Britain’s prime minister told parliament on Wednesday that a COVID-19 test, track and tracing system would be in place by June 1.
Responding to a question from opposition Labor Party Leader Keir Starmer, Boris Johnson said the government has already recruited 24,000 trackers and will have another thousand in place by that date. He said they will be able to trace the contacts of 10,000 new cases a day.
Starmer had accused Johnson of “abandoning” virus tracking and leaving a huge hole in Britain’s COVID-19 defenses.
Tracking and tracing involves testing vast numbers of people, identifying those who test positive, isolating them and tracking those who have come into direct contact with them.
Johnson told the lawmakers the country will be able to test up 200,000 people per day by the end of the month.
The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 resource center reports that currently, Britain has 35,422 deaths and more than 250,000 confirmed cases of the disease caused by the coronavirus.
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Month: May 2020
Burundi Hopes to Usher In Democratic Transition After 15 Years of Nkurunziza’s Rule
Burundi is holding its first competitive presidential election since a 1993 civil war, with President Pierre Nkurunziza stepping down after 15 years in power. But political analysts and rights groups say few Burundians expect the vote, which has already been marred by violence and rights abuses, to be free and fair.
Wednesday’s vote marks Burundi’s first step toward a post-Nkurunziza era. His time in office has been marred by allegations of human rights abuses and his controversial decision to seek a third term in 2015.
Nelleke van de Walle, deputy project director for Central Africa at the International Crisis Group, says Nkrunziza’s decision not to run again may help the east African nation make some political progress.
“I think the fact now there are elections in which he is not represented and he has shown a willingness to step down, I think it indicates that there might be a possibility for Burundi to move forward and to take a step in a different direction,” van de Walle said.
Nkurunziza picked retired army general Evariste Ndayishimiye to be the candidate of the ruling CNDD FDD party. He will compete against main opposition leader Agathon Rwasa and five other candidates.
The electoral process has been marred by violence and accusations that the vote will not be credible.
At his last political rally, Rwasa warned of possible electoral fraud.
Jean de Dieu Nzisabira, the head of Ligue Iteka, a Burundian rights group, says failure to agree on the presidential poll results may create more problems for the country.“We fear if there is massive fraud in this elections, we fear there will be a very dangerous situation because the major opposition party may not accept the result of the polls and the ruling party, it’s sure it has won. So we fear for the civilians,” de Dieu Nzisabira said.
Since 2015, the United Nations Human Rights Commission has documented hundreds of killings, torture, and sexual abuse against opposition members in Burundi. The abuses were blamed on security forces and the ruling party youth wing, known as the Imbonerakure. The 2015 crisis led to more than half a million Burundians fleeing the country.
The ICG’s van de Walle says Burundi’s next administration will likely give more attention to economic development.
“Both politicians mainly focused on economic development. So I think both Rwasa and Evariste realized that when they become president, they have to take the country forward in reviving its economy. So it’s likely that the country will open more slightly than it has under Nkurunziza. So restoring economic ties is a priority for both presidential candidates in case of victory for Evariste today or in the second round,” van de Walle said.
The electoral commission is expected to announce the presidential poll results next week.
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Singapore Sentences Man to Death Via Zoom
The Singapore Supreme Court has sentenced a man to death via a video chat service due to the coronavirus lockdown in the city-state.A 37-year-old Malaysian man was sentenced to death by hanging on Friday for a 2011 heroin deal, court documents showed.Defense lawyer Peter Fernando said his client, Punithan Genasan, was sentenced in a hearing on the video chat app Zoom while he was in jail and Fernando and prosecutors took part in the hearing from various locations.Human Rights Watch condemned the use of the app to enforce the death penalty, maintaining it exacerbates a punishment it already considers cruel and inhumane.“It’s shocking the prosecutors and the court are so callous that they fail to see that a man facing capital punishment should have the right to be present in court to confront his accusers,” said Human Rights official Phil Robertson.A Supreme Court spokesman told Reuters the virtual hearing was held “for thesafety of all involved in the proceedings.”The spokesman also said it was the first criminal case where a death sentence was announced remotely in Singapore.The U.S.-based Zoom did not comment on the case nor did the public prosecutor.Fernando said he and Genasan will meet on Friday to discuss an appeal.Rights groups have also denounced the use of other video-calls for capital punishment verdicts, including a case in Nigeria earlier this month.
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Nigerian Mental Health Specialists Offer Free Therapy Amid Coronavirus Triggered Increase in Cases
Thousands of Nigerians are receiving free mental health care through a program to help people cope with stress and isolation from COVID-19. The program, Mentally Aware Nigeria, or MANI, was formed by psychologists and medical experts to create an environment where people can seek mental health care without fear of stigma or discrimination. Timothy Obiezu reports from Abuja.
Videographer: Simpa Samson
Producer: JG
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Uncertain Future Rattles Italy’s Famed Restaurants
Italy’s restaurants and pizzerias, for foodies the world over a key reason to visit, are facing an existential threat. Those that didn’t fold after 10 weeks of a strict coronavirus lockdown are emerging to find that new social distancing requirements might yet drive them out of business.While Italians reveled this week in being able to sit down to a plate of spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clams) at their local trattoria for the first time since March, a slew of studies suggest that as many as a third of Italy’s bars and restaurants risked closing. The reasons? Financial losses already incurred by the lockdown, a projected tourism downturn, reduced table capacity and Italians’ own fears about eating out.Venice’s famed Harry’s Bar — the birthplace of the Bellini cocktail of white peach juice and prosecco — has closed until further notice.”We can’t think about opening with just five or six people” allowed inside at a time, said owner Arrigo Cipriani.Milan chef Matteo Fronduti, who won the first Italian edition of “Top Chef,” announced that his Manna restaurant wouldn’t reopen for now, given lingering questions about the continued risk of contagion and the Italian government’s confusing regulations for restaurants.Only when those questions were answered, Fronduti said, would he consider reopening Manna, which features unusual, wildly named dishes like “Against the wear and tear of modern life,” (artichokes, raw jumbo shrimp and lemon) and “All talk” (spaghetti, broccoli rabe, herring and horseradish).”Until then, I’ll continue listening and making meatballs,” Fronduti wrote on Facebook.As it is, the lockdown in the birthplace of the Slow Food movement has already cost Italy’s food and beverage sector 14 billion euros ($15.1 billion) in lost revenue, the Bain consultancy said. It estimated the full-year losses could reach 30 billion euros ($32.4 billion) in an industry that is worth 4% of Italy’s gross domestic product and accounts for 5% of its jobs. Bain projected that up to 300,000 jobs were at risk.”It is a situation that is a bit apocalyptic,” said Manuela Paiella, owner of the Corsi Trattoria in downtown Rome, a popular lunchtime spot for tourists and Romans alike. “Never would we ever have thought in the restaurant business, in the historic center of a European capital, that we could ever live through something like this.”Corsi reopened for business on Monday, the first day that restaurants were allowed sit-down customers. But half of the tables were removed due to social distancing rules. Hand sanitizing gel was placed at the entrance and a new ordering system was installed to let customers see the menu on their phones. No longer do waitresses squeeze between tightly packed tables to recite specials.”We have to turn upside down all the activity that we did before,” lamented chef Raffaele di Cristo, who now must wear a mask and latex gloves to cook. “Everything is changed.”Nearby Pierluigi, one of Rome’s fanciest restaurants, had to renovate its kitchen because workplaces also have to respect social distancing.Italy’s main farm lobby estimated this week that Italian restaurants and pizzerias saw an 80% drop in consumption during the lockdown, with the ripple effects hitting the vital wine and agricultural sectors particularly hard.Coldiretti said prior to the coronavirus outbreak, Italians spent 35% of their food budgets outside of the home, from morning cappuccinos to pizza dinners, pumping 84 billion euros ($90.7 billion) a year into the Italian food and beverage industry.But now, many Italians are too terrified to eat out. An SWG poll this week found that 32% of Italians considered going to a restaurant “unsafe,” particularly places with only indoor seating.Their fears are not unreasonable. For two months, Italy was the epicenter of Europe’s coronavirus outbreak, with a surge of patients overwhelming some hospitals in the north and soaring deaths scarring Italian families and psyches. Italy has seen over 32,000 deaths in the pandemic, behind only the United States and Britain.While Italians have welcomed the easing of lockdown restrictions, many fear a predicted second wave of infections and deaths amid uncertainty that the government has the outbreak under control.For those staying home, at least there’s Massimo Bottura’s “Kitchen Quarantine,” a weekly YouTube cooking tutorial from the Michelin three-starred chef, who just won a Webby Award for “inspiring home cooking and uplifting spirits” during the COVID-19 crisis.The show is charming. Narrated in English by his daughter Alexa and featuring cameos of Bottura’s American wife and son in their home kitchen, Bottura takes viewers through easy recipes.Bottura’s Osteria Francescana in Modena, one of Italy’s best known restaurants, is scheduled to reopen June 2.But the loss of tourists is hitting the industry hard. Seven out of 10 restaurants on Rome’s picturesque Piazza Navona were still shuttered Wednesday. They cater mostly to tourists, so many will likely stay closed at least until Italy reopens to European visitors on June 3.At L’Isola del Pescatore in the Santa Severa beach resort near Rome, up to 40% of the clientele had been foreigners.”Certainly we have to be stronger than before and try to restart,” said owner Stefano Quartieri as he readied tables to meet the government’s new regulations.Restaurant owners had harshly criticized preliminary government recommendations that their tables be spaced 4 meters (13 feet) apart, arguing it would decimate the industry.”If you want 4 meters, better to keep us closed,” warned Lino Enrico Stoppani, president of the FIPE federation of restaurant owners. The government eventually relented and agreed to a 1-meter (3-foot) distancing rule, and moved up the original June 1 reopening by two weeks.Diner Francesco Lapenta joined some colleagues for a lunch at Corsi on Monday, sitting widely spaced apart. He read off the menu items from his phone, speaking loudly so his friends could hear.”We will have to yell more,” said Lapenta as he rattled off the pastas of the day: carbonara, cacio e pepe, gricia. “We will make more noise!”
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Trump Picks Fight with Michigan Over Absentee Voting Plan
Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. President Donald Trump picked a fight Wednesday with the key electoral swing state of Michigan over its expanded plan for absentee voting in the November presidential election. An election official in the midwestern state, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, announced Tuesday that absentee ballot applications are being sent to all 7.7 million registered voters in the state, The plan, she said, is to give Michigan voters an opportunity to vote by mail in upcoming Democratic and Republican party primary elections in August and the national election Nov. 3, instead of having to go to public polling sites during the coronavirus crisis. Trump voted by mail himself in a Florida election earlier this year, but he immediately objected to the Michigan absentee voting plan. “This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State,” he said on Twitter. “I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!” He also suggested that voting by mail was illegal in the western state of Nevada. Breaking: Michigan sends absentee ballots to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and the General Election. This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State. I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!..— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) FILE – In this March 15, 2020 photo, former Vice President Joe Biden participates in a Democratic presidential primary debate at CNN Studios in Washington.Early polls in the state show Biden narrowly ahead but it is still more than five months from Election Day. With the coronavirus pandemic controlling life in the U.S. for the last two months, neither Trump nor Biden has been able to stage the massive public political rallies that are central to U.S. presidential campaign, although both hope to do so in the coming weeks if large crowds can again mass safely. Last month, Trump tweeted, “Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to state-wide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it. Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans.” The country’s biggest state, California, is also advancing plans for massive voting by mail. But in a sense absentee voting there is less contentious than in Michigan because the state is heavily Democratic and Trump is likely to lose it no matter how voters cast their ballots, by mail or in person at polling stations. The Michigan plan calls for mailing out absentee voter applications. Voters then must fill out the applications and their signatures are checked against existing voting records on file to protect against fraud before the actual absentee voter ballots themselves are mailed to them. FILE – In this March 5, 2020 photo, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson speaks at a news conference in Lansing, Mich.“By mailing applications, we have ensured that no Michigander has to choose between their health and their right to vote,” Benson said. “Voting by mail is easy, convenient, safe, and secure, and every voter in Michigan has the right to do it.” Absentee voting has proved popular in Michigan during the pandemic as compared to earlier elections before the emergence of the health crisis. In about 50 elections held across 33 counties in Michigan on May 5, nearly 25% of eligible voters cast ballots and 99% of them did so by mail or in a drop box. That was more than double the 12% turnout from 2010 to 2019 in such local May elections. Vote fraud is rare in the U.S. although occasionally voters have been nabbed for voting in two different states if they have residences both places. There also is no statistical evidence that voting by mail favors one party over another. But voter turnout sometimes increases with the prevalence of absentee voting, which Democrats generally believe favors their electoral chances.
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Democrats Protest Removal of Transportation Watchdog
Congressional Democrats are protesting President Donald Trump’s decision to remove the Transportation Department’s acting inspector general, the latest in a string of actions by Trump to fire or replace government watchdogs. The Democratic chairs of three House panels on Tuesday demanded that Mitch Behm be reinstated immediately as acting inspector general. FILE – President Donald Trump, accompanied by Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, left, speaks at a roundtable on infrastructure at the Department of Transportation, June 9, 2017, in Washington.The lawmakers also demanded that the Trump administration turn over information about current investigations that might have played a role in Behm’s removal, including a review of whether Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has given preferential treatment to Kentucky. Her husband, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican and a top Trump ally, is seeking reelection this year. Behm’s removal “is the latest in a series of politically motivated firings of inspectors general by President Trump,” the lawmakers wrote. “This assault on the integrity and independence of inspectors general appears to be an intentional campaign to undermine their ability to expose corruption and protect taxpayer dollars from waste, fraud and abuse.” The letter was signed by Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, chairman of the House Transportation Committee; Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney of New York; and Virginia Rep. Gerald Connolly, who leads an Oversight subcommittee. A spokesman for Chao said Behm was not fired and continues to serve as deputy inspector general. Howard Elliott, administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, is replacing Behm while continuing to lead the pipeline agency. “Mr. Elliott will bring decades of valuable expertise to the role of acting inspector general, both in safety and in law enforcement,” the spokesman said, noting that Elliott came out of retirement to lead the pipeline agency after serving as safety chief for CSX Transportation, a large freight rail company. The removals of Linick and Behm are part of a pattern of Trump taking aim at inspectors general. In April, he fired Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence community, for his role in the whistleblower complaint that led to Trump’s impeachment. Then Trump removed Glenn Fine as acting inspector general at the Defense Department. The move stripped him of his post as chairman of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, one of several watchdog groups overseeing the vast economic relief law passed by Congress in response to the coronavirus crisis. Trump also has moved to replace an inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services who wrote a report that found hospitals faced severe shortages of coronavirus tests and supplies. Trump questioned the veracity of the report and the independence of the HHS official, Christi Grimm. a career employee who has served as acting inspector general since January. Trump has nominated a permanent replacement, an appointment that requires Senate confirmation. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, called Trump’s firings of Linick and other officials a “threat to accountable democracy.” “The firings of multiple Inspectors General is unprecedented; doing so without good cause chills the independence essential to their purpose. It is a threat to accountable democracy and a fissure in the constitutional balance of power,” Romney tweeted Saturday. Romney is the only Senate Republican who voted to convict Trump of abuse of power in his impeachment trial earlier this year. Trump responded to Romney’s tweet by calling him a “LOSER” on Twitter. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has called for the White House to explain the dismissals of Linick and Atkinson, the intelligence community watchdog. Grassley, a Trump ally, said Congress intended that inspectors general only be removed when there is clear evidence of unfitness, wrongdoing or failure to perform the duties of the office. “An expression of lost confidence, without further explanation, is not sufficient,” he said. Trump has designated Howard Elliott, head of a Transportation Department agency that oversees pipeline safety, to replace Behm as acting inspector general. Elliott will keep his job at the pipeline agency, reporting to Chao, which the three House Democrats said was a conflict of interest. The DOT spokesman said officials expect Elliott to recuse himself from audits or investigations of the pipeline agency. Still, the lawmakers asked for information regarding ongoing audits, inspections, investigations, evaluations, reviews and other communications regarding Behm’s removal and Elliott’s qualifications to be inspector general. Any attempt by Chao or her office to interfere with an inspector general’s investigation “is illegal and will be thoroughly examined by our committees,” they wrote.
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Croatian President Sets Parliamentary Vote for July 5
Croatia’s President Zoran Milanovic on Wednesday scheduled a parliamentary election in the European Union nation for July 5. Milanovic formally set the date for the ballot after Croatia’s lawmakers voted earlier this week to dissolve parliament.The Balkan country of around 4.2 million people has been easing lockdown measures against the new coronavirus after a drop in new cases.Croatia’s ruling conservatives are facing a challenge from a liberal opposition alliance after losing the presidential election in January. The former Yugoslav republic has one of the weakest economies in the 27-nation EU after going through a war in the 1990s’.
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Mozambique Military Struggles to Curb Insurgency in North
More than two years after the start of an Islamist insurgency in northern Mozambique, security forces are still struggling to curb the growing violence that has killed hundreds of civilians and forced thousands of others to flee their homes. VOA’s Andre Baptista has this report narrated by Sirwan Kajjo.Produced by: Mehdi Jedinia
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Taiwan President Vows to Bolster Defense as China Steps up Military Threats
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen vowed Wednesday to step up defense following a series of bigger-than-normal threats by her government’s longtime rival China. “While we work to bolster our defense capabilities, future combat capacity development will also emphasize mobility, countermeasures, and non-traditional, asymmetrical capabilities,” Tsai said in a speech to mark the start of her second term in office. She was reelected in January. China maintains the world’s third strongest military and Taiwan ranks 26th by the database GlobalFirePower.com. Asymmetric warfare means use of strategy or unconventional arms, such as submarines, against an overall stronger enemy. The People’s Liberation Army from Beijing is getting ready for amphibious military exercises in the South China Sea possibly to simulate the takeover of three tiny islets that Taiwan controls as part of a marine national park, analysts and media reports in Asia say. The islands sit in a strategic spot between northeast and southeast Asia. Taiwan’s coast guard has a garrison on one. “If they want to seize the island they could encircle the island and force Taiwan to withdraw, without a fight,” said Alexander Huang, strategic studies professor at Tamkang University in Taiwan. The Coast Guard Administration said May 12 the garrison is scheduled next month to hold a firing exercise around the Pratas Islands. China had passed its Liaoning aircraft carrier group around Taiwan in April and let a military transport plane to fly into Taiwanese air space earlier this month. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said last month it had information that China was talking about declaring an air defense identification zone over the South China Sea. The sea is disputed by Taiwan and four Southeast Asian countries. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy aircraft carrier Liaoning participates in a naval parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of China’s PLA Navy in the sea near Qingdao in eastern China’s Shandong province, Tuesday,…Officials in Beijing have tired of Tsai’s refusal to see Taiwan as part of China, her ever-strengthening ties with the United States – the chief counterweight to Chinese political power globally – and Taiwan’s bid to attend the World Health Assembly this month despite Beijing’s longstanding opposition. Tsai, first elected in 2016 partly on her tough China stance, has made indigenous defense a priority. The island long dependent on heavy industry has come out already with surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles and 66 aircraft in the past. A domestic shipbuilder broke ground last year on a submarine that’s due as early as 2024. Over the next four years, Tsai said, Taiwan will work on strengthening defense “against the threats of cyber warfare, cognitive warfare, and ‘unrestricted’ warfare to achieve our strategic goal of multi-domain deterrence.” She said the government plans as well to integrate military and civilian “capabilities” in aviation and space. Taiwan and China have been separately ruled since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s, when Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists lost to Mao Zedong’s Communists and rebased on the island. China still claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has not ruled out use of force, if needed, to unite the two sides. Tsai rejects Beijing’s proposal for a “one-country, two-systems” form of rule that China uses to govern Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a Chinese territory with a measure of local autonomy. Taiwan government surveys say around 80% of Taiwanese oppose unification with China. The president suggested dialogue instead on Wednesday. “We will continue these efforts, and we are willing to engage in dialogue with China and make more concrete contributions to regional security,” Tsai said in her speech. “Both sides have a duty to find a way to coexist over the long term and prevent the intensification of antagonism and differences.” A new crash in relations would precede any attack by China, said Carl Thayer, emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia. “You’re supposed to look for early warning signals, so you’d need to have some deterioration of relations between the two, and it’s certainly not the best relations, but not the worst,” Thayer said. Chinese officials aren’t planning an attack but want Tsai to make the next diplomatic move, said Alex Chiang, associate professor of international politics at National Chengchi University in Taipei. “I think the relation is already at the bottom and I think it’s up to Tsai Ing-wen to do something about it,” Chiang said. “If she can offer some kind of hope, some kind of friendly gesture toward China, maybe there will be some movement toward a better relationship.” China’s military exercises are just a “war game” and the country has no “appetite for military actions” while working on economic recovery post-COVID-19, he added.
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UN Chief Says Coronavirus ‘Threatens African Progress’
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling for global solidarity with Africa as an essential part of ending the coronavirus pandemic, saying international action is needed to help strengthen its health care systems and food supply and to avoid a financial crisis.Guterres said Wednesday he commends African countries and the African Union for acting quickly to enforce quarantines and border closures, and to rely on regional cooperation to try to stop the spread of the virus.“But the pandemic threatens African progress. It will aggravate long-standing inequalities and heighten hunger, malnutrition and vulnerability to disease. Already, demand for Africa’s commodities, tourism and remittances are declining. The opening of the trade zone has been pushed back – and millions could be pushed into extreme poverty,” he said.In additional to urging international efforts to support education and protect jobs, Guterres also called for African countries to have “equal and affordable access to any eventual vaccine and treatment.”A healthcare worker assists a COVID-19 patient at one of the intensive care units (ICU) of the Moulay Abdellah hospital in Sale, Morocco, April 15, 2020.The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says COVID-19 has killed more than 2,800 people. The largest numbers of confirmed cases in Africa are in South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Nigeria.Egypt has announced stay-at-home orders for the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and now says starting May 30 that wearing masks will be required in public.A mandatory mask order goes into effect Thursday in Spain for those over the age of six who are in a public place where it is not possible to stay two meters away from others.In China, where the outbreak began in December, officials in the northeastern province of Jilin are trying to contain a new cluster of cases, including four new infections reported Wednesday.Venezuela is also trying to contain an uptick in cases along its border with Brazil and Colombia. Authorities said there were 131 new cases over the course of 24 hours and linked the increase to migrants returning home.Migrant workers in India will be getting more help in returning to their homes from big cities with Indian Railways announcing that beginning June 1 it will be operating twice as many special trains. Health screenings and wearing masks are mandatory for riders.June 1 will also bring the opening of bars, restaurants, movie theaters and concert halls in the Netherlands as the country moves to a new phase of its easing of coronavirus restrictions.The country has seen weeks of declining deaths and new infections, but Prime Minister Mark Rutte said people will need to continue observing social distancing measures as businesses resume operations.The pandemic has forced organizers of Japan’s popular summer high school baseball tournament to cancel this year’s event, the first time that has happened since World War II.The nationally televised 16-day tournament was due to be held in mid-August, but the Japan High School Baseball federation said Wednesday there was too much risk of the virus spreading among players from all over the country gathering together.Worldwide there are more than 4.9 million confirmed cases and 323,000 deaths from COVID-19.
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Trump Doubles Down on WHO, Hydroxychloroquine
President Donald Trump is doubling down on his decision to take a controversial drug despite scant evidence that the anti-malaria drug is effective at stopping infection or cures patients with the coronavirus. On another front, the president is pushing forward with his threat to permanently withdraw funding from the World Health Organization. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara reports.
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Federal Judge Orders Expansion of Mail-in Voting in Texas
A federal judge Tuesday ordered Texas to allow any of the state’s 16 million voters to cast a ballot by mail over fears of the coronavirus, paving the way for what would be one of the most dramatic expansions of mail-in voting in the country. The decision is unlikely to be the last word. Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who in recent weeks has suggested that steering voters toward wrongly applying for mail-in ballots could result in prosecution, said the state would appeal. He called the ruling by U.S. District Judge Fred Biery a dismissal of “well-established law.” The fight in Texas is just one of several court battles across the country over efforts, mainly by Democrats, to expand access to mail-in ballots amid the pandemic. In Wisconsin, where election officials drew widespread criticism for holding its April 7 presidential primary even as other states delayed voting, a new lawsuit filed Monday argued that not enough has been done since then to ensure that the upcoming elections can be conducted safely and fairly. Voting by mail in Texas is generally limited to those 65 or older or those with a “sickness or physical condition” that prevents voting in person. In a lengthy ruling, Biery rejected Paxton’s assertion that fear of getting the virus doesn’t qualify as a disability under the law. “Clearly, fear and anxiety currently gripping the United States has limited citizens’ physical movements, affected their mental senses and constricted activities, socially and economically,” Biery wrote. He also dismissed claims that expanding mail-in voting would invite fraud in Texas, citing scant evidence. The ruling came just days after the Texas Supreme Court, which is entirely controlled by Republicans, handed Paxton a victory by blocking a lower ruling in state court that cleared the way for widespread vote-by-mail. Officials in Tennessee are also fighting efforts to expand mail-in voting under a similar defense as Texas, saying fear of contracting the coronavirus doesn’t meet medical criteria. “It is time for a few state officers to stop trying to force people to expose themselves to COVID-19 in order to vote,” said Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party. Texas is pressing ahead with one of the swiftest re-openings in the country. On Monday, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott gave permission to reopen practically every facet of daily life in Texas, including bars and child daycare centers, lifting most full lockdown orders. He said social distancing measures must still be in place, such as limits on customers and no fans at sports events. Texas has nearly 50,000 cases and at least 1,300 deaths related to the virus. The number of cases has climbed since Texas began lifting stay-at-home orders May 1, but Abbott has defended the speed by emphasizing that hospitalizations have remained flat and infection rates have dropped since April. President Donald Trump has claimed mail-in voting is ripe for fraud and “cheaters,” even as his reelection campaign and state allies are scrambling to launch operations meant to help their voters cast ballots in the mail. Other states have moved to expand absentee voting amid the coronavirus pandemic, including some controlled by Republicans, but Paxton has maintained that fear of getting the virus doesn’t qualify as a disability under the law. Texas will hold primary runoff elections in July. Abbott has already expanded early voting for that election, which will decide the nominees in key congressional races and which Democrat will face Republican Sen. John Cornyn.
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China Rejects Blame for Coronavirus Pandemic
China has lashed out at Australia and the United States for what it calls political manipulation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Australia has been at the forefront of calls for an independent investigation into the origin of the coronavirus pandemic and the response to it, and U.S. President Donald Trump has blamed China for the global pandemic. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne praised the World Health Resolution passed Tuesday that demands an independent “comprehensive evaluation” of the organization’s global response to the coronavirus pandemic. The resolution was submitted to the World Health Assembly by the European Union and other WHO members. Payne described it as “a win for the international community.” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Tuesday that China would welcome the investigation if Australia would return to the broad consensus of the international community. He said Beijing has always supported a comprehensive review of the pandemic as long as it is led by the WHO and conducted in professional and impartial manner. But U.S. President Donald Trump says the WHO is not impartial. He has accused the international agency of covering up for China, whom he blames for the global health crisis. On Tuesday, Trump threatened to permanently cut off U.S. funding for the WHO, which he had already put on hold. President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with restaurant industry executives about the coronavirus response, in the State Dining Room of the White House, May 18, 2020, in Washington.China accused Trump on Tuesday of conducting a smear campaign against Beijing and said the United States is shirking its international obligations. No dates have been set for conducting the evaluation, but China has said it should be done after the pandemic is over. Most experts agree that the coronavirus may not disappear any time soon, even if a vaccine is produced. Nearly 4.9 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and about 323,000 have died from it, according to Johns Hopkins University statistics. China is experiencing a new wave of infections in its northeastern Jilian province, prompting the government to place thousands of residents under quarantine. Brazil, Peru and Mexico also are experiencing a spike of COVID-19 cases after the outbreak calmed in Europe and is leveling in the United States. New cases are growing in Africa. Chinese President Xi Jinping announced Monday that his country would donate $2 billion to fight the coronavirus pandemic and send physicians and supplies to developing countries, especially in Africa. Scientists say the virus likely spread from a Wuhan market selling exotic and wild animals for food, and environmentalists and animal rights activists have demanded the elimination of the so-called “wet” markets. The Chinese government has banned the sale of wild animals for food as part of its effort to stop the spread of the virus, but the trade is still legal for other purposes, such as research. The official Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday that two central provinces, Hunan and Jiangxi, have come up with a program to buy out breeders of wild animals and help them transition to other livelihoods.
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US Evangelist Ravi Zacharias Dies at 74
U.S. evangelist Ravi Zacharias, who believed that those skeptical about religion need to be engaged in a healthy debate rather than scorned, has died of cancer at 74. His Atlanta-based international ministries said Zacharias rose to global prominence as what it calls a defender of the “intellectual credibility” of Christianity “helping the thinker believe and the believer think.” Ministry president Michael Ramsden says Zacharias “saw the objections and questions of others not as something to be rebuffed, but as a cry of the heart that had to be answered.” Zacharias was born in Chennai, India, and says he was an atheist until he was 17 and tried to commit suicide. A hospital worker brought him a Bible. He started his missionary work after he moved to Canada and later the United States. Vice President Mike Pence tweeted that he is “deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Ravi Zacharias, a Christian apologist whose ministry for the gospel of Jesus Christ impacted millions around the world. Ravi was a man of faith who could rightly handle the word of truth like few others in our time & he was my friend.”
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Chinese Mother Sentenced in College Admissions Scandal
A Chinese woman who lives in Canada was sentenced Tuesday for bribing a fixer to get her son admitted to the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) as a soccer recruit.Xiaoning Sui, 48, of Surrey, British Columbia, was sentenced to five months’ time served during a videoconference hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock.She was ordered to pay a fine of $250,000 in addition to forfeiting the $400,000 she paid to admissions counselor William “Rick” Singer of California to gain her son entry to UCLA, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.Sui is among dozens of rich and famous parents who are accused of buying their children entrance to some of the best universities in the U.S. The U.S. Department of Justice conducted a multilevel, yearslong investigation they dubbed Operation Varsity Blues. Reports: Millions Paid for Chinese Admissions to US Schools
The family of a Chinese student paid $6.5 million to a consultant to ensure her admission to Stanford University in California in 2017, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The family of Yusi “Molly” Zhao, who was admitted to Stanford’s sailing program in 2017, paid to get their daughter into the highly selective school, the paper reported.
FILE – Actress Lori Loughlin departs federal court in Boston after a hearing in a nationwide college admissions bribery scandal, Aug. 27, 2019.Earlier in May, a federal judge refused to dismiss charges against actress Lori Loughlin, her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, and other prominent parents accused of cheating the college admissions process, the Associated Press reported.The judge sided with prosecutors who denied that investigators had fabricated evidence. Defense attorneys had urged the judge to throw out the indictment over allegations of misconduct by FBI agents. Loughlin and Giannulli are scheduled to go to trial in October on charges that they paid $500,000 to get their daughters into the University of Southern California as crew recruits even though neither girl was a rower. Last year, actress Felicity Huffman pleaded guilty in federal court to paying an admissions consultant $15,000 to have a proctor correct her older daughter’s answers on the college admissions exam, known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT. Huffman served 11 days of a two-week sentence for her role in the scam.The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Evicted During Pandemic, Kenyan Slum Dwellers Hope for Justice
Kenyan authorities forcibly evicted over 7,000 people from Nairobi slums this month, despite a court order, and in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in a small riot. Authorities say they demolished the homes because they were built on public land. But some of those who were evicted claim to have bought the land. Critics note mass evictions during a pandemic are inhumane and could further spread the virus, as Mohammed Yusuf reports from Nairobi. Camera: Amos Wangwa
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Kenya Evicts 7,000 from Slums Despite Coronavirus Pandemic
Kenyan authorities have forcibly evicted more than 7,000 people from land in Nairobi slums over the last month, defying a court order. Authorities say they demolished homes because they were built on public land, but critics say mass evictions during a pandemic are inhumane and could further spread the coronavirus.Forty-two-year-old Daniel Ndungu saw the three tractors coming before his home was demolished last week.”We saw police officers coming into the area,” he said. “They blocked the road and left the only one used by tractors. At around nine they started demolition. They didn’t care whether there were children in the house or anything else. They began demolition.”Daniel Ndungu, 42, stands at his demolished home in Ruai area in Nairobi. (Mohammed Yusuf/VOA)Defying a court order, authorities on Friday forcibly evicted Ndungu’s family and other Nairobi slum dwellers, making them homeless in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.Ndungu says he has nowhere to go and no money to move, so he will stay in the cold and wait. Others moved into the crowded dwellings of friends and relatives.The evictions, which started in April, left more than 5,000 people homeless earlier this month in Nairobi’s Kariobangi neighborhood.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
A mother and her child remain in the demolished area of Ruai days after their home was demolished. (Mohammed Yusuf/VOA)Thirty-seven-year-old butcher Hussein Wako says he has government receipts showing he owns the land he was forced to leave.But public land is too often sold illegally in Kenya, leaving those who were cheated out of their money – like Wako – homeless.”They demolished our home and poor people’s homes,” Wako said. “I slept in the cold for two days, and there is a coronavirus pandemic. They told us to go back home when we demonstrated against the demolition. They disrupted it and tear gassed us.”A small riot erupted earlier this month as the evicted clashed with police in Kariobangi and set fire to cars and tires.A Kenyan high court ordered a halt to further demolitions until a petition by residents is heard in June. But for the thousands of Kenyans already left homeless, and those still being evicted, there is little hope for justice.
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Trump Defends Use of Hydroxychloroquine
U.S. President Donald Trump is defending his promotion and personal use of an anti-malaria drug as a medication against COVID-19. “This is an individual decision to make,” Trump said, adding that the decades-old drug, hydroxychloroquine, has a “great reputation.” The president has tested negative for COVID-19 several times. There is no solid scientific evidence that the drug can prevent or treat the disease caused by the coronavirus, which has killed an estimated 321,999 people globally. A retrospective analysis based on data from the U.S. Veterans Health Administration determined that the drug as a treatment for COVID-19 – combined with the antibiotic azithromycin or not – not only may not help mitigate the virus’s effect, but it may also increase overall mortality. In a reference to that study, the president declared Tuesday “it was a Trump enemy statement.” FILE – Then-Veterans Affairs Secretary nominee Robert Wilkie testifies during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 27, 2018.During a Cabinet meeting later that day, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie criticized the document as not peer reviewed. Trump said “thousands and thousands” of front-line health care workers are taking hydroxychloroquine and it is endorsed by “many, many doctors.” “It doesn’t hurt people,” having been used as a treatment for malaria and lupus, Trump said. “I think it gives you an additional level of safety.” The president, during the Cabinet meeting, said, “it doesn’t seem to have any impact on me.” Physicians, however, say there are serious risks associated with taking the drug, including the threat it could interfere with heart rhythm. FILE – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., wears a mask as she steps away from the podium at the conclusion of a news conference on Capitol Hill, May 14, 2020, in Washington.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking on CNN Monday night, said the president should not be taking such a drug, especially considering he is “morbidly obese.” Asked about that comment, Trump initially replied: “I don’t respond to her. I think she’s a waste of time.” However, just before departing Capitol Hill, the president told reporters that “Pelosi is a sick woman. She’s got a lot of problems – a lot of mental problems. We’re dealing with people that have to get their act together for the good of the country.” Trump surprised reporters Monday when he announced he had been taking daily, for a week-and-a-half, a hydroxychloroquine pill. In the United States, more than 1.5 million people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus and 90,000 have died. Several people associated with the White House have tested positive for COVID-19 this month. In an interview with a Fox News reporter Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence said he is not taking the drug, but “I would never begrudge any American taking the advice of their physician. Hydroxychloroquine is a drug that’s been around for more than 40 years for treatment of malaria.” Pence explained that the Food and Drug Administration has approved off-label use for the drug so that doctors can prescribe it for nontraditional uses. FILE – Vice President Mike Pence speaks to attendees after a White House National Day of Prayer Service in the Rose Garden of the White House, May 7, 2020, in Washington.“So, my physician has not recommended that. But I wouldn’t hesitate to take the counsel of my doctor. Any American should do likewise,” the vice president said. Trump continued to blame China, where the virus was first reported, for the outbreak of COVID-19 becoming a global pandemic. “It should have been stopped by China,” he said again Tuesday. Many epidemiologists predict the threat from the virus will not subside until a vaccine for the novel coronavirus is deployed on a mass scale. “The vaccine, I think, is less important than some of the things they’re working on,” Trump said of laboratories around the world. “They’re working on a cure and we have more than one doing it and they’re very advanced,” Trump said, without providing details. “Trials of dozens of therapies and cures are under way,” the president said at the Cabinet meeting in the White House East Room. Trump also asserted Tuesday that the overall number of new coronavirus patients nationally is declining. That is certainly the case in the hardest-hit area in and around New York City, but health officials have expressed concern about spikes of COVID-19 cases in other parts of the country, especially centered on nursing homes, prisons and meatpacking plants. The focus of the Trump administration has shifted in recent days to reviving the country’s economy, which has been seriously damaged by the pandemic. “All 50 states, as of today are partially opening their economies,” Pence, who heads the White House coronavirus task force, said during the Cabinet meeting.
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Taiwan’s Tsai to Tread Cautiously on Cross-Strait Relations at Inauguration: Experts
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen is set to be sworn in on Wednesday for her second term. Analysts say she is expected to “put down the markers” on Taiwanese sovereignty but not cross China’s red lines in her inaugural speech.Tsai and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) she represents won a landslide victory in January elections, which were widely seen as a referendum on the future of Taiwan and cross-strait relations with Beijing.Her inaugural speech could provide clues as to how Tsai, who rejects Beijing’s one-China principle, will proceed in her second term.Robert Sutter, who teaches international affairs at George Washington University, said Tsai is “a formidable opponent” of Beijing, and her stance has been consistent. Sutter said he expects Tsai’s speech will emphasize her government’s accomplishments in the first term and avoid overtly antagonizing China.
Sutter said, “Tsai Ing-wen strikes me as a very sober individual, who is very concerned about Taiwan’s sovereignty, and she’s very experienced in cross-strait relations. She knows what the buttons are, and she doesn’t want to push with Beijing, and so she’ll avoid them and say something meaningful to the people on Taiwan to deepen their sense of being in a good place of good government.” FILE – Supporters of Taiwan’s 2020 presidential election candidate, Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen, cheer for Tsai’s victory in Taipei, Taiwan, Jan. 11, 2020.Beijing has escalated the number and intensity of military drills around the island in recent months, including a 36-hour air force endurance exercise in April and a first-ever nighttime drill in March.
I-Chung Lai, president of the Taiwan-based Prospect Foundation, said the island received pressure from China to show goodwill in Tsai’s speech, but China’s recent saber-rattling could have the opposite effect.
Lai said, “So I really hope China can reduce the temperature a little bit so Tsai Ing-wen will have a better reason to respond in kind.”
Jacques deLisle is a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania who focuses on contemporary Chinese law and politics. He said Tsai’s speech will not challenge the status quo in the Taiwan Strait but may reference protests and unrest in Hong Kong.
“I expect her to hit pretty hard on the themes of how successful Taiwan’s democratic liberal society has been in coping with COVID,” deLisle said. “I think she has to walk a fine line in how much to reference the Hong Kong situation which obviously is key to her re-election but neuralgic [sharply painful] to Beijing.”
DeLisle added, “I think there’ll be a bleak reference to how appealing the Taiwan model is and how Taiwanese people … don’t want to be Hong Kong. I think you will see the kinds of references to sovereignty that put down markers but don’t cross red lines.”
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, there will be no large-scale celebrations for the inauguration. Tsai posted a tweet on Monday, inviting people to watch the inauguration ceremony online “to celebrate the power of the people in this flourishing democracy that embraces diversity.”
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Lesotho’s New PM Has High Hopes — and Higher Stakes
Hopes are high across politically fractious Lesotho as Moeketsi Majoro, the nation’s finance minister, prepares to become prime minister.His swearing in, scheduled for Wednesday, comes after two years of bitter political squabbles in the tiny mountain kingdom surrounded on all sides by South Africa.”I think he is a good guy,” politician Motlalentoa Letsosa, deputy leader of the Democratic Congress, the main opposition party, told VOA via WhatsApp. “He has been in the government administration for quite a long time. He was once the principal secretary for the same ministry of finance, where he is now the minister. He was also the minister of development and planning, and now he is going to be the prime minister.”And remember, he worked at IMF for quite a long time. So he’s a gentleman who is familiar with the Lesotho political landscape and international politics, especially when it comes to financial international politics. So I think he’s going to take our country forward.”Letsosa’s party will join a coalition with Majoro’s ruling All Basotho Convention — a move that, just months ago, would have been thought impossible in the nation’s deeply divided political landscape.Thabane’s resignationFILE – Lesotho’s Prime Minister, Thomas Thabane, left, and his wife Maesaiah are seated in court, in Maseru, Feb. 24, 2020.This new political dispensation comes after months of bitter political wrangling to force Prime Minister Thomas Thabane to resign, which he did in May. His rule has been marred by a number of killings of high-ranking officials in recent years. Critics say that is an inevitable consequence of Thabane’s failure to keep the nation’s security forces out of politics.Thabane and his current wife are also suspects in the 2017 killing of one of his former wives, an issue that riveted the nation in recent months.Thabane was not offered immunity from prosecution in return for stepping down. And so, says Motlamelle Anthony Kapa, an associate professor in political science at the National University of Lesotho, the nation will have to clean up that legal issue before it can move on.”We are expecting both of them to appear before the courts to hear the case of the murder of his former wife,” Kapa told VOA on the WhatsApp platform.Coronavirus pandemicLetsosa says he also has high expectations for the new leader regarding his handling of the global coronavirus pandemic.”Lesotho has one case to date, but we are not going to be complacent and say we are immune to this. No one is immune. So we are expecting that he will take the fight to another level to make sure that this one case does not multiply,” Letsosa said. “Another thing which is so important is our national economy. Our economy is struggling and he has been the minister of finance, he knows that.”Kapa agrees, and notes that this is an unusual moment for the tiny country which, despite its size, is a major global wool and mohair supplier.”I must indicate this is the first time we have a prime minister coming like this. And there are a lot of expectations on him and his government to take the country out of the crisis that it has been in the last two, two and half years or so,” Kapa said. “People are excited, they are now waiting to see what is going to happen, this government is going to do differently from the one that he’s replacing.”The new government is expected to be sworn in by the end of the week.
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Muslims Around the World Mark Ramadan
Here’s a look at how Muslims worldwide are marking Ramadan, a month of fasting, prayer and reflection, during the Pandemic.
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Flooding Hits Parts of Midwest, With Evacuations in Michigan
People living along two mid-Michigan lakes and parts of a river were evacuated Tuesday following several days of heavy rain that produced flooding and put pressure on dams in the area.
Two Midland-area schools were opened for evacuees and more than 50 roads have been closed. The evacuations in Michigan followed days of heavy rains in parts of the Midwest that also brought flooding to Chicago and other parts of Illinois, as well as Ohio and other states.
“We were laying in bed when I heard sirens,” Jon St. Croix told the Midland Daily News. “A fire truck was driving around, broadcasting that (we needed) to evacuate. It’s a scary thing — you’re sleeping and awake to sirens.”
St. Croix, 62, his wife and a next-door neighbor were among more than a dozen people sheltering in one of the schools. Their home was not flooded, but St. Croix said he had seen flooding in the area.
Volunteers at the schools said about 120 vehicles were in the parking lots and about 30 people had been staying on cots inside, according to WNEM-TV.
The television station also reported that the driver of a pickup truck was rescued by first responders after the vehicle was swept away on a flooded road in Tittabawassee Township.Tropical Storm Drenches North Carolina’s Coast Tropical storm Arthur is the first named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season In Chicago, water that flooded some areas downtown was receding on Tuesday, but Larry Langford, a fire department spokesman, said that he did not expect power to be restored at the iconic Willis Tower for days because the rains caused the building’s subbasements to fill with as much as 25 feet (7.6 meters) of water. The building was closed to tenants and visitors.
And in DuPage County, west of the city, a search for an 18-year-old woman who was swept away by a surging DuPage River last Friday remained suspended on Tuesday because the water remained too high and the current too swift to conduct the search safely.
Tony Martinez, spokesman for the DuPage Forest Preserve District, said the area of the river where the woman was swept that is typically about 25 feet wide remained 200 yards wide.
“We hope to resume searching later this week,” he said.
School buses and dump trucks were called out Tuesday in southwest Ohio to help evacuate people trapped in flooded areas in a commercial area with dozens of businesses in suburban West Chester Township.
By noon, West Chester Township spokeswoman Barb Wilson said a dozen people had been taken to a nearby high school, while other people were able to make it out of the flooded area in their own vehicles.
There were no injuries reported immediately in the area just off Interstate 75 north of Cincinnati.
Flood warnings in Michigan were issued following widespread rainfall of up to 4 inches (10.2 centimeters) since Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Heavy runoff pushed rivers higher.
“A lot of the rainfall came and hit the Saginaw Valley over the last 48 hours,” meteorologist Andrew Arnold said Tuesday morning. “For the most part, the rain is over.”
The weather system was moving into Indiana, Ohio, parts of Illinois and the Tennessee Valley, Arnold said.
More flooding was forecast for parts of the Tittabawassee River, which was at 26.5 feet (8.1 meters) Tuesday morning. It was expected to crest Wednesday morning at about 30 feet (9.1 meters). Flood stage is 24 feet (7.3 meters).
Midland County 911 sent out a series of alerts saying the Edenville and Sanford dams were at risk of failing, and those living near Sanford Lake, Wixom Lake and other area waterways should evacuate.
Midland County Emergency Management later said that the dams were “structurally sound.” It said water flowing through the dam spillgates couldn’t be controlled, however, so evacuation measures remained in place.
In 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission revoked the license of the company that operated the Edenville Dam due to non-compliance issues that included spillway capacity and the inability to pass the most severe flood reasonably possible in the area.
The Edenville Dam was rated in unsatisfactory condition in 2018 by the state, while the Sanford Dam received a fair condition rating.
Both dams are in the process of being sold.
There were 19 high hazard dams in unsatisfactory or poor condition in Michigan in 2018, ranking 20th among the 45 states and Puerto Rico for which The Associated Press obtained condition assessments.
Just to the north in Gladwin County, the weather service issued a flash flood warning for the Cedar River below the Chappel Dam. And other parts of the state saw isolated flooding following heavy rains in recent days.
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Song Critical of Polish Leader Disappears From Hit Chart
A song took aim at an alleged abuse of power by Poland’s ruling party leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski. It rose to the top of the chart of a public radio station. Then it disappeared.The public broadcaster is now accused of censorship. The scandal, which has been a top issue of public debate in recent days, has prompted several resignations from the station, Radio Trojka, and left some musicians vowing to boycott it.The affair has created new worries about media freedom in Poland. Since Kaczynski’s party won power in 2015, it has used public media as a propaganda tool in violation of its mandate to be neutral. In the past five years, Poland has fallen in the World Press Freedom Index from 18th to 62nd place. Kaczynski isn’t himself accused of ordering the removal of the song from a listener-voted chart, and members of the government have also been critical of what happened. Instead, the song’s removal is seen as the kind of self-censorship that happens by overzealous underlings in a system where democratic standards are under threat.Wojciech Mann, a journalist who left Radio Trojka in March, said the story played out at the bottom of a “a ladder of fear” where Kaczynski sits at the top.The song, “My Pain is Better Than Yours,” is by singer and songwriter Kazik Staszewski, known better as just Kazik.The lyrics of the folk rock song describe an April 10 visit by Kaczynski to Warsaw’s Powazki Cemetery that infuriated many Poles because cemeteries in the country were closed to the public because of the coronavirus pandemic. It was the 10th anniversary of the plane crash in Russia that killed his twin brother, President Lech Kaczynski, and 95 others. Kaczynski was driven in a limousine and protected by bodyguards as he entered the closed cemetery to visit his mother’s grave and a memorial to his brother and other crash victims.The song doesn’t mention Kaczynski’s name, but it speaks of limousines, bodyguards and a visit by one person alone to a closed cemetery.”You alone can soothe the pain, everyone else slid into poverty,” the song says.The song was voted the No. 1 song of the week on Friday by listeners. But the next day it disappeared from the website. Station director Tomasz Kowalczewski said it was removed because of irregularities in voting. But a Trojka journalist this week said that management ordered him to stop airing the song.The station has been in operation since 1962. Under communism it played rock music geared at the youth and was given some leeway to be more independent than other censored media. One of the journalists who quit in protest over the the weekend, Marcin Kydrynski, said he couldn’t recognize the station anymore.Kazik’s song is now in fourth place on the chart.Culture Minister Piotr Glinski said he disapproved of the song, but also its removal. But Glinski also said he believed the whole scandal could be a “provocation,” suggesting that people against the government were setting it up to look bad.
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