gavin Newsom turned to retired doctors and nurses, as well as medical students, to boost the health care response. He announced Monday the number of people hospitalized with coronavirus infections had nearly tripled over the course of four days. Overall, the number of U.S. cases topped 164,000 with more than 3,100 deaths as of early Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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Singapore’s High Court Dismisses Bid to Overturn Criminalizing Gay Sex
Asia’s LGBTQ+ community suffered a setback Monday after Singapore’s high court dismissed multiple challenges to overturn a colonial law criminalizing gay sex.Though polls have shown most Singaporeans do not accept homosexuality, there is widespread tolerance in the country. But conservatives pushed back, campaigning vigorously for Section 377A to remain. Though rarely enforced, 377A bans men from any act of gross indecency with another male. It is punishable by up to two years in prison. Efforts to overturn the law and prove it is unconstitutional were led by a retired doctor, a LGBTQ+ rights advocate and a DJ. But even after Singapore’s high court heard from all three, it ruled the ban constitutional saying it does not infringe on articles concerning freedom of speech or equality. “Legislation remains important in reflecting public sentiment and beliefs,” the court argued, saying just because the law is not heavily enforced, does not “render it redundant.” After the final verdict was decided, lawyer M. Ravi, who represented one of the complainants, spoke to reporters outside the courthouse and expressed his disappointment. “It’s shocking to the conscience and it is so arbitrary. It is so discriminatory, this legislation.” This wasn’t the first time the ban was challenged in court. In October 2014, attempts were also made to lift the ban but were rejected for the same reason as Monday’s decision.
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South Africa Provides Special Transportation for Social Grant Recipients
South Africa is allowing bus and taxi service to resume this week to ease the burden on social grant beneficiaries collecting their funds, in the midst of the 21-day coronavirus lockdown. Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said Sunday the relaxed rules for buses and taxis begins Monday and will last through Friday from 5am until 8pm. Social grants are being paid this week to the elderly, people who are disabled and children. To help police enforce the guidelines for public transportation use, authorities say recipients must carry their identity documents and South African Social Security Agency cards when traveling on public transport.
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WHO: Don’t Wear Face Masks
Don’t wear face masks to fend off the coronavirus, the World Health Organization says. “There is no specific evidence to suggest that the wearing of masks by the mass population has any potential benefit. In fact, there’s some evidence to suggest the opposite in the misuse of wearing a mask properly or fitting it properly,” WHO executive director of health emergencies Mike Ryan said Monday. The WHO says the only people who need masks are those who are already sick and those who are caring for the sick. Ryan also cited the global shortage of medical supplies and the risk frontline workers are facing every day. “The thought of them not having masks is horrific,” Ryan said. Although some medical researchers endorse face masks and say effective ones can be homemade, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says they are ineffective in filtering small particles from the air and may not help if an infected person sneezes or coughs nearby. UN resolutions The U.N. Security Council voted remotely for the first time Monday and approved four resolutions, including one that continues a sanctions monitoring mission for North Korea and another extending the U.N. mission in Somalia. Council members and staffers have been teleworking for almost three weeks. But some are decrying the new procedures as restrictive and cumbersome and no substitute for meetings and debates. US death toll The U.S. coronavirus death toll reached a grim record Monday with 486 deaths reported – the biggest one-day number so far with the total number approaching 3,000. President Donald Trump says the number of tests for the virus across the country hit the 1 million mark, which he says is the most of any country. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar says U.S. labs are carrying out 100,000 tests a day, which he also says is a global record.President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing with the coronavirus task force, at the White House, Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Washington.The Pentagon announced Monday that a U.S. National Guardsman, Capt. Douglas Linn Hickok, died Saturday, becoming the first U.S. military member to succumb to the coronavirus. “This is a stinging loss for our military community, and our condolences go out to his family, friends, civilian co-workers and the entire National Guard community,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper said. “The news of this loss strengthens our resolve to work ever more closely with our interagency partners to stop the spread of COVID-19,” he added. California prepares California Governor Gavin Newsom is calling on retired doctors to hang out their shingles again and is also recruiting medical and nursing students to help with an expected surge of coronavirus cases in that state, the nation’s most populous. “California’s health care workers are the heroes of this moment, serving on the front lines in the fight against this disease. To treat the rising number of patients with COVID-19, our state needs more workers in the health care field to join the fight. If you have a background in health care, we need your help,” Newsom said Monday. The state’s health agency is preparing stadiums and convention centers to serve as makeshift hospitals. Pastor arrested Also Monday, a sheriff outside Tampa, Florida arrested a pastor who held services Sunday despite the governor’s orders against gatherings of more than 10 people. “Shame on this pastor, their legal staff and the leaders of this staff for forcing us to do our job. That’s not what we wanted to do during a declared state of emergency,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said. “We are hopeful that this will be a wakeup call.” Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne said he sanitized his church before the service, calling it an “essential business” like police and firefighters. He also attacked the media for alleged “religious bigotry and hate.”
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Yemeni-American Poet Threa Almontaser Wins Whitman Award
The Yemeni-American poet Threa Almontaser has won the Walt Whitman Award for best first book. Almontaser’s “The Wild Fox of Yemen” comes out in April 2021.Presented by the Academy of American Poets, the award includes a six-week residency in Umbria, Italy, and $5,000. In addition, the academy will purchase hundreds of copies of her book and distribute them to members.”The spirit of Whitman lives in these poems that sing and celebrate a vibrant, rebellious body with all its physical and spiritual entanglements,” award judge Harryette Mullen said in a statement.The Whitman award was established in 1975 to champion emerging poets. Previous winners include Jenny Xie, Judy Jordan and Chris Llewellyn.
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Man, 72, Dies of Injuries 3 Months After Hanukkah Stabbings
A man who was among the five people stabbed during a Hanukkah celebration north of New York City has died three months after the attack, according to an Orthodox Jewish organization and community liaison with a local police department. Josef Neumann, 72, died Sunday night, the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council said in a tweet. The funeral for Neumann, a father of seven and great-grandfather, is being held Monday. No additional details were provided. On Dec. 28, an attacker with a machete rushed into a rabbi’s home in an Orthodox Jewish community in Monsey, New York, an ambush Gov. Andrew Cuomo called an act of domestic terrorism fueled by intolerance and a “cancer” of growing hatred in America. Cuomo said in a statement on Monday that he was “deeply saddened” to learn about the death. FILE – David Neumann, center, wipes his eyes as he speaks to reporters in New City, N.Y., Jan. 2, 2020, about his father, Josef Neumann, who was stabbed in an attack on a Hanukkah celebration.”This repugnant attack shook us to our core, demonstrating that we are not immune to the hate-fueled violence that we shamefully see elsewhere in the country,” the governor said. Rabbi Yisroel Kahan, who is the community liaison for the Ramapo Police Department that serves Monsey and executive director of Oizrim Jewish Council, shared the news of Neumann’s passing on his Twitter account as well. “We were hoping when he started to open his eyes,” Rabbi Yisroel Kahan told The Journal News on Sunday night. “We were hoping and praying he would then pull through. This is so very sad he was killed celebrating Hanukkah with friends just because he was a Jew.” Federal prosecutors said the man charged in the attack, Grafton Thomas, had handwritten journals containing anti-Semitic comments and a swastika and had researched Adolf Hitler’s hatred of Jews online. Thomas’ lawyer and relatives said he has struggled for years with mental illness; they said he was raised in a tolerant home and hadn’t previously shown any animosity toward Jewish people.Thomas was indicted on federal hate crime charges as well as state charges, including attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty. The Hanukkah attack came amid a string of violence that has alarmed Jews in the region.
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