Thailand’s government announced plans Tuesday to declare a state of emergency, taking stricter measures to control the coronavirus outbreak that has infected hundreds of people in the Southeast Asian country.Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha announced the decision in a brief televised address to the nation, saying the one-month state of emergency will go into effect Thursday.The move will give the government enforcement powers not normally available to it, including implementing curfews, censoring the media, dispersing gatherings and allowing deployment of military forces for enforcement.Muaythai boxing fighters and officials gather at a makeshift screening facility as a man in a Hazmat suite talks with a nurse outside Rajadamnern boxing stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, March 19, 2020.Prayuth urged the public to remain calm and warned people against the improper use of social media and hoarding, saying there would now be stricter enforcement against violators.Thailand also Tuesday confirmed 106 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total to 827. Four of the new cases were medical staff. Three deaths were reported, bringing the country’s total to four.Prayuth’s government had been criticized for failing to take strong action to fight the coronavirus even as the daily increases in cases jumped from single digits in February into the hundreds in the past week.
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Month: March 2020
Coronavirus Forces Delay of 2020 Olympics
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday the 2020 Olympics will be postponed until the summer of 2021 at the latest because of the growing coronavirus pandemic.The Olympic games were scheduled to begin in Tokyo on July 24.Abe announced the one-year delay after holding talks by telephone with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.Abe said previously said a delay was unavoidable if all the events could not be carried out as planned. Abe said Tuesday the postponement came after months of escalating pressure from some countries and athletes.The delay inched closer to reality on Sunday when the national Olympic committee in Canada said it was pulling out of the games, and Australia’s committee members informed its athletes they could not adequately train for the summer games after coronavirus control restrictions were imposed.The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee called on the IOC to delay the games on Monday after declining to take a position.Japan has spent more than $10 billion over the past seven years to prepare for the Olympics.
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Africa’s Jazz Great Manu Dibango Dies in France of Virus
Renowned jazz man Manu Dibango, to many the beloved “Papy Groove” who served as an inspiration and pioneer in his art, died on Tuesday with the coronavirus, his official Facebook page announced. He was 86. The saxophonist who inspired what is known as “world music” was recently hospitalized with an illness “linked to COVID-19,” his official Facebook page said last Wednesday, adding that he was “resting well and calmly recovering.” The announcement did not say where he had been hospitalized, but Dibango, who was born in Cameroon, was known to live in France. “He can’t wait to meet you again,” the earlier message said. That was not to be. The artist inspired “world music” in the 1970s with the song “Soul Makossa.” Funeral services were to be “held in strict privacy” followed by a tribute “when possible,” Tuesday’s announcement said. Funerals in France have been limited to 20 people who are in the closest circle of the deceased because of a lockdown to try to slow the spread of COVID-19.
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Zimbabwean Broadcaster Dies of Coronavirus
A well-known 30-year-old television journalist is the first person to die of the coronavirus in Zimbabwe. Zororo Makamba began showing symptoms similar to those of the virus after returning from a trip to New York. Health authorities say he was hospitalized in early March. Zimbabwean officials are now trying to identify people who encountered Makambaas. Makambaas and another person tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday. Health authorities say the other person with the virus is in self-isolation and they are closely watching several people who encountered her. President Emmerson Mnangagwa is taking steps to slow an outbreak of the virus, banning border entry except for citizens or supplies coming into the country. Mnangagwa also is closing bars and nightclubs and banning gatherings of more than 50 people to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
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Minimal US Funding for International COVID-19 Aid So Far
As cases of COVID-19 surge around the world, U.S. President Donald Trump said he is open to helping North Korea, Iran and other countries who need assistance. But beyond the initial $1 billion dollars allocated in early March, so far there is no additional funding to fight the coronavirus abroad. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story.
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Closed US School Help Get Free Meals to Students
This week, thousands of U.S. schools closed as officials sought to contain the new coronavirus. But the move presents new challenges for families who rely on the schools’ free meals and who don’t have the technology needed for their children to study at home. VOAs Cristina Smit reports on how one school district is handling the challenges.
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Hard-Hit Italy Sees Slowing of New Coronavirus Cases, Deaths
Italy, which has suffered by far the deadliest consequences of the novel coronavirus outbreak, reported Tuesday a third consecutive day in which its daily deaths and new infections declined. The 601 deaths recorded Monday are still a staggering figure, but one that is a vast improvement from nearly 800 on Saturday. Italy has reported more than 6,000 deaths and has the second highest overall number of cases. Officials put the entire country on lockdown two weeks ago in hopes of stopping the spread of the virus that has reached nearly every country on the planet. South Korea, which once held the position of being one of the hardest-hit nations showed its own continued progress, reporting Tuesday a daily rise in new cases of 76. That was its 13th consecutive day below 100. Meanwhile China continues to report its own improvements with just four locally transmitted cases in its latest figures Tuesday. But worries persist about a comeback for the virus in China, the place it was first detected in late December, due to cases among people who arrive from elsewhere in the world. China reported 74 such imported cases Tuesday. Medical experts from China stand at the Nikola Tesla airport after arriving with medical supplies to help country’s fight against coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in Belgrade, Serbia, March 21, 2020.Those fears have prompted governments all over the world to institute travel restrictions. Beginning Tuesday, Cuba is barring all tourists from entering the country. Those already there will go into mandatory quarantine, while Cuban citizens will not be able to leave the island. In the United States, about one-third of the population is under stay-at-home orders issued by state governors. The latest was the governor of Hawaii telling people to not go out except for essential trips, while the governor of the western state of Washington tightened an existing order to include closing non-essential businesses. President Donald Trump also signed an executive order Monday which criminalizes the stockpiling of personal protective equipment that medical personnel need to stay safe while treating coronavirus patients. With the national and global response to the outbreak taking an economic toll, U.S. political leaders met late into Monday night trying to finalize an agreement on a massive economic rescue package. They expressed confidence they can reach a deal on Tuesday.
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Lawyers for WikiLeaks Founder to Ask for Bail
Lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange say they will file papers Wednesday to have him released on bail because he is at risk of contracting coronavirus. Assange is being held at a London-area prison as he fights extradition to the United States, where he has been charged with espionage for obtaining classified government documents from former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning and publishing them on his website. The documents were secret diplomatic cables and military files related to the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Health experts say the prisoners are particularly vulnerable to contracting COVID-19 because of overcrowded conditions. Assange has been imprisoned since he was evicted from the Ecuadorian embassy last April, where he had sought refuge to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he was wanted for questioning in a sexual assault case.
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Trial Begins for Former US Marine Accused of Espionage in Russia
The long-awaited trial of a former U.S. Marine facing charges of espionage got under way in Moscow on Monday — with U.S. officials accusing Russia of providing no evidence in a spy case that has proved an added irritant to already troubled relations between the two countries. Paul Whelan, 50, was arrested by FSB security agents in late December 2018 after allegedly accepting classified materials on a computer thumb drive in a central Moscow hotel. Whelan has repeatedly denied those charges, insisting he was in Moscow for a friend’s wedding and had accepted the drive from a Russian acquaintance without ever knowing or viewing its contents. The former Marine, who in addition to U.S. citizenship holds passports from the U.K., Canada and Ireland, also says he’s been mistreated and denied medical treatment while in detention — an assertion that U.S. officials have backed repeatedly and did so again Monday. U.S. Ambassador to Russia John J. Sullivan joined his counterparts from the U.K. and Ireland at the courtroom Monday, where the presiding judge allowed them to speak with Whelan briefly before closing the hearing to the public — a standard practice in Russian-led “top secret” espionage cases. “It’s a sad day for me as an American and a U.S. ambassador, in these circumstances, to come and see a citizen of my country held in such circumstances, with serious health problems unaddressed, with no evidence that’s been produced to justify his incarceration for well over a year, and his inability to communicate with his family despite repeated requests by him and by me to the Russian government,” said Sullivan, in a statement afterward to the press. “I am hoping that, as this process moves forward, we see a fair and transparent judicial process,” Sullivan added. “Every person, every citizen, of every country in the world, deserves that.” In turn, Russia’s foreign ministry has accused Whelan of feigning illness — part of what the ministry says is Whelan’s playbook training as a U.S. intelligence officer after being caught “red-handed” by Russia’s security services. If convicted on existing charges, Whelan faces the possibility of 10-20 years in prison.U.S. ambassador to Russia John Sullivan speaks with journalists after his meeting with Paul Whelan, a U.S. national arrested and accused of espionage, outside a detention centre in Moscow, Russia January 30, 2020.COVID-19, witnesses, and ‘a goat rodeo’ The Whelan trial proved one of the rare court proceedings currently in session in Russia, after the country’s high court postponed most judicial work last week out of fear of the spread of the coronavirus. Whelan’s Russian lawyers, Olga Karla and Vladimir Zherebenkov, said that — barring unforeseen delays because of the contagion — the closed trial would last about a month in which they promised to mount a vigorous defense. Speaking to reporters, Zherebenkov said he planned to call at least a dozen witnesses, all of them Russians with whom Whelan had been in contact during multiple visits to the Russian Federation in recent years. Whelan’s legal team also indicated they planned to call embassy officials to the stand, a move they assured would prove Whelan’s innocence of the spy charges. “We’ll interrogate the embassies to prove that Whelan physically could not be an agent as a citizen of four different countries,” said Zherebenkov, in comments carried by the Interfax News Agency. “It’s simply not possible,” he added. Yet, throughout the run-up to Monday’s hearing, Zherebenkov has repeatedly acknowledged that politics may play a larger role than material evidence in resolving the case. Last December, the lawyer publicly floated the idea of including Whelan in a wider prisoner swap between Russia and the West. “Paul is a citizen of four countries. None of them has asked to organize his exchange yet,” noted Zherebenkov before pleading: “Take the initiative gentlemen!” Meanwhile, Whelan has called on U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene on his behalf, asking the American leader “to tweet your intentions” about a case that Whelan has colorfully labeled “the Moscow goat rodeo.”
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Fauci: Trump’s Remarks Can Lead to ‘Misunderstandings’
President Donald Trump’s top disease expert says some of what Trump expresses in coronavirus briefings “could lead to some misunderstanding” about the facts. Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has become a household name and a familiar face because of the daily White House coronavirus briefings. In an interview with Science magazine, Fauci said Trump listens. He said while he doesn’t disagree with the president in substance, he would express it differently. “He goes his own way. He has his own style. But on substantive issues, he does listen to what I say,” Fauci said. But the doctor says there isn’t much he can do when Trump makes a misstatement. “I can’t jump in front of the microphone and push him down. OK, he said it. Let’s try and get it corrected for the next time,” Fauci said Fauci told the magazine that he will never call the coronavirus the “China virus,” which is what Trump consistently calls it during the briefings. The doctor indicated that these daily White House press gatherings make him a bit uneasy because of relatively large number of people at the podium and reporters in the room. “I keep saying, ‘Is there any way we can get a virtual press conference?’ Thus far, no. But when you’re dealing with the White House, sometimes you have to say things one, two, three, four times, and then it happens. So, I’m going to keep pushing.” Fauci said that Vice President Mike Pence, the head of the coronavirus task force, is much more of a “bear” than Trump in keeping people apart. Fauci said it is premature to try to figure out why the U.S. was underprepared for the outbreak. But for now, he said people need to follow the fundamental guidelines in preventing the spread while maintaining what he calls a “delicate balance” when considering more drastic steps. “There’s a compromise. If you knock down the economy completely and disrupt infrastructure, you may be causing health issues, unintended consequences, for people who need to be able to get to places and can’t. You do the best you can.”
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6 Chinese, 2 Ugandans Accused of Evading COVID Quarantine in Uganda
Ugandan authorities have charged six Chinese nationals and two Ugandans with conducting acts likely to spread disease after they allegedly violated a coronavirus quarantine order. The eight men were arrested at a border crossing Sunday as the Chinese nationals allegedly tried to enter the Democratic Republic of Congo. They face a prison sentence of up to seven years if found guilty of the charges. Authorities say the six Chinese left a Kampala hotel on March 19, five days before completing a mandatory quarantine period meant to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. They were arrested Sunday, in the Zombo district, trying to cross into the Democratic Republic of Congo. The men have been identified as Huang Haiguiang, Li Chaochyan, Lin Xiaofang, Qin Shening, Liang Xinging, and Huang Wei. Two Ugandans, Matovu Abdu and Nansuna Swabu, were charged with aiding the Chinese escape from self-quarantine. Dr. Joyce Moriku Kaducu, state minister for primary health care, said the prosecutions will serve as an example to the 1,800 others currently under quarantine in Uganda. Kampala Uganda“They violated the principles of self-isolation and they were intercepted at the border, crossing into Congo. That is along Zombo, in Goli border,” she said. “And they have been brought back under the directives of his excellency, the president. And the president gave a directive that these people should be produced in the courts of law.” On Saturday, the Ugandan government ordered a 30-day closure of all border entry and exit points after doctors confirmed the country’s first case of COVID-19. President Yoweri Museveni said the shutdown is designed to protect what he called the base, meaning Uganda and its 42 million people. Anyone who entered the country before Saturday and came from a nation with high numbers of COVID-19, cases such as China, is required to be placed under mandatory quarantine or self-isolation for 14 days. FILE – Yoweri Museveni, who has been president of Uganda since 1986, speaks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) Africa meeting at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Sept. 4, 2019.President Museveni also ordered police and army units to help monitor the borders, saying that regular border guards and medical personnel were overwhelmed. “They cannot contain people by themselves,” he said. “They will have to work with army and the police. And we also said we shall not allow people to come in through the gazetted centers and even the hidden ones. We are going to deploy the forces on all those.” Uganda has experience keeping epidemics at arm’s length, having dealt with multiple deadly outbreaks of Ebola in Congo over the last few years.
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Rights Group Condemns Internet Shutdown in Ethiopia, Points to Threats of Coronavirus Spread
Millions of Ethiopians in western Oromia are cut off from phone and internet access due to a government-imposed shutdown, according to the advocacy group Human Rights Watch. The lack of information is particularly important as Ethiopians seek vital news about the global spread of coronavirus, HRW said Monday. The shutdown is also making it difficult for outside observers to gauge the humanitarian needs inside the Oromia region. “This means that their relatives who are living outside of the region are struggling to get any information about what’s going on. This has also had an impact on the number of humanitarian actors who haven’t been able to get good information on what the humanitarian situation and the security situation is like,” HRW lead researcher Laetitia Bader told VOA. “So, this is really having an impact on people both inside and outside of these affected areas.” FILE – Dr. Lia Tadesse, Minister of Health of Ethiopia, speaks during an urgent press conference at the Federal Ministry of Health after the first case of COVID-19 coronavirus was detected in Ethiopia, in Addis Ababa, March 13, 2020.As of Sunday, Ethiopia had only 11 reported cases of coronavirus, but experts have urged the need for a nationwide public education campaign using television, internet and radio. Health professionals are spreading the word of the importance of good hygiene habits and giving information on how to spot symptoms. “The government’s refusal makes it likely that key information is not reaching everyone, including those vital to control efforts in western Oromia — health care workers and humanitarian organizations,” Bader wrote in a statement. ‘Blanket communication bans’ The Ethiopian government began cutting connections to mobile phone networks, landlines and the Internet in the Oromia region on Jan. 3, HRW said. Affected areas include Kellem Wellega, West Wellega, and Horo Gudru Wellega zones. The government’s move is reported to be in response to unrest in the region, including clashes between government forces and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). Taye Dendea, the Oromia regional spokesman for the ruling Prosperity Party, said the armed group is more dangerous than a virus. “I would say that in Wellega, there isn’t a virus, coronavirus, worse than the ‘Shene,’ [the armed wing of the OLA in Western Oromia]. It can be demonstrated with reason,” he said, speaking about an ongoing counterinsurgency operation in the Oromia region. “It is important to think about the safety of the population.” Internet and mobile phone access in the country is controlled by Ethio Telecom, which has about 57 million subscribers. The blackout has prompted a Twitter campaign using the hashtag #ReconnectTheWestETH. Additionally, on March 20, the International Oromo Lawyers Association wrote a letter to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed demanding a change. “The population is suffering behind a dark curtain,” the group wrote in a letter. “Without access to the information of what is happening in these areas, public scrutiny of the act of the government is impossible.”International Oromo Lawyers Association (IOLA) writes to @PMEthiopia@AbiyAhmedAli seeking the restoration of internet and phone service for over 16 million #Oromo#Ethiopians living in information blackout. Information is the key in fighting #COVIDー19#ReconnectTheWestETHpic.twitter.com/OBSMZwqiKk— Henok G. Gabisa (@henokgabisa) March 20, 2020But Taye questioned how much of a role the internet has in preventing the spread of coronavirus in Ethiopia. የኢንተርኔት እና የኮሮና ግንኙነት
ሸኔን የማዳን ባዶ ጩኼት!
ሰሞኑን ከኮሮና ጋር ተያይዘዉ በርካታ ጉዳዮች ይነሳሉ። ትልቁ ጉዳይ የምዕራብ ኦሮሚያ ኢንተርኔት መዘጋት ነዉ። ኢንተርኔት…Posted by “The government should be looking at finding ways to make sure that information can flow freely,” she said. “That important discussion about security situations and social unrest can take place in a peaceful and positive manner. And obviously, these blanket communication bans are a problem.”
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Holiday Lights in Spring Brighten Dark Times
At a time of great uncertainty, even the seasons seem scrambled. Christmas lights in springtime? Wrapped around a tree trunk in Colorado, fashioned into a heart in Alabama and hung high over Main Street in a New Hampshire town, holiday lights are going back up. As the coronavirus spreads, the displays are providing a bit of emotional and actual brightness. And they’re especially easy to enjoy from a safe social distance. “We live out in the country, but I know you can see them from the highway,” said Julie Check, who turned on the white lights that trace the roof line of her home in Eastman, Wisconsin, on Wednesday night. “Anything I can do to make people happy right now, I’m going to try to do.” In Farmington, New Hampshire, a roughly five-block stretch of downtown has been re-illuminated with holiday lights that swoop and zigzag between tall wooden posts. So cherished is the town’s 80-year decorating tradition that taxpayers approved spending $11,500 six years ago to erect the posts after the electric company said lights could no longer be affixed to its poles. Jason Desjardin, of the Farmington Preservation & Improvement Organization, turns the Christmas lights back on in Farmington, N.H., March 19, 2020.”It’s a small town; we don’t have a lot of traditions. That was one of them, and we just didn’t want it to go away,” said Lee Warburton, president of the Farmington Preservation and Improvement Organization, which maintains and installs the lights. At his suggestion, the 27 strands totaling 2,000-plus bulbs were tested and turned back on Thursday night. “It’s tough for everybody right now. Everyone is on edge,” he said. “We just thought it would be nice to give the folks in town something to smile about.” Police Chief John Drury was all for the idea. He remembers how pretty the lights looked when he first visited the town for a job interview on a December day 20 years ago. “It was one of the things that actually drew me to this community when I was first looking to be a police officer,” he said. “By bringing the lights back, hopefully it gives people the sense of hope that we’re all in this together. We’ll get through it.” A lit Christmas tree hangs from a pole at dusk as holiday lights illuminate downtown in Farmington, N.H., March 19, 2020.Many of the posts on Twitter and other social media platforms point back to a Colorado man who tweeted Monday that his mom thought people should put Christmas lights in their windows “to remind each other there is still life and light” while they stay home to avoid the virus. Rosemary Peterson, the mom in question, said Thursday she made the offhand suggestion after making the wrenching decision to indefinitely postpone the funeral for her sister, Marlene, who died on March 13. “We know we are not alone. Many are giving up events, experiences, celebrations and milestones,” she said. “So in the midst of a lot of darkness, I thought we could all use some light.” Both she and her son were surprised that his tweet took off. “He told me, ‘Mom, there are a lot of people looking at this!’ and I said, ‘Oh, no! We have to go put out some lights!'” Peterson said. “We ran out and wrapped a tree and had another light string we put around our front window. Nothing too fancy, I’ll tell ya.” Two young men walk down Main Street under Christmas lights in downtown Farmington, N.H., March 19, 2020.Since then, others have adopted his #lightsforlife hashtag to share photos of their efforts. In Huntsville, Alabama, Sarah Bang said she usually just winds a string of white lights around the railing of her apartment balcony for Christmas. But after seeing Peterson’s tweet, she made a heart shape instead. “I had Christmas lights because I’m super into Christmas, so I dug them out and decided love was a good thing to spread,” she said.
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Singapore Bucks Virus Trend as Schools Reopen
Students in Singapore returned to school on Monday, bucking a global trend of coronavirus-driven closures and signaling that the quick crisis response may be letting the nation and the economy return to normal earlier than others.Grade schools began their new term but with extra precautions, including 14 days of confinement for those who return from overseas and health checks twice a day for kindergartners, said the Ministry of Education.The ministry also asked companies to help make arrangements for their staff if they have to remain in confinement with their school-age children. The request highlights the economic impact COVID-19 has had on parents in many nations who must stay home with children while schools are closed.While other nations are still discussing how serious the virus may be, Singapore has been responding to it since January, when its first case was reported. The island state’s response included early and mass testing, restricted movement, and financial support as economic activity slowed down.“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and work with schools, preschools, parents and the community to ensure that our schools and preschools remain a safe and secure environment,” the education ministry said. The ministry added that for parents who must stay home, “Employers are encouraged to provide flexible work arrangements for their employees to accommodate such exceptional circumstances.”Singapore has been able to mostly contain the virus so far, but the economic impact has already appeared. Travel, consumption, and trade have decreased. Singapore is also highly exposed to the oil market as a trading hub, so a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia is adding to the commercial problems set off by the pandemic.A view of an empty Changi Airport in Singapore, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), March 23, 2020.Moody’s Investors Service forecast the nation would see zero growth in gross domestic product in the first half of the year.“Singapore [is] particularly susceptible to swings in the global economy through its external trade orientation and large exposure to China,” Eugene Tarzimanov, a vice president and senior credit officer at Moody’s, said.Economic activity is expected to pick up again now that children and teachers can go back to the classroom. The Ministry of Education said children who have to stay in temporary confinement will be provided with online teaching.It also said that officials spent the month of March sanitizing the schools, from jet washing the cafeterias to shampooing the carpets. While students are on campus, there will be assigned seats. They will have no extracurricular activities. Wipe-down routines for the classrooms and cafeterias are also being implemented, according to the ministry.These are part of measures more broadly taken across the island nation to contain the novel coronavirus outbreak; however, some of the factors that contributed to containment in Singapore may not necessarily be applicable to other nations. Observers say those factors range from the geography and population of fewer than 6 million people, to the strong central government and higher level of surveillance. For instance, the state has created a smartphone app that notes users’ location and proximity to other users, a tool that could help with contact tracing for people who become infected. The news set off a debate about the need to balance public health and safety with individuals’ right to privacy.
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Mangrove Forests Protect Miami From Rising Tides
Rising seas are causing inland flooding in many parts of the world. This is especially true in southern Florida where, increasingly, high tides are flooding buildings and roads, threatening drinking water and causing soil erosion. As we hear from VOA’s Deborah Block, human-caused climate change is the biggest culprit, but Mother Nature is lending a hand to hold back the tides.
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Kurdish Crackdown Continues in Turkey, Despite Health Emergency
Turkish security forces detained five elected Kurdish mayors Monday in anti-terror raids, a move that was condemned by human rights groups, as Turkey is grappling with the coronavirus pandemic. The mayors are members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which swiftly attacked the detentions. “We reject with hatred this vile attempt that does not shy away from showing enmity against Kurds, even in these difficult days when the whole world is battling an epidemic,” said Mithat Sancar, co-leader of the HDP. Co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party Mithat Sancar waves as he attends the 4th Ordinary Peoples’ Democratic Party congress in Ankara on Feb. 23, 2020.Sancar told reporters Monday that security forces seized municipal offices in the city of Batman and in the towns of Egil, Silvan, Lice and Ergani. Local media broadcast images of public workers locked out of their workplaces. The HDP said the municipalities were in the forefront of trying to contain the virus. The detentions occurred across Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast, the center of a decades-long war by the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) against the Turkish state. The government accuses the HDP of providing logistic and tacit support to the PKK through its network of mayors, a charge the party denies. In an ongoing crackdown, over 30 elected HDP mayors have been removed from office under anti-terror legislation and replaced with government-appointed trustees. But with Turkey facing a health emergency over the coronavirus, the latest detentions are drawing widespread criticism. “In the midst of this coronavirus pandemic, the interior minister is intent on hounding the HDP by removing the mayors of the Southeast and therefore depriving thousands of voters of their choice,” said Emma Sinclair-Webb, Turkey researcher for the New York-based Human Rights Watch. “The grounds of imprisonment are very vague assertions, scant evidence,” Sinclair-Webb said. “Much of the evidence is based on secret witnesses. There is a pattern of complete misuse of the charge of terrorism against people. There is no proof.” Sezgin Tanrikulu of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) speaks to journalists in Istanbul, Oct. 9, 2018.”In fear of Allah, in this period, we need unity and to work,” said Sezgin Tanrikulu, deputy leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). Neither the ruling AKP or state officials have so far commented on the detentions.
The latest crackdown on the HDP comes as the AKP indicated it was considering a mass release of prisoners. Turkey’s prison population has more than doubled since ongoing crackdowns on the country’s pro-Kurdish movement, and in the aftermath of the 2016 failed coup. Earlier this month, national and international human rights groups called for action to ease prison overcrowding, given fears over COVID-19. “We are extremely concerned about Turkish prisons, because they are very overcrowded. The prison population is almost 300,000, which is very high for a country the size of Turkey,” Sinclair-Webb said. “There are a lot of worries of access to medical help in prisons at the best of the times, let alone the worst of times.” Silivri Prison complex is pictured in Silivri near Istanbul, June 24, 2019. Mehmet Mus, deputy parliamentary head of the AKP, confirmed his party was looking into legal steps to ease the prison population. “The government has accelerated an important plan to provide early parole for some prisoners,” Sinclair-Webb said. “Now, that is welcome.” She added, “But the government has so far said they will exempt prisoners charged under terrorism charges and crimes against the state. (In) reality, that includes many journalists, mayors, politicians and human rights defenders.” According to international media watchdogs, Turkey is one of the biggest jailers of journalists in the world. A local newspaper editor in the Kocaeli province was detained by police over the weekend for reporting on the coronavirus. He was released after questioning. Police have also held several people for social media posts about the coronavirus. The government insists it is determined to prevent people from spreading panic. On Sunday, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said that nine people had died from COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths to 30. The number of confirmed cases rose from 289 to 1,236. Turkish authorities stepped up restrictions to contain the virus. In a presidential decree issued Sunday, some civil servant workers were allowed to work at home. Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu delivers a speech in Ankara, Oct. 3, 2019.Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu stepped up pressure on medical product manufacturers and accused some companies of hoarding. “Some of the manufacturers stockpile the masks. We warned them again on Sunday night to sign contracts with the Ministry of Health,” he said. Soylu announced Sunday that the first raids on manufacturers had begun and that authorities will seize mask-producing factories if they don’t agree to sell to the state. On Monday, banking hours were restricted. Istanbul’s world-renowned Grand Bazaar was temporarily closed. All entertainment venues, including restaurants and cinemas, are closed, along with schools and universities. Prayers are no longer held in mosques.
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Nigeria Player Killed in Car Crash, Another Kidnapped
A soccer player formerly on Nigeria’s national team was killed in a car crash and another was kidnapped by gunmen while driving in a separate incident on the same day, their clubs said Monday. Ifeanyi George, who played two games for Nigeria in 2017, was killed along with club teammate Emmanuel Ogbu when their car collided with a parked truck in Edo state in southern Nigeria on Sunday. Their deaths were announced in a statement from their club, Enugu Rangers. George was 26. Ogbu was a member of the club’s youth team. A third man who was in the car and who was not a soccer player was also killed. The Nigerian soccer league was suspended last week because of the coronavirus pandemic and George and the other men were reportedly returning home to Lagos. Also Sunday, Nigeria striker Dayo Ojo of two-time African club champion Enyimba and a player from a different team were kidnapped by gunmen while traveling by car to the city of Akure in southwestern Nigeria. Enyimba said another of its players escaped from the gunmen. Ojo played for Nigeria at the 2018 African Nations Championship, when the team made the final. Kidnappings for ransom are relatively common in Nigeria and soccer players and coaches and their families are often targets. Former Nigeria captain John Obi Mikel and former national team coach Samson Siasia have both had relatives kidnapped. Siasia’s mother was kidnapped and later released last year. Mikel’s father has been kidnapped twice, the latest time while his son was playing for Nigeria at the 2018 World Cup.
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DHS: Pandemic Measures Cut Illegal Border Crossings By Half
A Trump administration official said Sunday that illegal border crossings have dropped by half as the strictest U.S.-Mexico border policies yet went into place amid the coronavirus pandemic, but there was confusion about how it was all working.
Anyone caught crossing the border illegally is to be immediately returned back to Mexico or Canada, according to the new restrictions based on an order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late Friday. According to Mark Morgan, the acting head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the decision applies to all migrants.
“We’re not going to take you into our custody,” he said Saturday evening on Fox News. “We don’t know anything about you. You have no documents, we’re not going to take you into our facilities and expose you to CBP personnel and the American people as well as immigrants,” he said.
But Mexican officials have said they would only take people from Mexico and Central America and only those who are encountered straight away — not people already in custody. Officials later said the elderly and minors won’t be taken back and that they expected to take in about 100 per day.
“If people who are not Mexican or Central American are returned to us, Mexico would not accept them,” Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Friday in Spanish. “The United States will take care of that.”
The majority of people crossing the border are from Central America, but not all. For example, there were some 6,000 Brazilians and nearly 1,200 Chinese who arrived between January and February this year, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
But it’s not entirely clear what happens to those people. Morgan said the migrants should be “expeditiously” returned to the country they came from.
CDC on Friday issued an order in effect for 30 days that bars anyone coming illegally in part because migrants are held in close quarters and there isn’t enough proper staffing or space to keep them at a safe distance and to screen for the illness. Plus, migrants who are suspected of having COVID-19 are sent to local hospitals, possibly further infecting others, the CDC warned.
The borders remain open, according to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, but only to facilitate trade; the U.S. has about $3 billion per day with Canada and Mexico. Tourists and shoppers were asked to stay home.
Wolf said Sunday on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that the number of migrants crossing illegally had plummeted, but it was important to “keep supply chains open,” but to do it in a careful and considerate way that would “limit the introduction and spread of the virus.”
Meanwhile, there was growing concern on the Mexican side of the border that the number of migrants stranded there would only increase, with shelters already at capacity.
“We have 300 people in the shelter and we can no longer take it. We have been a week without the United States asking for people and if they don’t ask, we are going to be overcrowded,” said Héctor Joaquín Silva, director of the Senda de Reynosa shelter, which borders McAllen, Texas.
Silva said he hasn’t accepted more migrants and has kept the shelter in quarantine to avoid infections but that migrants continue to arrive in Reynosa.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., immigrant advocates filed a lawsuit in Washington D.C. requesting the immediate release of migrant families from detention facilities over concerns of inadequate care and an environment ripe for an outbreak. They say the country’s three detention centers where families are held — Berks in Pennsylvania, and Karnes and Dilley in Texas — have failed to take adequate measures to protect families from COVID-19.
Immigration enforcement has wide latitude on when to release migrants. Earlier this year, Homeland Security officials said they would detain families as long as possible in an effort to discourage migrants from crossing the border. Most families are held 20 days.
“The families who are detained in these detention centers facilities have no criminal history and do not pose any threat whatsoever to public safety and are not a flight risk — they all came to the United States to seek asylum and are actively pursuing the right to remain in the United States,” the advocacy groups wrote.
ICE has said it is working to contain any spread of the virus in its detention facilities. The agency did not comment on the lawsuit. Immigration courts are still operating, but with scattered closures and delays in some hearings.
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. More than 300,000 have been infected worldwide.
The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. 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.
Curbing immigration has been a signature policy of Trump’s, and he’s tried to block asylum seekers before but failed after courts ruled against him. On Sunday, a text from his re-election campaign read: “Pres. Trump is making your safety his #1 priority. That’s why we’re closing BORDERS to illegals.”
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COVID-19 Spread Provokes Anti-Foreigner, Anti-Diaspora Sentiment in Cameroon
Officials in Cameroon are calling on citizens to stop attacks on foreigners and visitors from the diaspora who are being blamed for an increase in coronavirus cases. The attacks began after some passengers on an Air France flight that landed in Cameroon last week ignored a quarantine order. Forty-three-year-old businessman Ferdinand Muffo Che says he has been victim of regular attacks and harassment since he returned to Yaounde from Milan, Italy through France on March 17. He says residents of Ekounou, the neighborhood where he lives, accuse him of being a healthy carrier infecting people with COVID-19. “I do not see why my own country where I was born will reject me because I have been out. The coronavirus is a problem that concerns the whole world,” he said.FILE – People ride motorcycles in Douala, Cameroon, Nov. 4, 2013.Che is one of 198 passengers of an Air France flight that landed at the Douala International airport on March 17. The government ordered all of its passengers to be isolated in hotels for at least 15 days. Instead, many of them escaped to their homes, provoking the anger of some Cameroonians. On the streets of Yaounde, attacks and insults on people identified as foreigners, especially whites and Chinese, have increased sharply in the last week. The U.S. Embassy in Yaounde has reported a rise in verbal and online harassments, stone throwing and banging of vehicles occupied by expatriates. Spreading misinformationEbenezer Mukete, 29, says he is among those who joined the attacks. He alleges that COVID-19 was created by either the U.S. or China for commercial purposes and unfortunately, developed into a health crisis. There is no scientific evidence to support his allegation. “They create the so called pandemic, and they come and inflict{spread} in Africa,” he said. “When you listen to the French president, he says France is at war, American president comes out and says America is at war. Let them fight their war not in Africa. The minister of public health is telling us that the cases are from abroad. Whites coming to transmit it to Cameroonians, so let them go away. We do not have any other choice than to attack them.” Cameroon health minister Manaouda Malachie has called on the population to stop the attacks. He adds that everyone should respect measures put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19. He says people who came in from Europe, China and America before Cameroon closed its borders should not be stigmatized, but that they as well as any other Cameroonian who has cold, severe respiratory syndrome, runny nose, cough, sore throat and tiredness, should contact the nearest hospital. He says those who are running from isolation should know that they may be putting the lives of their families and communities in danger and that they will be treated free of charge if tested positive. Confirmed cases
Cameroon confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on February 6. On Monday, officials said the number of confirmed cases had increased to 40, with a majority of them imported. Seven are Cameroonians infected by their relatives who came from Europe. In an effort to stop the spread of the virus, Cameroon last week closed all its borders and suspended issuance of visas into the country until further notice.
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Turkey Threatens to Seize Face Mask Producing Factories
Turkish officials are threatening to seize factories where face masks are produced if the companies running them do not agree to sell their products to the government.Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told Turkish state-run media Monday the companies must stop hoarding their stock and sign contracts with the health ministry or they will be seized. He was quoted as saying the government would pay a fair price for the face masks.Soylu said the government Sunday carried out simultaneous raids on depots of some local producers that were stockpiling the protective masks.The actions come as Turkey’s death toll from the virus increased by nine to 30 on Sunday, with 1,256 confirmed cases after a surge in the last two weeks. Soylu says Turkey currently has quarantined about 10,750 people.The country has closed about 165,000 businesses, called for citizens to practice social distancing and issued a full curfew for people over 65 to fight the spread of the virus.
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Japan to Quarantine Visitors from US for Up to 14 days
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Monday that his country will require a 14-day quarantine to all visitors from the United States amid an escalating number of coronavirus infections around the globe. The quarantine requirement includes Japanese and American citizens and will go into effect Thursday until the end of April. The move comes after Japan raised its travel advisory for the United States, urging Japanese citizens not to make nonessential trips to the nation. FILE – Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attends a news conference on Japan’s response to the coronavirus outbreak at his official residence in Tokyo, March 14, 2020.Abe’s announcement came during a meeting of his government task force on COVID-19 outbreak, citing the number of infections around the world. Abe said the new requirement is in line with containment measures taken by other countries, including the United States, which has reported a surge in new COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. Japan appears to have successfully slowed the spread of the virus on its soil, with just 1,101 diagnosed cases as of Monday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
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Actress Debi Mazar Has Coronavirus
Actress Debi Mazar has joined the growing number of celebrities who have tested positive for coronavirus.
The actress, best-known for roles in the movie “Goodfellas” and TV shows “Entourage” and “Younger,” announced the news on social media.bShe says she is healing at home and her family is under quarantine for 14 days.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever or coughing. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. Some 93,800 people have recovered, mostly in China.
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School Districts Take Unplanned Plunge Into Online Learning
In a whirlwind week, teachers came up with digital versions of everything from high-school English discussions to kindergarten gym classes, city officials scrambled to find laptops for students in need, and parents grappled with how they would keep kids’ attention on schoolwork. The New York City school system, the nation’s largest with 1.1 million students, is taking the plunge into online education on Monday, joining districts around the U.S. in an unplanned, unprecedented test of virtual teaching during the coronavirus shutdowns. Among the many wondering just what it will look like is Wilson Almonor, a junior who traveled an hour from his Bronx home to his Manhattan high school Thursday to try to get a loaner laptop. He left empty-handed, though he said he was told he’d get a call this week about a loaner tablet.”I’m not used to online classes. I don’t know if it’s going to really help me,” said Almonor, who is concerned about keeping up with his Advanced Placement classes and staying on track to graduate, and about how he’ll ask questions of teachers in the digital cloud.Plus, “when we are in school, we’re learning but we’re also having fun,” said Almonor, who arrived from Haiti in 2018 to join his mother, who works with the elderly.Virtual school — sometimes known by “distance learning” or other terms — has existed for decades. But it’s far from ubiquitous in U.S. schools because of digital inequities among students, concerns about implications for teachers, and other factors. Ready or not, schools everywhere are getting a crash course. In the U.S., more than 118,000 public and private schools in 45 states have closed, affecting 53 million students, according to a tally kept by Education Week. “We’re about to go into the very big unknown, but we’re excited,” New York City schools chancellor Richard Carranza said Friday. To him, it’s an opportunity to take the concept to a grand scale. Some other experts aren’t so optimistic. They say too few U.S. educators have been trained to teach effectively online, and no one should expect too much of stopgap programs rolled out within days during a stressful time for teachers, students and families.”It has the potential to be awesome, but not this way,” said Michael Young, a University of Connecticut professor who specializes in education technology.Educators, too, acknowledge that distance learning can only go so far.In suburban Atlanta, the Fulton County school district has sped up computer purchasing and lent Wi-Fi hotspot devices to some of its 94,000 students. Superintendent Mike Looney credits teachers with delivering inventive and rigorous online instruction.Still, “I don’t want to give anyone the false pretense that the digital learning tools are as effective as a classroom teacher,” he said.Some school districts, including Philadelphia’s, have decided against requiring online learning during their shutdowns, saying it wouldn’t be fair to students without computers and high-speed internet at home. They’re distributing packets on paper. In New York, Carranza said the school system will start distributing 25,000 tablets Monday, while working toward getting 300,000 in all and making pencil-and-paper packets available in the meantime. Students also can work on smartphones, though their small screens aren’t ideal.Schools and teachers have been strategizing about how best to engage their students, sharing pointers in training sessions and Facebook groups. “It won’t be perfect. But we need to get this done,” teachers union president Michael Mulgrew said.Jane Paul, an elementary school physical education teacher in Brooklyn, plans to post videos for students to view on their own schedules. She intends to check in with individual students regularly but thinks convening a virtual class would be unworkable for families who might be sharing devices or juggling school time with parents’ work hours.”Everybody has to understand the challenges, and we have to make allowances for them,” Paul says. John Bernor, on the other hand, is going to try to preserve real-time discussions among his 11th-grade English students, as he feels the interactions help clear up questions and misconceptions. He realizes that students at his technology-focused Manhattan high school might be caring for younger siblings and sharing devices, so he’s making allowances, too. He’ll record the discussions, and he’s prepared for typos from students working on phones.”This might not be the time when I’m harping on ‘you used the wrong ‘there,'” he said. Broome Street Academy, a Manhattan charter high school where nearly half the students are homeless or in unstable housing, already had emphasized getting students connected for extra help online before the crisis. Eighty-five percent showed up when Broome Street started remote-only learning March 16, said Eric Weingarten, CEO of The Door, the social services group that runs the school. But he worries that students may miss out on legal, mental health, medical and other help that are normally right down the hall but now virtual at The Door, now shut until at least March 30.”We have these built-in supports, and now those aren’t as easy to provide,” he said. Parents, too, are having a distance learning experience — carving out space for their own work and their kids’, trying to keep small ones engaged through a school day, making sudden peace with screen time.With second- and third-grade sons, Dr. Steven Radowitz isn’t sure how effective online education can be for their age group. “I really don’t want them in front of a screen, but I guess we do the best we can,” the Manhattan primary care physician said.Andrea Francis and her 11-year-old son, Ayden, are ready to go. She’s not working because of medical problems and didn’t have a computer, but his Manhattan school loaned them one Thursday, and he was itching to get on it for his math club’s webinar. But with school out at least through April 20 and middle school starting next year, Ayden doesn’t want to miss out on the school dance, his fifth-grade “senior trip” and everything else that goes with being in school in person.”I’m not going to be with my friends,” he mused. “And I’ll miss my school and learning, even though we’re still getting work.”
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Governments Boost Coronavirus Lockdowns, Olympics Face Postponement Pressure
Pressure is mounting for postponing the Summer Olympics in Tokyo due to the coronavirus pandemic, while cases have soared in Italy and more countries asked residents to stay home. Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe said Monday if it is difficult to hold the Olympics “in a complete way” then pushing the event back would be “unavoidable” in order to protect the safety of athletes. Australian Olympic officials went further Monday, saying “it was clear” there could not be an Olympics as scheduled in July. They advised their athletes to instead prepare as if they would compete in 2021. Canada’s Olympic Committee said even if the Tokyo Games happened this summer, Canadian athletes would not participate, and it called for a one-year delay. The International Olympic Committee said Sunday it will boost its efforts to plan different scenarios for the Tokyo Games and is confident it will have finalized those discussions within the next four weeks. IOC President Thomas Bach said it would “still be premature” to postpone the event at this time. Members of local hygiene services wear protective suits and face masks as they prepare to disinfect the street and market to stop the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Dakar, Senegal, March 22, 2020.A worldwide crisis
The novel coronavirus has reached nearly every country on the planet, with about 336,000 reported cases and 14,600 deaths. China still ranks above Italy with the most overall cases, and is one of the lone bright spots in the world after reporting no locally transmitted cases again Monday. But Chinese officials said there were 39 cases involving people who recently arrived from overseas, a concern that prompted new measures Monday to divert all flights into Beijing 12 airports in other cities where passengers will undergo screening and then self-quarantine. Women, wearing masks to prevent contracting the coronavirus, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), walk in a shopping district in Seoul, South Korea, March 23, 2020.South Korea is also showing vast improvement after being an early center of mass outbreak. It reported 64 new cases Monday, a 12th consecutive day with fewer than 100 additional cases after at one point growing by more than 900 in a single day. The United Arab Emirates is taking its own steps to try to prevent imported cases by suspending all passenger flights for two weeks, including shutting the world’s busiest airport in Dubai. Organizers also canceled the lucrative Dubai World Cup horse race. New Zealand is set to become the latest country to be under lockdown, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Monday. She said starting Wednesday people will only be allowed outside for essential business. New Zealand has reported 102 overall cases. Italy has been under a similar order for two weeks, but has seen its cases and deaths continue to mount, including 651 new deaths reported Sunday. FILE – Medical personnel at work in the intensive care unit of the hospital of Brescia, Italy, March 19, 2020.Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte signed a decree banning people from traveling within the country starting Monday, along with suspending all but excepted industrial and commercial production activities. A new curfew goes into effect Monday in Saudi Arabia lasting from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. for three weeks. The country has more than 500 confirmed cases and has steadily implemented restrictions on travelers entering the country and on people performing pilgrimages to key sites for Muslims. The World Health Organization says COVID-19 has reached 186 countries or territories. One of the newest is Syria, which reported its first case on Sunday, a worrying development in a country that has been ravaged by a civil war and corresponding humanitarian disaster since 2011. Economic toll
The virus outbreak has taken a sharp economic toll, battering stock markets, costing jobs and putting pressure on businesses as governments order people to stay home and for restaurants, bars and theaters to close to prevent close contact among crowds. U.S. lawmakers are trying to agree on a $1.8 trillion rescue package, but disagreements on priorities in the bill have kept Republicans and Democrats from finalizing a deal. Three members of Congress have tested positive for the coronavirus, the latest being Senator Rand Paul. The U.S. Secret Service, the agency responsible for protecting the president and other officials, also issued a statement early Monday saying one of its employees tested positive and is in quarantine.
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