Elderly people may have to be kept isolated until the end of the year to protect them from the coronavirus, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said in comments published Sunday.”Without a vaccine, we have to limit as much as possible contact with the elderly,” she told the Germany daily Bild.”I know it’s difficult and that isolation is a burden, but it is a question of life or death, we have to remain disciplined and patient,” she added.”Children and young people will enjoy more freedom of movement earlier than elderly people and those with preexisting medical conditions,” she said.She said she hoped that a European laboratory would develop a vaccine towards the end of the year.To ensure that people can be quickly vaccinated, authorities are already in talks with producers on gearing up for world production, she added.
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Month: April 2020
Astronauts Returning to a Changed Earth Amid Pandemic
Two U.S. astronauts say it’s hard to comprehend the changes on Earth that have occurred due to the coronavirus pandemic, as they prepare to return from the International Space Station.The astronauts, Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir, have been in space for more than half a year, having left Earth before anyone had ever heard of the coronavirus, let alone gotten sick or died.Morgan said Friday from the space station that the crew has been trying to keep up with developments about the virus, but said, “It’s very hard to fathom” all that is going on.Morgan, who is an Army emergency physician, said he feels a little guilty returning to Earth when the crisis is already underway.Meir said, “We can tell you that the Earth still looks just as stunning as always from up here, so it’s difficult to believe all the changes that have taken place since both of us have been up here.”“It is quite surreal for us to see this whole situation unfolding on the planet below,” she said.Morgan said the pandemic has affected operations at NASA’s mission control, with the handover taking place “between shifts between two different rooms to minimize the contact.” He said NASA staff members are persevering through “their ingenuity and their professionalism” and said, “They’re going to return us to Earth safely, just like their predecessors did 50 years ago.”Apollo 13 anniversaryThe two U.S. astronauts, along with a Russian cosmonaut, Oleg Skripochka, will return to Earth on April 17, exactly 50 years after the U.S. Apollo 13 mission returned to Earth.That mission faced a crisis when the spacecraft’s oxygen tank ruptured two days into the trip, aborting the astronauts’ mission to the moon.“Once again, now there’s a crisis, and the crisis is on Earth,” Morgan said.Meir said she is looking forward to seeing her family and friends again, even if just virtually. She said she expects to feel more isolated on Earth than in space.“We’re so busy with so many other amazing pursuits and we have this incredible vantage point of the Earth below, that we don’t really feel as much of that isolation,” Meir said.Meir has been in space since September and Morgan since last July. They will return in a Soyuz capsule, landing in Kazakhstan.The Americans will leave three astronauts who arrived at the space station Thursday — NASA’s Chris Cassidy and Russians Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner.The launch of a Russian Soyuz rocket carrying those astronauts was carried out under tight restrictions because of the coronavirus. Support workers wore masks and kept their distance from the crew to prevent the possibility of the virus being taken to the space station. The crew members, who routinely go into quarantine ahead of launch day, stayed in isolation longer than normal because of the virus.Cassidy said Friday from the space station, “we knew as a crew we were going to be in quarantine about nine months ago or a year ago, those exact weeks, but we didn’t know the whole rest of the world was going to join us.”Following Thursday’s launch, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted his congratulations. “No virus is stronger than the human desire to explore,” he said.The next astronauts who visit the space station will be launched by SpaceX from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, as early as next month. It will be the first launch of astronauts to the space station from the United States since NASA’s space shuttle program ended in 2011.
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For McConnell, Virus Carries Echo of His Boyhood Polio
Mitch McConnell’s earliest childhood memory is the day he left the polio treatment center at Warm Springs, Ga., for the last time.He was just a toddler in 1944, when his father was deployed to World War II, his mother relocated the family to her sister’s home in rural Alabama and he came down with flu-like symptoms. While he eventually recovered, his left leg did not. It was paralyzed.Two long years later, after shuttling young McConnell to and from the center where then-President Franklin Roosevelt received polio care, his mother was told that day that her young son would be able walk into his life without a leg brace.She immediately took the 4-year-old shopping for a new pair of shoes.More than 70 years later, Senate Majority Leader McConnell walked into the U.S. Senate to pass a sweeping coronavirus rescue package — and shutter the chamber for the foreseeable future — as another dangerous flu-like virus fills the nation with anxiety, quarantines and unimaginable disruptions to American life.”Why does this current pandemic remind me of that? I think No. 1 is the fear,” said McConnell in an interview with The Associated Press.”And the uncertainty you have when there’s no pathway forward on either treatment or a vaccine and that was the situation largely in polio before 1954.”The two crises now bookend McConnell’s years, making the Kentucky Republican an unexpected voice of personal experience and reflection in what he calls these “eerie” times.It’s an unusual role for the famously guarded leader, who rarely says more when less will do, and relishes an image as a sly political tactician. But as more than 16,000 people in the U.S. have died from coronavirus, the echoes are all too familiar. So too is the solution, as he sees it, to care for the nation’s sick and produce treatments, and an eventual vaccine.”There’s hope that we’re going to get on top of this disease,” he said, “within a year, year and a half.”The polio epidemicPolio ignited a dreadful fear across the U.S. in those years, especially in summertime. The virus particularly struck children, forcing swift closures of schools and playgrounds and, in the sweltering heat, swimming pools. Towns shuttered, families isolated. Thousands died, others were hospitalized and some left permanently paralyzed or with post-polio syndrome. The Salk vaccine was still years away.FILE – The line of people awaiting polio shots at Evansville (Ind.) Municipal Stadium was still long, four hours after the clinic started, when this picture was taken, Aug. 9, 1959. During the eight-hour program, about 14,000 people received shots.”It was a scary virus,” said Stacey D. Stewart, president & CEO of March of Dimes, which started as FDR’s National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis but quickly took on the name that reflected the public service call for Americans to donate their dimes for a polio solution.”You didn’t understand how you got it,” she said, and because it impacted so many young people, for “so many parents, what’s worse for a parent than having your child get sick?”As a toddler, McConnell was taught to stay off his feet. His mother understood if he tried to walk too soon after the illness he might require a leg brace for the rest of his life. She began taking him on the hour drive each way to Warm Springs, where Roosevelt’s condition was a warning sign to Americans the disease spared no one. Back home, she would would run through the physical therapy with her son “like a drill sergeant,” he said.McConnell doesn’t remember much from those earliest days. Much of it he knows from his mother’s retelling and his own reading of books of the era. But he does remember what happened in the years after she bought him those saddle oxfords on their last trip home from Warm Springs. He couldn’t run as fast as the other kids. When he put on a swimsuit, his left leg had a narrower circumference, leaving him embarrassed. Even now, he says, he has trouble climbing stairs. “I was lucky,” he said, choking up as he recalls his mother, “who was determined to see me walk again.” Of “tenacity, hard work and not giving up,” he said, “My mother instilled all that in me before I was 4 years old, and I think it’s been a guiding principle in how I lead my life.” ‘Let’s continue to pray for one another’One of the first things McConnell did when he was elected to public office in Kentucky, he writes in his memoir, was buy a new pair of shoes. In the Senate last month, McConnell began linking past to the present “just as soon as it became clear that we were actually endangering each other to be together.” Senators were self-isolating and one, Rand Paul, announced he tested positive. With the Capitol all but shuttered, the Senate raced to approve the rescue package. The votes tallied, McConnell adjourned the Senate. “Let’s continue to pray for one another,” he said. “And for our country.” FILE – U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell waves to supporters with his wife, Elaine Chao, at his midterm election night rally in Louisville, Ky., Nov. 4, 2014.Now from a quiet Capitol Hill — he is working from the second floor of his townhouse, his wife Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao on the third — the two suddenly find themselves like other Americans stumbling through the new stay-at-home normal. “We’re soldiering all through,” he said. It’s also bringing time for reflection. A year ago, he returned to Warm Springs for the first time. At what is now a historic site, he reviewed files about his condition, his visits. He learned he sometimes received treatments when Roosevelt did, including the week the former president died. Asked how his mom afforded his own medical care, he was stumped. Were there bills? “Honestly, I don’t know the answer to that,” he said. He said he would try to find out. One memory that does stand clear is the arrival of the polio vaccine, and the relief it brought a weary populace. As Congress considers the next aid package, he said he wants more money for health care. “I’ve had a normal life, but I’ve been acutely aware of the disease that I had and the relief that the country had when they found the vaccine,” he said. “We’re going to get that relief.”
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Congo, Weary From Ebola, Must Also Battle Coronavirus
Congo has been battling an Ebola outbreak that has killed thousands of people for more than 18 months, and now it must also face a new scourge: the coronavirus pandemic. Ebola has left those living in the country’s east weary and fearful, and, just as they were preparing to declare an end to the outbreak, a new case popped up. Now, they will now have to manage both threats at once. The new virus has overwhelmed some of the world’s best hospital systems in Europe and ripped through communities in New York. In Congo, it could spread unchecked in a country that has endured decades of conflict, where corruption has left the population largely impoverished despite mineral wealth, and where mistrust of authority is so entrenched that health workers have been killed during the Ebola outbreak.It’s also unclear how forthcoming international support will be when the whole world is battling the coronavirus. “It all feels like one big storm,” said Martine Milonde, a Congolese community mobilizer who works with the aid group World Vision in Beni, which has been the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak. “Truly, this is a crisis within a crisis within a crisis. The community suffers from insecurity, and suffered under Ebola, and now may have to face COVID-19.”Close to eliminationIn early March, an Ebola patient whom many hoped would be the last was discharged, and the outbreak was supposed to be officially declared over Sunday. But the World Health Organization on Friday announced a new case in Beni. The outbreak has claimed more than 2,260 lives since August 2018 — the second largest the world has ever seen, after the 2014-16 outbreak in West Africa. Katungo Methya, 53, who volunteers for the Red Cross educating the public about epidemics, talks about coronavirus prevention in Beni, eastern Congo, April 7, 2020.Still, there is some hope: Many of the tools used to fight Ebola — handwashing and social distancing chief among them — are also key to combating the coronavirus.In Beni, which has reported two cases of the new coronavirus, “the communities here hold on to some hope that they are going to overcome this pandemic the way they had been working to overcome Ebola,” said Milonde. “They are counting on the caution, vigilance and hygiene practices that they have been performing to save their families.”Community advocates in Beni — who walk around with megaphones to talk about Ebola — have started to include warnings about the coronavirus.Messages explaining COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, and where to go if sick are being spread on radio stations, through text message blasts and by religious leaders. Schools, churches and mosques are already armed with handwashing kits. Beni’s mayor, Nyonyi Bwanakawa, says many of the measures will be familiar — but the recommendations to stay home are more stringent than what is required for Ebola, and officials are prepared to take “dramatic measures” if people resist.Different impactsUnlike Ebola, which kills about half of the people it infects, the new coronavirus causes mostly mild or moderate symptoms in about 80% of people. Spreading Ebola typically requires an exchange of bodily fluids, and people have often been infected when caring for loved ones or mourning in traditional funerals that involve close contact with the body. In contrast, the new coronavirus is far more contagious and mostly spread by people coughing or sneezing, including those with only mild flu-like symptoms.That means the task of controlling the virus’ spread in Congo will be massive: The government has only limited control in parts of the vast country; there are also some dense population centers with poor sanitation and infrastructure; and the country’s mineral-rich east is beset by violence from various armed groups.Martine Milonde, a Congolese community mobilizer who works with the aid group World Vision in Beni, eastern Congo, engages the public about coronavirus, April 10, 2020.Dr. Michel Yao, program manager for emergency response at the WHO’s Africa office, said implementing robust testing and contact tracing will be key. But getting the community fully involved in fighting the disease might be even more important.That means not just speaking at communities, “but giving them responsibility and roles to play.”Initially, efforts to control Ebola were met with resistance, one of the major contributors to its spread. Amid the insecurity in the country’s east, superstitions arose, and some clinics to treat Ebola patients were attacked and health workers killed.’Disaster’ in KinshasaThe capital, Kinshasa, a tightly packed city of 14 million located on the country’s western border, remains another major worry, said Yao, who is based at WHO’s African headquarters in the neighboring Republic of Congo.”If it reaches this place, it would be a big disaster,” he said. “Africa is only partly ready,” said Yao. “If we stick to sporadic cases, this can be managed.”But many more developed countries have seen cases surge, and a sizable outbreak in Congo could easily overwhelm its hospital system. Advanced equipment to deal with severe respiratory illness, which the coronavirus can cause, is lacking: The Health Ministry says there are about 65 ventilators — all in Kinshasa — and 20 more on order for a country of more than 80 million people.There have been 215 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in Congo, with 20 deaths, the ministry said Friday.And health workers will also need to find a way to continue to treat people infected with the many other diseases that regularly torment the population. Over the past year, for instance, a measles outbreak killed more than 6,000 people in Congo.In addition, because donor countries are themselves dealing with outbreaks, help from abroad could be less forthcoming. The key, Yao said, is training more people locally to care for the ill.The challenge will be rallying again after many months of trying to contain Ebola.”The job wasn’t yet finished, and we have to deal with another emergency,” Yao said.Katungo Methya, 53, who volunteers for the Red Cross in Beni, expressed a weariness many feel.”It’s so upsetting to have this second disease. We lost so many people through Ebola, a lot of deaths, now corona,” she said. “Everyone is really afraid.”
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Thai Provinces Ban Alcohol Sales Ahead of New Year to Curb Coronavirus Spread
Most of Thailand’s provinces have banned sales of alcoholic beverages, heeding a central government call to discourage festive celebrations for the Thai New Year as the country seeks to limit the spread of the coronavirus.Thailand is among Southeast Asian countries that are canceling or scaling back traditionally boisterous Buddhist New Year celebrations amid the global pandemic.The Thai New Year or water-splashing Songkran celebrations are usually held April 13-15, but this year the government has postponed the holidays that would normally be taken then.A 10-day ban on the sale of wine, beer and spirits in Bangkok went into effect on Friday. Forty-seven of Thailand’s 77 provinces have implemented bans to April 15 or until the end of the month, the interior ministry said in a statement.Bangkok, which typically closes off streets during April for traditional water fights, has called off the activities and urged businesses and malls to do likewise. The government has also urged Thais to refrain from traveling back to their hometowns as they would normally do for the New Year.On Saturday, Thailand reported 45 new coronvirus cases and two deaths, bringing its total to 2,518 confirmed infections and 35 deaths.
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Britain’s Johnson Makes ‘Good Progress’ in Virus Recovery
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson was making “very good progress” Saturday in his recovery in a hospital from coronavirus, officials said, as the country’s death toll from the disease approached the grim milestone of 10,000.The 55-year-old leader was spending his second full day out of intensive care at London’s St. Thomas’ Hospital, where he has been able to take short walks between periods of rest, according to Downing Street.”The prime minister continues to make very good progress,” a No. 10 spokeswoman said.News of his improvement contrasted with the latest official statistics showing Britain recorded nearly 1,000 daily COVID-19 deaths for the second consecutive day, one of the worst rates globally.The health ministry announced another 917 coronavirus hospital patients had died in the latest 24-hour period, down from the toll on Friday but still the country’s second highest yet.An 11-year-old was among the victims, according to England’s National Health Service (NHS).As of Saturday evening, the total number of COVID-19 fatalities in the U.K. was 9,892, while the number of confirmed cases climbed to 79,874, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center in Baltimore, Maryland. The actual number of cases was thought to be higher, because not everyone has been tested for the virus.FILE – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a news conference addressing the government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, at Downing Street in London, March 12, 2020.”The prime minister continues to make good progress, but these stark figures highlight the gravity of this national emergency,” interior minister Priti Patel told reporters at a daily briefing.’Keep others safe’Despite the sobering statistics, Stephen Powis, NHS England’s medical director, said there was a “leveling off” in the number of new cases and “the first signs of a plateauing of people who unfortunately need hospitalization.”He credited a nationwide lockdown introduced on March 23 for halting the virus’ spread, but added the mortality rate would be “the very final thing” to decrease.”We are confident that if everybody follows the instructions … then that will begin to translate in the next weeks into a reduction in the daily deaths,” Powis said.”I’m afraid this year it has to be for all of us a stay-at-home Easter.”Queen Elizabeth II echoed that in what was believed to be her first pre-recorded Easter address, released by Buckingham Palace on Saturday evening.”By keeping apart we keep others safe,” the 93-year-old monarch said. “We know that coronavirus will not overcome us.”Her resolute comments came a week after a rare televised address to the nation in which she told people to unite to beat COVID-19.Spirits liftedJohnson is the most high-profile leader to suffer from coronavirus infection, and his hospitalization is unprecedented for a British prime minister during a national emergency in modern times.He was admitted Sunday for a persistent cough and high temperature 10 days after self-isolating with the virus. A day later he was transferred to the intensive care unit as his condition deteriorated.The Conservative leader left the unit Thursday evening in “extremely good spirits” and waving at staff “in gratitude,” his spokesman has said.The Mail on Sunday reported Johnson’s friends had revealed he came close to death while in intensive care and said he owed his life to the hospital’s medical team.It remains unclear when he might be discharged from hospital and how quickly he would return to work once out.Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has been standing in for Johnson.The prime minister’s spokesman stressed Friday that his recovery was “at an early stage” and he would act only “on the advice of his medical team.”The Sun reported that Johnson’s spirits had been lifted this week by his pregnant fiancee Carrie Symonds, who sent him “love letters” and scans of their unborn child.Symonds, who has also suffered from coronavirus symptoms in recent weeks, and the British leader have reportedly not seen each other for nearly a month. Their baby is due this summer.Meanwhile, it is also uncertain when Britain might be able to lift the stringent social distancing regime.Implemented for an initial three weeks, the measures are set for a formal review next week and are likely to remain in place until at least the end of the month.
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US Now World Leader in Coronavirus Deaths
The United States became the world leader in coronavirus deaths Saturday, a grim indicator of the country’s status as the global epicenter of the pandemic.As of Saturday afternoon, the U.S. had recorded about 514,400 COVID-19 cases and 19,882 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University statistics.The figures showed the U.S. leading all other countries in the number of confirmed cases and fatalities, surpassing Italy’s death toll for the first time. Italy’s total was 19,468 on Saturday, Hopkins’ statistics showed.The U.S. also became the world’s first country to report more than 2,000 COVID-19 deaths in a single day. The U.S. reported 2,108 fatalities Friday, the world’s highest one-day death toll since the outbreak began in China in late December.New York is the hardest-hit state in the U.S., with Governor Andrew Cuomo reporting Saturday that there were 783 deaths on Friday, raising the state’s death toll to more than 8,600.To help stem the spread of the virus, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the city’s public schools would remain closed through the end of the school year for the 1.1 million children in the city’s system.FILE – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is seen at a news briefing in the Manhattan borough of New York City, March 2, 2020.De Blasio said the decision was “painful” but “I can also tell you [it] is the right thing to do. It will clearly help us save lives.”The World Health Organization said Saturday that it was examining reports of recovered COVID-19 patients testing positive again in South Korea as they were about to be discharged from hospitals. Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters the virus might have been “reactivated” in 91 patients instead of their being reinfected.The WHO said in a statement that “we are aware of these reports of individuals who have tested negative for COVID-19 using PCR [polymerase chain reaction] testing and then after some days testing positive again.” The organization said it was “closely liaising with our clinical experts and working hard to get more information on those individual cases.”South Korean health officials said epidemiological investigations were underway to determine the causes of the apparent reactivations.As the WHO and countries throughout the world grapple with containing the pandemic, the coronavirus continues its spread as billions of people on lockdown celebrate Easter weekend from their homes.There were more than 1.75 million cases and more than 107,000 deaths worldwide as of Saturday afternoon, according to Hopkins’ statistics.FILE – President Donald Trump speaks during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House, April 10, 2020, in Washington.U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that deciding when to reopen the country would be “the biggest decision I’ve ever had to make” and that he would weigh the pros and cons of the decision with his health and economic advisers.What was not clear, however, was whether all the states would follow what Trump said. Trump did not officially close down the country, leaving each governor, instead, to decide for his or her state.Trump has said he would like the country opened up again on May 1, despite a warning from the WHO on Friday that lifting lockdown measures too quickly could trigger a “deadly resurgence” of the coronavirus.Trump acknowledged Friday the possibility of higher death tolls if businesses reopened too soon, saying, “But you know what? Staying at home leads to death also.”Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-diseases expert, told CNN that “the virus kind of decides whether it’s appropriate to open or not.” He cautioned that moving too early could result in another surge of infections.The nationwide lockdown in Argentina that was set to end on Sunday has been extended to April 26. President Alberto Fernandez made the announcement Saturday, when he also said travel restrictions would be eased in some areas in the coming days.As the virus spreads and death tolls climb, many public health experts throughout the world believe fatalities are actually much higher than have been reported, because postmortem testing has been limited. Some COVID-19 deaths were not attributed to the disease, they think, and other deaths go unreported because of homelessness and other factors.China continued to report low numbers of new cases of the virus Friday, saying Hubei province, where the virus originated, logged zero new cases, while the rest of China recorded 46 new cases.A Chinese study suggested that coronavirus particles can travel up to four meters from infected patients. The WHO recommends that people stay at least one meter away from someone who is sneezing, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a distance of about two meters.The study, published Friday in the CDC publication Emerging Infectious Diseases, was conducted February 10 to March 2 in two hospitals in Wuhan, China.A study conducted in the U.S. by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that sneezes and coughs could spread the virus more than 8.2 meters.
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US, Taliban Discuss Ways to Reduce Afghan Violence
The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan has met with leaders of the Taliban insurgency under their bilateral peace-building agreement to discuss ways to reduce violence in the war-torn country, both sides said Saturday.
A Taliban spokesman tweeted about the meeting with General Scott Miller, who also commands NATO’s non-combat Resolution Support mission in the country, saying it happened Friday night in Doha, Qatar, which hosts the insurgent political office.
Suhail Shaheen wrote that the two delegations discussed details on how to implement the U.S.-Taliban agreement, which the two adversaries signed Feb. 29 in the Qatari capital with a goal to end the nearly 19-year-old Afghan war. FILE – U.S. Army General Scott Miller, center, commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, is seen at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov. 6, 2018. “General Miller met with Taliban leadership last night as part of the military channel established in the agreement. The meeting was about the need to reduce the violence,” a U.S. Forces spokesman told VOA.
Shaheen said the U.S.-Taliban agreement’s “violations, particularly attacks and night raids in non-combat areas, came under serious discussion.” He added that the Taliban delegation “called for a halt to such attacks.”
In a recent statement, the U.S. military denied insurgent allegations of breaches, noting the agreement allows foreign troops to act in defense of Afghan security forces if attacked by the Taliban.
The accord binds insurgents not to attack U.S.-led foreign forces, who have committed to gradually withdraw from Afghanistan by July 2021, in return for Taliban counterterrorism guarantees. FILE – Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen is seen during talks in the Qatari capital Doha, July 7, 2019.
The “conditions-based” troop drawdown also requires the Taliban to negotiate a sustainable peace and power sharing with other Afghan factions to end four decades of hostilities in the country.
The Taliban and Washington both have said they are fully committed to uphold the agreement, which offers the best chance for Afghan peace, analysts say.
But a lingering political dispute over who has emerged as the legitimate president of Afghanistan following the controversial September election, and a delay in releasing thousands of Taliban prisoners by the Kabul government, have blocked efforts to open the crucial peace talks between Afghan parties to the conflict.
Incumbent President Ashraf Ghani has been officially declared the election winner, but his chief rival Abdullah Abdullah rejected the outcome as fraudulent, and both held competing inauguration ceremonies last month.
The standoff has politically paralyzed the turmoil-hit country, with both the rival leaders seemingly not ready to give up their claims. FILE – Afghan presidential election opposition candidate Abdullah Abdullah (L) and Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani are seen after a press conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, Feb. 29, 2020.Under the U.S.-Taliban deal, the intra-Afghan talks were supposed to begin several weeks ago.
The insurgent group maintains those negotiations can start only after Washington, as part of its commitments, helps to get the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners from Afghan jails.
The Taliban has committed to free 1,000 detainees, mostly Afghan security forces, from its custody. Discussions over the prisoner swap collapsed earlier this week, although the Afghan government has since freed 200 Taliban detainees after seeking written assurances the freed men would not return to the battlefield.
But the Taliban has disapproved the release process, saying it violates provisions of the deal with the U.S., which requires unconditional freedom for insurgent inmates.
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Greek Roma Camp Quarantined to Limit Spread of COVID-19
Greek health officials have quarantined one of the country’s biggest Gypsy, or Roma, camps, scrambling to contain the spread of the coronavirus after multiple cases were detected there.
The squalid settlement of 3,000 on the outskirts of the city of Larissa, 216 kilometers north of Athens, was locked down after at least 20 residents tested positive for the contagious virus late Thursday.
Dozens more have since been recorded as authorities launched sweeping tests over the weekend, also keeping the military on standby to step in and enforce the quarantine in a bid to stop the virus from spreading to neighboring communities.
“This incident has confirmed our greatest fear,” said Apostolos Kalogiannis, the mayor of Larissa, which, along with neighboring towns has until recently boasted a limited number of COVID-19 infections.
All cases in the Roma settlement of Nea Smyrni have been linked to a 32-year-old man believed to have defied nationwide stay-home orders. He is also believed to have interacted with migrants at a nearby camp, forcing authorities to also quarantine that camp, 15 kilometers from Larissa, for two weeks.
Health and security officials Friday scrambled to the Roma settlement to assess the situation, concerned the outbreak could imperil the government’s successful drive to bring the coronavirus to heel, after convincing the country’s population to heed draconian lockdown orders.
The situation in this case “is different and difficult,” warned Sotiris Tsiodras, an infectious diseases expert and the head of the Greek medical response team. “The example of Larissa shows just how fragile the situation is,” he said, refusing to elaborate.
As the COVID-19 pandemic rages across Europe, Roma, traditionally crammed in decrepit homes and settlements with poor sewage, are largely being viewed as ticking time bombs, generating 20 new cases for every infected person, seven times as fast as the average rate of virus’s infection, according to experts.
Government officials contacted by VOA in Athens Friday said the administration was set to use “any and every necessary measure” to avoid further spread of the virus across Larissa, a largely agrarian area. Members of a Roma community gather on the street after several cases of the coronavirus were detected, in Larissa, Greece, April 10, 2020.The latest outbreak provides a revealing glimpse of how vulnerable and neglected Roma communities remain across Greece and Europe generally.
Up to 12 million Roma live in Europe, but their communities from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia to Bulgaria, Romania, Kosovo, and Serbia, face decades of neglect.
Stuck in slums and overcrowded neighborhoods, governments have long refused to formalize their settlements and provide basic services. Worse yet, critics add, authorities are now opting for aggressive tactics rather than aid and development plans to improve Roma communities.
Abel Ravasz, the Slovakian government’s former emissary for the Roma communities, said the use of the military to enforce a lockdown order on affected communities would only further stigmatize the Roma.
In the Bulgarian town of Sliven, police set up checkpoints around a Roma enclave earlier this week, restricting movements. Since then, police have moved to cordon off three other settlements, citing what they called traditional Roma defiance of rules and social distancing.
“I would say that coercion is needed in certain situations because we are obliged to protect the rest of the population,” Interior Minister Mladen Marinov said.
Nationalist European lawmakers, meanwhile, have called for sweeping shutdowns of Roma “ghettos,” labeling them breeding grounds for the coronavirus spread. The racial slurs have since then been picked up, posted and embellished by thousands of Greeks on social media accounts, sparking nationwide debate.
To prevent further stigmatization, Greek officials, led by Tsiodras, lost no time in meeting with senior Roma leaders and community members at the Nea Smyrni settlement.
We are all brothers in this country,” he told an open assembly of locals, after the talks on Friday. “But you have to follow the measures. You have to practice social distancing.”
The crowd cheered but as the team left, groups of Roma were seen following the health chief and his team, asking why they had neglected them for so long.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, Greece has documented 92 deaths and nearly 2,000 cases, a stark contrast to the more than 17,000 fatalities in neighboring Italy.
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California Newspapers Seek State Help as COVID-19 Hits Revenue
California newspapers are asking the state to help rescue their industry, as the economic crisis from the coronavirus slashes print advertising revenues, causing layoffs in an already battered industry, even as reporters are deemed essential workers during the pandemic.In a dire request this week from the California News Publishers Association to the governor and state lawmakers, the newspapers asked for tailored grants and loans, sales tax exemptions for local papers and tax deductions for subscribers and advertisers.”The COVID-19 virus has left the newspaper industry, already struggling financially, gasping for air,” wrote the group’s president, Simon Grieve, the publisher of Gazette Newspapers in Long Beach.It comes after 33 daily newspapers reported losing an average of $1 million in print ads in March. That has forced several papers to cut printing schedules and staff. Nationwide, readers have been turning to local news sites for information about coronavirus in their communities. But hundreds of journalists have already been laid off or furloughed.Ken Doctor, a news media analyst, said that other outlets nationwide are considering seeking help from governments and Congress, but legislators already have their hands full.”It’s a tsunami. You can’t really lobby for specific benefits right now in the peak of the crisis, but they are looking for a range of proposals,” Doctor said.The California News Publishers Association has not yet heard back from officials, said its general counsel, Jim Ewert. He said replies from lawmakers’ staff have been “mostly empathy, but nothing in detail yet.””We are looking at their request,” said Lizelda Lopez, a spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, in an email.The Legislature suspended work on March 16. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, a Los Angeles Democrat, announced Friday that lawmakers will host their first hearing focused on the state’s spending on April 20. Rendon is “still reviewing this letter, and has not yet made any decisions,” spokeswoman Katie Talbot said.The governor’s office didn’t immediately comment. Ewert said the association is hoping for”some help to survive in the next two to three months,” not an ongoing government subsidy.Grieve’s letter suggests part of that help could come through state agencies taking out more advertisements in newspapers for public health announcements. Even as news has moved online, print advertisements remain more lucrative than digital ads for most newspapers.The news publishers association surveyed all its members, over 400 outlets including student publications, on the extent of the revenue hit. The association said the average print ad revenue loss for 33 daily papers was $1.03 million in March and is projected to rise to $1.8 million a month in April and May. Thirty-two ethnic and community newspapers also reported an average print advertising revenue loss of $35,000 in March.”The COVID crisis has exacerbated an already precarious situation, with many large businesses putting their advertising on hold – a development that is a crippling blow to California news outlets,” Grieve wrote.Doctor said he didn’t believe there are issues with newspapers seeking grants and loans during a crisis from governments they cover.”You kind of have the sniff test. Does it make sense that this program would affect coverage newspapers have of government? And the answer I think is no,” he said.
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One Dead, Hundreds Injured in Russian Prison Riot, Fire
One inmate has been found dead after a riot and a blaze swept through a Russian prison under a coronavirus lockdown in eastern Siberia, authorities said on April 11.Independent news outlets reported that about 300 inmates were injured in the incident at Prison No. 15 in Angarsk, Irkutsk region.Trouble erupted on April 9 with authorities blaming prisoners, while human rights activists said inmates self-harmed en masse to protest systematic mistreatment.Activists from the nongovernmental group For Human Rights say Russian special forces were deployed at the penal colony late on April 9 in an attempt to quell the riot.A Federal Penitentiary Service spokesman in Irkutsk region said the rioting started when a prisoner attacked a guard.On April 10, a fire broke out at the penal colony — engulfing an area of about 30,000 square meters — as riot police cordoned off roads leading to the prison, turning away independent observers. The fire was extinguished by the early morning on April 11.The rights ombudsman for the Irkutsk region, Viktor Ignatenko, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying the body of one inmate was found after the debris was cleared. The reports did not specify the cause of death.The regional penal service said the situation at the prison early on April 11 was “under control.” It accused prisoners of starting the fire.Videos posted on social media show buildings on fire as prisoners assert that they are being “murdered.”Human rights activists have not been allowed into the prison. Relatives and monitors are unable to contact the prison due to quarantine restrictions imposed during the coronavirus epidemic.The Irkutsk Region Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case on the matter.There are about 1,300 prisoners at the facility.
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Trump: Decision on Reopening US His ‘Biggest Ever’
U.S. President Donald Trump says deciding when to reopen the country is “the biggest decision I’ve ever had to make.” He said Friday he will weigh the pros and cons of the decision with his health and economic advisers. What is not immediately clear, however, is whether all the states will follow what Trump says. Trump did not officially close down the country, leaving each governor, instead, to make the decision about his or her state. Trump has said he would like the country opened up again on May 1. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, told CNN that “the virus kind of decides whether it’s appropriate to open or not.” He cautioned that moving too early could result in another surge of infections. While much of the globe is sheltering at home to slow the transmission of the deadly virus, the number of infections continues to climb. The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reports more than 102,000 deaths worldwide from the virus, but many public health experts throughout the world believe fatalities are much higher due to limited postmortem testing, COVID-19 deaths that were not attributed to the disease and deaths that go unreported due to homelessness and other factors. The U.S. is the world’s coronavirus hotspot with more than half a million of the world’s 1.7 million cases. It is followed by Spain with more than 158,000 and Italy with more than 147,000. Friday was the deadliest U.S. day with the virus, logging more than 2,100 new fatalities. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the U.S. death toll is “an underestimation,” tracking only fatalities that were confirmed in laboratory tests. In Brazil, the death toll surpassed 1,000 Friday, making it the first country in the region to reach that number. China continued to report low numbers of new cases of the virus Friday, saying Hubei province, where the virus originated, logged zero new cases, while the rest of China recorded 46 new cases.
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WHO Warns COVID-19 Accelerating in Africa
The World Health Organization warns that COVID-19 is spreading at an alarming rate in rural areas of Africa and says urgent help is needed to strengthen the continent’s fragile health system.The WHO has confirmed more than 8,300 cases of coronavirus in Africa, including nearly 400 deaths. That figure pales compared to the number of cases elsewhere. Latest global figures put the number of coronavirus cases at more than 1.6 million, with deaths now topping 100,000.However, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warns of a spate of cases and deaths that will be hard to control unless African countries get international support to shore up their health care systems.“We are now seeing clusters of cases and community spread in more than 16 countries,” he said. “We anticipate severe hardship for already overstretched health systems, particularly in rural areas, which normally lack the resources of those in cities.”On a slightly happier note, Tedros said the coronavirus pandemic appears to be slowing in some of the hardest-hit countries in Europe, including Spain, Italy, Germany and France.They are among a number of countries globally that have imposed tight restrictions, including self-isolation and social distancing, to stop transmission of the virus. Tedros noted those measures appear to be working.But he worries that some countries already are planning on lifting the restrictions.“WHO wants to see restrictions lifted as much as anyone,” he said. “At the same time, lifting restrictions too quickly could lead to a deadly resurgence. The way down can be as dangerous as the way up if not managed properly.”WHO chief Tedros says a number of factors must be in place before restrictions are lifted. For example, he said, countries must make sure transmission of the virus is controlled, medical services are available, outbreaks in special settings such as nursing homes are minimized, and importation risks are minimized.Tedros said every person has a role to play in ending the pandemic. That means governments must ensure communities are fully aware and committed to lifting restrictions before they move ahead.
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Filmmaker Obayashi, Who Portrayed War’s Horrors, Dies at 82
Nobuhiko Obayashi, one of Japan’s most prolific filmmakers who devoted his works to depicting war’s horrors and singing the eternal power of movies, has died. He was 82.The official site for his latest film, “Labyrinth of Cinema,” said that Obayashi died late Friday.Obayashi was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2016, and was told he had just a few months. But he continued working, appearing frail and often in a wheelchair.”Labyrinth of Cinema” had been scheduled to be released in Japan on the day of his death. The date has been pushed back because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has closed theaters.”Director Obayashi fought his sickness to the day of the scheduled release of his film. Rest in peace, director Obayashi, you who loved films so much you kept on making them,” the announcement said.The film was showcased at the Tokyo International Film Festival last year, which honored him as a “cinematic magician” and screened several of his other works.Obayashi stayed stubbornly true to his core pacifist message through more than 40 movies and thousands of TV shows, commercials and other video.His films have kaleidoscopic, fairy tale-like imagery repeating his trademark motifs of colorful Japanese festivals, dripping blood, marching doll-like soldiers, shooting stars and winding cobblestone roads.”Labyrinth of Cinema” is an homage to filmmaking. Its main characters, young Japanese men who go to an old movie theater but increasingly get sucked into crises, have names emulating Obayashi’s favorite cinematic giants, Francois Truffaut, Mario Bava and Don Seigel.Obayashi’s “Miss Lonely,” released in 1985, was shot in seaside Onomichi, the picturesque town in Hiroshima prefecture where Obayashi grew up and made animation clips by hand.His other popular films include his 1977 “House,” a horror comedy about youngsters who amble into a haunted house, and “Hanagatami,” released in 2017, another take on his perennial themes of young love and the injustices of war that unfolds in iridescent hues.Obayashi was a trailblazer in the world of Japanese TV commercials, hiring foreign movie stars like Catherine Deneuve and Charles Bronson, highlighted in his slick film work that seemed to symbolize Japan’s postwar modernization.He was born in 1938, and his childhood overlapped with World War II, years remembered for Japan’s aggression and atrocities against its neighbors but also a period during which Japanese people suffered hunger, abuse and mass deaths. His pacifist beliefs were reinforced by his father, an army doctor, who also gave him his first 8-millimeter camera.His works lack Hollywood’s action-packed plots and neat finales. Instead, they appear to start from nowhere and end, then start up again, weaving in and out of scenes, often traveling in time.During an Associated Press interview in 2019, Obayashi stressed his believe in the power of movies. Movies like his, he says, ask that important question: Where do you stand?”Movies are not weak,” he said, looking offended at such an idea. “Movies express freedom.”He said then he was working on another film, while acknowledging he was aware of the limitations of his health, all the work taking longer.At the end of the interview, he said he wanted to demonstrate his lifetime goal for his filmmaking. He showed his hand, three fingers held up in the sign language of “I love you.””Let’s value freedom with all our might. Let’s have no lies,” said Obayashi.Obayashi is survived by his wife Kyoko Obayashi, an actress and film producer, and their daughter Chigumi, an actress.A ceremony to mourn his death was being planned, according to Japanese media, but details were not immediately available. The Tokyo city and central government have requested that public gatherings are avoided because of the pandemic.
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White House Slams Voice of America; VOA Fights Back
The White House on Friday launched an unusual attack on the congressionally funded Voice of America, the U.S. broadcaster that for decades has provided independent news reporting around the world.In a broadside directed against VOA’s coverage of the pandemic and China on Friday, an official White House publication accused it of using taxpayer money “to speak for authoritarian regimes” because it covered the lifting of the lockdown in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the new coronavirus first emerged. VOA promptly fired back, defending its coverage.”Voice of America spends your money to speak for authoritarian regimes,” the White House said in its “1600 Daily” email summary of news and events. It said VOA’s roughly $200 million annual budget should be spent on its mission to “tell America’s story” and “present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively” to global audiences.But, citing a VOA report from earlier this week on the lifting of travel restrictions and easing of the lockdown in Wuhan, the White House said that “VOA too often speaks for America’s adversaries — not its citizens.” It noted that VOA had also recently pointed out comments by Iran’s foreign minister critical of the U.S.’Disgrace’Friday’s attack followed another barb directed at VOA on Thursday by White House social media director Dan Scavino, who branded VOA a “disgrace” in a tweet.VOA fired back at both attacks, responding to Scavino on Twitter and defending its coverage as unbiased. It noted that it is required by law to present all sides of an issue.”One of the big differences between publicly funded independent media, like the Voice of America, and state-controlled media is that we are free to show all sides of an issue and are actually mandated to do so by law as stated in the VOA Charter,” director Amanda Bennett said in a lengthy statement that included links to numerous VOA stories highlighting shortcomings in China’s response to the virus.Bennett noted that VOA, along with several other U.S. news outlets, has been effectively barred from working in China but that it continues to report and broadcast news from inside the country.VOA is run by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which also oversees other government-funded broadcasters like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia.
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Trump Projects Much Lower US Coronavirus Death Toll
America’s COVID-19 death toll will be substantially lower than the 100,000 to 240,000 people previously projected, President Donald Trump predicted Friday.“I think we’ll be substantially under that number,” Trump told reporters at a White House briefing, suggesting it would more likely hover around 60,000 deaths. “We’ll see what it ends up being.”The president also stated that universal testing for COVID-19 did not need to be in place before reopening the country, suggesting that screening for the virus was not necessary in large parts of the country where fewer cases have been reported.At the end of March, the president announced a 30-day extension, until April 30, of guidelines to slow the spread of the highly infectious disease.A health care worker waits for a bus outside a hospital amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Boston, Massachusetts, April 10, 2020.“I want to get it open as soon as we can,” said Trump of the economy during Friday’s lengthy question-and-answer session with reporters in the White House briefing room.“I’m going to have to make a decision, and I only hope to God it’s the right decision,” Trump said.Agencies see infection spikeEnding the closures of businesses and social distancing restrictions after just 45 days would lead to a dramatic spike in infection in the months ahead, according to U.S. government projections.The projections obtained by The New York Times were from the Homeland Security and Health and Human Services departments.The document, dated April 9, counters Trump’s optimistic view that the country could be ready to reopen “very, very soon.”When asked about the government projections, Trump and members of the coronavirus task force said they were unaware of them.Asked whether he would consider reimposing social distancing and shutting down the economy again if infections spiked a second time, the president replied he would consider that.Trump emphasized that he believed it’s possible to resume economic activity and ensure the coronavirus does not cause widespread infections to flare again.“We’re going to go back to work and stay healthy,” Trump predicted.Economic activity sinksGlobal economic activity is dropping at an unprecedented pace, with U.S. output on track to decline at an annual rate of 50% or more in the second quarter and then resume growth in the second half of the year, according to a forecast released Friday by the A woman looks to get information about job application in front of IDES (Illinois Department of Employment Security) WorkNet center in Arlington Heights, Ill., April 9, 2020.Asked about similar estimates of a drop for U.S. gross domestic product in the current second quarter of the year, the president said, “This quarter isn’t the quarter I’m looking at,” predicting a chance for record fourth-quarter growth.Trump said that probably next Tuesday he would announce an economic task force — what he termed an “opening our country council” — that will focus on restarting the economy and will draw from members, including elected officials, from different parts of the country.“I want their views on what they think,” Trump said Friday.He also said that next week he would announce the fate of U.S. government funding of the World Health Organization, which he has repeatedly blasted this week as “China-centric.”Death tollThe number of reported deaths globally from COVID-19, which was first reported in Wuhan, China, now has surpassed 102,000 out of a total of 1,680,000 reported cases.The actual toll is likely worse, amid suspicions of under-reporting by some countries such as China and Iran, and challenges to confirming cause of death, especially for those who did not succumb in hospitals.The United States, by far, has recorded the most coronavirus infections — 487,000, with 18,000 deaths, “a fatality rate very, very low compared to other countries,” Trump said.For the first time in the country, “we’re starting to level on the logarithmic phase,” Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus task force’s response coordinator, said. “We have not reached the peak.”
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COVID-19 Diaries: Stories of Desperation Are Going Unheard
I knew I was in trouble a few days ago when I looked in the mirror and saw a sheepdog looking back.Giselle, who has been keeping my shaggy hair in reasonable shape for years, is now in forced retirement until April 19. She is not alone.VOA Geneva reporter Lisa Schlein poses for a selfie at home, where she is sheltering in place during the Coronavirus lockdown. (Photo: Lisa Schlein / VOA)In an effort to contain the deadly coronavirus, the Swiss Federal Government has ordered all bars, restaurants, sports facilities and cultural spaces nationwide to shut down. Only essential businesses, such as grocery stores and pharmacies remain open.Clearly nobody thought to inform the authorities that beauticians were one of life’s essentials. So, activities for the country’s 8.57 million inhabitants are severely limited until at least April 19.That is when the government will take stock of COVID-19 and decide if the situation has improved enough for it to ease up on the extreme measures that have turned this picture-perfect Alpine country into a ghostly landscape.Last week, for the sake of my mental well-being, I decided to break free of days of home-bound self-isolation and take a walk among the coronavirus-free trees. Also, my food supply was running low, so I figured it was time to stock up.I wasn’t fully prepared for the “Brave New World” I encountered. The streets were largely deserted and desolate. Even the construction boom, which has been making life in this city a misery, has pretty much come to a halt.The parking lot in my usually bustling neighborhood shopping mall was half empty. All the high-end and bargain-basement stores were closed. Only two supermarkets remained open, with long queues of people, separated by two meters, patiently waiting for their turn to enter.By the time my turn came, a pack of “body snatchers” had swept the shelves clean of most packaged goods. Bread, in particular, took a big hit. There wasn’t a crumb in sight. And, yes—there was no toilet paper.My misery found a lot of company. People were kind. They would throw me a quick smile of compassionate understanding as we hastily passed each other in the aisles.The motorway A2 is seen amid an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) near Wassen, Switzerland, April 10, 2020.Switzerland borders Italy, for weeks the country worst-hit by COVID-19. But a recent statistical analysis shows that Switzerland with more than 24,000 confirmed cases and more than 950 deaths, has the highest rate of COVID-19 infections in the world, based on the size of its population.Despite this sobering news and the lockdown in Italy, the Swiss border at Ticino remains open to allow some 68,000 Italians working in Switzerland and seen as vital to the economy to enter.Swiss authorities reacted quickly after the first case of coronavirus was confirmed on Feb. 25. Three days later, they took the unprecedented step of banning public gatherings of 1,000 or more, disappointing thousands of would-be merrymakers looking forward to the country’s biggest, most popular carnival in Basel.Other casualties included the world’s biggest art fair in Basel, major Swiss watch exhibitions, the zany Inventions Convention and the Geneva International Motor Show, which attracts half a million visitors every year.The ban has had an immediate adverse impact on the activities of the United Nations and other international organizations headquartered in Switzerland.FILE – A logo is pictured outside a building of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland.On March 3, the U.N. Human Rights Council canceled 200 side events to reduce the number of participants attending. And, nine days later, the council suspended its session, a week before its ending date because of the spread of coronavirus.At the time, we did not fully realize that this was the end of all “normal” activities at the United Nations. The U.N., which used to be a beehive of activity, is basically shuttered. The staff is at home teleworking. Only a few essential personnel are left to roam in this cavernous building.These radical changes, of course, have affected the way I report. I’ve had little problem adjusting to working from home as I’ve been doing that for years—long before “teleworking” became a fixture in peoples’ everyday lexicon.However, the difference between working at home now and working at home in pre-coronavirus days is stark and not comforting.In the past, my self-isolating homework was interspersed with trips to the U.N. to attend press conferences, special events, socializing and gossiping with colleagues. It was easy to move around in the city or travel to out-of-the way places in search of a story.But that was then, and this is now. Like everyone else, I am learning how to maneuver in a virtual world.In-person press conferences have been replaced with virtual ones, presenting a number of drawbacks. For example, a few days ago, I plugged myself into a World Health Organization virtual press conference on the coronavirus pandemic.In his opening remarks, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said his greatest concern was the impact this deadly virus could have if it gained a foothold in countries with weaker health systems.I immediately focused on sub-Saharan Africa, where cases of COVID-19 are rising. I quickly pressed *9 to ask a question. Unfortunately, with 277 journalists on line, many of whom also were queued up to ask a question, I didn’t stand a chance– no matter how furiously and frequently I pounded *9 on my keyboard.Paul Molinaro, Chief Operations Support and Logistics at WHO, Director-General of World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Maria Van Kerkhove, Technical Lead of the Health Emergencies Programme, attend a news conferenceOne of my biggest regrets as a reporter in this atmosphere of caution and fear is my reduced ability to tell the stories of desperation that deserve to be heard but are being forgotten.Catastrophic events with dire consequences for millions of civilians caught in conflict are playing out in silence. So are the tragedies of children dying from hunger and disease, of women being raped as a tactic of war, of refugees fleeing persecution and violence.I have figured out that my best hope of shedding a bit of light on these dark corners of misery is by linking them with the COVID-19 pandemic, a singular threat dominating every aspect of our lives.
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Sudan’s Army Blocks Bashir Anniversary Events
Sudan’s military has blocked streets in central Khartoum leading to army headquarters, and banned public celebrations of the 1-year anniversary of the ouster of former president Omar al-Bashir. In a press release, a military spokesman said they’re not allowing any kind of gatherings around army headquarters. Hundreds of heavy vehicles and military pickups are surrounding the area. Critics are loud on social media. Activists raised eyebrows over the army’s decision. Protesters, who packed the public uprising against Bashir a year ago, are upset. Hussam Goraish was in prison for three months until protesters broke down the doors and freed him on the day of Bashir’s ouster. Speaking on Whatsapp, Goraish said as protesters, they would love to mark the anniversary, but unfortunately the military has blocked the streets and that has had a negative impact as it was a mistake in a first place. He added that people are so aware of the coronavirus pandemic and the health situation in the country, so the gathering wouldn’t be large. Some groups of protesters marked the anniversary by singing and raising the national flag on houses.It was on April 6, 2019, the military ended Bashir’s 30-year rule after four months of mass protests and massive rights violations allegedly committed by his security apparatus. FILE – Sudanese demonstrators flash the victory sign as a military police vehicle drives past them during a protest demanding Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir step down in Khartoum, Sudan, April 6, 2019.After the ouster, a pro-democracy camp near army headquarters was destroyed by soldiers who allegedly killed more than 100 protesters and left hundreds injured. In a Whatsapp message, political analyst Alfatih Mahmoud said now that Bashir is out of power, the military no longer sees a need for public demonstrations against him. Mahmoud said not allowing gatherings and celebration has no political logic for the military generals anymore. Before, the gathering was required as a political cover to make alienation to the crowds successful, but now they consider it as a military area, and the mission has ended, to not make new pressures against them. They consider themselves as governance partners in ruling structures, not in front of army headquarters. The Sudanese army was founded in 1955 by Britain,which defended Sudan under British rule until Sudan’s independence a year later. Since 1956, the Sudanese military oversaw Sudan during three long periods, including during Bashir’s three decades as president. Retired lieutenant colonel and military expert Omer Ahmed said Sudan’s government stability remains fragile. Omer said there’s an assumption and a possibility of a military coup,despite having a small chance of succeeding because of the public refusal, and also the international community agreeing with public’s desire. But coup makers and adventurers don’t think logically. Under a power-sharing agreement signed by a military general and protesters, the military will rule Sudan for 21 of 39 months ahead of civilian elections. Sudan’s supreme court has confirmed Bashir’s two-year prison sentence and says it’ll demilitarize members of the military who were loyal to him.
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Rights Groups Deplore Conditions in Kenya COVID Quarantine Facilities
Kenyan authorities faced a backlash this week after extending by two weeks a mandatory quarantine for people held in centers where coronavirus has been detected. Kenya has quarantined hundreds of arrivals since March to try to curb the spread of COVID-19. As of Friday, the country had recorded 189 cases of the disease and seven deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.Rights groups say the government is treating those held in quarantine like prisoners, but health authorities say the tough measures are needed to prevent the virus from spreading unchecked.A signed statement released Tuesday by 24 Kenyan rights groups expressed concern after authorities extended the quarantine period. It noted that it was not clear how many people were in mandatory quarantine in Kenya and how many of those had been tested for the virus.FILE – A young lady holds a sign asking for help after the Ministry of Health extended the detention period of people in quarantine to 28 days at a government-designated quarantine facility in Nairobi, April 4, 2020.”The civil society consortium is calling the government to action because the government has not been forthcoming with information to those who have been held in mandatory quarantine,” said Allan Maleche, executive director at KELIN, a Kenyan group that advocates for health rights. “The government has not been clear on who is paying for the cost; the government has not been clear on when people are supposed to be tested.”Kenya has designated 57 quarantine centers in Nairobi and Mombasa, which are hosting hundreds of people at their own cost.Who will pay?Jaylin, who for privacy reasons did not wish to use her real name, has been at a Nairobi quarantine facility for more than two weeks. While she has shown no symptoms, Jaylin said she would have to stay two more weeks because the center had a confirmed infection.“We haven’t heard even a single word about whether or not the further 14 days will be paid for by the government,” she said.FILE – Laundry sits in the bathtub of a government-designated quarantine facility in Nairobi, March 29, 2020.Some have complained also about the sanitation in Kenya’s quarantine centers. A resident at another Nairobi quarantine center, who asked that his name not be used, called the conditions “deplorable. In a floor, we are, like, 30 people sharing three toilets and three bathrooms. The toilets don’t flush, so we have to use buckets. So if there’s any place we can contract the disease, it’s in these facilities.”He said no one in his quarantine center had tested positive for the coronavirus. His claim could not be independently verified.In the public interestKenya’s Health Ministry said it was aware of the inconvenience of quarantine but maintained the practice was being done in the interest of protecting the public.Kenya’s director general of health, Dr. Patrick Amoth, on Tuesday defended the extended quarantine period while speaking to the media in Nairobi. He said it was the government’s responsibility to ensure anyone released was free of the virus.“We want to assure you again, especially those people who are in quarantine, to ensure that you follow the social distancing rules, the infection control prevention measures, the handwashing, and very soon we are going to check on you again after the 10th day, to check whether you are negative,” he said. “Working together with the county government, we shall be able to release you to continue with self-quarantine.”
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Trump Feels No Need for Crisis Counsel From Predecessors
President George W. Bush turned to one of the world’s most exclusive clubs for help raising money after an Indian Ocean tsunami killed more than 200,000 people in 2004.He paired his father, George H.W. Bush, and the man who defeated him to win the presidency in 1992, Bill Clinton. It worked so well that he signed the duo up again after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans less than a year later. President Barack Obama followed the same playbook and sent Clinton and the younger Bush off on a fundraising effort for Haiti after a devastating earthquake in 2010.Not President Donald Trump, who has no plans to seek his predecessors’ counsel during the coronavirus pandemic, a complex crisis with profound public health and economic consequences.”No, not really. We’re doing a great job,” Trump said recently when asked if he would contact any of the living former presidents. Even in the face of the greatest challenge of his presidency, Trump has expressed confidence in his team, and said he didn’t want to “bother” the former presidents. He added that he would reach out if he thought he could learn from them. FILE – President Barack Obama stands with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as he makes a statement on the H1N1 swine flu virus in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Sept. 1, 2009.Instead, he has frequently criticized his predecessors, disparaging Obama’s handling of the H1N1 virus pandemic of 2009-10 that killed nearly 12,500 Americans, and George W. Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, in which more than 1,800 people were killed, mostly in New Orleans.”Look, I respect everybody, but I feel I have an incredible team and I think we’re doing an incredible job,” Trump said at the White House. “So I don’t want to disturb them, bother them. I don’t think I’m going to learn much. I guess you could say that there’s probably a natural inclination not to call.”Now, if I felt that if I called I’d learn something and that would save one life — it would save one life, OK? — I would make the call in two minutes,” he said. “But I don’t see that happening.”That hasn’t stopped Clinton, Bush and Obama from getting involved in their own ways.Obama offers tips, reportsObama, who has been deliberate about keeping a low profile during Trump’s presidency, has become more of a presence on social media during the pandemic. The Democrat has been posting health and safety tips from public officials, news reports and uplifting accounts of the ways Americans are coming together during the crisis.His decision to share with his 115 million Twitter followers a recent Washington Post article about how viruses spread and can be slowed made it the newspaper’s most-read story ever, spokeswoman Molly Gannon said in an email.Obama on Thursday addressed leaders from more than 300 cities around the world who were discussing the pandemic at a New York event sponsored by former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s philanthropic organization. Obama encouraged the leaders to “speak the truth” and “speak it clearly” with compassion and empathy. His comments appeared to carry an implicit criticism of Trump, who sought early on to minimize the severity of the outbreak.FILE – President George W. Bush delivers a State of the Union address to Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 29, 2002.Bush, a Republican, hosted a teleconference this month with more than 500 mayors and local leaders who are working to keep their communities from being overrun by the virus. He is also using the Bush Institute to highlight how people across the country are helping each other, Bush spokesman Freddy Ford said in an email. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush are also social distancing “to the max” at their ranch in Crawford, Texas, Ford said.Democrats Bill and Hillary Clinton recently sent hundreds of pizzas to hospitals in Westchester County, New York, where they live.Michael Chertoff, homeland security secretary when Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast, said Bush leaned on the former presidents because he “understood that presidents bring to the table a unique perspective that no other official has.”Bush was widely faulted for a lackluster response to the unfolding disaster in New Orleans, which became a permanent blot on his two terms in office.Perspective seen as ‘very helpful’Chertoff, who commented at a recent event hosted by The Cipher Brief, an online intelligence newsletter, said presidents have to be the “ultimate decision-maker,” often relying on information that is fast-moving and changing. “So I think getting the perspective of your predecessors is very helpful,” Chertoff said.Presidents seeking help from those who came before them isn’t a modern phenomenon. In the late 1940s, Harry Truman put former President Herbert Hoover in charge of a commission charged with streamlining the executive branch of government.John F. Kennedy sought feedback from former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had been an Army general, after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961. FILE – Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter crosses the military demarcation line in Panmunjom from North to South Korea, June 18, 1994.Jimmy Carter led a Clinton-sanctioned mission to North Korea in 1994.”Former presidents are a rarity and they are a precious, valuable informed commodity,” Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, said in an interview. And it’s not only because they know issues, “but they also have the experience of being president.”Trump was liberal in criticizing some of his predecessors, especially Obama, even before he took office. He has torn into Bush over the Iraq war, criticized Clinton’s treatment of some women, and even tried to stoke the false notion that Obama was not born in the United States.In office, Trump has routinely criticized or blamed Obama for things that go wrong, including aspects of the current pandemic. Last year, he responded to Carter’s suggestion that Russian interference in the 2016 election rendered Trump’s presidency illegitimate by publicly calling Carter a “terrible president.”Jeffrey Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said President George H.W. Bush kept his living predecessors briefed on issues big and small in case a situation arose where he would need to seek their counsel. The fact that Trump doesn’t “go outside of his own info bubble” to seek advice is perhaps among the biggest problems of his presidency, Engel said.”You don’t know the information that you don’t know that you don’t know,” he said.
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US International Aid Groups Sending Help Home
International charity groups usually provide support to war-torn or impoverished countries. But now, they’re sending humanitarian aid to some of the wealthiest places in the United States to help manage the coronavirus pandemic. Direct Relief is helping supply hospitals across the country, while Doctors Without Borders is setting up hand-washing stations in New York. Experts say the fact that U.S. health providers are turning to international charities underscores the government’s inadequate response.
In Santa Barbara, forklifts chug through the warehouse of Direct Relief, hustling pallets of much-needed medical supplies into waiting FedEx trucks. Normally those gloves, masks and medicines would go to desperately poor clinics in Haiti or Sudan, but now they’re racing off to Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, California and the Robert Wood Johnson Hospitals in New Jersey.
Direct Relief is just one of several U.S. charities that traditionally operate in countries stricken by war and natural disaster that are now sending humanitarian aid to some of the wealthiest communities in America to help manage the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are responding to the greatest unmet needs,” said Direct Relief CEO Thomas Tighe.
He is organizing flights of supplies directly from the group’s own manufacturers in China to the Santa Barbara warehouse, and also coordinating shipments from other producers around the world. After spending two decades providing relief to disaster zones, Tighe exudes a calm in the midst of this emergency.
The medical charity Doctors Without Borders spent months fighting coronavirus around the world and is now trying to save lives just down the street from their New York offices. The group is supporting soup kitchens, setting up hand-washing stations, and training local officials how to prevent the spread of infection. Samaritan’s Purse International erected a 14-tent field hospital with an ICU in Central Park.
That international aid groups are supporting the U.S. healthcare system shows how dire the need is domestically, and how inadequate the federal response has been.
“We now see nonprofits that traditionally help weak governments coming in to substitute for our national government,” said Evelyn Brodkin, political scientist and professor emerita at the University of Chicago. “We’re lucky they’re here. But it tells you something about the abdication of the federal role in this crisis.”
U.S. blunders related to testing have hindered efforts to contain the virus’ spread, and the government was late to respond to critical shortages as imports of medical supplies plummeted.
“Clearly, we have been caught flat-footed,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, director of Harvard University’s Global Health Institute. “The fact that resources from these organizations are coming to the U.S. is, on one hand, helpful to Americans, but pathetic in terms of what it says about American responsiveness.”
President Donald Trump, by contrast, has said the administration has done a “really good job” responding to the outbreak.
CARE, a 75-year-old humanitarian group, is sending relief packages to medical workers, caregivers and individuals in need.
“CARE has never delivered in the U.S. before now, but this pandemic has meant a scale up in our response internationally and here at home as well,” said CEO Michelle Nunn.
Feed the Children, meantime, is distributing aid to all five of its hubs across the country.
Experts say charities can’t substitute for a coordinated national response. But they’re trying.
For the first time, MedShare, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that repacks surplus medical supplies and sends them to clinics around the world, is delivering protective gear to major U.S. hospitals including Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
“It’s very unusual, but there’s a clear need and we want to help,” said spokeswoman Nancy Hunter.
Still, hospitals across the country are running short of supplies, and have to ration gear such as masks and gowns, a common practice in medical facilities in less stable countries.
Dr. Rasha Khoury, who’s been on surgical missions in Sierra Leone, Lebanon, Cote d’Ivoire, Iraq and spent more than a year in Afghanistan as a member of Doctors Without Borders, is back at her regular job in a Bronx, New York, hospital. But she’s using lessons learned in her overseas experiences every day.
“This is the first time I’ve ever felt a parallel between my work in precarious situations and my work here in the U.S.,” she said.
Abroad, for example, she gets one N95 respirator mask every two weeks, so she’s accustomed to rationing protective gear. In humanitarian medicine, she says, she quickly trains specialists to practice areas of medicine they’re not used to. High patient volumes, blood shortages and teams in crisis are all familiar challenges.
And she worries that if New York, one of the most heavily resourced health care systems in the world, is struggling to get what it needs to care for COVID-19 patients, then infection control, triage and providing basic care are all going to be that much more of a crisis in impoverished countries.
Dr. Jean Fritz Jacques, a general surgeon in Haiti who runs Healing Arts Mission Clinic, is bracing for the worst.
His country is utterly unprepared for the pandemic, and he’s watching the group’s U.S.-based donors supply American institutions. In Haiti, private hospitals are closing for lack of supplies and equipment, and public hospitals aren’t ready, he said.
“We are just praying that the chaos will not happen,” Jacques said.
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Vietnam Expedites Shipment of Medical Suits to US
Vietnam has shipped nearly half a million protective suits to the United States, marking a quick turnaround in bilateral talks to deal with the significant U.S. shortage in medical equipment, and resulting in a tweet of thanks from the U.S. president.
“This morning, 450,000 protective suits landed in Dallas, Texas,” U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday in a post on Twitter. “This was made possible because of the partnership of two great American companies—DuPont and FedEx—and our friends in Vietnam. Thank you!”
The U.S. embassy in Hanoi said a second shipment of 450,000 suits from Vietnam would follow “to address the urgent need for protective equipment for frontline providers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.”
Vietnam is still working to keep COVID-19 under control domestically. It has had 251 people infected in total and has recorded no deaths as of Friday. That relative stability has allowed it to send medical aid to nations such as Laos, Spain and now the U.S. FILE – Vietnam’s Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung hands a box of protective masks to Italy’s Ambassador to Vietnam Antonio Alessandro as Vietnam donates medical supplies to Europe amid the coronavirus pandemic, in Hanoi, Vietnam, April 7, 2020.The aid stands in contrast to worries elsewhere the pandemic is encouraging protectionism, with nations trying to limit exports of medical supplies. The limits around the world range from Moscow suspending exports of personal protective equipment, to the White House telling 3M not to sell surgical masks abroad.
Americans are more familiar with buying “Made in Vietnam” garments and footwear, given the Southeast Asian nation’s large manufacturing base. It is that manufacturing capacity that makes it possible for firms such as Dupont to speed up production of protective coveralls in Vietnam. Dupont said it took 10 days to finish the protective suits and fly them from Hanoi to Dallas — a process that usually takes 90 days and includes transport on a container ship.
Vietnam also is in good shape with supplies of other medical goods, like face shields and shoe covers, according to a source familiar with the matter.
“This international operation enables the DuPont plant in Vietnam to produce TYVEK suits and ship them to the Strategic National Stockpile, allowing us to deploy suits to where health care workers need them most,” said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.
Previously, it was unclear how the national stockpile would be used. Presidential adviser Jared Kushner said at a press briefing last week the supplies are “not supposed to be states’ stockpiles that they then use.”
The Health and Human Services Department said Wednesday, however, it would work with “states, territories, tribal nations and certain cities” to get the suits from Vietnam to “the health care facilities and workers most in need.”
Hospital workers in the United States have complained of shortages of protective clothing, ventilators, and other crucial medical supplies.
The government of Vietnam said on its official website it was supplying the medical suits this week because “the United States currently has a great demand” and Vietnam aimed to show its “spirit of mutual support to partner countries, including the United States.”
“This is also Vietnam’s participation and contribution to the global effort to push back the COVID-19 epidemic,” the government said.
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Stampede in Kenya as Slum Residents Surge for Food Aid
Thousands of people surged for food aid in a brief stampede Friday in Kenya’s capital, leading police to fire tear gas and injure several people, witnesses said.Desperate for help as coronavirus-related restrictions make it more difficult to go out and make a living, residents of Nairobi’s Kibera slum gathered for a food distribution near a district office. They tried to force their way through a gate for their chance at supplies to keep their families fed for another day.The scene in Kenya’s largest slum reflected the fears of millions across Africa as nearly 20 countries have imposed full lockdowns and others have shut down cities or imposed curfews. A vast population of informal workers, with little or no savings, worries about the next meal as no one knows when the measures will end. Already, Rwanda and South Africa have extended their lockdowns by two weeks.In the Nairobi chaos, men with sticks beat people back as they fought over packages of food, some with face masks dangling off their chins. Some people fell and were trampled. Dust rose. Women shrieked. Injured people were carried to safety and placed on the ground to recover, gasping for breath.”The people who have been injured here are very many, even we cannot count,” said one resident, Evelyn Kemunto. “Both women and children have been injured. There was a woman with twins, she has been injured, and even now she is looking for her twins. … It is food we were coming for since we are dying of hunger.”The crowd had heard that popular opposition leader Raila Odinga had donated the food, said witness Richard Agutu Kongo, a 43-year-old who operates a motorcycle taxi. But in fact the distribution was from another well-wisher who had given selected families cards to turn in and receive aid, he said.”They didn’t care about government restrictions that we were to stay 1 meter apart,” he added.Kongo’s family, including six children, was given a card. They received two packets of maize meal, cooking oil and cereals.People in the crowd “could see those with cards getting food and this caused the stampede as they tried to force their way in,” Kongo said.He described his business as a standstill as Kenyans are discouraged from going out.”Before, I used to make (the equivalent of) $10 and now with the coronavirus restrictions I can barely make $5,” he said. “It’s becoming hard to ensure my family gets three meals a day. Yesterday they missed breakfast.”With Friday’s donation, his family now has enough for three meals, he said: “We are thankful for the donation, but it will only last two days.”He lamented that Kenya’s government appears to have no plan to feed him and millions more.
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Rights Groups Call for Release of Reporters in Africa Amid COVID-19 Outbreak
As the coronavirus spreads to all corners of the African continent, advocacy groups are calling for the release of a particularly vulnerable group: jailed journalists.In an open letter to 10 African heads of state, the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, and 80 other press freedom and human rights groups called for the media professionals to be freed.”They are in jails that are overcrowded, where there are underlying health conditions where malaria and TB is a problem,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator. “So really, their lives are at risk here and many of them actually haven’t even been convicted and have been sitting in detention for years without trial.”In a FILE – A shipping container bearing the slogan “This is not a container, it is is prison” stands in position during a demonstration in support of imprisoned journalists, including those from Eritrea, in Paris, Dec. 16, 2014.One person who knows these difficulties is Mimi Mefo Takambou, a print and broadcast journalist from Cameroon. In 2018, she was arrested and charged with reporting false information and undermining state security for a story about an American missionary who was shot and killed in the West African country.She was imprisoned for four days, and saw firsthand the squalid conditions in which journalists are held in the country and the lack of basic rights.”The sanitation condition is not a very good one; like I said, the situation of overcrowding in prison. Access to the lawyer sometimes is problematic. We’ve had colleagues who are behind bars, and they’ll have to spend several months even before having access to lawyers,” she told VOA.Takambou says she believes it is wrong for journalists to be held like this, not only on moral grounds, but also because they play a vital role in covering the coronavirus crisis.”They have a huge role to play at this point in time in informing the population and giving them what they need as far as steps toward curbing the spread of coronavirus is concerned. But if most of these journalists are behind bars, who is going to tell the story?” she asked.Takambou says she hopes her country and others that continue to imprison journalists will see information and those who report it as part of the solution to the coronavirus, not part of the problem.”Release them so that they can be able to do their job,” she said. “The place of the journalist is not in jail; the place of the journalist is in the field, telling the story, keeping people informed. And, at this point in time now, they are needed more than ever before.”
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