Thailand’s poverty rate has been rising in recent years despite steady, if slow, overall economic growth, a new World Bank report says, widening the gap between rich and poor in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.”Taking the Pulse of Poverty and Inequality in Thailand,” launched last week, says the country’s poverty rate jumped from 7.2% to 9.8% between 2015 and 2018, adding nearly 2 million new people to the ranks of the poor. Inequality, as measured by household consumption, also spiked in 2016 for the first time in four years and has eased little since.Analysts see a direct link between those figures and the results of last year’s general elections, Thailand’s first since a 2014 military coup led by then-General Prayut Chan-ocha, now the country’s prime minister.Pheu Thai, a party tied to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, won the second most votes and the largest share of seats in the popularly elected House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Assembly, with strong support from some of the country’s poorest provinces in the North and Northeast.A junta-appointed Senate and Election Commission finally tipped the contest to form a majority government in Prayut’s favor, but the numbers echoed the lasting disaffection of the country’s poor.”Plummeting incomes were clearly a major factor in the opposition’s strong showing in the 2019 general election. That is why Pheu Thai did so well — especially given that rural farmers and also urban households continue to be attracted by the populism of Thaksin,” said Paul Chambers, a political analyst and lecturer at Thailand’s Naresuan University.Thaksin was first elected prime minister in 2001, after the shock of the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, and reelected four years later only to be kicked out of office by a military coup in 2006. The telecoms tycoon now lives abroad, avoiding a 2008 corruption conviction that he disputes. However, the subsidies, cash transfers and other populist policies he pushed have left him and his proxies with a loyal following among the farmers of Thailand’s rural North and Northeast, who feel left behind by an urban elite cloistered mostly in the capital, Bangkok.”That is partly why Thaksin was able to rise in the early 2000s, because of grievances over this disproportionate allocation of resources,” said Harrison Cheng, an associate director with consulting firm Control Risks who follows Thailand.He said the concentration of wealth and power in Bangkok has continued under Prayut.The World Bank report backs him up. It shows poverty hovering steadily at about 2% between 2015 and 2018 in Bangkok while rising everywhere else, nowhere more so than in the strife-torn South. Riven by a Muslim insurgency, the South became the country’s poorest region in 2017, only just edging out the Northeast with a poverty rate of about 12%. The South again topped the Northeast in 2018 with a poverty rate just over 14%.The report ascribes the latest rises in poverty and inequality to droughts, slow economic growth and falling incomes among both rural farmers and urban businesses.The bank says Thailand has now seen four such spikes since 2000, more than any of the other nine Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries.The report’s author, Judy Yang, attributes that, at least in part, to slow wage growth during the period, slower than in any of the bloc’s other large economies.”If you are a household, what really pulls you out of poverty is getting a better-paying job, getting more income, getting labor market income,” she said.What also sets Thailand apart is its political turmoil. The coup-prone country has seen four swings between military and civilian rule since 2006, governments cut short by controversial court orders and several rounds of mass protests, some of them deadly.The World Bank said many of Thailand’s poverty spikes coincided with regional or global financial crises or with drought but added that periods of political instability also tend to depress consumption and investment, which can drive incomes down and poverty rates up.Cheng, of Control Risks, said his conversations with clients confirm that Thailand’s volatile politics have kept many potential investors at bay, holding the economy back.”A lot of the investors are staying away and taking a wait-and-see approach for a long, long time now,” he said.”If they are not in Thailand already, they will be thinking very seriously about whether they should do so because what if there’s a change in government again? What if there are massive street protests like in 2013, 2014? Are you going to repeat the 2010 Bangkok standoff between the Red Shirts and the military?” he added, referring to Thaksin supporters by their color-coded apparel of choice.Cheng said the constant and sudden turnover in governments has also fostered a habit of short-term policy prescriptions on poverty and inequality that have done more to soothe the symptoms than cure the causes.Chambers and Cheng agreed that if the latest bout of bad numbers gets worse, Prayut’s problems will also be increased by swelling ranks of not just the poor but also of disenchanted voters.The World Bank report proffers poverty and inequality figures only up to 2018 but adds that “trends beyond this year are not optimistic, given continued low economic growth rates and stagnant wages.”Another severe drought devastated farmers last year as the country’s gross domestic product growth rank sank to 2.4%, its lowest since 2014. GDP forecasts for 2020 are even worse, owing much to the novel corona virus outbreak, which has hit the country’s important tourism sector hard. To counter those blows, Prayut’s government has ramped up and introduced new social welfare programs for the poorest households and last week approved a stimulus package expected to pump some $12.6 billion into the economy.The World Bank recommends that authorities continue to strengthen the country’s safety net and create better jobs for low-income earners in the short term. In the longer term, it says giving all children equal access to health and education opportunities would be the best way to make future generations more prosperous and more equal.
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Month: March 2020
France Votes Despite Coronavirus Outbreak
French voters are going to the polls Sunday to cast their votes in municipal elections, despite an outbreak of the coronavirus and an outcry that the virus and the fear of contamination will keep many voters home. President Emmanuel Macron has insisted that the democratic continuity of the nation would be in jeopardy if the vote were delayed. Thousands of mayors and municipal councils will be elected in the two-round polls. In the fight mounted against the coronavirus, France has closed the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. On Sunday, restaurants, cinemas and non-esential retail stores were also shuttered. The second round of voting will be held March 22.
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Inside Massive DEA Raid Targeting Drug Cartel
In the darkness, the team suits up quietly, putting on their helmets and tactical gear. Federal agents lug battering rams, bolt cutters and heavy weaponry by foot up a hill on a residential California street that’s softly aglow from street lamps. Then the agents turn onto the walkway of their target’s home.”Police! Search warrant!” one officer yells as agents bang on the front door. “Police search warrant!” And then three thunderous bangs as the task force breaks down the front door.Moments later, a reputed member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known as CJNG, is walked out in handcuffs.In early-morning raids Wednesday, agents fanned out across the United States, culminating a six-month investigation with the primary goal of dismantling the upper echelon of CJNG and hoping to get closer to capturing its leader, one of the most wanted men in America. There’s a $10 million reward for the arrest of Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera.The gang controls between one-third and two-thirds of the U.S. drug market. It is so violent that members leave piles of bodies in streets and hanging from overpasses in Mexico, and they fill the city of Guadalajara with mass graves. They carry machine guns and hand grenades. They once used rocket launchers to shoot down a Mexican military helicopter.More than 600 people have been arrested during the operation in recent months, more than 15,000 kilos of meth was seized and nearly $20 million was taken as search and arrest warrants were executed. About 250 were arrested Wednesday.Wendy Woolcok, the special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s special operations division, speaks during an interview at a command center in Chantilly, Va., March 11, 2020.”El Mencho and his associates prey on the addicts, and they prey on small towns where they can act as bullies and infiltrate these small towns,” said Wendy Woolcok, the special agent in charge of Drug Enforcement Administration’s special operations division. “They promise hope, and they deliver despair.”A top targetFor the U.S, combating Mexico’s fastest-growing and most violent gang is a top priority. Law enforcement officials believe the gang has drug distribution hubs in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston and Atlanta. It is believed to have a presence in 24 of Mexico’s 32 states.Unlike other cartels, CJNG shows no reluctance in directly attacking police and army patrols and is blamed for the deadliest attacks against law enforcement forces in Mexico. In eliminating rivals, it has carried out spectacular acts of violence.”Their propensity to violence is a big part of it. They’re a very violent organization, they’re a well-armed organization. But really, the gasoline that was thrown on the fire was synthetic drugs,” said Bill Bodner, the special agent in charge of the DEA’s field office in Los Angeles.The Associated Press had exclusive access to the raid outside Los Angeles and the national command center.In California, about a dozen team members prepped early Wednesday for their target. They searched the home, a stately, salmon-colored Spanish Colonial-style with a large chandelier in the foyer, palm trees in the front yard, and crawled on the ground to look under cars, including a black Lexus, in the driveway. No shots were fired.Victor Ochoa, 34, was arrested on drug charges. The DEA alleges he acts as a stash house manger for the cartel.Drug Enforcement Administration agents and intelligence analysts gather information from field operations across the country at their command center in Chantilly, Va., March 11, 2020.Command centerAt the command center tucked inside a nondescript government building in northern Virginia, a group of a dozen analysts and agents sat behind computer screens. As agents were banging down doors across the country, the phones rang at the command center and analysts recorded the number of arrests and amount of drugs seized on printed worksheets.An analyst entered the information into a DEA computer as other analysts ran phone numbers, addresses and nicknames found inside the homes being searched.The special agent in charge of the special operations division assembled with her team in front of a heat map — red dots glowing darker and darker as more arrests are made, primarily in Texas, California and New Jersey. By 9 a.m., more than 60 people had been taken into custody.Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, called the operation “the most comprehensive action to date in the Department of Justice’s effort to disrupt, dismantle and ultimately destroy CJNG”While Mexican drug cartels made their money predominantly from marijuana in past decades, the market has somewhat dissipated with the state-level legalization of cannabis in dozens of states across the U.S.Now, they’ve turned to methamphetamine and fentanyl, selling it at almost 14 times the price it cost to make and flooding the streets of the U.S., fueling homelessness and the opioid crisis, and leaving behind another trail of bodies: from overdoses.Multidrug shipmentsThe Jalisco Cartel was formed in 2010 from a wing of the Sinaloa cartel based in the western city of Guadalajara. While it once specialized in producing methamphetamine, like most Mexican cartels it has expanded into multidrug shipments including fentanyl, cocaine, meth and heroin.The cartel is led by the elusive Oseguera, whose bodyguards once shot down a Mexican military helicopter to prevent his arrest. In recent weeks, prosecutors have brought charges against his son, Nemesio Oseguera, also known as “El Menchito,” and his daughter, Jessica Johanna Oseguera.And officials say he’s more dangerous than reputed Mexican drug kingpin and escape artist Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who as leader of the Sinaloa cartel ran a massive drug conspiracy that spread murder and mayhem for more than two decades.”I think the threat from El Mencho and CJNG is greater right now because in my opinion, at the time Chapo was captured or at the time he was kind of at his at his heyday, so to speak, the Sinaloa Cartel was fractured. It was a little broken up,” Bodner said.FILE – Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is escorted to a helicopter in handcuffs by Mexican marines at a navy hangar in Mexico City, Feb. 22, 2014.El Chapo was a little flashier, but Mencho and the Jalisco gang see their drug business as just that — business, Bodner said.”They have a little bit more discipline. They’re not necessarily into the partying and living the good life. It’s just about the business of drug trafficking and control, and that’s what makes them scarier,” Bodner said.The Jalisco cartel is also known for brazen tactics such as driving around in convoys of pickup trucks marked with the letters “CJNG” and for circulating videos of heavily armed cartel gunmen in military-style dress. While Mexico says it is no longer concentrating on detaining drug lords, the Mexican government has extradited Oseguera’s son and has detained some of his associates.
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UN Appeals for $1.3B for South Sudan Refugees, Host Countries
The U.N. refugee agency and partners are appealing for $1.3 billion to assist more than two million South Sudanese refugees and five major countries hosting them — Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.After seven years of conflict, South Sudan has formed a Transitional Government of National Unity and appears to be on the cusp of peace. But the new government faces many challenges.One of the biggest is finding solutions for millions of South Sudanese who have been forcibly displaced by years of conflict, both internally and as refugees. In the meantime, the U.N. refugee agency says some 2.2 million refugees and the countries hosting them continue to depend upon international support to provide them with life-saving assistance.UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch told VOA many thousands of refugees who have returned to South Sudan on their own initiative are stuck in limbo in their home country. He says most of those who remain outside the country are in no rush to return. They are waiting to see if peace holds.”The 270,000 South Sudanese that have returned in the past couple of years or more, the majority of them have not been able to return back home. You are talking a big number — probably 70 percent or more. And, in many areas, access still remains a challenge in terms of the humanitarian work,” he said.Baloch said humanitarian workers and the South Sudanese displaced are hoping that the new political developments translate into long-lasting peace.In the meantime, the UNHCR says funding is urgently needed to provide emergency care for the refugees including food, shelter, safe drinking water and health care. It notes money also is needed to care for 65,000 unaccompanied children and action on sexual and gender-based violence.The agency says many refugees are missing out on education and the gap must be closed. It says refugees must be trained in the skills they need to provide for themselves and their families.
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Romanian Lawmakers Approve Orban’s New Government
Romanian lawmakers on Saturday voted overwhelmingly to approve Prime Minister Ludovic Orban’s new government, the same one ousted last month as the result of losing a no-confidence vote.Orban’s nomination by President Klaus Iohannis came amid Romania’s efforts to limit the spread of the coronavirus, which has already infected 109 people in the country.
After Orban was sworn in, Iohannis said a state of emergency would be introduced in Romania on Monday. The measure would allow authorities to streamline decision-making and simplify the purchase of medical supplies.The measure will also make possible the allocation of important new resources for managing the crisis,'' Iohannis said.The minority government of Orban's National Liberal Party was backed by 286 deputies and senators, well above the minimum of 233 votes needed for approval. Twenty-three lawmakers voted against.The leader of the main opposition party, the Social Democrats, said it had supported the Orban government only so Romanians could have afunctioning statein the midst of the coronavirus outbreak.The National Liberal Party and Iohannisdon’t deserve this vote, but Romanians deserve a functioning state which can react quickly to the epidemic,” said Marcel Ciolacu, president of Parliament’s Chamber of Deputies and head of the Social Democrats.Orban, ministers in isolationOrban and his cabinet of ministers, who remained in a caretaker role after losing a no-confidence vote on February 5, have been in isolation since Friday, after a government party lawmaker they frequently met with was confirmed to have been infected with the new virus.Because of the risk of spreading the virus, ministerial nominees took questions from the corresponding parliamentary committees by videoconference, there was no parliamentary debate before the vote and Orban sent his remarks to lawmakers in writing.Before his ouster last month because of disputed changes he sought to the election law, Orban had been in power since November, when his government replaced a Social Democratic government beset by corruption scandals.
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Afghan Government Postpones Prisoner Release, Endangering Deal
The Afghan government Saturday postponed the release of 1,500 Taliban prisoners, an Afghan official said, a decision that could sabotage a peace deal signed last month between the Taliban and the United States.Jawed Faisal, spokesman for the Afghan National Security Adviser’s office, said the releases were being delayed because more time was needed to review the list of prisoners. The move came despite President Ashraf Ghani’s decree earlier this week promising the start of the releases Saturday as a goodwill gesture to get intra-Afghan negotiations started.The U.S.-Taliban deal was touted at the time as the best chance at ending Afghanistan’s wars and bringing U.S. troops home after nearly 19 years.There was no immediate response from the Taliban to the delayed prisoner release.Faisal said Ghani’s government wanted more time to review the list of prisoners. The U.S.-Taliban deal called for the release of up to 5,000 Taliban as well as 1,000 Afghan government captives ahead of intra-Afghan negotiations, considered a critical next step to reaching a lasting peace in Afghanistan.Ghani’s decree promised the release of 100 prisoners a day beginning Saturday until 1,500 prisoners were released. He would then release the remaining 3,500 after intra-Afghan talks began and those releases would be staggered and would go ahead only if talks progressed and Taliban reduced violence.Although Ghani’s decree differs from the U.S.-Taliban deal, Faisal insisted Ghani was committed to releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners.FILE – Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani, left, and Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah attend a NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland, July 8, 2016.Political turmoilHowever, Ghani is embroiled in political turmoil in Kabul, where he is battling his leading political rival, Abdullah Abdullah, who has also declared himself president. Abdullah has so far refused to accept the results of last year’s presidential results charging widespread irregularities and abuse of power by Ghani. Still, the national election commission last month declared Ghani the winner despite allegations lodged also by the elections complaints commission.Meanwhile, the decree Ghani announced Wednesday said the first round of 1,500 prisoners to be freed would be selected based on age, health and the length of their sentences already served. The released prisoners, who would be biometrically identified, would also have to give a written guarantee that they would not return to the battlefield.The Taliban handed off their list of 5,000 to an American negotiator, who delivered it to the Afghan government administration. The Taliban’s spokesman in Qatar, where the insurgent group maintains a political office, said the Taliban would accept only those on the pre-approved list and warned Kabul against offering substitutes.The Taliban said they were committed to the deal they made with the United States but would not start negotiations with the Kabul government or other political leaders until the prisoners were freed.Even if the Taliban were ready to talk, it’s not clear when Kabul would be ready to field a negotiating team, as the feud between opposing politicians has yet to be resolved.U.S. exit not tied talksThe United States has said its withdrawal of troops — which has already begun — was not dependent on successful negotiations between Afghans on both sides of the conflict.However, the U.S. State Department has issued statements urging Kabul’s feuding politicians to find a compromise. It has also urged an end to “posturing” and has said many of the Taliban prisoners on the list have already served their sentence and that the names were decided upon after lengthy negotiations.Washington also chastised the Taliban for resuming attacks on Afghanistan’s security forces, even though they promised not to attack U.S. and NATO troops. Washington said that the level of Taliban violence was too high and that it wanted to see a reduction.Despite the political chaos in Kabul and increased violence on the battlefield, the United States has started withdrawing its troops in keeping with the deal it signed February 29 with the Taliban. In the first phase, Washington will reduce its troop contingent to 8,600, down from the current 13,000.If the Taliban adhere to their commitments to deny terrorists safe havens in Afghanistan, Washington will withdraw the remainder of its troops over 14 months, according to the agreement.
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Trump Takes Coronavirus Test, Extends Travel Ban to Britain, Ireland
President Donald Trump has taken a coronavirus test but said on Saturday that his temperature was “totally normal,” and his administration extended a travel ban to Britain and Ireland to try to contain a pandemic that has shut down much of the daily routine of American life.After White House officials took the unprecedented step of checking the temperatures of journalists entering the briefing room, Trump told reporters he took a test for the virus on Friday night and that he expects the results in “a day or two days.” He met with a Brazilian delegation last week, at least one member of which has since tested positive.The top U.S. infectious diseases expert, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, said the country has recorded 20,226 case of the new coronavirus, but has not yet reached the peak of the outbreak.”This will get worse before it gets better,” Surgeon General Jerome Adams said at the briefing.Vice President Mike Pence, who is running the administration’s response to the outbreak, told reporters that visits to nursing homes were being suspended to protect the most vulnerable.Earlier on Saturday, officials in New York said an 82-year-old woman became the state’s first coronavirus fatality.New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the woman, who had previously suffered from emphysema, was hospitalized in Manhattan on March 3. He told reporters that the state’s tally of cases had risen to 524. Nationwide, more than 2,000 people have been infected and 50 have died.On Friday, Trump declared a national emergency in a move that he said would bring “the full power of the federal government” to bear on the escalating health crisis by freeing up some $50 billion in aid. He also urged every state to set up emergency centers to help fight the virus.On Saturday, his administration was expected to extend to Britain and Ireland a ban on travel from Europe that would go into effect on Monday night, U.S. and airlines and officials said.Signaling a new stage in prevention measures to protect U.S.leaders from the coronavirus, the White House on Saturday instituted a policy of checking the temperatures of journalists in the White House briefing room.The pandemic has forced public schools, sports events and cultural and entertainment venues to close across the United States.On Friday, American shoppers picked grocery store shelves clean of products ranging from disinfectants to rice, causing retailers to race to restock their stores. In response to the run on certain items, major retailers have imposed some purchase limits.Coronavirus took its biggest toll yet on this year’s U.S.presidential election when Louisiana announced on Friday it had postponed its Democratic and Republican presidential primaries.Early on Saturday, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a coronavirus aid package that would provide free testing and paid sick leave, in a bid to limit the economic damage from the outbreak.By a bipartisan vote of 363 to 40, the Democratic-controlled House passed a multi-billion dollar effort that would expand safety-net programs to help those who could be thrown out of work in the weeks to come. Trump said he supported the package, raising the likelihood that it will pass the Republican-controlled Senate next week.Economists say the impact of the outbreak on businesses could tip the U.S. economy into recession.
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US Ban on Most European Visitors Takes Effect
The U.S. travel ban on most flights from Europe, a part of the U.S. strategy in preventing the spread of the deadly coronavirus, has gone into effect. U.S. President Donald Trump announced the ban Wednesday night in an address from the Oval Office. The 30-day ban blocks most foreign visitors from 26 countries in Europe, while accepting those from Britain and Ireland. Americans and American permanent residents who were abroad at the time of Trump’s announcement were initially not sure if they would be allowed back into the country after Friday. They are exempt from the ban, but that was not immediately clear in the president’s address. Many of them scrambled to book flights back home before the ban went into effect. Mark, a U.S. resident who was in Spain at the time of Trump’s announcement, told Reuters that he came back “a little bit earlier” than planned.” Trump made the decision about the ban without consulting any European officials. “The European Union disapproves of the fact that the U.S. decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and Charles Michel, president of the European Council, said in a joint statement.”The coronavirus is a global crisis, not limited to any continent, and it requires cooperation rather than unilateral action,” von der Leyen and Michel said. “The European Union is taking strong action to limit the spread of the virus.”All Americans returning from Europe will be asked to self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival back in the U.S. to try to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
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Spain Follows Italy Into Lockdown as Virus Cases Soar
Spain decided Saturday to follow Italy in declaring a nationwide lockdown to slow the accelerating spread of the coronavirus epidemic, Spanish media reported.Spain’s decision came as European countries took ever more severe, though widely varying, measures to reduce contact between their citizens and slow the pandemic. China — where the virus first emerged late last year — continued to ease up lockdown measures in its hardest-hit region.According to a copy of the royal decree seen by The Associated Press, Spain’s government was to announce Saturday that it is placing tight restrictions on movement for the nation of 46 million people while declaring a two-week state of emergency. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was due to address the nation in the afternoon.Health authorities in Spain said Saturday that coronavirus infections have reached 5,753 people, half of them in the capital, Madrid. That represents a national increase of over 1,500 in 24 hours. The country had 136 deaths, up from 120.The number of new cases has dwindled in China, but the virus has in recent weeks spread exponentially in the Middle East, Europe and North America, leading President Donald Trump to declare a state of emergency for the United States on Friday. By Saturday, more than 145,000 infections and over 5,400 deaths had been confirmed worldwide.Europe has now become the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, with countries imposing a cascade of restrictions in efforts to prevent their health systems collapsing under the load of cases. Schools, bars and shops not selling essential goods are among the facilities being closed in many places.Residents in Madrid, which has around half the infections, and northeastern Catalonia had already awoken Saturday to shuttered bars and restaurants and other non-essential commercial outlets as ordered by regional authorities. Madrid ordered city parks closed and Seville canceled its Easter Week processions — one of Spain’s most important religious and cultural events.A man wearing a protective face mask walks at the usually crowded Plaza Mayor in central Madrid, Spain, March 14, 2020, after authorities ordered all shops in the region be shuttered die to the coronavirus.Coronavirus elsewhereSpain’s measures to date, though, had fallen short of those ordered by Italy, the worst-hit European country, which has reached a total of over 17,600 confirmed cases — the largest outbreak after China — with 1,266 deaths. The government in Rome has ordered an unprecedented lockdown, ordering businesses to close and restricting people’s movement.
Mayors of many Italian cities, including Rome and Milan, decided to close public playgrounds and parks. Under a government decree issued earlier in the week, people had been allowed in parks as long as they kept at least a distance of 1 meter between each other.While limiting public life to a minimum, Premier Giuseppe Conte has said production — particularly of food and health supplies — must not stop. On Saturday morning, union and industrial leaders reached an agreement on special measures to keep factories running.At noon, people around Italy came out on their balconies, terraces, gardens or simply leaned out from open windows to clap for several minutes in a gesture of thanks to medical staff.For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.The vast majority of people recover. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.Elsewhere in Europe, some countries moved to isolate themselves from their neighbors.Denmark closed its borders and halted passenger traffic to and from the country, a measure that was due to last through April 13. Travelers were to be turned away at the border if they are unable to show that they have “a legitimate reason” to enter, for example they are Danish citizens or residents.“I know that the overall list of measures is very extreme and will be seen as very extreme, but I am convinced that it’s worth it,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.Poland was closing its borders starting at midnight and denying all foreigners entry unless they lived in Poland or had personal ties there. Non-citizens allowed in will be quarantined for 14 days. The Czech Republic and Slovakia took similar action.A man sits inside an empty tram amid an outbreak of the coronavirus, in Warsaw, Poland, March 14, 2020.Russia said its land borders with Norway and Poland will be closed to most foreigners beginning Sunday.On the other side of the globe, New Zealand announced that all incoming passengers, including New Zealand citizens, will be required to isolate themselves for 14 days, with few exceptions. Philippine officials announced a night curfew in the capital and said millions of people in the densely populated region should only go out of their homes during the daytime for work or urgent errands.The steps being implemented globally increasingly mirror those taken by China, which in January made the unprecedented decision to halt outbound transportation from cities with a combined population of more than 60 million people, starting with the epicenter, Wuhan in the central province of Hubei.The spread of COVID-19 in the country has slowed dramatically, according to China’s National Health Commission. Whereas the commission reported thousands of new cases daily only one month ago, it said Saturday that there were 13 new deaths and just 11 new cases, including people who recently arrived in China from other affected countries like Italy.The government of Hubei lowered its health risk assessments for all counties in the province outside of Wuhan, the only city that remains “high-risk.” Several Hubei municipalities are gradually resuming public transportation services and reopening businesses.Hundreds of parks, museums and art galleries have re-opened in Shanghai in another sign that epidemic-related restrictions are lifting.The waning outbreak in China stands in contrast with an escalating number of infections elsewhere.In the U.S., which reported its 50th death Friday, Trump said the new emergency decree will open up $50 billion for state and local governments to respond to the crisis. The president said the decree also gave the secretary of health and human services emergency powers to waive federal regulations to give doctors and hospitals “flexibility” in treating patients.Drug company executives vowed to work together and with the government to quickly expand the country’s coronavirus testing capabilities, which are far behind those in many countries.Cases topped 2,100 across the U.S., where thousands of schools have been closed, concerts and sporting events canceled and Broadway theaters shut down. Trump has halted his trademark political rallies, following the lead of Democratic rivals Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.
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Putin Approves Law That Could Keep Him in Power Until 2036
Vladimir Putin has formally signed off on constitutional amendments that would allow the Russian leader to run again for president in 2024.His approval comes a day after it was reported that all of Russia’s regional parliaments had voted in favor of the measures.In January, Putin announced a major shake-up of Russian politics and a constitutional overhaul, which the Kremlin described as a redistribution of power from the presidency to parliament.But earlier this week, Putin, who has been president or prime minister of Russia for two decades, appeared in the State Duma to back a new amendment that would allow him to ignore a current constitutional ban on him running again in 2024.The previous rules forbade him from running for a third consecutive mandate, but that changes with the provisions of the amendments, meaning he can seek a fifth overall presidential term in 2024, and conceivably a sixth in 2030.The Kremlin notes that Putin has not said whether or not he will run again in 2024.Other constitutional changes further strengthen the presidency and emphasize the priority of Russian law over international norms — a provision reflecting the Kremlin’s irritation with the European Court of Human Rights and other international bodies that have often issued verdicts against Russia.The changes also outlaw same-sex marriage and mention “a belief in God” as one of Russia’s traditional values.Both houses of the national parliament have already backed the changes as has every single regional parliament.“The Federation Council [the upper house of parliament] has received the results of voting in all 85 regional parliaments,” said Andrei Klishas, chairman of the council’s committee on constitutional law. “They are all positive,” RIA cited him as saying on March 13.The list of 85 regions he referenced includes two which are part of Russian-controlled Crimea, which Moscow forcibly annexed from Ukraine in 2014.Russia’s Constitutional Court must now examine the constitutional changes, which are due to be put to a nationwide vote in April.Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, urged its members on March 12 to rally behind Putin against what he said was a foreign campaign to discredit the constitutional reforms.
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2 Kidnapped Westerners Found Alive in Mali
An official of the United Nations mission in Mali says two people who were kidnapped in Burkina Faso in December 2018 have been released. Mission officials say the Canadian woman and the Italian man were found near Kidal, in northern Mali, and were turned over to U.N. peacekeepers in good health. The two are identified as Edith Blais and Luca Tacchetto.
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‘I Have the Obligation to Speak for the Dead’
Born and raised in the 1990s, Wuhan resident Tu Long once believed that as long as he didn’t make any politically sensitive remarks or do anything out of line, as long as he was the “obedient citizen” the government wanted him to be, his path would lead upward. Like the “self-serving elite,” as those who exploit China’s communist system to achieve their own goals are known, he would succeed. The coronavirus outbreak changed Tu Long. No longer does he want to belong to the “silent majority” of the prosperous. “I know this government acts like an asshole,” he said. “But I told myself not to care about it. You know, ‘Keep calm and carry on.’ ” Tu Long agreed to be interviewed by the Voice of America, but he worries about his safety. Tu Long, which means dragon killer in Chinese, is a pseudonym. A boiling frog Tu Long, 26, is different from other Generation Y Chinese who grew up behind the Great Firewall. At age 11, he learned to “climb the wall,” or circumvent the internet censorship imposed by Beijing upon its citizens. He watched the “Frontline” 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre documentary, “The Gate of Heavenly Peace.” He went to Wikipedia to read the history of modern China that is banned by the government. He learned about an unfiltered China by reading reports from foreign media. At age 15, he told his parents, “Mao Zedong is a butcher.” “The Zhao family gets rich, we are just their fuels,” he said to his close friends. The “Zhao family” refers to Lu Xun’s novel, “The True Story of Ah Q” published a century ago. It’s used sarcastically by Chinese citizens to refer to dignitaries in China, such as the top bureaucrat, the rich, the cadres and their cossetted offspring. Tu Long’s parents warned him not to make such remarks outside the family. His friends urged him: study hard, make money, leave China as soon as you get a chance. Tu Long had wanted to leave China ever since he was in elementary school. In middle school, in a bold move, he refused to join the Communist Youth League, because he didn’t want to “get aligned with their politics.” But he came from an average family and his parents could not afford to send him abroad. At age 16, he realized that in order to survive in China, he had to make compromises. He needed to protect himself rather than throw eggs against rocks. “OK, I don’t do those things you’re sensitive about,” he said, referring to the government’s social controls. “I’ll just follow your rules, alright?” Tu Long’s dream was to become a journalist. He studied hard and was admitted to the top journalism school in China, where he soon realized his dream could not be achieved in China. “My school aimed to cultivate those who help control public opinions,” he recalled. “More than once, I heard my teachers bragging about how they managed to control public opinions.” After graduation, Tu Long found a well-paying job in the public relations department of a Beijing-based, Chinese-owned internet company. Income taxes were high and he could not afford to buy his own apartment in Beijing, but like a frog in ever-hotter water, as time went on, he felt that things weren’t that unbearable. He told himself, work a little harder, you will become one of the middle class. He remained cautious, staying away from politics, only occasionally venting his dissatisfaction in a secretive way.On the WeChat social media app, for example, he would write: “A yellow bear is driving in reverse direction.” In the complex meme-driven language of China’s censored internet, a yellow bear refers to Winnie the Pooh, aka China’s top leader, Xi Jinping.It’s a metaphor for criticizing Xi for dragging the nation back to its Maoist past. Sometimes Tu Long would use Mao Zedong’s or Deng Xiaoping’s words ironically to criticize China’s 21st-century reality. “We would deliberately say something while meaning the opposite,” he said. “We were called the yin-yang masters,” referring to the Taoist belief that the two complementary forces are present in all of life. Yin is passive and negative, of the earth and darkness while yang is active, positive, bright and of the sky.No longer silent The outbreak of the coronavirus changed everything. Tu Long said that if it weren’t for the fact that he knows how to “climb the wall” or that his overseas friends were telling him the truth, maybe he would have been cremated already. Wuhan, the first of more than 200 Chinese cities that eventually restricted movement to some degree, was locked down January 23 by the government in an effort to contain the coronavirus. Tu Long used the time to think about what was happening, what he was seeing and how he was reacting. “When they expelled the ‘low-end population’ [migrant workers] in Beijing, I said to myself, I worked very hard. I’m not part of the ‘low-end population,’ I would not be expelled. “When they built the concentration camps in Xinjiang [for the minority-Muslim Uighurs], I thought, I’m not an ethnic minority, I don’t have any religious beliefs, I would not be in trouble. “I sympathize with the suffering of Hong Kong people, but I thought I would not go on the street to protest [for democracy], so it has nothing to do with me,” he said. “This time it hit my hometown. Many people around me had already gotten sick, some had died, so I couldn’t stand it any longer,” he said. Citizen journalist Li Zehua made an impression on Tu Long.Li also belongs to China’s Generation Y. He graduated from the Communication University of China and landed a job at state-run China Central Television where he hosted a lifestyle program featuring farm products and cooking. He later quit to make his own videos. On February 6, Li arrived in Wuhan to report on the epidemic. As a citizen journalist, he visited local communities, funeral homes, train stations and an array of other places. Twenty days later, he was chased by guobao, or the state security police. His whereabouts remain unknown. After Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin, Li is the third citizen journalist to go missing while covering the Wuhan outbreak of COVID-19. Before his arrest, Li declared, “I don’t want to be dumb, I don’t want to shut my eyes. Why did I resign from CCTV? Because I hope more young people like me can stand up.” Those words inspired Tu Long who now says he refuses to remain silent any longer. “This [outbreak] was covered up for more than a month,” he said, referring to the government’s actions. “Until today, not only did no [official] come out to apologize to the Wuhan people, they told us we should hate the United States, we should hate Japan, we should hate South Korea, we should hate Taiwan, and we should hate The Wall Street Journal. No one came out to take the responsibility. Our ‘great’ mayor Zhou Xianwang was even publicly praised by the central government a few days ago…so many people still haven’t been cured, but we’ve already made a funeral into a wedding party. It is absurd,” he said, using a saying critical of the perceived ability of the Chinese Communist Party to turn a disaster into an event for thankful celebration of its wise leadership.Testing humanity In addition to those in power, many ordinary Chinese disappointed Tu Long with their behaviors and remarks.For instance, one of his classmates tried to seek help online after his mother contracted the coronavirus and couldn’t find a hospital bed. Immediately the classmate was attacked by a group of “little pinky,” or fanatical Chinese nationalists, asking him to delete the message and labeling him a person “being controlled by foreign powers” for suggesting the nation could not care for all its people.These are the people who often tell Tu Long he is “being brainwashed by foreign media.” “To be honest, what struck me the most is not the epidemic itself, but this test of humanity,” he said. Tu Long said he has always told his friends overseas that they need to distinguish between the CCP, or Chinese Communist Party, and China and the Chinese people. Recently, however, he has been thinking, “No, actually those can’t be separated.” “The majority of Chinese, myself included, are not innocent. We condone [the CCP leadership] to do evil, some even assisted them to do evil,” he said. He added, “China is filled with an unusual optimistic atmosphere these days. I read [state media] reports saying the whole world owes China an apology. They even said without this coronavirus, we had no idea how great China is. “Wuhan is still sacrificing, still suffering, but these people jumped out to say, ‘Aiya, look how bad those foreigners are handling it. China handled it so much better!’ It’s horrible,” he said. Preparing to flee Tu Long has quit his job in Beijing. After the epidemic is over, he hopes to leave China. He said it’s not simply to study abroad or to emigrate, but rather, “I’m fleeing the country.” A friend once said to him: If you want to live in China, you have to do either of these two things, and if you can do both, that’s the best: Number one, disregard your rationality. Number two, disregard your conscience. Tu Long felt he could do neither.”As a survivor of the Wuhan epidemic, for the rest of my life, I have the obligation to speak for the dead.”
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Umbrella Movement Founder Released From Jail, Vows to Fight on
A prominent pro-democracy campaigner and founder of Hong Kong’s mass peaceful movement now known as the Umbrella Movement, professor Chan Kin-man, was released from prison Saturday, vowing to continue his fight for democracy.The 61-year-old Yale-educated sociology professor emerged from the Pik Uk prison early Saturday after spending 11 months behind bars. He appeared to be in good spirits, smiling and waving to a waiting crowd of dozens of supporters and journalists.”We want genuine universal suffrage!” exclaimed Chan, after hugging his wife. “Life in jail was hard, but I have no regret at all, because a price has to be paid for the fight for democracy,” Chan told supporters, who chanted pro-democracy slogans upon seeing him.Chan and other founders of the 2014 civil disobedience Occupy Central movement, law professor Benny Tai and Baptist minister the Rev. Chu Yiu-ming, were sentenced last April for conspiracy to cause a public nuisance — a rarely used colonial-era charge. The sentence for Chu, 76, was suspended however. Tai was released in August on appeal.The men were among nine pro-democracy activists convicted over their leading roles in the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong in October 2014, the largest civil disobedience movement in the city’s history, which occupied thoroughfares in Hong Kong’s business district for 79 days. Protesters hoped to force the government into granting Hong Kong free elections, as promised in an agreement made before Britain’s handover of the territory in 1997. The demonstration was sparked by Beijing’s ruling in August that year that Hong Kong people could only vote for the city’s chief executive from a list of candidates approved by Beijing authorities. The movement ended peacefully in December 2014 without gaining any concessions from the government. An air of discontent and hopelessness pervaded Hong Kong in the following years, prompting many Hong Kongers’ desire to emigrate. The simmering political tension exploded into Hong Kong’s most severe political crisis last year. At the start of what became a monthslong anti-government movement in June, an estimated 1 million took to the street to demonstrate against a controversial extradition law that would have allowed for individuals to stand trials in China. The government’s initial refusal to scrap the law and police violence prompted hundreds more protests for more than half a year, with police using live ammunition, rubber bullets, tear gas and severe beatings while radical protesters resorted to Molotov cocktails, setting fire to objects and occupying roads.Asked what he thought of the movement, which started after he was jailed, Chan said he believed more Hong Kongers now understand why he and others had to resort to civil disobedience to fight for democracy.”We hoped to make leaders humble and the government be accountable to ordinary people. Only democracy can safeguard our freedoms and rule of law,” he said. “I hope everyone will continue to make efforts.”He said he was “heartbroken” to see young people sacrificing themselves in the movement — some committed suicide while around 40% of the more than 7,000 people arrested were students. “Young people’s radical behavior was forced by the government,” Chan said, condemning the authorities for repeated refusal to launch an independent investigation into police violence, which generated widespread anger.”The government has no sincerity to find out the truth, how can people not be angry?” he asked.Even years before the anti-government movement erupted in 2019, Chan, a respected sociologist, already predicted that growing discontent would lead to social unrest.”We knew that if [the Occupy Central campaign] failed, there would be riots,” he said in an 2017 interview.
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US Ban on Most European Visitors Begins
The U.S. travel ban on most flights from Europe, a part of the U.S. strategy in preventing the spread of the deadly coronavirus, has gone into effect. U.S. President Donald Trump announced the ban Wednesday night in an address from the Oval Office. The 30-day ban blocks most foreign visitors from 26 countries in Europe, while accepting those from Britain and Ireland. Americans and American permanent residents who were abroad at the time of Trump’s announcement were initially not sure if they would be allowed back into the country after Friday. They are exempt from the ban, but that was not immediately clear in the president’s address. Many of them scrambled to book flights back home before the ban went into effect. Mark, a U.S. resident who was in Spain at the time of Trump’s announcement, told Reuters that he came back “a little bit earlier” than planned.” Trump made the decision about the ban without consulting any European officials. “The European Union disapproves of the fact that the U.S. decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and Charles Michel, president of the European Council, said in a joint statement.”The coronavirus is a global crisis, not limited to any continent, and it requires cooperation rather than unilateral action,” von der Leyen and Michel said. “The European Union is taking strong action to limit the spread of the virus.”All Americans returning from Europe will be asked to self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival back in the U.S. to try to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
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Coronavirus Pandemic Prompts US National Emergency
U.S. President Donald Trump said he is declaring a national emergency, clearing the way for more federal aid to stream to states and cities to combat the coronavirus pandemic.”We will defeat this threat,” Trump said Friday afternoon during a nationally televised news conference from the White House Rose Garden. Trump, who has declared five previous national emergencies, had come under increasing pressure, especially from opposition Democrats, in recent days to take such action as governors and mayors across the United States declared states of emergency, ordering the cancellation of public gatherings and closures of schools. The action by the president will free up tens of billions of dollars in funding in the Disaster Relief Fund. It allows a state to request the federal government pay for 75% of costs for such expenses as emergency workers, medical supplies, and tests and vaccinations to respond to the virus, which some epidemiologists warn could soon overwhelm the country’s health care system.President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference about the coronavirus in the Rose Garden at the White House, March 13, 2020.”States are to set up emergency operation centers immediately, and all hospitals are to activate their emergency operation plans,” Trump said.He also announced purchasing large quantities of oil for the national strategic petroleum reserve.”We’re going to fill it right up to the top,” he said. Trump also said he is ordering that interest payments on federal student loans be waived until further notice. Early Saturday, the House passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act with a vote of 363 – 40.The bill includes two weeks of paid sick leave for those affected, improved unemployment insurance and a bolstered lunch program for schoolchildren, among other elements intended to lessen the economic impact of COVID-19 on American families.President Trump said in a post on Twitter that he supports the bill. The Republican controlled Senate will take up the bill next week, and Trump’s support means the measure is likely to be approved. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement early Saturday the American people “deserve swift assistance with the economic fallout from the virus.” McConnell added that he had canceled the Senate’s state work period next week, allowing the lawmakers to work on the legislation, and that he believed “the vast majority of Senators in both parties will agree” that swift action is needed to “secure relief for American workers, families, and small businesses.”Cases of the coronavirus have now been reported in 49 of the 50 U.S. states. Only West Virginia has not reported any cases. Two sisters talk on a phone as they visit through a window with their 76-year-old mother, who has tested positive for the new coronavirus, March 12, 2020, in Kirkland, Wash.Only about 1% of the more than 145,000 cases of the COVID-19 disease are in the United States, but public health officials are bracing for a much larger number of patients. Some officials say the number may actually be much larger because of limited testing conducted, so far, for the coronavirus infection.The largest U.S. cluster of deaths from the coronavirus is in the state of Washington, where 37 deaths have been reported so far.In a nationally televised addressed Wednesday night, Trump restricted travel for 30 days, effective Friday at midnight, from most European countries with the notable exception of Britain. He confirmed that the federal government is partnering with the private sector to set up drive-through testing sites for the coronavirus amid frustration expressed by people who suspect they may be infected but cannot get tested.The plan was discussed Friday during a meeting between White House officials and executives of the retail, pharmaceutical and technology sectors. The spread of the virus has unsettled global markets, with U.S. prices for securities dropping more than 20% on average from recent highs amid negative investor sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged late Friday, finishing with a gain of nearly 2,000 points or 9.4% to end the week, recovering most of Thursday’s losses.”These short-term sacrifices will produce long-term gains,” Trump said Friday, acknowledging the spread of the coronavirus “could get worse. The next eight weeks are critical.” During the Rose Garden news conference, with Vice President Mike Pence and members of the White House’s coronavirus task force at the podium, Trump was asked repeatedly about him coming in close contact at his resort at Mar-a-Lago last weekend with a Brazilian official now known to have COVID-19.The president initially responded, “I don’t have any of the symptoms” and thus there is no need for him to be tested.Later, when asked again about the encounter, Trump stated: “I didn’t say I wasn’t going to be tested” and that he “most likely” would have the nasal swab done “fairly soon.” On Monday, the leaders of the Group of Seven leading industrialized countries are to hold a video conference to discuss the pandemic.”We will coordinate research efforts on a vaccine and treatments, and work on an economic and financial response,” French President Emmanuel Macron announced via Twitter.The epicenter of the pandemic, which originated in China, is now Europe, World Health Organization Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
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Immigration Detention Centers Could be Vulnerable to COVID Infections
At a time when people around the world are being told to keep a distance from one another to prevent coronavirus transmission, thousands of undocumented immigrants in U.S. detention facilities have no choice but to share often-cramped quarters where no physical distancing is possible.A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement told VOA that, as of this past week, there were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 among detainees in ICE custody. The agency did not disclose whether it has coronavirus testing kits at detention facilities, nor whether any detainees have, in fact, been tested. In a statement, ICE said it is following guidelines set by the U.S. Center for Disease Control to screen and isolate any detainee who shows symptoms consistent with COVID-19.”ICE is actively working with state and local health partners to determine if any detainee requires additional testing or monitoring to combat the spread of the virus,” ICE spokeswoman Jenny Burke wrote in an email to VOA.Immigration advocates are not satisfied, saying an outbreak of COVID-19 would be disastrous in a crowded detention facility.FILE – Medical facilities are seen at the Tornillo facility, a shelter for children of detained migrants, in Tornillo, Texas, in this undated handout photo provided by the US Department of Health and Human Services.”The agency is by no means equipped to manage the real risk of rapid spread of COVID-19 in immigration detention,” said Rebekah Entralgo, spokeswoman for California-based Freedom for Immigrants. “ICE has proven time and time again that they are ill-equipped to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, as illustrated over the summer when over 900 immigrants in detention contracted chicken pox and mumps.” In 2019, ICE confirmed about 900 cases of mumps among adult migrants being held in 57 different facilities between September 2018 and August 2019. Almost 400 of the cases were reported in Texas.Immigrant rights groups say, with COVID-19 cases multiplying in the United States, undocumented immigrants are at risk of catching the coronavirus from any infected ICE personnel. As with prisons and jails, detention facilities are especially vulnerable to the rapid spread of pathogens. ICE maintains it is prepared and that 16 of 20 detention facilities are equipped with airborne infection isolation rooms, or AIIRs.”IHSC plans to house detainees with epidemiologic risk for COVID-19 and who present with fever and/or symptoms or respiratory illness in AIIRs,” Burke wrote.Meanwhile, some U.S. lawmakers are weighing in.House Democrats have asked the Department of Homeland Security to provide its contingency plans in the event of a possible coronavirus outbreak in migrant detention facilities. In a letter, Representatives Carolyn Maloney of New York and Jamie Raskin of Maryland said DHS detention facilities “may be especially vulnerable to the spread of coronavirus because of the administration’s excessive use of detention.”They added, “The Department of Homeland Security has a well-documented history of failing to prevent the spread of disease among vulnerable populations in detention facilities.”ICE insists it will take steps as needed to protect those in its custody. On Friday, the agency announced it is suspending “social visitation” at all of its detention facilities to prevent transmission of coronavirus. Visits by legal counsel will still be allowed.“Consistent with federal partners, ICE is taking important steps to further safeguard those in our care. As a precautionary measure, we are temporarily suspending social visitation in all detention facilities,” ICE said in a statement.
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Sudan Sees First Death From Coronavirus
Sudan’s health ministry has reported the country’s first coronavirus death: A 52-year-old man who had traveled from the United Arab Emirates died Thursday.The ministry urged people to take measures to stop the spread of coronavirus, such as frequently washing their hands with soap, and to notify authorities if they see any suspected cases.Bus service to and from Egypt was stopped, and authorities suspended all flights to eight countries affected by the virus. Mohamed al-Mahdi, Khartoum airport’s director of information, said the airport administration also issued a decision to receive only one flight from foreign countries coming to Khartoum.The move left hundreds of travelers stranded at airports.Rashid Omer, who was planning to fly to Egypt to pick up goods for his business, was stuck at the Khartoum airport Friday. He was surprised by the decision to cancel flights, saying he didn’t know when the flights would resume.Sudan imports many items from Egypt and China, and the flight ban may increase scarcity in Sudanese markets and drive up prices.Health Minister Akram al-Tom said his ministry was demanding funds from Sudan’s ruling body, the Sovereign Council, to properly combat the virus.Al-Tom said his office had submitted recommendations to stringently watch crossings and to extend shelters for housing and isolation. In addition, he said, funds should be obtained to distribute qualified health staff to various states.Dr. Mohamed Abdallah welcomed the preparation, but feared the coronavirus would overwhelm Sudan’s health care system.While he said the decision was a bit late, he added that “it’s important to decrease the possible cases.”More than 140 Sudanese students who were stuck in China’s Wuhan province have been evacuated to the United Arab Emirates, to be monitored for several weeks before they can return to Sudan.
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With National Emergency Declaration, Trump Unleashes Presidential Power to Combat Coronavirus
By declaring the coronavirus pandemic a “national emergency” Friday, President Donald Trump is marshaling the full power of his office against the deadly virus after earlier measures fell short.The Trump administration had already declared the coronavirus a public health emergency. The new national emergency declaration, made under the 1976 National Emergencies Act and the National Security Act, triggers more than 100 statutory authorities available to the president to combat the coronavirus, which is now wreaking havoc across the United States.The proclamation authorizes the secretary of Health and Human Services to “waive or modify” certain requirements of government-funded health plans, such as Medicare and Medicaid, used by millions of Americans during the emergency.$50 billion to help statesAt the same time, Trump invoked the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, which authorizes the president to direct the release of funds to states affected by a disaster or emergency.Trump said the declaration will open up $50 billion in funds for states. All but three of 50 American states have reported coronavirus cases and more than two dozen have declared emergencies.“It gives tremendous powers for things we need,” Trump told reporters at the White House after making the announcement. “It gives the kind of power we need to get rid of this virus.”The Stafford Act enables the president to make a “major disaster declaration” and an emergency declaration, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to tap into billions of dollars in its Disaster Relief Fund.The national emergency declaration gives Trump authority well beyond the ability to release emergency funds. The declarations range from waiving medical licensing requirements for doctors to allowing them to work across state lines to foregoing regulatory rules in order to approve a new coronavirus test “within hours.”FILE – In this Jan. 16, 2015, file photo, a person walks past pump jacks operating at the Kern River Oil Field in Bakersfield, Calif.Crude oil purchasedIn an effort to aid the battered energy sector, Trump also directed the energy department to purchase “large quantities” of crude oil for the country’s strategic reserve.“No resource will be spared,” Trump said. “When a president declares an emergency declaration, he at that moment has access to all of the laws that say in a national emergency the president can do X, whether or not those powers relate to the emergency at hand,” Elizabeth Goitein, director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty & National Security Program, said.Some of the emergency authorities allow for a “reasonable and very measured” response to an emergency, such as suspending hospital regulations, Goitein said. At the same time, a national emergency declaration also empowers a president to take draconian measures in the name of national security. For example, a president could invoke a 1941 law to shut down the internet.Border Patrol agents on horseback ride along a US-Mexico border fence on Jan. 31, 2020, in nearby town of Sunland Park, New Mexico.Border wall constructionPrior to Friday, Trump had made seven national emergency declarations, all but two in connection with imposing sanctions on foreign countries. Last year, Trump was criticized for declaring a national emergency in order to divert military funds to finance construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.A national emergency declaration can only be overturned by an act of Congress. More than 30 national emergency declarations made over the past four decades remain in effect. Nonemergency powersIn addition to exercising emergency powers, the president has certain nonemergency powers he has used during the coronavirus crisis. On Wednesday, Trump invoked the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 in suspending a large share of travel from Europe. He became the first president in more than 50 years to order a federally mandated quarantine of people exposed to the virus.“The president doesn’t have to declare an emergency in order to avail himself of that, but we know the president has already done that,” Goitein said.Locking down communities or otherwise restricting the movements of large groups can conflict with constitutional rights of due process, according legal scholars.At the state level, emergency declarations allow local authorities a wide range of powers — from requesting emergency funds from Washington to imposing so-called “social distancing measures,” including restricting travel, imposing curfews, dismissing schools, restricting public gatherings and implementing quarantines.
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Kosovo Not Ready to Lift 100% Tariff on Serbia, Bosnia Goods
Kosovo will not lift its 100% tariffs on goods from Serbia and Bosnia anytime soon because the coalition government cannot agree on whether the import taxes should be phased out or abolished all at once, the country’s prime minister said Friday.Prime Minister Albin Kurti said his left-wing Self-Determination Movement, or Vetevendosje, wanted to lift the tariffs in phases, starting Sunday with raw materials imported from Serbia, as a goodwill gesture.The party’s main governing partner, the Democratic League of Kosovo, or LDK, wants the import taxes dropped completely. Kurti wants abolishment of the tariffs made conditional on Serbia’s stopping an international campaign against Kosovo’s recognition as a country.The coalition partners have not found a compromise, Kurti said.“In the absence of a government decision, everything remains as it is, the 100% tax remains,” he said.The United States and European Union also want Kosovo to do away with the tariffs and to resume talks with Serbia on normalizing ties.Pause in fundingThe Millenium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. independent government agency, said on Friday it would pause implementation of a $49 million funding program for Kosovo until the tariffs issue was settled.Kosovo imposed the punitive tariffs in November 2018 over Serbian efforts to block Kosovo from joining international organizations. The dispute led to the suspension of the EU-mediated talks, which started in 2011.Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic has described Kurti’s proposed phase-out as a trick.Kosovo was formerly a part of Serbia and won independence after a 1999 NATO bombing campaign that ended a bloody Serb crackdown on an armed uprising by members of Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority. Serbia refuses to accept Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence.
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A Green Wave in French Municipal Elections?
Amid stalls of vegetables and cheap clothes, party faithful push campaign flyers at Saint-Denis’ weekly market near the French capital under scudding clouds. Some shoppers brush past, unconvinced by the political offers. Others accept the colorful manifestos, stuffing them between bags of cassavas and oranges. Located a few miles outside Paris, this gritty suburb is the ultimate French melting pot, boasting no fewer than 140 different nationalities. Ahead of the first round of French municipal elections Sunday — still on track, despite the coronavirus outbreak — bread-and-butter issues like fighting crime and increasing affordable housing rank high.A flyer advertising the candidacy of Socialist Mathieu Hanotin, who wants to expand green spaces if elected. (Lisa Bryant/VOA)But like elsewhere in France, green issues also dominate candidate platforms, powered by voter concerns about climate change, pesticides and pollution. Analysts speculate France’s Greens party could capture a number of towns, large and small. Perhaps more strikingly, however, the Greens no longer have the lock on environmental issues. “We’re seeing the environment capturing a growing place in candidates’ platforms, regardless of their political beliefs,” said Maud Lelievre, spokeswoman for Les Eco Maires, a network of 1,800 environmentally minded communes in France. “It’s no longer a marginal issue,” Lelievre said. “It takes up pages of their platforms — issues like animal welfare, greening cities, local produce and transport. These were issues traditionally reserved for really environmental parties.” Even in towns like Saint-Denis, with historically high abstention rates, the green vote may dominate, Lelievre said, partly because residents with strong convictions tend to be the ones heading to the polls. A mixed political choiceAt City Hall, Mayor Laurent Russier lists priorities, from making neighborhoods clean and secure to ensuring the town’s poorest residents will not be squeezed out by wealthier transplants from Paris. Saint-Denis Mayor Laurent Russier, whose agenda includes expanding bike lanes and eco-friendly buildings. (Lisa Bryant/VOA)As a communist, Russier fits a once-common profile for working-class French suburbs like this one. Yet his ticket offers a 21st-century twist — Greens party members — and he also describes plans to expand bike lanes and mass transport and build more low-emission buildings. “If we want to have a real environmental transition, all our residents need to be part of it,” Russier said. “Those who are more fragile and those better off.” At the Saint-Denis market, Russier’s rivals are sounding similar messages. “The majority of French and people living in Saint-Denis don’t vote for green parties,” although green issues are important to them, said Alexandre Aidara, running for mayor on the governing La Republique en Marche (LREM) ticket. “And they know you can be LREM and have a very good green program.” A few blocks away, Socialist Party candidate Mathieu Hanotin described how Saint-Denis sweltered in last summer’s heat wave, which he attributed to climate change.“We want to bring in new ambition on issues like soil degradation and greening public spaces,” he said. For long-term resident Marion Tisserand, a mother of three, their arguments translated into a difficult choice. “It’s a very mixed picture among the candidates,” she said. “I have a tendency to vote green in elections, but I don’t know yet whom to go for.” Battling over the green labelCountrywide, France’s trademark Greens party hopes to consolidate its strong showing during last year’s European Parliament elections that were echoed elsewhere in Europe. Just one major French city, Grenoble, currently has a Greens party mayor. Now several other municipalities may be up for grabs during these local elections, including Bordeaux, Rouen, Strasbourg and Marseille. Maud Lelievre of Eco Maires says environmental issues have been mainstreamed into party platforms in France. (Lisa Bryant/VOA)Lelievre, of Eco Maires, said the Greens may fare well in this first round of voting, but less so in the second round, scheduled for March 22. “But in big towns with young, well-educated voters, there’s a chance of environmentalists coming ahead” in the second as well, she said. Yet like Saint-Denis, other municipalities are seeing a partisan battle for the green mantle. That’s the case in Paris, where Socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo has built kilometers of bike lanes, has established car-free days and spaces, and has promised to expand plans to create more “urban jungles” of plants. She has earned the ire of drivers, even as other critics claim she has covered stretches of Paris in cement as well as in trees. “Hidalgo is ecology in small steps,” David Belliard, her Greens party rival, said. Yet Hidalgo remains the front-runner; Belliard ranks fourth.
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The World Shuts Down — But Italy Sings
The world may be shutting down but there’s still time for music in Italy, even if the concert halls are closed.Across Italy, from the Tuscan town of Siena to the southern city of Naples, Italians are refusing to be silenced. Overnight, neighbors started singing together, leaning out through open windows or standing on their balconies — a collective act of civic solidarity and coronavirus defiance.In Siena they started singing a traditional Tuscan folk song, Il Canto della Verbena (And While Siena Sleeps), one of the town’s most cherished melodies and sung since the Middle Ages. The back-and-forth choruses echoed down the narrow, deserted street of the medieval town. “Long live Siena, the most beautiful of cities.”A video posted on social media of the singing went viral, with many on Twitter saluting the singing as a “beautiful” act of humanity.“People of my hometown Siena sing a popular song from their houses along an empty street to warm their hearts during the Italian COVID-19 lockdown,” wrote one person on Twitter.A resident uses pot lids to play cymbals as she takes part in a music flash mob called “Look out from the window, Rome mine!” The event sought to liven up the city’s silence during the coronavirus lockdown, March 13, 2020.Others said that despite being separated in their homes, Italians were showing they remained together. Siena’s singing prompted other towns to follow. In Naples, quarantined Italians in apartment blocks in the Casoria district of the city joined in singing in defiance of the deadly disease sweeping the country. In one video they can be heard singing the local soccer chant: “People like us will never give up; people like us will never give up; people like us; people like us; people like us will never give up. Come on Italy! Come on Naples! Forever!”Naples escaped the first waves of coronavirus cases, documenting just 95 infections so far, but as with the rest of Italy, Neapolitans are locked down on a “stay-at-home” rule imposed by the Italian government to try to retard the spread of COVID-19. As of Thursday, Siena had 29 confirmed cases, according to the country’s Civil Protection Agency.Italy’s death toll rose above 1,260 Friday, with more than 17,660 confirmed cases. The epicenters were still mainly in the north of the country, in the regions of Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna. Siena had 41 confirmed cases, and Naples had 140.The singing came soon after the country’s Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio praised Italians for observing the national lockdown, which tightly restricts people’s movements.All shops, aside from food stores and pharmacies, and all schools are shuttered.He told broadcasters: “Our grandfathers were drafted to go to war; we’re being asked to stay at home. … If a doctor and a nurse can work for 24 hours nonstop, we can give up leaving our own home. The huge majority of citizens are respecting the rules.”A man plays guitar as part of a flashmob organized to raise morale during Italy’s coronavirus crisis in Turin, Italy, March 13, 2020.Italian officials say the effectiveness of the national quarantine will depend on two crucial factors — the willingness of Italians to comply with the rules and how long the lockdown can be sustained in the face of mounting economic and social costs. Privately, they acknowledge there are risks of civil unrest, if the shutdown has to be prolonged and doesn’t start showing benefits within the next two weeks in terms of a decline in the rate of infections.Italy has followed the lockdown approach China adopted to quell the spread of COVID-19 in Hubei province, the origin of the virus. Other European countries have started to ramp up to varying degrees their efforts to slow the disease but have not been as radical as Italy, Europe’s coronavirus epicenter, and have opted for more modest restrictions.A man plays accordion as he looks out of an apartment window as part of a flashmob organized to raise morale during Italy’s coronavirus crisis in Rome, March 13, 2020.Like Italy, several countries, including France, Spain, Greece, Denmark and Ireland, have closed schools and universities and banned large gatherings. They are poised to follow Italy’s lockdown example, their officials say, if the rise in cases in their countries can’t be slowed, fearing otherwise huge spikes in infections will overwhelm their hospitals and lead to more deaths.The head of the World Health Organization said Friday that Europe had now become the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.Officials elsewhere in Europe have taken note that in a matter of two weeks, the explosion of cases in Lombardy, one of the wealthiest regions in Italy, exhausted the hospitals there. Lombardy boasts one of the most efficient and well-funded health care systems not just in Italy, but also in Europe. This week, the region’s health care coordinators admitted to reporters that Lombardy’s hospitals were “one step from collapse.”Other officials have been warning that doctors and nurses are close to burnout after working around the clock for weeks.Britain has remained an outlier and has held back from introducing the more restrictive measures being seen on mainland Europe.The number of confirmed cases in the the country reached 590 Thursday — up by 134 in 24 hours. But the British government’s chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, has admitted publicly the actual number of people infected at the moment could be between 5,000 and 10,000.Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a news conference to give the government’s response to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, at Downing Street in London, March 12, 2020.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday confirmed the government was entering the second phase of its response to COVID-19 — moving from trying to contain the virus to retarding its spread. But Johnson has declined so far to close schools and universities or ban large gatherings.Opposition parties and some from Johnson’s own ruling Conservative Party have questioned why Britain is out of line with many other countries where schools have been closed and cities placed on lockdown. They also have called for independent scientists to be able to scrutinize the data that have led Downing Street to proceed more slowly.Gordon Brown, a former prime minister, said Friday that “fears are still growing for our safety; for all the brilliance of Britain’s medics, the government still seems behind the curve.”Vallance told Britain’s Sky News that Downing Street was moving more slowly than other governments because Britain was “a little bit behind” where the coronavirus outbreak is in other European states. He said Britain had managed to slow the rate of infection because of early action in tracing and isolating those infected.“What we don’t want to do is to get into knee-jerk reactions where you have to start doing measures at the wrong pace because something’s happened,” Vallance added.
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Pentagon Reconsiders Microsoft Contract After Amazon Protest
The Pentagon is reconsidering its awarding of a major cloud computing contract to Microsoft after rival tech giant Amazon protested what it called a flawed bidding process.U.S. government lawyers said in a court filing this week that the Defense Department “wishes to reconsider its award decision” and take another look at how it evaluated technical aspects of the companies’ proposals to run the $10 billion computing project.The filing doesn’t address Amazon’s broader argument that the bidding was improperly influenced by President Donald Trump’s dislike of Amazon and its CEO, Jeff Bezos. Bezos owns The Washington Post, a news outlet with which Trump has often clashed.Amazon Web Services is a market leader in providing cloud computing services and had long been considered a leading candidate to run the Pentagon’s Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure project, known as JEDI. The project will store and process vast amounts of classified data, allowing the U.S. military to improve communications with soldiers on the battlefield and use artificial intelligence to speed up its war planning and fighting capabilities.Amazon sued the Pentagon after Microsoft won the contract in October. Work on the project has been halted as the lawsuit proceeds.The judge who is presiding over the bid protest in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims said earlier this month that Amazon’s challenge likely had merit on some technical grounds involving pricing.The Pentagon is asking her for 120 days to reconsider “certain aspects” of its decision. Amazon said in a statement it is pleased the government is taking correction action if it “fully insulates the re-evaluation from political influence and corrects the many issues affecting the initial flawed award.”Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said one possible outcome is that the Pentagon could end up splitting the award between Microsoft and Amazon, or with other vendors. That would move the project forward and get it out of the courts, he said.
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Some US Colleges Cancel, Postpone Graduation Over Virus
Colleges across the U.S. have begun canceling and curtailing graduation amid fears that the coronavirus pandemic will stretch into spring. Some are exploring “virtual” alternatives, while others are considering inviting seniors back for commencement at a later date or just mailing out diplomas.Schools including Brigham Young University, the Savannah College of Art and Design and Berea College are among those telling students that current commencement ceremonies have been canceled. But dozens of other schools say it’s too soon to decide, leaving families uncertain about whether to book flights and hotels and students wondering whether to purchase caps and gowns for the walk across the stage.The graduation decision is being made as colleges scramble to move instruction online and send students home, a move being made by dozens of schools in an attempt to curb spread of the virus. The list of those moving to the web continued to grow Thursday, with schools from Southern Methodist University to the University of Alaska making the change.At Grinnell College in Iowa, which is sending students home this month, officials said there will be no “traditional” graduation ceremony. Instead, the school is mulling how it could honor graduating seniors in an online ceremony. Officials are also debating whether to bring seniors back in 2021 and offer a ceremony for two classes at once.“We want to be celebrate and cherish our students,” said Anne Harris, dean and vice president for academic affairs at the private school of 1,700 students. “But we were following the logic: If we’re sending everybody out, why would we bring everybody back in?”Some students say they understand the need for caution but would feel robbed if they missed a milestone that they spent years working to reach.FILE – In this May 30, 2019, file photo, graduates of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government hold aloft inflatable globes as they celebrate graduating during Harvard University’s commencement exercises in Cambridge, Mass.At Wesleyan University in Connecticut, which is still weighing options, senior Melisa Olgun said commencement is a celebration not only of her college career but also the sacrifices that her parents, immigrants from Turkey, made to get her there. Olgun is the first in her family to graduate from a U.S. university and wants her mother to see her accept her diploma.“This diploma is not just for myself. It’s for my family, it’s for my parents,” Olgun said. “That ability to stand on that stage, to do that, is something I’ve been thinking of and dreaming of since I was a young girl.”Still, she feels conflicted about a possible cancellation. “On one hand I’m very sad, but I also acknowledge the seriousness of the situation and I’m trying to be rational and understanding about that,” she said.“Officials at Cornell University said they still hope to host their traditional ceremony but warned that it’s unknown whether that will be possible. Florida International University told students that events are expected to proceed but said officials are also working on “possible alternative plans.”The coronavirus has infected around 128,000 people worldwide and killed over 4,700. The death toll in the U.S. climbed to 39, with over 1,300 infections.For most people, the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illnesses, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover from the virus in a matter of weeks.Schools say they’re following the advice of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and state health officials who are recommending against mass gatherings as the virus spreads. Governors in some states have called for limits on large events. But schools say it’s hard to forecast where things will stand in two months, and some say it would be premature to cancel.Some colleges, however, said they’re canceling now so they don’t force parents to scuttle their plans at the last minute.Berea College in Kentucky was among the first to cancel ceremonies this week, telling students it would be rescheduled “to a date when such a gathering can be conducted safely.” Officials said they were erring on the side of caution but still want to honor graduates.“They’ve worked hard and we want to recognize all that they’ve accomplished. But we want to do that in a way that protects them and doesn’t jeopardize their safety,” said Tim Jordan, a school spokesman.Canceling commencement can also carry financial implications for schools. Some colleges spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on ceremonies featuring celebrity speakers, dining spreads and other displays of pomp and circumstance. Colleges that have canceled say they don’t know if their speakers will return for later events, or how the cancellation will affect budgets.Some schools, including Tulane University are already announcing that, in case of a cancellation, students will be refunded for their regalia purchases.Some schools are scaling back ceremonies without eliminating them entirely. The Florida Institute of Technology says the school’s spring ceremony will be broken into several smaller events that only students will be allowed to attend. Families will be able to watch online, officials said, and graduates can also return for summer or fall exercises.California State University, Sacramento, said it will make a decision about commencement once officials have “a better understanding of the ongoing impact” of the virus. But the school has decided to cancel all other graduation activities, including hooding ceremonies and cultural celebrations.Canceling graduation is rare but not without precedent in the United States. Schools across the nation scrapped ceremonies in 1970 amid protests over the Vietnam War, and some invited students back to be honored decades later. More recently, outdoor ceremonies in Florida and Texas have been called off amid heavy storms, but most were rescheduled later.At Harvard University, senior Tom Osborn is now wondering whether his family from Migori, Kenya, should cancel their plans to visit for graduation. The school, which is sending students home this week, said it’s too soon to make a decision but officials are working on contingency plans.“It was going to be my family’s first time to campus. They were all excited,” said Osborn, who is studying psychology. “It’s unfortunate. I hope things will still work out.”
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Spain Declares State of Emergency Over Coronavirus
Spain will be in a state of emergency for the next 15 days to better combat the coronavirus, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Friday, in a dramatic increase to the policy response that will allow authorities to confine people and ration goods.The state of emergency, which Sanchez said will formally be decided by a cabinet meeting on Saturday, will give the government power to take wide ranging measures including temporarily occupying factories or any other premises except private homes.”The government of Spain will protect all its citizens and will guarantee the right life conditions to slow the pandemic with as little inconvenience as possible,” Sanchez said. He did not spell out what specific measures the government will take.A tourist records with her mobile phone the landmark Sagrada Familia basilica, which stopped receiving visitors due to the coronavirus outbreak in Barcelona, Spain, March 13, 2020.Schools have already shut down across the country, with many cinemas, theaters or playgrounds also closing and trials suspended in several regions as normal life came to a halt in the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy.Spain has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in Europe after Italy. The current Spanish tally stands at 4,209, up by about 1,000 cases from Thursday and seven times as much as on Sunday. About 120 people have died.Sanchez said the number of cases in Spain could jump to over 10,000 as early as next week but added he was confident the country would defeat the virus, urging all citizens to do their part.”Heroism is also washing your hands and staying home,” he said, referring to health advice to slow the propagation of the coronavirus.Catalonia, Spain’s second-richest region, ordered on Friday the closure of shopping centers with the exception of those selling food or essential goods, as well as gyms and nightclubs, a senior official said.The Madrid region — Spain’s wealthiest — has also decided to close restaurants, bars and shops from Saturday, media including Efe news agency said, with only supermarkets and pharmacies allowed to remain open. Authorities could not yet confirm this.
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