Tribes urged the federal government to quickly disburse coronavirus relief funding after a judge handed them an early victory in a case centered on who is eligible for a share of the $8 billion allocated to tribes. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, D.C., ruled in favor of the tribes late Monday in their bid to keep Alaska Native corporations from getting any of the money — at least for now. The decision clears the U.S. Treasury Department to send payments to 574 federally recognized tribes in response to the coronavirus. At least 18 tribes sued the Treasury Department, alleging that Congress intended the funding to go only to tribal governments. They said the corporations that own most of the Native land in Alaska don’t fit within the definition of “Indian Tribe” in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act signed into law last month. FILE – Then-attorney Amit Mehta speaks in Bronx state Supreme Court in New York, March 28, 2012.Mehta said the tribes easily showed they would suffer irreparable harm unless he limited the funding temporarily to tribal governments while he awaited more argument on the question of eligibility of Alaska Native corporations. “These are monies that Congress appropriated on an emergency basis to assist tribal governments in providing core public services to battle a pandemic that is ravaging the nation, including in Indian Country,” Mehta said. The U.S. Justice Department, which represented Treasury, declined comment Tuesday. The Treasury Department did not respond to requests for comment. Justice Department attorney Jason Lynch had argued that the Treasury Department’s decision to include Alaska Native corporations wasn’t subject to judicial review because the funding is for a public health emergency. Mehta rejected the argument. The Treasury Department has said it could start sending payments to tribes Tuesday — two days past the deadline in the coronavirus relief bill. But it has not said how it would determine who gets what. Congress set aside $8 billion for tribes in the $2.2 trillion bill. Mehta did not order the Treasury Department to disburse all the money to tribal governments. Harry Pickernell Sr., chairman of the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation in Washington state, said he was pleased with the judge’s decision. “This ruling will help tribal governments to lead in the aid and recovery of their people,” he said in a statement. The tribes that have sued are in Alaska, Arizona, California, Maine, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah and Washington state. Alaska Native corporations Alaska Native corporations are unique to Alaska and own most of the Native land in the state under a 1971 settlement known as the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Mehta said neither the corporations nor the Treasury Department showed the corporations are providing public services comparable to tribal governments to combat the coronavirus. The corporations, which are not parties to the lawsuit, have said they support Alaska Natives economically, socially and culturally. Two associations that together represent most of the corporations — the ANCSA Regional Association and the Alaska Native Village Corporation Association — said they believe the corporations ultimately will be deemed eligible for funding. “This will mean a delay in necessary resources and economic assistance for Alaska Native people in our communities and our state,” the groups said. “However, Alaska Native people have a history of resilience and strength. Together we will prevent the spread of COVID-19, care for those who get sick, and repair our economies.” For most people, the coronavirus causes 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 and death. The vast majority of people recover.
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Month: April 2020
Fauci Expects ‘Low Number’ of New COVID-19 Cases if US Reopens Carefully
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday he expects COVID-19 cases to increase when the country reopens from its coronavirus lockdown.In a virtual interview with the Economic Club of Washington, Fauci said that if restrictions are relaxed carefully and we have the capability to identify those who have the virus, isolate them, and trace those that have been in contact with, then the numbers of new cases will be low.Under that scenario, he said models show a “low number” of new cases would be 70,000 to 80,000 nationwide.Fauci said it is inevitable that we will have a return of the virus, or that it never fully goes away. Fauci says by the end of this year we should know if we will get a safe and effective vaccine. Then, he says, the challenge will be making enough of it and distributing it in the U.S. and throughout the world.Last week, Oxford University in London began human trials on a potential vaccine. The New York Times newspaper reports the Oxford researchers say initial tests of the vaccine on monkeys are very promising. If it proves effective, there could reportedly be several million doses available by September.
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FBI Records 28 ‘Active Shooter Incidents’ in 2019
There were 28 active shooter incidents in the United States last year, up from 27 the previous year, the FBI said in a report released Tuesday. The FBI defines an active shooter as one or more individuals engaged in killing people in a populated area. The shooting incidents last year, carried out by 30 active shooters, killed 97 people and wounded 150, the FBI said. That compares with 85 killed and 128 wounded the previous year. The report, the FBI’s fifth in a series on active shooters in recent years, highlighted several characteristics of the shooters: 29 were male, one was female 26 acted alone 5 were in their teens, 13 in their 20s, 4 in their 30s, 5 in their 40s, 2 in their 50s and one in his 60s Nine of the shooters were killed by law enforcement officers at the scene of the shootings and five committed suicide. The deadliest shooting incident last year occurred on August 3 when a gunman shot and killed 23 people and injured 22 others at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas. The perpetrator, 21-year-old white supremacist Patrick Crusius, was later charged with capital murder. The shooting incident with the second-highest number of casualties came the next day when Connor Stephen Betts, 24, killed nine people and wounded 27 others outside a bar in Canton, Ohio.
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UK Mourns Front-Line Workers Who Have Died from Coronavirus
The U.K. held a minute’s silence Tuesday for all front-line workers who have died from the coronavirus, as official figures showed a new weekly high in the total number of deaths in England and Wales.
As clocks struck 11 a.m., senior political leaders, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, joined hospital and nursing home staff in observing the silence. London’s subway and bus networks came to a halt as workers honored colleagues, and Westminster Abbey paid tribute to “the sacrifice of health and care workers who have lost their lives in the service of others.”
On Monday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said 82 workers in the National Health Service and 16 social care staff had died so far. Other workers, including a number of bus drivers in London, have also died after testing positive for COVID-19.
The minute’s silence had been campaigned for by the Unison union, the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal of College of Nursing.
Donna Kinnair, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said it was “important to pay tribute” and urged all front-line workers be “afforded the greatest protection.” The government has been criticized for not having sufficient supplies of personal protective equipment.
“An even greater task now remains — to stop more joining the tragic number of those who have died,” she said.
Johnson, who returned to work on Monday after recovering from COVID-19, tweeted that the country “will not forget you.”
Johnson has said he won’t risk a second peak in the virus by relaxing the lockdown restrictions too soon. The country, he said, was at the point of “maximum risk” even though it was coming out of the “first phase of this conflict.”
Ministers have been reluctant to talk about easing the restrictions, which are due to last until May 7, and the government has set five tests before contemplating such a move, including “a sustained and consistent” fall in the daily death rate and clear evidence that the rate of infection has decreased.
Though England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales moved into lockdown together, some divergences are emerging. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said her government was recommending the use of face coverings in limited circumstances, such as when using public transport or buying food. The U.K. government hasn’t made such a recommendation.
The Office for National Statistics also said Tuesday that 22,351 people in England and Wales died in the week ending April 17, the highest since comparable records began in 1993. The total was more than double the rolling five-year average.
In its analysis of death certificates, which take longer to compile than deaths recorded in hospitals, the statistics agency said the coronavirus was mentioned as one of the causes of death in 8,758 cases, nearly 40% of the total.
It also said that 4,316 deaths involving COVID-19 had been registered up to April 17 outside of hospitals with 3,096 in care homes. The equivalent figure for hospital deaths over the period is 14,796.
The daily figures presented by the government only show the number of people dying in U.K. hospitals, including those in Scotland and Northern Ireland. As of Monday, 21,092 people had died in U.K. hospitals.
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Half of US Workers Earning More While Unemployed
About half of the millions of U.S. workers laid off by the coronavirus pandemic could end up earning more out of work than when they had a job, new analyses of jobless benefits show.As part of the U.S. recovery effort, the government is sending an extra $600 a week to laid-off workers through the end of July to augment widely varying unemployment payments normally paid jobless workers by each of the 50 states.On average, the states pay unemployed workers 45% of what they were earning. But with the extra coronavirus payments, the Labor Department says the payments should increase over the coming weeks from the average $377.97 a week that was paid late last year to $978.While the extra payments will help jobless workers in the short term, the higher pay could end up stalling the U.S. recovery.Laid-off workers who are earning more out of work will have no immediate monetary incentive to return to work if their employers are able to reopen retail stores, restaurants, factories and other businesses before the end of July.The government says that half of U.S. workers earned less than $957 a week in the first quarter of 2020, meaning less than half made $50,000 a year.On the other hand, employers could effectively force workers to return by making job openings for laid-off workers contingent on their return by a certain date, even if it was before the $600-a-week payments expire at the end of July.Workers could ask employers to allow them to remain on furlough through July so they could continue to collect the higher unemployment compensation.To date, 26 million American workers have been laid off, an unemployment devastation not seen in the U.S. since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Millions more have been added to the unemployment rolls each Thursday over the last five weeks when the government announces its tally from the week before.Until the pandemic hit the U.S., the jobless rate for the world’s biggest economy had for months been less than 4%. But when the April figure is announced May 8, it is likely to reach well into the teens.
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Making Things Right: In Morocco, Ex-Con Gives Back to His Community
A reformed ex-convict in Morocco looks to make the best of his new life of freedom. Streets he once stalked as a criminal are today the focus of his local beautification efforts. And, as VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports, he may even offer a path for other ex-cons to follow.
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Ugandan Health Care Workers Cite Some Success Against Corornavirus
The high-risk COVID-19 ward at Uganda’s Mulago National Referral Hospital has been filled to capacity over the past month. But the hospital says recoveries have kept pace with the rate of confirmed coronavirus infections.Uganda has confirmed 79 coronavirus infections, 49 recoveries, and — so far — no deaths. But outside of Uganda’s hospitals, though, health care workers are facing stigma. Dr. Baterana Byarugaba is the executive director at the Mulago National Referral Hospital. “We said ‘OK, let’s see how this virus will kill people if we maintain them on their normal drugs.’ If they are hypertensive, we treat hypertension, we treat diabetes, we treat ulcers, we treat all forms of diseases,” Baterana said. “And, I think that was part of our success.” Dr. Fred Nakwagala, senior consultant physician for Covid-19 case management in Uganda, said past lessons from Ebola and cholera outbreaks helped prepare them.He admits COVID-19 poses new challenges — including for health care workers. “You remain with that sense of fear, anxiety,” Nakwagala said. ”And also, for you, you may be strong but your family, where you stay, your community, where you live and travel. And there’s also the issue of stigma. If you go into a market now, and the people in the market know you, they kind of don’t want to serve you. They kind of feel they don’t want to associate with you.” Ugandan Health Minister Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng said the only newly confirmed cases of coronavirus are coming in from other countries. “Nearly 23 are truck drivers who came either from Kenya or from Tanzania,” Aceng said. “Within the country, we have not been getting positive cases. And as we draw close to the end of the lockdown, we need to have vital information that will form part of the decisions for lifting the lockdown.” Uganda’s lockdown restrictions on movement and gatherings are set either to expire or be extended May 5. To help make that decision, the Ugandan Health Ministry will conduct a nationwide rapid survey on community transmission, including 20,000 tests for COVID-19, to see if additional infections are being missed.
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Greek Church Demands Government Ease Controls on Religious Services
Ready or not, Greece is opening back up. But it is not happening all at once, as the government plans to lift coronavirus restrictions in phases, keeping a ban on religious services to contain new outbreaks of COVID. The plan has infuriated the Greek Orthodox Church and it is now demanding preference over businesses like hair and nail salons.The standoff comes as Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announces a gradual easing of draconian lockdown measures imposed here since early March.Government officials tell VOA, schools and small-size businesses will be among the first to open next week. Church doors will also be unlocked but only to allow followers to enter and pray on their own, not in large numbers and not for religious services.The country’s archbishop has sent a stern letter to the prime minister, pressing him to reconsider.But on Tuesday, the Church’s spokesperson, the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos, Hierotheos, accused the government of staging what he called a coup against the country’s religious authority. “What do they really think the Church is?” he asked in front of reporters Tuesday. “Do they consider it like any other supermarket or union or nail and hair salon?”The Church, he says, has been a guiding force for the nation and part of Greek tradition for more than 200 years.It’s unlikely the prime minister will back down from his plans, aides say.A beggar sits in an empty Ermou street in front of Kapnikarea church during lockdown measures by the Greek government to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Athens, April 21, 2020.The country’s senior council of prelates, meantime, is scheduling a crisis meeting later this week. It wants to see churches open across the nation soon, in order hold belated Easter services in May – services it has suspended as part of nationwide efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus.The controversy is fueling a debate in Greece on whether the state should reconsider its close ties with the Greek Orthodox Church. Commentator Nikos Vlavianos, known for his left-wing views, argues for a separation. He calls this type of intervention absurd and says and it reminds the world that, in the 21st Century, church and state are not separated in Greece.About 90 percent of Greeks identify as Orthodox Christians, although it is unclear how many of them regularly attend church. The Orthodox Church is deeply intertwined with the society of Greece, predating the Greek state by some 1,500 years. Throughout history, attempts to separate the two have met resistance, with many, many Greeks citing the Church’s key role in preserving the Orthodox faith during 400 years of Ottoman rule.
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Conflict, Disasters Spark Record Number of Internally Displaced
A new report finds a record 50.8 million people globally are displaced within their own countries due to conflict, violence and natural disasters. The report, published by the FILE – In this photo taken on Dec. 10, 2019 a displaced Burkinabe woman and child prepare food, in the Pissila town camp, near Kaya, Burkina Faso.One of the most dramatic examples of this is Burkina Faso. The report says conflict and violence linked largely to an increase in terrorist activities have triggered a huge increase in internal displacement from 42,000 people in 2018 to more than half-a-million last year.
Finding durable solutions for internally displaced people is difficult, says Bilek because they are citizens of their countries. She notes it is the responsibility of governments to protect and assist their nationals. “Which is why the international response in those contexts is slower and the international community is perhaps more sensitive to state sovereignty in an IDP, internal displacement context than it would be in a refugee context. It makes it much more politically complicated, I would say, to respond,” she said.Although there are more than twice as many internally displaced people in the world than refugees, the problems of IDPs get far less attention from the international media. FILE – Women walk through al-Hol displacement camp in Hasaka governorate, Syria, April 1, 2019. There has long been worry about a potential coronavirus outbreak in northeastern Syria, home to several displaced-person and refugee camps.The U.N. refugee agency’s Principal Advisor on Internal Displacement, Sumbul Rizvi. explains that is because the plight of refugees fleeing across borders in search of protection is more visible than that of IDPs. She tells VOA media attention is absolutely essential to shine a light on the needs of people uprooted within their own countries. “But also, the root causes on why these situations may have occurred and what can be done to address them, thus paving the path to solutions. And, solutions cannot just be humanitarian solutions. They have to be political and development related as well as some of the main causes of internal displacement,” she said. Authors of the report fear the global coronavirus pandemic will take a particularly heavy toll on the lives and livelihoods of internally displaced people. They note the overcrowded, squalid conditions of the settlements in which IDPs live are perfect breeding grounds for this deadly disease.
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How Some Companies Survive, Even Thrive, in Viral Crisis
When the coronavirus struck the United States hard last month, 22-year-old entrepreneur David Zamarin knew his company needed a Plan B — fast. As the economy essentially shut down, demand for his stain-resistant coatings was sure to drop. So Zamarin decided to retool his company, DetraPel, in Framingham, Massachusetts, to start making disinfectants to help fight the virus’s spread. Within weeks, “we completely changed our whole system.”Sales of the DetraPel ecoCleaner & Disinfectant have been strong, he said, and Zamarin expects to produce the cleaner even after the health crisis has passed. “I don’t want this to be a one-time thing,” he said. “I don’t want to capitalize on this to make short-term money.”A store in Virginia is offering large discounts to customers. (Photo: Diaa Bekheet)The COVID-19 pandemic has been an epic catastrophe for American business. Economic life is all but frozen. Stores are idle. Sales have sunk as people isolate at home, slash spending on autos and appliances and halt shopping trips, restaurant meals and movie outings.Many iconic retailers are reeling. Gap warns it may run out of cash. Neiman Marcus and J.C. Penney could be headed for bankruptcy protection.Yet by dint of circumstance, resourcefulness or just plain luck, some companies have positioned themselves to withstand, even thrive, in the crisis. The most fortunate work in sectors mostly shielded from damage, like pharmacies. Or they can capitalize on the quirks of the times — a spike in demand for groceries, pizza delivery, movie streaming, online packages and cleaning products. Some companies were prudent enough to have built financial cushions or credit lines to access cash. And then there are nimble ones like DetraPel that somehow find opportunity in the chaos.”This is a once-in-a-lifetime — we hope — event,” said Andrew Corbett of Babson College’s Butler Institute for Free Enterprise through Entrepreneurship. “The people who are used to dealing with ambiguity and trying new things — they’re going to embrace this and run with it.”Corbett pointed to Bauer, a sports equipment maker that has pivoted from making visors for hockey helmets to producing medical visors for health care workers fighting the outbreak. That kind of drastic reversal is beyond the reach of most companies.”It’s hard to change your business model,” said Gregg Lemos-Stein, who studies corporate analytics at S&P Global Ratings. “It’s like trying to change your tires while the car is going 100 miles an hour.”For most companies, the key to survival is maintaining enough cash to stay afloat until the economy begins to grind back to health. Some businesses, Lemos-Stein said, have drained their credit lines to try to withstand a period of plunging revenue.”Cash is king,” Robert Kaplan of Harvard Business School said in a video seminar on the coronavirus’ threat to companies. “Preserve what you have and grab more cash wherever you can to help you get through and survive the crisis.”United Airlines is trying to raise $1 billion by issuing stock. Darden Restaurants, owner of Olive Garden and other chain restaurants, is seeking $400 million in a stock offering.The government has intervened to provide small businesses with loans they don’t have to repay if they use most of the money to keep workers on the payroll. The Federal Reserve poured money into financial markets to ensure that companies can maintain access to vital short-term credit for everyday operations.But government money goes only so far for a company whose business has collapsed.”It doesn’t put people back on planes or back in the malls,” S&P’s Lemos-Stein said. “I haven’t talked to a CEO yet who thinks the government is going to be their savior,” said Rich Lesser, CEO of the Boston Consulting Group.FILE – The Netflix logo is seen on their office in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S. July 16, 2018.Even while the health crisis has crushed purchases for most goods and services, it’s ignited consumers’ appetite for other offerings. Netflix is capitalizing on a burst of demand for streaming entertainment. Amazon’s stock is up on a surge in online shopping. Clorox is benefiting from panic buying for cleaning supplies. Zoom and other video conference services have filled a rising need of employees working from home.The data firm Womply found that grocery stores enjoyed a 40% increase in revenue earlier this month from a year ago. Also seeing surges: Gun shops (120%) and liquor stores (60%).Still, millions of businesses have at least temporarily closed, Womply found: 71% of shoe stores, 77% of thrift shops and 68% of antique dealers. Forty-two percent of restaurants have shuttered. Those that have a brisk takeout or delivery service have been likelier to remain open: Only 21% of pizza shops and 17% of chicken wings purveyors have stopped doing business.”Businesses are reorganizing around curbside (pickup) and takeout,” said Brad Plothow. Womply’s marketing chief.With widespread shutdowns of malls and stores, the pandemic is putting many clothing retailers further in peril, while increasing the dominance of big box stores that have remained open because they sell essentials like food and household goods. Walmart, Amazon and others are on a hiring spree and doling out bonuses or pay increases. But even they face pressures. They’re spending more on labor and online operations. Some are seeing profits squeezed because shoppers are turning to low-margin groceries and avoiding higher-margin items like clothing. Amazon has struggled to handle an accelerating demand for essentials, disappointing many of its Prime members, who pay $129 a year and are accustomed to receiving deliveries within two days.The crisis risks intensifying what many regard as a troubling trend: Commerce increasingly concentrated among big companies as smaller firms fail, thereby reducing competition. The Open Markets Institute, which campaigns against monopolies, has called for a ban on acquisitions by companies with annual revenue above $100 million or by large investment firms. Lynn Barry, the institute’s executive director, notes that many big companies swallowed up smaller rivals in the financial crisis and Great Recession, sometimes in deals brokered by the government. He’s worried about a repeat: “You’ve got Apple and Google and Amazon with these massive piles of cash, the Saudis and others with these massive piles of cash, and everyone else is half-bankrupt and paralyzed.”
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Top German Health Experts Urge Public to ‘Stay Disciplined’
Germany’s national public health institute is urging the public to “stay disciplined” as data regarding the COVID pandemic in the nation remains mixed, even as the country begins to ease public restrictions.Speaking a news briefing Tuesday in Berlin, Robert Koch Institute chief Lothar Wieler told reporters the country’s rate of coronavirus infections has crept up slightly since Germany eased lockdown restrictions on April 20 to allow small businesses to open, while maintaining social distancing.Wieler explained the so-called “R” factor – rate of people infected by every person with COVID-19 – is about 1.0. It had been around 0.7 before restrictions were eased. Wieler says though the R factor is important, Germany is currently seeing about 1,000 new infections reported per day, down from a high of some 6,000. He said the health care system can cope with that.As the regulations are loosened, Wieler is urging Germans to continue to abide by social distancing guidance, wear masks while on public transportation or shopping, and to stay at home when possible.
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Austria to Ease Coronavirus Lockdown Friday
Austrian officials announced Tuesday the nation will lift lockdown measures effective Friday, May 1, making it among the first European countries to do so. At a news conference in Vienna, Austrian Health Minister Rudolf Anschober said the COVID-19 figures are such that the lockdown can be allowed run out. Austria has been under lockdown for about seven weeks, during which people were only allowed to leave their homes for designated reasons. As of Friday, people will still need to maintain a one-meter distance from each other in public, and people will be required to wear a face mask in public. In another move, Austrian Tourism Minister Elisabeth Koestinger announced restaurants will reopen May 15. She said up to four adults will be allowed to sit at the same table and the one-meter distance rule will still apply. According to the ministry of health, current infection rates are well below one percent, making a slow reopening of the economy possible. As of Tuesday, Austria’s health ministry reports the nation has 15,256 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 569 deaths.
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Eastern Libyan Forces Say Turkish Drone Killed 5 Civilians
Eastern Libyan forces laying siege on the country’s capital, Tripoli, accused their rivals on Tuesday of staging an attack in which a Turkish drone hit a food truck convoy in the country’s west, killing at least five civilians.
The militia groups loosely allied with a U.N.-supported but weak government in Tripoli denied attacking civilians, saying instead that they targeted trucks carrying equipment and ammunition for eastern forces trying to take Tripoli.
The fighting over Tripoli erupted last April, when east-based forces under commander Khalifa Hifter launched an offensive to capture the city. In recent weeks, violence has escalated with both sides accusing each other of shelling civilian neighborhoods. The U.N. has said the violence and the worsening humanitarian crisis in Libya could amount to war crimes.
Ahmed al-Mosmari, a spokesman for Hifter forces, said the drone strike took place late Monday near the district Mizda, 184 kilometers (114 miles) south of Tripoli.
Hifter’s forces control most of eastern and southern Libya while the besieged Tripoli administration rules just a corner of the country’s west. Both sides are supported by a network of fractious militias and foreign powers.
On Monday, Hifter in an attempted show of strength, declared a 2015 U.N.-brokered political deal to unite the oil-rich country “a thing of the past.”
The Tripoli-based government said it wasn’t surprised by Hifter’s announcement, and urged Libyans to join “a comprehensive dialogue and continue in the democratic path to reach a comprehensive and permanent solution based on ballot boxes.”
While the 2015 agreement has so far failed to bring unity or stability to the divided country, Hifter’s announcement threatens to further complicate U.N. efforts to broker a political settlement to the civil war.
In Brussels, European Commission spokesman Peter Stano on Tuesday criticized Hifter’s announcement from the previous day, saying that “any attempt to push forward unilateral solutions, even more so by force, will never provide a sustainable solution for the country, and such attempts cannot be accepted.”
Stano said the December 2015 agreement “remains the viable framework for a political solution in Libya, until amendments are a found, or replacements are found” agreed by all parties and called on all international actors in Libya to “increase their pressure” on the warring parties to help end the fighting and bring about a political settlement.
Libya has been in turmoil since 2011, when a civil war toppled long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed. The chaos has worsened in the recent round of fighting as foreign backers increasingly intervene, despite their pledges to the contrary at a high-profile peace summit in Berlin earlier this year.
Turkey has sent armored drones, air defenses and more recently, Syrian militants with links to extremist groups to prop up the embattled Tripoli government. Meanwhile, Russia has deployed hundreds of mercenaries to boost Hifter’s assault. The United Arab Emirates and Egypt also back Hifter.
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12th Inmate Dies of COVID-19 at Michigan Prison
COLDWATER, MICHIGAN — A 12th inmate has died from COVID-19 complications at a southern Michigan prison where more than 50% of inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus, the Corrections Department said Monday.Lakeland prison in Branch County has a large share of the department’s older prisoners and is the first to test everyone.The department said 785 of roughly 1,400 prisoners at Lakeland have tested positive. Only a fraction of all prisoners have been tested statewide, but the infection rate was 56%. There have been at least 33 deaths.The deaths include an 86-year-old man, Eugene Shingle, who was scheduled to be released on parole by May 19.Despite the low rate of overall testing, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer described it as “robust.” She said the parole board also is working quickly to get eligible people out of prison. Among staff, 254 have tested positive for the coronavirus and there have been two deaths, the department said.Separately, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a class-action lawsuit Sunday to try to force the release of immigrants with health problems at the Calhoun County jail. The jail has approximately 130 people who are being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”Civil immigration detention should not be a death sentence,” ACLU attorney Eunice Cho said.
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Poll: Cost Makes Nearly 1 in 10 Leery of Seeking COVID Care
As states gear up to reopen, a poll finds a potential obstacle to controlling the coronavirus: nearly 1 in 10 adults say cost would keep them from seeking help if they thought they were infected. People stand in line as they wait to get tested for COVID-19 at a just-opened testing center in the Harlem section of New York, April 20, 2020.Experts say that to succeed, the nation’s reopening has to be based on three pillars: testing, tracing those who came in contact with infected people and treatment for those who become ill. If people who may be sick are reluctant to come forward, that could create a blind spot for governors and public health officials trying to calibrate reopening plans to quickly contain potential virus flare-ups. The survey found that members of minority groups, younger people, those with less than a college degree and people making less than $40,000 a year were more likely to say they would avoid treatment for economic reasons. Fourteen percent of nonwhite poll respondents said they would avoid treatment even if they suspected they had the coronavirus, compared with 6% of whites citing costs. Yet COVID-19 has proven to be more lethal among blacks and Hispanics, a grim phenomenon linked to higher rates of underlying diseases such as diabetes and lower rates of health insurance coverage. Among age groups, the survey found those 18-29 were the most likely to avoid treatment. Although COVID-19 claims a disproportionately high share of victims among older people, there’s plenty of evidence that seemingly healthy young adults can also get seriously sick. In the poll 12% of those 18-29 said they would avoid treatment because of cost worries. Adults ages 50-64 were the least likely to avoid care, with only 3% citing pocketbook issues as a barrier. Surprisingly, 7% of those 65 and older said cost would be an issue for them. Virtually all U.S. seniors are covered by Medicare, and many have additional protection for out-of-pocket expenses. The poll also found income was a dividing line in Americans’ attitudes. Only 3% of those making $100,000 or more cited cost as a barrier to COVID care, compared with 14% of those earning under $40,000. “A pretty substantial chunk of the population could remain hidden from view because of the U.S. health care cost crisis,” said Dan Witters, research director for the poll. The Gallup-West Health Healthcare Costs Survey was based on telephone interviews conducted April 1-14, with a random sample of 1,017 adults, ages 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and Washington. For results based on the entire sample the margin of error is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.
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In Algeria, Pandemic Gives Birth to Radio Corona
Rights groups accuse some authoritarian governments of using the coronavirus pandemic as a pretext to further limit free expression. But in the North African country of Algeria, the trend is partly going the other way. As brand names go, FILE – Algerians march in an anti-government demonstration in the Algerian city of Bordjab Bou Arreridj, on Feb. 14, 2020.The broadcasts are happening as rights groups accuse authorities of censoring some independent media, and arresting several high-profile activists and journalists in recent weeks. Reporters Without Borders’ North Africa director Souhaieb Khayati ticks off a few of them — including RSF correspondent Khaled Drareni.
Khayati considers Radio Corona the perfect answer to what he calls the absurdity and arbitrariness of the Algerian regime. Founder Benadouda has had his own brush-ups with authorities. He fled his homeland in 2014, after being harassed for his reporting. He’s now based in Rhode Island.
He says Radio Corona is about more than COVID-19. It’s also the voice of the Hirak protest movement, although he may keep its moniker. “Radio Corona won’t stop after the crisis,” he said. “What we are now living with this virus — it’s something we won’t forget. So why not keep the name?”
Besides, he says, there are other political viruses to tackle once this pandemic is over.
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Iran Silent on 12 Iranians Detained by US Despite Pledge to Swap Prisoners Again
Iran appears to have shown little public or private support for 12 Iranians accused or convicted of crimes in the U.S., despite pledging to work for the release of such citizens four months ago in another potential prisoner swap with Washington. The last, rare prisoner exchange between the two longtime foes happened December 7, when Iran freed Chinese American academic Xiyue Wang in return for the U.S. releasing Iranian scientist Masoud Soleimani. The swap happened in Zurich through Swiss mediation. Two days later, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that Tehran was ready for a further “comprehensive prisoner exchange” with Washington. A day after that, his aide Mohsen Baharvand told Iranian state news agency In the four months since then, Hook has said U.S. officials are working continuously for the release of four Americans whom Washington has accused Tehran of unjustly jailing on trumped up charges: Navy veteran Michael R. White and three Iranian-American dual nationals — father and son Siamak and Baquer Namazi and environmentalist Morad Tahbaz. As Iran’s coronavirus pandemic worsened and spread to its prison system in March, U.S. officials added urgency to their calls for the Americans to be released to safeguard their health. Iranian authorities granted White a prison furlough on March 19 after he exhibited coronavirus symptoms, but they have refused to let him leave the country or free the other Americans. U.S. officials also have been pressing Iran to resolve the case of Robert Levinson, a retired FBI agent who went missing in Iran on a 2007 visit that U.S. media later revealed was part of a rogue CIA mission. Last month, the Trump administration said it believed that Levinson may have died “some time ago.” Iran, by contrast, has said nothing publicly since early December about the Iranians whom it wants to be freed from U.S. detention or prosecution. Nor has it named the individuals. VOA Persian compiled the names of the 12 Iranians who are in U.S. prisons or on conditional release from prison through conversations with lawyers representing some of the individuals and through a review of U.S. Justice Department databases. They include seven Iranian-American dual nationals and five Iranian citizens, three of them with permanent U.S. residency. The Iranian-Americans include Undated social media image of Ahmadreza Mohammadi-Doostdar, an Iranian-American sentenced by a U.S. court in January 2020 to 38 months in prison for conducting surveillance on American members of Iranian dissident group MEK.Of the other Iranians, five were on bail with court-ordered restrictions on their movements as they awaited sentencing for various convictions, namely Aazad, Emad-Vaez, Hashemi, Hashemi Nejad and Moshir-Fatemi; while one, Ghorbani, was granted a “compassionate release” from a Washington prison earlier this month because of his ill health and was allowed to relocate to his daughter’s home in Orange County, California, with court-imposed restrictions on his movements until next February. In addition to its public silence on the cases of the 12 Iranians, Tehran appears to have made little effort to help them using several of the private channels available to it. Lawyers representing some of the 12 Iranians told VOA Persian they had not heard from officials of any country about including their clients in another U.S.-Iran prisoner swap. “I have heard nothing about Pourghannad being part of any prisoner swap,” his attorney James Neuman wrote in an April 23 email, referencing one of the two Iranian citizens without U.S. legal status who are serving time in U.S. prisons. Former Kansas Congressman Jim Slatterly, who spent months working with former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to support U.S. government efforts to negotiate the December 7 swap, told VOA Persian that he also has not heard from his Iranian contacts regarding the cases of the other Iranian citizens jailed or confined in their movements by U.S. courts. Slatterly had multiple conversations with Iranian Ambassador to the U.N. Majid Takht-Ravanchi and met Foreign Minister Zarif at the U.N. in New York last September in the lead up to the last deal. “I’m surprised that when I was dealing with the swap involving Wang and Soleimani, there was no mention of these other people,” Slatterly said in reference to the group of 12 Iranians. In a statement to VOA Persian, the former New Mexico governor said he and his Richardson Center for Global Engagement have been working for more than a year-and-a-half to bring Michael White home from Iran. But he declined to address questions about Iranians who could be part of another prisoner exchange with the U.S. The Washington embassy of Switzerland, which represent U.S. interests in Iran, also declined a request for comment on the issue. Slatterly said he believes Iran is not interested in working for the release of Iranian American dual nationals in the U.S. At least one Iranian American jailed in the U.S. in recent years for a federal crime related to Iran, Zavik Zargarian, chose to remain in the U.S. after he was released earlier this year and had “no interest” in returning to Iran, according to an email sent by his lawyer Victor Sherman to VOA Persian. “There could be a whole host of reasons why Iran, as is claimed, has not publicly been seeking to return all Iranians who have been charged and detained in the U.S.,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, an Iran analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, in an email to VOA. “Their nationality or citizenship status could be a factor, but may not be the determining one.” Taleblu said that whenever Iran chooses to press for further prisoner swaps with the U.S., it may start by seeking the release of those who have less of a legal status in the U.S. “But this is only speculation about Iranian strategy,” he cautioned. This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service. Mehdi Jedinia of VOA’s Extremism Watch Desk contributed.
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Myanmar IDP Camps Brace for Coronavirus Outbreak
In Myanmar, an estimated 350,000 internally displaced persons living in crowded and sometimes unsanitary conditions face the danger of a widespread outbreak of COVID-19. Special teams are forming in some of the camps to help provide information and some equipment to prevent a disaster as the country comes to grips with the pandemic. Steve Sandford reports from Thailand.
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New Zealand Slowly Returns to Normal After Lockdown
New Zealanders clogged the drive thru lines of fast food restaurants Tuesday as they began venturing outside at the end of a strict coronavirus lockdown period. An estimated 400,000 people were expected to leave their homes to go back to their offices or resume recreational pursuits like golfing, surfing, fishing and hunting as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern eased the lockdown, one of the strictest imposed anywhere in the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of Tuesday, Wellington reported two new cases in the country, raising the total number of infections to 1,124 with 19 deaths among its 5 million citizens.New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern briefs the media about the COVID-19 coronavirus at the Parliament House in Wellington, April 27, 2020.Prime Minister Ardern reduced the coronavirus threat level from Level 4, which shutdown economic activity to all but essential services, to Level 3, which limits citizens to local travel and keeps shopping malls, hairdressers and other businesses closed for at least two more weeks. However with Level 3 the construction industry reopens and the carryout restaurants are back in business. Some schools also have reopened. New Zealand’s response to the outbreak, including a widespread testing and tracing regime, has won praise from the international community. But Ardern warns that the country needs to ensure “we do not let the virus run away on us again and cause a new wave of cases and deaths.”
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Burundi Moves Ahead with May Election Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
The race to become Burundi’s next president is officially underway as authorities proclaim God will protect citizens from the novel coronavirus, which has already infected 15 people in the central African nation and caused the death of one other. Seven candidates launched campaigns Monday, with large rallies that are off limits in other parts of Africa, where governments are mandating that people practice social distancing to curtail the spread of the virus. Burundi’s presidential, legislative and municipal elections are scheduled for May 20. Opposition groups accused President Pierre Nkurunziza’s administration of being irresponsible for not delaying the election. Nkurunziza, who is stepping down from power and is apparently shunning measures to slow the spread of the virus, told supporters at a large rally Monday that he is backing General Evariste Ndayishimiye, the CNDD-FDD’s presidential candidate. Nkurunziza’s 15-year tenure has been marred by controversy, including his 2015 decision to seek a third term, which resulted in a deadly civil uprising.
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Nigeria President Announce Easing of Some Lockdown Restrictions
Nigeria’s president said the country will begin a gradual easing of lockdown restrictions to curtail the spread of the coronavirus in the capital, Lagos, Abuja and Ogun States May 4. In a national broadcast late Monday, Muhammadu Buhari said he made the decision after reviewing the more than a four-week lockdown to allow the country’s economy to operate and still keep a steady response in containing the virus. President Buhari said the new measures also include a mandatory use of face masks and a curfew from 8pm to 6am, with only essential travel allowed during the 10-hour period. Buhari also said he is sending more health workers and equipment to northwest Kano State, where the lockdown will remain in place because of an increase in covid-19 cases. Buhari also promises to hold security personnel accountable for human rights abuses during the lockdown. Nigeria reported 1,273 cases of the coronavirus and 40 deaths.
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Scientists at Oxford Take Early Lead in Race to Create Vaccine
Scientists at Oxford University are racing to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus well ahead of the standard medical timeline. The scientists have expressed confidence in their ability to do it quickly, raising hopes around the world that a vaccine will not have to wait until next year. The first injections of the vaccine being developed by the university’s Jenner Institute in Britain took place last week. Scientists are planning to massively scale up their testing in a little over a month, a time frame that is currently faster than other vaccine development efforts. The New York Times reported Monday that the scientists plan to test their vaccine on more than 6,000 people by the end of May. The team at Oxford said their aim is to produce a million doses of the vaccine, if it proves effective, by September — months ahead of a standard timeline of 12 to18 months routinely quoted by health professionals around the world. Professor Sarah Gilbert, team leader of the program, said she is “80% confident” the vaccine will work. Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock speaks during a daily news conference on the coronavirus outbreak, at 10 Downing Street in London, April 27, 2020.Early trials promising Because of that confidence, Britain has begun allocating funds for large-scale development, a move that is financially risky if the vaccine turns out to be ineffective. “We are going to back them to the hilt and give them every resource they need to give them the best chance of success,” Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock said last week. The researchers’ confidence comes in part from the knowledge that the vaccine’s basic components have been genetically engineered to be harmless against humans and have been found to be safe in earlier trials. Initial experiments also indicate the vaccine is effective, including tests that show it can generate a strong immune response in rhesus macaque monkeys. The vaccine has been made from a common cold virus that has been modified so it cannot grow in people. Scientists have added proteins from the coronavirus that they hope will trigger the human immune system to produce antibodies against the protein, which will then protect against the actual virus. Trials of the virus’s base components have been ongoing for years as part of an effort to find a malaria vaccine. Gilbert used the same modified virus to make a vaccine against an earlier coronavirus, MERS. Clinical trials of that vaccine are promising. A traditional vaccine uses a weakened version of a virus to trigger an immune response in humans, and great care must be taken to ensure it is not only effective in humans but also safe. A major reason the Oxford vaccine can quickly move through trials is that its base components have already undergone rigorous testing in humans. FILE – In this March 19, 2020, photo, laboratory scientist Andrea Luquette cultures coronavirus to prepare for testing at U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md.Challenges While early indications show the new vaccine is promising, one complication for the trials could paradoxically be the success of efforts to limit the spread of the disease in Britain. For the vaccine data to be effective, subjects must be shown not to contract COVID-19 from their surroundings. However, if the disease is not spreading naturally around them, the trial might not be able to show whether the vaccine is making a difference, or it might take longer to reach conclusions. Researchers say if they cannot get conclusive results in Britain, they might have to begin new trials in another part of the world where the virus is spreading more rapidly. Ethics guidelines generally prohibit scientists from injecting healthy patients with a serious disease. There are more than 100 efforts around the world to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus, but only a few have begun human trials. U.S.-based Moderna was the first company to begin small clinical trials in March, but larger human trials have not begun. Other efforts have come from the Chinese company CanSino, and a partnership between German biotech company BioNTech and U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer. U.S. scientists say they were close to developing a coronavirus vaccine years ago to fight severe respiratory syndrome, or SARS, but that funding dried up when SARS disappeared after killing more than 770 people worldwide.
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Top Japanese Doctor Says Olympics ‘Difficult’ Without Vaccine
The head of the Japan Medical Association said Tuesday it will be difficult for the country to host the rescheduled Olympics next year without a coronavirus vaccine available. “I am not saying that Japan should or shouldn’t host the Olympics, but that it would be difficult to do so,” said Yoshitake Yokokura. “Unless an effective vaccine is developed, I expect hosting the Olympics will be difficult.” The pandemic forced organizers to abandon plans to hold the games this July, opting instead to postpone the event that draws thousands of athletes from all over the world. Multiple countries are currently working on developing vaccines, but experts have cautioned the process to test both the safety and effectiveness of vaccine candidates, plus manufacturing doses, could take 12 to 18 months. The coronavirus outbreak has prompted officials to put billions of people under various stay-at-home orders and tell non-essential businesses to close their doors. The result has been increases in unemployment, massive revenue cuts and governments balancing the need to stop the spread of the virus with economic concerns. Some have enacted financial rescue packages to help put money in people’s pockets and keep businesses afloat. U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock suggested a $90 billion effort to help provide income, food and health aid for the world’s most vulnerable people at a time when experts say the pandemic has not yet reached the poorest parts of the planet. Mark Lowcock, the U.N. Humanitarian Affairs Emergency and Relief Coordinator, address United Nations Security Council with a report on Yemen, Tuesday Oct. 23, 2018 at U.N. headquarters.He said there are 700 million people in 30 to 40 countries that had been receiving some level of humanitarian assistance and will see incomes drop as increased infections force lockdown measures. “What I am suggesting is a lot of the suffering and loss of life can be contained within sums of money which are imaginable,” he said. Lowcock said funding could come from a combination of international institutions, such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, as well as one-time boosts in contributions from governments. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged European countries that are easing their lockdowns because of declining numbers of new cases to “find, isolate, test and treat all cases of COVID-19 and trace every contact, to ensure these declining trends continue.” He told a media briefing in Geneva on Monday that “the pandemic is far from over.” He added that the “WHO continues to be concerned about the increasing trends in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and some Asian countries.” His comments followed easing of restrictions in Italy, Spain, Germany and elsewhere. France, one of the hardest-hit nations with more than 23,000 COVID-19 deaths, is due to announce its plans to begin easing restrictions on Tuesday. Health officials in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus originated, said Tuesday there were no new cases and that there were no remaining coronavirus patients in its hospitals for a second consecutive day. Confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide have surpassed 3 million, and fatalities have exceeded 211,000, according to Johns Hopkins University statistics.
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Federal Government Says States Must Conduct COVID-19 Testing
New national guidelines were unveiled Monday by the federal government that place the onus on the 50 states to conduct testing for COVID-19. “Testing plans and rapid response programs will be federally supported, State managed, and locally executed,” according to a documented titled: In this April 18, 2020 photo provided by the Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Gov. Cuomo provides a coronavirus update during a press conference in the Red Room at the State Capitol in Albany.New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, earlier Monday, told reporters that the extent and timing for relaxing guidelines in his state — the hardest hit by the virus — will be made based on rates of hospitalizations, antibody testing, diagnostic testing and data on infection rates. He said officials across the state also need to ensure there are adequate numbers of workers to trace the contacts of infected people, enough places to isolate those who have been infected and enough hospital capacity. The governor of the most populous U.S. state, Gavin Newsom of California, also facing pressure from industry, said Monday he will commence “digital roundtables” with workers, small-business owners and other employers about reopening plans. “The hope and expectation is that we’ll be in a position in a number of weeks to make meaningful modifications, but again the data will guide that, the indicators will guide that,” Newsom said.FILE – In this March 5, 2019 file photo, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine speaks during the Ohio State of the State address at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus.In the Midwestern U.S., Ohio’s Mike DeWine is among the governors in that part of the country moving forward with partial reopening plans. DeWine announced Monday that retail businesses and some service businesses could start reopening from May 12, as long as workers wear face masks and take other precautions. Trump, on Monday in the Rose Garden, also pushed for schools to reopen, “even if it’s for a very short time.” According to Trump, “in terms of what this vicious virus goes after, young people seem to do very well.” While COVID-19 kills the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions in a higher proportion than people in younger age brackets, there have also been cases of children who have died after exposure to the novel coronavirus. Trump again Monday blamed China for the pandemic and said the United States government is “doing very serious investigations” as “we are not happy with China.” COVID-19 “could have been stopped at the source,” Trump said the U.S. government believed. “It could have been stopped quickly and it wouldn’t have spread all over the world.” Trump had indicated via Twitter on Saturday that he was done speaking to the media at such briefings, stating they were not “worth the time & effort.” What is the purpose of having White House News Conferences when the Lamestream Media asks nothing but hostile questions, & then refuses to report the truth or facts accurately. They get record ratings, & the American people get nothing but Fake News. Not worth the time & effort!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2020A scheduled press briefing by the White House coronavirus task force, however, was put on Monday’s White House schedule before being canceled and then re-scheduled as a presidential news conference. Monday’s event lasted 55 minutes, among the shorter of presidential briefings during the coronavirus crisis. The president was widely ridiculed last week after he suggested looking into whether inserting light and disinfectants into the human body could fight the coronavirus. There are more than 3 million confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world — about one-third of them in the United States, the country with the most reported infections. The number of U.S. fatalities from the coronavirus exceeds 55,000. Trump on Monday predicted the ultimate U.S. death toll would be between 60,000 and 70,000. A week ago, the president had predicted the number of fatalities would be between 50,000 and 60,000. Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report.
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